“Pay it in installments.” Lu Changfu took out his phone and opened his notes. “We’ll sign the agreement today. I’ll give you 50,000 yuan first to deal with the emergency… After that, I’ll give you 20,000 yuan every month… until the full amount we agreed on for the three years of labor in exchange for debt has been paid.”
He looked up at her.
“The agreement can be terminated at any time. You have the right to request it, and so do I… But if you terminate it early, you’ll have to repay everything you’ve already received, plus interest calculated at the bank’s rate. Fair enough, right?”
Chen Lili lowered her head, her shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly.
Of course, she understood what this meant—she was selling the next three years of her time and freedom to him, bit by bit, while also having to bear the risk that the agreement could be terminated at any moment.
And the initiative would always remain in his hands.
Even more humiliating was the contrast between this careful calculation and guarded attitude and the way he had generously transferred 100,000 yuan to her without hesitation last time.
It felt like a loud slap across the little bit of pride she had left.
“I need the money… I need it now.” She heard her own dry voice. “My father can’t wait.”
“Agree to this payment arrangement, and the 50,000 yuan will be transferred immediately,” Lu Changfu said.
Chen Lili closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, only an empty calm remained in them.
“I agree.”
“Good.” Lu Changfu put his phone away. “The agreement needs to be reprinted with this clause added. There’s a print shop downstairs.”
The two of them left the teahouse, one following the other.
It was a winter afternoon, and the cold wind remained bitterly sharp. Chen Lili wrapped her coat tightly around herself and followed half a step behind Lu Changfu like a silent shadow.
Inside the print shop, the machines hummed continuously.
The freshly printed agreement still smelled of ink, its cold terms laid out in black and white:
Total loan: 200,000 yuan. Initial payment: 50,000 yuan. Subsequent payments: 20,000 yuan per month. Both parties have the right to terminate the agreement in writing at any time. If Party B (Chen Lili) voluntarily terminates the agreement, she must repay all money already received and pay interest at an annual rate of 5%…
There were also those brutally explicit clauses regarding “companionship services,” “cooperation with requests,” “reproductive support,” and other conditions.
Chen Lili picked up the pen, her fingertips icy cold.
She signed her name and pressed her fingerprint onto the document, her movements mechanical.
Lu Changfu signed as well, then put his copy away.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Where?” Chen Lili looked up.
“To the hotel you booked.” Lu Changfu looked at her. “The agreement is now in effect. There are certain ‘rights and obligations’ I need to confirm.”
Chen Lili’s pupils suddenly contracted, and her entire body tensed.
She understood what he meant.
A deeper sense of humiliation than she had felt during the negotiations over money surged through her, almost making her sick.
So… this was what he intended…
Or rather—
Was this the first step in making sure this “transaction” was worth the money?
She looked at his expressionless face and thought of the hospital bills demanding payment, then of her father’s pale face.
Her throat felt blocked by something, and she couldn’t make a sound.
In the end, she nodded and followed him with unsteady steps toward the nearby Yue Lai Hotel, which was reasonably well-maintained.
The elevator went upward. Inside the cramped space, there was complete silence.
Lu Changfu could feel the stiffness and slight trembling of the woman beside him.
He swiped the key card and entered the room.
It was a standard room, fairly clean. The windows were closed, yet somehow the cold seemed to seep through the walls.
The door closed behind them.
Lu Changfu turned around and looked at Chen Lili standing in the middle of the room. Her face was deathly pale, yet she was still forcing herself to maintain a polite smile.
He stepped closer.
She instinctively backed away until her back touched the cold wall.
“Now,” Lu Changfu said, reaching out and brushing his fingertips against her cold cheek. He felt her body tremble violently.
“We’re officially ‘partners.’”
What followed felt long and blurred for Chen Lili.
She was like a soulless puppet, simply allowing herself to be controlled.
Humiliation, shame, self-loathing… countless emotions churned inside her.
Yet she bit her lip tightly and did not make a single sound. She couldn’t even bring herself to cry.
When everything was over and Lu Changfu got up to go to the bathroom, she quickly pulled the blanket over herself and curled into a ball, turning her back to the outside world.
The sound of the shower stopped.
Lu Changfu came out, already fully dressed. He picked up his phone and tapped on the screen several times.
The phone Chen Lili had placed on the bedside table vibrated.
The screen lit up.
50,000 yuan had been deposited into her bank account.
She stared at the number, feeling as though the red digits were painfully glaring.
This wasn’t money that had saved her father.
It was money she had sold herself for.
An unprecedented sense of filth enveloped her.
Lu Changfu glanced at her trembling back, his tone still indifferent.
“The money’s there. Get yourself ready and come home with me.”
Chen Lili suddenly turned around, her eyes red.
“Home? Now? I… I still have to go back and deal with my father’s situation…”
“I’ll give you one week of New Year leave.” Lu Changfu interrupted her and glanced at his watch. “From the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifth day of the first lunar month. On the sixth, you come back to work on time.”
“Work?” Chen Lili asked blankly.
“A live-in housekeeper.” Lu Changfu defined it for her. “It’s written in the agreement. Laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, and taking care of my daily needs. Your monthly salary… I’ll calculate it as 8,000 yuan to offset part of your debt. Everything else will follow the agreement.”
He watched as the last trace of light in Chen Lili’s eyes completely disappeared, replaced by a lifeless emptiness.
He didn’t care.
“Remember, you’re going back this time as someone who owes me money. You owe me this much, so working as a housekeeper to repay the debt is perfectly reasonable… That’s also why I agreed to let you go home—to let your family know that you’re doing ‘legitimate work’ to repay your debt, not fooling around outside.”
He paused before adding, “Of course, this is also my requirement. I need a ‘reasonable’ explanation for why you’re appearing at my home, especially…”
He thought of Song Liyuan.
“…when I already have a girlfriend.”
Chen Lili understood.
She had not only lost her freedom and dignity. Now, even the identity she would have when facing her family had been defined by him as that of a lowly “housekeeper paying off her debt.”
Even the last chance she had to maintain her dignity in front of her family had been taken away.
Did she regret it?
Of course.
If only she had accepted that “fake girlfriend” agreement in the beginning and cooperated properly, making his parents happy…
Would everything have turned out differently?
At least, she could have appeared in front of them as a respectable “girlfriend,” rather than…
But there was no medicine for regret.
She had signed the agreement, taken the money, and… paid the price.
Numbly, she stood up and walked into the bathroom.
The woman in the mirror had a deathly pale complexion, swollen red eyes, and faint red marks around her neck.
She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water over her face several times before beginning to compose herself.
Half an hour later, the two of them walked out of the hotel room.
Chen Lili had redone her makeup and dressed herself neatly.
Only her eyes remained empty, making her look like a beautifully crafted shell with nothing left inside.