Every woman Zhao Cheng had ever come into contact with was intelligent and elegant, dignified and composed, alluring and charming, lively and cute. This was the first time he’d seen someone quite this… unrestrained.
“Ahem… I couldn’t reach you on your phone, are you all right?” Zhao Cheng cleared his throat lightly, looking away in slight embarrassment.
“I’m fine, still alive, tough as nails.” Su Yue raised one arm in a flexing gesture. The neckline of her nightgown was too loose, and with that motion, one entire shoulder was fully exposed.
Zhao Cheng, having just turned back, caught that exact moment, and looked away again in embarrassment. He’d seen plenty of women in bikinis before, but for some reason, seeing her bare shoulder made his thoughts drift somewhere else.
Su Yue noticed where his gaze had just been. She looked down and saw it was just a bare shoulder. Hmm… a good chunk of her front was showing too, but no matter, there wasn’t much to show off anyway.
Wait, that wasn’t right…
A shriek like a startled marmot rang out, followed by the sound of the door slamming shut. Naturally, that shriek had come from Su Yue.
Zhao Cheng watched this whole scene with amusement, the girl’s reaction afterward was quite something. He made a call to Du Chengfeng to let him know Su Yue had been found and was fine, then said a few more words.
Just as he was about to hang up, the door suddenly opened again. He casually stuffed his phone into his pocket, and on the other end of the line, Du Chengfeng, who’d been about to end the call, heard Su Yue’s voice instead.
So he ended up eavesdropping once again, after all, Zhao Cheng was the one who’d made the call, and it wasn’t Du Chengfeng’s fault if the other end hadn’t hung up, he’d simply never ended the call himself.
“Brother Zhao, why are you here? It’s a bit shabby.” Su Yue, having changed clothes and freshened up as fast as she could, invited him in with an awkward expression.
She’d just caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror while freshening up and found herself looking unusually messy. She could swear on her own character that she was normally never like this, thinking back to that embarrassing moment just now, she wanted to cough up three liters of blood.
“This place is quite cozy!” Zhao Cheng looked around. The room was small, smaller than his own bathroom at home, but it did feel cozy.
Stuffed animals covered the bed and the floor, the girl was still young, so it made sense she liked things like that.
Su Yue: those were the original owner’s tastes. The original owner had scrimped and saved just to buy these useless things, if it had been her, she never would have. She’d rather have saved that money to eat properly and build up a healthy body instead.
On the other end, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help imagining what kind of home would feel cozy.
His family’s mansion was grand and opulent. His own private villa, meanwhile, was mostly black, white, and gray, simplicity was the whole point.
“Your phone was unreachable for two days and two nights, I got worried and came to check. Glad you’re all right.” Zhao Cheng sat down on the room’s one and only chair, his gaze landing on Su Yue again.
The girl standing was about the same height as him sitting down. Hmm… she really was tiny.
He pointed across from him, signaling for her to sit on the bed, otherwise what kind of guest would he be, sitting while the host of the house stood?
“I haven’t had a job the past few days, so I figured I’d take the chance to rest properly. I sleep lightly, so I like turning my phone off when I sleep.” Su Yue explained.
She was a light sleeper, the slightest noise would wake her, and often, from lack of sleep, her head would feel foggy and heavy. So before going to sleep, she instinctively cut off every outside disturbance she could.
She wasn’t worried anyone would actually need to reach her, since her contacts list only had Zhao Cheng and Du Chengfeng, there used to be Manager Chen too, but after she quit, she’d deleted him.
She didn’t like unimportant people taking up space in her memory. The original owner had been the same way, her contacts list had only ever had Manager Chen in it.
Zhao Cheng didn’t expect an explanation like that. For someone like him, who never turned his phone off around the clock, he had no idea what it even felt like to have it off.
Did the whole world really go quiet like that?
On the other end, Du Chengfeng started imagining things again, why would she be a light sleeper?
Could it be from a lack of a sense of security?
Made sense, really, she was an orphan, and considering what kind of place an orphanage was, it was only natural she’d lack a sense of security.
If the slightest disturbance woke her, wasn’t she constantly exhausted?
Favorability +3
Hearing the system’s announcement, Su Yue was stunned. She hadn’t done anything at all, could favorability just go up on its own now?
Did that even make sense?
“Zhao Cheng’s phone call is currently connected to Du Chengfeng, host. This is your chance, go for it…” The system’s voice was so excited it practically cracked.
Su Yue was thrilled too, there was a play like this available?
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a light sleeper. It’s probably because of growing up in the orphanage, most of the kids there weren’t quite normal. The normal kids had it rough, like when a kid would suddenly appear standing at the head of your bed in the middle of the night, calling for you to wake up and play.” She wasn’t making this up at all, she’d lived through every bit of it.
She remembered that even though she’d been through it countless times back then, every single time she’d still be scared into screaming.
Zhao Cheng suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. If someone stood at the head of his bed in the middle of the night, he’d absolutely end them.
Du Chengfeng, on the other end, felt exactly the same. Neither of them could imagine how terrified a normal child would have been growing up in that kind of environment.
Favorability +3
“The host is amazing, keep it up!” The system’s code was practically dancing with excitement.
“Get lost, don’t throw off my rhythm.” Su Yue cursed inwardly, while her face stayed perfectly composed.
“Were you scared?” Zhao Cheng couldn’t help but ask.
“That’s not even the scariest part. The scariest part was having to get up immediately after being woken up, otherwise the next second, a little fist would land right on your face, and it hurt, leaving your face bruised black and blue for days after.” Su Yue said with a smile, as if the person who’d lived through all this hadn’t been her at all.
Some people wondered why kids from orphanages always had some bruising on their faces, some from clumsily falling, some possibly from the not-quite-normal kids hitting them, and some possibly from fighting each other.
Torment, whether mental or physical, could be overcome, but the psychological scars were different. Most kids who came out of orphanages lacked a sense of security.
For instance, if you showed them one bit of kindness, they’d repay it tenfold, instinctively hoping that this was how they could hold onto that bit of warmth.
“If you don’t feel like smiling, then don’t.” Zhao Cheng reached out and ruffled her hair. He’d never known any of this before. His gaze toward her grew even gentler, that she’d been through so much and could still keep such a lively, cheerful heart was truly rare.
At the same time, he felt a quiet resentment toward her parents, why bring her into the world only to refuse to raise her?
He’d done charity work before, visited orphanages too, but every time he’d seen the children there, they’d looked clean and perfectly normal, he’d never imagined there was a side to it he didn’t know about.
On the other end, Du Chengfeng’s heart couldn’t help but clench too. That she could smile while describing something this cruel, was it because she’d been through so much that she’d simply grown used to it?
Favorability +5
The corner of Su Yue’s mouth, which she’d just managed to press down, curved back up on its own. The male lead really was a handsome, kind-hearted little sweetheart.