Inside the car.
Cao Cheng looked at Su Jinhe beside him, utterly speechless. It had only been a few minutes, yet she had already fallen asleep in the car… but thinking about it, it made sense. With her small, delicate frame…
He let out a low chuckle.
[Ding! Female lead Ye Yao’s favorability toward the host +2, current favorability: 41 (Close).]
[Ding! Due to female lead Ye Yao developing inappropriate high favorability toward the host, it has been detected that the host has slightly influenced the original plotline. Reward: 50 Villain Points, suppress protagonist Ye Tian’s Luck Value by 10.]
The system notification suddenly sounded.
Cao Cheng’s expression turned strange. He couldn’t quite understand why Ye Yao’s favorability toward him had suddenly increased again.
However, he didn’t bother to think too much about it. He took off his coat and gently covered Su Jinhe with it to keep her from getting cold. Yet the moment the coat touched her, Su Jinhe let out a soft murmur and slowly woke up.
“Acheng, why did you come out so quickly?” Su Jinhe asked, her face lighting up with surprise.
Cao Cheng smiled, “I missed you.”
A blush crept across Su Jinhe’s face. She felt that something about him was different and, feeling a bit guilty, turned her gaze toward the night scenery outside the window.
But how could Cao Cheng let her avoid him so easily? He reached out, pinched her chin, and turned her face back.
“What, you don’t believe me?”
“Mmm… I believe you,” Su Jinhe replied, though her voice carried a trace of unease.
“Since you believe me, then when we get home, put on the clothes I bought for you and dance for me, alright?” Cao Cheng pressed further.
“But I’ve never learned how to dance…” Su Jinhe frowned slightly. Having lived a comfortable life, she had no desire to put herself through hardship.
“It’s fine. I’ll hire a teacher to come to the house tomorrow and teach you.”
Hearing this, Su Jinhe raised her head and looked at him pitifully.
“But learning dance is exhausting. And my body isn’t flexible. I’d have to stretch… I heard it really hurts.”
“So what?” Cao Cheng said without hesitation.
Su Jinhe’s face fell, “Then… how about I practice by myself at home? There’s no need to hire a teacher.”
“No. If you practice on your own, how long will it take? When will I get to see you dance?”
Cao Cheng watched her eyes dart around and secretly smiled.
“How about this instead? First, wear the clothes and let me see. As for the dancing, there’s no rush.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“You know,” Cao Cheng said, gently patting her head.
Su Jinhe pursed her lips, “If I don’t go out with you next time, will you stop hiring a dance teacher for me? And this matter… you have to keep it to yourself.”
“I… I’ll think about it…”
“What’s there to think about? Just agree obediently, and I’ll reward you when we get back.”
Reward?
That might not even be as good as punishment…
Seeing her like this, Cao Cheng’s lips curved upward.
Looks like this little follower had already been completely under his control.
From what he remembered in the original novel, although Su Jinhe was fostered in his family, she had been raised in luxury since childhood. She had never done any hard or dirty work, living comfortably every day.
And that had led to a hidden trait of hers…
Laziness.
She didn’t want to learn anything, nor did she want to do anything.
…
After returning home, Cao Cheng went upstairs alone.
In the end, Su Jinhe accepted his suggestion. According to their agreement, she stayed downstairs to dye her hair, waiting for the “reward” later…
Instead of having Cao Cheng hire her a dance teacher.
As for Cao Cheng, after returning to his room, he didn’t rush to check the full plotline of “The Mercenary King Who Returned from Overseas.”
Instead, he planned to first check on Xu Qingrou’s situation.
It was already close to 10 at night. If he waited any longer, he wouldn’t be able to see anything.
However, Cao Cheng had miscalculated.
Xu Qingrou in the surveillance feed was already asleep, with only her head and phone visible.
Seeing this, Cao Cheng felt a little disappointed, but he still decided to watch a bit longer.
Mainly because the cameras he had installed all had night vision, so even with the lights off, he could see everything clearly.
Just as he began to feel bored and was about to go downstairs to check on Su Jinhe, a faint rustling sound suddenly came from the phone.
Driven by curiosity, Cao Cheng scanned the surroundings but found nothing unusual.
This made him wonder where the sound was coming from.
So he zoomed in on the surveillance footage and carefully observed. When he shifted the view onto Xu Qingrou’s phone screen…
His eyes suddenly widened.
“Damn!”
Isn’t that me?!
Cao Cheng was completely stunned.
…
…
After moving into the “temporary residence” arranged by Cao Cheng, Xu Qingrou looked at the luxurious interior before her and felt a bit more grateful toward him.
However, before that gratitude could turn into anything substantial, a few words from Wang Long frightened her.
Only then did she realize in terror that the man in front of her was definitely not someone kind.
And Cao Cheng… although he seemed nice on the surface, who knew what he was really like in private?
So after Wang Long left, Xu Qingrou didn’t dare stay in the apartment any longer. She hurried out to look for a new place to live.
However, after an entire afternoon of searching, she still couldn’t find anything satisfactory. She had no relatives or friends to rely on, and as for hotels, she was reluctant to spend money unless absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile, the “temporary residence” Cao Cheng had provided was still there.
After weighing her options repeatedly, Xu Qingrou ultimately chose to return.
She cautiously pushed open the door. After confirming that no one was hiding inside and that there were no signs of anyone entering, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Completely unaware that every room in the apartment had already been filled with surveillance cameras by Cao Cheng.
With her guard lowered, Xu Qingrou returned to the bedroom to rest.
Lying on the soft and comfortable bed, she narrowed her eyes in contentment.
However, after lying down for a while, she found herself unable to fall asleep. Out of boredom, she started scrolling through her phone.
Watching the handsome men in short videos that used to make her drool, she now found them utterly dull.
Because Cao Cheng was far better than any of them.
Since she was already full of questions about him, she became curious about what kind of person he really was.
So she tried searching for his name on her phone, hoping to find some information.
But what she found shocked her.
Not only could she find him, but there were even a couple of slightly blurry photos of his handsome face…
More importantly, all the comments about him were overwhelmingly positive.
Genius prodigy, musician, entrepreneur, philanthropist…
Reading all this, Xu Qingrou completely let down her guard toward Cao Cheng.
She even began to scold herself for judging a gentleman with petty thoughts, for doubting someone who had been so kind to her… a good person.
And she had almost ruined his important plans today!
Looking at the slightly weary expression in his photos, she couldn’t help but think that he must be so tired because there were too many people like her troubling him.
As she kept reading, a trace of guilt slowly rose in her heart.
In the dark room, illuminated by the faint glow of her phone screen, Xu Qingrou suddenly thought of something…
A faint blush appeared on her fair face.