Night.
Cao Cheng lay there with a satisfied expression, absentmindedly reaching out to stroke her small head.
“Hmm?!” Seeing a long string of system notifications, Cao Cheng was momentarily stunned.
He began sifting through them, trying to find anything useful. After looking for quite a while, he realized that aside from the earlier prompts, the rest were mostly repetitive, all about Su Jinhe’s fluctuating favorability.
Until the final line from a few minutes ago:
[Su Jinhe’s favorability toward the host +10, current favorability: 89 (Deeply in Love).]
Cao Cheng glanced at Su Jinhe beside him and couldn’t help but let the corners of his lips curl upward. He let out a low chuckle, then reached out to pinch her soft cheek.
Looking at the extra 1,000 Villain Points, he immediately opened the system shop.
Staring at the dazzling array of items inside, Cao Cheng fell into deep thought.
But by the time he reached the end, the anger in his heart could no longer be suppressed.
He directly questioned the system, ‘Damn system! 1,000 points for just two Strength Pills?! Can you be a bit more reliable?!’
[They are genuine Strength Pills!]
“What’s the use of that?!”
[Please check the description before commenting.]
…
After reading the description, Cao Cheng lowered his head and began to think.
Strength permanently +1.
If he ignored his current strength of 999…
After pondering for a while, Cao Cheng had to admit that it was actually somewhat useful.
‘Then what about these? 500 points for things like Five Lightning Whip, Return My Beauty Punch, Mad Dog Fist, Iron Mountain Lean… come on, these are all things you can find online. Why would anyone spend points on them?’
[Ding! Please check the description.]
Cao Cheng had no choice but to read the descriptions again.
After finishing, he clicked his tongue in disdain, but still had to admit that buying them from the shop was more cost-effective.
Because while these martial arts could be found online, purchasing them in the shop would grant instant mastery. There was no need to learn through videos, saving a tremendous amount of time.
However, these were all ordinary items.
That made Cao Cheng, who urgently wanted to increase his strength, complain again, ‘Isn’t there anything more powerful?’
[Ding! There is! And plenty of it. But nothing good comes cheap, and nothing cheap is good. However, a reminder for the host: the shop has discounted items. Note: items are randomly refreshed daily, and the discount rate will exceed your imagination!]
“Seriously?”
The system gave no reply.
Half doubtful, Cao Cheng opened the discount section.
Seeing a 90% discount at first made him happy, but when he noticed the endless string of zeros behind the price, his excitement instantly deflated.
He didn’t even bother looking further.
[Ding! For female leads, or women closely related to the protagonist, once their favorability toward the host reaches 80, it can temporarily suppress the Luck Value they would provide to the protagonist.]
‘What about men?’
[Ding! They must either be directly killed or completely submit to the host from the bottom of their hearts.]
Cao Cheng curled his lips. This system really treated men and women differently.
After mentally complaining about the system, he prepared to get up and leave.
But just as he stood, he heard Su Jinhe’s soft voice from behind him, “A Cheng, didn’t you promise not to go out today?”
Cao Cheng turned to look at the lovely figure on the bed who had just woken up. “Then when are you going to fulfill what you promised me?”
Su Jinhe’s face flushed as she shot him a shy glance. “I’m too tired today and don’t want to go out. Tomorrow, I’ll go buy it and wear it for you, okay?”
Hearing this, Cao Cheng immediately sat back down beside her and took her small hand. “Is the allowance on your card enough? If not, just use mine.”
“It’s enough.”
“Good. I have some urgent matters to deal with.”
After saying that, Cao Cheng didn’t wait for her response. He released her hand and walked out of the room.
Bang!
Looking at the tightly shut door, Su Jinhe felt like crying but had no tears. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been tricked.
…
After leaving the room, Cao Cheng went downstairs to pick something up, then turned and entered another room.
He wasn’t actually planning to go out.
He simply intended to check on Xu Qingrou.
And for now, this wasn’t something Su Jinhe should see.
Soon, Cao Cheng turned on the surveillance system and located the camera feed showing Xu Qingrou.
At that moment, she was in the kitchen cooking.
But the camera angle was too far, making it hard to see clearly.
Cao Cheng swiped his fingers, enlarging the image.
Now he could see clearly.
A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
Xu Qingrou appeared clearly in the frame.
Perhaps because she was alone at home, she was dressed rather lightly. A purple silk slip dress clung to her figure, giving her a mature and alluring charm.
A strange smile spread across Cao Cheng’s face.
Watching her cook for so long even made him feel hungry.
So he pressed the call button in the room.
Before long, there was a knock at the door.
“Young Master, what are your orders?” came the servant’s voice from outside.
After thinking for a moment, Cao Cheng began listing dishes: “Stir-fried eggs with chives, stir-fried pork kidneys, braised loach, oysters with scallion and ginger, pigeon soup, roasted whole lamb…”
After finishing, he thought for a moment, then instructed the servant to check on Su Jinhe and ask what she wanted to eat.
Although she had already eaten quite a lot, the night was long, and she might get hungry again.
Once the servant’s footsteps faded away, Cao Cheng called Wang Long back.
Soon, a fawning and cautious voice came through the phone, “What is it, Young Master?”
“Tell me, why did you call me at noon?”
Inside a KTV private room, Wang Long waved his hand to dismiss everyone, reluctantly letting the woman in his arms leave.
But as she stood up, he still couldn’t resist giving her a squeeze.
“Hey, Brother Wang, what are you doing~” The woman’s flirtatious voice made Wang Long’s heart itch, but in the next second, he broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly waved her away.
The woman, bored, snorted and swayed out of the room.
Wang Long cursed inwardly. Damn it! I’ll deal with you later!
“You’ve gone mute? Why aren’t you talking?”
“I’m not mute, Young Master. There were people around just now,” Wang Long replied with a forced smile.
“And now?”
“Now there’s no one.”
“Then speak.”
“It’s like this, Young Master. I called at noon to ask how we should deal with Xu Qingrou next. Should we directly have someone kidnap her, or…”
As Cao Cheng listened, his face turned green.
Why was this guy always thinking about such things?
Although that approach wasn’t entirely bad…
If they really followed that plan, how could Xu Qingrou willingly turn against the Dragon King Chu Fan for him?
“Stop, stop, stop,” Cao Cheng interrupted.
“What’s wrong, Young Master?”
“Don’t act rashly. Tomorrow, find two smart people and wait for my instructions.”
“Two smart people?” Wang Long was confused. “Two smart women?”
Cao Cheng clenched his teeth. “Get lost! I mean pick two capable men from your subordinates to handle things for me!”
“Sorry, Young Master, I understand.”
Hearing Wang Long’s fearful tone, Cao Cheng’s anger eased slightly, but he still couldn’t help sighing.
All he thinks about is women… no wonder he gets killed by the protagonist so early in the original novel.
If it weren’t for his loyalty and usefulness, Cao Cheng would have already considered getting rid of this liability.
“Young Master, is there anything else?”
Cao Cheng rubbed his temples. “No. Find the people first and inform me. Wait for my instructions.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Cao Cheng was about to hang up when Wang Long’s sly voice came through again, “By the way, Young Master, Honglangman just got a new girl. Want me to reserve her for you?”
“…”