At 7:00 PM, in a mid-to-high-end residential area of Northwater City.
Lin Chen took out his keys and skillfully unlocked the door.
In the twilight room, silence reigned—only the sound of a mouse clicking, the sole source of light being the warm yellow desk lamp by the computer table.
Lin Chen sighed and switched on the brightest white light in the room. “An Xin, drawing in a dim environment is really bad for your eyes. I’ve told you many times—you need to turn on a bright light when you draw.”
As soon as the light came on, Lin Chen saw the whole house in disarray; the dining table was covered in takeout boxes from the week.
“Ah, okay.” Miss An Xin, her hair a mess, wearing a loose beige loungewear, lowered her head. “Sorry.”
The online An Xin and the real-life An Xin were polar opposites. Online, she was a trash-talking champion and knew how to flirt with Lin Chen during their chats. But in real life, she was so introverted she could barely get a word out.
“I’d better clean up your place first.” Lin Chen let out a sigh. He had expected the mess.
Three months ago, he had gotten to know An Xin through his parents.
At the request of An Xin’s parents, he reluctantly agreed to take care of her, since she was completely unable to look after herself.
Initially, Lin Chen had planned to refuse. But when he learned that An Xin was very skilled at drawing—even a somewhat famous manga artist—
Lin Chen proactively offered to take care of her, on the condition that she would draw the character sprites and CGs for his game in exchange.
Lin Chen had been obsessed with games since childhood. After entering university, he even wanted to create his own Galgame. To that end, he often couldn’t make ends meet.
Lin Chen put on an apron, pulled on rubber gloves, grabbed a trash bag in one hand and a broom in the other, and swiftly cleaned up all the garbage.
He tied up the bags and tossed them by the door, planning to take them downstairs on his way out so they wouldn’t pile up and start to stink.
When Lin Chen was nearly done cleaning, An Xin took the initiative to call him over to the computer desk.
“This is the character sprite you asked for…” An Xin habitually shrank into her coat and secretly watched Lin Chen’s reaction.
Lin Chen immediately studied the sprite—after all, it was the design for the second female lead in his game.
He had to admit that when it came to drawing sexy, attractive girls, An Xin was an authority—no wonder she worked as a doujinshi artist.
Whether it was the hip-hugging black tights or the seductive pose of the girl in the picture, everything perfectly matched Lin Chen’s vision for the game’s second heroine.
“Absolutely perfect!! I’d give it a 5 out of 5.” Lin Chen gave his rating.
An Xin’s expression brightened. “That many? I’m really glad you like it…”
As the client, Lin Chen determined the number of times he’d provide his caretaking services based on the quality of the character sprites and CGs.
The CG modeler was also arranged by An Xin, and Lin Chen would compensate her for her extra work on those.
“Then send it to me later. I’ll start making dinner for you.” Seeing such a perfect sprite, Lin Chen couldn’t help humming happily, thinking about how much closer his game was to completion.
Then he checked the fridge and found that some of the fresh vegetables he had bought last time had already gone bad. Sure enough, Miss An Xin couldn’t cook at all.
Fortunately, Lin Chen had bought some fresh vegetables and meat on the way over.
He washed a few potatoes, cut them into thin strips, and stir-fried them into a home-style spicy and sour potato dish.
Then he diced the tofu, sautéed minced beef with doubanjiang (broad bean paste), and made a fragrant plate of mapo tofu.
Finally, he made a seaweed egg drop soup and a plate of stir-fried chicken breast with green peppers, then called An Xin to come eat.
An Xin gazed at the steaming dishes on the table, and a bit of life returned to her eyes.
She buried her head in her food, devouring it in silence without a word. The whole room was quiet.
Lin Chen sat across from her, eating with her, and gently wiped a bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth.
He looked at the unguarded, cute girl in front of him. Just a few months ago, she had completely ignored him.
In fact, when he first arrived, she had trouble even speaking to him face-to-face and relied on her phone app to communicate.
Now she could even actively make requests to Lin Chen.
“Um… could you please put on this piece of clothing? I want to take a couple of photos for a male character in my manga.” After dinner, An Xin asked timidly.
She pulled a brand-new outfit from her wardrobe. From the fine craftsmanship, it was clearly expensive.
“Okay, but I need to clean up the dishes first.”
“That’s fine—please put it on right now! I’ll do the dishes!” The moment she heard Lin Chen agree, An Xin’s voice shot up an octave.
“Well… okay.” Since it was just an outer coat, Lin Chen had no need to take off his own clothes. He simply put it on. To his surprise, it fit perfectly.
“You look handsome.” An Xin murmured softly while taking photos.
‘Another item for my collection. More material to use tonight.’ Thinking about both the clothes and the photos, a faint smile crept onto her face.
After finishing over a dozen sets of poses, Lin Chen stretched and received a phone call. He glanced at the caller ID: “No. 3: Lin Wanfeng — Looking for Fake Boyfriend.”
He got up, walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and answered in a low voice. “Hey, good evening.”
A coy voice came from the other end. “Why did it take you so long to answer, boyfriend?”
“I’m out right now, at a friend’s place.” Lin Chen gave a wry smile. This young lady had approached him through the 04 Errand Agency because her family was pressuring her to get married, and she wanted him to pose as her boyfriend.
“Ehh! So it’s cheating—definitely cheating! My boyfriend is cheating on me. This breaks my heart~” Her playful voice teased.
“Alright, may I ask what the young lady’s orders are? Time to execute the fake boyfriend plan?” Lin Chen struggled to maintain a gentle tone after a long day.
“Fine, fine. You’re no fun, boyfriend.” On the other end, the well-endowed girl stuck out her tongue. “Remember to come to the café where we first met before 10:00 tomorrow. I’ll take you to my house.”
“And make sure you wear the outfit I mailed you. Dress sharp—this time you’re meeting my parents.”
This young lady had contacted him over a month ago and even had two handsome suits custom-made for him.
“No problem.”
“Absolutely, positively, do not be late. Or I’ll kill you~” Though her voice was still energetic, the final tone sent a chill down Lin Chen’s spine.
After all, this young lady was truly the daughter of a yakuza boss…
Even though Lin Chen had kept his voice low, An Xin, who was outside the door, had sensed something. She perked up her ears, listening to the sounds from the bathroom.
Hearing the noises from the bathroom, An Xin’s eyes instantly went lifeless. Through the door, she vaguely caught words like “boyfriend” and “meet the parents.”
‘Could it be that A-Chen already has someone he likes? And he’s going to meet her parents and be together forever?’
That thought was like a giant python squeezing tightly around An Xin’s heart.
It made it hard for her to breathe. One painful memory after another surged up.
‘I can’t let anyone take him away… A-Chen can only belong to me!’ An Xin took a deep breath and retrieved something she had prepared two weeks ago.
‘I’m sorry… I have no choice. A-Chen will definitely forgive me. After all, A-Chen is so gentle… it would be even better if he were only gentle to me.’
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