“You… you…” Chu Youyu was so angry her face turned red, and she glared at her fiercely.
Gu Qingleng ignored the bristling catgirl. She reached out and forcefully pulled Su Ruanruan up from her crouching position.
Gently rubbing the delicate skin on the inside of Su Ruanruan’s wrist with her thumb, Gu Qingleng suddenly asked, “By the way, Su Ruanruan. I heard that a few days ago, that little delinquent named Lin Lie… caused some trouble for you?”
Hearing the name Lin Lie, Su Ruanruan’s body stiffened, and a flash of instinctive fear crossed her eyes.
“Y-Yes… she seems to have always disliked me…”
“Don’t worry.”
Gu Qingleng looked at her startled expression, her lips curling into an extremely faint, gentle arc.
“I’ve already ‘warned’ her. In the future… she will probably become very ‘obedient,’ and she won’t have any extra energy to bother you.”
“Eh? Really?” Su Ruanruan froze, a bit unable to believe it. “But Lin Lie, she —”
“Talk is cheap.”
Gu Qingleng calmly took a pink phone out of her pocket — it was clearly not a style a cold person like her would use, as it was even covered in exaggerated rhinestones.
It was Lin Lie’s phone.
“She asked me to give this to you just now… a ‘letter of repentance.'”
Gu Qingleng’s slender fingers tapped the screen, playing a voice recording.
“Ugh… Su… Su Ruanruan… I’m sorry… ha-ah…”
“I-I was wrong… in the future… I’ll never dare to bully you again… sob…”
The voice in the recording was intermittent, filled with heavy crying and a sort of irrepressible, hurried panting. It sounded as if she had just finished a long crying session or had collapsed under extreme shame.
A brief silence fell over the hall.
Su Ruanruan blinked, a look of shock on her face. “W-What happened to her?”
Gu Qingleng put her phone away without changing her expression.
“Oh, she was just too emotional. I spoke to her for one hour about the school rules and the principles of being a good person. She deeply realized her mistakes and was overwhelmed with regret, crying tears of gratitude.”
“S-So that’s how it was…”
Su Ruanruan realized, her eyes immediately welling up with tears of emotion.
“Council President! You’re amazing! To think you could reform someone like Lin Lie to this extent!”
However, just at that moment —
Buzz — Buzz — Buzz —
A sudden and ill-timed ringtone broke the delicate atmosphere. The sound came from the pocket of Chu Youyu’s catgirl skirt.
Chu Youyu had been warily staring at Gu Qingleng, but upon hearing the ringtone, her small face immediately slumped with impatience. She pulled out her phone and saw the words “Naggy Mom” flashing on the screen.
“Tsk, that old lady really knows how to pick her timing!”
Chu Youyu gritted her teeth and hung up immediately. However, a second later, the ringtone sounded again tenaciously, as if it wouldn’t give up until the call was connected.
“Argh, so annoying!”
Chu Youyu stamped her foot in anger.
“I-I’m going to take a call!”
Chu Youyu glared fiercely at Gu Qingleng, her watery eyes full of warning.
“Gu Qingleng! You stay on your best behavior! Don’t bully my employee! And don’t touch her! I’ll be right back!”
Having said that, she turned to Su Ruanruan and instructed, “Ruanruan, stay away from this black-bellied woman! Don’t let her sell you out while you’re still helping her count the money! Wait for me!”
Leaving those words behind, Chu Youyu grabbed her phone and hurried toward the second-floor restroom while shouting into the other end, “I know, I know! I’m researching the market!”
***
As Chu Youyu’s figure disappeared at the top of the stairs, only Su Ruanruan and Gu Qingleng were left in the corner of the hall.
The air seemed to quiet down in an instant. Only the soothing violin music continued to flow, along with Su Ruanruan’s gradually accelerating heartbeat.
“Heh… finally, some peace and quiet.”
Gu Qingleng let out a light chuckle. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it made Su Ruanruan’s ears tremble slightly. She turned her head, and those eyes that were originally cold were now resting unabashedly on Su Ruanruan.
“Su Ruanruan.”
Gu Qingleng’s voice was deep and magnetic.
“H-Here!” Su Ruanruan stood up straight by reflex.
“Since I’ve helped you such a big favor…”
Gu Qingleng leaned in slightly. That cold, exquisite face slowly drew closer, and a powerful aura instantly enveloped Su Ruanruan. She gracefully picked up a bright red, succulent strawberry from the exquisite fruit plate on the table.
The red fruit and her pale fingertips created a strong visual impact.
She held the strawberry in front of Su Ruanruan but stopped mid-air.
“Ah —”
Gu Qingleng opened her thin lips slightly, signaling with her eyes.
Su Ruanruan froze, her hands clutching her apron helplessly. “C-Council President? You want me to… feed you?”
She subconsciously looked around. Although there weren’t many customers now, this was in public!
“T-That… this isn’t very good… the boss just said…”
“Youyu isn’t here.”
Gu Qingleng interrupted her, her tone calm.
“Besides, I am the customer, and you are the maid. Satisfaction of the customer’s needs is your job, isn’t it?”
“B-But…” Su Ruanruan was still hesitating, her face turning so red it looked like it might drip blood. This was too shameful!
Watching Su Ruanruan’s indecisive appearance — wanting to refuse but not daring to — the smile in the depths of Gu Qingleng’s eyes deepened. She knew exactly where this little thing’s weakness was. With just a little poke, she would obediently comply.
Gu Qingleng suddenly leaned forward, her exquisite face magnifying in front of Su Ruanruan’s eyes. She leaned into Su Ruanruan’s sensitive ear, her warm breath brushing against the auricle, triggering a numb shiver.
“If you just feed me this strawberry…”
Gu Qingleng’s voice was very low, carrying a devilish temptation that only the two of them could hear.
“Your debt will be reduced by 50,000.”
“!!!”
Time seemed to stand still at that moment. Su Ruanruan’s pupils shook. Her original shame, hesitation, and even Chu Youyu’s warning — in that instant — all went up in smoke!
‘Fi-Fifty thousand?! Just for one strawberry! It could offset 50,000?!’
“I-Is that true?”
“I never go back on my word.” Gu Qingleng’s mouth curled slightly.
Su Ruanruan bit her lip and reached out with a trembling hand, taking the “50,000-value” strawberry from Gu Qingleng’s fingertips. She carefully brought the strawberry to Gu Qingleng’s lips.
“Council President… p-please enjoy.”
Looking at the slender fingers so close to her and that cute face that had become submissive because of the debt, a huge sense of satisfaction welled up in Gu Qingleng’s heart. She slightly opened her red lips and took the strawberry.
But just as Su Ruanruan prepared to withdraw her hand, she deliberately closed her lips.
Moist. Warm. Soft.
Her tongue tip brushed against Su Ruanruan’s slender fingertip as if by accident, even giving it a light suck.
“Mnh!”
Su Ruanruan felt as if she had been hit by an electric current. Her whole body jolted, but she didn’t dare to pull her hand back. She could only endure those long and shameful seconds with a beet-red face.
“The taste isn’t bad.”
Gu Qingleng finally let go and gracefully swallowed the strawberry. She pulled a Black Card from her wallet, held it between her slender fingers, and handed it over.
“Charge today’s expenses to this.”
She stood up, smoothed her unwrinkled uniform skirt, and took one last glance at Su Ruanruan’s beautiful legs wrapped in black tights.
Gu Qingleng turned away with satisfaction, leaving Su Ruanruan with a cool and elegant view of her back as she left the café.
***
A moment later, a series of hurried footsteps came from the second-floor stairs.
“I’m so mad! That old man is so naggy!”
Chu Youyu hung up the phone and rushed down huffing. Like a vigilant meerkat, she quickly scanned the surroundings.
“Where’s that black-bellied woman? Is she gone?”
Su Ruanruan quickly hid her hand behind her back. “S-She’s gone!”
Chu Youyu narrowed her eyes and leaned in to sniff Su Ruanruan. The air seemed to still hold the lingering cold scent of Gu Qingleng’s perfume, along with… a faint, sweet hint of strawberry.
Furthermore, Su Ruanruan’s face was incredibly red, and her fingers were still trembling slightly.
Her intuition told her — something had happened!
“Su! Ruan! Ruan!”
Chu Youyu bristled, her tail standing straight up.
“Be honest! While I was gone… did you two do some shady business behind my back?!”
“N-No!” Su Ruanruan guiltily shifted her gaze. “W-We just… ate a strawberry…”
“Ate a strawberry? You fed it to her, didn’t you!”
Chu Youyu stomped her feet in anger.
“I want to be fed too! Now! Right this instant! Otherwise, I’m deducting 100,000!”
Just then, the back door was pushed open again. Saginomiya Shiori, carrying two large buckets of milk and gasping for breath, finally returned.
“Phew… Youyu, I’ve bought it! Is Ruanruan okay?”
She looked up just in time to see Su Ruanruan, in an attempt to appease her boss’s anger, feeding a strawberry to a blushing Chu Youyu.
Clatter.
The milk buckets in Shiori’s hands fell to the floor.
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