“Um, could you let me think about it?”
Su Ling’s eyes darted around, avoiding Ji Lingyuan’s gaze.
Although bringing Miao Miao and her mother to Ji Lingyuan’s villa would be safe, the problem was that she had only known Ji Lingyuan for a few days!
To put it bluntly, their relationship was purely a financial transaction.
While she was grateful for Ji Lingyuan’s help, she couldn’t truly feel at ease.
Miao Miao and her mother were the people she cared about most in the world; she couldn’t give Ji Lingyuan her absolute trust.
She was also somewhat confused. Why did Ji Lingyuan care so much about her?
‘Could it be…’
A terrifying theory surfaced in her mind, but she quickly crushed it.
She didn’t dare think about such things now, nor did she have the right to.
“Tsk, I’m not some villain. What is there to consider?”
Ji Lingyuan pouted, looking dissatisfied. While she did have some selfish motives and wanted a bit of excitement, she truly cared about Su Ling.
“I’m sorry…” Su Ling lowered her head and whispered.
Miao Miao and her mother were her bottom line.
Seeing Su Ling acting like a timid little ostrich, an inexplicable spark of anger flared up inside Ji Lingyuan.
She reached out and forcefully tilted Su Ling’s chin upward.
“Look up! Why are you apologizing to me? Why are you always so submissive? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Ji Lingyuan didn’t even know why she was so angry.
She just found Su Ling’s current weak and subservient attitude infuriating.
“Sorry…”
Su Ling said instinctively.
Her eyes drifted elsewhere, not daring to meet Ji Lingyuan’s gaze.
Ji Lingyuan let out a frustrated, mocking laugh. “Heh.”
She laughed and then scooped Su Ling up in her arms.
Before Su Ling could react, she looked toward S, who had been watching the scene unfold.
“Let’s go home.”
S, having enjoyed the drama for quite a while, gave a sheepish smile.
A green light flashed in her pupils, and she used Space Teleportation to bring the two of them back to Ji Lingyuan’s Folding Space.
Su Ling curled up in Ji Lingyuan’s embrace, knowing exactly what was coming next.
Her small hands clenched for a moment before she forced them to relax.
Ji Lingyuan carried Su Ling into the bedroom and threw her onto the bed.
Su Ling remained silent throughout, like a delicate doll.
Seeing this only made Ji Lingyuan’s anger burn hotter.
Without hesitation, she pulled at her own collar, her cold face full of dissatisfaction.
The process was the same as usual.
However, Ji Lingyuan seemed particularly angry today, and her movements were much rougher.
Su Ling kept her eyes tightly shut, biting her lip hard.
She didn’t understand why Ji Lingyuan was so furious.
“Phew!”
After a long time, Ji Lingyuan seemed exhausted.
She lay beside Su Ling, panting heavily.
Su Ling finally caught her breath as well.
Ji Lingyuan had been so rough that her entire body ached as if she were about to fall apart.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
Su Ling glanced timidly at Ji Lingyuan, who rolled her eyes.
“Answer it. Why are you looking at me?”
After saying that, Ji Lingyuan pulled Su Ling into her arms, their bodies pressed tightly together.
“Hello?”
“Classmate Su Ling, you didn’t come to school today. Are you still coming for the tutoring session tonight?”
It was Mo Ran.
Hearing this and feeling the warm, soft body of the person behind her, Su Ling bit her lip, a trace of gloom flashing in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m busy today. Tonight might be — ugh!”
Suddenly, Su Ling let out a sharp cry.
Ji Lingyuan seemed to have completely mastered her weak spots.
At that moment, Ji Lingyuan’s cheek was pressed against Su Ling’s slender neck, and her rosy lips moved close to Su Ling’s earlobe, exhaling hot breath.
“Don’t make a sound… You wouldn’t want your friend to know what you’re doing, would you?”
“What’s wrong?” Mo Ran asked worriedly on the other end of the line.
“It’s nothing, I just accidentally bumped into — ah…!”
Ji Lingyuan had a wicked smile on her face.
This illicit thrill instantly filled her with a sense of pleasure.
On the other end, Mo Ran fell silent.
She wasn’t an idiot; there was no way she could have missed the intermittent, breathless cries coming from Su Ling’s side.
Considering Su Ling’s identity and the fact that she had missed school all day, Mo Ran realized what was happening.
‘How shameless…’
Mo Ran’s face turned beet red, but for some reason, her own body began to feel hot.
Logically, she should have hung up the phone, but by some strange impulse, she pulled out her earphones.
She looked around like a thief before connecting them to her phone and turning the volume up to the maximum.
Su Ling was unaware of any of this; her mind felt like mush.
Her hand lost its strength, and the phone slipped away.
She didn’t even know if the call had ended.
“What, still holding it in?”
Ji Lingyuan glanced at the glow of the phone screen and smirked.
She didn’t reach out to end the call but instead stuffed the phone under the pillow.
“Please… I beg you…”
Su Ling finally began to plead for mercy.
An excited light flashed in Ji Lingyuan’s eyes.
“Heh, pleading is useless. I’m very fired up right now.”
“Ah… Why… why…?”
Su Ling’s expression had grown dazed as her reason gradually crumbled.
“Isn’t it all because of you? Those bastards at the Superintendent Department framed you like that, and you don’t feel anything?”
“I… I have no choice…”
“If it weren’t for me, they might have locked you up. Do you understand?”
“I… I know…”
“And why are you always so timid? Why are you so submissive?”
“…”
“Why do you always care so much about how others feel?”
“…”
Su Ling was no longer able to speak.
In the dimly lit room, only the sound of Su Ling’s heavy breathing echoed.
Ji Lingyuan felt irritable, and her movements became even more aggressive.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, she finished venting.
She lay on the bed, gasping for air.
“If you don’t love yourself, how can others love you?”
Ji Lingyuan looked at the ceiling and muttered.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her, or why she felt so angry at Su Ling for demeaning herself.
Su Ling lay with her back turned to her, her smooth, white back appearing somewhat thin.
“I… I don’t deserve it.”
Su Ling’s reason had returned. her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
Ji Lingyuan was momentarily stunned.
“Boss, you know what I do.”
“Even if I have many reasons — to pay off debts, for my family, for my sister — in the end, I still took that step.”
“For someone who sells their dignity, love has nothing to do with me anymore…”
Su Ling felt a bit dazed.
She thought back to that night one month ago when she made the decision.
She thought of her first time.
At that time, she had just traveled from Earth and still retained a male mindset.
She had thought she would be happy, that she would accept it easily, or even enjoy it.
After all, it was a beautiful girl — the kind of beauty she could only dream of on Earth.
But that night, she still cried.
She cried with such heartbreaking intensity.
“Boss, do you want to continue? I’m fine with anything.”
Su Ling sat up and looked at Ji Lingyuan, a sweet smile playing on her small face.
But as Ji Lingyuan looked at that smile, she only felt annoyed.
“That’s enough for today.”
She waved her hand wearily.
Su Ling gave a sweet reply.
“Okay, Boss. If you need anything, contact me anytime. I’m available whenever you call.”
Su Ling breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Good, it’s finally over.’
She picked up her clothes from the floor and began to dress in an orderly fashion.
Ji Lingyuan watched her with a complicated gaze.
“Actually…”
Ji Lingyuan started to speak, but the words got stuck in her throat.
“Hmm?”
Su Ling looked at her curiously as she pulled on her dress.
‘Actually, I could help you pay off all your debts, as long as you stay as my girlfriend for the rest of your life.’
That was what Ji Lingyuan wanted to say.
But in the end, she didn’t say it.
“Actually, you’re very good. You’re better than you think you are.”
“Mhm, thank you.” Su Ling nodded gently.
She didn’t take the words to heart, assuming Ji Lingyuan was just being polite.
She was also very confused about why Ji Lingyuan was acting so strange today.
She was just a worthless girl that anyone could have, someone who would be a girlfriend for money.
Why was Ji Lingyuan so invested in her?
Although a terrifying theory existed in her mind, Su Ling consciously ignored it.
She was just a bit relieved.
‘Heehee, luckily the Boss hasn’t lost interest in me yet.’
She was still counting on draining the Boss’s wallet.
“Boss, I’m leaving now. Bye~”
Su Ling waved and followed S out the door.
Ji Lingyuan lay there for a while.
Once she calmed down, she poured herself a glass of wine, pulled back the curtains, and stood by the window.
As she watched Su Ling walk below, a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes.
What was wrong with her?
—
“Miss Su Ling, I will leave you here.”
S dropped Su Ling off at the entrance of her residential complex.
“Thank you very much.”
With a flash of white light, S disappeared.
Su Ling was filled with emotion.
That Automaton Maid was truly useful; she had every function imaginable.
Su Ling wanted one too.
Unfortunately, the price of an Automaton Maid was likely more than she could earn in her entire life.
Sighing, Su Ling cleared her thoughts and prepared to go home.
It was still early; the sun hadn’t even set yet.
She pulled out her phone and checked the time: 5:00 PM.
“It’s 5:00 PM. Should I go… huh?”
Just as Su Ling was debating whether to go to Mo Ran’s house for tutoring, she suddenly noticed that the call with Mo Ran hadn’t been disconnected.
She was silent for a moment before her face turned bright red.
This… this… this!
Did Mo Ran hear everything just now?
‘Haha, maybe she just forgot to hang up…’
But as if guessing Su Ling’s thoughts, the call suddenly ended.
‘That’s even more suspicious!’
Su Ling squatted down, her face burning with shame.
The thought that the sounds of her and Ji Lingyuan’s session had been heard by Mo Ran the whole time made her feel as if the sky were falling.
No, was she crazy?
For a moment, Su Ling felt a surge of humiliated anger.
Meanwhile, Miss Mo Ran was in her bedroom, panting heavily.
“What… what did I just do?!”
Mo Ran’s delicate face was covered in a deep blush.
She had actually just been listening to the sounds of Su Ling…
Mo Ran looked at the messy bedsheets and wanted to find a hammer to kill herself.
No, how could she do such a thing?
Su Ling was a Fuli Ji.
To think she had… to the voice of someone like that…
‘Argh, Mo Ran, have you gone insane?!’
And the thing that made her crash most of all was that as soon as it seemed Su Ling had discovered her, she had hung up the phone in a panic.
Wasn’t that an obvious admission of guilt?!
Su Ling had calmed herself down by now.
She didn’t know what Mo Ran’s goal was.
However, she had her suspicions.
‘Was Mo Ran recording it? Does she want to use that recording to threaten me?’
Su Ling could already imagine Mo Ran threatening her with the recording.
“Hehe, Classmate Su Ling, you wouldn’t want anyone else to hear this recording, would you?”
‘Bastard! Animal!’
Su Ling gritted her teeth in anger.
Other than that, she couldn’t imagine why Mo Ran would do it.
It couldn’t be that Mo Ran was attracted to the sounds and had been rewarding herself, right?
‘Mo Ran isn’t that perverted.’
Su Ling shook her head.
‘Whatever, I’ll take it one step at a time. It’s not a secret what I do anyway.’
As the saying went, a person who had nothing wasn’t afraid of threats.
Su Ling started walking toward her home.
“*Meow~*”
Just then, she saw an injured black cat lying in her stairwell.
The cat was in a terrible state, covered in wounds.
Beneath its black fur, faint pink flesh was visible.
“Hey.”
Su Ling squatted down and poked it with her finger.
‘No sleeping here.’
‘What do you want?’
The black cat opened its eyes and looked at Su Ling with annoyance.
But when it saw Su Ling, it froze.
‘Why is it her?’
Seeing the cat open its eyes, Su Ling became thoughtful. ‘Not dead?’
Moreover, it hadn’t scratched her despite its condition.
It seemed like a good cat.
With that thought, she picked up the black cat.
Miao Miao must be lonely at home by herself; having a cat for company would be nice.
“Heehee, meeting me is your lucky day. From now on, your name will be Hajimi.”
‘Hajimi?’
The black cat blinked in confusion.
‘What kind of stupid name is that?!’