Li Jing felt as if time had been paused.
For a moment, she forgot to blink.
Lu Mian walked in as if he were stepping on the minute hand of time. The steamy water vapor in the bathroom couldn’t touch him. His silver hair, light-colored pupils, and perfectly sculpted features were like something specially favored by the Creator, independent of everything in this world.
For that moment, Li Jing even felt a certain divinity from him.
Lu Mian walked towards her through the water, his posture elegant, his expression neither happy nor angry.
“Routine inspection.” His gaze swept over Li Jing’s entire body.
Only then did Li Jing suddenly come to her senses, a sense of elation bubbling up in her brain—
“Oh…” Li Jing’s bright eyes slowly curved upwards, “Checking what? Teacher.”
Green Literature City, high-energy scenes require manual dimming, right?
But, was this out of the Transmigration Bureau’s stance, or out of Lu Mian’s own?
“To ensure that you can successfully and safely retire.” Lu Mian said calmly.
The first step in taming the Sea King—keeping her and other men at a safe distance.
Li Jing blinked: “Oh.”
He spoke seriously.carpreads.pages.dev
But the atmosphere was simply delightful.
Li Jing’s breathing slowed, and then she saw the man’s hand, sculpted like a work of art, reaching out to her.
Those beautiful knuckles appeared translucent under the warm light, his fingertips gently lifting, reaching towards Li Jing’s white, supple neck. For a moment, the distant oriental woody scent and the crispness of his breath lingered in the air.
Li Jing blinked, not moving.
The heartbeat that hadn’t been felt during the thrilling plot just now suddenly surged with excitement.
His fingers fell.
They landed on Li Jing’s collar.
Even though there were no words, Li Jing felt a dryness in her mouth.
Then—
Lu Mian pulled her collar up tightly and meticulously.
Li Jing: “?”
The fragile collarbone lines under her delicate neck were completely covered, and the skin below was not visible at all. Only then did Lu Mian’s brow relax, and he politely retracted his hand, placing it behind his back.
“It just so happens that I also want to retire,” he said.
The young god had spent a long and boring life. If his top1 also retired and left, then he probably… wouldn’t want to continue overlooking everything in solitude.
“Well, okay,” Li Jing said.
Although Teacher Lu was a bit old-fashioned, Li Jing understood his invitation—to grow old together.
Ah, what a wonderful future!
Together, sunshine, ocean, beach, enjoying everything that only a Main God can enjoy.
“So—”
Li Jing smiled sweetly, and also raised her hand, adjusting the pristine white collar of Teacher Lu: “You can’t hinder me from doing my mission.”
Lu Mian paused slightly, then asked in a soft voice: “How are you going to do it?”
Although he never doubted Li Jing’s work ability, but—
“Of course, I’ll get close to him,” Li Jing tiptoed, getting closer to Lu Mian, “and then—”
The young god’s breath suddenly hitched.
Li Jing’s raised hand gently brushed against Lu Mian’s perfect cheek, like a feather.
“Then I’ll slap him,” Li Jing smiled and stepped back.
Good, score one point √
Lu Mian thought that perhaps the temperature in the bathroom was indeed a bit high.
His face, which was always like a mountain glacier, was slightly warm where she had brushed it.
“Hmm.” The god didn’t know what to say, but he was very satisfied with her answer.
Li Jing smiled and returned to Fu Lingchu, asking him: “After time resumes its flow, will everything be as usual? Won’t the male lead have any memory gaps?”
“No.” Lu Mian thought for a moment, then stepped back.
Leaving the space entirely to Li Jing.
When the silver hair disappeared into the darkness, after a casual snap of the fingers, the invisible pointer in the void resumed its ticking.
The scene in the bathroom continued.
Except for Li Jing’s collar being pulled up, everything else remained unchanged from before the pause.
However, Li Jing had already stolen time and flirted with someone—ah, how exciting.
For a moment, Li Jing couldn’t help but feel a sense of pleasure, but the task target was right in front of her, ah, it was truly a test of her skills…
Li Jing silently muttered: Fu Lingchu Fu Lingchu, it’s that old dog Fu Lingchu.
She took a second to adjust, then successfully immersed herself in the scene.
Fu Lingchu’s hot breath swept over her—he was still in a state of intoxication.
The CEO, accustomed to a life of luxury, and she, in the hotel bathroom, faced each other, unable to resist the urge to draw closer.
Fu Lingchu couldn’t describe his own feelings. He had never looked at Li Jing so intently before—
It was Li Jing. Not those features that resembled Ye Yan’s.
Li Jing was initially stunned, unsure how to react, then a few seconds later, as if she had suddenly realized something, her eyes widened—
Her slender body retreated an inch.
But the man’s gaze didn’t waver.
Li Jing’s eyes, the breath she exhaled, her nostrils that flared with fear.
And a hint of fire that ignited in her eyes.
It was a dangerous signal.
But Fu Lingchu found that he couldn’t control his desire to approach, even though she was like a little deer cornered and about to collapse.
She was just a fake, wasn’t she?
She should be played with, shouldn’t she?
If he kissed her, or did something even worse, would she completely shatter?
The distance continued to shrink, a certain string stretched to its limit.
Finally, when the distance between them was reduced to less than half a palm—
Li Jing: Okay, okay, that’s enough.
Her delicate hand instantly shot up, with a speed that the other party couldn’t react to—a resounding slap, landing on Fu Lingchu’s face!
Li Jing was secretly thrilled: Yes! Finally slapped one of the three dogs!
She was quick with her words, seizing the initiative before Fu Lingchu could react—“Fu Lingchu!”
The fragile little white flower’s voice was choked with sobs, her shoulders trembling slightly: “If you push me any further, I’ll jump right off this balcony!”
Fu Lingchu’s face was turned to the side from the slap.
A clear imprint of a hand appeared on the side of his face, with its sharp jawline.
But it didn’t diminish the man’s charm.
The moment he was slapped, Fu Lingchu’s expression darkened. When he turned his face back, his sharp eyes were like those of a hunter, the wildness of that moment almost bursting forth.
“—Are you looking for death?”
My old bro, though your words were harsh enough.
But your favorability has already reached 46%.
One plot point directly increased it by 7%, so now 50% was within reach.
And in the later stages of the original plot, the male leads fell madly in love with the substitute female lead, and when the female lead discovered the truth, she also had a plot where she was heartbroken and madly beat them—the male leads even enjoyed it.
Male leads in melodramatic novels, they are just so cheap!
But the current Fu Lingchu isn’t that cheap yet.
He would never allow a woman, especially a substitute for Ye Yan, to challenge his authority and self-esteem.
The man’s icy gaze was like looking at a dead thing: “What do you think you are? Li Jing, there are countless women who want to climb into my bed, this is your chance.”
Listen, listen, this guy really doesn’t know how to speak properly.
Li Jing stiffened her slender neck, the flames burning around her extinguished.
Even the pair of eyes that had always been bright and clear were now filled with nothing but a handful of burnt ashes.
For some reason, Fu Lingchu found them even more glaring.
He didn’t want to see Li Jing with such lifeless eyes.
“I thought that you, who would donate and do charity, might still have a moral bottom line in your heart…”
Li Jing said, shaking her head and backing away.
She had perfectly captured the posture of a little white flower.
“I was wrong, I was wrong…”
Tears fell unexpectedly, like her own shattered self.
Fu Lingchu suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen Li Jing cry in a long time.
She always endured the redness around her eyes, bearing the fate—or rather, bearing everything they imposed on her.
—Fu Lingchu’s favorability +1%
Very good, Li Jing knew that the 1% increase in progress earned outside of the stimulating plot was particularly crucial.
In Fu Lingchu’s towering desire for control, she had finally nurtured a hint of pity.
Once a heartless person shows even a sliver of softness, they will—
Be taken advantage of by a baddie like her, oh^_^
Li Jing retreated to the end, pressed against the cold tiles, her smile tragic.
“Do you need me to jump from here?”
Fu Lingchu stared at her darkly, and after a while, he spat out a single word:
“Scram.”
Li Jing clenched her fists, turned around, and left without looking back, her figure thin and resolute.
—Don’t let her laugh herself to death.
Fu Lingchu had been slapped, his face swollen beyond recognition, but he hadn’t actually touched Li Jing.
The favorability rating directly jumped to 47%.
Well, he’s done for, haha.
This plot point ultimately ended with Fu Lingchu leaving the hotel with a gloomy expression.
No one in the entire hotel dared to look directly at Fu Lingchu’s face, even if they caught a glimpse of the red mark on his face, they pretended not to see it—
Nonsense, who would dare to make fun of Fu Lingchu? Do they want to die?
On the other hand, Li Jing hadn’t gone far at all.
Li Jing didn’t stalk Fu Lingchu; she directly tapped the system to locate him, and once the distance between her and the male lead number one exceeded 500 meters, she leisurely went back.
The system was amazed by her performance throughout the night: “This system function is truly being used to its full potential by you!”
Li Jing modestly said, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
She wasn’t afraid of Fu Lingchu knowing she had returned to the hotel, because judging from the backend earnings, Fu Lingchu was indeed a top-notch leek, and before leaving, he had even extended her stay for ten days, with 88,000 yuan directly going into her account.
This was Fu Lingchu’s desire for control, and it was also a declaration.
And Li Jing staying back was a form of submission for Fu Lingchu, a way to ease the impact of that slap.
Plus, she could enjoy the luxurious service of a five-star hotel^_^
Just be comfortable comfortably.
When Li Jing walked back into the hotel lobby and passed by the front desk, the receptionist called out to her.
“Miss, is there anything you need?”
They didn’t dare to look at Fu Lingchu, but they dared to look at Li Jing—all sorts of gazes fell upon Li Jing’s thin figure, filled with curiosity.
It wasn’t really their fault for being curious. Who was Fu Lingchu? Countless women had tried to climb into his bed, but he simply disdained them. Rumors had circulated in the outside world of the wealthy that Fu Lingchu had a White Moonlight in his heart.
Yet today, Fu Lingchu had brought a woman with him for the first time! What surprised them most was that the girl was dressed in tattered clothes and kept her head down. Her face could only be vaguely seen as delicate, but her timid and submissive demeanor was simply not presentable.
What on earth could she have done to make Fu Lingchu treat her so specially??
Li Jing heard the voice and calmly turned her head.
Her voice was calm and clear as she replied, “Asking me?”
This time, she didn’t bury her head, her entire face was exposed under the dazzling light of the hotel lobby’s ornate glass chandelier.
The receptionist was speechless for a second.
Those, those features, they were too exquisite…
But the most crucial thing was, the girl in front of him, even though she was still dressed in the same old, worn-out clothes as before, her whole aura was completely different!
Her soft black hair cascaded down the sides of her face, her bright eyes held a faint smile, as if she could navigate any situation with ease and without fear. And her face was indeed incredibly stunning, her figure slender and delicate, as if even the old, simple clothes she wore had a certain inexplicable charm.
“Oh, there’s water spilled on the bathroom floor, could you please help clean it up?” Li Jing curved her lips, smiling politely, “—Thank you.”
The receptionist finally snapped out of her daze: “Ah, yes, yes.”
That kind of effortless charm that washed over her, almost made her stutter: “I’ll call someone for you right away!”
Li Jing waved her hand, strolling leisurely into the elevator.
Leaving the receptionist questioning her own reality—what was going on, didn’t President Fu say she was so destitute she had to live under a bridge?!
But the person in front of her was simply dazzling!
-—–
Today, Li Jing had consecutively brushed past two plot points involving Feng Ce and Fu Lingchu, making good progress.
A qualified top-tier professional also needs to follow up on the situation of young master Feng, whose favorability rating is at 50%.
Then use the A line to hang the B line.
Today was the first time Feng Ce didn’t make his family doctor beg him to take his medicine, and he actually took it according to the instructions.
It was probably because the medicine was special this time.
If Li Jing were present, she would definitely laugh.
—Of course it was special, that medicine was bought by the Fu Group’s President, the one he hated the most, haha!
Being a strong and healthy young man, Feng Ce took the medicine, slept for a while, and woke up with his cold basically gone.
He grabbed his phone and scrolled aimlessly, no one in that rich and stupid chat group dared to touch his bad mood, and no one dared to talk about Li Jing anymore.
Apart from that, there were random people looking for him, and some girls even tried to chat with him privately about this, but Feng Ce ignored them all.
He looked left and right, unable to find the WeChat message he was looking for.
After a long time, Feng Ce finally remembered what he was supposed to check—the SMS inbox.
No wonder there were no messages.
This ancient thing called SMS is only used by one person now.
Feng Ce opened the SMS, rummaged through the pile of carrier messages and verification codes for a long time, but there was no—
Li Jing hadn’t sent him a message?
“This woman.” Feng Ce frowned.
Young Master Feng always did whatever he wanted, so he sent a message with a dissatisfied expression:
[What are you doing?]
[Where are you staying tonight?]
Li Jing’s little phone buzzed twice, and sure enough, Young Master Feng’s response came.
With Feng Ce in this state of mind, she would be betraying her strong little white flower persona if she didn’t play the victim.
She first went to take a bath, pampered herself, and after getting comfortable in the soft hotel bed, she waited for the perfect emo moment to reply to Young Master Feng.
Li Jing: [Feng Ce, thank you, don’t worry about me]
Li Jing: [I’ve already… never mind. I hope you get better soon.]
She gave him a vague idea, then—turned off her phone!
The rest was left for young master Feng to digest and figure out on his own.
Li Jing lay down contentedly, sighing: If only Feng Ce could be as scheming as Fu Lingchu, at least he would have put a location tracker on Li Jing or something, and he could have come to the hotel to advance the plot.
He’s a little lacking in experience, my little bro.
She slept soundly, but Feng Ce was staring at the message, dumbfounded.
He called and got the message “The user you are trying to reach is currently unavailable,” he had no idea what was going on.
Feng Ce was so angry he almost smashed another phone—
If he smashed another one, he would have broken three phones because of Li Jing.
Was she worth it? She was just a substitute.
But Feng Ce couldn’t suppress that feeling of rage.
It must be because Li Jing took care of him today, it must be.
He clenched his phone tightly, until a “ding-dong” sound, a new message came in.
[A’ce, I saw a very beautiful motorcycle helmet here, should I bring it back to you when I return to the country?]
At this time, it was just morning on the other side of the ocean.
Ye Yan sent this message to arouse their anticipation of seeing her.
If it were in the past, Feng Ce would have been so happy that he would have jumped up and down, eager to confirm Ye Yan’s return date immediately.
But at this moment, all Feng Ce could think about was Li Jing’s words, “I already…”
She already what?
What did that old cunning bastard Fu Lingchu do to her?!
So, Ye Yan waited for ten minutes before Feng Ce replied to her.
Ye Yan sensed something was wrong.
Feng Ce always replied to her instantly. Not only that, if Ye Yan sent one message, he would reply with ten. If Ye Yan bought him something, Feng Ce would immediately find something better to buy for her.
But this time, Feng Ce replied to her after a long pause: [My sister’s choice is definitely the best!]
There was no other message besides that.
Ye Yan’s fingertips holding the phone felt slightly cold.
But she couldn’t send too many messages - men were like that, the shift in power and status lay in the subtle details, if you suddenly became enthusiastic towards a lickspittle, they would no longer be a lickspittle.
Thankfully, Du Jinghuai’s feedback was normal.
Last time he bought Li Jing a piano, so Ye Yan recorded a short clip of herself sitting at the piano playing.
The lighting, the atmosphere, everything was perfectly captured, the rich artistic vibe truly captivated Du Jinghuai.
She could feel that Du Jinghuai’s longing for her had deepened a notch.
So now…
Ye Yan’s eyes flickered slightly, and she opened Fu Lingchu’s chatbox.
Usually they communicated through phone calls and WeChat, only occasionally would Ye Yan send them some photos of herself. Looking at her reflection in the reflective glass, or her hands while watering flowers, or photos of her with exquisite makeup.
She was like a fisherman, slowly giving bait.
Never too much, keeping them just hungry enough.
But this time, Ye Yan could give a little more -
So, let’s have a video call with Fu Lingchu.
Let him see all her beauty.
By the way… Ye Yan thought of Fu Lingchu’s cold and handsome face, her heart couldn’t help but flutter.
Fu Lingchu was truly an outstanding man, from his wealth to his abilities, to his appearance, otherwise Ye Yan wouldn’t have put so much effort into maintaining her relationship with him.
As long as she called him, Fu Lingchu would definitely answer immediately.
Ye Yan had complete confidence in this.
At this time. The Fu family.
When the video call request came through, Fu Lingchu was sitting back in his chair, looking up -
Letting the family doctor treat the slap marks on his face.
Hearing the ringtone, the doctor discreetly stepped back.
Fu Lingchu saw Ye Yan’s call, a video call, and naturally felt happy for a moment.
But he looked at himself in the mirror.
The five-fingered marks on his face were clearly from being slapped.
Even if you looked closely, you could tell - the person who hit him had slender fingers, definitely a woman.
The suppressed annoyance surged back up.
But not because he was hit.
But because of those misty eyes filled with tears.
Fu Lingchu was stunned for two seconds, then he closed his eyes tightly, he had to answer Ye Yan’s call -
At this time, Ye Yan had already positioned herself at the perfect angle.
In the most perfect posture.
Her face held the most perfect expression.
Sure enough, a “beep—” sound rang out, and the phone connected.
Ye Yan’s lips curved into the most delicate and innocent smile, and then she discovered—
Fu Lingchu had actually switched to voice call?!
He had actually refused to video chat with her?!
Author Note:
President Fu: shameless
Li Jing: Turn to the right and let me slap it.