Returning to Hu Lianglu’s home, An Siyu found that the teenage girl indeed hadn’t closed the door.
A typical girl would either flee, call the police, or at least shut the door properly. But Hu Lianglu seemed to have done absolutely nothing.
Perhaps this was the stubbornness of a delinquent.
Zhong Yunxin, for example, wouldn’t merely escape—she’d run straight to the police station to feel safe.
Thinking about it, Zhong Yunxin was even an unsatisfactory delinquent.
Putting aside these idle thoughts, Xia Yu approached Hu Lianglu and said, “Lie on the sofa.”
Looking at the bag in An Siyu’s hand, Hu Lianglu grabbed her collar and glared at Xia Yu.
Without further words, Xia Yu pushed her onto the sofa, lifting her top slightly to expose her waist.
Hu Lianglu tried to struggle, but Xia Yu, with strength at level 2, could easily suppress her with one hand.
With one hand, Xia Yu opened the red flower oil, dipped a cotton swab into it, and applied it to her bruised area.
Feeling something wet on her waist, Hu Lianglu turned her head to check and, seeing An Siyu applying the medicine, relaxed.
She continued to struggle, which wasn’t strange—after all, as a delinquent, how could she allow an enemy to treat her wounds?
However, Xia Yu was puzzled because through telepathy, he sensed her hostility decreasing.
After finishing the treatment, the hostility from Hu Lianglu had turned into a bit of goodwill, even though she was still resisting.
What was going on here? Was she a masochist?
Did her affection increase the more she was mistreated?
But previously, when he had taken action, he hadn’t felt any increase in affection.
Xia Yu pondered.
After a minute, he released Hu Lianglu, who immediately sat up on the sofa and resumed glaring at An Siyu.
Xia Yu first went to the bathroom, fetched a makeup remover and a towel, then grabbed Hu Lianglu’s hand, pulling her to the kitchen and holding her head under the faucet to rinse off her makeup.
In the telepathic link, Xia Yu sensed a slight hostility from Hu Lianglu again, so she wasn’t a masochist after all.
After washing the girl’s face clean, Xia Yu dried it with a towel.
While drying her face, Xia Yu sensed Hu Lianglu’s hostility disappear and a bit more goodwill emerge.
So, was this a pattern where mistreating her first, then showing care, could boost affection?
This was indeed a unique kind of masochism.
To verify his hypothesis, Xia Yu secretly tripped Hu Lianglu, causing her to fall.
Helping her up, An Siyu rubbed the spot she had hit, apologizing and saying it wasn’t intentional.
Hu Lianglu’s goodwill deepened further.
This girl had great potential.
Then, pulling her into the bedroom, Xia Yu found a set of clothes that weren’t as cool as what Hu Lianglu had worn before but were warmer, and had her change into them. Hu Lianglu’s goodwill increased again.
Xia Yu felt as if he were playing a dating simulation game, with the delinquent girl in front of him as the character to romance—showing care would boost affection.
Unfortunately, he was using An Siyao’s body, which was like playing someone else’s account—raising someone else’s wife.
At least he was using An Siyao’s body, otherwise some things would be difficult to do. After all, he wasn’t Hu Lianglu’s anything, and being of different genders made closeness awkward.
After resolving the clothing issue, Xia Yu continued brainstorming ways to gain more affection. He found a bag of instant noodles in the kitchen cabinet, boiled some water, and prepared a bowl for her. Hu Lianglu’s goodwill increased again.
Opening the refrigerator, Xia Yu looked for other food, but this time, her goodwill no longer increased.
Currently, the goodwill was at the level of ordinary friends.
Gaining this much affection in a single day was already very fast; the rest could be handled gradually.
Xia Yu saw great potential in Hu Lianglu.
“I’m leaving. I’ll come to see you tomorrow,” Xia Yu said, patting Hu Lianglu’s head.
Hu Lianglu said nothing, as if she had been forced the entire time.
Actually, that was exactly what happened. Throughout the process of affection increasing, Hu Lianglu always resisted stubbornly, and it was only through Xia Yu’s insistence that everything was completed.
“Say goodbye,” An Siyu threatened, pinching Hu Lianglu’s face.
Hu Lianglu refused to cooperate.
Xia Yu didn’t mind. He released the girl and left.
On his way back, Xia Yu reflected.
Hu Lianglu certainly didn’t like being mistreated first and then cared for—the real factor was the care afterward.
Was this girl just lacking love?
Recalling what Yu Ningmeng had said about Hu Lianglu’s parents being constantly away, Xia Yu felt it was inevitable that Hu Lianglu lacked love.
Generally, people pursue what they lack, but Hu Lianglu physically resisted care. Without Xia Yu’s approach of hitting first, any care would scare her off.
Because of this, Hu Lianglu likely fell deeper into a state of being uncared for.
This was convenient for Xia Yu.
Now, Xia Yu felt that using Hu Lianglu merely as a tool to watch Zhong Yunxin was a waste—she could be a more useful tool.
From today’s events, Xia Yu observed the following qualities in Hu Lianglu:
Brave—despite lacking strength, she dared to fight two men; resilient—she endured even when Xia Yu intentionally hurt her; gullible—pretending to care slightly caused her affection to skyrocket.
In ancient times, these were the qualities of a loyal warrior, raised by noble families to assassinate rivals.
Of course, being a loyal warrior was the most reasonable use, but she could also excel in other roles, such as a bodyguard.
Xia Yu didn’t need one, but he felt An Siyao did.
An Siyao’s personality was too soft, making her prone to being bullied. Having such a fierce dog as a bodyguard would be perfect.
Seizing the opportunity, Xia Yu decided to spend the next few days focusing on courting this fierce dog.
After making up his mind, Xia Yu informed An Siyao of his plan.
An Siyao didn’t fully understand Xia Yu’s words, but she grasped that Xia Yu wanted Hu Lianglu to protect her.
“Okay,” An Siyao agreed.
At the same time, the girl showed some concern: “If she protects me, will you still come?”
An Siyao was worried Xia Yu would neglect her.
This was similar to You Xue’s reaction when Xia Yu mentioned hiring a nanny, thinking she’d be useless. But unlike You Xue, who wouldn’t listen to explanations, An Siyao could be comforted.
“Don’t worry, I still need you to support me,” Xia Yu replied.
“I’ll try my best!” An Siyao became happy.
Returning to An Siyao’s villa, Xia Yu logged out of her body and back into his own.
After the familiar darkness, he saw Yu Ningmeng’s face very close to his.
He discovered he was being pinned against the wall by her.
What was going on!
This was unexpectedly exciting!
The head maid was pinning the young master against the wall while the young lady was away—this could be the title of a light novel.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a cheerful storyline.
Seeing the anger on Yu Ningmeng’s face, Xia Yu wondered what Xia Yu had done to provoke her.
Yu Ningmeng spoke: “Say something! Aren’t you supposed to nod and agree all the time!”
That made sense.
Xia Yu silently sympathized with Yu Ningmeng for a moment.
“Where is it! The thing I asked for!” Yu Ningmeng shook Xia Yu’s shoulders, her emotions intense.
If the scene were moved to a dark alley and Yu Ningmeng wore a triad outfit, it would be a classic crime scene.
Xia Yu thought for two seconds and recalled what Yu Ningmeng wanted.
Previously, he had told Yu Ningmeng that once he collected information about Wen Ziying’s mother, Bian Guping, he would provide her with microblog-related creative ideas. However, when he was about to share the ideas, he was interrupted by a sudden game email and forgot about it, then went to An Siyao’s place.
Yu Ningmeng must have been impatient and came to inquire, but she faced Xia Yu, who couldn’t provide anything.
Xia Yu tried to calm her: “Don’t get excited. Let me down first, and we can talk properly.”
“Hand it over first!” Hearing Xia Yu’s indifferent words, Yu Ningmeng became even angrier. She moved her face closer to his—an effective intimidation tactic.
However, this only worked if the intimidated party feared the intimidator.
Xia Yu wasn’t afraid of Yu Ningmeng.
He noticed her agitation and decided to stay silent first, giving Yu Ningmeng time to calm down.
His calmness surprised Yu Ningmeng, making her feel uneasy. This discomfort quickly extinguished her anger, restoring her rationality.
Looking at Xia Yu’s face so close to hers and feeling the strength and warmth of his body pressed beneath her, Yu Ningmeng felt her face warming slightly.
However, she didn’t immediately release Xia Yu.
Yu Ningmeng wasn’t easily flustered like a young girl. Her eyes swept over Xia Yu’s lips—full and vibrant. She had seen many handsome men, but few had lips as perfect as his—most were either too dry or too dark.
She moved her hands on Xia Yu’s shoulders, feeling the firm and warm sensation.
Feeling slightly flustered by Yu Ningmeng’s small actions, Xia Yu grabbed her hands: “Auntie Ning, please behave yourself.”
Yu Ningmeng glared at Xia Yu but said carelessly, “Don’t talk about behaving. I know men like you. Except for those without money or whose money is controlled by their wives, or those with unusual hobbies, who’s clean?”
“I’m an upright person,” Xia Yu firmly distanced himself from her.
“Alright, alright. Don’t act like I’m forcing you. I was just looking,” Yu Ningmeng released Xia Yu.
“Dad?” Xia Yu looked at Yu Ningmeng’s figure, which somehow didn’t resemble a mother’s.
“Not ‘Dad,’ then ‘old lady’? Which girl says ‘old lady’? That’s just your male fantasy. It’s only those girls who hang out with men trying to fit in who say things like that,” Yu Ningmeng explained.
Xia Yu felt the topic had strayed quite far, but at least Yu Ningmeng had stopped looking at him that way, so he breathed a sigh of relief and didn’t attempt to bring the topic back.
Yu Ningmeng was also a bit flustered inside, which was why she had strayed so far.
Reflecting on what had just happened, she felt a strange thrill.
With the men she usually met, if she relaxed even slightly, they would take advantage. Therefore, Yu Ningmeng dared not let her guard down. Now, facing Xia Yu, she finally experienced the thrill of teasing a decent young man.
Seeing Yu Ningmeng fall silent, Xia Yu redirected the conversation to the microblog ideas: “The key is to create accounts with a large number of followers.”
“How to create them?” Yu Ningmeng also entered the mood.
With Business Level 2, Xia Yu had gained many new insights when revisiting the design and operation of microblogging. He shared these key points with Yu Ningmeng.
Yu Ningmeng took out her phone and occasionally jotted down notes in her memo app.
After Xia Yu finished explaining, Yu Ningmeng didn’t immediately leave but continued discussing details with him.
As the night grew darker, Xia Yu grew slightly concerned and had An Siyao call Yu Ningmeng back.
Watching Yu Ningmeng get into her car downstairs, Xia Yu returned home.
“Isn’t Sister Ning staying for dinner?” You Xue asked, carrying bowls to the table.
“She recently started a new company and is busy,” Xia Yu replied.
“Oh.”
You Xue nodded obediently on the surface but was thinking:
If she’s so busy starting a new company, why come to see Brother?
Could it be…
No, that’s probably impossible.
You Xue shelved this matter for now.
During dinner, Xia Yu took the opportunity to ask You Xue about her recent situation.
Hua University Affiliated High School was a public school, not a private school full of aristocrats. You Xue was thriving there. According to her, she would be able to compete for the vice-president position when the student council elections came.
Hearing this, Xia Yu stroked his chin thoughtfully.
He had always wanted You Xue to gain more confidence and independence, so she wouldn’t feel abandoned just because they hired a maid.
His original plan was to help You Xue establish herself through her talents, but upon checking, her three talents were Test-Oriented Education, Flirting, and Buddhist Philosophy.
Test-Oriented Education could only improve her grades, Flirting wasn’t particularly useful, and if Buddhist Philosophy succeeded, Xia’s family might gain a nun, so none of these talents were suitable.
Now, You Xue had secured a chance to compete for vice-president herself, so Xia Yu could offer some help.
But he had to do it secretly, without You Xue realizing, otherwise it would be ineffective.
Xia Yu contemplated strategies.
The student council election was either by vote or appointed by the principal or director. The principal and director were easy to handle, but if it was a student vote, it would be a bit tricky.
Although the principal could manipulate the results secretly, popularity was easily noticeable. If the manipulation was too obvious, it might backfire, just like when a popular idol surpassed a superstar.
Well, there was still a semester left, and it wasn’t necessary to go this way. He would observe first.
After dinner, Xia Yu sat on the sofa playing games while You Xue watched cartoons beside him.
At 11 p.m., the two went to bed.
The next morning, Xia Yu logged into An Siyao’s body again and headed to the fierce dog Hu Lianglu’s place.
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