This was the first time in his life that Chu Tang was sitting on a bus so it was understandable that by the time they got off, he was extremely uncomfortable- though he didn’t show it. Chu Tang forced himself to keep up his image.
Though Shi Sheng didn’t mock him, she wasn’t feeling any pity. ‘Serves you right for sending your driver home and wanting to charge me to call him back, why don’t you just go and live with your money if you love it so much.’
Shi Sheng brought Chu Tang for a walk around the park before heading home. By this point, even the System couldn’t continue looking at their interactions any longer. It was beginning to think that even if they started fighting, it wouldn’t feel in the least bit surprised.
System could pretty much envision the failure of this hidden quest already…
Even when Shi Sheng was close to reaching her house, Chu Tang showed no signs of leaving so she couldn’t help but speak, “Mr Chu, aren’t you heading back?”
Chu Tang stuck his hands in his pockets as he continued heading for the mansion district. “I currently belong to Miss Xu. Naturally I am going back home with Ms Xu.”
‘Going back… home?!’
Shi Sheng’s lips twitched. ‘This fellow has a hole in his brain, doesn’t he?’
Regardless of whether or not Chu Tang’s brain really had a hole in it or not, he followed her back home. Her father hadn’t slept yet and was instead watching a TV programme on family ethics. Hence, he caught Shi Sheng coming in with an unfamiliar man. After a brief moment of being stunned, he leapt up from his seat before yelling, “Girl, you brought a man home!”
Only when he had finished yelling this out did he see Chu Tang’s face clearly. ‘Hey, isn’t this that guy from the other day? …That’s right, it’s Chu Tang!’
His eyes lit up and he got all excited to the point of not knowing what to do. “Mr Chu?”
Chu Tang gave a slight smile. “I will be imposing on President Xu.”
“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. That Mr Chu saw fit to enter my humble abode is an honour, please, sit down. Girl, what are you waiting for? Go make some tea!”
Shi Sheng was utterly speechless. ‘You were just yelling at me(bbb) for bringing a man home just now! How come you changed your tone so quickly? Are you my really my dad?!’
By the time Shi Sheng had finished making tea, her father and Chu Tang were engaged in conversation.
And by the time she had changed clothes, her father had stopped calling him Mr Chu and had instead taken to calling him ‘Xiao Chu’! The strangest thing was that ‘Xiao Chu’ – ahem – Chu Tang, answered to it! He freaking answered!
‘Just what the hell happened while I was changing? Their relationship practically escalated into a whole new level!’
Since it was getting fairly late, it wouldn’t be proper to continue conversing with Chu Tang for too long. Hence, Shi Sheng’s father got her to prepare a room for him, going so far as to supervise her personally… It was as if he wished with every fibre of his being to shove her into his arms.
‘Dude, even if he’s extremely powerful and all that, you don’t have to ‘sell’ your daughter for benefits right!?’
“You go girl, dad’s cheering for you!” He said to her while making a cheering gesture.
Shi Sheng, “…”
#MightNeverUnderstandHowMyDadThinks#
Shi Sheng entered the guestroom with Chu Tang. “Er, if my dad said anything offensive, don’t take it to heart. I’ll apologise if he did.”
Though she had no idea what they were talking about, she kept having this sneaking suspicion it couldn’t be anything good.
“Miss Xu is worrying too much.” Chu Tang unbuttoned his blouse while asking with a straight face, “Since Ms Xu has not left yet, I presume you wish to request my services on the bed?”
‘To hell with that!’
Shi Sheng retreated from the room before slamming the door shut.
Chu Tang’s lips curved upwards. His long and elegant fingers continued unbuttoning his blouse, revealing his finely chiselled chest.
“Girl, come here girl…” Her father was hidden behind a corner nearby. Seeing Shi Sheng come out, he hastily gestured to her. ‘Why you’re acting like a thief in your own home is beyond me.’
Shi Sheng went over to him. “Dad, why haven’t you gone to bed yet?”
“Aiyo, how can I sleep before I asked you what your relationship with Chu Tang is?” Her father was as excited as if he had just run a 5km marathon. After all, who was Chu Tang? A business legend, that’s who!
He rarely accepted the invitations of even the press, let alone an invitation to someone else’s house. And now, Chu Tang was sleeping in his own home! Just thinking about it made him excited!
Shi Sheng went silent for a moment before speaking very honestly, “The relationship between the keeper and the kept[1].”
She had spent $10 million after all. It wasn’t a small sum so she would have had to report it to her father sooner or later.
Her father was so shocked his jaw dropped. Only after a good while did he regain his voice, this time there was even more excitement than before, “Xiao Chu is keeping you as his mistress?”
‘Hey dad, is this the kind of attitude you should be having?!’
“I’m the one keeping him.” Shi Sheng waved her hand listlessly. “Go and sleep first dad. It’s complicated and I’ll explain to you when I have the time. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely chase him down!”
She didn’t forget to reassure her father just in case he wouldn’t release her otherwise. Taking advantage of the fact that he hadn’t completely processed the fact that Chu Tang was the one being kept, Shi Sheng, very wisely, escaped back to her room.
And the result was… Shi Sheng found a cheque that had been shoved under her door the following morning. Having a father who spend loads of money without blinking an eye was truly a fascinating experience for her.
Just as Shi Sheng was looking at the cheque in a daze, the door to the room opposite hers opened, revealing the neatly dressed Chu Tang. Seeing the cheque in her hand, he raised an eyebrow, “Is Ms Xu planning on extending the duration of the contract?”
‘Extending the- can it even be used that way?’
Seeing the figure on the cheque, Chu Tang picked it up between his middle and index finger. “Since Ms Xu is so enthusiastic about keeping me then I shan’t let you down and take this cheque. The duration has increased to one month.”
“You…” ‘Who said I wanted to extend the contract?!’
“I’m hungry.” Chu Tang hurried shoved the cheque into his pocket.
Shi Sheng was rendered speechless for the umpteenth time. ‘I’ve seen plenty of guys playing gangster but never such an excellent specimen of a man just begging to be kept!’
Shi Sheng mentally calculated her chances of snatching the cheque back though in the end she gave up. ‘It’s not that bad I guess. This way I’ve got a longer period of time to get him to like me.’
They descended the stairs, Chu Tang in front and Shi Sheng following behind him. Her father was already sitting at the dining table and upon seeing them come down, his gaze wandered suggestively between the two.
“Good morning dad.” Shi Sheng sat down. Chu Tang remained standing beside her and looking at her. Shi Sheng could only twitch her lip as she got up to give him her seat.
‘The hell, I just bought a little ancestor home! Hey System, you sure this fellow can be brought down?’
[As long as the Host is sincere. If you do not give any sincerity, others will not either.] System wasn’t stingy when replying to questions it deemed necessary to answer.
‘Forget about it, where am I going to get that much sincerity? What if this kind of quest turns up again? If I fall in love with every single one of them, I needn’t return anymore because I would have suffered from a mental collapse by then!’
[…then please at least try to fake it.]
‘Fake your head!’
Shi Sheng ground her teeth. ‘Fine, I’ll do it! I’ll just take it as if… as if I’m practising my acting skills. Who knows, maybe by the time I get back I can become an actress!’
Chu Tang was rather satisfied by Shi Sheng’s actions. He grabbed the milk she was holding before courteously nodding to her father and greeting him, “Good morning, President Xu.”
“Good morning to you to. A~ha, I remember I still had matters to take care of at the company. Girl, be a good host to Xiao Chu while I’m gone!” He got up and left. Though he didn’t forget to give her an encouraging look before he left.
Once he had left, Shi Sheng and Chu Tang were left staring at each other, which they did for a full minute. In the end though, Shi Sheng got hungry first so she shifted her attention to the food.
Chu Tang’s fingers tapped lightly on the table top, his gaze landing – seemingly unintentionally – on the girl who was focusing on eating. The dawn light poured in through the window and shone on her, giving her an otherworldly feeling of perfection, purity and quietness.
Of course, he knew it was all an illusion. The girl sitting across from him definitely wasn’t that pure. There was a familiar aura on her, one made up of darkness and ill-intent…
Perhaps it was the special resonance between two similar people, just like how Shi Sheng had immediately seen through him on their first encounter. Chu Tang didn’t linger for too long. His assistant arrived shortly after Shi Sheng’s father left to bring him away.
As his assistant and Chu Tang left from the front gate of the Xu mansion, his diligently asked, “Young Master, should I investigate the Xu family?”
This question was asked due to the fact that everyone who could be considered able to affect Chu Tang’s life had their background checked so thoroughly they could probably name all 18 generations of relations.
“No need.”
The assistant was surprised. He looked back at the gates of the Xu mansion as he thought, ‘Is this Ms Xu special to the Young Master?’
[1] It sounds better in Chinese but basically a relationship between someone who ‘keeps’ someone else as a ‘mistress’ though the ‘mistress’ in this case is a male so I guess the term would be ‘kept man’?
Translator’s Corner: