Boiling Sheep and Happy Sheep

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Naked sprinting through a hotel?

Was that really the choice a normal person would make?

Chen Ze ignored the second option outright. No matter how grand the reward, he could never do it. There were many ways to strip naked, and he would rather be the hero than run around bare-assed.

“System, is there really no other choice?”

Chen Ze asked helplessly. Either option seemed a little perverse.

Don’t hold it in this morning?

What was that supposed to mean?

[Please respect your own desires.]

That pleasant mechanical voice rang in his ears again. After scratching his head, Chen Ze still clicked on the first option.

If he did not choose, there would be no punishment, but there would also be no reward. And the reward looked quite generous.

[Please complete an act of intimacy with Qin Yanan within two hours. Countdown: 1:59:58.]

“Qin Yanan? Who is that?”

This system was becoming more and more absurd. For a moment Chen Ze did not react at all, utterly bewildered.

Then the virtual screen in front of him disappeared, and hearing the sound of running water from the room, he frowned and looked toward the bathroom, suspicion dawning in him.

Frosted glass could hide the details.

But it could not hide the vague and alluring silhouette.

Even blurred, one could still make out the slim, tall figure of a stunning mature woman: fair skin, a waist slender enough to encircle with one hand, and those long, devastating legs, along with a face and smile that could enchant men.

If the system had not said so,

he would never have known her name.

Today was Sunday, and yesterday had been Saturday.

What a coincidence. He had just started work at the company when the whole department was taken out for a team dinner near Workers’ Stadium, and later they went to a bar to have fun.

He had been more or less drunk then. He vaguely remembered bumping into a woman at the bar, maybe knocking into her, and she asked him to drink a couple of glasses with her.

Now, thinking it over carefully, Qin Yanan must have taken an interest in him at first sight while tipsy.

Straight man, simp, scumbag, pure-hearted—women’s affection for men always seemed to rise in that order.

Coincidentally, Chen Ze had been the pure-hearted type back then.

Though his behavior had a faintly simping quality, the root of it was that he had been manipulated. He was the one being deceived.

During their relationship, Li Yao painted him a picture of the most beautiful love and exploited his nouveau riche mentality.

A backup and a fish in the pond were not the same thing.

Chen Ze had been the stupid fish, trapped in someone else’s carefully designed fish cage, ready to become meat on the chopping block at any time.

Compared with a backup boyfriend or a simp, all he had lost was love and money. He had not yet crossed the bottom line of dignity.

If it had not been for bankruptcy, Li Yao might have manipulated him forever. After all, back then he had at least counted as a rich, handsome man.

In this world, having no money was the original sin.

That did not mean a person could not be happy without money—of course they could—but money was the safe for happiness, darling.

Back then Chen Ze had gone abroad to study and gained some worldly experience, and for a whole year he had doubted himself.

After he went overseas, the two of them could no longer be together every day. Though they still had WeChat and could chat anytime, WeChat had poor network latency in America, and sometimes video calls were difficult.

More importantly, there was the time difference.

WeChat from China could not be used for payment in America; to scan and pay at Asian supermarkets and the like, one had to use WeChat.

And while WeChat itself could be used anywhere with an internet connection, WeChat Pay was limited to China. In other words, a Chinese account could only send red packets to another Chinese account.

As long as there was money in his domestic bank account, he could transfer it into his WeChat wallet and send red packets.

So during those two years, whenever he opened his eyes, not only did Li Yao talk to him less, all she ever spoke about was money, money, money.

What was even worse was that he met another Chinese student in Boston, a girl from Zhejiang named Xiao Lin.

As the saying goes:

you do not fear failing to recognize a gem,

you fear comparing goods from three different shops.

And whenever that happened, Li Yao would paint him grand romantic promises, feeding him talk about never forgetting the wife who shared his hardships...

So back then Chen Ze was still deeply devoted. Even after seeing more of the world, he had never forgotten his original intentions.

The twenty-year-old Chen Ze really did look like an innocent high school boy, whether in his clean-cut looks or his build and style of dress.

Or perhaps in his foolish eyes.

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He had a little experience and a little stupidity, a little handsomeness and a little youthfulness. Perhaps those were the very things that attracted Qin Yanan.

At the time, Chen Ze had just joined the company and had not fully blended into the team yet. Plus the booth felt awkward with the leaders around, so he did not refuse and later followed her to the bar counter.

The two of them chatted about everything under the sun and drank quite a lot, but he truly could not remember exactly what they had talked about.

In the eyes of a one-track-minded fool, there is only one beauty.

Back then he was still rather devoted, and his heart was not yet poisoned with mischief. After drinking himself drunk and sending her to the hotel, he simply took a taxi home.

He had no memory of the woman because nothing happened between them, and he was drunk.

In his previous life, he had left like a righteous gentleman. But now it was the next morning, and he was still in the hotel.

That meant he had not left last night.

He had not left...

“Damn, no way it could be this coincidental.”

“Did I mistake her for Room Sixteen?”

He had driven a Cadillac to get a foot massage, then watched a movie and ate barbecue, feeling in good spirits as he downed several bottles.

Half-conscious, he and Room Sixteen left the dark room and went to a hotel, beginning a night of spring revelry.

He had been dizzy with drink, in that state where one feels awake while the brain is already foggy.

No wonder he had felt, at some point, that the woman in his arms seemed a little different.

So that was it.

“Mm—”

The water stopped in the bathroom.

Chen Ze suddenly felt a little nervous for no reason. Though he could already be considered an old hand, he was still nervous now.

After all, to put it bluntly,

he had committed a crime.

In the past, whenever he went to a hotel with a girl, he would record everything in advance, both to savor the memory later and to protect himself.

But yesterday he had still been a fool.

Not even as clever as a carefree idiot.

What recording?

There was no time to think further. The bathroom door opened, and a bright, fair-skinned, tall woman walked out wiping her hair.

“Didn’t I tell you to turn your head away?”

Qin Yanan lowered her eyes to check the towel wrapped around her body, her tone carrying a hint of resentment, though her steps never slowed.

Chen Ze did not rush to speak. He wanted to know her attitude, so he obediently turned his face away.

Before long, there was a rustling sound in the room, and Qin Yanan’s pleasant voice sounded again.

“If you have time, go sign up for a gym class.”

At her words, Chen Ze lifted his head. Qin Yanan was busily opening her bag, then took out a thick stack of red banknotes. She gestured toward him, then set them on the bedside table.

“Here. Later on, don’t tell anyone you know me.”

Seeing what she was doing, Chen Ze’s mouth twitched. He straightened up and said directly:

“What do you mean by that? You’re trying to insult me with money? Or do you look down on me? I thought we had something romantic.”

Qin Yanan froze. She had not expected Chen Ze to react so strongly, and her beautiful eyes looked at him with some bewilderment.

“Ever since you answered that call, I was awake. If we had romance, then what is your girlfriend?”

She set down the money and continued:

“Come on, little brother. Don’t act all wronged after taking advantage of someone. Sister won’t blame you, but I don’t like you anymore.”

“Could it be that you misunderstood me?”

Leaning against the headboard, Chen Ze’s face showed no change at all, which surprised Qin Yanan even more.

“No misunderstanding. I mean exactly what I said.”

Though surprised, Qin Yanan still set the money down, ran her fingers through her hair, and began looking for her clothes.

As for Chen Ze, she had no desire to say much to him.

Last night she had met this handsome young man. Because he had a clean, slightly foolish look, she had invited him to drink together.

Along the way, they talked about the love between the one-track-minded fool and the beauty, and perhaps because she had never experienced such a thing herself, she became very interested.

The more interested she became, the more she drank.

She had just returned from abroad and already lost her innocence; giving it to Chen Ze was not something she resented, and she did not feel much regret even after waking up.

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But, my goodness, who could understand this?

He built the image of the most devoted man.

And did the dirtiest, most shameless things.

“You like men, I like women. We have different interests and hobbies—what kind of decent person could even say that as a breakup reason?” Qin Yanan only felt as though she had been deceived.

“No misunderstanding? Then why won’t you dare look at me?”

Picking up the beige lace shirt, Qin Yanan’s hand froze in midair, then she quickly recovered and defended herself normally:

“You’re overthinking it. I just don’t want to look.”

“You’re lying. You’re afraid.”

Chen Ze pressed on, gazing toward the gentle, fair, tall mature woman by the bed, then glancing at the bedside table.

The money Qin Yanan had just taken out was at least two thousand yuan. Was that a hush payment?

Looks like she had some money.

From her earlier reaction, Chen Ze had basically confirmed that she was no threat. At the very least, he could avoid any criminal dispute and did not need to hire a lawyer anymore.

“Think whatever you want.”

Qin Yanan picked up her jeans and muttered. Since this was only a standard room, she helplessly headed toward the bathroom.

“What’s wrong, sister? So irresponsible?”

Seeing Chen Ze turn the tables on her, Qin Yanan turned around with the clothes in her hands, looking him over with a trace of amusement.

“I’m irresponsible? How am I irresponsible? You sleep once and suddenly you’ve changed into a different person.”

Qin Yanan was telling the truth. She did not know if it was due to some confusion in his memories, but she could clearly feel that he was different, though she could not quite say how.

“Our laws say that money should not appear after that—it is irresponsible to both sides.”

Chen Ze pointed solemnly toward the bedside table. Qin Yanan looked over and feigned confusion.

“After what?”

“I forgot. I don’t know.”

Seeing Chen Ze pretending to be clueless and shaking his head, Qin Yanan immediately found him rather amusing, yet still continued toward the bathroom.

“And this was my first time. If things between us are so unclear, it’s an insult to Cupid.”

“Heh.”

Qin Yanan turned back again and looked at Chen Ze, whose eyes were not the least bit hazy, and spoke the truth:

“You know, I didn’t realize yesterday that you, little brother, are so shameless. I thought you were very pure.”

Youth is always the most alluring thing.

A large part of the reason Qin Yanan had been willing to get close to Chen Ze was because he had a bit of that high school-boy quality.

The kind of handsome, slightly foolish high school boy.

So even if she had played herself into this situation, Qin Yanan did not regret it. She took things rather lightly.

If a person were not greedy, most scammers would never succeed. Everyone was an adult.

If this was a mistake, then both sides had a part in it. Even if she called the police, what good would it do?

If she did not report it, it would remain just a memory.

If she did report it, it would become a scar.

Whether she reported it or not, the facts could not be changed.

After all, it had not been a matter of force. At most, Chen Ze had behaved immorally by taking advantage of her while she was vulnerable.

Strictly speaking, last night, when she was drunk and dazed and her mind was clouded, she had been the one to kiss him first.

But now, as she had just said, Chen Ze did seem to be taking advantage and then acting innocent about it.

“Shameless? How am I shameless?”

Chen Ze bristled a little, though the thunder was loud and the rain was light. When Qin Yanan widened her eyes, he smiled and added:

“Even if I’m shameless, wasn’t I still trying to keep you? Trying to save this shattered relationship?”

That was too exaggerated.

Qin Yanan was a little dumbfounded. Looking at Chen Ze, who did not look sincere at all, she asked with interest:

“Trying to keep me? Then what about your girlfriend?”