"Here’s two thousand bucks. Is this enough to cover the cost of your sheets?"

Sunlight filtered through the window, casting a warm glow on the woman's face.

Lin Cheng looked at the woman before him, who was fastening the buttons on her white shirt, with an odd expression.

Her shirt was not fully buttoned, and her pale, slender collarbone, illuminated by sunlight, resembled a delicate porcelain bowl. Her jet-black hair fell messily across her chest. As she reached the last button, she paused and lifted her gaze slightly to meet Lin Cheng's eyes. “Are you mute? Speak.”

Her voice was as cold as ice clinking in a glass.

“It’s enough…” Lin Cheng’s gaze didn’t linger on the stack of red banknotes she had tossed onto the bed. Instead, he shifted his focus from her collarbone to her slender waist. She wore a light blue plaid skirt that was only about 42 cm long, and her long, smooth legs were straight and together.

“But I’m not a prostitute,” Lin Cheng said, scratching his head. His eyes then traveled down to her slender calves, where she had just put on lace-trimmed white socks.

“I know, Lin Cheng. You dropped out of high school, and now, at twenty, you’re an unemployed drifter. Occasionally, you sing in bars or sell flowers. Sometimes your account receives transfers from unfamiliar women. Are you being kept?”

Lin Cheng’s expression grew even stranger. He looked at the indifferent woman in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and nodded. “I suppose so.”

“What’s the difference?” The woman sneered dismissively, muttering as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “This two thousand is hush money.”

“Hush money?” Lin Cheng asked, puzzled.

“Don’t mention meeting me to anyone, and don’t bring up what happened last night. Pretend nothing happened, understand?”

Lin Cheng hesitated for a few seconds and then nodded. “Understood.”

“If what happened last night gets out…” The woman lightly bit her lip. In Lin Cheng’s view, three sharp, ice-like shards suddenly appeared, aimed directly at his neck.

Lin Cheng hurriedly closed his eyes. The ice shards stopped just before his neck, and the woman’s cold voice whispered in his ear, “You know what will happen.”

The ice shards instantly melted into water and splashed onto Lin Cheng’s face, effectively giving him a cold splash. Lin Cheng wasn’t angry; he took a tissue from the table and wiped his face. Looking at the woman, he asked, “You weren’t lying last night, were you? You really have abilities?”

“Just so you know.”

The woman sat on the edge of the bed and put on her black short boots, which had white lace trim. After putting them on, she stood up. Lin Cheng, who had just gotten up from the bed, was slightly taller than her. He lowered his head slightly to meet her gaze.

“Alright… are you leaving?” Lin Cheng asked tentatively.

“Why would I stay here?” The woman cast a disdainful glance at him. Lin Cheng looked a bit troubled. “Your attitude was different last night.”

Before he could finish, the woman raised her voice. “Forget what happened last night!”

“Okay, okay.” Lin Cheng raised his hands in surrender and walked to her side. “Let’s go downstairs together. I’m hungry. How about we get a pancake?”

Lin Cheng picked up a red banknote from the bed, ignoring the faint bloodstain on the sheet, and walked out of the fifteen-square-meter rental apartment with the woman. The elevator was right outside the door. Lin Cheng glanced at the woman’s reflection in the elevator mirror. Her expression was indeed excessively indifferent.

Last night, when she bit her lip, she wasn’t like this.

“You smell really nice,” Lin Cheng commented awkwardly.

The woman slowly turned her head and gave him an especially cold look. At that moment, Lin Cheng felt a shiver down his spine and quickly retracted his head, saying, “I’ll be quiet.”

The elevator soon reached the first floor. The early spring weather was warm and sunny, with peach blossoms scattered on the ground. It had rained the night before, and today was bright and sunny. The pancake stall on the roadside was still open, not yet closed.

“Do you want one? I’ll treat you,” Lin Cheng hesitated before offering.

The woman gave him a cold glance and sneered.

“Right, you don’t seem like someone who eats pancakes. Boss, one pancake with egg, sausage, and pork floss, extra spicy.” Lin Cheng thought for a moment. “Where are you going? How about I give you a ride?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“With your old, broken motorcycle?”

“No, even though the bike is old, I ride it steadily, right? I got you home safely in the heavy rain yesterday.”

The woman’s gaze turned cold once again. Lin Cheng slapped himself on the cheek and asked, “So, you’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Will we stay in touch?”

“No.”

“Alright then. What if fate brings us together again?”

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The woman turned her eyes away and walked straight to the curb, seemingly waiting for a taxi. Lin Cheng followed behind, his eyes lingering on her elegant figure and long, snow-white legs beneath her skirt. The gentle breeze lifted the hem of her skirt, creating a wistful image.

Unfortunately, beneath the skirt were white lace-trimmed pumpkin pants.

As she neared the taxi, Lin Cheng suddenly remembered something. He grabbed the freshly made jianbing and hurried to the curb. Just as the woman settled into the taxi, she looked at him with a cold, slightly impatient expression.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Just a reminder… remember to take your medicine.”

The woman’s chest rose and fell with her breath. She gave Lin Cheng one last, lingering look before uttering a single word.

“Scram.”

The taxi drove away, and Lin Cheng stood by the curb, taking a silent bite of the jianbing.

----------------------------------------

Lin Cheng wasn’t in a hurry to return home. He had some errands to run, so he waited by the curb with the jianbing. After a few minutes, a silver sports car pulled up.

“How do you open the door?” Lin Cheng puzzled over the mechanism but couldn’t figure it out.

Just as he asked, the door opened automatically. He climbed into the passenger seat, buckled up, and glanced at the girl driving.

She wore a white shirt, a pink plaid skirt, and had shoulder-length hair. She looked like a youthful high school student, an odd contrast to the luxurious sports car. Her skin was milky white, and her slender calves resembled a doll’s.

“Litchi, your age is really more suited for a JK uniform,” Lin Cheng mumbled.

“What?” The girl named Litchi glanced back at him.

“I met a girl around twenty-one or twenty-two last night who was wearing a similar uniform. The bar was too dark to see clearly, and I mistook her for an innocent high school girl. I was deceived,” Lin Cheng said with a hint of annoyance.

“That was Lu Xiaoxiao, a Judicator from the Alliance.”

The [Alliance] is the largest official organization of superhumans, and Judicators are the title for battle groups dealing with heretical threats.

A century ago, natural disasters struck the world, with sudden spatial rifts opening intermittently. Alien killing machines invaded and slaughtered indiscriminately. Some humans awakened special powers during that chaotic time. Three years ago, the largest spatial rift was closed by the strongest human in history, significantly reducing disaster frequency. The legendary Judicator disappeared after closing the rift.

“How do you know?” Lin Cheng finished the last bite of the jianbing.

“Do you think our bar doesn’t have surveillance? I saw you leave the bar with her and ride a motorcycle to her place.”

“Well, you could have given me a ride,” Lin Cheng mumbled.

“The boss wasn’t speaking up, so who would dare to ruin your fun?” Litchi’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm.

“Stop being sarcastic.”

“Dare to sneak a bite and not let me comment?” Litchi’s cheeks puffed slightly as the sports car began to accelerate. The wind howled in Lin Cheng’s ears, drowning out his voice. “I wasn’t hiding anything from you, so it’s not really sneaking.”

The sports car sped from the suburbs to the city, tearing through streets and arriving at Rose Street in the west of the city in twenty minutes. It parked in the designated spot. Just as Lin Cheng was unfastening his seatbelt to get out, Litchi’s voice rang out.

“Explain.”

“Explain what?”

He turned to look at Litchi, who was crossing her arms and pouting, clearly sulking.

“Explain what happened last night.”

“Last night… the new bar of ours opened, so I went to check it out. I met that… Xiaoxiao.”

“Lu Xiaoxiao.”

“Oh right, Lu Xiaoxiao… I saw her drinking alone, so I went over to keep her company and had a few drinks with her. It was to boost our bar’s performance anyway, and she paid.”

“The entire bar belongs to you… Do you really need that little bit of money?” Litchi took a deep breath, clearly unimpressed by Lin Cheng’s attempt at humor.

“Alright, I was attracted by her white silk stockings. It’s her fault for acting so young at twenty-one or twenty-two! Then… I had a couple of drinks with her, mostly listened to her talk. Drunk and frustrated girls tend to ramble.”

“And then?”

“And then she insisted on coming home with me. You know, it’s unsafe for a girl to be alone at a bar late at night, so I… took her home.”

“And then?”

“And then…” Lin Cheng grew increasingly guilty. He quickly skipped over this part. “In the morning, she gave me two thousand yuan.”

Litchi looked at his resentful expression. Despite her earlier icy demeanor, she couldn’t help but laugh. “And you just accepted it?”

“It was money I earned, why not take it?” Lin Cheng replied confidently, then pouted. “And then she told me not to contact her again. Hmph, women can be so cold and indifferent once they put on clothes.”

“…Are you sure you didn’t use sweet talk to seduce her to your place?”

“Such things rely on talent,” Lin Cheng pointed to his face. “That woman even used the Alliance’s authority to check my identity and found out you transferred money to me. She thought I was a kept man and used the money to humiliate me.”

Litchi gave him a resigned sideways glance and slightly pouted. “Forget it. You can explain the rest to Sister Grape. She didn’t sleep all night and almost came here to burn that woman. I had to stop her several times.”

“I knew my Litchi was the best.”

“…”

Litchi seemed used to his tone and ignored his attempt to flatter her. She got out of the car with him. Though she wasn’t tall, her figure was well-proportioned. At that moment, with her arms crossed and looking sulky, she seemed cold. Lin Cheng, unable to appease her, awkwardly scratched his head and changed the subject. “So, why did you call me today?”

Litchi walked beside him, her delicate white feet in small leather shoes unintentionally stepping on his foot. “There’s a Judicator from the Alliance who wins money at your casino every day… She’s already won thirty million this week. Aren’t you concerned at all? A few days ago, when you were singing at the bar, you said you were too busy.”

“What, thirty million?! Aren’t we a regulated small casino? When did we become able to afford such losses?!”

Litchi took a deep breath. “You haven’t been paying any attention to our business these years, have you? Can you be a bit more responsible? I’m fed up! I’m resigning!”

“…” Lin Cheng’s foot was stepped on again.

He glanced at Litchi, who looked like a cute girl but was clearly on the verge of losing her temper.