Fang Yu had truly believed that once he showed Lin Ruofei what was in his pocket, she would let him off the hook, if only out of gratitude for him saving her earlier that day.
But no sooner had one crisis been averted than another reared its head.
Fang Yu's face twitched violently as he stared at the crumpled tissue, his mind going completely blank as he struggled to find an explanation.
As the old saying goes: a woman will go through an entire pack of tissues watching a Korean drama, and a man will do the very same watching a Japanese adult film.
He had just pulled out Ms. Muto's disc, and now Lin Ruofei had found the tissue he'd used to wipe his nose. The evidence against him seemed irrefutable.
Even if he told her the tissue was only for wiping his nose, would she ever believe him?
"You lecherous brute! How dare you do something so filthy and depraved in our pristine apartment? Have you no shame?" A cold sneer spread across Lin Ruofei's face. She marched straight over to the sofa, snatched up the crumpled tissue, and fixed him with a perfectly executed look of utter contempt.
"I… this…" Fang Yu had been ready to protest his innocence, but he knew in that moment that there was no way he could talk his way out of this. He might as well throw himself into the Yellow River for all the good it would do.
What was he to do? Flee? The old man would laugh himself to death if he came slinking home in disgrace. Stay? Then he would be completely at this girl Lin Ruofei's mercy. If word got out that he'd done something like this in the apartment, his reputation as an upstanding gentleman would be ruined forever.
Never mind that he was completely innocent. Who in the world would believe him?
And so, Fang Yu put on a soft, ingratiating smile, looking at Lin Ruofei with a sheepish, pleading expression. "Miss Lin, please, you mustn't breathe a word of this to anyone. If you do, I'll never be able to stay here."
"Very well." Lin Ruofei nodded, smiling sweetly.
"Hm?" Fang Yu was utterly taken aback by how readily she had agreed to his request.
The girl had him dead to rights, she should be holding this over his head, blackmailing him. Why would she just agree so easily?
Sure enough—no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Lin Ruofei smiled and spoke again. "I'll keep quiet about it, but only if you agree to my conditions from this day forward."
"First, you will make me breakfast every single day.
Second, you will be my personal driver from now on.
…
Eleventh, you will obey every single word I say."
"Fine. I agree." As Lin Ruofei reeled off her demands one after another, Fang Yu was on the verge of tears. But he had no other choice. To avoid the old man's endless mockery and contempt, this was the only path left to him.
"There's a good boy. Off to bed with you now." Lin Ruofei giggled, her eyes curving into two sweet crescent moons, looking utterly adorable.
But to Fang Yu, that sweet smile belonged to nothing less than a grinning devil.
He wondered which wise old monk had first coined the timeless truth that women are tigers. Whoever it was, they had known exactly what they were talking about.
"Thank you, Miss Lin. I'll head to bed now. Good night." Fang Yu forced a weak smile onto his face, spun on his heel, and bolted for his room as fast as his legs could carry him.
"You still lost to me in the end, heh." She watched until Fang Yu vanished from sight, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. "Of course I knew it was just snot in there. They taught us in health class that the other stuff reeks. Heh, you're still too green to outsmart me." With that, she tossed the tissue into the trash can, turned on her heel, and headed back up the stairs.