The girl used chopsticks to hold one end of the grilled eggplant, gently pulled it, and the light-colored eggplant flesh that was soaked in the sauce filled with minced garlic and millet pepper was torn apart, separating the skin and the flesh. She tore it all the way down to the stalk with a doggedly serious attitude like a researcher. After struggling with it for a while, another pair of chopsticks came to help her pin down the eggplant, allowing her to tear off the eggplant flesh.
Holding the complete eggplant flesh in her chopsticks, Qing Ning smiled at Bai Weiran, showing a slight sense of pride.
Though she didn't say anything, her bright little eyes clearly conveyed the meaning of "Look, I succeeded!" Bai Weiran couldn't help but laugh.
Qing Ning had a proud, competitive personality.
She liked grilled eggplant, but she had never eaten it before and didn't know how to eat it properly. She had just stabbed the eggplant in the middle with her chopsticks, breaking the eggplant flesh and making it mushy.
He demonstrated the correct way to eat grilled eggplant, showing her how to do it completely.
However, Qing Ning had encountered multiple failures trying to copy him and never managed to successfully remove the whole eggplant flesh.
She became obsessed with the grilled eggplant.
For four consecutive nights, she ordered grilled eggplant and practiced until her chopsticks were perfect.
"Elegant~," Bai Weiran praised her without hesitation.
The girl raised her eyebrows and looked at him from the corner of her eyes.
"Do you have anything else to say besides that? As a being beyond normal humans, can't you be more creative?"
Despite her haughty and dismissive attitude, the teardrop-shaped mole under her right eye added a touch of youthful seduction.
Bai Weiran thought that it was no wonder Ling Luo couldn't let her go and kept her hanging.
It's so satisfying to gain huge emotional returns while standing on a high emotional peak and barely making any effort.
Human nature is simple, preferring gains without pain and triumphing over strength with weakness.
He couldn't help but think of a question: if there were other individuals traveling across parallel worlds like him to interact with these girls in the same way, what would happen if the emotionally flawed, stunningly beautiful girls are targeted by those who invest little warmth and love in exchange for massive emotional return? Would disaster strike when the host's moral compass is destabilized and they fall into the trap?
After all, even the A-level Qing Ning is so adorable and charming. According to the PR strategy, the S-level girls must be on another level.
At this moment, he remembered another red warning rule in the app:
"During the mission, one must not have any offensive behavior that crosses the boundary between men and women. Whether it's mutual or forced, if found in violation, the host will be dismissed from their position and sent back to their original world."
This is also a protective measure for the Yandere girls.
The system is quite strict.
Not setting up such safeguards would only lead to the girls' emotional attachments changing hands without resolution.
Still thinking about it, he distractedly responded with a loud round of applause and a teasing tone to Qing Ning's question.
"You're so great~"
Qing Ning snorted, "… Can't trust the words from a dog's mouth."
She lowered her head to eat her eggplant, while Bai Weiran propped his chin on one hand and watched her.
During these days of interaction, Qing Ning's appearance had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.
Apart from that tacky tracksuit, he also ordered some affordable clothes for Qing Ning on Taobao.
However, he selected items based on their price, from low to high.
His thought process was this: no matter what he bought from Taobao, the affordable clothes would be considered trash compared to the high-end clothing that Qing Ning usually wore.
Since all of it would be considered trash and would not be worn after the mission ends, what's the difference between buying her a dress for a hundred yuan and a top for just a few tens of yuan with free shipping on three items?
There's absolutely no difference.
In the interest of saving money, he decisively bought Qing Ning the cheapest clothes.
After the tacky tracksuit, the bottom limit of her clothing was refreshed, and now she was wearing a northeastern cotton jacket with a big red floral pattern, matched with a discounted sports shorts on clearance. The shorts were too large for her, and she could only fasten them tightly with the elasticated waistband to prevent them from falling off.
It gave off the impression of a child secretly wearing an adult's clothes.
Bai Weiran couldn't help but think about those online videos that showed comparisons of children sent to their grandparents' rural homes for a few days after being raised by their parents.At first, Qing Ning was of course reluctant to wear these clothes that cost only a few dozen yuan and included free shipping. Bai Weiran repeated his previous talk. "Miss Qing Ning, you don't want others to know that you're wearing workout clothes that haven't been washed for two days, do you?" Qing Ning, being a young lady, had never done laundry herself. Even though Bai Weiran had prepared a washing machine for her in the room and a balcony to dry the clothes, she still needed help in learning how to use it, along with an instruction manual. She had never done housework before, didn't read the instructions, and didn't separate the light and dark clothes for washing. All the clothes she ordered were cheap and would definitely fade. Due to these two unfavorable factors, the first time Qing Ning used a washing machine on her own, all her white clothes turned various shades of pink due to a colorful Northeastern cotton-padded jacket.
That day when Bai Weiran came over, he saw her squatting by the balcony, poking at her pink-and-white toes with her finger, angry and frustrated at the clothes that had been dyed inside the washing machine. "Isn't this pretty good?" Bai Weiran squatted down to comfort her. "Now you have a new pink shirt." To show his consolation, he took out two strawberry-flavored lollipops, one for her and one for himself. They both ate the candy, hung the clothes, and then sat on the edge of the balcony, looking at the clothes dyed pink. She later accepted these clothes and even wore them comfortably. Bai Weiran admired this about her. He believed that Qing Ning's temperament would surely make her a great person in the future, for her adaptability was excellent. After all, he himself wasn't willing to wear that Northeastern cotton-padded jacket. He didn't want it for himself, but he gave it to her.
Bai Weiran wore the mask, but he could see Qing Ning clearly through it. However, Qing Ning could only see the mask and didn't know where he was looking. To her, Bai Weiran appeared to be staring at the wall, lost in thought. Aside from confining her to this strange room, he hadn't done anything else to harm her. Qing Ning felt a strange sense of calm from Bai Weiran. The masked man had her read books, but not for high scores on tests, and he didn't want her to compete with anyone. He just wanted her to think deeply about what was inside the books and then reflect on herself.
When all those chaotic thoughts had settled, she began to remember many things. She recalled she once had some friends who grew up with her, just like the masked man had said. They were honest, upright, and persevering. Later, they drifted apart. She told the masked man about this, and he gently asked, "Why didn't you keep in touch with them?" Qing Ning instinctively replied, "... They never took the initiative to look for me! If they really cared about me and were my friends, shouldn't they have looked for me?" The masked man laughed and patted her head, but this time, surprisingly, it didn't make her feel angry and indignant. "Everyone is doing their best just to live their own lives well, who has the time to keep caring about others?" he asked. "The fairest thing in the world is that everyone has only 24 hours in a day. They also need to work hard in their own lives. Wake up, miss, this world only has people who want something from you circling around you. Otherwise, they would be paying attention to you, remembering you, seemingly giving you unconditional care just for a thank you?"
"Those who don't seek anything from you won't actively revolve around you, constantly pay attention to you, or unconditionally care for you. This is a paradox, even for relatives or lovers. Care is mutual, otherwise, the relationship cannot be maintained." The reason why many people feel lonely is actually very simple - they're passive in all their interpersonal relationships, always returning to the same topic, and like getting something for nothing. However, nothing is more expensive than something free, pies falling from the sky are poisonous, and so are unsolicited interpersonal relationships. Bai Weiran didn't forget to kick Ling Luo while he was talking."But those who show no concern for you all day, yet spend their efforts to remember every little detail about you, seem gentle, but keep a distance, don't doubt, they just like the feeling of you loving them. You don't need to expect much from them in terms of knowledge, because their greatest achievement is your love." Many so-called "players" are like this, in fact, they love themselves more, being narcissistic and indulging in the love of others, building their own value based on how much others love them. This is quite sad when you think about it.
"You can try reaching out for help," he encouraged. "As long as you believe they are righteous, kind, and honest friends, you can reach out and receive unexpected gains." Qing Ning recalled what Bai Weiran had said at the time. Bai Weiran stood up. "If you're done eating, let's go out for a walk today!" This was the first time Qing Ning heard about going out, and she widened her surprised eyes, biting her chopsticks, looking rather innocent while doing this impolite action. Bai Weiran chuckled. "I've said it before, as long as you complete the work I've arranged for you, I'll take you out to do some activities on weekends. We can't always stay in the room; people will become dull!" Qing Ning was very happy. Happiness came so suddenly. So much so that she overlooked the meaningful "activities" mentioned by Bai Weiran.
Half an hour later, a girl wearing a safety helmet, a reflective vest for nighttime work, worker clothes, cloth gloves, and holding a long iron clip, had a blushing, pretty face on the street corner, tears in her eyes, and hysterically shouted at Bai Weiran in protest. "I won't do it! What do you want? I can buy it for you, even ten Porsches! I just won't do it!" Bai Weiran, in a similar outfit, adjusting his safety helmet on his head, spoke leisurely. "I don't need you to give me ten Porsches, I just want you to work as a cleaner with me, come on, missy!" Qing Ning couldn't believe it. This "The Mask" man actually dared to bring her out onto the streets to pick up trash!
