The room opened onto a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, nearly six meters high, offering an unobstructed view of the bustling crowds moving along the street below. The afternoon sun spilled lightly across the glass, lending the entire space a deeply relaxed and languid atmosphere.

Logically, a shower to wash away the fatigue and then sitting down for a meal would have been ideal, yet at this moment, Ning Yunhuan simply couldn't summon the energy to move. She rested her eyes, leaning into Lanling Yan’s embrace, and under the wash of sunlight, she felt an overwhelming urge to simply drift off to sleep right there.

“Let’s dine here first, and then we can go out for a stroll later?” Lanling Yan murmured, subconsciously softening his tone as he coaxed the girl nestled in his arms, who was as blissfully indolent as a kitten.

The last time he’d intended to take her out, he hadn't been able to restrain himself and had instead ‘consumed’ her halfway through. Now, with the perfect afternoon sun shining, and knowing he could easily skip his afternoon commitments anyway, he realized he hadn't had much downtime since returning to the country three months ago. It was a good chance to spend the afternoon with her—after all, few couples in a relationship behaved as erratically as they did.

Ning Yunhuan didn't want to leave, but she couldn't figure out how to refuse Lanling Yan’s suggestion, so she could only nod in frustrated assent.

As the two were engaging in desultory conversation, a doorbell suddenly chimed from outside. Lanling Yan tapped something on a hidden control, and a respectful male voice echoed from within the room: “Master, the item has been secured.”

It was surprising enough to still hear someone address him as ‘Master’ in this era, but having spent time with Lanling Yan, Ning Yunhuan had heard it so often that she no longer batted an eye. Lanling Yan commanded the person outside to enter. A moment later, the sound of a lock disengaging filled the air, and the door slid open, revealing a tall, broad, and imposing figure standing at the threshold. He spoke a respectful, low summons before finally pulling the door wider.

The burly man held a device resembling a tablet and offered it to Lanling Yan. After receiving a nod, he stepped back. They had taken an adjacent room so they could maintain constant protection for Lanling Yan without disturbing his enjoyment.

Once the large man was gone and the sound of the door latching shut resonated, Lanling Yan beckoned Ning Yunhuan over and activated the tablet. He swiped across the screen with his long fingers, and soon, sound emanated from the device.

“Waaah, what did I possibly do wrong? Why is he treating me like this…” Gu Yingxi’s weeping voice filled the room. The instant Ning Yunhuan recognized it, the hairs on her body stood on end, and her previous lazy demeanor vanished, replaced by a look of acute wariness. “Why is she…”

Lanling Yan rarely had opportunities to deliberately please someone, and his heart felt slightly rigid, though his expression betrayed nothing. He raised an eyebrow slightly. “Didn’t you want to see her? I had someone attach a little something to her device…”

Inside the tablet, Gu Yingxi was sobbing pitifully, while Liu Qingyun’s voice followed, soothing her with false tenderness: “Ying'er, don't cry. Surely, someone in this world will see justice done. That other girl is just putting on an act.” He paused here. Just as Ning Yunhuan’s face turned ashen, the older man continued with a show of affectionate heartache: “Someday, the person whose heart you hold will understand how truly wonderful you are.”

After Liu Qingyun finished his consoling, Gu Yingxi began to wail even louder. Liu Qingyun’s face filled the screen, seemingly moving closer and closer until only his chin was visible. Gu Yingxi gasped a few times, murmuring something indistinctly, “No more…”

As prescient as Lanling Yan usually was, he hadn't anticipated that Gu Yingxi, who was fooling around with someone on the campus lawn just two days prior, could reach this point so quickly with an older man she’d just met. The screen carried the man's urgent sounds of kissing and heavy breathing, interspersed with Gu Yingxi’s lamentations and pleas. Her soft, continuous sobbing did not deter the man fondling her; instead, it seemed to agitate Liu Qingyun further. The image on the screen abruptly shifted, as if Gu Yingxi had been pinned underneath someone.

Ning Yunhuan’s expression froze. She knew Gu Yingxi was the female lead, and the previous mass-harem novels she’d skimmed had indeed centered around Gu Yingxi’s explicit scenes. But did she really have to witness Gu Yingxi’s live adult show at any given moment?

Logically, since Lanling Yan was the one who retrieved the tablet, this situation shouldn't concern her. However, recalling the two prior instances where she’d stumbled upon Gu Yingxi’s 'good fortune,' Ning Yunhuan couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was with Lanling Yan that she was now witnessing a second 'live broadcast' of Gu Yingxi’s activities—and with a different male lead this time…

At the most critical juncture, a faint, muffled sound resembling a police siren suddenly drifted in from somewhere within the device. A moment later, Song Qingyun’s panicked voice came through the tablet: “Who are you people? What are you trying to do?”

“Hmph, conducting business right inside a vehicle. No wonder the precinct couldn't catch you! You’re barely more than a girl, why choose this line of work instead of something honest!” a resonant male voice boomed. Without waiting for the pair to resist, he continued loudly: “Take this man and woman down to the station, and call their respective families!”

Afterward, the sounds on the screen grew increasingly noisy and chaotic.

A long, slender hand calmly silenced the playing audio, and quiet returned to the room.

Ning Yunhuan’s cheeks first burned with heat, but upon hearing that Gu Yingxi and Song Qingyun were being taken away by the police, her expression stiffened, and she became completely petrified. She stammered:

“Wh-wh-wh-what is going on?”

Lanling Yan’s demeanor was cool, though his nature was distinctly wicked. “When I had that device attached for her earlier, I had someone place a call to the precinct, reporting that she was soliciting.” The meaning behind the officer’s words—that she was engaged in the business of selling her body—Ning Yunhuan understood perfectly. The way Lanling Yan had dealt with her was swift, ruthless, and precise. Ning Yunhuan knew, without even needing to check, that news of Gu Yingxi soliciting would sweep across the campus within half a day.

For that perpetually sanctimonious woman, ruining her reputation this way would likely make her wish for death. Strangely, Ning Yunhuan found herself feeling a flicker of malicious glee over the news. Still, Lanling Yan taking vengeance on her behalf genuinely brought her comfort, though she wasn't sure how to express her gratitude.

Fortunately, the sound of the doorbell from outside announced the arrival of the food delivery, allowing her to exhale deeply.

As Lanling Yan called out for them to enter, the two large men indeed came in carrying trays laden with food. Through the sheer curtains, one could vaguely glimpse several girls in kimonos standing quietly outside the partially opened door, their hands empty.

Recently, any parts of the novel I’m writing that have scenes similar to this must be changed... My dearest readers, please forgive me... C