Lu Huaicheng was wearing a gray casual shirt, his figure tall and upright, exuding a refined elegance.

The dim yellow light above the gate cast a glow on his dark short hair, accentuating his deep facial features and making him exceptionally handsome.

He glanced at her with a subtle hint of mockery and inquiry hidden in his dark eyes.

Xia Liyang felt her whole body stiffen. In a fluster, she pressed the video off, her gaze wandering as she stammered, “N-no, nothing… just a video my friend sent me.”

“It must be very interesting, to keep you so captivated standing at the gate,” he raised an eyebrow slightly, the corners of his lips lifting in a faint smile.

“Um, not really…” Xia Liyang swallowed nervously, trying to calm her racing heart, and explained as naturally as possible, “It’s not yet the cleaning time you specified, and I was worried that coming in early might disturb you, so I was just waiting here at the door.”

“You’re quite considerate?” His voice was flat, making it hard to tell if he was complimenting or mocking her.

“… Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll fire me.” Xia Liyang bit her lip and quickly recalled the teachings from the video, lifting her thick eyelashes and arching the corners of her eyes like a crescent moon, revealing a smile she considered seductive.

Lu Huaicheng’s dark gaze lingered on her somewhat affected face for a few seconds, and he chuckled noncommittally before unlocking the gate to the courtyard, “Come in and clean.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lu.” Xia Liyang breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly nodded, and stepped in after him.

As the moon rose, the light softened, casting a gentle glow on his broad shoulders and giving his figure an ethereal brightness.

It was only then that she noticed the disposable plastic gloves he was wearing on his relaxed hands, faintly stained with red spots, as if it were remnants of blood, making his skin appear unnaturally pale.

Xia Liyang’s nerves tightened, and her mind flashed with various scenarios of crime scenes she had encountered in her novels. Her heart, which had just calmed down, suddenly raced again.

Although she had secretly dubbed him a “demon king,” surely he wouldn’t be twisted enough to commit any crime!

Then what was with the blood on his hands?

She could even catch a whiff of a subtle metallic scent!

As she anxiously pieced it together, she vaguely heard rustling noises coming from the nearby pool surrounded by bamboo groves, as if someone else was there. Her heart skipped a beat, and she nearly tripped on the steps beneath her feet.

“Ah…” Xia Liyang stumbled slightly, almost falling onto the tall man’s back in front of her.

“…”

Lu Huaicheng paused at the sound, slowly turning his head, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

It seemed he was questioning her about her earlier antics and whether she was trying to get closer to him.

Xia Liyang quickly steadied herself, forcing a sheepish smile as her mind raced, “Sorry, Mr. Lu, I just heard a sound from the pool area and thought it was a wild cat. I didn’t see the steps clearly.”

“There are no wild cats around here.” Lu Huaicheng replied in a low voice.

Upon hearing his denial, Xia Liyang’s heart tightened a little, and she broke out in a cold sweat, wondering if he had actually thrown someone in the pool!

She had come to seek inspiration for a romance novel, not for a suspense thriller!

“Well, maybe I misheard…” Xia Liyang nervously bit her lip, her face paling a bit.

Seeing this, Lu Huaicheng couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, his refined voice soothing, “What are you afraid of?”

The more he smiled innocently, the more uneasy she felt, and she even started contemplating how to escape.

But the next second, he added casually, “It’s just my turtle.”

“…” Xia Liyang stared blankly for a moment, suddenly piecing everything together, “So you were feeding your turtle in the courtyard just now?”

“Yeah.” Lu Huaicheng nodded slightly, his long fingers peeling off the plastic gloves and tossing them into a nearby trash can.

“I didn’t expect you to have a turtle; that’s a bit surprising.” Xia Liyang chuckled awkwardly, starting to feel ridiculous about her earlier assumptions.

She must have read too many crime and detective novels and gotten carried away.

But his turtle was really treated well; he must have fed it raw meat directly, which was why the gloves were stained with blood.

“It doesn’t shed hair, doesn’t make noise, and is easy to take care of—quite an unexpected pet, right?” Lu Huaicheng smiled lightly.

“Indeed… it suits you quite well.” Xia Liyang couldn’t help but glance over at the pond again.

“Do you want to see it?” Lu Huaicheng asked, noticing the curious look in her eyes.

“Is that okay?” Xia Liyang was a bit surprised as her gaze returned to him.

He actually invited her to see the turtle?

Could it mean that her outfit today and that charming smile when she walked in were effective!

“Of course.” Lu Huaicheng paused slightly, “Let me introduce you. If I come back late, you can help me feed it.”

“…” Xia Liyang’s excitement was suddenly doused with cold water, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly. “Got it.”

As they walked around the lush bamboo grove, Xia Liyang saw the turtle lazily lying by the edge of the pond.

It was about the size she had imagined, but its shell was not the typical yellow and green pattern she often saw at pet markets; it was more reddish with three black stripes running down its back.

Curious, she asked, “Mr. Lu, what kind of turtle is this?”

“A golden coin turtle,” Lu Huaicheng replied casually.

That name… is it raised to attract wealth?

Xia Liyang silently complained to herself, crouching down to take a closer look. She noticed the turtle’s head was olive green, its face flushed, with round eyes that stared motionless back at her, exuding a strangely adorable vibe.

“So cute!” She couldn’t help but smile, turning to look at the man behind her with a pitiful expression. “Can I touch it?”

“No,” Lu Huaicheng said with a smile.

“…”

Wow, he wouldn’t even let her touch a pet turtle.

She wasn’t that eager anyway; she could just buy one herself.

Suppressing her internal complaints, Xia Liyang asked obediently, “Is there anything I need to be careful about when feeding it?”

“Don’t feed it too much at once; just place the food by the shore, no need to put it in its mouth.”

“Then where’s the raw meat?”

“…” Lu Huaicheng’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment, a glimmer of curiosity flashing in his eyes.

Only then did Xia Liyang realize she shouldn’t have mentioned raw meat.

First, he hadn’t said what type of food he would give the turtle.

Second, “raw meat” was a technical term for pet care that she theoretically shouldn’t know.

Xia Liyang felt a bit tense and quickly remedied her slip, saying, “My college roommate has a turtle; she told me they usually feed it raw meat…”

“What kind does she have?” Lu Huaicheng’s dark eyes narrowed slightly.

“Uh, a Brazilian turtle,” she blurted out the most common breed.

Fortunately, Lu Huaicheng didn’t press her for more details and simply told her where the raw meat was stored at his place.

After the brief turtle encounter, Xia Liyang began cleaning inside the house.

As usual, Lu Huaicheng lounged on the living room sofa, his long legs stretched out, his brow slightly furrowed, quietly reading a book.

Thinking she would try out the seductive gaze she learned in the video, Xia Liyang deliberately walked past him several times while cleaning.

But he remained indifferent, flipping the pages of his book without even glancing at her.

He treated her like air.

Since he ignored her, she didn’t dare make any noise to attract his attention.

She could only sneak glances at him from time to time to see if he had finished the book.

Perhaps it was because she was gazing at him with a desolate expression too frequently, but Lu Huaicheng suddenly lifted his eyelids, casting a light look in her direction.

His eyes were deep and dark, reflecting a hint of light, like melting spring snow—though not freezing, it still sent a chill through her.

The moment their eyes met, Xia Liyang’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

But she quickly steadied herself and seized the opportunity to try the enchanting gaze she had learned from the video.

She gently lowered her eyes, her long lashes fluttering somewhat unnaturally.

Then she slowly raised them, giving him a deep look infused with the emotion she believed was just right.

The next second, she saw the corners of his lips curl slightly, a hint of an indistinguishable smile appearing on his clear face.

Whatever the meaning of that smile was, at least he smiled.

Xia Liyang gave herself a dose of encouragement and attempted to throw him a flirtatious glance.

But instead, she heard his casual voice, half-smiling, half-teasing: “What’s wrong? Is your eye uncomfortable?”

“…” Xia Liyang’s mouth twitched, nearly cursing on the spot.

Her expression shifted through various stages of embarrassment before she awkwardly looked down, rubbing her eyes to cover up: “It’s a bit uncomfortable.”

“There’s unopened eye drops in the leftmost drawer of the TV cabinet; go drop a bit in. Pay more attention to eye hygiene and try not to look at things you don’t need to,” Lu Huaicheng said lightly, his words seemingly caring.

But she could distinctly hear a hint of mockery and ridicule in his clear voice.

And what did he mean by “try not to look at things you don’t need to”?

Did he see the content of her video earlier at the door?!

Damn! That was too embarrassing!

Xia Liyang was taken aback, her face flushing.

But she had turned off the video quite quickly; there was no way he could have seen it all.

Maybe he was just saying it casually.

Xia Liyang took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

But she still didn’t dare to look directly into his inscrutable eyes, responding meekly: “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Huaicheng smiled noncommittally. As she hurriedly escaped to find the eye drops, he cast a quick glance at her flushed profile, as vibrant as a freshly picked rose.

Having seen many girls scheming to flirt with him, her standing at his gate and desperately watching videos felt somewhat out of place.

Moreover, she was so engrossed that she hadn’t even noticed he had been standing behind the gate for quite a while.

Whether it was her smile or her gaze, they were so comical that it made people want to laugh.

He had thought that after the last reminder, she would know when to back off and behave herself to keep her job.

Unexpectedly, she just changed her approach and seemed not very worried about being fired.

He couldn’t tell if she didn’t understand his meaning or if she was confident that no one could replace her.

But he didn’t care how she thought now; after all, watching her approach him both cleverly and clumsily was quite entertaining.

It was a decent pastime.

Lu Huaicheng lightly curled his lips and lowered his head to continue reading the book in his hand.

In front of the TV cabinet, Xia Liyang, tilting her face up and preparing to drop eye drops into her perfectly fine eyes, was really beginning to doubt her life choices.

Was her flirtation really that poor?

How could he think she was having trouble with her eyes?

She felt like she had mimicked it quite well!

Was she going to end today in failure again?

Xia Liyang bit her lip lightly, still unwilling to give up as she glanced again at the calm and collected Lu Huaicheng, who was reading.

Suddenly, she recalled that the video about flirting mentioned that she could appropriately bother the man to increase interaction and stir up his protective instincts.

In a moment of inspiration, she shook her hand, causing the eye drops to fall outside her eye socket.

Then she looked at the man on the sofa with tear-filled eyes: “Sorry, Mr. Lu, I’m not very good at putting in eye drops. Can you help me?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Huaicheng slowly lifted his eyelids, his dark eyes assessing her.

Xia Liyang couldn’t help but grip the eye drop bottle tightly, trying hard to keep her eyes glistening with tears as she looked at him pitifully.

In the quiet living room, the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Xia Liyang instinctively counted the seconds, feeling that each one dragged on forever.

Just when her eyes were aching and her expression was distorting, unable to hold on any longer,

Just as her eyes felt sore and swollen, and her expression was about to twist in discomfort, Lu Huaicheng finally smiled casually, his voice elegant with a hint of amusement: “Okay, come over.”