My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

The dim light of the coffee shop shone on Li Danyang's profile, framing her once confident and spirited face with sharp, distinct angles.

"My daughter was once the apple of my eye."

He spoke, his voice neither trembling nor choked, only filled with disappointment.

"I had hoped she would help me advance further. With her qualifications, she should have married into a family that would have elevated my social standing."

His fingers traced unconsciously across the table before he clenched his fist.

"It wasn't until her light gradually faded that I realized she was just a light bulb with an expiration date. Once the expiration date was over, she became dimmer and dimmer. I gradually lost hope in her, and then an accident completely shattered this dim light bulb."

He paused, but there was no sadness in his expression.

"I have completely given up on my expectations of her."

"In the hospital, my daughter became completely like a piece of wood. She didn't make a sound when the nurses changed her dressings, she didn't even look up when the doctors made their rounds, and she wouldn't even glance at her mother crying her eyes out by the bedside. She just stared out the window, lost in thought."

Li Danyang looked at Zhang Ying, her clenched fingers loosening one by one.

"I've never seen her like that. My daughter was already 'dead' the moment the accident happened."

He suddenly emphasized his voice.

"Perhaps even earlier."

Under the table, Zhang Ying's fist slowly clenched.

Li Danyang is still operating at her own pace.

Zhang Ying threw her second question at her: "What did you parents do while she was hospitalized?"

Li Danyang sneered.

"You ask me what we parents did? All I could do was pay her hospital bills, considering she was already an obsolete product. She thanked me; if I hadn't paid, she would have been thrown out of that luxury private hospital room long ago!"

"I haven't visited her. Not even once. Only my wife has been staying at the hospital taking care of her. I don't know what my wife said to her."

"She rekindled her hope for dance. After being discharged from the hospital, she returned to school, rejoined the school dance team, and went back to dance tutoring."

Zhang Ying's hand under the table had somehow loosened. His gaze swept over the jade bracelet on Li Danyang's wrist without him noticing; the bracelet gleamed with a warm, cool light under the lamp.

"The third question," the hoarse voice calmly reminded him.

Li Danyang took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't know what happened to my daughter at school and tutoring after she was discharged from the hospital. I only know one thing: no matter how hard she tries, she can never go back to where she was before."

His gaze shifted from the ceiling to Zhang Ying.

"So I decided to plan for her future. At such a young age, the only thing she could rely on was her looks. I introduced her to the chairman of our company."

Zhang Ying's body stiffened slightly for a moment.

Li Danyang didn't notice, or perhaps didn't care at all.

"She fought back fiercely. She cried and screamed, and even threatened to call the police. I slapped her, and she quieted down, but the chairman lost interest."

He shrugged.

"What a useless thing."

There was a moment of silence. The air conditioner in the coffee shop hummed.

"After that, I didn't pay much attention to her anymore. What I got in return was the devastating news that she had committed suicide by jumping off a building."

He picked up the glass of water on the table, which was no longer cold, and took a gulp. As he put the glass down, his lips twitched slightly.

"Sigh, what an ungrateful beast."

When he said this, his tone contained anger, annoyance, and a hint of defiant disappointment.

Then he raised his eyes and looked at Zhang Ying. His eyes were clean and clear, without a single tear or a trace of guilt.

He is a businessman so successful that he has lost himself. In his climb to the top, he has abandoned his humanity.

To him, even his daughter was just a commodity that could be traded.

Li Danyang breathed a sigh of relief.

He leaned back in his chair, picked up the glass of water that was no longer cold, and took another sip, as if he had just finished a business negotiation that had gone on for too long and was finally ready to give his closing remarks.

"Alright. You've finished asking your three questions." He put the cup back on the table, leaned forward slightly, and for some reason, straightened his back again.

He placed his hands on the table, resuming his posture of being in control of the situation.

"Now, is there anything else you want to do?"

He paused, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.

"My daughter's secret admirer. Mr. Zhang Ying, a high school student at Okura High School."

Upon hearing his name spoken by Li Danyang, Zhang Ying's eyes widened immediately.

He abruptly stood up, the chair leg scraping against the floor with a sharp, piercing sound. His gaze swept across the table, fixed on Li Danyang, and then, he saw her.

Under the table, Li Danyang's other hand rested on her lap. Between her fingers was a cell phone, its screen facing upwards, the image on it gleaming coldly in the dim light.

This was his entire route to the coffee shop. Every intersection, every alley he thought he had bypassed the surveillance cameras, was cut into frame-by-frame surveillance footage, clearly arranged on the screen.

No matter how he tries to evade detection, in China, a country with extensive surveillance systems, he will eventually be caught by some camera.

Li Danyang's men hacked into the surveillance systems of Dongcheng District and even Dacang City, tracing his path frame by frame until they finally identified him.

A deathly silence fell over the café.

Zhang Ying slowly sat down again. The chair leg hit the ground with a dull thud.

His eyes were fixed on Li Danyang, without flinching or uttering a word.

Li Danyang's smile widened slightly.

"I don't know how you found out so much about me," he said casually, "but judging from how concerned you are about my daughter... you must be her secret admirer, right?"

A genuine look of confusion crossed his face; it wasn't feigned, he truly couldn't understand.

"I really don't know what it is about my daughter that makes her so attractive. Even in death, she can still attract idiots willing to risk their lives for her."

Then he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to cause any more trouble. Although I could kill you right now, it's not necessary. Doing so wouldn't be good for either of us." He leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands like an arbitrator offering a final, well-intentioned suggestion. "Your father, who works out of town, and your mother, who owns a flower shop, probably wouldn't want to hear about their son's disappearance, would they?"

He paused, letting the words settle.

"Or perhaps you don't want to hear news of their disappearance either?"

silence.

The air conditioner was humming.

Li Danyang waited a moment, seemingly satisfied with the effect of the pause. He adopted a more relaxed tone, as if discussing a deal that was set in stone.

"Name your price. With this money, you can live a peaceful life. Isn't that better?" He tilted his head, a genuine hint of confusion creeping into his smile. "Why chase after a woman who's already dead?"

Zhang Ying fell silent.

He had his head down, and his mask covered most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression.

A few seconds later.

A smile crept onto his lips.

A cold smile slowly spread across the face hidden by the mask.

"Okay." He looked up, his voice hoarse yet surprisingly calm. "I promise you. As long as you promise not to hurt my family."

Li Danyang's lips curled into a wide smile. It was a triumphant smile of relief. He gently tapped the table, making two muffled thuds.

"That's more like it. Looks like you're not stupid after all; at least you know how to weigh the pros and cons."

Zhang Ying ignored his praise. He raised his hand, extended a finger, and pointed across the table at Li Danyang's wrist.

"The first thing I want is very simple," he said, "you can give it to me right now."

He pointed to the jade bracelet, which gleamed with a warm, cool light under the dim lamp.

He took off his mask, revealing a kind smile.

"I want it."