It wasn't until the deal fell through that I discovered all the young ladies were yanderes.

Does Lin Qingmeng really not know...?

whee.

Every gift of fate comes with a price tag attached, albeit secretly.

That night, on his way home, Su Yu was covered in a sack, beaten unconscious, and taken away. His last memory was of the burly man saying:

"Be gentle, we can't afford to pay for it if you break it..."

Perhaps it was after hearing those words that Su Yu fainted with relief, because hearing those words proved that he was not in mortal danger, that he wouldn't die, and that there was still hope.

The pitiful always find joy in suffering. At that time, Su Yu, in his cage, would always gaze at the sky outside, watching the birds fly into the distance and soar into the clouds.

He has always firmly believed this.

As long as a person is alive, there is still hope...

So he felt relieved and took a break.

When he woke up again, he was lying in a well-decorated room. He was lying on the bed, and a smiling old man was sitting next to him, looking at Su Yu with a kind expression.

To be honest, Su Yu was completely stunned. It was his first time, his first time in every way. He had thought that at worst, a fat woman would kidnap him, but...

Su Yu glanced at the smiling old man beside him, and felt numb, completely numb.

The room's decor clearly indicates that it belongs to a wealthy person. A framed painting hangs on the wall, and you can tell whether it's an original or not just by looking at the frame.

The floor was covered with a carpet, which looked to be made of high-end material. The old man was wearing a well-tailored suit and was leaning on a cane that looked quite expensive.

No, sir, you're already using crutches, can you please come out and abduct ignorant young boys?

Su Yu sighed softly. Because he didn't know the situation yet, he still maintained his gentle demeanor, with a smile he hadn't forgotten to cancel on his lips.

His smile was perfectly natural, with a curve that made people feel comfortable. This smile, combined with Su Yu's appearance, usually left a good impression on people who saw him for the first time.

He's as standard as a robot.

Just as Su Yu was about to say something, he heard the old man say with a smile, "I'm sorry, young friend, I'm really sorry to meet you in this way, but it's really a last resort."

"I've come here this time simply to make a deal with you, young friend."

As he said this, he opened his eyes, which had been squinting. His eyes, though cloudy, gave off an incredibly bright feeling. There was a lot in those eyes, but not the thing that Su Yu least wanted to see.

Su Yu gave him a puzzled look, and then gave him a "go on" look.

The old man chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I have no ill intentions towards you. If I did anything to you, my ancestors would tear me apart if they knew it was me."

Seeing Su Yu's increasingly puzzled look, the old man smiled even more broadly: "Young man... I'll give you a salary so you can date, are you interested?"

Before Su Yu could speak, the old man continued to speak in a low voice, his tone sending a chill down Su Yu's spine.

"Is our young lady pursuing you lately, young man? I heard you've been quite cold towards our precious daughter. Oh right, I forgot to tell you."

My daughter's name is... Lin Qingmeng...

9. Fireworks go better with breakups.

Things became quite simple at this point. The old man slowly explained the details of the transaction to Su Yu, which can be summarized as follows:

If you date my daughter, I'll give you 500 million.

500 million—this is an amount of money Su Yu could never accumulate in his entire life, but now he only needs to play a dating game with a rich young lady to get this huge sum of money…

The old man had a child late in life and doted on Lin Qingmeng. As a result, Lin Qingmeng was somewhat naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world, because the old man had protected her so well.

This young lady had never taken a liking to anyone before, but now she suddenly has taken a liking to Su Yu, which has made her family very uneasy. After all, it's all too common for a young lady to be kidnapped by some unknown poor boy.

The old man summarized for Su Yu that the main reason their young lady had taken a liking to him was because she hadn't seen any other outstanding men.

No male celebrities or other high-achieving men have caught the eye of our young lady, but for some reason she's taken a liking to you. We're afraid you'll do something bad to our young lady, so we've come to make a deal with you.

As I mentioned before, the young lady is naive and inexperienced, just like a little girl. She's prone to falling head over heels in love. In short, she's love-struck.

Being love-struck is no good, she'll be inheriting the whole family in the future. But being love-struck is easy to cure, just have a proper relationship and she won't have this problem next time.

Perfect timing! Our young lady has taken a liking to you too. All you have to do is play a dating game with her, date her for a few months, and then break up with her in the end.

In that case, our young lady might not fall for someone so easily next time, since she seems determined to marry you now.

Don't overthink it. She'll probably just get carried away. Just play along, then break up with her. After the breakup, we'll give you the 500 million. It's a super good deal.

The old man, as expected of someone in a position of power, spoke only a few words...

This helped Su Yu clarify his thoughts, and Su Yu realized what the situation was.

They were afraid that if they agreed to Lin Qingmeng's advances, they would keep deceiving this young lady, and in the end, they would take all the benefits, run off with her, and elope with her.

They were afraid of this incident, and even more afraid of it happening again in the future. As they said, this problem could be solved simply by letting her have a proper relationship.

After all, first love is always intoxicating, but subsequent loves aren't as intense. And coincidentally, their darling daughter fell for a poor boy who was relatively easy to control, which made things even easier.

After all, if a young lady falls for someone of equal status, it's not easy for them to interfere too much. But with a poor boy like this... it's far too easy...

I'm here to warn you now, to tell you this is just a game, so don't try to take advantage of me. Play along for a while, and they'll give you a lot of money after it's done. Maybe they'll even give you a bright future if they're happy.

Well… after all, for them… giving an ordinary person a good future is just a piece of cake…

They were basically treating Su Yu like a puppet... someone who was very easy to control...

That's the truth, no doubt about it.

So Su Yu agreed... because he had no other choice. Don't be fooled by his smiling, amiable demeanor now; if they felt things were getting out of control, he wouldn't be able to escape so easily...

They're all like that. The only reason they're smiling at me now is because I'm under their control. Otherwise, Su Yu probably would be drowning right now...

This deal won't harm Su Yu. After it's completed, he can get a huge sum of money and get rid of that rich young lady who's always bothering him.

So Su Yu agreed to the deal. That day, under the setting sun, he confessed his feelings to Lin Qingmeng, and they became boyfriend and girlfriend, thus beginning this love game…

This love game is full of lies…

This deal sounds perfectly reasonable, without any flaws, and every part has a logical explanation. Su Yu hadn't noticed anything wrong with it before.

However, being overly logical isn't a normal thing; in reality... there's often no logic to speak of...

Su Yu thought he was in control of this relationship. He saw everything clearly, felt superior, and knew perfectly well that it was just a game. But he never expected…

It seems like I wasn't the one manipulating everything all along...

It seems the initial lie wasn't even mine...

This isn't a dating game...it's a game full of lies...

Someone was already watching him from a higher place, all the while smiling...

Many years later, in that basement, Su Yu finally realized just how problematic this deal really was.

Everything he knew, everything he imagined, everything he understood—it was all told to him by others…

His first impression of her was formed at that time, which led him to always feel that Lin Qingmeng was that kind of girl in the days that followed.

It was only in that basement that Su Yu realized what was happening.

You're not the only one wearing a mask...

Su Yu seemed to be lost in thought. Lin Qingmeng, who was opposite him, glared at him with some dissatisfaction, then stretched out her slender hand and waved it in front of Su Yu, reminding him that she was still there!

Su Yu quickly realized what was happening and gave Lin Qingmeng an apologetic smile, though Lin Qingmeng's face showed some dissatisfaction.

Her eyes, which had been full of smiles, now had a hint of resentment. Her alluring red lips were pouting, making one want to take a bite. When Su Yu looked at her chest again, she would raise her hand to cover herself, not letting him see.

She's like a little girl throwing a tantrum; she always seems to be like that, her emotions are written all over her face, making her very easy to understand.

Su Yu remained silent, as did Lin Qingmeng. Su Yu found her expression somewhat amusing; her hesitant manner only made Su Yu want to laugh more.

After more than ten minutes, she couldn't help herself and looked at Su Yu with dissatisfaction, saying, "What were you thinking about just now? You were so distracted."

Su Yu looked at her, smiled and nodded, his eyes still gentle as if they could drip water.

"I wasn't thinking about anything, I was just wondering if the young lady had prepared any surprises for me later."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingmeng jumped up like a cat with its fur standing on end, then quickly sat back down after realizing her lapse in composure.

"The fireworks later weren't arranged by me! Don't talk nonsense!"

Lin Qingmeng's face was flushed, her beautiful eyes were filled with panic, and she looked flustered. Under the candlelight, her posture appeared even more alluring.

Su Yu nodded. Hmm, so there will be fireworks later.

That's right, I heard fireworks go better with breakups.

10. Fireworks throughout the city

"Huh? So the fireworks weren't a surprise the young lady specially prepared for me? How disappointing..."

Su Yu feigned disappointment, looking down at her plate while occasionally glancing up at Lin Qingmeng, as if she were about to sigh again.

Lin Qingmeng blushed even more after Su Yu made her blush. She pursed her lips and lowered her head, looking hesitant, but her eyes were now full of excitement.

Although she knew he was acting, the way he seemed to be moved by her made Lin Qingmeng tremble with excitement. She could only clench her fists, letting her nails dig into her flesh, using the pain to relieve the excitement that spread from head to toe.

The same principle applies to having a candlelight dinner without turning on the lights. In the dim candlelight, Lin Qingmeng's movements were not obvious, so Su Yu did not notice anything strange about her.

Lin Qingmeng had only lowered her head for a moment when Su Yu's voice reached her ears.

His voice instantly calmed Lin Qingmeng down, and when she looked up again, she was back to her arrogant young lady self.

"Mengmeng, what time are the fireworks?"

"Wait another half hour, I saw it online! Don't look at me like that!"

"Hmm."

"I told you it really wasn't me!"

"Okay, okay, it's not you, it's not you."

Seeing that Su Yu was still coaxing a child, Lin Qingmeng became even angrier. Her puffed-up cheeks made her look somewhat cute, making people want to pinch her cheeks.

She took a sip of the red wine in her glass, then turned her gaze away, refusing to look into Su Yu's smiling eyes.

Her expression made Su Yu even happier. This young lady really wore her heart on her sleeve. She would bar her teeth and claws like a kitten if teased even slightly.

Even when a kitten bares its teeth and claws, it only makes people feel cute, not scared at all; you just want to pet its little head.