Chapter 40: The Canary's Self-Cultivation (5)

“Why aren’t you eating?” Ling Qiong followed him back to the room. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m not.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “You didn’t eat this morning, and now you’re skipping food again.” Was he really not a ghost?

Shen Han Deng replied, “If you want to stay here, keep quiet.”

Ling Qiong blinked and covered her mouth with her hand.

Shen Han Deng lay back down on the bed. The presence of another person in the room didn’t bother him at all.

When sunlight began to stream through the window, Shen Han Deng shielded his eyes with his hand, clearly uncomfortable.

She had drawn back all the curtains in the room.

“Close them!” he snapped, hiding his eyes.

“You’re not even bothered by sunlight, so why must you keep it so dark? Do you enjoy torturing yourself?”

He got out of bed and closed all the curtains again. His handsome face betrayed no emotion, making it impossible to guess his mood.

Ling Qiong didn’t open them again. She merely lifted one corner, leaning there to gaze outside.

How she longed to go out and have some fun.

[Darling, drawing a card could solve this problem~]

“……”

Draw, draw, draw! Draw your own damn card!

Shen Han Deng watched as the girl alternated between peering out the window and pacing the room, until finally she just left.

……

Ling Qiong tried to sneak out on her own, but that witch haunted her like a ghost. No matter where she went, she couldn’t avoid her.

No matter what method she tried, she simply couldn’t leave this place.

It was like missing a crucial item and being unable to leave the map.

What a wretched game—forcing people to pay to win!

With a heavy heart, Ling Qiong… went to find the witch.

The witch was busy with something. Ling Qiong crept over, and as soon as the witch heard a sound and turned around, Ling Qiong struck her with a stick.

[…]

She tossed away her makeshift weapon and brushed off her hands.

Messing with me? You should know who you’re dealing with!

Fearing the witch might wake up halfway, Ling Qiong tied her up for good measure and dumped her in the basement.

After finishing all this, she turned around—only to find Shen Han Deng standing not far away, watching her.

Ling Qiong: “……” A bit panicked.jpg

She approached, tugging his sleeve without quite touching him. “Let’s go out and have some fun. Don’t tell her I was the one who hit her. She started it by not letting me go out.”

“Do you know what your identity is right now?”

“……” Her eyes darted. She ventured, “Your kept canary?”

Wasn’t this how it always played out on TV?

She was pretty sure she got it right!

Whether he was satisfied or not with her answer, Shen Han Deng said nothing.

“But I already hit her…” Ling Qiong was still holding onto his sleeve, her eyes curved in a pleading smile. “It would be a waste not to take advantage. Let’s just go out for a little while—we’ll be right back.”

“A little while.”

“A tiny while.”

The girl’s every expression begged for indulgence, her voice soft and sweet, impossible to refuse.

……

Shen Han Deng hadn’t left the house in a long time; everything on the street seemed foreign to him.

The passing crowds, noisy traffic, music blaring from shops…

He walked the streets like a soulless doll, oblivious to being jostled several times.

After the fourth collision, someone grabbed his arm.

The girl pulled him into a nearby store, and what followed was a tedious, repetitive cycle.

Only when she had her fill of shopping did it finally end.

Shen Han Deng wasn’t even sure why he had come out with her.

It was as if he’d been possessed.

So, upon returning, Shen Han Deng suddenly lost his temper, storming upstairs alone in a rage.

Ling Qiong blinked innocently, then went to fetch the witch, tidied up the scene, and woke her up.

Before the witch could speak, Ling Qiong cut her off. “Why haven’t you started dinner? Lying here napping… do you have some peculiar hobby?”

The witch: “???”

Rubbing the dull ache at the back of her head, she was sure she’d been struck.

Ling Qiong pressed on, “Were you slacking off?”

The witch eyed her suspiciously.

The girl acted perfectly normal, as if she’d come looking for dinner and found the witch lying there by chance.

But why did the back of her head hurt so much?

Ling Qiong urged, “Hurry up, I’m hungry.”

The witch, her head throbbing, snapped, “Miss Ye, are you ordering me around?”

“Can’t I?” Ling Qiong replied sweetly, “I’m not the servant here—you are.”

“You…”

Ling Qiong forced a smile, then stopped listening, swaggering away.

The witch ground her teeth, rubbing the back of her head.

What on earth had happened?

……

There used to be surveillance cameras in the villa, but Shen Han Deng always found and smashed them. Eventually, there were none left.

So the witch couldn’t confirm what had actually happened when she’d blacked out.

Shen Han Deng didn’t come down for dinner, so Ling Qiong ate alone.

Without him present, she became especially demanding.

First, she wanted this, then that, then complained about one thing and then another.

She was even more fastidious and hard to please than Shen Han Deng.

……

The witch: “……” How had she not noticed before how much trouble this girl could cause? No royal birth, but every bit a princess!

“Miss Ye, don’t forget your position,” the witch warned her.

“You mustn’t forget yours, either,” Ling Qiong replied, smiling adorably, her eyes curving in an innocent arc.

Yet the witch couldn’t shake a faint sense of unease at that smile.

“You weren’t brought here to live as a spoiled heiress!”

Ling Qiong spread her hands. “I wasn’t brought here to be a servant, either. Isn’t my job to be the young master’s canary?”

The witch: “……”

So proud of herself, is she?

What’s there to be proud of, selling yourself to someone else? Shameless!

Ling Qiong declared with conviction, “I want some milk.”

“……”

The witch couldn’t scold or hit her, and now she wasn’t sure what Shen Han Deng’s attitude toward her was.

If she angered him and he did something extreme, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself if trouble arose.

At first glance, she’d thought this was just an easily controlled little girl.

But now…

……

After eating her fill, Ling Qiong brought food up to Shen Han Deng.

He was reading amidst a scene of chaos, when Ling Qiong dragged over a small table. “Eat something.”

His whole demeanor screamed ‘don’t bother me,’ but Ling Qiong just sat beside him, propping her chin on her hand to watch.

Irritated by her staring, Shen Han Deng tossed his book aside. “What are you looking at?”

The girl replied earnestly, “You’re good-looking.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m good-looking?”

“Mhm.”

“What’s good-looking about me?”

“Your face.” Divine looks, no question about it.

The next second, Shen Han Deng suddenly overturned the table, his face dark. He pointed at the door. “Get out!”

Ling Qiong: “……”

Damn!

Scared me half to death!

I complimented your looks—how could you turn on me like this?

She hurried out of the room, and inside, sounds of things crashing erupted.

Patting her chest, Ling Qiong quickly made herself scarce.

That was terrifying.