Chapter 1009: Preparing for a Reverse Strategy

“Sister Ying, was that person looking at you, or was he looking at me?”

Xu Shaochen gripped Huo Ying’s neck, looking down at her, his eyes cold as he spoke.

He hated the feeling of being played because it made him feel like a fool.

And this woman before him had done just that.

“What… what are you talking about, Xiao Xu? You… you scared me. Cough, cough, let… let go of me.”

Hearing Xu Shaochen’s words, Huo Ying felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, a flash of panic crossing her eyes before she feigned ignorance.

“Sister Ying, to be honest, I really like you. Why do you want to ruin your image in my heart?”

Seeing Huo Ying’s guilty panic, Xu Shaochen became more certain of his assumption.

He gently stroked Huo Ying’s smooth face, and the grip on her neck grew tighter, his gaze colder.

He liked beautiful women, true, but beautiful women were the least of his worries.

Anyone who harbored malice toward him, he had no qualms about making them disappear from the world.

Of course, he wouldn’t personally kill Huo Ying.

Since someone was watching him.

If he killed someone at this moment, wouldn’t it be like handing them the knife?

He was merely scaring Huo Ying. How could he really choke her to death?

But if Huo Ying truly refused to relent, Xu Shaochen wouldn’t hesitate to send her on her way, just not with his own hands.

“No, don’t kill me! I didn’t want to… cough, cough, I didn’t want to deceive you, sob, sob…”

Huo Ying felt it was getting harder and harder to breathe, finally collapsing and crying bitterly.

She feared death, fearing even more that after her death, no one would care for her daughter. Who knew what those beasts would do to her daughter?

Xu Shaochen released Huo Ying.

Huo Ying slid down the wall to the ground, gasping, crying, and tears falling uncontrollably.

“Speak, tell me everything you know.”

Xu Shaochen looked down at Huo Ying.

“Xiao Xu, I didn’t mean to deceive you. It was them. They kidnapped my daughter to threaten me. If I didn’t do this, my daughter would die. I’m sorry, really sorry.”

Huo Ying apologized to Xu Shaochen while crying. She was genuinely a kind-hearted person, feeling guilty for what she had done to save her daughter.

“Who are ‘they’?”

Xu Shaochen’s expression softened, though his tone remained unchanged.

“I don’t know. I know nothing. I haven’t even met their boss. I’ve only seen a man wearing a baseball cap, and he instructed me on everything.”

Huo Ying shook her head, then crawled to Xu Shaochen and hugged his leg, looking at him pitifully: “Xiao Xu, please save my daughter, please save her.”

To her, the daughter she raised alone was everything.

Without her daughter, she would have no will to live.

“Ha, Sister Ying, don’t you find this funny?”

“You teamed up with others to deceive me, and now you want me to save your daughter? Why should I?”

Xu Shaochen looked at the woman clutching his leg, his eyes revealing whether it was ridicule or sympathy.

“I… I’m willing to cooperate with you. You must also want to catch the mastermind. I’m willing to help you do that. They surely don’t know you’ve discovered this.”

Huo Ying’s mind was agile, understanding her current most valuable asset.

Indeed, if she were willing to cooperate.

Xu Shaochen could use misdirection to counter the mastermind.

But Xu Shaochen wasn’t just content with that: “Not enough. Anything else?”

“I… I don’t know what else. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Anything, as long as you save my daughter.”

Huo Ying said, her mind spinning with thoughts of her daughter.

Now that Xu Shaochen had realized it was a trap, if he didn’t help her, her daughter would have no hope.

Xu Shaochen bent down, lifting Huo Ying’s smooth chin, and softly uttered, “I want you.”

Huo Ying, kneeling, shuddered before biting her lip, cheeks flushed, and reached trembling hands towards Xu Shaochen’s belt.

Soon, the room was filled with strange, chaotic sounds.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

“Is anyone there?”

Ten minutes later, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Xu Shaochen looked at Huo Ying in his arms.

Huo Ying, her face flushed, leaned into Xu Shaochen, panting, “It’s the baseball cap man who arranged for me. He’s probably observing us with binoculars across the street as we haven’t moved from the kitchen.”

“You know what to do, right?” Xu Shaochen asked.

Huo Ying blushed so deeply it seemed her face might bleed and nodded.

Outside, the young man in the baseball cap listened to the faint high-pitched voice from within, curling his lips.

“Damn it! No wonder they haven’t come out. They’re busy in the kitchen. What a lucky bastard, that Xu guy.”

Cursing softly, the baseball cap man left with envy and jealousy.

He had been ordered to watch Huo Ying, passing commands to her.

He fantasized about this captivating woman but knew he had no chance.

Another half hour passed, and silence returned to the room as the soup on the stove was nearly burned dry.

In the bedroom.

Huo Ying lay in Xu Shaochen’s arms, her eyes half-closed, still recovering.

She hadn’t been touched by a man in over a decade.

“Your daughter is this old?”

Xu Shaochen asked, holding a framed photo from the nightstand, surprise evident.

In the photo were two women. One was Huo Ying, the other a young girl around eighteen or nineteen.

Huo Ying nodded without saying more, the presence of such an old daughter hinting at an untold story.

Xu Shaochen didn’t ask further. Their relationship was purely physical.

“Did he never tell you your specific mission?”

Xu Shaochen asked Huo Ying.

Huo Ying shook her head: “No, they only told me to approach you and gain your trust. Then they’d tell me the next step.”

“Our relationship should be trustworthy enough now, right? That guy outside could hear everything clearly.”

Xu Shaochen grinned wickedly.

Huo Ying blushed, feeling utterly ashamed.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

“Boss, it’s bad! Someone’s causing trouble in the shop.”

Just then, a frantic knocking and a panicked shout from a waiter broke the silence.

Xu Shaochen laughed.

Huo Ying had just told him.

This was the script given to her by the baseball cap man.

It was to create a chance for Xu Shaochen to heroically help Huo Ying, deepening his affection—or rather, trust—in her.