A super-rich tycoon? No, just call me the gentlemanly gigolo.

As soon as the two reached the elevator, they ran into the blonde girl from the "Love ST" private photography studio again. She seemed to be waiting for customers at the door.

Ye Cheng greeted her familiarly, "Xiao An, still working? Taking on another job?"

Xiao An paused slightly when she saw Jiang Ye beside her: "Sister Ju, this is... your friend?"

Ye Cheng chuckled and patted Jiang Ye's arm, looking like they were best buddies: "Yeah, this sucker is my friend, let's go!"

After saying that, without waiting for Xiao An's response, he pulled Jiang Ye, whose face was full of black lines, and walked towards the fire escape next to him.

"Hey, why are we taking the stairs? Isn't the elevator here?" Jiang Ye asked, puzzled.

"Just come with me, I won't sell you."

Ye Cheng led him down one floor in the dimly lit fire escape, out through the emergency exit on the 11th floor, and straight to the door of room 1103.

Jiang Ye looked around at the quiet surroundings, then at Ye Cheng, before realizing, "This is...your house?"

The latter nodded as he took his keys out of his bag: "Yeah, I rented it for convenience while working part-time."

She paused as she inserted the key into the lock, glanced back at Jiang Ye, and gave a soft snort: "Dude, let me warn you beforehand, this house of mine... has surveillance cameras installed, every inch of it without blind spots. You... had better behave yourself."

Jiang Ye scoffed, his face full of disdain: "Tch! Who do you take me for? You think I'd just walk in and let you pounce on me? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

Ye Cheng gave him a strange look, turning the key to open the door while muttering under her breath, "I'm afraid you'll steal my underwear, socks..."

Jiang Ye: "..."

The door opened, and Ye Cheng stepped aside to let Jiang Ye in.

The room is a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom layout. It's not very big, but it's still quite cozy.

The apartment is typical of a single girl. The living room is a bit messy, with a few coats casually draped over the sofa, snacks and books scattered on the coffee table, and several pairs of shoes of different styles lying haphazardly on the doormat.

Jiang Ye's gaze swept around the room, and unconsciously fell on the scattered clothes—especially a few pairs of stockings that seemed to be casually tossed on the sofa.

If this girl just randomly picks a few items and gives them to me, wouldn't I get thousands or tens of thousands in cashback?

Holy crap, this isn't a rental apartment, it's a gold mine!

Ye Cheng changed into her slippers and turned around to see Jiang Ye staring blankly at the few small pieces of clothing on the sofa armrest. She immediately waved her hand in front of his face, clearly annoyed.

"Hey! Just take a look, that's enough. I'm warning you, don't pretend to fall down and then pounce on it to smell it! You hear me? Have some self-respect!"

Jiang Ye was utterly speechless, and explained with a wry smile, "No, Ye Cheng, what kind of image do I have in your eyes? I'm just like...

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Cheng had already walked straight to a small cardboard box in the corner of the living room, taken out several packets of instant noodles, and turned back to ask him, "Braised beef, spicy beef, or pickled cabbage? Which one do you want?"

Jiang Ye looked at the three familiar packets of cheap instant noodles, and his anticipation instantly plummeted: "You're treating me to dinner... and this is it?"

"We're lucky to have anything to eat!"

Ye Cheng shook the bag again: "I'm cooking noodles for you myself, what more do you want? Are you going to eat or not? If not, I'll eat it myself!"

Jiang Ye sighed silently.

Well, even a mosquito's leg is meat, something is better than nothing.

One pack of instant noodles costs 2.5 yuan, two packs cost 5 yuan, and you get a 50 yuan cashback, which is just enough for a taxi home.

"Alright, two packets of pickled cabbage."

Ye Cheng gave her a "I knew it" look: "I knew you'd like this flavor."

As she spoke, she took three packets of instant noodles and walked into the cramped kitchen.

The kitchen was really small. If Ye Cheng stood inside by herself, and Jiang Ye followed her in, there probably wouldn't even be room to turn around.

Jiang Ye leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Ye Cheng skillfully tie on an apron printed with a bear and start boiling water.

While waiting for the water to boil, she casually swept her long hair to one side, revealing her fair neck.

Under the warm yellow light, she focused intently on the bubbles in the pot, her profile soft, occasionally raising her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Watching Ye Cheng's slender figure busy in the kitchen, listening to the bubbling sound of water boiling in the pot, and smelling the aroma gradually emanating from the instant noodle seasoning packet, Jiang Ye suddenly felt a very strange feeling welling up in his heart.

It was abrupt and inexplicable, yet it was real—a faint sense of warmth and happiness, similar to "home."

It calmed his restless heart, which had been agitated all day.

Just as Jiang Ye was basking in this warmth, Ye Cheng suddenly turned around and punched him: "...Hey! Why are you staring at my butt like that?"

"..."

Jiang Ye rolled his eyes speechlessly, shook his head, and shook off the strange thought.

Damn it, I must have been tricked so badly tonight that I'm hallucinating.

Five minutes later, the instant noodles were cooked. Ye Cheng took out two large bowls, divided the noodles and soup evenly, and put half a sausage on top of each bowl.

Jiang Ye took the bowl and placed it on the small coffee table in the living room.

Ye Cheng turned on the TV, casually opened Tencent Video, and cast a variety show called "Let's Go Now" to the screen. She slurped noodles while watching and giggling.

The hot soup noodles dispelled the chill of the night and relieved Jiang Ye's frustration after being thrashed by billiards for three hours.

He was slurping his noodles when his phone suddenly started buzzing.

When I opened it, it was a WeChat message from Yao Yao.

Yao Yao: [What are you doing, brother? Have you eaten? I miss you~ (cute.jpg)]

Jiang Ye casually snapped a picture of the instant noodle bowl in front of him and sent it, replying in text: "Eating. Get to the point."

As soon as I sent it out, I felt a gaze sweep over from the side.

Ye Cheng peeked over, glanced at his phone screen, and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Oh, who is it? Checking up on me? My girlfriend?"

Jiang Ye tossed his phone aside and casually replied, "No, a female live streamer."

Ye Cheng pursed her lips, rolled her eyes, and turned her head back to watching her variety show, clearly not believing a word of it.

Two minutes later, Yao Yao's WeChat message came again.

Yao Yao: [Brother, you only eat instant noodles? That's so hard!]

Yao Yao: [Um... Brother, there's something I want to tell you...]

Yao Yao: [Our department is having a departmental competition on the 5th of next month, and the department has set me a revenue target of 5000 yuan... Bro, my target is a bit too high, I'm panicking, I don't know what to do, can you help me...?]

Just by reading this text, you can feel the cautiousness, confusion, and helplessness on the other side of the screen. It's easy to feel protective of them and to feel sorry for them.

Jiang Ye stroked his chin, pondering how best to reply.

Should we try to persuade her first? Try to get her to take initiative and see if we can get her to transfer three to five thousand yuan.

Or perhaps...

"Holy crap! Dude! You actually sent gifts to that female streamer?!"

Ye Cheng, as if discovering a new continent, peeked out and carefully examined the WeChat message, her eyes widening instantly:

"5000 yuan?! Just for some crappy 'hall war'? You're here munching on instant noodles while you're spending lavishly on your phone to help a female streamer buy a house and a car? Are you out of your mind?"

Jiang Ye was startled by her reaction and picked at his ear speechlessly.

"Didn't I just say it was a female streamer? 5000 is nothing, don't make a fuss about it."

Ye Cheng looked at Jiang Ye's nonchalant attitude, glanced at his ordinary clothes, and then looked down at the instant noodles in front of him, and immediately became annoyed:

"Little money? Give me the little money! Didn't you keep saying you'd save up to 'take care of' me? So you're just wasting money like this? How much have you saved? Did you spend it all on female anchors? And all that 'giegie~giegie~' stuff, does it sound nice? I even kindly cooked noodles for you! With eggs and sausage! Jiang Ye, you big liar!"