The young lady hired me to help her and the young master have an online romance.

It rang five or six times before it was finally answered.

"Brother~"

Jiang Wan called out to him.

There was no sound from the other end.

It was as quiet as if the phone call hadn't even gone through.

Jiang Wan glanced at the screen; the call time was running out, but the other end remained silent.

She spoke again, "Hello, can you hear me?"

"Um."

One word: cold and somber.

Hearing him speak, Jiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief.

If they're willing to talk, things will be much easier.

"Does my brother have classes this morning?"

"Will my calling you bother you?"

She deliberately asked in an innocent and naive tone, as if she were chatting with a kindergarten child.

"What do you think?" The man's tone was cold, with a hint of arrogance in his rising intonation.

Jiang Wan decided to change her strategy and directly bring up the topic of having dinner with men.

Are you angry with me?

"Because I ate with other guys, right?"

After a few seconds of silence, the person on the other end suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"Ha, stop patting yourself on the back."

"Eat with whoever you want, don't bother me."

Jiang Wan almost burst out laughing.

Listen to that sour smell; you can smell it even across the Pacific Ocean.

"Really?"

Jiang Wan pressed for details, her bright eyes full of cunning.

"Okay, brother is right."

"We never had any relationship to begin with, and who I eat with is none of your business."

"..."

There was another moment of silence on the other end.

Jiang Wan didn't hang up, nor did she say anything.

The two seemed to have entered into an invisible tug-of-war.

After about ten seconds, Shang Shixu's voice rang out, tinged with a hint of gritted teeth.

"Gu Manning".

He called out the young lady's name. Jiang Wan reacted for two seconds before quickly replying, "I'm here~"

"Did you do this on purpose?" he asked.

"What on purpose?" Jiang Wan feigned ignorance.

"Intentionally, I am angry."

When those four words were uttered, Shang Shixu's voice was noticeably tense, as if he was suppressing some kind of emotion.

Jiang Wan curled the corners of her mouth.

He finally admitted it, admitted that he cared.

It's really not easy!

Jiang Wan immediately responded to him, her voice sweet and soft, "How could I dare to upset you? I like you so much."

"You are the most precious person in my heart, a VIP among VIPs, enjoying exclusive privileges, no one else can even squeeze in!"

"...My darling?" Shang Shixu repeated the word, his tone tinged with disdain, but a slight smile played on his lips.

Jiang Wan continued to coax, "Yes, you know what? While I was eating, all I could think about was you."

"It's like you're sitting next to me, eating with me."

"You want me to have dinner with you?" Shang Shixu raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Wan's brain alarm bells went off!

She quickly tried to salvage the situation!

"I would like to, but I know my brother has a lot of studies and is busy with work."

"Besides, we don't have any relationship now. I was just overthinking it."

"We'll have dinner together when you agree to be my boyfriend."

When the conversation veered towards confirming their relationship, the other party indeed didn't continue.

Jiang Wan knew clearly that Shang Shixu would not budge for the time being.

Right now, she can pique his interest to some extent, but that's because he treats her as his personal "pet."

What are pets to him?

It's something you can just casually joke around with.

He's still a ways off from turning a pet into a girlfriend.

After a two-second silence, Shang Shixu asked, "Who did you eat with?"

coming.

The core issue.

Jiang Wan took a deep breath, her brain racing.

Tell the truth?

Of course not!

Gu Manning did not know Shen Che.

The safest strategy is to play it safe.

"A friend I haven't seen in a long time; he was my neighbor when I was a child."

"We bumped into each other today and had a meal together."

Jiang Wan spoke very casually.

As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Shixu gave a faint "Oh".

The atmosphere seemed less tense than before.

Jiang Wan asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

Shang Shixu: "I wasn't angry to begin with."

Good grief, who said they were deliberately trying to annoy him just a minute ago?

Seeing that she had already appeased him, Jiang Wan didn't intend to argue with him about these trivial matters.

"Brother, I'm going to sleep now?"

"Wait."

"Um?"

Jiang Wan blinked, but several seconds passed without him saying anything.

"Brother?" Jiang Wan called him tentatively.

Just as Jiang Wan was about to ask him what he wanted to say, a deep male voice came through the receiver.

"How long will you like me?"

Jiang Wan's breath hitched.

How is she supposed to answer this question?

People often have to tell countless lies to cover up one lie.

Not to mention, it was a lie from the start.

Jiang Wan slowly exhaled, her voice as sweet as ever.

"Hmm... I haven't thought about that."

"But I'm sure I'll like you more and more~"

Shang Shixu did not respond.

But Jiang Wan heard him hum softly.

It wasn't a cold snort, nor was it disdain.

Like the kind of person who gets coaxed but is unwilling to admit it—

Arrogant and haughty.

Jiang Wan knew when to stop. "Brother, go ahead and get busy. I should go to sleep too."

Goodnight~

"Good night."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Wan looked at the screen and saw that the call lasted eight minutes and three seconds.

If there were a progress bar for tracking the timing of business transactions, then tonight should have seen a significant advancement.

Jiang Wan turned off her phone, his words echoing in her mind: "How long will you like me?"

This question really hit a nerve with her.

Jiang Wan admits that she is not a person with a strong sense of morality.

She accepted Gu Manning's commission purely for the money.

But those words just now gave her a jolt.

Fortunately, Shang Shixu didn't actually like her when he asked that question.

He probably wanted to confirm with her how long she could keep up this "pet" that provided emotional support.

She did the tasks for money, Gu Manning hired her and deceived her for money, and Shang Shixu treated her like a pet for emotional value.

If this game can end smoothly, it will be a win-win-win situation.

Everyone gets what they need, and no one owes anyone anything.

Jiang Wan returned to her dormitory and stopped overthinking.

*

Across the ocean, Boston.

Shang Shixu put away his phone and walked steadily back to the classroom.

Pei Heyun glanced at him and immediately noticed that the oppressive atmosphere that had been hanging over him had vanished.

So he went up to her and teased her in a cheeky way.

"Have you made up with Gu Manning?"

"You two aren't actually dating, so why are you acting like you're having an online romance?"

Shang Shixu leaned back in his chair, looking carefree, and his words remained cold and arrogant.

What kind of online dating is this?

"I'm not going to do that disgusting stuff."

"That little toad insisted on sticking to me. I just thought she was funny, so I played along."

If you told this to someone who is not familiar with the Shang Dynasty time sequence, they would definitely believe it.

But she couldn't fool Pei Heyun, who had grown up with her since childhood.

Play?

When does he go out with women?

Because there's a secret in the Shang Dynasty's timeline.

Aside from immediate family, only two close friends knew.

One is Di Wenjun, and the other is Pei Heyun.

The secret of the Shang Dynasty's timing is—