Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

"what?"

"What are you 'ah' about? Hurry up!"

"okay……"

Wenjing seemed to be intimidated by Ding Heng's tone, and hurriedly hung up the call, sending a detailed address.

Ding Heng opened the address, set the navigation, and the vehicle steadily drove towards the highway entrance leading to Zhuzhou.

As the car drove onto the empty elevated highway, the cool night breeze rushed in through the half-open windows, slightly dispelling the smell of alcohol inside the car.

Ding Heng occasionally glanced at Zhao Yanxi, who was fast asleep beside him, through the rearview mirror or by turning his head.

The girl was not sleeping soundly; her brows were slightly furrowed, and her thick eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyelids, occasionally trembling with the slight bumps of the car.

Her silver hair was blown by the wind outside the window, with a few strands clinging to her sweaty forehead and her still-rosy cheeks.

The dim light inside the carriage softened her overly delicate features, leaving behind a serene yet subtly uneasy sleeping face.

Her usual bright and flamboyant demeanor had completely vanished; she curled up in the large seat, like a stray cat that didn't know where to go, vulnerable and helpless.

Ding Heng withdrew his gaze and focused intently on the road ahead.

He originally thought that "second child" like Wenjing, who grew up in a complicated family with many children and was neglected for a long time, would have more serious psychological problems.

In retrospect, Zhao Yanxi's problems may be more acute and more hidden than Wen Jing's.

Before the college entrance examination, this girl lived under her mother's all-round, all-encompassing high-pressure control, especially during her three years of high school, when her mother was even her homeroom teacher.

This almost means that surveillance permeated every single moment of her life, and the suffocating feeling was unimaginable.

However, once the college entrance examination was over, the mother, perhaps wanting to make up for it or to demonstrate her "successful" and "enlightened" parenting style, almost completely withdrew her attention and control over her daughter.

The sudden dissipation of high pressure does not necessarily bring freedom and ease.

It's like someone who has lived in the Arctic for a long time being suddenly thrown into a high-temperature sauna. What they feel is not warmth, but extreme discomfort and dysfunction.

Zhao Yanxi is currently in this "out-of-control" state.

Therefore, she urgently needs to regain attention and fill the void in her heart through other means.

For example, daring cosplay costumes, smoking and drinking, and trying "adult games" that were once strictly prohibited.

But after a month, she began to realize that mere appearance and superficial "rebellion" were far from enough to fill the void and restlessness in her heart.

It wasn't until Ding Heng appeared at the comic convention that he clearly approached Wen Jing.

Ding Heng knew that in Zhao Yanxi's eyes, his sudden appearance and approach to Wen Jing was undoubtedly dangerous and "ill-intentioned."

However, it was precisely this "danger" that aroused Zhao Yanxi's excitement.

She wanted to replace Wenjing and make herself Ding Heng's "hunting" target.

With her physical attributes being in no way inferior to Wenjing's, she was almost certain that Ding Heng would not refuse this tempting offer.

Even deep in her subconscious, she might be secretly hoping that Ding Heng would treat her as a "pet" that he could dispose of at will, thoroughly train, play with, and then discard her!

This is to fill the regret and emptiness of the past ten years under the high pressure of my mother, when I could never truly be unrestrained and completely rebellious.

More than an hour later, Ding Heng parked his car at the entrance of Zhao Yanxi's residential compound.

He got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, bent down and reached inside, trying to get the sleeping Zhao Yanxi out.

Zhao Yanxi was completely limp at this moment, unable to exert any strength, and was supported entirely by Ding Heng's arm.

Ding Heng half-carried, half-lifted her out of the carriage, letting her body completely slump in his arms, her head drooping limply on his shoulder.

"Hmm...have we arrived yet?"

Zhao Yanxi was awakened by Ding Heng's actions, and asked a question in a daze, her eyes still half-closed.

"Hmm, wake up, we're home."

Ding Heng supported Zhao Yanxi, helping her to stand up a little straighter.

Zhao Yanxi chuckled foolishly, her arms limply wrapping around Ding Heng's neck, rambling on and on in her drunken state.

"What... you brought me to your house? Is your bed... bigger and more comfortable than a hotel bed?"

Ding Heng was both amused and exasperated, and struggled to steady her.

Zhao Yanxi was still muttering, "Wait a minute... could you help me take a shower first? Let me sober up... and then... change into the clothes I brought... the black one... you'll definitely like it..."

Ding Heng lifted Zhao Yanxi, who was about to slide down, and jokingly remarked, "Honestly, it's a good thing you ran into me."

Zhao Yanxi struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, her hazy eyes taking a while to focus before finally landing on Ding Heng's face. She asked vaguely, "You... are you different?"

Ding Heng did not answer.

He was thinking about how to communicate with the security guard and contact Zhao Yanxi's family when he suddenly heard a cell phone ringing from Zhao Yanxi's coat pocket.

Ding Heng reached in and took out Zhao Yanxi's phone. The caller ID showed "Dad".

He showed the screen to Zhao Yanxi, who was hanging on him.

"Your father!"

However, the alcohol completely clouded Zhao Yanxi's judgment.

She seemed to have heard him, yet she also seemed not to have.

Finally, she looked up at Ding Heng and sweetly called out, "Daddy!"

Ding Heng: "?"

After shouting, Zhao Yanxi pressed her burning cheek against Ding Heng's neck and continued to murmur.

"I'll scream whatever you want... but we have a deal... you can't be too rough... I'm really... very, very, very... afraid of pain..."

She wrapped her arms tighter around Ding Heng's neck, her voice trembling with sobs and pleading.

"Anyway... for the first time, please be gentle with me... okay?"

Just like when Zhao Yanxi poured wine at the dinner table before, Ding Heng could clearly feel the body in his arms trembling uncontrollably.

The girl was terrified, yet also eager to try...

Ding Heng forcibly suppressed the restlessness in his heart, swiped his thumb to answer the call, and put the phone to his ear.

A steady, concerned voice came from the other end of the phone: "Yan hope? Why aren't you home yet? Your mother is getting worried..."

"Hello, Uncle."

Ding Heng tried his best to make his voice sound calm and polite.

Zhao Xingguo paused, then his tone suddenly became serious and wary: "Who are you? Where is Yan hope?"

"We are now at the entrance of your residential compound. Could you and your auntie please come down and pick up Yanxi?"

Ding Heng glanced down at Zhao Yanxi, who was wriggling restlessly in his arms again, and sighed silently once more.

"She's drunk..."

Chapter 15: Rubbing her little face

Ding Heng waited for about three minutes, and then two figures hurriedly walked out of the residential area.

Seeing her daughter drunkenly slumped in the arms of a tall, unfamiliar boy from afar, Zhou Rongmei's face turned extremely pale.

"Who are you?! Let go of my Yan hope!"

A mother's protective instincts made her voice rise unconsciously, and she almost immediately categorized Ding Heng as a scoundrel who "had ill intentions and got the girl drunk," and stepped forward to pull her daughter away.

Zhao Xingguo, however, was much calmer than his wife.

He wasn't particularly tall, but he had broad shoulders and a sturdy frame that was immediately apparent.

At around forty-five or forty-six years old, his temples were already noticeably gray, his skin was dark, bearing the marks of years of outdoor work, and his lips were habitually slightly pursed, naturally exuding a serious and scrutinizing air when he wasn't smiling.

He first quickly glanced at Ding Heng, then at the slightly worn Chang'an SUV with Xingcheng license plates next to him, and finally reached out to grab his excited wife.

"Rongmei, stop shouting, the neighbors are all asleep at this hour."

Zhao Xingguo said in a steady voice, "Help Yan hope back first and wipe her body."

Zhou Rongmei was pulled back by her husband, and after confirming that her daughter was indeed just drunk and her clothes were still relatively neat, she managed to suppress her anger.

When Zhou Rongmei took the limp Zhao Yanxi from Ding Heng's hands, she still glared at him fiercely, the warning in her eyes was self-evident.

"Yan hope? Yan hope? Wake up, come home with Mommy..."

Zhou Rongmei struggled to support her daughter, calling out softly as they slowly walked back to the residential area.

After watching his wife and daughter leave, Zhao Xingguo turned to Ding Heng, took out a cigarette case from his pajama pocket, and handed it to him.

"Young man, what's your name?"

His voice was calm, revealing little emotion, more like a routine inquiry.

Ding Heng indicated that he did not smoke and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Hello, Uncle, my name is Ding Heng."

Zhao Xingguo nodded, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and the smoke curled up under the streetlights.

He didn't ask Ding Heng what his relationship with his daughter was, nor did he question his daughter about why she was so drunk; he simply exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Thank you for bringing Yan hope back."

"Of course."

"Judging from your license plate, you drove from Changsha?"

"Ah."

"This child, why did she run off to Xingcheng again without saying a word? It must have been hard for you to drive her back so late at night."

Zhao Xingguo muttered something as if to himself, then his tone carried the concern of an elder.

"It's getting late, should I arrange a hotel for you nearby to rest?"

"No need, thank you for your kindness, Uncle."

Ding Heng politely declined, and Zhao Xingguo didn't insist. He stubbed out his cigarette, which was less than half-smoked, on the trash can and patted Ding Heng on the shoulder.

"Drive slowly at night and be careful."

After saying that, Zhao Xingguo turned around and walked back to the residential area.