But although you, Keqing, were the textbook rich, beautiful girl, I, Ye Ming, aside from being handsome, had nothing in common with some pretty boy.
That was going too far, Master Keqing.
Ye Ming's feelings were complicated.
"No, don't misunderstand."
Keqing looked at Ye Ming and explained very seriously, "Aren't I moving in with you tomorrow? This is the accommodation and meal fee I'm paying in advance. It doesn't mean anything else, so please don't misunderstand."
"Uh... even if you put it that way, there's no way I'd interpret it like that."
Ye Ming looked at Keqing's dead-serious nonsense and found it somewhat amusing. "Then tell me, how much is on this card?"
"Five thousand yuan." Keqing lowered her head and spoke softly.
"How much?" Ye Ming did not believe her at all.
"F-five hundred thousand?" Keqing quietly changed her answer, sounding uncertain.
"Five hundred thousand?" Ye Ming had almost believed her, but seeing Keqing's expression, he began to doubt her again.
"F-five million?" Keqing changed her answer once more.
"..."
Ye Ming fell silent, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Seeing Ye Ming's silence, Keqing thought her lie about five million had failed to fool him. She could only dejectedly revise it again. "Fine, it's fifty million."
"..."
They Gathered Here
"Keqing, you're putting a lot of pressure on me."
Ye Ming was silent for a long time before he finally spoke slowly, his expression complicated.
Girls from games coming into reality was already an unbelievable thing.
If they were girls from Azur Lane, then because they were all Ship-Girls, and because the Commander was the most important person in the world to them, living together with the Commander was only natural. Only a life with the Commander had meaning and could put them at ease.
Because Ship-Girls and the Commander had that kind of relationship, and because Ye Ming had felt the deep, weighty affection Ship-Girls held for him through Laffey, he could not bring himself to reject their feelings.
Even if it made him seem a little like a playboy, if other Ship-Girls came looking for him in the future, Ye Ming would still do his best to return their feelings.
But Genshin Impact was different. How should he put it? In Genshin Impact, the player played as the Traveler. At the beginning, they had to choose between the siblings Aether and Lumine. As a hardcore player, Ye Ming had naturally chosen Lumine and interacted with the characters in Genshin Impact as Lumine.
So the question was, how had Keqing recognized him in this world, and why did she like him?
More importantly, according to the game's setting, there did not seem to be many girls in Genshin Impact who were in love with the protagonist and insisted on being with her.
Ye Ming did not really understand that. He had asked Keqing about it, but Keqing had only given him an incomprehensible answer: "I'm the Keqing from the game, but I'm also not the Keqing from the game."
Ye Ming could not understand it, but judging from Keqing's behavior, he knew that she must have shared some past with him that he did not know about. Since Keqing did not want to talk about it, Ye Ming did not want to force her.
After all, they had already been intimate. Ye Ming had truly felt Keqing's feelings for him, so there was no need to keep dwelling on the past she did not want to mention. He was willing to try dating Keqing, to try living together with her.
But he had to admit that sometimes, he really did feel a heavy pressure.
Whether it was little princess Laffey and the other Ship-Girls from the game, Keqing, or the other girls from Genshin Impact who would soon arrive, they were all exceptionally outstanding girls. With so many outstanding girls gathered around him, even the most carefree person would occasionally feel pressure, wouldn't they?
"Even though I know it's stupid to dwell on this, sometimes I can't help wondering what's so good about me that a girl like you, Keqing, would fall for me."
Naturally, he could not say such things to the Ship-Girls. If he did, he would definitely receive answers like, "The Commander is the Commander. Whether he's outstanding or not, he's still the Commander we love most." But with Keqing, it should be all right to open up a little.
"Why dwell on such a meaningless question?"
Keqing took Ye Ming's hand and said seriously, "Compared to the past, the present and future are more worthy of attention."
As she spoke, Keqing paused. "But if you really want to know why, I can tell you with certainty."
"Because I like you."
"Liking someone is simply liking them, just like all the things you did for me before. Since we're partners determined to spend our whole lives together, why should we count so much between us?"
What exactly did I do for you before?
Ye Ming really wanted to ask Keqing that question, but he knew that even if he asked, Keqing would most likely avoid answering it.
But...
"Keqing, you misunderstood what I meant."
Yes, the pressure Ye Ming felt was not financial pressure, but another kind of psychological pressure.
The source of that pressure was the first question Ye Ming thought of when he saw the bank card—if I took Keqing's money and spent it on Laffey, would that count as living off Keqing while using her money to secretly... no, openly support a mistress?
That sounded a little scummy when he thought about it.
Beep—beep—
While the two were talking, the taxi had already arrived and was honking at Ye Ming.
Ye Ming was embarrassed to keep the driver waiting, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Keqing.
"I'll head off first. If there's anything, we can talk tomorrow."
"Mm."
Keqing responded, stepped forward, and gently hugged Ye Ming. As she embraced him, she softly kissed his cheek and said tenderly, "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Ye Ming got into the car. In the driver's seat, the driver slowly started the car and drove away from the hotel.
"Brother, impressive."
Once the car was on the road, the driver looked at Keqing standing at the hotel entrance through the rearview mirror, then looked at Ye Ming and sighed. His expression and tone were full of envy.
"Not bad."
Ye Ming gave a perfunctory response. To be honest, having such a beautiful wife as Keqing was a little sudden, but he still felt somewhat proud.
But...
Why did this driver's gaze seem a little strange?
Ye Ming felt that the driver's eyes held not only envy, but another indescribable emotion. If he had to describe it, it was probably intense sourness mixed with a little contempt.
Ye Ming froze for a moment. Recalling Keqing's hug just now, he reached into his pocket and, sure enough, pulled out the bank card with fifty million on it.
This...
Ye Ming was speechless.
However, seeing the driver's lemon-sour, contemptuous gaze, Ye Ming suddenly let out a heavy sigh and muttered to himself, "Sigh, with this card, I can finally go home and buy my wife something good to eat."
"!???"
After a brief moment of shock, the driver's gaze became even sourer.
Having gotten the reaction he wanted, Ye Ming was in a very good mood.
The rest of the journey was silent. After returning to the residential complex he rented in, Ye Ming got out of the car. Just as he was about to enter the complex, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Ye Ming took it out and saw a WeChat message from Sister Wang.
"Someone from Liyue International said you drank too much. Are you all right? How did things go today?"
Not bad. I'd already worked my way into bed with their boss.
"Things went pretty smoothly. It was quite good."
The moment he sent the message, he immediately received a reply.
"That's good. Thanks for the effort. Keep working hard from here on out. Get through this period, and you'll have a house and a car. Keep it up!"
Not only would he have a house and a car, he would have a wife too.
Thinking that, Ye Ming replied with two words: "Got it."
After replying, Ye Ming saw how dangerously low his phone battery was and hurried his pace. He managed to unlock the door and enter his home just before the battery died.
The living room was brightly lit. Besides Fu Hua sitting on the sofa and Laffey sleeping sprawled across Fu Hua's lap, there were also Yae Sakura and another somewhat familiar pink-haired girl.
Hearing the door open, the three women other than the deeply sleeping Laffey all turned their eyes toward Ye Ming at once.
For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
Perhaps sensing Ye Ming's presence, Laffey, who had been lying on Fu Hua's lap, also rubbed her eyes and climbed up.
"Huh? Commander, what's that red thing on your face? Oh, Laffey understands. Commander gave out another ring, right?"
Little Angel Laffey
"Laffey understands. Commander gave out another ring, right?"
Seeing the kiss mark on Ye Ming's face, clever Laffey immediately guessed everything—her Commander had given out another ring.
Before you continue