Volume 1, Chapter 8: The True Heiress Is a Powerhouse 8

After a hearty meal, An Qianqian returned to the estate with her brother and sister-in-law. Following an exhaustive round of concerned inquiries from Cheng Mingyue, she was finally able to lie down in bed. Yet, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep even by the middle of the night.

[Host, if you truly cannot sleep, shall I tell you a bedtime story?]

A bedtime story? That was a brilliant idea! An Qianqian nimbly scrambled out of bed, vaulted through the window, and leaped several times until she arrived at Si Chengnian’s residence.

[Host, why have you come to find Si Chengnian?]

"To have him read me a bedtime story."

[...]

[He... he won't agree, will he?]

"That is irrelevant."

Si Chengnian’s living quarters were pitifully shabby. While the exterior appeared grand and imposing, the interior could barely shield one from the wind and rain. As she slipped through the window by the light of the moon, the young man was fast asleep on a hard wooden bed. He was covered only by a thin, worn quilt, his collar left loosely open to reveal a glimpse of his slender collarbones.

An Qianqian stood by the bedside, observing him in the moonlight filtering through the lattice.

[Host, he is asleep. You won't be getting your bedtime story now,] the System teased.

An Qianqian did not respond; she simply kept her gaze fixed on Si Chengnian. For some reason, his face felt increasingly familiar, as if she had seen it a thousand times before. The slight, upward arch of his brows made her heart soften inexplicably. She stood there, mesmerized.

"Who’s there?"

Si Chengnian snapped his eyes open. His peach-blossom eyes were instantly filled with wariness, and his hand reached instinctively under the pillow for the hidden dagger he kept for protection. However, upon recognizing An Qianqian, his pupils constricted and he bolted upright, the quilt sliding off his shoulders to reveal skin that looked dazzlingly pale in the moonlight.

"Miss An, what is the meaning of this late-night intrusion?"

His voice, raspy from sleep, carried an even more alluring, magnetic quality than it did during the day, though his tone was as cold as ice. What on earth did this woman want? She had interrogated him about his heart's desire during the day, and now she had snuck into his room at night. Could it be that the young ladies of the Duke of Rong’s estate were all so shameless, finding amusement in tormenting him?

"System, listen to that! That voice—oh, it’s just wonderful!"

[Host, he seems very angry. Are you... sure he will tell you a bedtime story?]

"That is irrelevant."

An Qianqian kicked the quilt aside, squeezed Si Chengnian to the side, and laid down.

"You—you! What are you doing?!"

Si Chengnian was horrified. Si Chengnian was helpless. Si Chengnian leaped straight out of bed.

"Sleeping."

An Qianqian tucked the quilt around herself, folded her hands over her abdomen, and lay perfectly still. Si Chengnian stared at his broken bed, now occupied by her, and then at her composed expression—the look of one who had effectively stolen his bed and left him with nowhere to sleep—and nearly ground his teeth to dust. He had seen arrogant people, but never one who would climb through a window in the middle of the night and kick the owner out of their own bed! He knew it—not a single member of the Shang Kingdom’s nobility was any good!

"Miss An, by doing this, are you not afraid—"

Before he could finish, An Qianqian turned her head to look at him, silencing him instantly.

"Tell me a story."

She pulled a serialized storybook from under the quilt.

[Host, where did you find that book? I didn't see it on Si Chengnian’s bed earlier.]

"You’re too careless. You didn't look closely; Si Chengnian was sleeping with the book tucked inside his bedding."

Si Chengnian: ... He had no idea.

"Miss An, it is very late now. Please return home and stop teasing me like this."

"Tell me a story."

An Qianqian closed her eyes, her tone as firm as if she were ordering a servant to pour tea. Just as Si Chengnian was taking a deep breath to suppress the rage rising to his head, he watched as An Qianqian flicked her finger. The dim oil lamp by the window suddenly flared with a "pop," and warm yellow light flooded the room.

Si Chengnian resigned himself to his fate. He wanted to do something about her, but it was clear this woman was no pushover. That feat with the lamp alone proved she was not someone he could easily overpower.

[Host!!!] the System shrieked. [What technique was that? Weren't you just a village girl I picked up on the hillside? How could you light a lamp like that?!]

"Oh, just a coincidence. Good luck."

Good luck, my foot! No one would believe that!

[No, I must re-examine your data. I remember clearly that I bound myself to a starving village girl.]

"Go ahead, then."

A village girl? Ha!

Si Chengnian cleared his throat and began to read from the opening of the book. "The night was as cool as water. The young master held a lamp as he entered the tent, his fingertips lightly hooking the beauty’s sash, his voice alluring: 'Tonight, let me cherish you well...'"

Si Chengnian: "!!!" What—what kind of filth was this?! He scrambled to close the book.

An Qianqian was momentarily stunned... It seemed she had given him the wrong book. She snatched it back and shoved it under the quilt. Then, she pulled out another one and handed it to him.

Si Chengnian looked at the book she had hidden away, his ears still burning red. Just as he relaxed, she handed him another. The cover was gaudy, depicting a man in dark, fitted clothing embracing a woman in a red dress, set against a backdrop of towering, strange architecture. He took it hesitantly, his fingertips brushing the cover, only to be blinded by the large, gold-stamped characters: *The CEO’s Contract Sweetheart: The Madam Has Run Away Again*.

Si Chengnian: "???" The young man’s brow furrowed, his peach-blossom eyes wide. He held the book as if it were a hot potato, looking at An Qianqian with utter confusion, his voice trembling slightly: "What... what sort of official position is a 'CEO'? Is it higher than a Duke?"

"And a 'contract sweetheart'... does that mean a snack bought with a contract?"

An Qianqian, with a stoic face, sat up, snatched the book back, and shoved it under the quilt. "You saw wrong. There is nothing there."

She pulled yet another book from the bedding. This time, she checked it herself to ensure the cover was appropriate. *Bedtime Stories for Babies*. She handed it to Si Chengnian. "Read."

An Qianqian lay back down, folded her hands on her stomach, and slowly closed her eyes.

"In a distant and beautiful village, there lived a little girl named Little Red Riding Hood..."

Just as Si Chengnian finished the ending, he saw that An Qianqian’s hands were still neatly folded on her abdomen, but her breathing had already become steady and deep.

She was asleep? Did she trust him this much? This daughter of the Duke of Rong, just recently returned, was truly interesting.

Si Chengnian’s fingertips hovered before her forehead for a moment before he gently brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek.

The next day, when An Qianqian woke up, she was already back at the Duke of Rong’s estate.

"System, why am I back?"