Naughty Puppy Will Be Eaten by a Bad Woman - Chapter 17

One hand wore armor, while the other was painted with nail polish.

“What kind of person do you like?”

Lu Zhao paused in her packing, her movements momentarily halting at Fang Lin’s question.

Lu Zhao furrowed her delicate brows, as if genuinely pondering the question. After a long moment, she smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Linlin, I honestly don’t know.”

Fang Lin sighed, unsurprised.

At their age, family members often pressured them to settle down and marry. But Fang Lin wasn’t ready to commit so soon, which meant she had to dread every holiday, wondering how to fend off her relatives’ nagging.

Lu Zhao, however, faced no such pressure. Having lost both her parents, and with Wei Ning a staunch bachelor, she was spared these familial anxieties.

Yet sometimes Fang Lin couldn’t help but think—especially today, seeing Lu Zhao’s ghostly pale face—that it would be good if Lu Zhao had someone to care for her.

Lu Zhao showed no particular reaction to Fang Lin’s words.

She had once desperately longed to build a complete family with someone else, but that was during her naive youth, when classmates taunted her as “motherless” and “fatherless.”

Unable to change her origins, she had resolved to create a happy family for herself through her own efforts later in life.

She was too young then, and early relationships were both forbidden and unlikely to last. Once she understood this, she suppressed her desire and patiently waited to grow up.

After entering university, her major in journalism and communication required her to study numerous news cases and immerse herself in a wide range of artistic works, including but not limited to films, books, and more.

Love was indeed a recurring theme in human narratives. The more she consumed, the more monotonous it seemed, and the more she noticed the constant conflicts and discord within these stories.

Happy endings weren’t entirely absent, but when viewed through the objective, realistic lens of a journalist, they felt as fantastical and unrealistic as fairy tales.

Through her studies, she gained a broader perspective on the world and learned to approach issues from multiple angles. She broke free from the orphanage that had confined her childhood and escaped the societal trap of believing that happiness could only be found in forming a family with another person.

Why must one form an intimate relationship with another person to achieve happiness? she wondered. If that were true, happiness would be far too fragile.

Consequently, she showed little interest in romance. Combined with her constant busyness, she had never pursued a relationship.

So when Fang Lin asked her what kind of person she liked, Lu Zhao felt she had no right to answer.

Lu Zhao packed up her things and prepared to rush to her next livestream.

She had already informed Yu Longyan that she would need her to take over the overall management of the livestreams. Lu Zhao wouldn’t be broadcasting as frequently as before. The recent livestream format would transition to duo broadcasts, gradually shifting to Yu Longyan’s solo streams, with Lu Zhao moving behind the scenes.

Of course, the success of this model would ultimately depend on sales figures. But Lu Zhao was confident in its potential.

Arriving early at the livestream studio, she found Yu Longyan already there, while the rest of the team hadn’t arrived yet.

“Sister Longyan, you’re here so early!” Lu Zhao greeted her naturally. The caffeine was working its magic, allowing her to seamlessly switch from her post-meeting focus to a social mode.

“Little Reporter Lu, could you help me finish this cake? I’m on a diet and accidentally bought too much,” Yu Longyan said, gesturing to an exquisite cake box on the table.

Lu Zhao looked closer and realized the cake was from a renowned local chain. The portion was just right for her appetite, beautifully crafted, and her favorite blueberry flavor.

Lu Zhao blinked, recalling Yu Longyan’s words about “accidentally buying too much.” She handed her phone to Yu Longyan. “Then thank you, Sister Longyan. I was just about to order a coffee anyway. Want to combine our orders to meet the delivery minimum?”

Reciprocity was key in social interactions. She didn’t want to accept Yu Longyan’s kindness without offering something in return, but a flat refusal would have been inappropriate.

Yu Longyan smiled and took Lu Zhao’s phone. “Sure, I’ll gladly accept your offer.”

As Yu Longyan’s fingers glided across the screen, Lu Zhao noticed her left hand sported polished press-on nails, while her right hand had only a thin layer of clear nail polish. The contrast was striking as Yu Longyan’s hands overlapped while holding Lu Zhao’s phone.

Lu Zhao narrowed her eyes slightly, her expression thoughtful.

One hand with press-on nails, the other with just nail polish… Though Lu Zhao hadn’t consciously considered the implications, the answer seemed to be staring her in the face.

“All set. Thanks, Little Reporter Lu,” Yu Longyan said, handing the phone back. Her long nails briefly brushed against Lu Zhao’s hand.

Lu Zhao’s expression remained unchanged, but she pressed her lips together for a moment after the contact.

“No need to thank me. We’re colleagues, after all.”

She smiled, her eyes full of polite distance.

Yu Longyan’s coffee arrived quickly. Lu Zhao unwrapped a fork and began eating her cake while discussing the upcoming livestream schedule with Yu Longyan.

“We might need to coordinate our efforts here. I’ll mention it to central control later… Wait, you’ve got something on your cheek.” Yu Longyan stopped, her gaze fixed on Lu Zhao’s cheek near the corner of her mouth.

“Oh… a tissue…” Lu Zhao lowered her head, frantically searching for a tissue.

But Yu Longyan reached out, her hand hovering so close to Lu Zhao’s lips that she could feel her breath.

Lu Zhao froze, almost feeling the faint warmth radiating from Yu Longyan’s fingertips. For a split second, she thought Yu Longyan was going to wipe it off herself, forgetting to swallow the cake in her mouth.

She felt a strange unease, unsure how to react. If the person were a man, she would have instinctively slapped his hand away. But Yu Longyan was a woman.

Just as Lu Zhao was hesitating how to gracefully evade the situation, Yu Longyan conjured a tissue from her hand like a magician, pressing it into Lu Zhao’s palm.

“Here, wipe it off.”

The woman in the qipao smiled gently, her gaze lingering briefly on Lu Zhao’s cream-smeared lips before meeting her eyes again, as if savoring her momentary confusion.