"Mmm...ah..." Qiao Zhen's lips uttered a sound that made one blush. She said softly and unsteadily, "Little brother, if you love me but can't have me, there's no need to tease me back with the jade pendant, right? After all...um...you can't vent it out."

Cheng Zhao paused on the jade pendant, his face darkening instantly. He untied the red string and stuffed the jade pendant into his desk drawer. "Then you can stay in the dark room."

Qiao Zhen's vision went black. "Hey, hey, no! I'll let you touch me! I'm willing to let you touch me!"

Cheng Zhao pushed the chair back.

Qiao Zhen panicked immediately, "No! Big brother, I'm terrified of the dark! Don't leave me! I know I was wrong! I'll stop breathing, okay?"

Cheng Zhao opened the drawer again and picked up the red string threaded onto the jade pendant. Qiao Zhen felt swaying, as if someone was lifting her up from behind her neck. She shook it with all her might, "Hey, this is quite fun."

Qiao Zhen kept rambling on, then steered the conversation back on track, "I'm serious, little brother, we have no grudges against each other, we don't even know each other, so why would you risk your life to kill me? And now you're still hanging on to me like we're 'inseparable'? Could it be that you really have a crush on me but can't have me?"

Cheng Zhao placed the jade pendant on the bedside table and then went into the bathroom to take a shower. The sound of rushing water reached Qiao Zhen's ears, and she stared at the ceiling like a mentally challenged person.

She wanted to roll over and wander around, but she had no limbs, only the ability to roll. She couldn't even see the counter next to her, and she would easily fall to the ground. If the jade shattered, she could escape, but if the jade shattered and her soul scattered, wouldn't she have nowhere to even cry? She would be like a salted fish—unable to roll over.

When Cheng Zhao came out, drying his wet hair, Qiao Zhen had already counted nearly ten thousand sheep. "Big brother, it's Children's Day today, let me out to play for a while."

Cheng Zhao calmly replied, "Anyone over eighteen years old who impersonates a child to defraud money will be severely punished."