Inside the study, Ruan Qing'an was crouching down, carefully searching the room, trying to find anything related to Lin Qisheng—this perverted old man must have a reason for treating the original owner this way, right?

It can't be because he's simply a pervert...

Ruan Qing'an was inwardly grumbling when she suddenly noticed a face down photo frame in the bottom drawer. She paused for a moment, then took it out to look at it—the photo showed a woman.

A woman dressed in a pure white dress, as innocent as a white rabbit, is holding books and standing on the university campus.

On the back of the photo frame is a line of text: “She looks a lot like you.”

037: [This is...]

Ruan Qingan: "Ah, this..."

[Ancestor, if my data is correct, the original owner of this body was a female college student. This... this is a substitute novel, isn't it?]

Ruan Qing'an was speechless for a moment: "Substitute literature, extortion, imprisonment and coercion, plus the original owner's secret lover with Lin Chen... how come they all know how to play such games?"

This series of bizarre maneuvers left even Ruan Qingan bewildered.

037: [So what do we do next?]

Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an pondered for a moment: "Since we're playing the role of a substitute in literature, we should naturally gravitate towards Lin Qisheng's ideal woman. Only by changing the passive situation can we take the initiative."

Otherwise... I'm afraid that even the simplest thing like protecting oneself wouldn't be possible in this manor.

Remembering the injuries on the original owner's body, Ruan Qing'an lowered her eyes.

Just then, Nguyen Thanh An keenly heard a faint footstep outside the door—as if someone had deliberately made it quiet.

Someone's here?!

Ruan Qing'an was taken aback. She quickly put the things back on the desk and stuffed the photo frame back in. She glanced at the furnishings of the study and realized that the only place she could hide was this large desk.

Meanwhile, the sound of stealthy footsteps approached from outside the study.

There was no time to hesitate any longer. Ruan Qing'an wasn't even sure if it was the housekeeper or the others—although the footsteps of the person outside the door sounded rather furtive, if she were discovered, Lin Qisheng would probably beat her up again.

037: [Yes, yes, ancestor, you'd better hide! Otherwise, if you find out, you'll beat Lin Qisheng to death.]

Ruan Qingan: ? ? ?

She hid under the large desk, speechless for a moment.

Just as 037 was rambling on, the study door was opened. Ruan Qing'an carefully observed the situation outside through the crack—the door was only slightly ajar, a figure flashed in, and then the door was closed again.

Through the gap, she could only see a pair of Dr. Martens boots.

The size looks large; is it a man?

At that moment, Lin Chen entered the study. Although he was in his own manor, he was still very cautious. He only turned around after making sure that the butler and the others had not noticed him.

Lin Chen, slightly annoyed, brushed the stray hairs from his forehead and bent down to search through the stack of documents on the table.

"Tsk, it's rare that the old man didn't lock the study door."

"Is there some urgent matter...?"

Hearing the voices so close by, Ruan Qing'an's pupils suddenly contracted—just because the door wasn't locked today, two people still came looking for him. Just how much hate does that scumbag Lin Qisheng have?

Lin Chen didn't notice that someone else had overheard his mutterings; he simply looked down at the documents, muttering, "I don't know any of this. There really are things I can't know..."

"Ha, that old bastard is a real piece of work."

As Lin Chen spoke, the corners of his lips curved in a rather sarcastic manner. He searched back and forth in the study for quite a while but didn't find much. Although there were many documents whose contents he didn't understand, none of them were particularly sensational—which made sense.

If you forget to lock the study door, you can leave it unlocked, but some private things can only be truly secure if they are locked at all times.

Although he didn't gain much, Lin Chen wasn't exactly disappointed. At least he knew that scumbag Lin Qisheng would indeed hide a lot from him. As for being more vigilant later—

'Ta-da!'

Outside the study, noisy footsteps approached, followed by the old butler's question with suspicion: "Are you sure you saw someone in the study just now?"

"No, not necessarily..."

The one who spoke was the maid who had spoken to Lin Chen earlier: "I was sweeping the courtyard just now, and I think I saw a figure."

In the study, Lin Chen's eyes darkened slightly, and he impatiently pinched the bridge of his nose. It seemed that he hadn't noticed the servant downstairs earlier, but... where was she hiding?

He glanced at the empty study, his eyes landing on the desk: "Tsk, this should be big enough to fit an adult man."

Ruan Qing'an, hiding under the desk: ...Don't come any closer!

Under the large desk was a fairly spacious area. The petite girl kept squeezing herself into the corner, but just then—the tall young man had already bent down, supporting himself on the table with one hand, and was about to squeeze in when he suddenly froze.

In the corner was a timid young girl.

She wore a white silk nightgown, her long, raven-black hair cascading down her back, while her skin was as white and delicate as falling snow, like the finest, lustrous, warm jade. Her black hair and snow-white skin were an extreme collision of white and black.

The girl's feet were bare, and her exposed ankles were so small that they could be grasped in one hand. Some faint purplish marks could be seen on them, giving them a fragile and broken beauty.

He met those leaden gray eyes, as watery as a newborn fawn.

Lin Chen was stunned for a moment, his heart seemed to stop for a split second—he didn't know if it was from shock or from the girl.

"you……"

The two spoke in unison.

The fact that they could sneak into the study to find information and still bump into each other is as absurd as a thief breaking into a burglar's house and running into a fellow thief.

It's hard to say, whether Lin Qisheng is just a terrible person.

But time was of the essence. The lock on the study door had already been turned, and the two instinctively reached out to cover each other's mouths. Then, Lin Chen bent down and crawled inside.

With a creak, the old butler entered.

"Isn't there no one here?"

Hearing the old butler's irritating words, the maid shook her head anxiously: "No, I think I really did see it!"

"Alright, alright, I think you're just too idle."

The old butler snapped at him, clearly a little impatient.

Upon hearing this, the two hiding under the desk breathed a sigh of relief, but they still didn't dare to lower their hands that were covering their mouths. They both looked like they didn't trust each other at all and were afraid that the other would let them down.

Ruan Qing'an and Lin Chen: ...Please, leave quickly.

But as the old butler was about to leave, he suddenly remembered: "Sir, didn't you lock the door? Then it's possible that someone could sneak in."

The maid burst into tears of joy: "I really didn't lie!"

"Let's check if anything has been disturbed. I just tidied up the study for the master this morning, hmm..."

Upon hearing this, the two who were hiding froze.