319: Chapter 319 Big Brother~ Let me give you a flower~ - 2

In a flash, Jiang Ye's hand movements changed abruptly. Breaking the whole into parts, he switched from grabbing to pulling, and with extreme precision, he extracted a solitary rose from that large bouquet.

Hmm... Giving one flower both expresses the sentiment and minimizes the cost. Perfect!

Jiang Ye mentally gave himself a thumbs-up for his own wit.

He turned around and handed this lone rose to Ye Cheng, who looked speechless. With deep affection and burning eyes, he said, "Cheng Cheng, Happy Valentines Day. Though the gift is light, the sentiment is heavy. I hope you like it."

Ye Cheng glanced at him, then looked down at the flower in his hand, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly: "...Did you not ask for the price first?"

"Ask for the price? The little girl is right. This is the sentiment, this is romance! Romance is priceless! How expensive could it possibly be..."

"Big Brother~~~" Before Jiang Ye could finish, Skippy nimbly pulled a printed QR code from her little pocket. She stood on her tiptoes and shoved it under his nose: "Scan here, eight thousand."

"...?" The affection on Jiang Ye's face instantly froze. His neck, like a rusted gear, stiffened as he slowly turned his head, his eyes wide: "How... how much? Eight thousand? Are you using Vietnamese Dong?"

Skippy blinked her big, innocent eyes and said with certainty, "RMB, eight thousand~" As she spoke, she pushed the payment code forward again, almost shoving it into Jiang Ye's face.

"!!!" Jiang Ye's face darkened, and a surge of anger flared up. Just as he was about to lash out, his gaze inadvertently swept over a line of small text below the QR code—Payee Name: "She's Still a Child."

"..." He almost couldn't catch his breath and forcibly swallowed the words he was about to say.

Indeed, facing such a seven or eight-year-old child who looked cute and had "innocent" eyes, none of the snarky remarks or smooth-talking lines he had prepared could be said.

"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Skippy tilted her little head, looking up at him, seemingly confused that Jiang Ye hadn't moved for a long time: "Is the rose not pretty? Is eight thousand too expensive? Is Big Sister Ye... unworthy of it?"

Facing this precision strike, this soul-piercing triple question, Jiang Ye's eyelid twitched violently. He finally had an intuitive and profound realization about the "highly skilled" old director that Ye Cheng had mentioned.

This wasn't just simple moral kidnapping. This was clearly a combination attack! It was a three-dimensional offensive that utilized the natural compassion humans felt towards children, combined with the holiday atmosphere, emotional appeals, and the moral high ground!

No wonder! No wonder Cheng Cheng was such a "match" for him and had such high resistance to various tricks. It turned out she had lived beside such an "expert" since she was young, and through constant exposure, she had honed her skills!

Ye Cheng glanced at the ever-changing expression on Jiang Ye's face, which finally settled into one of "reverence," and knew he had fully grasped the severity of today's "battle."

She gave a soft huff, reached out to take the solitary rose, and stuck it back into the large bouquet in Skippy's arms. She began to shoo her away with annoyance: "Go, go, go! Go back and play with your mud! If you keep hanging around here trying to scam people, watch out, or I'll spank your bottom!"

Skippy mimicked Ye Cheng's huff, completely disregarding the threat, and continued to gaze at Jiang Ye with those sparkling big eyes: "Big Brother, are you henpecked? Do you have no opinions of your own at all? I heard there's a male domestic violence shelter in Shengtian. Are you familiar with it?"

Jiang Ye and Ye Cheng: "..."

Jiang Ye almost spat out a mouthful of blood. His mind was filled with countless smooth-talking comebacks, enough to turn the tide of battle in an instant and make this little brat realize the dangers of society.

But! But! Facing such a tiny, seemingly "ignorant" little kid, 99% of those lines couldn't be said.

Even if there were one or two that could barely be used, Skippy only needed to blink and ask innocently, "Big Brother, what does that mean? Skippy doesn't understand~," and it would plunge him into even deeper embarrassment.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Ye Cheng stepped in and resolved this crisis that had left even Jiang Ye feeling helpless.

With a face full of dark lines, she grabbed the back collar of Skippy's down jacket, lifted her slightly off the ground, and without hesitation, raised her other hand and gave the little girl's round bottom two solid "smacks."

"Ouch!" "Disappear now! If you make me angry again, I'll really spank your bottom until it blooms!"

With teary eyes, Skippy looked at the "Big Brother" standing to the side, looking at his nose and heart, acting as if it had nothing to do with him. Seeing that he had no intention of being a "hero saving the child," she knew this business deal couldn't be done.

She huffed resentfully and muttered, "Hmph... He must be a local from Shengtian, to be so afraid of his girlfriend..."

Seeing Ye Cheng gesture to raise her hand again, Skippy was startled. She quickly covered her bottom, clutched her bouquet of roses worth tens of thousands, and ran away in a flash.

"Whew..." Ye Cheng let out a long sigh of relief, turned to look at Jiang Ye, who still looked shaken, and explained helplessly: "That girl Skippy is incredibly sharp. Girls are naturally precocious, and growing up in our... rather special environment, her ability to observe and read people is even stronger. Don't look at her as only eight years old; her mind is already quite mature."

"This is 'quite' mature? This is f***ing overripe, isn't it?" Jiang Ye's mouth twitched as he watched the direction the little girl ran off in, and he exclaimed sincerely: "The meticulousness of this girl's thinking and the sneakiness of her attacks... I can't even imagine the miserable life her future boyfriend will have to live when she grows up..."

He paused, suddenly seemingly thinking of something, and turned abruptly to Ye Cheng: "Eh? Wait! Cheng Cheng, when you were little... were you about the same?"

Ye Cheng was stunned by his question, then rolled her eyes at him in annoyance and pinched his arm, not too lightly, not too heavily: "That's enough out of you! Stop with the glib tongue and wild associations! Hurry up, I'll take you to see the old man. You two can chat for a bit, and that will count as you 'visiting the family' successfully. We'll just go through the motions and then leave; this Shengtian is not meant for lingering."

Jiang Ye said "Oh," obediently followed Ye Cheng, and continued walking deeper into the courtyard.