567: Chapter 568 A Clumsy Honey Trap! Su Chen: Free Labor is Free!

Xie Jinghong's heart nearly jumped out of her throat.

It worked! He actually took the initiative to invite her!

The first step of her plan had been achieved so unexpectedly and smoothly!

She had originally prepared several backup scripts in her Storage Ring.

These included "weeping about a tragic past with profound gratitude," "multiple coincidental encounters along the way to increase credibility," and even "showing off exceptional business talent to make the other party take the initiative to ask her to stay."

The result? None of them were needed!

She hadn't expected Su Chen to be so direct; a single sentence and she was on the carriage!

Xie Jinghong was gloating wildly in her heart, thinking that this legendary, unfathomable Nine Heavens Divine Son ultimately couldn't escape the cliché plot of a hero saving a beauty.

Yet, despite her inner ecstasy, her facial expression remained flawless—a perfect picture of a pitiable damsel.

“Young Master Su’s kindness is immense. I... I can never repay you enough. I am willing to serve you like an ox or a horse to show my gratitude...” Her voice trembled, and her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Alright, alright, there's no need to be an ox or a horse; I’m not short on livestock.” Su Chen waved his hand somewhat dismissively, directly cutting off her heartfelt confession.

He turned to Qian Duoduo and casually instructed, “Old Qian, arrange a slightly cleaner bunk for her. She can follow us on the road and help out with odd jobs and errands.”

Qian Duoduo’s small eyes, squeezed into slits by his fat, flickered with a shrewd light.

He looked Xie Jinghong up and down, his gaze lingering several times on her pilled gray-blue worker's uniform and those Black Jade Lenses.

His intuition as a top-tier merchant was screaming alarms in his head: This woman’s origins are definitely suspicious! Out here in the middle of nowhere, how could there be such a coincidence?

But since the boss had spoken, Qian Duoduo naturally didn't dare to offer the slightest rebuttal. He immediately put on a smile and bowed, saying, “Understood! You are truly kind, Boss! Then... Shopkeeper Shen, is it? Just follow at the back of the caravan. Please bear with us for any rough or heavy work.”

“Thank you, Manager Qian.” Xie Jinghong thanked him with a humble and submissive air, then obediently followed at the very end of the group.

Beside them, Wang Baobao bit her finger and tilted her head as she approached. Her large, dark eyes stared at the bundle in Xie Jinghong's arms, and she asked in a babyish voice, “Big sister, is there food in your bundle? Can Baobao have a taste?”

Xie Jinghong's lip twitched slightly as she forced a smile. “No... no food, it's just some changes of clothes.”

“Oh, it's not edible.” Wang Baobao instantly lost interest and scurried back to Su Chen's side.

Xie Jinghong breathed a silent sigh of relief, her mind quickly calculating her next move.

Excellent, she had successfully infiltrated Su Chen's side.

Given time, with her methods and insight, she would surely uncover all his backgrounds, secrets, and even that terrifying Golden Immortal-level trump card!

Then, she could regain her prestige and settle all her previous scores!

However—

Her grand undercover plan had only just begun to unfold when her train of thought was abruptly cut off.

Because Su Chen, walking ahead, suddenly stopped.

He unhurriedly pulled out an ordinary-looking booklet and a pen from his Storage Ring.

Xie Jinghong's pupils constricted to the size of pinpricks!

Su Chen was actually starting to write in his diary in broad daylight, right in front of her!

Xie Jinghong's heart rate suddenly accelerated, and a sense of unease quickly spread through her body.

Su Chen just walked forward slowly, his pen flying across the page.

His expression was casual, and that signature lazy smile even hung on his lips, yet his writing speed was astonishingly fast.

[Just picked someone up in the dense forest.]

[It’s that Shopkeeper Shen from the Lingbao Trading Firm. The poor corporate slave who visited me at the tavern last time.]

[She tearfully said she was fired. I believed her.]

[Of course, not for real. I just think the explanation is barely logically sound.]

[After all, I’m already well aware of what kind of insane character her 'nickname' boss is. He scams people constantly, uses fake formation diagrams to fool customers, and arranges shills to slaughter guests. For such a black-hearted boss to fire his own capable subordinate is perfectly normal and fits his persona.]

[However, this woman definitely has problems. Big ones.]

[First, her acting is too poor; it's practically a disaster. The cultivation auras of those three bandits were clearly faked using low-quality Magical Artifacts. How could a weak woman surrounded by real bandits and facing the loss of her purity crouch in place and tremble so rhythmically? The frequency of her shoulder shivers was too uniform; it’s clearly the result of long-term, deliberate training.]

[Second, the timing of her appearance is too coincidental. I just left Peng City, and she happens to appear in the forest on my path? The probability of that is lower than me picking up a top-grade Immortal Artifact on the street.]

[Third, a deputy manager who was brutally fired by a merchant guild is still wearing a perfectly neat Lingbao Trading Firm worker's uniform? She brought her own uniform after being kicked out? That’s nonsense.]

[So, my final judgment is: this woman is coming for me with a very strong purpose.]

[But I don't care at all.]

[Because regardless of her purpose—whether she wants to pull a badger game or scout for intel—I really do need an errand runner.]

[I did the math; the people under me all have their own roles. Qian Duoduo is in charge of money and accounting. Jian Buping, that road-rager, is in charge of fighting and killing. That blockhead Monk Jiese is in charge of chanting and burials. Hua Nongying and the others... forget it, they don't do anything but throw flirtatious glances. Wang Baobao is in charge of eating and being a weapon of mass destruction.]

[The only thing missing is a maid to serve tea, make the bed, and clean.]

[This Shen Que arrived at just the right time. Free labor, picked up for nothing.]

[As for what she wants from me, let her try. After she works herself to death for a few months and realizes she can't get anything, she'll naturally slink away.]

Su Chen let out a long sigh of relief, seemingly extremely satisfied with his arrangement, and then snapped the diary shut with a 'clack'.

Two invisible wisps of golden light once again flew out from the diary.

Xie Jinghong, walking at the back of the group, suddenly halted her steps.

Inside her Storage Ring, that familiar diary copy silently manifested.

Xie Jinghong felt her hands and feet go cold. She took a deep breath, discreetly covered her wrist with her wide sleeve, lowered her head slightly, and quickly scanned it with her Divine Thought.

She only read a few short lines.

*Crack!*

Xie Jinghong nearly crushed her back molars on the spot!

[Acting is too poor.]

[Free labor.]

[Maid picked up for nothing.]

He saw through it!

This bastard had seen right through her meticulously planned performance from the very first second they met!

The disguise she took pride in was, in his eyes, nothing more than "disaster-level acting"!

Yet he saw through it all and still took her in as if nothing was wrong!

Not because of his kindness!

Nor because he was swayed by her beauty!

Simply because—

His team lacked a servant to serve tea and clean!!

Xie Jinghong's breathing instantly became heavy, and her nails dug deep into the tender flesh of her palms, drawing blood.

Who was she?

She was the Young Mistress of the Lingbao Trading Firm, the number one commercial Empire in the Tiannan Immortal Domain!

She was the "Thousand-Faced Goddess" with a cultivation at the Xuan Xian Seventh Level, worshipped as a goddess by countless prodigies!

She was a super-rich woman whose wealth could buy ten Tiannan Immortal Domains!

But now, in Su Chen's damned diary, her—Xie Jinghong's—most prominent role was—

A free, self-funded cleaning lady picked up for nothing!!

“Su... Chen...” Xie Jinghong let out a desperate, frantic, silent roar in her heart, her Dao Heart shattering into pieces at that moment.