185: Chapter 180 Hard-earned Money

The next afternoon, when Lin Yu pushed open the door of the Villa, Yu Heng was sitting on a single-seater sofa in the living room.

"You're here?" Yu Heng looked up.

Lin Yu was dressed very simply today, but her proportions were good, making anything she wore look neat.

"Mm," Lin Yu replied, closing the door behind her.

"Did you read the agreement?" Yu Heng set down the paper agreement in his hand.

"I did." Lin Yu walked over to stand opposite him. "No problems with it."

"Then sign it." Yu Heng handed her a pen.

Lin Yu took it and leaned over the coffee table to sign her name.

Yu Heng waited for her to finish, took one of the copies to look over, and then pushed the other one toward her. "Keep this safe."

Lin Yu folded the agreement and tucked it into her canvas bag.

"The product is here," Yu Heng said, standing up and pointing to a box on the coffee table. "Take a look first."

Lin Yu stared at the box for a few seconds before reaching out to pick it up.

She opened the box; inside was foam padding.

The design... was very exaggerated... Lin Yu's throat bobbed as she looked up at him. "How should we shoot?"

"Hold the product first; we'll take a few handheld shots." Yu Heng adjusted the camera settings.

Lin Yu's fingers were a bit stiff as she forced a holding pose, her eyes avoiding the lens.

Click, click. Yu Heng switched through several angles.

"Good, that's enough. Let's move on to the next step."

"Do I really have to take it all off?" Lin Yu looked at him.

"Wasn't it written in the agreement?" Yu Heng looked up at her as well. "Don't worry, I won't shoot your face."

Lin Yu bit her lower lip and hesitated for a long time before finally turning her back and starting to undress.

As the last piece fell away, goosebumps broke out across her skin.

She crossed her arms over her chest, trembling slightly.

"Turn around, let go." Yu Heng's voice was devoid of emotion. "Put them in front of your chest. Right."

Lin Yu did as she was told, but her eyes were fixed on the floor as the shutter clicked repeatedly.

"Sit on the floor and hold it between your feet."

Lin Yu sat down slowly; this pose was even more humiliating.

She never imagined she would be like this—stark naked in front of a near-stranger, fiddling with such a thing.

"Your expression is too stiff, smile a little," Yu Heng said while shooting.

"Aren't you not showing my face?" Lin Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Haha, but it looks better in photos when you smile," Yu Heng said with a laugh. "Won't you keep a few for your collection after we're done?"

Besides, Lin Yu's... was actually quite beautiful, like a butterfly.

"I don't want to!" Lin Yu frowned. "Just hurry up and take the photos!"

After a few shots, Yu Heng set down the camera and pointed to the product. "We can move on to the next item."

Lin Yu snapped her head up, her face flushing instantly. "What? That's impossible! The agreement didn't mention this!"

"Fine," Yu Heng raised an eyebrow. "Then you don't have to put it all in."

"That's also not okay!" Her voice rose. "This is too much!"

"What?" Yu Heng looked at her. "Is it your first time?"

"Why are you asking that!" Lin Yu reacted as if stung. "You said it was only for photos!"

"Exactly," Yu Heng spread his hands. "Aren't I taking photos right now? I haven't touched you."

"Stop talking," Lin Yu said coldly. "This is absolutely out of the question!"

"Alright," Yu Heng curled his lip, his tone softening slightly. "Then how about we just use camera angles to fake it?"

Lin Yu's chest heaved, but in the end, she complied.

"Does your boyfriend," Yu Heng said as he swapped lenses, sounding like he was just making small talk, "know you're doing this?"

"Can you please not ask personal questions?" Lin Yu's voice was cold.

"We have four hours." Yu Heng set down the camera and checked the time. "Only forty minutes have passed. I'm just chatting so you won't feel awkward."

Lin Yu didn't respond.

"Does shooting just this one product take four hours?" she suddenly asked.

"No." Yu Heng was blunt. "Actually, we're almost done."

"Then why sign for four hours?"

"Aren't you short on money?" Yu Heng looked at her. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here shooting this. I'm letting you earn twenty thousand yuan in a single day; you should be saying thank you instead of asking why it takes four hours."

Lin Yu bit her lip and remained silent.

"We really are almost done." Yu Heng placed the camera on the coffee table. "How about we just chat for the remaining three hours?"

"Then I'll put my clothes on."

"That won't do." Yu Heng laughed. "That's not what the agreement says. Putting them on would be a breach of contract."

Lin Yu didn't move, but in her heart, she had already cursed Yu Heng a hundred times.

Yu Heng took two bottles of water from the fridge, placed one on the coffee table in front of her, and unscrewed the other to take a sip.

"Sit on the sofa; the floor is cold," he said.

Lin Yu hesitated for a few seconds before moving to sit on the edge of the sofa, her legs pressed tightly together and her arms wrapped around her chest.

This posture made her feel a bit more secure.

But she also knew it was pointless; everything that could be seen had already been seen.

Yu Heng sat on the single-seater sofa diagonally opposite her. "Let's talk about your family?"

"What about them?" Lin Yu frowned.

"How much money do you need for your father's hospitalization?" Yu Heng asked.

Lin Yu snapped her head up. "How do you know? Did you investigate me?"

"Hardly. There aren't that many people in the Music Performance Department," Yu Heng chuckled. "A little asking around was all it took."

Lin Yu's shoulders relaxed slightly, but her gaze grew colder.

"So?" she said. "You think because I need money, I'll just be... easy?"

"Aren't you?" Yu Heng said. "You want to get the money quickly, don't you?"

Lin Yu's chest heaved. "But I am not easy!"

"Fine, then let's change the question," Yu Heng curled his lip. "Didn't your boyfriend help you raise the money?"

"He did," Lin Yu said immediately. "But I didn't take it."

"Why not?"

"His money is also hard-earned."

Yu Heng laughed. "And what you're earning now—is that not hard-earned?"

Lin Yu's face turned pale and then flushed red. "That's different."

"How is it different?" Yu Heng leaned forward. "It's all earning money through one's own abilities."

Lin Yu bit her lower lip and said nothing.

"What ability do you think you're relying on?" Yu Heng asked. "The ability to take off your clothes?"

Lin Yu stood up abruptly. "You!"

"Sit down." Yu Heng's voice wasn't much louder, but it carried a command.

Lin Yu stood still, her chest heaving.

"The agreement states that you must follow reasonable instructions during the shoot," Yu Heng said. "Time's not up yet."

Lin Yu glared at him for a few seconds before slowly sitting back down.

"Are you angry?" Yu Heng asked.

Lin Yu said nothing.

"Feel like I'm humiliating you?" Yu Heng said. "Actually, I'm not. Taking off your clothes for photos is fundamentally earning money based on your physical condition. There's nothing shameful about it. You feel it's shameful because you're still putting on airs in your heart."

Lin Yu's fingers dug into her knees.

"You're a Music Performance major. If you want to follow this path in the future, there are plenty of things far uglier than this," Yu Heng said. "Entertaining guests with drinks, sleeping around, Unspoken Rules—which of those isn't filthier than this?"

"I won't be like that," Lin Yu said.

"You're already like this now," Yu Heng said. "Twenty thousand yuan for four hours is already a shortcut for you."

Lin Yu's throat bobbed.

"If your boyfriend knew, what would he say?" Yu Heng asked.

"He won't know."

"What if he finds out?"

"I won't let him find out!" Lin Yu said bluntly. "What exactly do you want?"