Why is the system taking my request to photograph a cosplayer seriously?

Chapter 14: The "Broken" Girl

The dinner party ended close to 11 p.m.

Because of Zhao Yanxi's appearance, everyone tacitly declined Ding Heng's offer to drive them home, and instead, laughing and joking, they each took a taxi and left together.

Ding Heng helped Zhao Yanxi, who was clinging to him, up and carried the girl to the passenger seat.

He leaned over to help her fasten her seatbelt, but as soon as his arm reached in front of her, Zhao Yanxi hugged him tightly instead.

The girl's soft body pressed tightly against him, and the warm scent of alcohol brushed against Ding Heng's ear.

Her voice was muffled yet coquettish and ingratiating: "I...didn't embarrass you today, did I, Brother Ding Heng..."

Ding Heng sighed and laughed.

Most men's requirements for women are actually nothing more than three things—beauty, obedience, and social skills.

Tonight, Zhao Yanxi almost perfected these three aspects.

Ding Heng patted Zhao Yanxi on the back and said in a gentler voice, "You did very well... Sit up straight, we're about to head back."

Zhao Yanxi laughed again, not letting go but hugging even tighter, rubbing her nose against Ding Heng's shoulder like a little kitten longing for its owner's scent.

"Then...you have to be gentle later...I...I'm terrified of pain...really!"

Ding Heng didn't continue the conversation. He used some force to finally "peel" Zhao Yanxi off him and place her in the seat.

During the process, his palm inevitably brushed against the girl's delicate skin and undulating curves. The touch made Ding Heng feel a surge of heat in his heart. After calming himself down, he clicked his hand and fastened her seatbelt.

I sat back in the driver's seat, closed the door, and the engine began to rumble.

Ding Heng turned his head to look at Zhao Yanxi, who was slumped in her seat, and casually said, "You're pretty tough. You were the only one who didn't throw up."

Zhao Yanxi wore a childlike, smug smile, her tongue tumbling out, "Hey...actually...this isn't my first time drinking...I've secretly drunk fruit wine before..."

She recalled it intermittently.

"It was... my second year of high school, right? It was my classmate's birthday, and a few of us girls secretly went to a karaoke bar... and bought some fruit wine, and... a small bottle of beer..."

Seriously, it was just a tiny little bottle of beer, which we five or six people shared and finished.

Everyone was really happy at the time... We sang a lot of songs and whispered a lot of secrets... I felt... finally a bit like an 'adult'!

It wasn't until I got home that my mom smelled alcohol on my school uniform...

Zhao Yanxi's tone gradually became erratic, and she paused for a long time, so long that Ding Heng thought she had fallen asleep.

"Later, the classmate who took me to the karaoke bar was transferred to another class by my mom."

Ding Heng listened silently without interrupting, and steered the vehicle into the night traffic.

The city's neon lights cast shifting shadows on Zhao Yanxi's face through the car window.

She was completely lost in a hazy, half-awake state, her head tilted to the side, her gaze unfocused as she watched the lights rushing past the window. Suddenly, she asked a question in a soft voice, as if talking to herself.

"Ding Heng...do you understand that feeling...like having your own mother as your high school homeroom teacher?"

Whether you're going to school, leaving school, or on holidays, there will always be eyes watching you.

Skirts cannot be shorter than knee-length, hair cannot be dyed or permed, one cannot get too close to boys, one cannot read "leisure books," and one cannot do anything "out of line" beyond her rules!

But as soon as the college entrance exam was over, she told me that she was an open-minded parent who respected my personal space and would no longer interfere in my adult life.

"Enlightened? Enlightened!"

"Hahaha……"

Zhao Yanxi chuckled softly, repeatedly chewing on the word "enlightened," her laughter sounding hollow and desolate in the enclosed carriage.

Finally, unable to withstand the effects of alcohol and her emotions, her voice gradually weakened, replaced by steady breathing, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Ding Heng then picked up his phone, found Wenjing's WeChat, and made a voice call.

A quiet, timid voice came from the other end of the phone: "Feed? Is...is something wrong?"

Ding Heng said succinctly, "Send me Zhao Yanxi's address."

"what?"

"What do you mean 'huh'? Hurry up!"

"Oh... okay..."

Wenjing seemed to be intimidated by Ding Heng's tone, and hurriedly hung up the call, sending a detailed address.

Ding Heng opened the address, set the navigation, and the vehicle steadily drove towards the highway entrance leading to Zhuzhou.

As the car drove onto the empty elevated highway, the cool night breeze rushed in through the half-open windows, slightly dispelling the smell of alcohol inside the car.

Ding Heng occasionally glanced at Zhao Yanxi, who was fast asleep beside him, through the rearview mirror or by turning his head.

The girl was not sleeping soundly; her brows were slightly furrowed, and her thick eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyelids, occasionally trembling with the slight bumps of the car.

Her silver hair was blown by the wind outside the window, with a few strands clinging to her sweaty forehead and her still-rosy cheeks.

The dim light inside the carriage softened her overly delicate features, leaving behind a serene yet subtly uneasy sleeping face.

Her usual bright and flamboyant demeanor had completely vanished; she curled up in the large seat, like a stray cat that didn't know where to go, vulnerable and helpless.

Ding Heng withdrew his gaze and focused intently on the road ahead.

He originally thought that children like Wenjing, who grew up in complicated families with many children and were neglected for a long time, would have more serious psychological problems.

In retrospect, Zhao Yanxi's problems may be more acute and more hidden than Wen Jing's.

Before the college entrance examination, this girl lived under her mother's all-round, all-encompassing high-pressure control, especially during her three years of high school, when her mother was even her homeroom teacher.

This almost means that surveillance permeated every single moment of her life, and the suffocating feeling was unimaginable.

However, once the college entrance examination was over, the mother, perhaps wanting to make up for it or to demonstrate her "successful" and "enlightened" parenting style, almost completely withdrew her attention and control over her daughter.

The sudden dissipation of high pressure does not necessarily bring freedom and ease.

It's like someone who has lived in the Arctic for a long time being suddenly thrown into a high-temperature sauna. What they feel is not warmth, but extreme discomfort and dysfunction.

Zhao Yanxi is currently in this "out-of-control" state.

Therefore, she urgently needs to regain attention and fill the void in her heart through other means.

For example, daring cosplay outfits, smoking and drinking, and trying "adult games" that were once strictly prohibited.

But after a month, she began to realize that mere appearance and superficial "rebellion" were far from enough to fill the void and restlessness in her heart.

It wasn't until Ding Heng appeared at the comic convention that he clearly approached Wen Jing.

Ding Heng knew that in Zhao Yanxi's eyes, his sudden appearance and approach to Wen Jing was undoubtedly dangerous and "ill-intentioned."

However, it was precisely this "danger" that aroused Zhao Yanxi's excitement.

She wanted to replace Wenjing and make herself Ding Heng's "hunting" target.

With physical attributes no less impressive than Wenjing's, she was almost certain that Ding Heng wouldn't refuse this tempting offer.

Even deep in her subconscious, she might be secretly hoping that Ding Heng would treat her as a "pet" that he could dispose of at will, thoroughly train, play with, and then discard her!

This is to fill the regret and emptiness of the past ten years under the high pressure of my mother, when I could never truly be unrestrained and completely rebellious.

More than an hour later, Ding Heng parked his car at the entrance of Zhao Yanxi's residential compound.

He got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, bent down and reached inside, trying to get the sleeping Zhao Yanxi out.

Zhao Yanxi was completely limp at this moment, unable to exert any strength, and was supported entirely by Ding Heng's arm.

Ding Heng half-carried, half-lifted her out of the carriage, letting her body completely slump in his arms, her head drooping limply on his shoulder.

"Hmm... Have we arrived yet?"

Zhao Yanxi was awakened by Ding Heng's actions, and asked a question in a daze, her eyes still half-closed.

"Hmm, wake up, we're home."

Ding Heng supported Zhao Yanxi, helping her to stand up a little straighter.

Zhao Yanxi chuckled foolishly, her arms limply wrapping around Ding Heng's neck, rambling on and on in her drunken state.

"What... you brought me to your house? Is your bed... bigger and more comfortable than a hotel bed?"

Ding Heng was both amused and exasperated, and struggled to steady her.

Zhao Yanxi was still muttering, "Wait a minute... could you help me take a shower first? Let me sober up... and then... change into the clothes I brought... the black one... you'll definitely like it..."

Ding Heng lifted Zhao Yanxi, who was about to slip, and jokingly remarked, "Honestly, it's a good thing you ran into me."

Zhao Yanxi struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, her hazy eyes taking a while to focus before finally landing on Ding Heng's face. She asked vaguely, "You... are you different?"

Ding Heng did not answer.

He was thinking about how to communicate with the security guard and contact Zhao Yanxi's family when he suddenly heard a cell phone ringing from Zhao Yanxi's coat pocket.

Ding Heng reached inside and pulled out Zhao Yanxi's phone. The caller ID showed "Dad".

He showed the screen to Zhao Yanxi, who was hanging on him.

"Your father!"

However, the alcohol completely clouded Zhao Yanxi's judgment.

She seemed to have heard him, yet she also seemed not to have.

Finally, she looked up at Ding Heng and sweetly called out, "Daddy!"

Ding Heng: "?"

After shouting, Zhao Yanxi pressed her burning cheek against Ding Heng's neck and continued to murmur.

"I'll scream whatever you want... but we have a deal... you can't be too rough... I'm really... very, very, very... afraid of pain..."

She wrapped her arms tighter around Ding Heng's neck, her voice trembling with sobs and pleading.

"Anyway... for the first time, please be gentle with me... okay?"

Just like when Zhao Yanxi poured wine at the dinner table before, Ding Heng could clearly feel the body in his arms trembling uncontrollably.

The girl was terrified, yet also eager to try...

Ding Heng forcibly suppressed the restlessness in his heart, swiped his thumb to answer the call, and put the phone to his ear.

A steady, concerned voice came from the other end of the phone: "Yan hope? Why aren't you home yet? Your mother's a little worried..."

"Hello, Uncle."

Ding Heng tried his best to make his voice sound calm and polite.

Zhao Xingguo paused, then his tone suddenly became serious and wary: "Who are you? Where is Yan hope?"

"We are now at the entrance of your residential complex. Could you and your auntie please come down and pick up Yanxi?"

Ding Heng glanced down at Zhao Yanxi, who was wriggling restlessly in his arms again, and sighed silently once more.

"She's drunk..."