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

Chapter 15: Kneading Wenjing

Ding Heng waited for about three minutes, and then two figures hurriedly walked out of the residential area.

Seeing her daughter drunkenly slumped in the arms of a tall, unfamiliar boy from afar, Zhou Rongmei's face turned extremely pale.

"Who are you?! Let go of my Yan hope!"

A mother's protective instincts made her voice rise unconsciously, and she almost immediately categorized Ding Heng as a scoundrel who "had ill intentions and got the girl drunk," and stepped forward to pull her daughter away.

Zhao Xingguo, however, was much calmer than his wife.

He wasn't particularly tall, but he had broad shoulders and a sturdy frame that was immediately apparent.

At around forty-five or forty-six years old, his temples were already noticeably gray, his skin was dark, bearing the marks of years of outdoor work, and his lips were habitually slightly pursed, naturally exuding a serious and scrutinizing air when he wasn't smiling.

He first quickly glanced at Ding Heng, then at the slightly worn Chang'an SUV with Xingcheng license plates next to him, and finally reached out to grab his excited wife.

"Rongmei, stop shouting, the neighbors are all asleep at this hour."

Zhao Xingguo said in a calm voice, "Help Yan hope back first and wipe her body."

Zhou Rongmei was pulled back by her husband, and after confirming that her daughter was indeed just drunk and her clothes were still relatively neat, she managed to suppress her anger.

When Zhou Rongmei took the limp Zhao Yanxi from Ding Heng's hands, she still glared at him fiercely, the warning in her eyes was self-evident.

"Yan hope? Yan hope? Wake up, come home with Mommy..."

Zhou Rongmei struggled to support her daughter, calling out softly as they slowly walked back to the residential area.

After watching his wife and daughter leave, Zhao Xingguo turned to Ding Heng, took out a cigarette case from his pajama pocket, and handed it to him.

"Young man, what's your name?"

His voice was calm, revealing little emotion, more like a routine inquiry.

Ding Heng indicated that he did not smoke and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Hello, Uncle, my name is Ding Heng."

Zhao Xingguo nodded, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and the smoke curled up under the streetlights.

He didn't ask Ding Heng what his relationship with his daughter was, nor did he question his daughter about why she was so drunk; he simply exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Thank you for bringing Yan hope back."

"Of course."

"Judging from your license plate, you drove from Changsha?"

"Um."

"This child, why did she run off to Changsha again without saying a word? It must have been hard for you to drive her back so late at night."

Zhao Xingguo muttered something as if to himself, then his tone carried the concern of an elder.

"It's getting late, should we arrange a hotel for you nearby to rest?"

"No need, thank you for your kindness, Uncle."

Ding Heng politely declined, and Zhao Xingguo didn't insist. He stubbed out his cigarette, which was less than half-smoked, on the trash can and patted Ding Heng on the shoulder.

"Drive slowly at night, and be careful."

After saying that, Zhao Xingguo turned around and walked back to the residential area.

Ding Heng was a little confused by his series of actions.

There was none of the stern questioning, warnings, or even reprimands he had expected. The police officer's attitude was so polite that it was almost...unusual.

Just as Zhao Xingguo was about to enter through the gate, Ding Heng suddenly called out, "Uncle."

Zhao Xingguo stopped and turned around: "Is there anything else?"

"You...you'd better have a private talk with Yan hope when you have some free time."

In Ding Heng's view, the couple were deceived by their daughter's usual sunny, cheerful, sensible and well-behaved facade, and completely failed to notice her serious psychological problems.

However, it's their family matter after all, and saying too much will only cause offense.

Ding Heng offered only a brief reminder, stopping short of making a point.

"Okay, thank you."

Zhao Xingguo thanked him again and swiped his card to enter the building.

Ding Heng turned around and got into the car. He leaned back in the driver's seat, picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment, and then opened a chat window.

[Ding Heng]: Are you asleep?

The message was sent, and it took about a minute for them to reply.

[Lucky Xiaojing]: Lying in bed... [Little bunny burrowing under the covers.jpg]

[Ding Heng]: If you can reply to messages, then you're still awake. Send me your home address.

【Lucky Little Jing】: Huh? [Little rabbit scratching its head in confusion.jpg]

[Ding Heng]: Hurry up!

Soon, Wenjing sent a detailed address, which was no more than 500 meters away from Zhao Yanxi's residential area.

Ding Heng started the car and followed the navigation to the entrance of another old-style residential area.

Compared to Zhao Yanxi's home, the neighborhood in front of them looked a bit older, with no access control or security, and the iron gate was wide open.

Ding Heng parked the car and dialed Wen Jing's number again.

The phone rang for quite a while before being answered; Wenjing's voice was extremely low on the other end.

"Hey... um, my sister's asleep... can we chat by text?"

"I'm at the entrance of your residential complex. Come downstairs, I need to talk to you."

"Now? It's almost one o'clock..."

"You have five minutes."

Ding Heng hung up the phone decisively, giving Wen Jing no room for discussion or delay.

He leaned back in his car seat, gazing out the window at the quiet, old neighborhood.

About three or four minutes later, a petite figure ran out of the gate with small, quick steps, looking around helplessly.

Wenjing had obviously rushed downstairs, wearing only a loose, light-colored long-sleeved loungewear set and simple pajama pants. Her long hair was disheveled and draped over her shoulders, and she wore a pair of pink sandals, her round toes bobbing up and down with her movements.

Standing under the dim streetlights, I felt like a little rabbit who had sneaked out of its burrow and couldn't find its way home.

Ding Heng rolled down the car window and waved to her.

Wenjing ran over, opened the car door, and carefully sat in the passenger seat.

She hunched her shoulders, placed her hands on her knees, stared at her toes, and dared not look at Ding Heng at all, even her breathing became shallow.

She could sense that Ding Heng seemed... a little angry?

But she couldn't understand why Ding Heng was angry at all, since she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Do you know why I drove all the way from Changsha to Zhuzhou to see you late at night?"

Ding Heng spoke, his tone carrying an invisible pressure.

Wenjing timidly shook her head, her voice barely audible.

"I...I don't know."

"Think about it again?"

"Um……"

Wenjing really started trying to recall what she had done from yesterday to today that might have angered Ding Heng... She thought about it so hard that her eyebrows furrowed slightly and her face tightened, but in the end she just shook her head blankly.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

Although she didn't know what she had done wrong, apologizing first was always the right thing to do; this was almost Wenjing's instinctive reaction.

"I don't know what you mean by 'I'm sorry'."

Ding Heng's tone was unreadable.

Wenjing felt even more aggrieved, and subconsciously puffed out her cheeks slightly, like a little hamster that had secretly hidden a pine cone. She wanted to argue but didn't dare, so she could only suppress her small dissatisfaction on her face.

"How did we agree to meet yesterday afternoon?"

Ding Heng reminded her, "Why don't you look through the chat history? Where are the promised 'Good morning' and 'Good night'? There's not a single one!"

Wenjing suddenly realized what was happening, and she abruptly raised her head, her eyes widening, her face showing annoyance and shame.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! I... I forgot..."

She hurriedly explained, "I got up too late this morning and was in a rush to go for a summer job interview. It was a whole day of hassle, and when I got back this afternoon..."

"I don't want to hear any explanations."

Ding Heng interrupted Wen Jing, his tone still flat: "If you didn't do it, you didn't do it."

Wenjing seemed to have her voice cut off. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. A few helpless tears welled up in her clear almond-shaped eyes. Finally, she asked softly.

"Then... what should we do?"

Ding Heng was secretly delighted to see her pitiful yet obediently admitting her mistake.

He beckoned: "Put your head over here."

Wenjing was stunned for a moment, blinked, and although she didn't understand what was going to happen, she obediently and slowly leaned her upper body towards Ding Heng, while subconsciously closing her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling nervously.

Ding Heng continued to command, "Come closer."

Wenjing leaned her entire upper body over, her delicate chin almost touching the center console.

She kept her eyes closed, looking completely submissive, but her slightly pursed lips and trembling eyelashes betrayed her nervousness.

The next second, Ding Heng raised his hands and pinched the soft flesh on both sides of Wen Jing's cheeks without any politeness.

"Ugh...!"

Wenjing let out a short, muffled gasp, her eyes widening suddenly.

Ding Heng's fingers were warm, and his pressure was just right to pinch those two soft, delicate cheeks in his palm.

The texture was just as good as I imagined, like a fine glutinous rice ball, soft and bouncy, with the unique warmth of a young girl's skin.

He began to knead with more force, watching Wenjing's lovely oval face change shape in his hands, sometimes being squeezed and puffed up, sometimes being gently pulled, both comical and adorable.

Wenjing froze completely, passively enduring the "brushing" of her face, her eyes wide open, filled with confusion and helplessness.

She wanted to dodge, but dared not really break free, and could only make soft "woof" sounds. Her fair cheeks flushed crimson at a visible speed, spreading all the way to her ears.

After a while, Ding Heng finally let go of her hand, satisfied.

Comfortable!

Sure enough, a round, cute face is perfect for rubbing; it feels amazing and is a stress reliever.

Wenjing regained her freedom and immediately raised her hands to cover her burning cheeks, savoring the lingering touch of Ding Heng's palms and the slight soreness from being kneaded.

She lowered her head, and the feeling of being wronged after being bullied belatedly welled up inside her, making her nose tingle and her eyes slightly red.

But she didn't feel that this was real bullying; it was more like... an affectionate punishment?

This conflicting feeling made her even more helpless. She could only curl up pitifully like a little bird that had been soaked by the rain, gently rubbing her "abused" face with her fingers.

"Is...is this okay?"

Wenjing covered her face, her voice muffled and slightly nasal, and asked timidly.

"Not yet."

Ding Heng sat up straight and began to push his luck: "From now on, you can't just type 'Good morning' and 'Good night'."

Wenjing asked, confused, "Then... what should I do?"

Ding Heng said matter-of-factly, "You'll need to bring the photos with you afterwards."

"A...photo?" Wenjing was even more confused: "What photo?"

Ding Heng turned his head and glanced at her, a meaningful smile curving his lips.

"Then it depends on your own understanding, Wenjing."