"Do you have some kind of secret you can't tell anyone?"

Yun Zheyue suspected Ye Chen was up to something, but since Ye Chen did not poison the mutton, and had given her all the martial arts books, what on earth was Ye Chen plotting?

"You think too much, I just wanted to have some fun!" Ye Chen said.

"Just for fun, you gave me twenty martial arts books?" Yun Zheyue said, somewhat disbelieving. Could the reason be that simple?

"Can't help it, being rich means being capricious!" Ye Chen said quite flamboyantly.

Ye Chen casually acted on a whim, and Yun Zheyue ended up with twenty martial arts books, which thrilled the usually aloof Dragon Head. She finally understood why so many people liked to befriend the wealthy.

Take Ye Chen for example; he absolutely must have been kicked in the head by a donkey when he was young, and grew up to be an idiot turned clown!

After acquiring the twenty martial arts books, Yun Zheyue stayed overnight on the island to study each of the books thoroughly before leaving satisfied.

"Yun Zheyue, can you smile?" Ye Chen looked at Yun Zheyue's taut pretty face.

"I can't," Yun Zheyue said after giving Ye Chen a deep look, suspecting he was up to another trick.

"Then give me a smile. If it's a nice one, I'll give you another martial arts book!" Ye Chen was straightforward, wanting to buy Yun Zheyue's smile.

"I will not sell my own dignity!" Yun Zheyue said indifferently, seemingly unmoved.

"You've sold your faith, can't you sell your dignity?" Ye Chen glared. "Two martial arts books, I'll buy one smile from you!"

"Five books!" Yun Zheyue stated her price clearly.

"Do you think I'm an easy mark? One smile of yours is worth five martial arts books? Do you really think you're a fairy?" Yun Zheyue thought raising her price would work, but Ye Chen would just haggle with her.

Ye Chen realized that Yun Zheyue cherished martial arts books more than anything; as long as he offered them, she would sell her integrity to him.

"I haven't smiled in decades, smiling for you is a huge challenge!" Yun Zheyue claimed that smiling was very difficult for her.

"Two martial arts books, take it or leave it; if you don't smile, I won't buy it!" Ye Chen seemed somewhat reluctant.

"Fine, give me one book as a deposit, and I'll give you a smile immediately!" Yun Zheyue said.

Ye Chen was truly a fool, ready to spend two martial arts books on a smile, which somehow delighted Yun Zheyue inexplicably.

It seemed that Ye Chen was her windfall. As long as she swallowed her pride temporarily, she could dupe him as much as she wanted and reap unimaginable benefits—who knew how many treasures this fool had?

"Hurry up and smile, don't waste time!" Ye Chen ordered like a boss, casually throwing a martial arts book as if he was tossing a trash bag.

"Rich people are just capricious?" Yun Zheyue hugged the book, trying to guess the purpose behind Ye Chen buying smiles.

"Yep, the master is capricious, now give me a good smile, if it pleases me, there'll be a reward!" Ye Chen boasted like a nouveau riche.

"Hehe!" Yun Zheyue tried hard to make herself smile, hoping to receive the lord's reward.

"Are you kidding me?" Ye Chen looked at Yun Zheyue. "With that grimace, you look worse than if you were crying. I'm paying to see a smile, not to be frightened!"

Yun Zheyue sat high in the clouds, like a celestial being; she always maintained a cool demeanor and had never smiled radiantly before.

So, even though she sold her smile for martial arts, she smiled as though she were crying.

Yun Zheyue seemed to have forgotten how to smile.

"Ye Chen, don't go too far!" Yun Zheyue was icy cold. She just couldn't remember how to smile.

"How have I gone too far?" Ye Chen said. "I pay for a smile, and you give me a cry, can't you be a little professional?"

"But, but..." Yun Zheyue wanted to say she couldn't smile, but she had already taken the book. Was she supposed to give it back to Ye Chen?

"Hurry up, or give me back the martial arts book!" Ye Chen said. "You think you can trick me into giving you the book by smirking? Is there such a good deal in the world?"

"..." Yun Zheyue's expression iced over, clearly unhappy with what Ye Chen said.

"Pies don't fall from the sky. If you want to get something, you have to put in the effort!" Ye Chen said with a deep meaning.

Yun Zheyue glanced at Ye Chen; he was teaching her a lesson, but it seemed to make a lot of sense.

"Fine, watch closely, I'll smile for you again!" Yun Zheyue's mouth curved upwards as she began to smile again.

"That's your smile, just a twitch of your mouth? When you smile, at least show some teeth!" Ye Chen critiqued, very dissatisfied with the purchased smile.

Without a word, Yun Zheyue smiled again purposefully showing her teeth.

"I asked you to smile, not bare your teeth. Are you stupid?" Ye Chen expressed in a mix of frustration and disappointment.

Yun Zheyue was nearly talked into stupidity by Ye Chen, but she still tried her best to keep up the smile, for the sake of martial arts, whether she felt like smiling or not.

"Oh my, your smile is truly ugly. In all my life, I've never seen such an ugly smile!"

"Yun Zheyue, are you baring your teeth on purpose, trying to blind me?"

"Good heavens, did you get plastic surgery in Ssimeeda? Why is your facial expression so stiff that you can't even squeeze out a good smile?"

"I give up, you can't even smile properly. What in the world can you even do with your life?"

"You've turned stupidity into a style!"

Yun Zheyue was trying hard to smile, and Ye Chen just kept mercilessly mocking her, her smile was too stiff, too fake.

"I'm not serving you anymore!" Yun Zheyue suddenly shouted.

Yun Zheyue was nearly driven to stupidity by Ye Chen's relentless jeering, which almost made her lose her mind. She had never seen such an annoying man!

"If you're not serving me, then I still have to give you the martial arts techniques. Consider it a reward for your ugly smile!" Ye Chen threw a martial arts manual onto Yun Zheyue's face.

"..."

Clutching the martial arts manual, Yun Zheyue's resentful mood faded significantly, and her eyes shone as she looked at Ye Chen. She really didn't understand the world of the rich!

Ye Chen looked at Yun Zheyue with a self-satisfied expression, the kind that only the rich have. Rich people are capricious, so what?

After this little episode of purchasing laughter, the two continued on their journey.

However, after several hours of traveling, Ye Chen started to stir things up again.

"Yun Zheyue, do you think I'm handsome?" Ye Chen caught up with Yun Zheyue and seriously asked her.

"I refuse to answer this boring and meaningless question!" Yun Zheyue glanced at Ye Chen, wanting to say more but stopping herself.

Naturally, Yun Zheyue could differentiate between ugliness and beauty. Even though she was an 86-year-old spinster, she was quite picky about a man's looks, but there was really nothing to fault about Ye Chen's appearance.

A straight nose, charming eyes, handsome face, and the sensual light blue stubble. He was a man who could attract the attention of goddesses, a man with a story!

Yun Zheyue couldn't find any flaws in Ye Chen's appearance, which probably explained why Yun Xianghan was so fascinated by him.

But why should Yun Zheyue gratuitously say that Ye Chen was handsome? What would she gain from it?

"Yun Zheyue, just praise me for being handsome, and I'll give you a martial arts manual," Ye Chen said with a slightly raised corner of his mouth, looking as if he was almost smiling at Yun Zheyue.

"You really have no shame, paying someone to praise you for being handsome!" Yun Zheyue suppressed her excitement and first scorned Ye Chen.

"Ah, I just want you to praise me. I'll be grateful and give you a martial arts manual after!" Ye Chen said capriciously.

"Praising you for being handsome would go against my conscience. Isn't one martial arts manual too little?" Yun Zheyue knew Ye Chen was a big spender, so she hinted at wanting to raise the price.

"Just moving your lips, and one martial arts manual isn't enough?" Ye Chen glared.

However, Yun Zheyue's proactive attempt to hike the price made Ye Chen start to laugh inwardly.

Because she took the initiative to raise the price, it showed she had developed a greed, a trace of humanity.

"Fine, you're handsome. Give me the martial arts manual," Yun Zheyue conceded that Ye Chen was handsome and asked for her reward for praising him.

"I asked you to praise me, not to do it half-heartedly. Say more, make me sound wise and valiant, casually handsome, and extraordinary!" Ye Chen began to make demands, after all, he couldn't let his money go to waste.

"Why are you so troublesome? Are you even a man?" Yun Zheyue frowned.

"Do as I ask, and I will give you two martial arts manuals!" Ye Chen suddenly said.

Yun Zheyue's breath hitched, the big spender was going to make a move again.

"Ye Chen, you're so handsome, so handsome the sun might explode!"

"Ye Chen, you're so mighty, goddesses would swoon at the sight of you!"

"Ye Chen, you..." Yun Zheyue couldn't continue; she genuinely didn't know how to keep praising someone!

"Alright, that's not easy for you, I'll reward you with two martial arts manuals!" Surprisingly, Ye Chen didn't make it difficult for Yun Zheyue and tossed two martial arts manuals at her.

"Hehe!" Yun Zheyue suddenly let out a laugh, genuine and heart-felt, captivatingly beautiful.

"Beautiful!" Yun Zheyue's charming smile stopped Ye Chen in his tracks for a moment.

Inherently graceful and vivacious like a fairy descending to earth, Yun Zheyue always appeared cold and indifferent every day, which made people overlook her beauty, remembering only her pride.

Now, with Ye Chen's ostentatious display of wealth, Yun Zheyue took him for a fool. Seeing Ye Chen's silly appearance made her laugh.

It was only a fleeting moment, but that smile was so lovely it excited Ye Chen.

Ye Chen realized that thanks to his spending, Yun Zheyue had already begun to change.

For example, when Yun Zheyue's eyes sparkled, it showed she was having thoughts. Also, she was now asking for a higher price when selling laughs or such things to Ye Chen. And, Yun Zheyue had unexpectedly laughed without meaning to.

Ye Chen noticed the subtle changes in Yun Zheyue, which made him feel very optimistic about the future!

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. Ye Chen and Yun Zheyue had traveled nonstop and had already completed half the journey. If they traveled for another three or two days, they would reach the South Sea.

During these days of travel, Ye Chen was always buying laughs, buying compliments, and even indulging in some strange and unusual things.

In short, Ye Chen had only one goal, and that was to change Yun Zheyue and bring some human warmth to her.

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