The Price of a Secret Affection

The mere mention of Mu Shengling invariably ignited a surge of anger within Li Chunsheng.

From his perspective, Mu Shengling was nothing short of a manipulative “green tea” woman, a quintessential scumbag.

Despite having accepted his senior’s confession and agreeing to be his girlfriend, she had never publicly acknowledged their relationship, preferring to keep their romance hidden from the world.

Had it not been for Li Chunsheng’s exceptionally close bond with his senior, he would never have discovered that the esteemed Miss Mu Shengling had, in fact, become his senior’s girlfriend.

Even under such circumstances, the senior harbored no complaints whatsoever.

After all, in the senior’s estimation, he hailed from an orphanage, while Mu Shengling belonged to the lofty echelons of nobility; to have become her boyfriend was, in his mind, an immense stroke of luck.

Conversely, he reasoned, forcing Mu Shengling to disclose their relationship would likely only invite trouble for them both.

Such a reality only deepened the senior’s affection for Mu Shengling, prompting him to dedicate himself to self-improvement and diligently fulfill her every request.

Including those of a financial nature…

To Li Chunsheng, this dynamic was utterly illogical; despite Mu Shengling’s evident wealth, she consistently and nonchalantly allowed the senior to lavish money upon her.

While her reciprocation was not entirely absent, it paled significantly in comparison to the senior’s profound dedication.

Consequently, even with Senior Liu Xia’s exceptional talent, his financial standing remained insufficient to truly be deemed worthy of Mu Shengling.

Compounding matters, the senior frequently channeled his earnings back to the orphanage, thereby exacerbating his already precarious financial situation.

This parasitic relationship ultimately bled the senior dry of all his resources and potential.

From Li Chunsheng’s perspective, it was difficult to claim that Mu Shengling bore no responsibility for the senior’s current degradation into a goblin.

Given the blatant inequality and irrationality of their relationship, Li Chunsheng firmly believed that if Mu Shengling possessed even a shred of conscience, she would have proactively terminated it long ago.

While the senior might have endured a period of profound sadness and distress, Li Chunsheng was convinced that, freed from Mu Shengling’s influence, he would undoubtedly flourish.

Yet, Mu Shengling did no such thing; instead, she perpetually kept the senior on a leash, maintaining a tantalizingly ambiguous, on-again-off-again dynamic.

She neither allowed their connection to become overtly intimate, nor permitted it to grow so distant that the senior might ever contemplate abandoning her.

However, if her conduct had been limited to that alone, Li Chunsheng’s feelings toward Mu Shengling would never have escalated to outright disgust.

What truly ignited Li Chunsheng’s deepest revulsion was Mu Shengling’s utterly ambiguous demeanor towards him, despite her being the senior’s girlfriend in name.

This inexplicable behavior left Li Chunsheng utterly bewildered.

For this attitude had manifested without any prior warning, simply because Mu Shengling had caught a single glimpse of him when accompanied by the senior.

This deeply exasperated Li Chunsheng, who, as an ardent champion of pure love, detested both being cuckolded and those who orchestrated such betrayals.

Consequently, to preempt any potential misunderstanding from his senior, he deliberately began to steer clear of Mu Shengling.

Mu Shengling’s very presence thus fractured the connection between him and his senior, causing their communication to become sporadic and intermittent for an extended period.

This estrangement persisted until Liuxia’s financial ruin, which led to his transformation into a goblin and his subsequent reunion with Li Chunsheng.

Logically, given Li Chunsheng’s deliberate efforts to avoid Mu Shengling, their ill-fated entanglement should have reached its conclusion, should it not?

As a young lady of considerable status, Mu Shengling had no reason to pursue someone indifferent to her, nor did Li Chunsheng possess any qualities that would warrant such pursuit.

Yet, to his utter surprise, precisely when Li Chunsheng graduated from high school and encountered relentless setbacks in his job hunt, Mu Shengling materialized before him once more, extending an offer he simply could not refuse.

Consequently, Li Chunsheng accepted a position at Mu Shengling’s company, serving as a security guard for the youthful CEO.

From that moment forward, he and Mu Shengling were destined to cross paths constantly—a clear indication, he suspected, of Mu Shengling’s true motive in securing him the position.