Chapter 42: Are There Any Vacant Rooms for Rent?

After leaving the police station and returning to the Haihao Building, it was just about lunchtime.

Originally, he had planned to help Yu Chengmin “move” that afternoon, but since she had called, there was no way around it.

However, before he could even step into the elevator, Feng Chenchen intercepted him. She was bent on persuading Xiao Ma to “skip work” that afternoon.

Feng Chenchen clung to Xiao Ma’s arm, pressing her chest against him just so, rubbing lightly. “Come with me, won’t you? Come see where I live, and while you’re there, help me go over my script.”

Xiao Ma replied nervously, “Do I look like I have time to study a script? I’m working this afternoon. Yu Chengmin asked me to come over.”

Feng Chenchen said, “You can do it. Didn’t Ni Feihong give you the day off because you had to go to the police station? She’s your employer, she manages you. If she gives you a day off, then you don’t have to go. Even if there is a problem, that’s between Ni Feihong and Yu Chengmin, isn’t it?”

Xiao Ma thought she was talking nonsense, but he couldn’t resist the charm of such a stunning beauty acting coy. He chuckled, “You have no idea about power. Sure, the rules say that, but in ‘workplace politics’, if Yu Chengmin calls and you don’t go, it’s a sign of a bad attitude. She represents the company—if you treat her carelessly, you’re treating the company carelessly. Tell me, what boss likes an employee who doesn’t care about the company?”

Feng Chenchen’s mouth fell half open. He might seem a bit odd, but he wasn’t wrong.

But she quickly retorted, “Aren’t you a big shot now?”

“I am,” Xiao Ma nodded decisively.

“Since you’re a big shot, nothing should be too difficult for you. Just tell me, do you dare come back with me to go over my little script?” Feng Chenchen said.

“I’m not afraid of the big things, much less the small ones. Let’s go,” Xiao Ma agreed this time.

They headed to the parking lot, got into her car, and Feng Chenchen started the engine after patting the seat. She was growing more and more fond of this fascinating oddball…

Xiao Ma wasn’t completely clueless—he had a sense about things. The “script study” was probably just an excuse; this enchantress was likely trying to lure him into her bed. For a hardcore homebody, could that really be a bad thing? He just hoped that at the critical moment, the Demon King’s body wouldn’t fail him, so that he could finally lose his virginity while awake.

He still wasn’t sure if he’d really shed his “greenhorn” status last time. Even if he had, it didn’t really count—he hadn’t been conscious. If it didn’t happen while awake, technically, it was as if it hadn’t happened at all. If dreams counted, there would be no virgins left in the world.

While his mind ran wild, her car wound its way up Summit Road, the most prestigious luxury neighborhood in Haizhou, famed for its excellent feng shui, home to a cluster of grand villas.

After a long drive, they turned into a private estate. A Bluetooth device scanned the car and the gate lifted automatically, allowing the SUV to glide inside.

Impressive—this enchantress’s lair was here of all places. Since Xiao Ma had already been “blacklisted” by Tao Zi and would soon have to move out, lacking an ID and needing a place to stay, if… well, if certain things happened…

He let his imagination wander and asked decisively, “By the way, do you have any spare rooms for rent? Rent me one, though to be honest, I don’t have an ID.”

Feng Chenchen shot him an ambiguous look. “What are you talking about? Haven’t you already moved in with me? I even brought your things over for you. Don’t you want your computer?”

Xiao Ma said, “I mean, I’d feel bad freeloading. Do I look like someone who mooches without paying rent?”

Feng Chenchen wasn’t sure what this oddball meant, but played along. “Fine, rent it is. This time I’m being generous—just help me with my script structure and I’ll count that as five years’ rent and meals.”

Xiao Ma thought she truly knew the value of things—she recognized how precious his mind was, unlike Ni Feihong and Yu Chengmin, who clearly had no idea about true power.

“Deal,” Xiao Ma agreed to her terms.

The villa wasn’t small or especially large—excluding the garden, it had four floors including the basement, totaling about twelve hundred square meters. Managing such a place was no easy feat, so Feng Chenchen had hired a middle-aged couple from the countryside to take care of everything. They lived in and were paid a total of 6,000 yuan a month, less than they’d make at a restaurant, but the environment was peaceful and the work wasn’t hard, so it was steady.

According to Feng Chenchen, this couple was very reliable and had been with her for years.

After tasting their cooking once, Xiao Ma found their food excellent. It turned out they had been restaurant chefs, so they had real skill. Here, with quality ingredients, utensils, and ample time, their careful preparation brought out the best in every dish.

In fact, Feng Chenchen herself rarely ate at home—she had eaten everywhere and didn’t find home cooking anything special. But seeing how pleased Xiao Ma was made her feel proud.

He thought he was about to be lured into something delightful, but—damn—it turned out Feng Chenchen really had brought him over to work on her script.

As soon as they finished eating, she insisted on dragging Xiao Ma upstairs to her studio, opened a document on her MacBook, and said, “Can you take a look at this? I’m not sure about some parts. Please help me out!”

This was her ticket to a new career—the script was called “The Enchantress Must Be Tamed”.

The moment Xiao Ma read it, he was hooked. He had to admit, it was incredibly compelling. For a moment, it felt as though she was writing about exactly what he was doing now—a fantasy story full of bravado, even offering tips on how he could act more convincingly.

So Feng Chenchen was a natural genius in a different field as well? Xiao Ma was a bit stunned. Purely in terms of content, her script surpassed ninety-nine percent of film scripts on Earth. As for the rest, it didn’t matter much; as long as she nailed the structure and found a professional to polish it, she’d be set.

“What do you think?” Feng Chenchen asked, coming up behind him and gently pressing herself against his back.

It seemed a reward was in store, but, to his horror, his body instinctively started to reject her advances again—it didn’t want her to push him down.

It was a tangled, exhausting feeling, as if a battle was raging between body and mind.

Damn, this body’s stubbornness was beyond words. But for a homebody with a lecherous streak, Xiao Ma’s excitement in this situation was easy to imagine. It was truly a struggle between desire and resistance.

Feng Chenchen had a good sense of timing—after a moment, she stopped acting coy. Sensing no further reaction from him, she withdrew, sat down beside him, and asked again, “You’re so smart—what do you think of this script?”

“It’s solid. As long as production is at least above average, it’ll be a hit,” Xiao Ma concluded.

Feng Chenchen was pleased but also a little disheartened, taking the opportunity to say, “It’s not that simple, really. It all depends on the investors’ real intentions and abilities. That practically determines the attitude of the production company going forward, including but not limited to marketing, release schedules, and a whole series of other things—everything is affected.”

“This isn’t a big franchise movie. There are no existing fans, and no long-running novel to attract a following. With limited screening slots, standing out isn’t just about the content, at least not as much as people think. In this case, the simplest approach is to cast everyone from director to extras according to their popularity rankings—the more famous, the better. That helps compensate for the lack of an initial fanbase and the short window to attract viewers.”

“But I also want to direct it myself, which means my options for assembling a cast are extremely limited—almost nonexistent, really. I’ll have to go with second- or third-tier actors, and then spend ages negotiating schedules and dealing with their agents. That, in turn, limits our marketing and release hype.”

“So, Xiao Ma, if you don’t help me, it’s almost a dead end,” she said, looking absolutely pitiful.