My System Forces Me to Live off Women-Chapter 214 - 196: Someone’s Here

Li Peifeng brushed off Huang Tianxuan's desire to visit with a few words, and while the elevator was still on its way, he began searching the room's corners for any traces left by Xu Manning.

Things like girls' clothes, photos, and other items were found and immediately hidden to prevent Zhao Qingge from deducing that the owner of the house was Xu Manning.

Fortunately, during the morning's big cleanup, Li Peifeng had already stored away most of Xu Manning's miscellaneous things, leaving only a few inconspicuous items he hadn't packed up, and that's what he was dealing with now.

If he hadn't done it in the morning, doing this at the last minute would surely be discovered by Zhao Qingge.

"All done!"

Once he swiftly erased all traces, the sound of the elevator rang.

"Dingdong~"

Li Peifeng opened the door, and Zhao Qingge emerged from the elevator.

"I didn't manage to buy slippers yet, please come in directly."

Zhao Qingge acknowledged with a nod and stepped into the room.

Today she wore a long camel-colored trench coat, a white shirt underneath, paired with cream high-waisted straight-leg trousers, and no longer sported sneakers on her feet.

Though the overall style remained formal and intellectual, it wasn't as monotonous as before when it was just suits and more suits, just black and white color schemes. This light-colored style made her look younger and more lively.

Especially when Zhao Qingge might have felt hot indoors or found the trench coat too long to comfortably sit down, she took off the coat and draped it over the sofa, wearing just the white shirt...

This brightened Li Peifeng's eyes, and he couldn't help but compliment, "You look really beautiful today."

Praising someone upon meeting them didn't feel awkward at all to him!

"Really?" Zhao Qingge was slightly taken aback, retracted her hand from her coat, swept her long hair aside, and let her gaze linger on Li Peifeng for a second before looking around the room, "I haven't put on makeup, what's beautiful? Isn't it just like before?"

"Your outfit looks good today, and what's most important is the feeling."

Li Peifeng said earnestly, "The romantic peach blossom trees, the clear and lively West Lake, the gentle spring breeze with autumn leaves, the enthusiastic growth and the serene snow plains... It sounds metaphysical, but I truly feel this sensation."

Humans have a profound drive to feel important and unique, to be praised, regardless of age.

"Displaying one's value to survive in a group" is an original drive inherited through the long history of human evolution, from birth to death.

So, the longing for praise is akin to the essence of love; hoping others will discover one's value and recognize their existence in this world. I am loved, I am recognized, my existence is meaningful, I hold value... In psychology, this concept is called "self-worth."

"You really do sound profound," Zhao Qingge glanced at him, adjusted the creases in her clothing, her lips curved up briefly then settled back down, calmly asking, "What did you cook?"

"Just some home-cooked meal, would you like to try?"

"No rush, you eat first, I'm going to the bathroom."

With that, Zhao Qingge scanned her surroundings and headed towards the closest bedroom.

Li Peifeng promptly pointed the way, "That's the side bedroom, the bathroom is on the right."

"Oh."

Though Zhao Qingge responded, she still went ahead and opened the bedroom door, checking the room's setting.

No traces of a woman living there, good, onto the next.

Then Zhao Qingge headed to the master bedroom, saw the computer on the desk, and turned to look at Li Peifeng, "Is this your room?"

"Yes, want to take a look?" Li Peifeng couldn't help but smile, "There's also a bathroom inside."

"No, I'll use the bigger one."

Zhao Qingge shut the bedroom door and proceeded to the next one.

Confirmed, Old Zhao definitely wasn't here for the meal, but to investigate the situation.

She really didn't intend to use the bathroom at all, just taking the opportunity to inspect each bedroom one by one to see if there were any signs of a woman residing here.

After checking all the rooms, Zhao Qingge finally walked into the bathroom, continued to probe, opened the cabinet under the washbasin, seemingly checking for any women's cosmetics or such...

"What are you looking for?"

"!"

Zhao Qingge jumped, turned around and saw Li Peifeng standing casually at the bathroom door, she snapped, "I'm going to the toilet, what are you doing standing there?"

"I thought you were looking for sanitary pads."

Li Peifeng blinked, "If you're looking for them then don't bother, I can't possibly have them, but if you need them, I can go out and buy some for you downstairs."

"No need."

Zhao Qingge frowned, "Get out."

"Oh, okay."

After wasting seven or eight minutes, Zhao Qingge finally returned to the dining table, and Li Peifeng served her a bowl of rice, along with preparing the cutlery.

"The stir-fried chili pork is very spicy, you should like it."

Zhao Qingge accepted the bowl and chopsticks, thanked him, and began eating, but as soon as she swallowed the first bite, the questions came.

"How many square meters is this place?"

"120, there's also an attic upstairs."

"That's very cheap, for this area the monthly rent of eight thousand is already low… What are you doing?"

To prevent Zhao Qingge's next question about the house owner, Li Peifeng immediately took his place next to her, feigning innocence, "Eating, feeling closer to you makes the appetite better."

Zhao Qingge pressed her lips together, suddenly asked, "Are those two still living in Jintian City?"