Chapter 3: Trying to Send the Succubi to Work Illegal Jobs

Cheng Hai hadn't enjoyed such deep, dreamless sleep until dawn in a long time.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, the shadow of the eaves protecting him had completely vanished. The bright sunlight stung his eyelids, and Cheng Hai slowly opened his eyes, still groggy.

Before he was fully awake, he realized his body was completely pinned down.

Sometime during the night, the Succubus who had been sleeping far away had drowsily crawled over to him and curled up beside him. The Succubus who had already been by his side, however, had wrapped him in a possessive embrace, making it difficult for him to even lift an arm.

Cheng Hai felt as if he could

Moreover...

Cheng Hai truly couldn't bring himself to abandon living, breathing people to fend for themselves. Yesterday's actions had been purely impulsive, driven by being swindled and having insufficient funds.

Now that he'd thought it through, he couldn't do that again.

He sat on the living room sofa, legs crossed like a landlord, watching the succubi sleep outside, their clothes rumpled and creased.

"You can stay at my place if you want."

The moment he finished speaking, the succubi's eyes lit up.

"However..." Cheng Hai drew out the last syllable, and as expected, saw tension flicker across their faces. He didn't keep them in suspense. "I have three rules for you."

Seeing the blank expressions on their faces, Cheng Hai despaired. These eleven succubi were probably illiterate.

Their Master was unemployed, and they were illiterate. This situation was truly hopeless.

Cheng Hai barely regained control of the situation and stated the first rule.

"First, from now on, you must get my approval for any expenses. You must ask me before doing anything and obey me completely. Understand?"

The succubi exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.

"Second, without my permission, you are not allowed to enter my room. From now on, you will only sleep in the guest bedroom!"

Cheng Hai pointed to the two rooms next to the master bedroom.

He increasingly felt like a harsh old master from ancient times.

"Uh, once I've saved up enough money, I'll get you bunk beds," Cheng Hai added hastily, his conscience pricked.

Though the Succubi didn't seem to care about such things, he still felt he should mention it.

"As for the third rule, I haven't thought of anything yet. I'll let you know when I do."

Cheng Hai clapped his hands together and stared at the eleven identical Succubi before him. His head began to ache again.

"Uh, I need to give you names and some way to tell you apart..."

His gaze fell on the free stickers a netizen had sent him earlier.

Though called stickers, they were more like temporary tattoos, each bearing a number and a small QQ-style character underneath. The entire sticker was no bigger than half a palm. When the netizen sent them, they claimed the only advantage was that they were almost impossible to wash off—unless a special cleaning solution was used—and wouldn't fade even after years of use.

Since that's the case, let's use these.

Cheng Hai distributed the numbered stickers one by one, instructing them to stick them on the palms of their hands.

The face was out of the question—sticking something there would feel like a punishment. The neck was also awkward; it looked strange. Arms could work, but sleeves would cover them in winter, which was inconvenient.

After much deliberation, the palms seemed best. He could just ask them to flip their hands over when he wanted to see the numbers. In his eyes, all Succubi were pretty much the same; the numbers were just for convenience when assigning tasks.

Alright.

Time to name them.

Cheng Hai fell silent for a moment.

"Do you have names?"

The Succubus with Number One spoke first.

"No, Master. Our names are chosen by whoever buys us," Number One explained. "We have no independent will. We become whatever our Master wishes us to be."

Cheng Hai's eye twitched.

Holy shit, what kind of bizarre anime trope is this? Is this even modern? And what do you mean 'whatever your Master wishes'? I told you not to have dicks, and you still have eleven!

Then again, with an isekai-world ABO Succubus situation, logic was already out the window. Why was he even getting hung up on this?

He let it go.

Cheng Hai took a deep breath.

"Would you like to choose your own names?"

Heaven and earth as my witness, Cheng Hai truly hadn't thought of anything when he said that. He was just too lazy to come up with names himself and wanted to respect their wishes.

But no sooner had he spoken than the succubi's eyes drooped, their lips pouted, and they began to cry again.

"Cheng Hai, don't you want us anymore... wuwu..."

Cheng Hai: "?"

"What's wrong now? Why are you crying again?"

Number One sniffled, "I-If Master doesn't give us names, it means he doesn't like us and wants to abandon us!"

Cheng Hai: "......"

Fine! Fine! I surrender!

Cheng Hai racked his brain for a long time before finally coming up with a super awesome name.

"Cheng Long Jue! How about it? Cool, right? Isn't it super cool?!"

The eleven succubi exchanged glances and pondered.

Number One quickly accepted the name: "Thank you, Cheng Hai! I love the name Cheng Long Jue!"

Cheng Hai felt like a genius.

"Alright, from now on you'll be called Cheng Long Jue. But to make it easier to tell you apart, I'll still refer to you as Number One, Number Two, and so on."

The succubi cheered, thrilled with their new names.

Watching the group of naive succubi, Cheng Hai didn't even consider how incongruous the name "Cheng Long Jue" was with their golden hair and blue eyes. He just felt that their jubilant celebration made him look like an emperor.

He was incomparably proud!

Emperor! Emperor!

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Even the Emperor must bow for five pecks of rice.

After the thrill of naming his Succubi wore off, Cheng Hai finally realized he didn't have enough money to support these eleven Succubi who were taller and stronger than him.

He also discovered something truly desperate:

His Succubi couldn't stray more than ten li (about 3 miles) from him.

Beyond that distance, they would collapse completely, their bodies going limp, eyes rolling back, and breathing ceasing as if dead.

Only by smelling Cheng Hai's scent could they revive, rushing back into his arms with their usual pitiful expressions, even though they were all smaller than him.

Thus, the idea of sending them out to work black market jobs to earn money was also dead in the water.

What could he do?

His freelance work was entirely at the mercy of fate, depending on whether clients chose to commission him. He accepted any project, drawing anything and everything, yet even that barely kept him afloat. In eight years, he'd only saved a little over ten thousand yuan—now all gone! Swindled completely, he was left with only these eleven howling Succubi!

Seeing Cheng Hai's distress, Number One proactively approached.

Number One was the most proactive of the eleven Succubi. According to him, he was the first Succubus Cheng Hai had personally unwrapped from its delivery box with anticipation.

His mission was to make Cheng Hai like him a little more.

He hesitated before asking, "Cheng Hai, are there really no people around here?"

"Yeah, there's no one in this area."

Cheng Hai had scavenged this house, and even the people who once lived there had vanished.

"So, can we use the land outside?"

"...What do you mean?"

Cheng Hai's eyes widened slightly in surprise at Number One's question.

Number One explained truthfully, "Yesterday, when you locked us outside, I took a look around. I think the soil here is very fertile. Maybe we could grow some vegetables."

Now Cheng Hai was truly shocked and disbelieving.

He had always known the land was excellent. No matter what seeds he planted, they grew exceptionally well.

As a former Huaxia person, Cheng Hai had once considered farming to improve his life.

But not everyone could intuitively master farming skills. After failing to grow several plants even in such fertile soil, he had completely abandoned the idea of getting rich through agriculture.

He never expected that idea to be brought up again, and by a Succubus no less—someone completely unfamiliar with human society, someone so naive as to propose such a thing.

But Cheng Hai quickly dismissed the notion.

"You haven't learned anything, and I don't know how to do it either. Buying seeds and fertilizer would be a huge expense," he said, looking troubled.

Before he turned thirty, he might have thrown himself into it with youthful enthusiasm. But now, with only three digits left in his bank account, he couldn't afford to gamble again.

Seeing the Succubi's crestfallen faces and his own empty refrigerator, Cheng Hai came up with a new plan.

He'd mentioned before that the only people who came to this place were garbage collectors and delivery drivers.

The garbage collectors must be collecting from more than just him—after all, there was a massive landfill nearby.

He sometimes scavenged there himself, looking for usable items. The old ad player that used to play ads was actually something he'd found in the trash.

As Cheng Hai stroked his chin, the idea seemed increasingly feasible.

Cheng Hai decided to have the group of Succubi apply for jobs at the garbage plant. The plant was exactly nine kilometers from his house, and as long as he and the Succubi didn't stray from the path, their previous problem would be solved.

The Succubi remained blissfully unaware that their Master was planning to send their delicate, alluring selves to work in the stench-filled garbage plant.

Number One looked dejected. He still wanted to try farming; the idea had suddenly struck him yesterday, and he was convinced he could achieve great success if given the chance. But since Cheng Hai disagreed, he had to silently crush the idea.

The other Succubi huddled together, whispering and chattering.

At some point, one of them said something that made a Succubus blush and glance at Cheng Hai. Before he could turn to look, he quickly lowered his head and playfully punched the one who had spoken.

Watching the tall, nearly two-meter-tall Succubus's bashful posture sent a shiver down Cheng Hai's spine.

He was truly furious. Why did the face he'd fallen in love with have to be on a man's body?!

He resolved to send them to the garbage plant immediately—no, right now—and make them work for him!