I Picked Up The Satan and Decided To Raise Her (Patreon)

Chapter 7: A Debtor

Eating too many dumplings will make you feel a little greasy. Chen Ming poured a glass of soda for Lucifer and placed it before her.

"Uh..."

Lucifer ate too much too quickly once again, which caused her to let out a series of burps. 

Feeling like she was ruining her image, she felt a little helpless.

As she eyed the bubbling drink beside her, she asked, "What's this? Alcohol?"

"Do you want to drink alcohol? This isn't it, though. I don't drink. This is cola."

Although Chen Ming had tried drinking alcohol when he went out with his classmates before, he didn't like it. If given the choice between that and soda, he'd prefer the latter.

He felt that few people in his generation liked drinking, and smoking was also uncommon; he wasn't sure if college students were like this in the past.

Lucifer held the cup with both hands, sniffed at the liquid inside, but couldn't smell anything. 

Chen Ming found her actions quite cute. 

Then, after staring red-eyed into the cup for a moment, she didn't hesitate to take a sip.

"It's very sweet."

Lucifer held the cup, taking large gulps.

She downed the entire cup, even lapping up the last bit. 

Chen Ming smiled and asked, "More?"

"Mm-hmm." Lucifer nodded. At this point, there was no need to be overly courteous. 

Chen Ming poured her another cup, then set the whole bottle on the table. He began to clean up, gathering the used dishes and taking them into the kitchen.

After wiping down the table, he went to wash the dishes. By the time he returned, the entire bottle of soda had disappeared.

"Huh?" That bottle was so big, and it was just here... He glanced at Lucifer, who had turned away. After a moment's thought, she turned back around and said, "I accidentally drank it all."

"It's okay, it's just soda. Remember to brush your teeth after, or you'll get cavities."

Chen Ming pondered for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Um, I don't mean anything bad, but you're pretty dirty. Do you want to take a bath?"

"A bath?" She gazed at him with her crimson eyes.

Chen Ming waved his hands and said, "I don't mean anything bad, it's just... baths are more comfortable if you want to sleep."

"To sleep?"

"No... I, um, that... Ahhh!"

Why does it seem like the more I explain, the more confused things become? Chen Ming's brain was about to crash.

Lucifer tilted her head. Why was this person flustered? She felt that she had been here for a long time, and it just...felt a little strange.

"... Do you want me to stay here for the night?"

"Uh, do you have anywhere else to go?" Chen Ming scratched his head, thinking.

"Even if I had somewhere else to go, I could still rest here for a night, since it's already so late."

This man is warm, he’s hospitable too, so it should be fine.

Lucifer wrinkled her nose slightly, sensing something odd. She felt like she was visiting a friend, but what had she come here for again?

Ah, to collect payment.

Looking at him, Lucifer said, "I think I came here to collect payment. But it's all right, I've already received something quite valuable... Thank you."

Huh? What did she mean? A single meal was enough? As he watched Lucifer appear to be about to stand up, Chen Ming pressed on her shoulder.

"Eh?"

Lucifer lifted her head and looked at him.

He looked down into her red eyes and said, "My life isn't that cheap! How many times do I have to tell you? This is nothing compared to what I gave you."

"...You're really too strange."

Lucifer felt a headache coming on; dealing with this man, it seemed, would not be as straightforward as she had thought.

"This is a transaction," he said earnestly, "so it must be carried out properly. I'm also a businessman, after all, and we can't afford to slack off."

Lucifer looked at his face... Was she perhaps a little too close? She moved her shoulders, but the firm hand pressed her down, making her feel warm.

"All right, then, what do you want?" she asked.

"Of course, I'll give you something of equal value in exchange. My life is worth quite a lot, you know."

Chen Ming's tone changed slightly as he spoke, and he let go of her shoulder to pull up a chair and sit across from her. "It's just... I don't think I'll be able to repay you immediately, so could I possibly make payments?"

"...This seems to be getting rather troublesome."

Strange as it seemed, Lucifer decided to hear him out.

Chen Ming scratched his head and said, "It's not exactly making payments, just taking a little longer to repay you."

"How long would that take?"

"Maybe...a while," Chen Ming said tentatively.

Frowning, Lucifer rubbed her forehead and asked, "So, I need to stay here for a while?"

"Are you very busy?"

"No, it's not that. It's just a little inconvenient," she said frankly. "I don't have money, so I can't stay here. It would be bad if I don't return soon."

"Then you can stay at my place for now," Chen Ming said, nodding.

"If you don't have anywhere else to go and aren't in a rush to return, then you can stay with me for now. At least here you'll have food to eat and drinks."

"But that would be...too much trouble for you."

Lucifer shook her head. Staying at someone else's house would also be too much trouble for them. Lucifer was a girl who liked to consider others.

"What do you mean 'trouble'?" Chen Ming sighed and said to her, "Think about it, what status do you have right now?"

"A demon?" Lucifer tilted her head.

Chen Ming almost slapped the table. "No, you're a creditor. Before I repay you, you have no reason to be courteous to a debtor like me."

"...Huh?"

No, no, no, even if I’m a creditor, I can't just barge into other people's homes whenever I want, right? And this so-called debt was something he insisted on taking upon himself. It was just strange, really, wondering what exactly was in this boy's head.

Lucifer watched as Chen Ming ran back into his room, emerging with a set of clothes and a towel, which he handed to her. "All right, all right, we'll figure out what happens next later, but you're staying with me tonight. I can't let you wander outside by yourself at this hour."

‘It's too dangerous if she were to go out tonight. What if she accidentally kills someone?’

He recalled how she had bent that metal pipe.

She stared at the clothes for a few seconds.

He explained, "I've never worn these; my parents love buying clothes for me, but a lot of them just sit in the bottom of my wardrobe untouched."

He usually only wore a few select shirts, rotating between them, and would always get scolded by his parents. They'd say things like, "Wearing the same old shirts is so ugly; people might think your parents don't care about you."

They were exaggerating, of course.

They'd also say things like, "If you don't dress nicely, no girls will pay attention to you," and often dragged him to the mall to buy clothes. 

Hm, their desire for a daughter-in-law was certainly conveyed through that giant wardrobe of his.

But let's be reasonable here—during the entirety of his life up until high school graduation, he hadn't even been allowed to touch a girl's hand, all in the name of preventing a "crush" and protecting his grades.

It was almost as if his emotions had been castrated for over a decade, only to be released upon graduation.

Wasn't it a bit too much to expect him to find a girlfriend immediately after the college exam? These parents wanted their children to get married right after graduation and give them a grandchild within a year of that.

Honestly...

These days, parents just loved to daydream.

How could that even happen?