Although I could somewhat understand the hardship my dad had endured after being a widower for so many years…
Leaving it right there on the living room sofa for me to see was just too blatant!
There were plenty of professionals in that line of work.
Even if Dad went out to find one, I wouldn’t have blamed him.
In short, it was simply too much to look at…
“Xiao Chen, how is it? Does it taste good?”
Seeing Gu Chen’s absent-minded expression, Dad assumed she had something on her mind and took the initiative to start a conversation.
“Yeah, it tastes great.”
Gu Chen snapped out of it.
‘Whatever, he’s my dad after all. It’s not like I can just call him out on it. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.’
As for dinner, the taste was actually quite good.
It was surprising that he had managed to hone his cooking skills in just one week.
Previously, when they were both busy with work, the father and daughter mostly ordered takeout or discounted group meals.
It was normal for the stove to go cold for ten or fifteen days at a time, but now that he was out of a job, he actually had the time to cook.
Strictly speaking, Dad’s unemployment was partly my fault.
When I was hospitalized before, he had been terrified and decided to stay at the hospital to take care of me full-time.
However, his company didn’t agree, leading to a conflict between the two parties.
In the end, the company used that as an excuse to fire him, clearly just looking for a reason to get rid of him.
After all, compared to an older employee whose age exceeded their preferred bracket, they definitely preferred hiring college students with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan.
They were simple, obedient, and most importantly, they cost less and didn’t complain.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Dad smiled with relief.
Seeing Gu Chen’s eyes darting toward the sofa again, he seemed to realize something and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you really like that doll?”
“…”
“Cough, cough! It’s… it’s okay,” Gu Chen choked out, nearly gagging on her food from the sheer embarrassment.
‘I like it my ass!’
‘Even if I did like it, I don’t even have the hardware to mount an attack anymore!’
I had planned to pretend I hadn’t seen it, but Dad had to go and bring up that awkward thing himself.
Seriously, he was a 40-something-year-old middle-aged man, yet he didn’t seem to have a shred of shame!
“Is that so? Well, that’s good then. I was worried you wouldn’t like it. I bought that doll for you, so take it back to your room later.”
*Pfft!!*
Hearing this, Gu Chen sprayed a mouthful of soup across the table.
She nearly fell off her chair!
Staring at him with wide eyes, she wondered if she had misheard him.
“Are you serious — why the hell would you give me that thing?!”
‘Even if I were that desperate, I wouldn’t fall so low as to use something like that!’
‘Besides, like I said, I don’t have the gear for it! Isn’t he just trying to piss me off on purpose?!’
“Uh, I heard that all girls like dolls. So, I searched for dolls online and placed an order. I knew you were in a bad mood, so I wanted to buy a gift to cheer you up,” Dad explained with a perfectly straight face.
At his age, if he searched for “dolls” online, it was very likely the algorithm would recommend exactly that kind of thing to him.
‘I’m so freaking happy… yeah, thanks a lot… Dad.’
Gu Chen felt like dying.
Most girls did like using dolls to decorate their rooms, but those were plushies or stuffed animals!
Have you ever seen a girl use a blow-up doll for room decor?
Even a shut-in otaku who stayed home all year round wouldn’t have such heavy tastes!
“It’s good that you’re happy. I found a few other types while searching, do you want to pick one yourself?”
Dad smiled, his eyes lighting up as he prepared to introduce them.
“Stop!!”
Gu Chen couldn’t take it anymore and cut him off.
With a look of utter despair, she said, “Stop joking around, okay?”
“Haha!”
“I’m just teasing you. Of course I know that’s a blow-up doll. Don’t worry, I didn’t mean anything by it; I’m just planning to start a business.”
Dad had indeed been teasing Gu Chen, hoping to lighten her mood.
No matter how much of a “straight man” he was, he wouldn’t do something that ridiculous.
Seeing that his “daughter” was beyond speechless, he finally told the truth.
“Huh?!”
“A business? What the hell?!”
“Well, I’ve been unemployed lately, and we have household expenses. It’s not a solution to keep going like this. So, I’ve been observing the market these past few days and found a business opportunity. I’ve found a factory to act as an agent for, and I’ll sell directly through an online store to earn the profit margin.”
Dad then laid out his plan.
Given that more and more young people were choosing to stay single but still had certain needs, blow-up dolls could fill that gap perfectly.
By sourcing them directly from the manufacturer at the lowest price and selling them online, he was sure that once the brand was established, it would be much better than working for someone else.
*Hiss — *
Gu Chen felt her scalp go numb and sucked in a breath of cold air.
If the person in front of her weren’t her own father, she might not have been able to resist kicking him!
“Are you crazy!”
‘Is the family… planning to switch careers and sell adult products?’
Setting aside whether it would make money, even if the industry wasn’t prohibited by law, it was hardly a respectable one!
One could only imagine the fallout if the students at school found out her family was selling blow-up dolls.
That would be even more humiliating than the current Li Fugui!
“Xiao Chen, what year is this? How are you more conservative than your own father? I’ve already planned everything out. I’ll find a model to shoot the cover photo to use as a sample. Then I’ll ship these out. Even if the product doesn’t perfectly match the photo, it won’t be a big deal. No one is going to make a scene over a few hundred yuan and risk social suicide.”
Dad spoke with total seriousness.
The tactic was admittedly shameless, but it held a certain logic.
As long as one was thick-skinned enough, there were plenty of opportunities to make money.
“Fine, whatever. But you have to keep it a secret. You can’t use our home address or our names for shipping, okay?”
Seeing that his mind was made up, Gu Chen sighed.
Trying to stop him was probably useless.
Her only hope was that Dad would stay low-profile and not leak any information.
It really was hard for someone his age to find a new job, and they couldn’t just starve to death.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Dad patted Gu Chen’s shoulder.
Then, he looked at her with a strange expression, appearing as though he wanted to say something but was hesitating.
“What is it?”
Gu Chen felt her skin crawl under his gaze, sensing a bad omen.
“Hehe… well, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you to help with, Xiao Chen.”
“Hmm?”
Gu Chen felt more and more uneasy.
That look in his eyes… it was as if he were about to sell her for cash.
She instinctively leaned back and took a deep breath.
“It’s just… all the family savings went into buying stock and paying the store’s security deposit. I really can’t afford to hire a model for the photos. Xiao Chen, honestly… with your looks, if you put on some makeup and a uniform, and I took some photos for the cover… the effect would definitely be extraordinary.”
Dad rubbed his hands together, looking at Gu Chen expectantly.
After being fired, he had received a severance package, but it wasn’t much and would eventually run out.
Now that the entire budget was spent, all he lacked was the cover image.
It was hard to find a model willing to pose for blow-up doll ads, and even if he found one, the fees wouldn’t be low.
After thinking it over, this was the best way to save money — it would cost almost nothing.
“Holy crap!!”
Gu Chen finally realized what that bad omen was.
It turned out Dad didn’t just want to open an adult toy store; he was actually plotting against her!
‘My god!’
‘Asking me to dress up as a girl to take promotional photos for his blow-up doll store… is that something a carbon-based lifeform would even come up with?!’
“Over my dead body! No way! Absolutely not!”
Gu Chen practically jumped out of her chair, refusing to agree no matter what.
Even if she was a girl now, it didn’t mean she could accept wearing those kinds of clothes!
Especially for — for a freaking blow-up doll advertisement!
If some animal at school actually stumbled upon her dad’s online store and recognized her, the consequences would be…
Gu Chen swallowed hard, unable to even imagine the aftermath.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.