Lao Zi From An American School Was Raped By A Mixed-Race Daddy Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Picking Up Money. “Sit on my lap.”

To be fair, this potential sugar daddy’s appearance and capabilities exceeded Ruan Siyu’s expectations.

He was excessively young, tall, and athletic—a far cry from the stereotypical programmer. His career was incredibly successful; during their brief small talk, Ruan Siyu (Josh) had already realized that the “game” Jessica mentioned was far more complex than a simple dating sim.

It was the prototype of a virtual world.

Its purpose was to collect, learn, simulate, and take over. Although Josh had a bit of a temper, he did not lack vision or knowledge. He could see that the true goal of this game was to use data collection and AI language model training to survey individual private needs, creating an incomparable virtual world that provided high-quality experiences unattainable in the real world.

The “virtual love experience” used for promotion was merely a crude fig leaf. If the platform were allowed to develop, it would open a new frontier in AI technology, VR technology, and human-computer interaction. It had the potential to rewrite the world.

The founder’s infinitely expanding ambition was already clear. Josh didn’t understand why the public couldn’t see the massive threat this platform posed. Or perhaps even if they did, they couldn’t stop the growth of such a leviathan because—

Josh’s gaze fell upon Robert von Schneider (Rob). The man had distinct Germanic ancestry, which wasn’t unusual in America. The two World Wars had brought countless German refugees to the States. However, his skin wasn’t pale like other white men; instead, it was a healthy bronze, and his bone structure was relatively soft.

He clearly came from a powerful family. His entire outfit was bespoke and of immeasurable value. If he were a rising member of the “new money” class, it would be impossible for him to gain the favor of those ancient European brands that served the nobility so quickly. This also explained the rapid rise of Heartbeat, a platform with such vast ambition. The only thing that could make capital hesitate was other capital.

In the man’s burning blue eyes, Josh sensed a strange flicker of familiarity, but he quickly dismissed it. He had never met this wealthy young man before. Given the man’s looks and aura, let alone his achievements, he wasn’t someone one would easily forget.

This was definitely the first time he had seen this man.

The man had also been watching him. Compared to his sophisticated and refined appearance, his gaze was naked and fierce, carrying an almost primitive savagery. Josh hated being stared at like prey, but he currently had no leverage to object. He could only curl his lips into a soft smile, displaying the vulnerability and greed he assumed the other man wanted to see.

“If you are satisfied, sir, I am ready to accompany you whenever you wish, whatever you want me to do.”

The man’s brow lowered. Finally, he tore his gaze away from Josh’s skin, which had been stinging under the scrutiny, and turned to speak.

“Follow me.”

Josh inwardly rolled his eyes at the man’s urgency but followed him silently and obediently.

The two passed the reception room again. Paul had already taken out his laptop and was focused on tapping at the keys, while Jessica was irritably cursing in her native language, fiddling with her phone to reply to emails.

Susanna (Sue) brought her a glass of wine. Jessica didn’t have time to drink it; she simply tilted her head to kiss Sue’s chin. Her eyes caught sight of Rob and Josh preparing to take the elevator upstairs.

“Hey!”

Her eyebrows shot up as she stood from the sofa, phone in hand, glaring at Rob.

“What the hell are you doing, Robert? Shaw Moore told me you sent an email insulting the advertisers? If you want to cause trouble for me, just say it directly, don’t beat around the—wait, why are you dressed so formally? Is it your wedding tonight?”

Paul, who had been completely immersed in programming, was amused by Jessica. He looked up, scanning his tense friend from head to toe, and chimed in sarcastically.

“I don’t think so, dear Jess. I didn’t receive a wedding invitation. If our dear Tyrant were getting married, he certainly wouldn’t forget to invite his loyal driver, Paul, would he?”

Josh’s gaze flickered between them, lingering for a long moment on the corners of Rob’s mouth, which were tight with irritation, as he assessed the depth of their friendship. He didn’t think Rob would tolerate the provocations from Jessica and Paul, but to his surprise, the man only dropped a weak retort.

“The PR department will handle the email issue, Jess. We pay a lot of employees for that.”

The elevator doors closed, cutting off Jessica’s curious gaze. Rob relaxed slightly, but Josh noticed that the man’s peripheral vision never left him.

What a creepy weirdo.

Josh followed Rob into a spacious lounge on the second floor. He stood under the crystal chandelier with a pleasant, tranquil smile, watching as Rob sat at one end of a long sofa, staring at him with a dark, brooding expression.

“Your father was liquidated by the judicial authorities, right? So, your life has been a ‘bankrupt young master’ drama for the past six months?”

An attendant in the lounge brought out a box of cigars kept in a humidor for Rob and poured a bottle of Barolo into a crystal decanter before quietly exiting the room. Only the two of them remained.

Josh stepped forward, leaning down to cut the cigar for Rob. As the pungent scent of tobacco ignited, he didn’t flinch. His face looked unrealistically beautiful under the lights.

“That makes things much more convenient for you, Mr. Schneider. I know my place, and I will make sure you are pleased.”

He was selling himself in a way that wasn’t exactly subtle, while privately imagining crushing the glowing ember of the cigar into Rob’s damnably handsome blue eyes—he hated men who smoked.

He didn’t mind that Rob had investigated him. To be honest, given the man’s status, it would be strange if he hadn’t. He could also guess what the results of the investigation showed: an arrogant, promiscuous, shallow, and empty-headed trophy son who had lost his family’s protection and fallen into the gutter. Relying on a decent face, if he were lucky, he could become an expensive private collection; if he were unlucky, he’d be selling apples in a back alley.

This persona wasn’t a disadvantage for Josh because it was desperate and helpless enough to satisfy a man’s savior complex.

Rob didn’t puff on the burning cigar. His gaze remained fixed on Josh through the smoke, like a megalodon in a whirlpool. Josh’s smile didn’t waver. Just as he was about to pull away, a hand like an iron shackle gripped his wrist.

“Are you very short on money?”

Suddenly restrained, Josh couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, forcing down the sharp emotions in his gaze. At this moment, he found Rob utterly and irredeemably loathsome. He felt sorry for Jessica’s poor choice in friends.

The man before him was actually asking someone looking for a sugar daddy if they were “short on money.” The innate, bottomless arrogance of a white male from the privileged class was almost suffocating. Josh maintained his bowing posture, forced to pause for a moment to swallow the retort: “The wealth I can grasp isn’t much lower than the level of upbringing you can manage, sir.”

“I suppose so, sir,” he said, lowering his eyelashes and speaking with obedient vulnerability.

He saw Rob’s Adam’s apple bob once, and then heard the command.

“Sit on my lap.”

How “charming.” Josh rolled his eyes again mentally and obediently sat on Rob’s right thigh. He was naturally thin and had lost a lot of weight over the past six months, so he sat there comfortably enough. Rob, however, frowned, still gripping his wrist.

“Don’t you eat?”

The veins on Josh’s forehead began to throb. He didn’t enjoy sitting on another man’s lap to begin with; the man’s body heat was scorching even through the fabric of their clothes. This lack of boundaries left him speechless.

Honestly, for someone who hadn’t even graduated college, the man had the condescending “daddy energy” of a sixty-year-old. It was bizarre.

“I’ve been forgetting lately, sir.”

Josh’s smile was becoming increasingly strained. Rob seemed to find his excuse ridiculous, staring at him with a gaze that made his skin crawl. Then, Rob suddenly tossed the half-burned cigar into the ashtray and opened a large leather suitcase beside him.

Stacks of crisp, new US dollars filled the coffee-table-sized suitcase. Rob took out a stack and flicked the paper seal open with his finger. The bills slid from his palm, scattering across the floor.

Ten thousand dollars. Quite the grand gesture, and quite an unoriginal way to humiliate someone.

Josh watched coldly. Rob kept his eyes on him as he scattered two more stacks. Layers of green bills covered their feet and the white wool rug. Josh smiled and asked in a voice of feigned, greedy innocence:

“If I pick them up, they’re mine, right sir?”

Looking closely, his smile had already turned cold, and his eyes lacked the admiration, greed, and shallowness a truly qualified gold digger should have. His patience for this “sugar daddy” had reached its limit; the man’s eccentricity and rudeness were utterly repulsive to him.

“Mhm, of course.”

The man’s playful voice caused Josh’s expression to twist for a split second.

Perhaps he wasn’t truly prepared to sell himself.

Perhaps he needed to spend a few more days shivering in the cold of a homeless camp to wake up.

But not now. Not today.

He slid off Rob’s lap and knelt on the floor, picking up the bills one by one. When he reached the tenth bill, Rob’s voice, thick with suppressed anger, came from above him.

“Are you joking? Are you really that desperate for money? What about your—your other family? Your half-brother is the young master of Fuze Pharmaceuticals, and your sister is the founder of Cordian Fashion. You think I can’t find this information? What is your real purpose for coming here?”

Josh’s hand clenched the bills into a fist. He looked up at Rob, the sharpness he had suppressed for so long piercing through his obedient mask. His rebelliousness was laid bare.

“What, does Mr. Schneider think I have some peculiar hobby? That I came here specifically to experience your misplaced arrogance, the stench of burning tobacco, and a lap as hard as a rock?”

He laughed out of pure anger, his breathing bordering on hysterical. Clutching the ten bills, he climbed up from the carpet and looked down at Rob.

“As someone I’ve met for the first time, you are truly impressive. Between the shallow, stupid levity of the nouveau riche and the suffocating arrogance of the blue-blooded, you have firmly chosen to embrace both. It is truly a rare sight in this world. Now, if you’ll excuse me. Unless you plan to sue me for my offense, these ten bills will serve as compensation for the night you’ve wasted.”

He stared at Rob. Seeing the man watching him in silent shock, he let out a mocking sneer.

“Ha, I thought so.”

He turned toward the door without looking back.

But just as his hand touched the gilded doorknob, his vision suddenly blurred.