The effect was fantastic.

Guo Qingting was the older-sister type girlfriend; she liked an obedient 'younger brother' type, but this didn't mean she was unreasonable or couldn't tell right from wrong.

At special moments, a moderate amount of dominance could actually stir her emotions even more.

"Alright," she said, a hint of regret in her voice but with utter decisiveness, "I'll fulfill that request you made last time once I'm back!"

WOW!

Han Lie's eyes lit up, and both his mood and his body perked up.

The act was totally worth it. So happy!

After hanging up the phone, Han Lie rolled around on the bed twice, full of self-satisfaction and swelling with pride.

Fellow students, do you now understand why it's important to study hard? If it weren't for Level 4 Psychology, how could Teacher Han show off like this?! Look at you fools, you can't even grasp the basics! Go home and start reading "The Art of War by Sun Tzu" immediately! Although this isn't exactly a direct solution, the overall strategy is the foundation. Techniques follow principles and can be supplemented later. Class dismissed!

...

Just when Han Lie was extremely inflated with pride, he received a New Year's call from Pan Ge.

"HEE HEE HEE!"

Pan Ge started with such a sweet laugh that it left Han Lie puzzled.

"Why are you so happy?"

"I missed you!"

"Oh, such sweet talk. Just as expected from you!"

"Well, of course! I'm completely sincere with you. When have I ever not been good?"

Too many times... Strictly speaking, she's never been truly good.

Han Lie thought to himself with sarcasm but still cheerfully soothed her, chatting away. Then, out of the blue, he asked about her father's reaction.

"When Dad came home that day and found the tea set missing, what was his reaction?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Pan Ge couldn't help but laugh uproariously as she vividly described the scene.

Let's rewind time to the day of the robbery...

Panzi came home happy and cheerful. At first, he noticed nothing amiss. It wasn't until the family finished dinner in harmonious joy and he wanted to make tea that he glanced at the tea cabinet. He panicked on the spot.

"Honey, honey! Where are my two boxes of early spring Longjing tea?"

Zhao Anni replied impatiently, "You should manage your own things. Why ask me? Keep looking. Could our home possibly have been burgled?"

Panzi had already turned the tea cabinet inside out, sweating bullets from anxiety.

"Damn it! Could we actually have been burgled? That tea I haven't even had the heart to drink myself... that damn little... Huh? Wait, that doesn't make sense. What thief could get into our house?"

Panzi was panicking, but he was no fool and quickly realized something was amiss.

Zhao Anni glanced at her daughter, who was curled up on the sofa, covering her mouth and giggling, and immediately understood everything.

So she snapped back, "Watch your mouth! Stop looking and ask your precious daughter!"

Panzi shivered all over and rushed out, asking with a trembling voice full of hope, "Sweetie, did that little brat come to our house during the day?"

"PFFT!"

Pan Ge burst into laughter on the spot.

Good grief. When he's in a good mood, it's "Han Xiaolie." When he's happily tipsy, it's "Brother Han." But the moment his treasures are swiped, Han Lie is instantly demoted to "little brat." Dad sure knows how to change his tune...

Although Pan Ge was indeed guilty of mischief, she wasn't scared of Panzi one bit.

She nodded with perfect confidence. "Yes, he came!"

Panzi's world went dark; he was utterly hopeless.

No need to ask then? The tea was definitely gone!

Panzi couldn't get angry at his daughter, but he felt so aggrieved that he lamented, "I haven't had the heart to drink more than two ounces of that tea after having it for over half a year..."

"So keeping it at home is such a waste, isn't it?!" Pan Ge retorted with conviction.

Panzi nearly choked.

Your logic... Genius!

"You hopeless child!" Panzi exclaimed, looking exasperated as if scolding a disappointing child. "How can you spoil a man like that?!"

"Oh, I got it!" Pan Ge responded and then tried to slip away.

Panzi sighed deeply, watching her, but then his expression suddenly changed dramatically.

Something was wrong! That damn guy has never known the meaning of courtesy, and with such a leaky little quilted jacket for a daughter... How could he have only taken two boxes of tea leaves?

"Don't move!" Panzi shouted and hurried back to the storage room.

Once there, he first checked his watches. After counting for a while, he found two Steel Kings missing.

Not a big issue... Bullshit! They weren't particularly expensive, but those two were so hard to collect!

Then he looked further and found that a large pile of his collected treasures had vanished. He was so angry he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"Pan Ge! You even dared to give away my master artisan's handmade Zisha teapot set?!"

Pan Ge also knew how much her father cherished that teapot set, so her face finally showed a hint of guilt.

"Ah? Isn't that just a craft?" She blinked, trying to look cute and play dumb, steadfastly refusing to admit anything.

Panzi nearly went insane. "Can a craft have a signed inscription from Gu Jingzhou?! I don't care about the rest, but get that pot back NOW! What does that little brat know about drinking tea?!"

Pan Ge shrugged, unleashing her ultimate move—playing innocent.

"Han Lie has already gone home. Anyway, I can't do anything about it. If you're that heartbroken, go ask for it yourself!"

Panzi glared. "Do you think I don't dare?"

"LA LA LA!" Pan Ge stuck her tongue out at her own father, defiantly bratty.

"HAHAHAHAHA..."

This amused Zhao Anni to no end, nearly bringing her to tears of laughter.

Panzi turned to her and said, "Still in the mood to laugh? Go check on your own treasures! This little quilted jacket of ours is practically leaking like a sieve!"

Zhao Anni's expression instantly soured. With a cry, she dashed towards her dressing room.