When Yan Luqing was deeply shaken by her eldest brother’s inner world, not long after, the car passed the traffic light and entered a sparsely populated villa district. The sports car slowly came to a stop.

Yan Luqing saw the so-called Yan family “main house.”

An entirely white detached villa, by visual estimation two to three times the size of her own. Inside the villa’s courtyard were artificial mountains, an artificial spring, and even a garden. Within the garden there were swings and many other facilities suitable for children to play.

Yan Fengming, without a word, let Yan Luqing out of the car and went to park. Yan Luqing walked by herself to the entrance, and there she saw someone dressed like a butler, who gave her a slight bow and led her inside.

“Sir is waiting for you in the upstairs study.”

The so-called “Sir” should be the original body’s father.

Yan Luqing nodded: “I know, thank you.”

Then this butler retreated to one side.

Yan Luqing stood in place without moving. The butler looked at her; she also looked at the butler.

“？” The butler sent her a question mark with his gaze.

“？” Yan Luqing also bounced back a question mark with her gaze, “Where is the study? Trouble yourself to lead the way?”

Butler: “…………”

The butler did not say anything, but Yan Luqing estimated that if she added him on WeChat, she would definitely be able to see a bubble saying, “The young miss really knows how to stir up trouble, worthy of being mentally ill.”

Looking at all these completely unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar faces, Yan Luqing inexplicably gave rise to a trace of melancholy.

She had only just gone out for a short while, yet she already so missed the group of people in that villa.

Although overly straightforward, most of the time reliable, Big Black.

Although missing more than one nerve in his brain yet hitting wherever pointed, Little Black.

Even that magic-sound-piercing-the-ear Black Bodhisattva could be reluctantly thought of.

And… Gu Ci.

Gu Ci, by whose side it felt as if one could sleep a great sleep. Although his experiences and appearance were extremely like a princess, yet his temperament was quite mysterious—Princess Ci.

Yan Luqing followed behind the butler going upstairs. While secretly reminiscing through everyone in the villa, she arrived at the door of the study.

The exquisitely carved wooden door was half open. At a glance she could see inside, a middle-aged man seated, and beside him leaned a beautiful woman. This scene could be simply summed up as a wealthy family head and his beautiful wife.

Yan Luqing had originally thought that in such a family, the head of the household should be quite dignified. Yet as soon as this head of household saw Yan Luqing, he immediately revealed a smiling face, gesturing for her to sit beside the beautiful wife. “The reason for bringing you over this time, your elder brother has told you, right?”

His tone was even rather yasashii [gentle, kindly].

Yan Luqing sat over, deliberated a little, then said: “He only told me to come and explain to you about Gu Ci.”

Immediately after, in her head again floated up that eldest brother’s internal complaint. Fearing this father’s imagination would be as rich as the son’s, she simply laid her cards on the table directly: “Gu Ci indeed is at my place.”

After that, Yan Luqing narrated once through how she had taken him back from Jin Qi’an, how extremely miserable he had been at that time, adding oil and vinegar [exaggerating]. Seeing with her own eyes that the happily smiling man’s face had darkened, and the beautiful wife’s complexion was also very bad, she then, by contrast, sang her own praises about what she had done for Gu Ci.

“…In short, if it is because you worry about Gu Ci, you can be at ease. He and I are now very good friends.”

Only then did Father Yan’s expression ease. He smiled: “This point, just now before your elder brother came home, your mother and I already asked your people over there.”

Yan Luqing instantly understood.

No wonder her elder brother had a cold face, while father and mother were so mild and amiable.

Father Yan again said: “This time calling you over is because regarding the matter of Gu Ci’s parents, which I have always been investigating, there is now some progress. We cannot, for the time being, have contact with Gu Ci, lest he be implicated, so…”

He seemed to want to continue, but his beautiful wife suddenly interrupted him gently: “You two children have no need to know too much. You only need to understand, he still cannot return to his home—for at least two to three months more, only then will it be safe.”

Yan Luqing understood.

First, the original body’s parents were indeed, as written in the original book, good friends with Gu Ci’s parents.

Second, Gu Ci being at her place was instead even safer.

After the conversation ended, the couple almost simultaneously sank into silence, and the focus faintly, vaguely shifted onto her.

In fact, from beginning to end, Yan Luqing could clearly feel that pair of eyes carrying a bit of observation and probing—this should be the type of gaze she had felt the most since transmigrating.

They were worrying about this daughter, so while conversing, they were observing her expression, behavior, and mental state.

Yan Mother’s pair of beautiful eyes looked at her, full of concern: “By the way, Qingqing, I heard someone say… you haven’t been taking your medicine on time recently? Even if you’re quarreling with people, you can’t joke about illness.”

Hearing this “Qingqing,” Yan Luqing was momentarily stunned.

She had never seen, in the true sense, family related by blood. From the time she had memory, it had always been in the orphanage, with the closest people being the director and the director’s wife.

Yan Luqing’s childhood nickname was Qingqing. It was said that because when she was little she was chubby, the heaviest among those her age, the director jokingly gave her this homophonous nickname, hoping she wouldn’t get fatter, so it was called “Qingqing [轻轻, light].”

Even though she knew the characters were different, at this moment, she still inexplicably felt some nostalgia.

“…Who told you I didn’t take medicine? If I didn’t, then who was it that ate those medicines in my place?” Yan Luqing showed a smile, soothing this mother who cautiously expressed concern, “Besides, am I not in better condition now than before?”

Yan Mother had been observing for so long and could see her condition was indeed good, almost without the gloomy aura of before. Her gaze was lively, her appearance far more beautiful.

Thus she didn’t say anything more, only patted Yan Luqing’s hand and said: “Then you must remember to see the doctor on time.”

…

In the time afterward, Yan Father and Yan Mother still always used that kind of expression of wanting to speak yet stopping, stopping yet wanting to speak, to look at Yan Luqing. Frowning in concern, as if afraid of stimulating her in some way, speaking always in half sentences—making Yan Luqing utterly weary.

In the study, sitting in such torment for a long while, she finally waited until lunchtime. Before sitting at the dining table, Yan Mother said to Yan Luqing: “Your second brother went out, today it’s just the three of us eating.”

On the surface she calmly nodded, but inwardly thought: Oh, I still have a second brother.

Yan Luqing had just drunk alcohol last night, so her appetite was rather poor. Added to facing three people at the table who didn’t say a word yet had “I want to speak” written all over their faces, her appetite grew even poorer.

She ate until about half full, then put down her chopsticks. Afterward she tapped her finger on the rim of her cup, the small sound immediately drawing everyone’s gaze at the table over.

Yan Luqing said: “I suddenly had a small wish. I don’t know if it can be realized today.”

Eldest brother’s face was cold and wordless, Yan Mother’s gaze shifted slightly, and still it was yasashii Yan Father who asked: “What wish?”

Yan Luqing: “Shall we… build a family group chat?”

——Otherwise, isn’t my running this family instance way too fucking exhausting?

…

Yan Luqing finished lunch and left the Yan family. At Yan Father and Yan Mother’s request, the one to send her was not the driver, but still Yan Fengming—despite his entire face saying “I’m unwilling.”

Yan Luqing no longer wanted to care whether he was willing or not, nor did she want to waste effort pleasing him and starting conversation with him. Sitting in the car, she directly began looking at the bubbles above Yan Father and Yan Mother’s avatars.

She felt she was simply a genius—building a family group was truly convenient, no need to have friends added, yet she could still see the bubbles.

Only… those bubbles were either blue or gray.

Yan Father’s gray bubble: 「Why is she behaving so normally today? Completely opposite from what her psychologist said… I must make another phone call.」

Yan Luqing: ?

Yan Mother’s blue bubble: 「How can we get Qingqing to go to school and study?」

Yan Luqing, who had just finished the college entrance exam: ? Totally unnecessary.

Eldest brother’s red bubble: “Are Mom and Dad made of paper? So easy to fool?”

Eldest brother’s red bubble x2: “I don’t believe nothing happened between her and Gu Ci.”

Yan Luqing: “……”

After a few pokes, these bubbles would begin to repeat the same content. From Yan Luqing’s prior experiments in her own villa, every time she saw three or four messages, she had to wait a while before new real-time bubble content would refresh.

Once they started repeating, Yan Luqing stopped looking at her phone.

She said goodbye to Yan Fengming and finally returned to her own villa. Yan Luqing hurried to the front gate and immediately saw two familiar black door-gods waiting at the entrance.

Only half a day apart, and she found these two things even more endearing than when she left during the day.

However, the two endearing things did not bring her any pleasing news—

As soon as Yan Luqing got home and changed her shoes, she heard the mature, steady Big Black beside her say, “Miss Yan… would you like to see Dr. Qu this afternoon?”

“?” She turned back in disbelief, “What did you say?”

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and then Little Black stammered, “Be-because we searched your room from top to bottom, a-and really didn’t see any robot.”

*

Yan Luqing locked her room door, sat on the floor of her room, and looked at that artificial idiot who normally called her “Maria.”

Since she returned to her room just now, it had not stopped making the crackling sound of current—such a strange thing, and Yan Luqing was not the least bit frightened.

She thought about it and figured it was probably because, so far, nothing had been weirder than her transmigrating into a person labeled as mentally ill.

Recalling carefully, the robot indeed had never been mentioned by the villa people.