When Yan Luqing was still frozen in place, Big Black came back to report that the sleazy man had already been taken away.

And the female lead Jiang Baichu once again thanked her, and said that it was almost time to gather and she had to go. Yan Luqing, in a daze, added Jiang Baichu on WeChat, and watched the female lead leave.

Makka Pakka was still asking in her mind: “So why did Maria suddenly want to save the female lead? Was it really just a coincidence?”

Yan Luqing replied in thought: “I saw this little cutie almost being bullied, so I rushed out.”

“…But she was only going to be lightly pushed, then the male lead would have immediately appeared from around the corner to save her!”

Yan Luqing, with perfect justification: “How would I know that, I only knew that I couldn’t let a beauty be bullied!”

Makka Pakka: “…………” Convinced.

Yan Luqing’s mind was also a mess, she began to recall—what was it that Makka Pakka said when it first appeared?

——One cannot alter the plot.

The meaning was, small details could be changed at will, after all different people act differently, no outside book-entering person could ever walk exactly according to the original plot and original character—but one could not alter the general direction, such as at what time the protagonists were in what place.

Why did she come to Dieye Mountain?

To follow what the system said, to comply with the general direction of the original book’s plot.

Then what she did this time, how was it only a change of the general direction?

She damn well switched out the characters themselves!!

Makka Pakka’s muttering voice in her mind sounded on the verge of collapse: “What to do… what to do… I just took office, I don’t want to change to the next host this early, wu, Maria is actually quite cute…”

Yan Luqing: …No way, am I going to die???

Yan Luqing cut it off in thought: “Wait a minute! What do you mean next one, huh? Why are you already looking for the next house? Because of this action of mine, what is going to happen to me?”

“That’s how it is. If the plot deviates, within 24 hours it can be remedied—for example, if the beginning of an event deviates, the book-entering person can, with our help, restore the ending of the plot back to its track. But you occupied the male lead’s role, making him have nowhere to go during this period, this is something already done and cannot be changed, so…”

“So…” Yan Luqing weakly followed up, “even if remedied, I will still be punished.”

Makka Pakka cautiously added: “But you won’t pass away.”

She suddenly thought of that inexplicable flat-ground fall, it must have been some kind of power of this world preventing her.

Yan Luqing sighed: “Go on, tell me, how do I remedy it?”

—

Having agreed with Big and Little Black to meet again in one hour, Yan Luqing returned to the hotel in a daze.

As soon as she entered the room, she sat down on the carpet, leaning her back against the sofa, looking up at the ceiling in a salted-fish-paralyzed posture, her body alternating cold and hot.

From the door in front came suddenly a “ka-ta” sound of the turning door handle.

Gu Ci came out from inside holding a cup of water.

Everything here was decorated with a homely feel, the living room was especially large. Gu Ci stretched his long legs past her, went to the side of the television to fetch a cup of water, then, drinking mouthful by mouthful, walked back.

Yan Luqing’s reaction was half a beat slow, belatedly shocked: “…No way, you just woke up?”

“How long did you sleep, you really are a Sleeping Beau—” Yan Luqing was just about to blurt out the nickname she had once given him, “Sleeping Beauty Ci,” when she saw Gu Ci’s calm gaze sweep over, and instantly changed her words, “…I mean, reincarnation of the Sleep God.”

Gu Ci looked at her, just woken up, seemingly unwilling to speak.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a certain spot, as if he had originally intended to pass by again, but because of that point, he changed course midway and walked toward her.

Yan Luqing lay paralyzed on the carpet, watching as two straight long legs stopped in front of her. She lifted her head, unable to keep from sighing that even from the death angle of looking up from below, the face of the long-legged owner was still incomparably good-looking.

The owner of the long legs asked: “Where did you go?”

Yan Luqing held it in for a long while: “…I went to make mischief.”

Gu Ci stared at her knee, his voice faint: “Mm, I can see that.”

Only then did she follow Gu Ci’s line of sight and look over.

It was the work of that flat-ground fall—her sweatpants were scraped, but her skin was unbroken, only a little bruised around the knee. Because of the previous anti-science shock, Yan Luqing had even forgotten the pain there.

Yan Luqing saw Gu Ci take two steps forward, then turn his stride and sit down on the sofa.

He took another sip of water. His voice, just after drinking, was clear and pleasant, comforting to hear.

“Where are your two bodyguards?”

“They went with me.” Yan Luqing asked, “What is it?”

…

Half an hour later.

Big Black and Little Black, waiting downstairs at the hotel early, saw from afar Yan Luqing walking over… and beside her was another very familiar tall and slender figure.

Little Black greeted Gu Ci, and Big Black also called out to him: “Why did you come along too, sir?”

“Mm.”

Gu Ci nodded slightly to the two.

The rims of his glasses seemed to glimmer under the sunlight, making his faintly smiling face appear even fairer and more handsome. His tone was gentle as he said, “I came also because I heard that the two of you together couldn’t stop her from falling. I was quite curious.”

Yan Luqing: “…………” Was that a blow to three people all at once.

Little Black: “…………” I don’t know how to retort but I feel like I was just backhandedly mocked QAQ.

Big Black, however, replied sincerely: “That is indeed safer if you accompany her.”

One reason was that Miss Yan seemed to especially listen to Gu Ci’s words. Another was that although Gu Ci’s appearance was outstanding and he looked slender, his kind of bearing truly made people feel a heartfelt sense of reliability.

Yan Luqing did not want to fuss about so much anymore. She simply began to recount what she was about to do: “In short, just take it that… I came this time to play matchmaker.”

What was called correcting the plot, was correcting what came afterward—

Yan Luqing had disrupted the beginning opportunity for the male and female lead, which led to the entire sequence of events where the male lead, after saving the beauty, would bring the female lead back to the gathering place, the male lead would comfort the female lead, the female lead, afraid to act alone yet embarrassed to tell others of her experience, would go to find the male lead to act together—all of this could not occur.

Yan Luqing’s purpose in this trip was, in the situation where the beginning was already disrupted, to think of a way to let the male lead go find the female lead, to let the two of them connect, and for development to continue.

Her goal was first to find the male lead. Her plan was to act according to the situation, there was no plan.

Because all the students wore the same school uniform, they soon arrived at the gathering place for the high school students where the male and female leads were. They seemed to be preparing to camp at night; the girls were nowhere to be seen, the boys were preparing various materials.

Having confirmed with Makka Pakka that this was indeed the class the male lead was in, Yan Luqing casually picked a boy and said:

“Classmate, go and find Qi Yanchuan from your class.”

One man and one woman with two bodyguards, this man and woman looked nothing like ordinary people. The boy found it extremely strange, turned his head as he went to look for someone.

Yan Luqing was still waiting when she suddenly heard Gu Ci beside her ask: “Qi Yanchuan is the one you want to tie the red thread for?”

“Mm.” Yan Luqing paused, “Why, do you know him?”

Gu Ci did not answer.

He seemed purely curious, yet also as if guessing something. Suddenly he faintly smiled and looked at Yan Luqing: “And the one you want to tie to him is who?”

“You’ll know later, even if I told you now you wouldn’t know them.” According to the timeline, Gu Ci and the male and female lead would still need a few years before meeting.

Yan Luqing casually replied and no longer paid attention to the question, because a boy wearing a black T-shirt was walking toward them.

His features were handsome, carrying the distinct edges of this age, his brows and eyes with a clear arrogant streak. When he saw them he spoke without courtesy: “You’re looking for me for something?”

“Qi Yanchuan, right? Hello, I am…”

Yan Luqing was just about to introduce herself, but when Qi Yanchuan walked closer and she saw the male lead’s face, all the words she wanted to say instantly lodged in her stomach—

…Save me!!!

The female lead’s rose petals were one thing—paired with the surrounding effects, they really were beautiful.

But why was the male lead’s face and body floating with 3D stereoscopic pine leaves!!!

Those stereoscopic pine leaves, as if his whole body had grown a heap of green needles???

Yan Luqing really wanted to ask him: Brother, doesn’t that prick???

Qi Yanchuan looked at the girl in front of him who wouldn’t speak for a long time, her face blank, and became even more impatient: “Do you have something to find me for?”

Makka Pakka knocked at her in her mind: “Maria! This is not the time for you to complain! The reason you can see things on the faces of the protagonist group is because the author used the most frequent words to describe them! Don’t make a fuss!”

Yan Luqing suddenly realized—

The original book indeed often used “lips like rose petals,” “the fragrance of roses,” “skin like rose petals,” and so on to describe the female lead Jiang Baichu.

Then the male lead… naturally it was “standing straight like a pine tree,” “the faint fresh scent of cedar,” “upright as a pine”… so his special effect was to become a humanoid pine tree.

Yan Luqing silently recited three times “The world is vast and full of wonders,” before she could barely organize her words toward this humanoid pine tree: “…Classmate Jiang Baichu from the neighboring class, you know her, right?”

A subtle expression flashed across Qi Yanchuan’s face.

And Yan Luqing did not see it, but on the face of the person standing beside her, there also passed a subtle expression.

Yan Luqing had no mood now to analyze where exactly the subtlety of the male lead lay, she went straight to the point: “I heard you are the one the teacher appointed as the person in charge of the autumn outing activity for the two classes this time, so I came to find you.”

——This was what Makka Pakka reminded her the original book had mentioned about the male lead’s identity.

After that, Yan Luqing tactfully repeated Jiang Baichu’s matter, emphasizing that Jiang Baichu had been frightened, that as a girl she very much needed company but would certainly not take the initiative to speak out about such things, and so on, a whole series of guiding words.

Upon hearing what Jiang Baichu had experienced, Qi Yanchuan was obviously stunned for a moment.

As expected—

Even without the original opportunity, between the male and female lead there was still an extraordinary bond.

Because of that expression on his face, Yan Luqing could already tell that there shouldn’t be any major problem afterward.

At the end, when Yan Luqing was preparing to say goodbye, Qi Yanchuan rubbed his chin, his face full of puzzlement, and asked almost the same question as Jiang Baichu: “Why do you keep staring at my face when you speak?”

The gaze of the girl in front of him was simply too direct to be ignored.

Of course it was because you the hell had a whole body full of green pine needles.

After grumbling inwardly, Yan Luqing also put on a fake smile and used the same excuse Jiang Baichu had used to brush it off: “Looking at you is because you are good-looking.”

The male lead inexplicably swept a glance over this group of people, and in the end, without saying another word, turned and left.

It was not in the direction of that group of boys, not toward continuing his work. In all likelihood, he was going to find Jiang Baichu.

Yan Luqing watched the pine tree gradually walk farther away, and sighed with quite some emotion. Not noticing what expression the person beside her wore, she tugged at Gu Ci’s sleeve.

“Gu Ci, I will absolutely, absolutely never use a pine tree to describe you.”

—

Believing she had completed her task, Yan Luqing happily returned to the hotel room. Whether it was because the weather turned cold with the rain and she caught a chill, or this body’s old illness flaring up again, or perhaps the so-called punishment had arrived so quickly—her symptoms of alternating cold and hot once more attacked her in the afternoon.

And upon just entering the room, her vision went black. If Gu Ci hadn’t pulled her in time, she probably would have performed a live act of smashing her head into the ground.

Before, Yan Luqing had thought to indulge Gu Ci, and gave him the bedroom closer to the door. Now it was Gu Ci who supported her into the bedroom to lie down—she lay on the bed where Gu Ci had slept for several hours that afternoon, even covered with a quilt, and thought muddle-headedly: rounding it off, she and Gu Ci had also shared one quilt.

Gu Ci called the hotel staff to bring medicine and a thermometer up, and before that he even remembered to place a cool towel on her forehead. Even when taking care of someone, he appeared extremely orderly, at ease, and yet also very considerate.

While Gu Ci went to change the towel, Yan Luqing opened her phone to look at WeChat.

She hadn’t added Qi Yanchuan’s WeChat—one reason was that she felt that cold-faced youth would not agree, another reason was—since she had added the female lead Jiang Baichu, whatever happened between the two, couldn’t she still see?

She tapped open the chat with Jiang Baichu, and saw red and pink bubbles rising above the girl’s head.

? Red and pink?

Yan Luqing first tapped the red—

Jiang Baichu: 「Is Qi Yanchuan sick in the head? Out of nowhere he dragged me away from the party, then asked nothing, said nothing. Does he think he’s so cool?」

Yan Luqing: ?

Well anyway, there was still the pink bubble. At least it should be some emotion like touched or expectant. Since there was pink, it should be developing in a good direction… right?

Thinking this way, she tapped the pink—

Jiang Baichu: 「What is that pretty older sister doing this afternoon? She’s so cute, I really want to chat with her…」

Yan Luqing: ??????

Damn it, so the two of them didn’t develop according to the plot—could this be the reason she now had a high fever?

Just as Yan Luqing was about to continue poking at her bubbles to read further, her phone was suddenly taken away.

“Lie down properly.”

After Gu Ci spoke, he replaced the towel on her forehead. Because his hands had been soaked in cool water, his whole person, leaning close, carried a cool aura.

Yan Luqing rubbed against his cool hand, obediently nodded: “Oh.”

Let’s not worry about those two for now, getting well is what matters most—if this illness could indeed be nursed back.

Yan Luqing was burning with fever and feeling miserable. Adding to that, having just seen the male lead covered in glowing green pine needles—pine trees were innocent, the male lead was innocent, but pine trees growing all over the male lead and turning into 3D special effects was simply a heinous crime.

The moment she closed her eyes, her mind was full of that humanoid pine tree. She felt her brain had been polluted, so she opened her eyes again, gaze following Gu Ci—she had to look more at Gu Ci to cleanse her eyes.

Yan Luqing enjoyed Gu Ci’s care, admired Gu Ci’s beautiful face, and after a long moment let out a long sigh: “Ah… my brain isn’t working too well right now, I can’t think of a very fitting adjective, but in summary, to sum it all up—”

Different from the perfunctory words to the male lead, she earnestly praised him: “Gu Ci, you are truly good-looking.”

The exact same phrasing.

“Mei·kai·san·du.” [Note: pun on “blooming thrice,” also referencing “repeating three times”]

Gu Ci, who was about to place the thermometer in her ear, suddenly paused his movement for two seconds.

Until the thermometer gave a “di” sound.

Yan Luqing saw Gu Ci glance at the number on the thermometer, then flick his fingers casually, and the thermometer was tossed onto the bedside cabinet with a “pa” sound.

“Good-looking…” He repeated those two words, and suddenly his eyes curved with a smile.

Gu Ci’s pupils were deep and black, the smile at the corner of his mouth lingering, as if he were speaking ambiguous words. He pronounced her name one word at a time: “Yan Luqing, is the ‘good-looking’ from your mouth sold wholesale?”