Yan Luqing froze for three seconds when she heard Gu Ci ask this.

In fact, when she posted comments, she never concealed or covered anything, so it was only natural that Little Black would see them—yet although he would also occasionally come across them, Little Black had never asked Gu Ci such questions. He only knew to cackle foolishly.

But to compare Gu Ci with Little Black like this was truly a bit of an insult to the princess.

“Come on, Teacher Gu, how could you ask me such a question?” Yan Luqing pointed to the one she had just posted, then turned her head directly, “Look at these of mine—”

“Of course they’re just posted for fun! Could I really think that the actor himself got chopped?” The more she spoke, the more inconceivable she found it. “In your eyes, am I really the kind of idiot who would seriously say something like that?”

Gu Ci suddenly bent his eyes: “So you actually do know that those words are idiotic.”

“……” Yan Luqing was choked for a moment, and couldn’t help glaring at him: “Now you’re going too far.”

“It’s not just this time.” Gu Ci removed his glasses, half-lowered his eyes to look at her, and counted slowly, “There’s also the last one you posted, and the ones before that in the tree hole.”

“Ah……” In truth, Yan Luqing always forgot once she had posted them. After all, a true sand sculpture [slang: someone acting silly/funny] relied on live improvisation. She had posted hundreds, even thousands of comments—how could she remember at what moment she posted what?

“As for the last one,” Yan Luqing’s finger scrolled upward, “ah, that was the Simping Dog Diary.” She rolled her eyes at Gu Ci, stressing once more: “That was of course fabricated too!”

After all, she had grown up receiving many confessions, both overt and subtle, but she really had never once liked someone.

Or rather, she simply never had the energy to like anyone.

In Yan Luqing’s student life, apart from dealing with all sorts of pretty girls, what she devoted the most to was studying, as well as thinking of ways to work and earn money. Although the dean and his wife treated her especially well, and there was a department subsidy for her tuition, she still wanted to lighten their burden a little.

Her close friends all said they truly didn’t know how she had formed such a character.

In fact, even she herself didn’t know.

Perhaps, she merely had an instinctive tendency toward happiness.

“Gu Ci, I feel like you’re insulting me.” Yan Luqing said with perfect seriousness, “I definitely haven’t had that kind of experience. You should go search up the definition of a simping dog—”

At this point, her voice paused.

She suddenly thought, the original host seemed to have been Gu Ci’s simping dog……

Only, all her simping had been hidden in the dark, and because she knew she was fated never to succeed in simping him, it grew twisted. Her ‘love for him’ directly mutated into ‘destroy him.’

Yan Luqing shook her head, clearing away this abruptly inserted thought, and continued to argue with Gu Ci: “Moreover, the fact that you could seriously doubt me of seriously posting those comments—isn’t that basically insulting my intelligence?”

Gu Ci’s sitting posture had at this moment returned to its usual casualness. One hand rested on the table, the other loosely draped on the armrest. At her words, he suddenly curved his lips into a smile, his voice cool and carrying an indescribably alluring undertone: “Wasn’t it only five minutes ago that you said, let me insult you however I like?”

“……”

That time, Yan Luqing had said it simply because she really couldn’t keep studying anymore.

When those words had come out of her mouth, they had been entirely pure.

But why was it that, when they reached Gu Ci, they suddenly seemed tinted with color, and inexplicably… so bewitching?

Fortunately, Gu Ci did not let her remain embarrassed for too long.

“All right, I know you weren’t serious.” He made a concession, then asked again: “Then why do you post these?”

To level up, of course! She answered in her heart.

The reward Makka Pakka mentioned was one aspect, but on the other hand—

Although Yan Luqing now had a new strategy, she still harbored a faint hope that after the golden finger upgraded, it might actually take effect on Gu Ci.

But that was something she absolutely could not tell anyone. Even if she wanted to tell Gu Ci, the system would choke her by the throat.

Yan Luqing thought for a moment, then found the most reasonable explanation: “Just take it as… because I like the feeling of my comments being liked to the point of making the hot list… okay.”

After she finished speaking, she lifted her head, all at once meeting the eyes of the top student. Those eyes, besides being beautiful, were filled with a certain kind of emotion.

Yan Luqing: “……You look down on me?”

The top student: “When did I ever say I look down on you?”

“If you didn’t say it then it’s not true? Your look clearly says it—” Yan Luqing accused, “I saw it with my own eyes!”

The top student gave a faint smile: “Then you’re quite good at seeing.”

“…………”

By the sixth or seventh day of studying, Yan Luqing could finally begin doing problems.

In fact, during this almost one week’s time, she more or less understood the difficulty of each subject. To score above half, for a science student who had properly gotten into the major through her own exam, probably really wasn’t difficult.

The reason Yan Luqing studied with such hardship was that she simply had no foundation in high school science. Thus every time Gu Ci had to spend much time explaining to her the physics of high school, even middle school—which she had learned but long forgotten—before he could begin the present curriculum.

But after all, in Gu Ci’s understanding, she ought to be a science student who had studied three years in the same class as him.

During that period, she had many times of fear and trepidation. What if Gu Ci asked her: “Even if you didn’t study it in university, how could you forget high school physics so completely?” What if Gu Ci asked: “Having a mental illness doesn’t mean returning all your textbooks to the teacher.” What if he asked: “In university did you have someone take exams in your place?”… Faced with such questions, what should she do?

Fortunately, he never asked even once.

Judging by that brain of his, it was impossible that he hadn’t realized. Then the only explanation was: Princess Ci was too lazy to ask.

This also made Yan Luqing extremely tolerant of his poisonous mouth—whenever he smiled while making sarcastic remarks, she would think, this is far better than him asking those questions, just let him be sarcastic, anyway she was merely a heartless sand sculpture.

The seventh day of struggle happened to be a weekend. At the end of the morning’s study, Yan Luqing took a photo of the desktop, then sent it into the chat with Old Master Yan—

【Runaway Saintess】: [photo]

【Runaway Saintess】: Grandpa, today was also a day of diligent study.  [flower]

The reason she did this was because the night before, on a whim, she had opened Old Master Yan’s WeChat. Her original intention had been to observe a little what this aura-filled man was thinking about every day.

Then she had clicked into two red bubbles:

That daughter of Guanglin is truly ruined.

If she can’t resume her studies, then simply strike her name from the register.

Yan Luqing thought about it for a long time, and with anxious heart went to check her father’s name… Sure enough, it was indeed Yan Guanglin.

So, the so-called “daughter” inside—was her.

What the hell kind of probability was this!

Just glancing casually, and she could see the old man complaining about her!! Wasn’t he supposed to have the persona of a man busy with a myriad of state affairs!!

At first, Yan Luqing had a sense of crisis. But every day she spent together with Gu Ci, that inexplicable sense of crisis vanished, and studying merely became habitual.

At the moment she saw into Old Master Yan’s heart, saw that tone of unquestionable authority, she once again felt the crisis.

So she immediately decided: from now on, every single day she would send Old Master Yan a WeChat reporting her study progress. Although she felt she could eventually achieve her goal, her effort also had to be flaunted—flaunted for him to see.

After sending the message to Old Master Yan, Yan Luqing went downstairs with Gu Ci to eat.

Before her nap, as usual, she checked WeChat. As expected, she didn’t receive Old Master Yan’s reply. But unexpectedly, the old fortune-telling grandpa took the initiative to send her a message.

She hadn’t attended class for several days, and even before that it had always been her knocking on grandpa’s door. So if he took the initiative to contact her, there must be something important.

【This Poor Daoist Is Not a Charlatan】: Today your eldest senior brother is returning.

Yan Luqing froze for a moment upon reading this.

Only then did she recall—since she had accepted this old man as her master, then those who had become his disciples before her would naturally be her senior brothers/sisters.

Good heavens, this was straight out of a wuxia novel.

Yan Luqing immediately typed a reply of “Mm-mm,” and sat waiting for the continuation.

【This Poor Daoist Is Not a Charlatan】: Today I and your eldest senior brother are in the city. You have a chance to study face-to-face. He can also serve as your first actual practice subject. Little girl, do you have time?

“!!!”

Yan Luqing had always faintly worried—hypnosis was something she had only learned theory for online, and if she made a mistake when operating in practice, what then?

She never expected that this old grandpa would actually arrange such a good opportunity for her!

【This Poor Daoist Is Not a Charlatan】: Don’t worry, grandpa is no swindler. The meeting place is just some teahouse outside. Whether you go depends on your will.

Of course she had time for this.

【Runaway Saintess】: I’ll go, please give me the location, I’ll set out in a while.

Her sleepiness was completely gone. Yan Luqing got out of bed, changed clothes, grabbed her bag casually, and pushed the door open to go downstairs.

Gu Ci was once again in the living room watching TV.

And he was watching while eating fruit, the deep crimson cherries forming a sharp contrast with his fair fingers. Yan Luqing, watching, felt some string in her brain snap—actually finding the scene extremely enticing.

But such situations and mental activities she was already used to. After all, she was facing the character the original work had stamped as the highest in appearance, and moreover her beloved paper man, so she felt no psychological burden at all.

She walked toward Gu Ci. Gu Ci, as if not hearing her footsteps, didn’t even lift his head.