Yan Luqing returned to her room with her head throbbing, and before she could even steady herself she saw a flash of shadow “whoosh” fly past her eyes.
She was startled, and when she looked closely she realized that it wasn’t a person, but… a machine.
Or more precisely, it was a robot that didn’t look very human—the head was flat, the limbs were metal, the torso looked like a computer tower, the metal ends had wheels, it didn’t “walk” but slid—completely giving the impression of a vacuum robot mounted on a computer tower.
This odd thing slid up to Yan Luqing, and then a mechanical female voice came from the flat “head”: “Master, the bathwater has been prepared for you.”
Yan Luqing: “…………”
Although its appearance was hideous, the artificial intelligence was badass.
But being called “Master” was just too awkward.
Yan Luqing was hands-on; she immediately fiddled with the main unit and found a codename system. The “Master” codename seemed to be the initial one, and the original owner had never set it, so it could now be freely modified.
Yan Luqing thought for a moment and changed it to “Maria.”
—She had to use this codename to constantly remind herself: having come, then be at peace with it, do not get angry easily, learn from the true Saint Mother Maria, atone to the world.
So Yan Luqing, for the first time in her life, enjoyed the service of artificial intelligence and soaked in an expensive massage bathtub; this ragged body finally felt considerably more comfortable.
After the bath, Yan Luqing stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom looking at the face in the glass.
Yan Luqing had never been in a relationship before, but from childhood to now she had always been the most famous household name on the school’s confession wall; whenever anyone mentioned a beauty at school, the first name mentioned was definitely hers.
Except the hair color was much lighter, the brows and eyes, nose and lips in the mirror were almost the same as her former self. But when put together, they gave an entirely different feeling.
The face was too thin, making the eyes look even larger; although the shape was pretty, the irises had no spirit. Coupled with an overly pale complexion, when she didn’t make an expression she appeared gloomy; with a little hairdo and simple makeup she could star as a female ghost.
Her body was absurdly thin.
Yan Luqing had originally been slim—slender waist and long legs, thin in a way that conformed to popular aesthetics—but she thought her previous figure had looked very healthy, completely unlike the sickly appearance now—the limbs and waist so thin they seemed about to snap, like a convincingly “two-dimensional” paper person come to life.
Very inopportunely, Yan Luqing thought of old novels that always described the heroine as “like a doll that’s been played with and ruined,” which seemed to fit her current body perfectly.
…This is really too much.
After the ragged doll dried her hair with a hairdryer, she casually ran her hand through it a few times, but with the corner of her eye she suddenly noticed at her feet a small tuft, a small clump of… it seemed to be hair.
Fresh, just fallen.
The ragged doll was stunned.
She! Why! Would! She! Lose! This—much hair!!!
What kind of crappy body was this!
Wasn’t she supposed to be wearing the body of a mentally ill person? Why did it feel like she’d transmigrated into the body of a terminally ill patient???
Yan Luqing stared at the reflection in the mirror, speechless and choked.
I became bald.
But I did not become strong.
*
That night Yan Luqing didn’t sleep well at all. Because she dreamed that more and more of her hair fell out until not a single strand remained, leaving her with a bald pate.
Early the next morning, just as Yan Luqing woke up, a mechanical female voice greeted her in her ear: “Maria, good morning!”
“……”
Yan Luqing listened to “Maria,” and thought inwardly: fuck your atonement to the world, who the hell can stand being bald, Maria won’t work either.
So the first thing she did after opening her eyes was say to the robot: “Bring me a cup of hair-growth water.”
“???”
The robot automatically filtered out words it couldn’t understand, and in the end handed her a cup of purified water, asking: “Maria, what would you like for breakfast?”
“……”
She suddenly regretted choosing this codename, as if she had transmigrated into some Western fantasy novel.
After getting up and washing, Yan Luqing felt dizzy again. She leaned against the head of the bed, and like someone half-paralyzed and suffering morning sickness, struggled to drink down a bowl of plain congee. Only after a long time did she finally shuffle out of the bedroom.
Outside the door stood a bodyguard in black. The instant he saw her, he suddenly bowed ninety degrees: “Miss Yan, good morning!”
Yan Luqing: “……You can speak properly, raise your head.”
The bodyguard straightened up, and only then did Yan Luqing see that he was that rash youngster who had loudly recited the original owner’s life story before.
Originally yesterday, Big Black said the bodyguard who had offended her had already been arranged to leave his post. Luckily Yan Luqing had remembered in time that it was this rash youngster and stopped it. He was probably here now because of that matter.
Sure enough, the rash youngster solemnly thanked her: “Thank you, Miss Yan, for not killing me yester—no, I mean, thank you, Miss Yan, for giving me a chance to make mistakes—no, I mean, thank you, Miss Yan, for forgiving me—”
…So the only reason this fool got hired must absolutely be because of his high combat ability.
Yan Luqing couldn’t listen anymore, and gently interrupted him: “How about, you discuss it with your mouth first before speaking?”
“……”
The rash youngster’s dark face flushed red with shame, and he finally shut up and turned to go downstairs.
When Big Black saw the little bodyguard’s face red all over, he froze for a moment, then called him aside: “What did you say to Miss Yan? You didn’t make her angry, did you?”
The rash youngster: “No. And I actually think Miss Yan isn’t as scary as the rumors say. She’s really quite nice.”
Big Black’s tone was grave, but his words were resolute: “She’s pretending.”
*
Yan Luqing still didn’t know she was being slandered by her own bodyguards.
She was sitting in the living room, holding a cup of health-preserving tea brewed with goji berries, red dates, and chrysanthemum, sipping it down with difficulty.
Before transmigrating, eighteen-year-old Yan Luqing had always been one of the most health-conscious among young people. Only, because her body had been naturally good, she followed the principle of “although I drink, stay up late, and play games, I am still a good girl.”
Once she transmigrated into a rather sickly lunatic, with the added risk of baldness, she had to get serious about it.
—Although I have the body of a terminally ill patient, and also mental illness, I am a health-preserving girl.
Right now Yan Luqing’s head was actually full of doubts.
Since she had transmigrated, where had the original owner gone?
If she didn’t follow the original owner’s plot, what would happen?
Other people’s transmigrations came with golden fingers and systems, did she really have absolutely nothing?
As Yan Luqing pondered, she drank her health-preserving tea. Halfway through, the door of the living room bathroom suddenly gave a “click” as the built-in lock was turned. She turned her head to look.
The person who came out of it was someone she never would have expected.
Gu Ci’s hair was still slightly damp, a white towel draped over his shoulders, a few spots of water on his clothes, obviously just having taken a bath and about to return to his room.
His steps were very slow, because this house was not only large but filled everywhere with decorations, made extremely luxurious. According to Gu Ci’s description yesterday that he could only see vague outlines, he was probably only feeling his way as he walked.
Yan Luqing’s head was full of question marks.
Yesterday when she went to Gu Ci’s room, she had taken a look around—clearly that room had its own bathroom.
Why then would Gu Ci, a person nearly blind, not bathe in his own room, but come out to the living room to fuss?
Just as she was thinking this, Gu Ci’s foot nearly brushed against a short flower-stand.
Yan Luqing hurriedly called out to stop him: “Hey, wait—!”
Gu Ci halted where he stood.
Yan Luqing immediately walked over and explained: “I called you because there’s a flower-stand here, it seems you didn’t notice it.”
As she spoke, she tugged lightly at Gu Ci’s wrist, guiding him to feel toward the side. “—Here it is.”
Gu Ci’s wrist was very cool, and also thin. Yan Luqing’s own hand was absurdly thin as well. At the instant she touched him, she suddenly gave rise to a feeling of shared affliction with Gu Ci, so much so that she didn’t even perceive the obvious stiffness and heavy pressure from the person beside her.
Two seconds later, she heard Gu Ci say: “Mm, I felt it.”
“I’ll take you back to your room,” Yan Luqing released her hand, walking slightly ahead of him.
This hallway was absurdly long, and when at last they reached the doorway, Yan Luqing couldn’t help asking: “Gu Ci, why don’t you use the bathroom inside?”
In a house this large with so many servants, surely the facilities wouldn’t still have problems.
Hearing this, Gu Ci turned his face toward her.
Those pitch-black, beautiful eyes looked at her. Yan Luqing felt that for an instant that gaze had focused, as though with substance stabbing toward her, but in the next moment it dispersed again.
“There is one.” His voice was still even, carrying a trace of hoarseness from waking, along with an indescribable undertone. He shifted slightly to the side and said, “Would you mind coming in for a moment?”
Thus Yan Luqing, holding her health-preserving tea, stepped into this room for the second time.
She followed behind Gu Ci, watching as he pushed open the door of the inner bathroom.
He unhurriedly turned on the faucet at the sink—no water.
Then he turned on the shower switch—also no water.
After finishing this, Gu Ci leaned against the sink, silently looking in Yan Luqing’s direction without speaking, his whole being carrying a cold indifference. His appearance always gave the impression that he seemed to know everything already.
“So it really is broken…” Yan Luqing clicked her tongue. “You wait outside a moment, I’ll find someone to fix it for you.”
Gu Ci gave her a slight smile: “Alright, thank you.”
Yan Luqing was still not used to this face that, in the original book, had been stamped as the pinnacle of looks. Because of that smile, she was momentarily dazed, then went out to call Big Black inside.
“Why is there no water here? Call someone to take a look.” After Yan Luqing finished, she even conscientiously complained on Gu Ci’s behalf: “His movements are already inconvenient, this is really too troublesome for him.”
Yet Big Black’s expression unexpectedly looked somewhat… somewhat constipated.
This tall man with an outwardly honest and reliable face suddenly turned back to shut the bathroom door, then walked back to Yan Luqing’s side. His voice was pressed extremely low, as if afraid people outside would hear—
“Miss Yan, are you acting this out for Mr. Gu to see, or for me to see?” His tone was anxious. “If you don’t tell me beforehand, how am I supposed to know what you mean!”
???
Yan Luqing also lowered her voice in reply: “What did I act, me?”
Big Black looked at her as if she were a fool.
A moment later, he made a phone call: “Doctor Qu, this time Miss Yan may really be splitting… or some other symptom, I think it’s very serious, could you come take another look at her?”
Yan Luqing: ???
She suddenly realized something.
The original owner’s memories wouldn’t surface on their own; she had to consciously think to see them. Given all the current confusion, Yan Luqing, like yesterday, rifled through her mind a bit…
Sure enough, she found the scene where the original owner instructed Big Black to deliberately break the bathroom in Gu Ci’s room in advance.
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