Yan Luqing finally ended up staring wide-eyed at the old grandpa. On the other side of the screen, just from the decoration behind this old grandpa, one could see it was absolutely not simple—everything was in red wood as the main tone, full of the words “I am very expensive,” even comparable to the place where Old Master Yan lived.

But at this moment, she had no time to care about anything else.

Yan Luqing remembered that when she was first learning from this rent-collecting old grandpa, the very first thing she learned was that state just before one might be hypnotized—that was the most comfortable state, that moment when people were hazy between sleep and wakefulness.

At that time the mind would not think of anything, and usually afterward, whether treatment or guidance, all was carried out on this basis.

But the problem was that Yan Luqing’s memory now was stuck at the moment she pulled Gu Ci into the room, the two facing each other, eyes meeting, his eyes so black and so beautiful—yet she could not, no matter what, remember what happened at the very next instant when her brain suddenly went blank, and she had already unconsciously entered such a state.

“…Counter-hypnosis?”

Yan Luqing repeated these three words. “Then are you saying that last time when I hypnotized him, it really succeeded?” She could not help beginning to doubt. “If according to what you say, he is someone who can counter-hypnotize, could it be that he was hypnotized by me?”

“When you recited it back to me, you said that every step had no problem,” the old grandpa said. “As for whether it succeeded or not, in fact you are the one who should be the clearest.”

Originally Yan Luqing was clear, but now damn it, she was no longer clear.

“Anyway…” she said in a voice of despair, “he is possibly clear-headed the whole time, only acting to cooperate with me…is that right?”

The old grandpa nodded. “That possibility exists.”

Yan Luqing: “……”

Hea—vens—ah!

Save me!!!

I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die!! For this kind of thing to happen between the two of them, just what words would Princess Bamboo-Shoot-Kingdom say, what sort of bamboo-shoot attack would she fire at her, Yan Luqing did not even dare to imagine.

And in fact there was no need for him to say anything; she already wanted to flee this planet overnight.

Perhaps because her expression was simply too sorrowful, the old grandpa on the other side could not bear it anymore, and spoke out to comfort her: “Girl, seeing the dark circles under your eyes like this, it doesn’t seem you have rested well. It is very possible you were simply so tired you fell asleep, and forgot the scene before you fell asleep…”

On her face Yan Luqing gave assent, but in her heart she did not fully agree. Yet she said nothing.

She took a deep breath, calmed her emotions a little, and smiled at the screen: “Thank you, Grandpa, I have finished asking. Speaking of which, I really did not expect your family to be this formidable, and this hobby of yours is really…” Yan Luqing pondered her wording a moment, then said, “really quite unique, hahaha.”

“What formidable, just an ordinary family.” The old master exhaled a ring of smoke, and said with complete casualness, “Just selling some houses, that’s all.”

“……”

Good fellow, I too want this kind of ordinary.

After hanging up the call, Yan Luqing, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, plunged her head under the blanket.

Sleeping was indeed comfortable enough, but inwardly she was in complete turmoil.

Could it be that last time, Gu Ci had really only acted to cooperate with her? Clear-headed the whole time?

But when he first said that his sleep was not good, how could he have known then that she wanted to hypnotize him?

Moreover, if he cooperated with her to act a play, what meaning would that have?

Yan Luqing recalled what he had said after being hypnotized.

—He said she was cute, said she had changed a lot from before, become prettier, said he thought she was not mentally ill, and in the end he even hoped she would be happy every day.

Even more outrageous.

If he was cooperating with her to act a play, then what was the purpose? Acting out a whole scene just in order to praise her?

Yan Luqing did not believe it.

How could Princess Bamboo-Shoot-Kingdom possibly do such a purposeless and meaningless thing.

Thus Yan Luqing went on thinking, “It cannot be that he was acting with me, that day must certainly have been his true inner thoughts, right? It must be, right?” Yet at the next moment she again denied her own previous thought: “Are you crazy? He, who can counter-hypnotize, would be hypnotized by you, an outsider?”

So it went, in endless repetition.

This was completely damn self-contradiction!

So why exactly was this princess so impossible to see through!!!

There was no more such thing as any family head’s wife! Yan Luqing thought fiercely. Where in the world would there be such a rebellious wife who could hypnotize the family head!

“Maria…”

She did not know how long she had been tossing and turning in bed, entangled in her thoughts, until at last even Makka Pakka could not bear to watch anymore, and popped out to say to her: “Although I do not know exactly what happened, but your brain is full of garbled codes, your emotional fluctuations are also quite large, how about you…calm down a little? Stop thinking about Gu Ci for now?”

Yan Luqing paused for a moment, then lifted her head and asked seriously: “How do I calm down?”

“Eat something to calm down,” Makka Pakka said. “You might have been too focused, so you did not notice. Actually your stomach has already been growling since you were sleeping.”

“……”

Yan Luqing touched her abdomen—indeed, she felt a bit of hunger gnawing. By now it was already unconsciously midnight. Her dinner had been delayed by several hours, if she did not eat now she feared her stomach would start hurting.

She sighed, put on her shoes, and tidied her hair a little, then went downstairs.

As she went down the stairs, she continued conversing in her mind with Makka Pakka: “By the way, do you happen to have some kind of golden finger for cooking? Like just pointing once and turning a pot of raw ingredients into a pot of delicious food?”

“……” What a beautiful thought. Makka Pakka was speechless for a while. “Maria, I am not some treasure chest, this is just making things difficult for—”

Yet its words did not finish.

When Yan Luqing had walked to a few steps away from the kitchen, that juvenile voice speaking suddenly cut off—disappearing into the sizzling crackling sound of electric current.

Yan Luqing froze at once.

Right now was the time when everyone should be asleep.

In the villa at night, there were night lamps, just bright enough to illuminate the corridor. But the kitchen at this moment had its main lights on, warm-colored light spilling out from the doorway.

Yan Luqing: “……”

It could not possibly be such a coincidence, right?

But thinking of just now—the only one who could cause Makka Pakka to suddenly vanish, who else could it be besides that person?

Other than that enemy princess Ci, who was covered in secrets from head to toe! Who else could it be!!!

Yan Luqing had not understood these causes and effects to begin with. She came downstairs in order to calm herself, not to face the source of awkwardness and make herself scratch the Imperial Palace out of mortification. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, the sound of approaching footsteps came to her ears.

In just two or three seconds, the very source of her entanglement appeared before her.

Black hair, white T-shirt, standing at the kitchen doorway, behind him a flood of warm yellow light, as if enveloping him within.

Gu Ci’s gaze swept over slowly.

“……”

At this sudden encounter, Yan Luqing did not feel the imagined awkwardness and suffocation.

Because Gu Ci’s gaze…was not quite right.

When he usually looked at her, sometimes it was lazy and casual, more often with a trace of laughter, or else with an expressionless, unreadable gaze.

But now, his gaze was as if observing and studying some specimen.

Specimen Yan was looked at until she was utterly at a loss, just about to speak to inquire, when he opened his mouth one step ahead.

“Awake?” Gu Ci, as if having finished his observation, finally let his expression return to normal. “Looking for food?”

Yan Luqing froze for a second.

Why was the first sentence “Awake,” and not “Woke up”?

Then she thought perhaps it was a slip of the tongue, and quickly skipped over that point, answering: “Mm…slept too long, hungry.”

Gu Ci said nothing, only tilted his head slightly, indicating for her to go in.

Yan Luqing felt it very strange.

According to his personality, would he not normally ask first upon meeting, “How did you sleep”?

Today he was actually so merciful.

Thinking so, she followed behind him into the kitchen.

The kitchen was very large, with a long table inside—this was where the villa’s aunties, bodyguards, and others usually ate. The dining room where Yan Luqing ate was next door.

At this time, on the long table sat Gu Ci’s computer, with a water cup by its side, the screen full of densely packed English, looking like some kind of contract clauses.

Gu Ci had not even closed the screen, taking no precautions against her; Yan Luqing only happened to catch sight of this information unintentionally.

She could not help but ask: “What are you doing?”

“My uncle’s company,” Gu Ci replied. “Something for me to handle.”

Yan Luqing slowly let out an “oh.”

At the same time, in her heart floated up one line of doubt: Gu Ci was starting to walk the career line?

Earlier than in the original book by quite a lot. But this time her role had not become his hindrance, so it was reasonable that it would be advanced.

Thinking carefully, Gu Ci’s career line was rather satisfying. He was a genius, and ambitious; in the end that status was simply the undisputed top of the food chain. Even the commercial empires in Mary Sue novels were nothing more than this.

In short, those three words “handsome, strong, tragic”—each one was manifested to the fullest in Gu Ci.

“Why are you handling it at this hour? Couldn’t you do it in the daytime?”

Yan Luqing asked and then circled around the table, walking to the counter, opening the transparent cabinet filled with all sorts of vegetables.

“He’s abroad, there’s a time difference.”

“Then why are you handling it in the kitchen?”

This question did not get as quick a reply as before.

Gu Ci was silent for a while, then said: “It’s more convenient when I’m hungry.”

Yan Luqing gave an “oh,” thinking that was indeed true. Then she turned back again to selecting food from the cabinet.

The atmosphere was too comfortable—so comfortable that she did not even notice how this natural flow of conversation had, in an instant, freed her from the awkward suffocation she had been entangled in just not long before.

From Gu Ci’s side came the sound of typing on the keyboard from time to time, and precisely during the pause when he was not typing, Yan Luqing heard her own stomach give a small growl, the hunger becoming even stronger.

At the same time, Gu Ci’s voice suddenly sounded behind her: “You know how to cook many kinds of dishes?”

Yan Luqing’s every movement stopped, and with a face full of question marks she turned her head: “…I don’t, why would you say that?”