Yan Luqing did not wake until the sun was already high in the sky.

She had finally regained the feeling of once having slept her fill.

Truly unexpected, that she would actually be tormented by a shabby little broken movie for nearly a week! This was truly a disgrace to the whole careless and foolish world!

Fortunately, when Yan Luqing washed up, she discovered that now those memories had all inexplicably faded a great deal in her mind. For example, she had completely forgotten many of the broken movie’s plotlines and dialogues, the images were also very blurry, only the colors remained. As for nightmares, if she did not deliberately recall them, she basically could not remember them at all—only retaining the impression that she had had nightmares.

Yan Luqing was not the sort of person who, when unable to recall the source of pain, would still force herself to think. Not remembering was the best. She immediately felt extremely delighted.

She did not know whether it was a coincidence or not, but all this good sleep happened right after that utterly embarrassing incident—

After the Princess Ci seemingly counter-hypnotized her.

Yan Luqing suspected that she had most likely gained a blessing in disguise.

Although the Princess’s series of actions made her deeply doubt that what she had once faced was social death, that she had once held herself in too high regard, yet if not for Princess Ci, she would still be unable to sleep even today.

Moreover, what if it was social death? So long as she forgot quickly, so long as she brainwashed herself, then nothing could embarrass her to that extent.

Feeling refreshed in both body and mind, Yan Luqing opened the door—and at once saw Big Black and Little Black, like two guardian gods, standing one on each side of her room’s doorway.

Their appearance in truth looked quite stern, and with their height being so great, suddenly appearing before her eyes like that was really enough to startle someone.

“……” Yan Luqing stepped back half a pace, patted her chest. “In broad daylight, what are you two standing here for? Gave me a fright.”

Big Black said: “You slept too long. You started sleeping yesterday afternoon, if you still didn’t wake, we were going to get a doctor.”

Yan Luqing nodded, passed between the two and went downstairs.

It was already ten in the morning now. She first went to the dining hall to eat. She had thought Gu Ci would surely be resting at this hour, but unexpectedly, she actually saw him there.

He seemed to have just finished eating, and was putting the napkin in his hand onto the table.

Different from last night, the clothes on his body had been changed into long sleeves. Clearly, though he had stayed up late into the night, he unexpectedly did not have dark circles under his eyes, his beauty was undiminished. Yet at a glance, one could see that he was very tired, that he was very sleepy.

After all, the enemy kingdom’s princess had dealt with government affairs until so late last night.

When their gazes met, Yan Luqing was quite shocked: “Gu Ci, why are you eating?”

Only after asking did she realize that her words sounded as if she did not want him to eat.

Immediately after, Yan Luqing, like a machine-gun, fired off several questions in succession: “Wait, aren’t you sleepy? Don’t you need to sleep? What time did you sleep last night?”

Gu Ci really did answer her in the order she asked—

“Sleepy.”

“Yes, but if I don’t get up to eat my stomach hurts.”

“Six o’clock.”

Yan Luqing: “Ah…”

But the truth was not so.

Gu Ci woke up because of the notification sound of that software.

At five-thirty in the morning, when he saw that report pop up, the video conference had already been going on for several hours and was near its end. He directly exited, returned to his room, and took a shower.

Gu Ci’s sleep was not good, but as he had practically not slept for two days, today he actually fell asleep rather quickly.

He had not expected, however, to be woken in the middle by the phone’s notification sound.

——“Sleep God, you’re awake!”

That voice exploded in his ear. Gu Ci opened his eyes slightly dazed, turned his head, and looked at the phone that had made the sound.

On it was clearly displayed that the person who had originally been asleep was already awake and out of bed, and immediately another line popped up.

——“Last night you really slept well! It’s just that you woke up a little late! Humph～”

At the end came another short pig-snorting sound effect.

“……”

Gu Ci was completely robbed of all sleepiness, silently staring at the screen for a long while, then helplessly closed his eyes.

He decided, decided to eat something and then sleep again.

……

Yan Luqing calculated the time. Six o’clock asleep, so wasn’t that only… three to four hours?

“You’ve finished eating?” Yan Luqing asked.

Gu Ci nodded: “Mm.”

“…Then what are you still sitting here for?” Yan Luqing truly did not understand. She immediately stepped forward a few paces, grabbed his arm, pulled him up, and then took the lead in dragging him out.

She even ignored the gazes of the two bodyguards beside them.

Yan Luqing dragged Gu Ci back to his room, then pressed him down onto the bed. Throughout, Gu Ci said nothing, and she also did not feel there was anything wrong.

Even she herself did not realize how smooth and natural all her actions were.

In the end, Yan Luqing walked to the window and with a swish pulled the curtains tightly shut. The indoor lighting immediately dimmed, very suitable for sleeping.

Gu Ci watched her walk to the door. Before closing it, she poked her head back in, her voice light and cheerful:

“Hurry up and sleep, good night.”

Coming out from Gu Ci’s room, Yan Luqing returned to the dining hall to finish eating, then as if recalling something, she rose and went to the kitchen.

She took out all the ice water from the refrigerator—five bottles in total. Cold to the touch, and yet someone actually dared to drink them.

Yan Luqing held the water and handed it to Big Black: “Give you a task. Take these bottles to a place with sunlight to warm up. When they’re at room temperature, distribute them to everyone in the villa and make sure they’re all drunk.”

Though Big Black found it strange, he still nodded.

She then continued toward the sofa. It was a fine weekend, no need to attend school. Yan Luqing prepared to turn on the television, watch dramas, and enjoy the comfortable life of a salted-fish homebody girl.

But Little Black followed behind her. She did not know why, but it seemed as if he had a bellyful of words he wanted to ask her.

While turning on the television, Yan Luqing turned her head to look at the silly son, magnanimously lifting her hand: “Want to say something? Speak.”

Little Black: “Miss Yan, just how long did you sleep yesterday?”

“Didn’t Big Black say I started sleeping in the afternoon?” But speaking of this, Yan Luqing also found it strange. “I also can’t figure it out, the two of you actually really endured it, never called for a doctor?”

They were clearly especially fussy—every tiny matter, they would record it and report to the psychologist.

“Oh, it’s like this.” Little Black scratched his head, and on his dark face there suddenly floated up a not-so-obvious red. “Because… because yesterday afternoon, I saw that it was Gu Ci carrying you into the room. At that time, you were in a sleeping state, looked like there was nothing wrong.”

“……”

“And then this morning, you still hadn’t gotten up. Gu Ci woke half an hour earlier than you. He told us that last night you woke up midway and even came downstairs to eat, so…”

“……”

The rest of the words Yan Luqing barely heard. Her attention was fixed on the first half of Little Black’s speech.

Yan Luqing suddenly put down the remote control in her hand: “You said yesterday afternoon… you saw what?”

Little Black’s face reddened even more: “I saw Gu Ci carry you upstairs.”

Yan Luqing reflexively asked for details: “How did he carry?”

Little Black’s head was about to steam: “P… Princess carry?”

However… although very embarrassing, he felt that dating was like this, it was very normal.

He just hadn’t expected that although Miss Yan said with her mouth that nothing had happened, in fact they were already being so blatant.

But there was still a point of doubt.

Little Black did not notice at all that his young lady’s face was now as pale as a vegetable, and he continued to ask: “But Miss Yan, I remember yesterday morning hearing your conversation, it seemed Mr. Gu Ci said he wanted to sleep and asked you for help… Why in the end was it you who came out of his room in a sleeping state?”

——This naïve question was like the final blow, with a “clang” it crushed down upon Yan Luqing, who was already forcing herself to be strong like a straw.

Her head was filled with one thought: It’s over. Everyone saw.

Everyone saw. They all saw that she had previously played the hypnosis video in the living room, saw that yesterday morning before leaving she had said to Gu Ci she would help hypnotize him when she came back from school, and saw that when she really returned after school, she took Gu Ci into the room, yet in the end it was she who was carried out by Gu Ci in a sleeping posture.

Even Little Black knew it so clearly; the others must certainly have grasped the entire ins and outs.

Yan Luqing looked at the Disney Auntie cleaning by her side, looked at the Cook Auntie who had just returned from grocery shopping and was smiling at her, looked at Big Black who had just finished placing the ice water, looked at Little Black whose face beside her was red as a tomato…

At once she felt bursts of dizziness before her eyes.

No, she could not stay here any longer.

Her hand touched the phone on the sofa. She opened WeChat, just preparing to seek help from Little Mahua, when she discovered that at the upper left of her chat with Little Mahua there was a bright red “5.”

First were the four messages from yesterday.

【Little Mahua】: Sister, I just realized you don’t seem to have joined any clubs yet? Because of a hobby I signed up for the Art Club. Tomorrow there’ll be a super big joint activity by many clubs at school. There’s a wall painting assigned to our club, but we don’t have enough people. Could you come help us? Dinner’s on me!

【Little Mahua】: As long as you can draw even just a little, it’ll do. My roommates all have things to do qwq…

……

【Little Mahua】: What’s going on = =, after you got home in the afternoon how did you just disappear?

【Little Mahua】: ??? Don’t tell me you’ve been all lovey-dovey with that cohabiting one of yours the whole time?

And then came the one just now.

【Little Mahua】: Dear! I sent so many messages, why didn’t you reply at all! Are you coming or not coming or not coming?

Looking at this pile of text, Yan Luqing felt as if she had found the life-saving straw to escape the villa.

【Runaway Saintess】: I’ll come, I’ll be there right away!

When she had just crossed over it was still summer, but now it was already nearly early winter, and the weather outside was getting colder and colder. Yan Luqing changed into thicker clothing, tidied herself up a bit, and without pause left home.

When she arrived at school it happened to be noon. She accompanied Little Mahua to have a meal, and afterward the two of them walked toward the destination.

“Sigh, such a coincidence too. Our club had four seniors who were all really close, the four of them skipped class for a day to go climb a mountain, and in the end their car hit a tree. One went to repair the car, three are in the hospital with plaster casts…” Little Mahua lamented, “These four were all our main force!!”

After leaving home, Yan Luqing’s mood suddenly became light, and she said with a smile: “This teaches us that we can go out and play, but we cannot skip class to go out and play.”

Little Mahua: “…You really know how to sum things up.”

The two of them arrived at the place. It seemed to be a corner of the campus. Yan Luqing saw a wall about two meters high and over ten meters long. Already many people were standing before the wall drawing and painting on it, but only less than one-third was completed. It looked like a landscape painting.

“Oh, right!” Little Mahua suddenly seemed to recall something. “I only saw that you said you’d come—can you draw? Actually I can only draw a little, just an amateur hobby. But our task requirements aren’t high, just following the seniors’ directions to fill in large areas of color will do. We don’t even have to bother with gradients.”

Yan Luqing nodded: “I can draw a little.”

She followed behind Little Mahua, listening to her explain to someone that she had brought a helper. “This is my classmate, called Yan Luqing. She can come help.”

Then she introduced Yan Luqing: “This is the senior in charge of this activity, Wang Jiu.”

Yan Luqing greeted honestly: “Senior Wang Jiu.”

This senior’s features were rather upright, only his glasses were too thick, thick like…

Yan Luqing was just thinking this in her heart when suddenly another boy appeared behind him. Smiling, a tiger tooth showing, he winked and said: “Why call him Senior Wang Jiu? Junior, we all call him Bottle Senior. Haven’t you seen those glasses, thick like the bottom of a wine bottle?”

Yes! Exactly like the bottom of a wine bottle!

At those words, Bottle Senior pretended to be angry and gave that boy a punch. Then he turned to her and Little Mahua, smiling: “Thank you two for coming over even on the weekend. Go get some gloves to put on, then just ask whoever is painting if they need help. Just follow along.”

Yan Luqing’s eyes had been observing the people painting beside them the whole time.

Hearing this, Little Mahua was about to agree, but she suddenly asked: “Senior, besides helping to fill in colors, can I also try other parts? Afraid you’ll worry, I’ll add this: I won’t ruin it. If I can’t do it I’ll definitely stop right away.”

Bottle Senior frowned. Originally he wanted to refuse directly, but after hearing her latter words and looking into the girl’s bright and pretty eyes, he swallowed it back.

“All right… choose a section to try. Mahua, you first help your classmate?”

“Okay!”

Yan Luqing and Little Mahua went off farther away, and Bottle Senior returned to the part of the wall he was responsible for.

Who would have thought, beside him came a very displeased female voice: “It shouldn’t go this far, right? This girl isn’t even from our club, and you trust her just like that? Unbelievable. At worst we’ll just work overtime tonight and finish it, what if she ruins it?”

The one speaking was one of the candidates for the next president of the Art Club. Bottle had never thought highly of her—not only because they were rivals, but also because this woman regarded herself too highly, believing that what she drew was beyond appreciation, when in fact it was precisely the sort of thing no one could appreciate.

As she painted, she continued to mock: “Don’t tell me you just think that vase looks good?”

“…Do you have to speak so unpleasantly? I’m just taking a gamble, aren’t I? That girl already said if she can’t draw well, she’ll stop.” Bottle retorted. “Besides, right now we don’t have enough people. Who’s willing to stay late at night painting under a flashlight? What’s wrong with giving her a chance? I still want to finish early.”