When people see something that hurts the eyes, they always want to cover it up with something more soothing.

Yan Luqing felt as if she had just seen someone bathe in an oil vat, her whole body uncomfortable. Unbidden, her thoughts turned to a certain departing “princess,” whose representative plant was refreshingly a bamboo shoot.

While she was thinking this, Little Mahua beside her seemed to have telepathy, whispering in her ear: “Bao, don’t you think our taste in boyfriends is really good?” Startled by herself, Little Mahua accidentally blurted out what was in her heart: “My boyfriend and your great beauty aren’t greasy at all.”

“……”

The words “boyfriend” made her brow twitch heavily.

“They might really not be greasy, but—” Yan Luqing turned her head to look at Little Mahua, pointed at her own nose, and enunciated, “I—am—single.”

Little Mahua knew she had misspoken, zipped her own mouth shut, and muted herself.

On the sixteenth, the supporting roles’ pushing of the plot still continued—

First, before the first class started, her eldest brother of the Yan family came to chat with her again, though this time he didn’t type much. His main purpose was to share with her an overseas financial news article, in which Gu Ci’s uncle appeared, a man with handsome brows and features.

Then, during the break after the first class, it was Father Yan’s turn.

His tone was also all smiles, afraid she would be angry, afraid she wouldn’t agree to let Gu Ci leave.

When Yan Luqing first read it once or twice, she didn’t feel much. She thought she herself had already long accepted this matter, so if these people wanted to keep reminding her, let them remind.

But as the time drew closer and closer, as she kept looking at Father Yan’s messages, her mood inexplicably sank.

Why, ah!

Why did everyone assume she wouldn’t let him go?

She did feel reluctant, but she would never bind him there by imprisoning his freedom.

Reminding her over and over was like poking at a wound that was just about to heal.

At lunch, Yan Luqing’s bad mood was obvious. Little Mahua cautiously asked: “Is it because of your great beauty…?”

That “your great beauty” which often popped out of Little Mahua’s mouth, when Yan Luqing heard it, actually sounded quite pleasant.

But starting tomorrow, it would no longer be “your.”

She nodded: “Mm.”

The strange thing was, this time Little Mahua didn’t chirp on about “your reaction clearly means you’ve fallen in love with him” or the like. Instead, during the time that followed, she never once mentioned the name Gu Ci. At noon break, Mahua even, for the first time in a long while, pulled her to play games.

It was obvious she was trying to help her adjust her mood.

Yet once Yan Luqing logged into the game, the first thing she saw in the upper left corner was her own ID, those seven letters standing out so conspicuously.

——【gzcyyds】

“……”

She struggled for quite a while over whether to change this name that was connected with Gu Ci, both chuunibyou and a little embarrassing.

She even bought the name-change card, but with her finger hovering over the name bar, she couldn’t bring herself to move, nor could she bear to delete those letters.

Leave it, she thought. Anyway, no one would know what it meant.

Let it just be a memento.

A memento only she would understand.

That evening after returning home, Yan Luqing ate as usual, then as usual curled up on the sofa.

Dinner time had always been followed by the two of them watching TV together. Last night, Gu Ci hadn’t appeared, staying in his room, busy with who knew what.

Yan Luqing felt extremely awkward inside.

On the one hand, it was normal—his uncle was coming back, surely there were many things they had to discuss. On the other hand… he was about to leave, and he still wouldn’t come out to watch TV together!!!

Outrageous!!!

But in the end, she still did nothing, just watched the primetime drama by herself, then exchanged a goodnight with Gu Ci when he came out for water, and went upstairs to sleep.

Tonight seemed to be playing out the same script—just now, after dinner, Gu Ci once again returned to his room.

Yan Luqing stared at the TV station, the irritation in her heart growing stronger, not even paying attention to her surroundings.

As she flipped channels randomly, suddenly another hand reached over and took away the remote.

Yan Luqing froze for a moment, lifted her gaze along the hand, and once again saw Gu Ci’s face. He was dressed differently than at dinner, having changed clothes. Judging from the collar, the white shirt inside seemed to be the one she had given him, with a black coat layered on top.

It was her favorite kind of outfit.

Gu Ci lowered his eyes, his gaze carrying a trace of inquiry that vanished in an instant.

His tone was casual as he spoke: “Let’s go watch a movie tonight.”

“…Ah?” Yan Luqing froze. “Now? Go out to watch?”

He nodded: “Mm.”

“…”

Yan Luqing only hesitated for three seconds. She did not ask for a reason, but simply got up and agreed to his proposal: “Let’s go.”

…

Driving to the nearest cinema took only fifteen minutes.

Gu Ci had bought the tickets in advance. This movie happened to be a romantic comedy, somewhat similar in style to the one they had watched together before, except it did not have such restricted-level, blush-inducing scenes—there were far more comedic parts.

At first, Yan Luqing was not in the mood. Only when a scene showed the two leads rolling down a hillside and then breaking into several rounds of hilarious banter, did she finally fail to hold back and let out a chuckle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Gu Ci’s gaze on her. She turned her head to him as well: “I still remember that bedtime story you told me.” After a pause, Yan Luqing spoke with some emotion, “Why did you tell it to me in such a scary way? To think I trusted you so much.”

Gu Ci gave a small laugh. “Otherwise, would you still remember it now?”

“…” That made sense.

It seemed like a beginning. From then on, Yan Luqing was like a chatterbox opened wide. Anything that even slightly reminded her of the two of them, she would mutter and babble to Gu Ci.

Just like this, they watched the movie to the end, unusually lighthearted and happy.

Walking out of the theater and sitting back in the car for the return trip, another thought slowly rose in Yan Luqing’s heart.

His uncle would be back tomorrow.

So had Gu Ci already planned it—watching a movie with her as a final moment together?

But why didn’t he say tonight that he was leaving?

Yan Luqing suddenly turned her head to stare at him. The elegant arc of his side profile was facing her direction.

Gu Ci quickly sensed her gaze. “What is it?”

“…” Yan Luqing thought of several ways to ask, but in the end none came out. She simply chose the most tactful one: “I was just wondering, why did you suddenly want to watch a movie with me today?”

Gu Ci turned his face back, was silent for a while, then spoke again.

“At lunch, I overheard someone discussing the plot.” Suddenly he looked at her. A shaft of light outside happened to fall across his brows and eyes, making his pupils especially bright. “I thought you would like it.”

Yan Luqing’s eyes opened slightly wider.

He didn’t mention his uncle. He didn’t say it was a farewell movie before leaving. He only gave a very simple reason.

——He thought she would like it, so he brought her.

It was strange. Hearing that sentence, all her day’s entanglement and unhappiness, her vexation and disappointment, seemed to vanish in an instant.

And in that instant—

She suddenly realized certain things she had never before thought through deeply.

All along, Yan Luqing had held a nearly vigilant exclusivity toward the opposite sex. She could treat them as bros, as friends, but absolutely must not cross the line.

She was known for her iron heart. Yet her friends insisted she wasn’t incapable of love, only that she had never met someone to her taste. Yan Luqing had not cared at the time. But each time Makka Pakka showed her so-called statistical charts, showed her the so-called frequency of how often she thought of Gu Ci each day…

She did not know if Gu Ci was the so-called “to her taste” person that her friends spoke of.

But she did realize that she truly had begun to think of this person more and more frequently.

She also realized that Gu Ci’s words had a far stronger influence on her than anyone else’s.

…

Fortunately, he was leaving.

As long as he left, at most she would feel disappointed for a while, but everything would return to how it was, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, tomorrow would arrive very soon.

November 17th—the day the bigshot escaped in the original book.

The moment she opened her eyes, Yan Luqing could clearly sense Makka Pakka’s barely restrained excitement—though it hadn’t connected with her, she could still hear that crackling electric sound.

Yan Luqing rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear. Before going downstairs, she thought Gu Ci would be dragging his suitcase out of the room, and the two of them would bid each other farewell. Unexpectedly, at breakfast everything was as usual, and Gu Ci still went to school with her in the car.

What was going on?

Wasn’t he supposed to escape starting this morning?

While she was still puzzled, Gu Ci’s phone rang at his side. He answered, and she vaguely made out a man’s voice on the other end.

Most of the time he responded with “Mm,” occasionally adding “No need,” “We’ll talk later,” and so on. After hanging up, he turned to Yan Luqing and said: “My uncle wants to come over this afternoon, is that okay?”

“…”

So he was coming in person to pick him up.

Yan Luqing nodded: “Alright, no problem, let him come.”

Yet in her heart, a nameless anger suddenly surged up.

Just then the car arrived at her school. Yan Luqing got out, and along the way slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

However, after walking to the classroom against the wind and having her head cleared, she suddenly felt some regret.

This anger had been building since the Yan family members came to her the past two days, and also since Makka Pakka started showing her data. It just so happened that Gu Ci’s words displeased her, so she vented it out.

At its root, she was actually angry at herself.

She suddenly felt that these past few days of her ups and downs, sudden joys and sudden sorrows, were really a bit inappropriate. She ought to think positively—this was following the plot. As long as the plot did not go wrong, she would not be punished, and she could then safely… live until the time she went to prison.

Moreover, her life principle seemed to have already been broken by Gu Ci.

Was she still the heartless silly goose she once was? During the time she had spent with Gu Ci, from her hair to her toes she had grown full of hearts—hearts that beat wildly, ready to be stirred at any moment.

Wouldn’t it be good if he left?

It was quite good.

After finishing her morning classes, Yan Luqing brainwashed herself again, adding another layer of reinforcement to what she had done the night before. Then, the class received notice that the afternoon professor was unwell and had canceled the lecture.

She went straight home.

Gu Ci should still have class in the afternoon. Once Yan Luqing returned home, after some thought, she directly ordered Big Black: “Go help Gu Ci pack his luggage. Wasn’t it you who brought a pile of things from his house back then? Pack them all back up, make it ready. Our service must be thorough—pickup and delivery included.”

After giving the order, she went into the dining room to eat, thinking as she ate.

It was fine, really fine. If the Family Head lost a wife, then so be it—hadn’t she been without one before!

Hadn’t she lived happily before too? It was only that she had “had” one for two months, after all. Forgetting would be easy!

The foolish ruler of Panda Kingdom no longer had to be misled by the Princess of Bamboo Kingdom, no longer had to probe into why the princess was so mysterious. He could govern his country properly and rid himself of the title of foolish ruler. Very good, very good.

Besides—wasn’t it possible to occasionally visit? It wasn’t as if they were turning into enemies!

Perhaps she truly had some kind of divine skill at brainwashing herself. Yan Luqing thought through everything she could think of, deliberately ignoring the points that had once made her feel upset.

After finishing her meal, when she came out of the dining room, she happened to run into Big Black coming out of Gu Ci’s room, dragging a suitcase.

He was usually steady, rarely showing much expression on his face except when doubting she had gone mad. Yet now, he looked very dejected as he said: “Miss Yan, it’s packed.”

Looking at the forlorn reluctance on Big Black’s face, Yan Luqing inexplicably thought it looked like when a princess was about to be married off far away, and the maidservant wanted to pack his luggage one last time.

“……”

Yan Luqing sincerely hoped that after Gu Ci left, her strange and ridiculous brain-holes could also disappear.

After lunch, Yan Luqing sat on the sofa watching television.

Little Black had been watering flowers in the back garden earlier, but upon coming inside and hearing from Big Black that Gu Ci’s luggage had been packed, he too grew sad. The two of them stood on either side of Yan Luqing.

Now it was two strapping, burly maidservants weeping over the princess being married off.

Yan Luqing was just about to say something, planning to brainwash these two as she had brainwashed herself, when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Unexpectedly, though it had been said “afternoon,” Gu Ci’s uncle had already arrived at this hour.

The Gu family’s genes were strong. His uncle looked even more handsome in person than in the photos. At thirty or forty years of age, there were hardly any marks of time on his face. Smiling, he said: “You must be Yan Luqing? I’m Gu Ci’s uncle, my name is Kang Yuan.”

Yan Luqing invited him in to sit on the sofa. Though this house almost never received guests, the Disney Aunt was professional. She quickly brewed tea, laid out a complete tea set, and poured cups for the two of them.

Yan Luqing had thought Gu Ci’s uncle would definitely ask about Gu Ci, perhaps even interrogate her—asking why she was keeping Gu Ci here and not letting him go, something along those lines—

Unexpectedly, his uncle was very amiable. He first thanked her, then instead asked many questions about her: where she studied, what major she was in, and so on.

This, instead, made her feel an inexplicable strangeness and nervousness. An interrogation would have been easier for her to handle.

Yan Luqing did not want to talk more about herself. Any further and the subject would touch on her history of mental illness. So she proactively diverted the topic.

“You came to pick him up, didn’t you?” Yan Luqing pointed at the suitcase already moved to the entryway. “His luggage is all packed.”

The unspoken meaning was that she hoped his uncle wouldn’t believe the rumors outside—that venomous mouth Yu Xi saying she was hiding Gu Ci away, that she was some perverted jailer or something.

She wasn’t! She had taken good care of him, and was now even adding a bonus of packing and sending him away!

At her words, the man was stunned. “Hm?”

He hadn’t originally planned to take Gu Ci away at all. He had come to thank this friend of Gu Ci’s—after all, no matter how many times he asked, Gu Ci had never shown any sign of wanting to leave.

At the same time, he was also curious—this so-called “friend” of Gu Ci’s, was it truly just a friend, or…

Before he could voice his question, the villa door opened again—

And the person who should have been at T University appeared in the entryway.

As soon as Gu Ci entered, the first thing he saw was the suitcase leaning by the cabinet. It was a strikingly large size.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Then his gaze swept past his uncle—he gave a slight nod—and landed on Big Black and Little Black standing behind Yan Luqing. At that moment, the two of them wore identical expressions, both looking like, *“Why do you have to leave? If you leave, what will happen to this home?”*

Gu Ci stood still at the entryway, unmoving. Finally, his gaze settled on one place, staring at Yan Luqing with great interest.

“……”

The instant Yan Luqing met his eyes, the self-brainwashing she had worked so hard to convince herself with nearly collapsed entirely.

She steadied herself just in time, stood, and walked toward him.

In her mind flashed countless scenes.

It seemed that from the very first day of her transmigration, she had been both distressed for the paper-man she liked and living in constant anxiety. Later, once Yan Luqing grew familiar with Gu Ci, when they lived together with a group of people in the villa, things turned out surprisingly harmonious. She thought she had one or two months, a long while still, to live with him.

Later—crying in his arms, girlfriends, fortune-telling, tutoring, hypnosis, school… She didn’t know at what point it started, but whenever she thought of her relationship with Gu Ci, her brain always seemed like mush.

The only thing that wasn’t mush was that, inexplicably, she always called him wife in her heart.

But.

Now it was finally the day Gu Ci was supposed to escape.

Once he left, she wouldn’t be mush anymore, nor would she suffer social death so many times.

No matter what, she was still alive. For now, her relationship with Gu Ci was still deep; they weren’t likely to fall out easily.

That was already very good.

Yan Luqing let out a breath, thought for a few seconds, then raised her head to look at him and said: “Your luggage is already packed, and your uncle has just arrived to pick you up.”

“Gu Ci.”

Before he could act, Yan Luqing very proactively and somewhat sycophantically walked forward a few steps, opened the front door wide, turned her head, and half-jokingly said to him: “Congratulations, you’re free.”

The living room fell silent.

Even though she had said what needed to be said, a wave of after-emotion still inevitably rose inside her.

She thought, well, there is no banquet in the world that doesn’t eventually end… Hm?

In the living room, Gu Ci was the first to move—he suddenly reached past Yan Luqing—

And actually shut the door she had already opened!

Gu Ci lowered his eyes to look at her for a long while. His beautiful black pupils were heavy and deep. Suddenly, he smiled: “What if I say—I don’t want freedom?”

Uncle: “?”

Big Black and Little Black: “??”

Yan Luqing: “???”

Your business empire? Your ambition for revenge? Damn it, this wasn’t how the script was supposed to go!