Falling into the Trap of Endless Deception

Hearing these words, Gu Ruoxue vaguely guessed something. Her body stiffened slightly, but she forcefully suppressed it, her face once again adopting an icy expression.

Seeing Gu Ruoxue's expression grow increasingly displeased, Su Cheng quickly corrected himself, "Uh... to put it simply, it's a very fat tabby cat. Its owner raised it like a pig, so it ended up looking like one."

"And then?" Gu Ruoxue's tone remained steady, but Su Cheng detected a trace of coldness in it.

"The cat's in the pavilion up ahead. Do you want to go take a look?" As Su Cheng spoke, he discreetly glanced toward the pavilion and noticed that the previously calm tabby was now restless in its cage, letting out pitiful whimpers.

This struck him as odd.

Logically, this tabby was usually bold—even when he had hit it before, it had never made such miserable, heart-wrenching sounds.

Just as he was puzzling over this, a faint floral scent brushed past him. By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, Gu Ruoxue had already approached the pavilion.

"Meow~" The moment Gu Ruoxue drew near, the struggling tabby immediately stopped and curled up motionless in the corner of the cage, looking utterly pitiful, as if it had suffered some great injustice.

Seeing this, Su Cheng hurriedly stepped forward to intervene, "Hey, don't touch it! This cat scratches!"

But Gu Ruoxue ignored him. She reached out with slender, delicate fingers, effortlessly opened the cage, and scooped up the trembling tabby into her arms.

To Su Cheng's surprise, the cat obediently nestled against her, letting her stroke its fur without protest.

"This doesn't make sense..."

Su Cheng was completely baffled.

Just moments ago, this cat had been vicious—how had it suddenly become so docile?

"This is my cat."

Gu Ruoxue finally spoke, her voice as calm as ever.

"Your cat?" Su Cheng froze. "But... it scratched me earlier..."

Gu Ruoxue glanced at the wound on his hand, then flicked the forehead of the chubby tabby in her arms, prompting it to let out a couple of indignant meows, as if it were the wronged party. "We’ll discuss how you managed to take it out of my place separately. As for the medical expenses and other costs for your injury, send me an itemized list later."

"That won’t be necessary."

Su Cheng quickly shook his head. "Just stay here with me for a little while."

"If you’re waiting for Ji Qingyi, I suggest you don’t waste your time," Gu Ruoxue said coldly, tightening her grip on the tabby. "When I arrived, her car was already here. The only reason she hasn’t come in is probably because of me."

Su Cheng was stunned. He immediately reached for his phone to contact Ji Qingyi, but Gu Ruoxue continued, "I think it’s best we end this here. Things won’t unfold the way you expect."

"I... alright."

Su Cheng opened his mouth but closed it again when he saw Ji Qingyi’s rejection in his messages. Defeated, he lowered his phone and let out a bitter laugh. "I heard you two were close friends, so I took it upon myself to arrange this meeting."

"Oh? First, what kind of investigation or information led you to that conclusion? Second, what authority or basis do you have to push for this? Is there any logical justification?"

Gu Ruoxue’s gaze turned frosty as she fired off questions in a detached tone. "If you don’t understand, let me rephrase: What makes you think you’re always right, and that everyone will listen to you?"

"I..."

Su Cheng was left speechless, unable to counter her words—because he truly had no right.

In this situation, he couldn’t just give up, could he?

After careful consideration, he took a deep breath and spoke solemnly, "I know this might seem presumptuous, but in the end, you’re the one who gave me the courage to do this."

At this point, he had only one way to respond—there was no other choice.

So, he would do it his way.

"I gave you courage?" Gu Ruoxue stared at him, her tone terrifyingly stern. "Are you incapable of mustering your own?"

Su Cheng nodded firmly. "Yes. You interfered in my life first, so today, I made this decision."

He was referring to the recent "amnesia incident." Since it had originated from Gu Ruoxue’s words, she had been the one to meddle in his life first—which was why he now had the courage to act.

Hearing this, Gu Ruoxue fixed her eyes on him in silence for a long moment before finally uttering,

"Is that so? It seems your initiative only goes this far. You haven’t figured out a thing."

With that, she turned and walked toward the park entrance, still holding the cat.

"Wait!"

Su Cheng hurried after her, but no matter how much he pleaded, Gu Ruoxue didn’t stop. Gritting his teeth, he sprinted ahead to the entrance—and sure enough, a familiar luxury car was parked at the curb.

The moment he approached, the rear door opened.

Inside sat Ji Qingyi, poised and elegant.

"President, come with me!" Su Cheng eagerly climbed in and grabbed her hand, urging her.

"You’ve misunderstood," Ji Qingyi said with a hint of resignation. "We were friends in the past, but I don’t hold any particular nostalgia for that relationship, nor do I feel any lingering attachment. So, I’m afraid I can’t fulfill your wish."

She then placed her hand over Su Cheng’s injured one, her voice tinged with concern. "Let’s get that wound treated first. We don’t want it to scar... I appreciate the thought."

Seeing that the president wasn’t being tsundere but genuinely worried about his injury, Su Cheng froze for a moment before blurting out, "Then who were you talking about during our last date? It wasn’t Gu Ruoxue?"

"No, it was someone else," Ji Qingyi sighed, her gaze solemn. "But you could say... they’re no longer in this world."

Su Cheng was utterly stunned, his mind blank. He sat there, dazed, before finally murmuring in a hollow voice, "So that’s how it is... I was too stupid to realize. I completely misread the situation..."

Had he messed up again?

Then again, apart from academics, he had never succeeded in anything on his own.

The harder he tried to avoid mistakes, the more he seemed to make them—a lesson he kept learning the hard way. Yet, time and again, he failed to face reality until things spiraled further into chaos.

He lowered his head, hiding the gloom and sorrow in his eyes.

"To the hospital," Ji Qingyi instructed the driver.

"President, I can handle it myself. Please stop the car."

Su Cheng suddenly raised his head, forcing a strained smile as he spoke to Ji Qingyi with an air of forced composure: "It's just a minor injury. I can handle it at the hospital myself. Besides, I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t trouble you any further, President."

With that, he pushed the car door open and stepped out.

Without even turning back, he strode straight toward the park entrance.

Ji Qingyi watched his slightly hunched figure, her brow furrowing with concern. She opened her mouth as if to call after him, but in the end, she remained silent.

"Miss, aren’t you going after him?"

From the passenger seat, Liu Qingyue couldn’t help but glance out the window. Seeing Su Cheng walking away, she frowned and asked in a puzzled tone.

Ji Qingyi didn’t respond. She believed he needed space—time to calm down on his own.

After a few seconds of silence, Ji Qingyi finally murmured, "Follow him from a distance. Make sure he doesn’t notice."

"But…" Liu Qingyue hesitated before warning, "If you don’t go yourself, someone else might get to him first."

"You mean Gu Ruoxue?" Ji Qingyi shook her head dismissively. "She has no reason to approach him. And I trust Su Cheng wouldn’t seek her out either. There’s no ‘getting to him first’ to worry about."

"Not her," Liu Qingyue adjusted her earpiece and lowered her voice. "I just got word—the Li sisters are on their way to the park in the same car. At their speed, they’ll arrive in about two minutes."

At this, Ji Qingyi’s expression darkened.

"What are they doing here?"

"Who knows? Unusually, they’ve even brought their guardian along."

Liu Qingyue shrugged, her tone laced with amusement. "Whatever it is, it’s definitely not good news."