The Tigers and Dragons Contend, How Many Times Will It Cease

Their meeting was an accident, yet also inevitable.

What they hadn't anticipated was meeting in this manner. Both were taken aback, unsure of what to say.

"What are you doing here?" Cornelia was highly vigilant. The moment she saw Li Guanqi appear, she seemed to transform into a little hedgehog, her entire body bristling with sharp spines as she stared defensively at her, a hint of displeasure in her eyes, clearly unhappy about her presence.

It was no wonder she was on guard. When she was around, Su Cheng and Li Guanqi's relationship was just that of normal, ordinary classmates.

But now, Li Guanqi had suddenly appeared outside Su Cheng's home. From any angle, it looked like their relationship had made a sudden, rapid advancement! During her absence, Li Guanqi had actually taken advantage of the opening. This thought filled Cornelia with intense frustration and resentment.

She even cursed a certain young lady in her heart. As Su Cheng's fiancée, to let someone else take advantage like this and not fulfill her due responsibility was utterly disappointing.

"Su Cheng asked me to come," Li Guanqi tried her best to maintain her usual calm demeanor.

But her tightly clenched small hands still betrayed her inner emotions.

Because Cornelia had most likely regained her memories.

This could be proven in many ways. For instance, the incident at the opening ceremony, her current wariness towards her, and the measures Ji Qingyi had taken against her, among a series of other behaviors, all pointed to the setting that she had recovered her memories.

"Nonsense. Su Cheng isn't even home."

Cornelia snorted, wrinkling her nose. She crossed her arms, straightened her posture, adopting an aggressive, completely disbelieving stance, seemingly ready to argue with Li Guanqi at any moment.

"Yes, he's not home."

Li Guanqi explained in a flat tone, "He asked me to come because of you."

She remained completely unmoved by Cornelia's imposing manner, instead appearing even more composed.

"What do you mean, 'because of me'?!"

Cornelia looked at Li Guanqi in confusion, then pointed at her own nose, "He knows I'm back?"

A flicker of unease passed through her eyes, as if she cared deeply about Su Cheng's reaction.

After all, she had wanted to give Su Cheng a surprise.

"You could understand it that way." Li Guanqi maintained her unchanging, placid appearance, her tone carrying a hint of thoughtfulness. "He won't be home recently and has asked for leave from school. He probably won't be back for another three days."

"Did something happen?"

Hearing this news, Cornelia's heart immediately fluttered with panic. Her hands unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, her knuckles turning white. She hurriedly pressed, "He hasn't been replying to messages or answering calls. What on earth happened!?"

"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics either." Li Guanqi shook her head, a trace of helplessness in her voice. "You can ask him yourself in a few days."

"Hey…"

Cornelia quickly blocked Li Guanqi's way, her tone carrying a note of urgency, "Wait a minute. Can't you at least give me some details?"

"I'm sorry, Junior sister William." Li Guanqi gently freed her arm from Cornelia's grasp and shook her head apologetically. Her tone, though gentle, was firm. "Su Cheng's whereabouts aren't suitable to be disclosed to outsiders. I can't answer you."

"Outsiders?" Hearing this word, Cornelia instantly flew into a rage. She glared at Li Guanqi with a furious expression, her tone thick with displeasure and anger. "What gives you the right to call me an outsider?"

"Well…" Li Guanqi hesitated, a flash of uncertainty and helplessness in her eyes. "Actually, I don't know the nature of your relationship with him. On the surface, you two…"

She carefully weighed her words, afraid of saying the wrong thing and angering the irritable little blonde before her.

"I am not an outsider!"

Cornelia immediately interrupted to refute. She reached out and grabbed Li Guanqi's arm again. "I am…"

She tried to hint at her identity to Li Guanqi, but before she could finish her sentence, she fell into a tangled state, unsure how to explain.

Was 'girlfriend' better? Or 'wife'? Or perhaps 'spouse'? Countless titles flashed through her mind, but not one could she smoothly utter.

"At the very least?"

But Li Guanqi didn't give her much time to think. Instead, she began to counter-question, a probing look in her eyes, as if trying to force out the word stuck in Cornelia's throat.

"I'm not an outsider to him; I'm an insider." Cornelia's face flushed bright red in an instant, but her tone was forceful and matter-of-fact. "That's right, I'm his insider, not an outsider."

She puffed out her flat little chest, looking as if she would defend her position to the death, her eyes full of determination and pride.

"Insider?" Li Guanqi's tone was somewhat odd, a flicker of surprise and doubt in her eyes. "If I remember correctly, 'insider' refers to wives or concubines…"

"That's right, I am his wife!" Cornelia took the opportunity presented, puffing out her chest even more proudly, baring her little canine teeth as she declared triumphantly, "So, I am not the 'outsider' you speak of, and you are not allowed to call me an outsider!"

Her eyes held a hint of provocation and smugness, as if showing off her status to Li Guanqi.

"Senior, please don't tease me."

Li Guanqi's tone became serious and grave, a trace of displeasure and warning in her eyes. "I need to get back to class. Please step aside."

"Who's teasing you!"

Cornelia puffed out her cheeks unhappily, her tone carrying a note of grievance and dissatisfaction, clearly very displeased with Li Guanqi's attitude. "Su Cheng himself doesn't deny this status. Why do you have to keep nitpicking about it, really!"

"Is that true?" Li Guanqi looked at her with a skeptical tone, deep suspicion in her eyes, as if finding Cornelia's words hard to believe.

She frowned slightly, seeming to ponder something, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

"Of course! What girl would joke about something like this?" Cornelia put her hands on her hips, adopting a 'just believe me' posture, looking at Li Guanqi earnestly and assuredly.

"It's not that I don't believe you, senior." Li Guanqi sighed somewhat helplessly. "It's just that, as far as I know, you and Su Cheng have only known each other for about a month. Even if things progressed quickly, it would at most be boyfriend and girlfriend…"

Here, she paused awkwardly, then continued, "Husband and wife or something like that is truly hard to believe."

Her eyes held a trace of sympathy and pity, as if hinting that Cornelia shouldn't deceive herself.

"Anyway, you can understand it as boyfriend and girlfriend!" Cornelia was also growing a bit impatient, a note of irritation and displeasure in her tone. "In any case, I'm not an outsider. Now tell me what happened to him."

"I'm sorry, senior. I promised to keep his matters confidential." Li Guanqi shook her head resolutely, sticking to her previous line. "I can't tell you."

"Ugh!"

Cornelia grew annoyed, shaking her head wildly and launching a twin-tail attack, sweeping them haphazardly across Li Guanqi's body. "You're as difficult to deal with as ever!"

As ever?

Difficult to deal with?

Li Guanqi picked up on these key phrases, making her even more certain that Cornelia before her had regained her memories.

"Senior, please calm down a little." Li Guanqi raised both hands to block Cornelia's rapid twin-tail assault while explaining, "Words alone aren't proof. Please show me some evidence, senior."

"Evidence?" Cornelia stopped her attack, tilting her head to think for a moment. Then, suddenly raising a finger, her eyes sparkled with a mix of excitement and triumph. "Got it! Come with me, I'll show you the evidence!"

She grabbed Li Guanqi's hand and eagerly pulled her towards the entrance of Su Cheng's home.

"Alright." Li Guanqi nodded and followed her, stopping beside the doormat at Su Cheng's doorstep.

Cornelia suddenly let go of her hand, crouched down, lifted the corner of the mat, and retrieved a key from underneath.

"This is the key to his house. Is that enough?" Cornelia waved the key in her hand triumphantly.

"Not enough." Li Guanqi shook her head calmly.

"You're really something." Cornelia stamped her foot, stood up, and then directly opened the front door to Su Cheng's home. She gestured towards the open doorway. "This proves it, doesn't it?!"

"This..." Li Guanqi hesitated, glancing inside the room, then shifting her gaze back to Cornelia before shaking her head again.

"You!"

Frustrated, Cornelia stepped inside, pointing at a pair of small pink slippers under the shoe rack. "Look! These are my personal little slippers. Is this the kind of treatment an outsider would get? Do you have a pair? No, you don't! You're the outsider here!"

But who would have thought, Li Guanqi didn't pay any attention to the mentioned slippers at all. Instead, she looked somewhat apprehensively into the room, her tone uneasy. "Senior... isn't this a bit inappropriate? Us barging into his home like this, wouldn't it..."

"Stop talking nonsense and get in here already."

Cornelia felt the frustration of punching cotton. Giving up on showing off, she simply pulled Li Guanqi inside, tossed the slippers at her feet, and added, "There are no other shoes here, just wear these."

"What about you, senior?"

"I'm fine."

With that, Cornelia kicked off her shoes and stepped onto the floor in her white stockings, then struck a pose like the lady of the house. "Come in, make yourself at home."

Li Guanqi was silent for a moment, slowly moved to the shoe rack, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally took off her own shoes. She slid her black-stockinged feet into the pink slippers. She seemed a bit uncomfortable but bravely lifted her head to look at Cornelia.

As a result, she found Cornelia looking as if she had just avenged a great wrong, watching her with the amused interest of a victor, her beautiful eyes narrowed, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned in a smug, silly smile. Her expression seemed to say: And you, my rival, you are the true outsider.

"Se-senior... what is it?" Li Guanqi was baffled by this reaction.

"Nothing. Didn't you want evidence?"

Cornelia put away her victorious demeanor, switching instead to the manner of a hostess.

Although this act was a bit comical, because she was deliberately trying to appear mature and steady, but her petite figure and youthful face made it seem somewhat incongruous.

"Please, come in. Let me make you some tea, and we can talk slowly." Cornelia tried her best to adopt an elegant and gracious posture to demonstrate her more superior position.

"But senior, I need to go to school soon."

"It won't take long. Just sit on the sofa for a bit." Without waiting for further objection, Cornelia pushed Li Guanqi onto the sofa, then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

The moment she turned away, Li Guanqi began to carefully observe the environment and furnishings of Su Cheng's home.

Last time she came in a hurry and didn't get a proper look. Now was a good opportunity to observe carefully.

The living room was simple. Besides the sofa, coffee table, and TV, the walls were covered with posters, certificates of merit, and competition trophies. From these decorations, one could tell Su Cheng had considerable talent in his studies.

"Why is there an extra fridge?"

"Huh, let me open it and see."

"Hmm, no milk."

"Hehehe~ The tables have turned~"

Cornelia's muttering voice came from the kitchen, creating a cheerful, lively atmosphere that lightened Li Guanqi's originally heavy mood a little.

It seemed that although Cornelia was a bit hot-tempered, she was a simple and lovely girl.

"Hmm... this peony...?" Li Guanqi's gaze shifted to the balcony. Besides the drying laundry, there was also a very vibrant and tender peony, looking as if it had just bloomed.

She unconsciously stood up, walked slowly to the balcony, then bent down to examine it closely.

The soil was very dry, and the flower showed slight signs of thirst. She picked up the watering can nearby and began to water it slowly. Just as she was focused on watering, she suddenly felt a burning gaze watching her from behind.

"What are you doing?"

Cornelia's puzzled voice sounded behind her.

"The flower was thirsty, so I gave it some water." Li Guanqi turned around holding the watering can and explained.

"Oh." Cornelia didn't ask further. Instead, she carried the tea set towards the coffee table. "Sit down and talk with me."

So, Li Guanqi put down the watering can and returned to sit on the sofa. Cornelia poured her a cup of tea. To her surprise, the tea was brewed quite well, at least not just hastily thrown together.

"Please, have some tea." Cornelia placed the freshly brewed tea in front of her, then sat down primly opposite, looking at her with a serious expression. "I hope you can tell me the truth."

Li Guanqi looked down at the cup of tea steaming in front of her and said softly, "Senior, please don't worry. He will return on the day of the archery tournament."

"I see." Cornelia nodded as if a lightbulb had gone off, a relieved expression appearing on her face. "Did he go for special training for the competition!?"

"Special training?"

Li Guanqi tilted her head, looking adorably clueless.

"You know, the kind of cultivation you see in movies and TV shows!" Cornelia explained enthusiastically. "Starting practice at the crack of dawn, wooden stake training in the morning, sitting shirtless under a waterfall in the afternoon to temper your willpower, and running with weighted gear at night to push your physical limits, that sort of thing!"

She got more and more excited as she spoke, an image of Su Cheng sitting shirtless in meditation under a waterfall involuntarily appearing in her mind.

Instantly, she cupped her cheeks with a look of rapture, murmuring to herself, "Su Cheng is working so hard, it must be to achieve good results in the competition for my sake!"

Li Guanqi shook her head, dispelling the strange images from her mind, and said softly, "You could understand it that way, but I'm more inclined to believe he uses normal training methods."

"That doesn't matter!" Cornelia waved her hand dismissively, then in a tone of seeing someone out, said to Li Guanqi, "Since everything's been discussed, you should hurry to class. Don't be late."

"I haven't said anything yet."

"Off to class you go. I won't see you out."

Such abnormal behavior sparked intense suspicion in Li Guanqi's mind, but she held it back, nodding in agreement and standing up, preparing to leave the living room.

"Senior, remember to water the flowers on the balcony every day."

"Got it, leave it to me."

After giving this reminder, she went to the doorway, put on her shoes, opened and then closed the door, pretending to have left. Then, she produced a knife and blended herself into the surroundings.

From start to finish, Cornelia never asked about where Su Cheng was or similar topics, which struck her as strange.

She wasn't sure if Cornelia possessed a ring.

So, she decided to observe secretly.

Maybe she could discover some crucial information?

She quietly retreated back into the living room and discovered that Cornelia had actually taken out her phone with great excitement, and then—

ordered takeout?!

Li Guanqi watched as she opened her phone's takeout software, found the app, and very casually ordered a 'cake' from the recommended items on the interface, then clicked to pay.

"…………"

Li Guanqi couldn't help but frown, as she couldn't grasp her intentions at all. Moreover, after ordering the takeout, Cornelia eagerly rushed into Su Cheng's bedroom and began rolling around on his bed.

"Hehehe…"

She even rolled until she was tired, then lay on the bed, greedily inhaling the lingering scent of Su Cheng on the bedding. She looked utterly content, the corners of her mouth curling up into an unusually radiant smile.

So, this is what you're really like, senior?

Soon, Cornelia jumped off the bed, restored it to its usual state, finally walked out of the bedroom, and closed the door.

She began clearing the tea set from the table. Once finished, she picked up her bag, ready to leave Su Cheng's home.

She didn't use a spatial ring even once during this, suggesting she likely didn't possess one.

After leaving, she headed towards the nearby villa district, her steps very cheerful, as if something worth looking forward to and exciting was about to happen.

Following behind, Li Guanqi grew more and more puzzled.

But soon her confusion dissipated, because Cornelia encountered a big yellow dog holding takeout at the villa's entrance. The two, human and dog, struck up a very familiar conversation.

"Long time no see, Big Yellow."

"Woof."

"I've missed you."

"Woof~"

“Alright, alright, I know!” Cornelia affectionately patted Big Yellow's head, then took a leash from her bag and fastened it around the dog's neck, giving him a pat. “Let's go, take me to Su Cheng. I want to give him a surprise, a very very big surprise!”