After a night of playful antics, Hu Yuying still woke up early. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Li Qingxue, who was sound asleep with an arm draped over her waist, and Lin Wanning, nestled snugly against her chest.
Yet her gaze lingered longer on Lin Wanning.
She quietly leaned closer, inhaling the familiar scent of Lin Wanning’s natural fragrance. Her expression grew complicated as she watched her. Taking a deep breath, Hu Yuying got up, dressed, and went downstairs to buy two breakfasts, leaving them on the table before stepping out of the hotel.
She hadn’t forgotten that Long Aotian had something to tell her.
The morning air was damp and bitingly cold. Hu Yuying hailed a taxi and soon arrived back at the courtyard house. Unlocking the gate, she pushed the bedroom door open quietly and stepped inside.
On the bed, Long Aotian stirred at the sound of the door opening, blinking sleepily. When he saw it was her, he reached out groggily, pulling her into his arms. "You’re back. Did you miss me?"
Hu Yuying chuckled, gently ruffling his hair. "Of course I did. How could I not?"
Long Aotian grinned and tugged her onto the bed. "You’re so cold. Let me warm you up."
Hu Yuying couldn’t hold back another laugh. Even half-asleep, he couldn’t resist teasing her. Still, she lifted the covers and slid in beside him.
The moment her feet were cradled in his warm hands, the chill melted away, and she relaxed completely.
"Long Aotian, didn’t you say you had something to tell me when I got back?"
At her words, she felt his hands stiffen slightly.
Now that the moment had come, Long Aotian didn’t know how to begin. He tried to sit up, but Hu Yuying gently held him close, her voice soft. "Did you do something wrong?"
She remembered his earlier words: If one day you find out I’ve done something bad...
And: You should be greedy—take everything from me...
Long Aotian tensed, his arms tightening around her waist. He couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes, afraid of the disappointment he might see—or worse, that she’d turn away from him.
Hu Yuying let him hold her, feeling the tremor in his arms. After a long silence, she asked gently, "Is it about Lin Wanning?"
Natural fragrance was different from perfume.
Perfume was external—it could linger on the skin after contact.
But a person’s natural scent? That only clung to someone after the most intimate closeness.
The faint, delicate aroma she’d noticed on Long Aotian that Wednesday was the same one that had enveloped her last night when Lin Wanning had undressed.
Long Aotian sat up, kneeling before her, gripping her hands tightly. "I didn’t know how to tell you."
"Why didn’t you just keep hiding it? Were you trying to confess to me yesterday?"
"I couldn’t keep lying to you. I just couldn’t." His voice was desperate as he pulled her into his arms again. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."
"Was it your idea?"
Long Aotian hesitated, then nodded silently.
Lin Wanning had given up everything—thrown it all away, humbled herself to the dust. He couldn’t push the blame onto her...
"Liar."
Hu Yuying moved to stand, but Long Aotian clutched her hand. "Don’t go."
He’d known she’d be angry when the truth came out, but now that it had, he couldn’t let her leave.
Only now did he realize how selfish he was—how shameless. Even after hurting her, he still refused to let go.
Hu Yuying sighed as she looked at him—his bloodshot eyes, the desperation in his grip.
"Yell at me. Just don’t ignore me..."
She reached out, her fingers brushing his cheek. This was her Long Aotian—the man who had shown her kindness from the very first moment they met.
The one who had stood up for her when she was bullied.
Who had taught her, step by step, helping her grow and change.
Who had never hesitated to praise her, to make her feel seen.
He had been so good to her.
From the first time she’d laid eyes on him—that lazy, mature boy who had pulled her out of the darkness—Hu Yuying had known she didn’t deserve such sudden kindness. And yet, she had craved it desperately.
There was no doubt she loved Long Aotian.
Did he love her?
From the way he had always treated her, to the way he clung to her now—his pain, his reluctance to let go—she could feel it.
He loved her too.
She carefully wiped away the tear stains at the corner of his eye, then let her hand slide to the back of his head, giving it a gentle pat.
After doing all this, she glanced at her hand, still tightly gripped by Long Aotian, and her waist, still firmly encircled by his arms.
With a light struggle, she murmured, "Long Aotian, loosen up a little."
Long Aotian only shook his head instinctively. "No."
Left with no choice, Hu Yuying took out her phone and dialed Lin Wanning's number right in front of him.
The call connected quickly.
Hu Yuying spoke in a calm, measured tone. "Come to the house."
Then she hung up.
On the other end.
Still half-asleep, Lin Wanning felt as if a bomb had detonated inside her the moment she heard Hu Yuying utter those words.
Instantly, she was wide awake, every trace of drowsiness gone.
Emotions tangled within her—she hugged her knees, her body trembling uncontrollably. Tears slipped silently between her fingers as the last barrier in her heart finally crumbled and shattered today.
She dared not make a sound. Quietly, she dressed, her gaze falling on the two breakfasts laid out on the table. Tears welled up endlessly, dripping onto the back of her hand.
Taking a deep breath, she bit her lip hard, trying desperately to stop crying. But this self-deception only made her seem all the more fragile.
Leaving the hotel, she got into a taxi. As the distance gradually shortened, as the surroundings grew more and more familiar,
she kept her head down, hands pressed tightly against her chest.
She had imagined this day might come. But now that it was here, the pain in her heart was far worse than she had ever anticipated...
The taxi came to a stop.
Lin Wanning shakily wiped the tear stains from her face and stepped out.
Standing at the mouth of the familiar alley, she lingered in a daze for a long moment before finally walking silently toward the courtyard house...
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
