Father Li and Mother Li spent a full three days sightseeing in Beijing. Including the travel time, they stayed two days longer than originally planned.
When they were leaving, Li Wangshu discovered that He Yu had actually accompanied her parents for two whole days. He even came personally to see them off, bought their plane tickets, and after they arrived at the provincial capital, arranged for a He family chauffeur to drive them back to Xilin.
Li Wangshu had assumed that, given her parents’ honest and humble personalities, they would feel overwhelmed by all these arrangements and refuse such kindness.
Instead, when she saw them off, the elderly couple looked happier than ever. They called him “Little He” with obvious affection.
Before leaving, they even invited He Yu to visit their home whenever he had time.
In just a few days, her parents had practically become his close friends despite the age difference.
“I thought his character setting was a paranoid man with bipolar disorder. Are you sure you didn’t get it wrong?”
Li Wangshu quietly asked Ji Lian.
“I… I’ve never seen him like this either.”
Ji Lian was even more surprised than Li Wangshu.
She had only ever seen He Yu when he was cold, violent, furious, or drunk. Even when he was in a good mood, he still liked finding excuses to bully people. In short, he was someone who was unhappy every day and did his best to make everyone around him unhappy as well.
“We actually didn’t spend much time alone together…”
Li Wangshu fell into thought.
People with psychological illnesses often saw others through a distorted lens. Combined with their complicated relationship and the influence of the original plot, she realized she would have to judge for herself what kind of person He Yu really was.
As the airplane disappeared into the sky, Li Wangshu suddenly felt a little lonely.
“Missing home already?”
Today, He Yu was wearing a different pair of glasses. The thinner frames made him look even more refined.
“A little.”
The plane had completely vanished from sight.
Li Wangshu looked at him.
“Thank you. I really appreciate everything you did for my parents.”
“That sounds pretty sincere.”
He adjusted his glasses and smiled faintly.
“But are you going to show any actual appreciation?”
“Shouldn’t Little Moon do something?”
“…How about I treat you to dinner?”
Li Wangshu thought for a moment.
“But I’m just a poor college student. I can’t afford anything expensive. If you don’t mind, we can eat at one of the little restaurants near campus.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Let’s go.”
They went to a grilled fish restaurant near the university.
The place wasn’t large, but the food was excellent. Li Wangshu had only recently discovered it.
The two found a table in the corner.
“Do you have any food you can’t eat?”
Li Wangshu asked.
“My stomach isn’t very good. I can’t handle spicy food, and I don’t like tofu skin.”
He Yu thoughtfully answered instead of saying, “Anything is fine.”
Li Wangshu was pleased.
People willing to communicate were much easier to deal with than those who never gave a clear answer.
The small restaurant was crowded and noisy.
Almost everyone there was a nearby college student.
A college girl sitting with a man in a business suit naturally attracted plenty of attention.
Li Wangshu remained completely calm, showing no concern about being misunderstood.
“Aren’t you worried your classmates might see us?”
He Yu felt this girl was dense in a very unusual way.
“Being seen with someone like me could easily start rumors.”
“For example…”
“…people saying you’re my kept woman.”
His voice carried an amused, teasing tone as if he were looking forward to seeing her reaction.
“Hm?”
Li Wangshu barely cared.
She was busy removing fish bones from her meal.
“I think the students at our university are pretty decent.”
“They’re probably not that bored.”
The students who got into this university were all high achievers. Even if someone noticed something interesting, very few people would actually spread gossip.
Besides, the two of them were simply eating together in broad daylight.
Most people would probably assume they were relatives.
“Hard to say.”
He Yu didn’t believe that innocence would prove itself.
Most people only believed what they wanted to believe.
“Oh.”
“If they want to talk, let them.”
“As long as they don’t say it to my face, it won’t affect me.”
“And if it actually does affect me, I’ll call the police.”
Li Wangshu placed a large, tender piece of fish—with every bone carefully removed—onto He Yu’s plate.
“Do you want this?”
She had noticed he wasn’t eating much and assumed a domineering CEO probably wasn’t used to picking fish bones himself.
He Yu froze for a moment before accepting the plate.
The meal ended with occasional conversation.
Most of the time, Li Wangshu talked while He Yu listened.
She spoke slowly, gently, and logically.
She told him about grilled fish in Xilin.
She described the famous Xilin hotpot he would never be able to enjoy because he couldn’t eat spicy food.
She even talked about the signature dishes at her parents’ small restaurant.
He Yu felt that her voice possessed a strange kind of magic.
It passed effortlessly through the noisy crowd around them and reached his ears with perfect clarity.
Every rise and fall of her tone, every softly spoken word, seemed to flow directly into his heart.
The world suddenly felt peaceful.
For the first time, someone else’s voice wasn’t irritating.
Instead, it relaxed him completely.
It was as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
For someone who had suffered from insomnia for years and couldn’t sleep without medication, it was simply unbelievable.
“Do you have class today?”
After leaving the restaurant, He Yu asked.
Li Wangshu honestly shook her head.
“No.”
“Then come with me.”
Before she could refuse, he firmly grabbed her wrist and led her into his car.
Li Wangshu actually wanted to understand him better, so she didn’t resist.
What she didn’t expect was that he would take her back to his apartment.
By the time she realized something was wrong and wanted to run, it was already too late.
He Yu simply picked her up over his shoulder and carried her into the elevator.
“He Yu!”
“I just turned eighteen!”
“You’re not seriously this insane, are you?”
Knowing there was a huge difference in their strength, Li Wangshu didn’t struggle much.
She regretted letting her guard down while trying to negotiate.
“I thought you considered me a friend.”
After entering the apartment, he laid her on the bed, removed her shoes, and leaned over her.
“Don’t make noise.”
“I’m not going to touch you.”
He pulled Li Wangshu tightly into his arms.
“I just want to hold you for a while.”
Arguing head-on with an obsessive man wasn’t a wise decision.
Li Wangshu relaxed and cooperated.
As expected, He Yu didn’t do anything else.
Before long, his breathing gradually became slow and steady.
He had actually fallen asleep.
“Ji Lian, what’s wrong with him?”
He was holding her so tightly that she neither dared nor could break free.
“How strange…”
“He actually managed to fall asleep during the day.”
Ji Lian explained again that He Yu suffered from severe insomnia.
“On average, he only sleeps two or three hours a day.”
“Little Moon, you seem to have some kind of magical ability.”
“You can make him fall asleep.”
Li Wangshu was someone who became irritable whenever she didn’t sleep well.
To her, sleep quality was the most important thing in life—even more important than food.
Someone who slept only two hours a day…
Li Wangshu couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.
As for whether she really had some kind of hypnotic ability, that still needed to be verified.
At least, there had never been such a setting in the original novel.
Even Ji Lian had only said, Little Moon, you seem to have some kind of magical power.
If she tried to get away now, she would inevitably have to use some force, and there was a high chance of waking him.
Thinking about her own terrible mood whenever she was awakened, she imagined He Yu having the same problem.
If he woke up in a bad temper, it would probably be far worse than simply yelling at someone.
For the sake of her own safety, she decided it was better to cooperate and stay where she was.
She gave up trying to escape.
Instead, she simply closed her eyes…
…and fell asleep as well.