Shen Qiuqiu worked overtime until 3 AM. Right before falling asleep, she read a little spicy story. In the haze between waking and dreaming, she suddenly felt something warm and hot pressing against her.
It carried an intensity she had never experienced before. She couldn’t help but open her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a pair of deep, piercing phoenix eyes.
“Haven’t dreamed of someone this handsome in a long time…”
The next second, the man closed in with a wave of heat tinged with the faint scent of laundry detergent and bit Shen Qiuqiu.
Out of pure instinct honed by years of being a bookish type, Shen Qiuqiu grabbed his back. Feeling the ridges of muscle beneath her palms, she somehow instinctively wrapped her legs around him as well.
The man spoke, his voice slightly strained.
“Shen Qiu, you’ve mistaken me for someone else…”
Shen Qiuqiu smacked him across his sharply chiseled face. Her pinky finger happened to brush against his soft lips.
“It’s just a wet dream. Stop adding extra plot and just get on with it.”
Shen Qiuqiu flipped over and straddled his lean, powerful waist. The man seemed stunned. His bronze skin actually flushed pink in layers. He felt the woman beneath him poke his firm chest.
“Is this really this realistic?”
The man panted heavily, his thin work pants practically about to burst.
“Don’t regret this!”
…
When Shen Qiuqiu woke up again, she suddenly felt a chill all over her body. Opening her eyes, she realized she wasn’t in her shabby little rental apartment but in an even shabbier, more run-down rural mud house.
Shen Qiuqiu was stunned.
“Holy crap!”
When Gu Zhouye walked in from outside and saw that presumptuous woman, he wanted to frown and blush at the same time. He handed her a towel, but then the woman suddenly collapsed onto the bed, clutching her head in pain. The man’s face, which had held a hint of tenderness, instantly turned cold and stern.
“Shen Qiu, what exactly are you trying to do? Haven’t you always liked Xiao Yi?”
Shen Qiuqiu let out a pained groan.
“Give me a minute to process!”
She had transmigrated into a book — the very same spicy story she had read last night. She was now a brainless female supporting character in a period novel. The original character was so crazily in love with the male lead, Xiao Yi, that she risked drugging him — but ended up mistakenly drugging the main villain, Gu Zhouye.
And what the original character didn’t know was that Xiao Yi’s true love was the novel’s female lead, the village doctor Bai Xueying. Bai Xueying was the real heroine of this story.
Bai Xueying brought people to catch them in the act. Gu Zhouye asked the original character to explain, but she just huddled under the blanket and refused to say anything. As a result, Gu Zhouye was sentenced to death. Later, due to the changing times, Gu Zhouye was released from prison and completely turned dark. But even after turning dark, he never really made things difficult for Shen Qiu.
So the male supporting character was actually quite innocent, Shen Qiuqiu thought, feeling a twinge of guilt.
“Alright, I’ve processed. Let’s talk.”
Gu Zhouye looked at Shen Qiuqiu suspiciously.
“You mistook me for someone else, Shen Qiu. I’m not Xiao Yi.”
Shen Qiuqiu decided to just embrace the chaos.
“What’s done is done. The rest doesn’t really matter anymore.”
Shen Qiuqiu was an overworked corporate slave who thought she was having a dream — a pleasant surprise that turned into a shock. But then she remembered that she didn’t have to go to work tomorrow morning, and she felt a small sense of consolation.
“How about we…”
Before Shen Qiuqiu could finish her outrageous suggestion, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
The village security captain, Wang Dayong, had been brought by the village doctor Bai Xueying to this most remote little house.
Wang Dayong kicked the door open. A strong, unmistakable smell hit them. A satisfied smile curled at the corner of Bai Xueying’s mouth. She knew it had worked.
Bai Xueying immediately put on a pained, heartbroken expression.
“Shen Qiu, are you okay? Did he force you? Don’t worry — the organization will seek justice for you.”
Gu Zhouye shot Shen Qiuqiu and Bai Xueying a vicious glare, clearly more convinced than ever of his own suspicions.
Shen Qiuqiu quickly spoke up. “No, no, that’s not what happened at all.”
Bai Xueying thought Shen Qiuqiu was just feeling ashamed, so she directly took her hand.
“I know you’re scared. Don’t worry — the people will stand up for you.”
Although Wang Dayong found the situation a bit odd, he still tried to console her. “That’s right, Comrade Shen Qiu. You don’t need to protect him anymore.”
Gu Zhouye had already clenched his fists, veins bulging in his arms. Shen Qiuqiu remembered the intense look on Gu Zhouye’s face just moments ago.
Use your damn brain and pay attention!
Shen Qiuqiu shook off Bai Xueying’s arm, looked her straight in the eye with righteous conviction, and then said something that left everyone in the room utterly stunned.
“Don’t you people have anything better to do than meddle in how other folks choose to date?”
Bai Xueying stared at Shen Qiuqiu in disbelief.
“Dating? Him?”
Everyone was looking at Shen Qiuqiu in shock — including Gu Zhouye, who had remained silent until now. Shen Qiuqiu barely managed to continue.
“Doesn’t the organization encourage free love?”
Bai Xueying’s gaze bore into Shen Qiuqiu. When Shen Qiu had left her place, she was still completely infatuated with Xiao Yi, head over heels. How could she have suddenly changed her mind?
Shen Qiuqiu stared back at Bai Xueying. According to the original character’s memories, she had gotten the drug from Bai Xueying and even drank some hot water to steel her nerves. That hot water was probably the problem — she had been drugged too, which left her groggy and disoriented, causing her to mistake the person.
Shen Qiuqiu’s temples were throbbing. She looked at Gu Zhouye, who gave her a suspicious glance in return.
Shen Qiuqiu spoke up. “Aren’t you going to say something? Aren’t we together?”
Gu Zhouye gave a cold, quiet “Mm.”
Bai Xueying refused to let it go and pressed further. “Even if it’s ‘free love,’ your behavior is still morally problematic.”
Gu Zhouye spoke at last.
“Comrade Shen Qiu accidentally fell into an icy lake while out in the evening. In a moment of emergency, I brought her to the cabin to get warm.”
The smell in the room and the state of the two people — even a fool could tell what had happened. But if Shen Qiu truly refused to admit it, the brigade wouldn’t call the police either. After all, a scandal like this would reflect badly on the entire production brigade. Wang Dayong was in a tough spot.
He glanced at Bai Xueying and spoke with a hint of reproach. “Didn’t you say Comrade Shen Qiu had been assaulted? How do you explain this situation now?”
“Captain, please, let me explain. There’s definitely more to this.”
Wang Dayong left with the group, casting one cold look at Bai Xueying and leaving her with a final remark.
“We’ll report this to the organization tomorrow. Falsely accusing someone carries consequences.”
Bai Xueying hurried after him, desperately trying to explain. Before leaving, she turned back and shot Shen Qiuqiu a vicious glare.
Seeing that they had gone, Shen Qiuqiu quickly shut the door. But the moment she turned around, Gu Zhouye grabbed her arm.
“Shen Qiu, what the hell are you playing at?”
Shen Qiuqiu widened her almond-shaped eyes and looked at Gu Zhouye. The more she looked, the more she felt this villain fit her tastes perfectly — and the key thing was, he was incredibly strong.
“If I had said otherwise, you would have been a rapist. You’d be facing the firing squad.”
Gu Zhouye stared at Shen Qiuqiu, stunned. In his twenty-some years of life, he had experienced countless betrayals — even the people closest to him would turn on him just to survive.
And yet this woman actually cared whether he lived or died?
Shen Qiuqiu looked into the man’s dark, brooding eyes. She suddenly remembered that in the original book, the male lead had said Gu Zhouye held grudges like no one else and was incredibly petty. But after Gu Zhouye got out of prison, he never came after Shen Qiu. Instead, after Shen Qiu died, he was the one who collected her body.
Shen Qiuqiu suddenly grabbed Gu Zhouye’s hand.
“Let’s get back to what we were talking about. I think… since things have already gone this far, we should just own it.”
Gu Zhouye looked at Shen Qiuqiu with deep, probing eyes.
“You want me to accept defeat?”
“Gu Zhouye, what I mean is — let’s just get married.”