Amid the buzzing sound, Qiao Sheng skillfully held the hairdryer in one hand while combing through her long hair with the other, tilting her head to dry it.
The warm air from the hairdryer diffused the fragrance of the shampoo, spreading it to every corner of the cramped space.
Gu Huo gazed intently at Qiao Sheng’s delicate cheeks, half-hidden by her messy long hair and flushed slightly from the heat.
It seemed she truly didn’t need him.
He silently turned and returned to his room.
Sitting at the makeshift desk formed by an old bedside table.
The bedside table was low—even a primary school student would find it cramped to lean over, let alone someone as tall and long-legged as him?
All inconveniences eventually became trivial matters, gradually accepted as “just the way things are.”
Gu Huo sat on a low stool, leaning against the bed, his long legs slightly bent, head bowed, his thick and elegant lashes concealing the astonishment in his eyes.
In truth, he had sensed that “she seemed like a different person” ever since Qiao Sheng’s hunger strike.
But the reasons she gave were perfectly reasonable—a person’s transformation often happens at a moment unnoticed by others.
Though he found it incredible, he hadn’t dwelled on it.
But after a few days of living together, his doubts had only grown.
Apart from her appearance, he could hardly find any trace of the former Qiao Sheng in the current one.
Even some habits had changed.
The old Qiao Sheng used to smack her lips while eating, and despite being an adult, she often spilled rice grains.
The current Qiao Sheng ate quietly and elegantly. Gu Huo had secretly observed her—her movements were natural, with no signs of deliberate restraint.
The old Qiao Sheng only bothered to tidy herself up when going out, completely indifferent to the mess at home, which often resembled a garbage dump.
The current Qiao Sheng was exceptionally clean, keeping her room spotless. She no longer wore makeup when going out, abandoning her old habit of prioritizing style over warmth. Instead, she wore thick, bulky clothes and smiled more often than before.
Unlike her past flattering or half-smirking expressions, her smiles now, even when faint, felt warm and carried a certain captivating power, like rare sunlight piercing into dark corners, making it hard to look away.
She… was not her.
The accumulated sense of unfamiliarity over the past few days surged intensely at this moment.
Gu Huo was puzzled.
Could she really have been possessed?
Or perhaps due to some absurd and unbelievable reasons like time travel, reincarnation, being struck by lightning, or falling under a curse?
He furrowed his brows slightly.
Apart from those far-fetched possibilities that could cause a drastic change in personality, Gu Huo had another explanation that could be justified by science.
That was, at some unknown time, Qiao Sheng’s mental state had become abnormal, splitting into another personality entirely different from the original one…
The buzzing sound in the living room stopped.
Someone gently knocked twice on his slightly ajar door.
Her freshly dried hair fell loosely over her shoulders as Qiao Sheng smiled and greeted him, “I’m going to sleep. You should rest early too.”
She hadn’t intended to disturb him, but a casual glance revealed he was lost in thought, prompting her to say hello.
Gu Huo nodded, “Mm, got it.”
Qiao Sheng’s figure vanished outside the door.
Gu Huo stared blankly at the doorway.
The sound of the neighboring door softly closing reached his ears.
He turned his head, looking at the new coat on the bed. After feeling grateful, an indescribable sense of unease and panic began to stir within him.
She was striving to be independent.
If things continued like this, perhaps she would soon no longer need him…
Yet in his life, there was only her.
Whether it was the Qiao Sheng who used to exhaust him or the considerate Qiao Sheng now.
She made him certain every minute and every second that he was not alone in this world.
Especially in the past few days, it felt as if he had returned to the time when his grandmother was still alive.
Home was always warm and comfortable.
After depending on each other for years, they truly seemed to have become indispensable family to one another.
With her there, he seemed to have a home.
He could ignore who she was.
As long as she remained by his side as she always had.
But what if one day…
Gu Huo’s eyes darkened, faintly churning with a terrifying obsession.
That day would never come. He would never allow it.
…
The creative studio worked until New Year’s Eve, with the holiday starting on the first day of the new year.
Qiao Sheng rushed to deliver the goods on the last day.
Express delivery had already stopped, and orders placed would have to wait until after the new year, when logistics resumed, to be shipped. Later, the studio said there was no need to rush—she could deliver them after the holiday started.
But Qiao Sheng couldn’t afford to wait. After all, only when the money was truly in her hands would she feel secure.
She wanted to go early and return early so she could still make it back to help Gu Huo prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner.
How could she have the nerve to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor?
Speaking of which, on such an important day, even though it was just the two of them, Gu Huo always tried to make the table as abundant as possible with delicious food every year.
He would busy himself alone in the kitchen, and only after repeatedly urging would the original host reluctantly sit at the table, picking and choosing, complaining about this and that.
It was precisely because she lacked gratitude, believing that everything Gu Huo did was taken for granted, that the original host, as the malicious female supporting character, met such a tragic end.
Qiao Sheng realized that she had a sense of shame, gratitude, and normal values. Even if she lived blindly, she would never follow the same path as the original host.
She felt deeply relieved.
The studio was located in a nearby office building, just four stops away—not too far.
Qiao Sheng put on her thick down jacket, pulled on a hat, wrapped a scarf tightly around her neck twice, and then picked up the shoebox containing the goods before heading out.
As she had done for the past three days, she called out to Gu Huo, “I’m heading out.”
Gu Huo misunderstood.
He thought in surprise, if he wasn’t mistaken, today was New Year’s Eve?
Could it be that she was going out to distribute flyers today too??
They were poor, but at the moment, they weren’t so poor that they had no food to cook.
And if they really had nothing to eat, wasn’t he there?
He would endure hardship himself but never let her suffer.
Over the years, he had always done just that.
Unlike before, when it was out of a sense of duty, he now genuinely wanted to do his best to treat her well.
Apart from his cheap sincerity, he had nothing else.
If she didn’t mind, he would give it all to her.
She… the current her, was worth it.
“Where are you going?”
“Just delivering something. It won’t take too long.”
At this point, Qiao Sheng showed a hint of shyness. “Do we still have any spare ribs at home?”
Last time, Gu Huo had braised spare ribs, and it had left Qiao Sheng longing for more.
It was so delicious!
So delicious she could have swallowed her tongue.
What bothered Qiao Sheng the most was that the leftover sauce from the dish had been thrown away.
Every time she thought about it, she felt heartbroken.
What a waste of such a treasure.
She couldn’t even imagine how delicious it would have been to eat rice soaked in that enticingly colored rib sauce!
Even if she was full, just for that bit of rib soup, she could still eat another bowl!
Unfortunately, she was too shy to do so in front of Gu Huo… Ah, thinking about it now still hurts.