The scene had long ended. Seeing Qiao Man remain silent, Jiang Sui asked again, “Shall we go?”
His breath was scorching, his gaze toward her revealing undisguised desire.
Qiao Man felt stirred by his look, her body warming in response.
Although their marriage had failed, although even a kiss between them usually felt awkward, she had to admit they were remarkably compatible in bed. So much so that for a long time, she failed to notice the major flaws in their marriage due to their overly harmonious sex life.
And now, it had been one year and four months since they last slept together.
As a healthy adult woman with desires, after such a long dry spell, it was truly difficult to refuse an invitation from her capable ex-husband.
“Really not coming?” Jiang Sui clearly noticed her hesitation.
The word “coming” was on the tip of her tongue, but Qiao Man decided to push him away.
Jiang Sui chuckled, using her push as momentum to roll to the side, collapsing on the sofa to slowly calm down.
A new prelude had begun, this time a gentle ballad. The “singer” facing the karaoke screen sounded like they were about to cry.
Qiao Man lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, evidently still recovering from the lingering sensations.
The raspy singing filled every inch of the private room, yet the corner of the sofa seemed isolated. The two lay quietly half-reclined, able to clearly hear each other’s breathing.
To distract himself, Jiang Sui randomly brought up a topic: “Actually, I don’t quite understand this part of the plot.”
“What?” Qiao Man responded absentmindedly.
Jiang Sui: “Didn’t I like Bai Xingyu?”
Although she knew the “I” he referred to was the male supporting character, Qiao Man still frowned upon hearing him say this.
“Mm, and then?” she countered.
Jiang Sui: “If I like Bai Xingyu, why would I force a kiss on you?”
“Because she knows I like Gu Hantian and feels jealous of me. You were helping her vent her anger,” Qiao Man explained.
Hearing this, Jiang Sui remained silent for three seconds before saying: “When we discuss the plot, can we use third-person pronouns?”
Qiao Man: “?”
“Using ‘I’ all the time gives me too much immersion, as if I actually did those stupid things,” Jiang Sui said sincerely.
Qiao Man: “…” Well, right now, you did do them.
But since he brought it up, she had no reason to object.
Seeing her tacit agreement, Jiang Sui continued: “The jealousy was the female lead’s personal issue. What does it have to do with the female supporting character? If the male supporting character insists on revenge, he should target the male lead who made the female lead jealous.”
“He’ll cause trouble for the male lead later, but for now, he just happened to encounter the female supporting character.”
Jiang Sui: “Fine, let’s say the female supporting character was unlucky. But with so many ways to get revenge, why choose forced kissing?”
“Because he’s morally bankrupt,” Qiao Man said.
Jiang Sui: “…”
“You know, villains often lack logic and tend to be involved in all kinds of vices,” Qiao Man shrugged.
Jiang Sui frowned: “So later I’ll also get into gambling and drugs?”
“Not exactly. Just focused on the indecent stuff.”
Jiang Sui: “…”
Qiao Man turned her head, looking at him for the first time since the kiss: “Any other questions?”
Jiang Sui also turned his head, still collapsed on the sofa as he met her gaze: “No more.”
Qiao Man stood up: “Alright, let’s go then.”
The plot was complete, and there was no need to stay any longer in the private room full of drunks and singing prodigies.
Yet Jiang Sui remained motionless.
Qiao Man raised an eyebrow slightly, urging him with her eyes.
“Wait a bit longer,” Jiang Sui was still sprawled on the sofa, “I need to wait for it to go down.”
Qiao Man instinctively glanced downward, and after seeing it, she was speechless for three seconds before sitting back down on the sofa. “Then hurry up.”
“Can’t rush it,” Jiang Sui replied with utter resignation, “I’m in a twenty-year-old body now, full of vigor and vitality.”
Qiao Man: “…Then use your hands and make it go down quickly.”
The smell of alcohol in the room was becoming increasingly unbearable, and she didn’t want to stay there any longer.
Jiang Sui lifted his eyes lazily and said, “There are so many people here. I’m not actually a pervert.”
“…And holding it up like that isn’t perverted?” Qiao Man retorted, exasperated.
Jiang Sui thought for a moment and agreed. After a brief pause, he looked at her and said, “Do me a favor, pour me a glass of water, preferably with some ice.”
Qiao Man had no choice but to go out and fetch him water.
When she returned with a large glass of ice water, Jiang Sui was still sprawled casually on the sofa.
Qiao Man stepped over one drunk after another on the floor and handed him the glass carelessly. A piece of ice floating on the surface splashed out and landed directly on his pants zipper.
“Ouch,” Jiang Sui hissed lightly, “Can you be a bit gentler?”
“Stop complaining and drink quickly,” Qiao Man urged.
Jiang Sui reluctantly took the water. “With this attitude of yours, if there’s another scene like this, I won’t act with you.”
“Next time?” Qiao Man mocked, “Wishful thinking.”
“No more?” Jiang Sui looked up.
Qiao Man: “No more.”
Jiang Sui: “Liar.”
Qiao Man: “…”
“This is only our second meeting, and it’s already escalated to a forced kiss. How can we pretend nothing happened when we meet again?” Jiang Sui began speculating about the plot. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even if we start off as adversaries, we’ll eventually cooperate to break up the male and female leads. You just said the male supporting character always stirs up trouble, so…”
“Why do you talk so much nonsense?” Qiao Man interrupted directly.
Jiang Sui stared at her for a moment, then silently covered his collar, putting on the act of a chaste and virtuous man. “Following the plot is one thing, but selling my body is out of the question.”
Qiao Man: “…”
Just moments ago, someone had repeatedly invited her to continue elsewhere.
The chaste and virtuous man continued drinking his ice water. After a long while, the situation finally became less obvious.
The singer, heartbroken, grabbed the last bottle of baijiu on the table and started chugging it.
Two minutes later, he collapsed on the floor with a thud.
Jiang Sui: “?”
Qiao Man: “…”
Say what you will, but the people in this novel were truly all a bit unhinged.
By the time they left the bar, it was already 1 a.m.
It was late September, and the autumn heat had finally subsided. The wind carried a slight chill.
Qiao Man was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and her arms quickly grew cold. Jiang Sui glanced at her and randomly stopped a passerby.
“How much for the jacket you’re wearing?” he asked, exuding the air of a nouveau riche.
The passerby was taken aback, cursed “Are you crazy?” and walked away.
“It seems there are normal people in this novel too,” Qiao Man remarked with a smile.
No sooner had she spoken than the person turned back. “Five thousand. Buying?”
Qiao Man: “…”
Jiang Sui: “Payment code.”
Passerby: “…” Damn, I should’ve asked for more.
Wearing the jacket Jiang Sui had bought for a whopping five thousand, Qiao Man glanced at the tag on the sleeve. “It’s actually a brand from the real world.”
“It’s not strange for there to be the same brands, since the novel world is generated based on the real world. Didn’t that person just use WeChat to receive payment too?” Jiang Sui chimed in leisurely.
“True.”
Qiao Man nodded, recalling that the original novel’s female supporting character worked so hard just to buy a pair of LV cufflinks for the male lead.
Walking one after the other, they soon reached Jiang Sui’s car.
“Bugatti?” Qiao Man raised an eyebrow.
Jiang Sui replied modestly, “Family owns mines, so I have to spend money desperately.”
Looking at the sleek black sports car, Qiao Man felt envious: “Why can’t I be the male supporting character?”
“Probably because the male supporting character has to be male first?” Jiang Sui laughed, opening the passenger door. “At this hour, the dorms are already closed. Come to my place, it’s closer to campus.”
“You rented off-campus?” Qiao Man asked.
Jiang Sui: “I bought one.”
Qiao Man: “…”
Jiang Sui: “Four hundred square meters, fully furnished, triple aspect with southern exposure.”
Now Qiao Man wasn’t just jealous, but also developing some resentment toward the wealthy: “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to live off-campus?”
“Well, I’m not living there. The dorm is just too small, no place to put some things, so I bought it for storage.” Jiang Sui leaned against the car, hips casually tilted. “So, are you getting in or not?”
“No,” Qiao Man refused, pointing to the nearby hotel. “I booked two nights, staying here tonight.”
Jiang Sui paused for a moment, immediately understanding her intention: “You plan to keep working here?”
“Yeah, a few more days.” Qiao Man said.
After today’s incident, the manager probably wouldn’t dare fire her. If he did, she’d just call Jiang Sui over to borrow his authority again.
But she didn’t plan to work long-term anyway – it affected sleep and interfered with studies. Doing it too long would mean putting the cart before the horse.
She intended to work until this story arc ended.
“I’ll stop working right before the National Day holiday,” she gave a specific date.
Today was September 24th, six days before the holiday. She planned to work until the 29th.
Jiang Sui nodded: “It’s getting late, get some rest early.”
Qiao Man hummed in agreement and turned toward the hotel.
The hotel near the bar street was also filled with vibrant, luxurious atmosphere. A small fountain stood in front of the lobby, featuring a two-meter tall white crane as its centerpiece.
When Qiao Man approached the crane, the fountain’s motion-sensor lights suddenly turned on, and the water flow transformed from a trickling stream into a rushing curtain of water.
Out of habit, Qiao Man glanced back and saw Jiang Sui still standing by his car, apparently waiting for her to enter before leaving.
She stopped walking, seeming to struggle with something.
Jiang Sui waited patiently until she turned back toward him before asking: “Something else?”
“Before coming today, I was planning to send you a message.” She looked at the empty road, avoiding his eyes.
Hearing this, a slight smile touched Jiang Sui’s lips.
If it were anyone else standing before her, they might interpret her words as yielding, as seeking reconciliation, as regretting their prolonged argument and cold war. They might think she felt partially at fault and was indirectly apologizing.
But that would be anyone else.
And standing before her now was Jiang Sui.
A queen never yields, nor does she ever believe herself to be wrong.
Having served the queen for years, Xiao Suizi didn’t need to deliberately interpret her meaning to understand what she meant.
“If there’s another situation like this in the future, Your Majesty must promptly send this humble servant a message. I swear to serve you with the loyalty of a dog or horse, absolutely won’t commit any stupid acts that disrupt the plot again, and will never casually lose my temper with Your Majesty again.”
Jiang Sui performed an exaggerated sleeve flourish, making a mock kneeling gesture.
The movement was both annoying and provocatively cheeky, but because of his pleasant appearance—tall yet slender—it carried a certain charm.
Qiao Man gave him a dignified glance and stated: “Noted.”
By the time they returned to the hotel, it was already past midnight. After showering and drying her hair, Qiao Man lay down on the bed before remembering she hadn’t released someone from her blacklist yet.
She rolled over onto her stomach, granting someone their parole.
The very second their communication rights were restored, Jiang Sui sent a message.
It was just a ‘1’.
Qiao Man replied with a question mark.
Jiang Sui immediately sent back a red envelope—the exact amount she had transferred to him last time, down to the last cent.
Qiao Man snorted softly and reluctantly accepted it.
Jiang Sui responded: This humble subject thanks Your Majesty for your gracious mercy.
A slight smile touched Qiao Man’s lips as she tossed her phone aside.
In his 400-square-meter luxury apartment with triple-aspect sunlight, Jiang Sui also threw his phone aside.
Since he hadn’t locked the screen in time, the chat interface scrolled upward slightly, revealing rows of red exclamation marks preceding numerous ‘1’s.
On her way to the bar the next day, Qiao Man imagined various ways the manager might react upon seeing her and prepared countermeasures.
But the manager never showed up.
“Said he drank too much and got gastroenteritis,” Zhou Zhou explained quietly. “The doctor ordered him to stay hospitalized for at least a week.”
Qiao Man only had five days left at the bar at most.
“Anyway, only you, me and him knew about yesterday’s incident. Since he didn’t fire you, just keep coming as usual,” Zhou Zhou added.
Noticing Zhou Zhou’s sly expression, Qiao Man raised an eyebrow: “Aren’t you afraid he’ll take it out on you when he returns?”
“Let him be angry if he wants. I plan to quit after this week anyway. The money here is good, but there’s too much shady business. That bastard was the worst—yesterday he actually had people watch me to prevent me from calling the police to help you. Thankfully heaven has eyes, you’re fine while he ended up in the hospital.”
After saying this, Zhou Zhou clasped her hands together in sincere prayer: “I hope something bad happens to the manager.”
Qiao Man stared at her speechlessly.
When Zhou Zhou finished praying and met her gaze, she suddenly felt slightly embarrassed: “Am I being too vicious?”
Qiao Man thought for a moment, then imitated her hand-clasping gesture: “I hope something happens to the manager.”
Zhou Zhou burst into laughter.
With Eyeglasses Man hospitalized, even the air in the bar felt fresher. Qiao Man’s part-time work went unusually smoothly, and there were no troubles at school either. The only thing worth worrying about was that uncompleted plot point.
So far, the plot had been delayed for nearly ten days. Financial losses were becoming more frequent, and the dangers encountered grew increasingly severe. Although she’d managed to avoid them all so far, there would inevitably come a time when she couldn’t.
More importantly, according to the original story, Gu Hantian would invite the female supporting character to his birthday banquet before the holiday. If she hadn’t raised his favorability enough before the National Day break began, the birthday banquet plot would also fail.
Time was tight. Relying solely on badmouthing Jiang Sui to gain favor was far from sufficient. She needed to complete the Back Alley plot before the holiday started.
September 29th, one day before the holiday.
“If all else fails, let Zhang Zishuai make a cameo as the villain,” Jiang Sui suggested helpfully. “That guy can basically play himself.”
Qiao Man immediately refused: “No, he still has plot relevance later. Gu Hantian can’t see this scene.”
“What plot does he have later?” Jiang Sui asked.
Qiao Man: “He helps you get the female lead by slipping aphrodisiac into her drink.”
“…He really dares to think and act.” Jiang Sui’s expression was complicated.
Qiao Man glanced at him, concealing the fact that the drink was actually consumed by the supporting female character.
That was an exceptionally steamy chapter—the original author revised it for three days but it still got locked, making them so angry they directly posted it on Weibo… Speaking of which, since it’s already locked, do she and Jiang Sui still need to follow that plot?
…Future matters can be dealt with later. For now, they should focus on solving the current predicament.
“I have an idea,” Qiao Man slowly began.
Jiang Sui looked at her, awaiting her brilliant suggestion.
“To prevent any more plot deviations,” Qiao Man carefully phrased, “I think we’d better use the original actor.”
Jiang Sui: “?”
At 9:30 PM, Jing Da dormitory would close in half an hour.
Most students had already returned to their rooms. The snack street three meters beyond Jing Da’s Back Alley gradually quieted down, leaving only scattered trash and vendors calculating their earnings while packing up.
The Back Alley streetlight remained broken and unrepaired, flickering intermittently, casting an eerie glow over the already dark alley.
Huang Mao swung a bag of buy-one-get-half-price chicken bones while sauntering through the alley, talking on Bluetooth.
“Yeah, just bought some food heading to the internet cafe. The new female attendant there’s not bad—I’m planning to chase her.”
Huang Mao grinned while speaking when footsteps suddenly echoed behind him. He instinctively turned to look.
No one.
“Ah, nothing,” Huang Mao frowned under the flickering streetlight and continued walking. “How could she be hard to get? Those types of girls are desperate—I just need to crook my finger.”
Footsteps sounded again. He whirled around.
“The injury? Almost healed, just some bruising left. Damn, if I find those two trashbags, I’ll definitely destroy them.”
Huang Mao sneered as the streetlight suddenly went out.
Three seconds later, when it relit, two trashbags stood properly dressed in his sight.
Gu Hantian had just showered and laid on his bed preparing to check his phone when he received a message from an unfamiliar number.
Though not entirely unfamiliar—this number had texted him on enrollment day too.
177********: Gu Hantian you motherf*cker#2$% I waited for you half the day at the library#￥%^ but you never showed.
Gu Hantian: “…”
177********: #￥%…^&* School back alley! Whoever doesn’t come is a coward!
One minute later, Gu Hantian stormed out with a dark expression.
“Hantian, where are you going?” Xiao Chen asked curiously.
Gu Hantian: “Finding someone!”