Gu Hantian happened to be in the suburbs when he received the call.
After hanging up, he sped to the bus stop at the edge of the speed limit. The moment he parked, he witnessed a scene he would never forget.
The white sports car parked by the roadside was stained with large patches of red, and the ground was also red.
Qiao Man sat on a bench at the stop, an axe and two chainsaws at her feet, with a suspicious red mark on the back of her hand.
Frowning, she used a wet wipe to clean the crimson stain on her hand. The wipe turned red, but the mark on her hand remained.
Realizing this, Qiao Man’s patience gradually wore thin. Her movements grew faster and more frantic, appearing stubborn, obsessive, and tinged with a faint madness… Qiao Man looked up and met Gu Hantian’s gaze.
“You’re here,” she said calmly, her eyes dark and intense. “Do you have bottled water in the car?”
“Yes…”
Gu Hantian’s voice was tight as he brought the water to her.
“Unscrew it,” Qiao Man instructed.
Gu Hantian immediately twisted off the cap and, without waiting for further instructions, began pouring water for her.
Qiao Man lowered her eyes, washing her hands meticulously. Gu Hantian watched the crown of her head, and after a long moment, he stiffly asked, “Where’s Bai Xingyu?”
Qiao Man paused and looked up at him.
“Where is she?” Gu Hantian’s voice was hoarse.
Qiao Man slowly turned her head toward the river nearby.
“Xing Yu!”
The corners of Gu Hantian’s eyes reddened instantly, and the water bottle in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
Then Xing Yu returned from the riverbank.
“What are you shouting for?” Qiao Man looked at him, baffled.
Gu Hantian: “…”
“Can’t even hold a water bottle properly?” Qiao Man noticed her pant leg was wet. “You splashed water on me.”
Gu Hantian’s lips twitched, and he stared at her wordlessly.
“What are you looking at? If you can’t even handle such a small task, do you expect me to praise you?” Qiao Man lifted her chin coldly and arrogantly.
No one had ever dared to speak to him like this. Even Bai Xingyu, whenever her tone turned sharp, he would respond with a cold glare. But now…
Gu Hantian pinched the bridge of his nose, nodding wearily. “My mistake.”
He apologized? Qiao Man had indeed been in a bad mood earlier and only remembered after her outburst that this was the male lead—the person she needed to curry favor with.
She had intended to ease the tension, but he had apologized on his own.
Apologizing voluntarily meant he admitted he was wrong. Since he was the one at fault, why should she bother easing anything?
Qiao Man elegantly smoothed her long hair, waiting for the next part of the plot to unfold.
In the original story, Bai Xingyu had turned back and happened to overhear the female supporting character calling the male lead, but she ignored it and went straight to the Manor.
When she descended from the Mountain Villa, Gu Hantian also appeared at the bus stop. She decided to park her car, leading to the subsequent confrontation and their parting on bad terms.
[Qiao Man sat on the bench at the bus stop, looking travel-worn and pitiful.
Gu Hantian, seeing her state, couldn’t help but confront Bai Xingyu. Qiao Man watched them in silence.
Only when their argument escalated and Bai Xingyu drove away did Qiao Man tug at Gu Hantian’s sleeve.
“Han Tian, don’t argue with Miss Bai because of me. I’d feel guilty.”]
So pretentious, so manipulative.
Qiao Man pulled out another tissue and meticulously wiped her hands.
The problem now was that Bai Xingyu hadn’t followed the original plot to the Manor but had parked directly, leading to events outside the script.
“These…” Gu Hantian breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Bai Xingyu appear completely unharmed, then turned his gaze to her blood-splattered car. “What exactly happened here?”
“Got hit by a paint truck.” Remembering what had just occurred, Bai Xingyu’s tone was unpleasant.
Only then did Gu Hantian notice the pungent odor in the air. Looking at the red stains again, he finally recognized the difference from actual blood.
“Are you alright?” Gu Hantian composed himself to ask.
Bai Xingyu turned her face away. “I wasn’t in the car, what could possibly be wrong with me.”
Gu Hantian nodded, then frowned as he scrutinized her carefully. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he ask: “Where’s the paint truck?”
“Let it go.” Bai Xingyu sounded somewhat irritable.
Gu Hantian furrowed his brows. “Why?”
“Why so many questions?” Bai Xingyu’s voice suddenly rose.
Gu Hantian displeased: “I’m concerned about you, what’s with this attitude?”
“Concerned about me?” Bai Xingyu let out a cold laugh. “Nice words. Did you rush over so quickly because you believed what she said and came specifically to settle accounts with me?”
The ‘she’ mentioned by Bai Xingyu remained silent.
Gu Hantian spun around in place, quite agitated. “If you hadn’t brought this up I’d almost forgotten. Why did you abandon Qiao Man on the roadside? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”
“I didn’t! I dropped her off at the bus stop!” Bai Xingyu flew into a rage. “Besides, even if I did abandon her, so what? It’s my car! I’ll give rides to whoever I want and refuse whoever I don’t!”
“Bai Xingyu!”
“Don’t call me, I don’t want to talk to you!”
Bai Xingyu rushed into her badly damaged car, stepped on the accelerator and sped away, giving Gu Hantian no chance to speak.
Gu Hantian got a mouthful of exhaust fumes. Just as he was feeling irritated, his sleeve was suddenly tugged.
He frowned and turned around.
“Han Tian, don’t argue with Bai because of me. I’d feel guilty.”
System activated, mission accomplished.
Gu Hantian: “…”
On the way back to school, the car was excessively quiet.
Qiao Man relaxed in the passenger seat, completely unaware of any need to lighten the atmosphere, thoroughly enjoying the current silence.
At the third red light, Gu Hantian stopped to wait. After a long silence, he finally asked: “What’s with the axe and chainsaw?”
It took Qiao Man a moment to understand what he meant. “Left behind by someone rushing for the bus. Already contacted the bus company – the next bus will collect them.”
So that’s what it was.
The light turned green. Gu Hantian released the brake.
“Why did you let the paint truck leave?” he asked again.
Qiao Man: “The driver of the paint truck was a woman in her forties who recently had breast cancer surgery.”
Gu Hantian was taken aback.
Remembering what had just happened, a slight smile appeared at the corner of Qiao Man’s lips. “Although Bai gets angry easily, she’s a good person.”
Gu Hantian didn’t respond.
Another red light. Gu Hantian stopped again, quietly watching the endless road ahead.
When they started moving again, he spoke calmly: “If you think she’s a good person, why bully her?”
Qiao Man’s heart stirred as she turned to look at him.
“She said she dropped you off at the bus stop.”
Gu Hantian continued staring at the road ahead, his expression carrying an indescribable calmness that faintly resembled the decisive coldness he would later develop as a business tycoon in the novel.
“Did I bully her?”
In the quiet, Qiao Man slowly spoke.
Gu Hantian glanced at her.
“My phone was indeed turned off, and it was indeed left by the roadside by Bai Xingyu.”
To be precise, it was placed by the roadside—and at her own request. But who says the roadside near a bus stop doesn’t count as the roadside?
“Everything I said was the truth. It’s you who jumped to conclusions, assuming she was being reckless without asking for details, and you immediately cast her as the one at fault. That’s why she reacted so defensively,” Qiao Man lifted her chin with an air of pride. “You’re the one who’s been bullying her.”
A flicker of bewilderment passed through Gu Hantian’s eyes, and he fell into an even longer silence.
As Qiao Man looked at his sharply defined profile, she suddenly thought of Jiang Sui, whose features were much softer.
Considering that the author of this novel was an 18-year-old high school student—possibly even underage when writing this—she tried not to judge the characters’ immature ways of handling situations too harshly.
The words she had just spoken were deliberately evasive and twisted the truth, all to ensure the plot could progress as intended.
But setting aside all those external factors, compared to Jiang Sui, Gu Hantian really fell short as a childhood friend.
Back in sixth grade, her best girl friend, Qiqi, had brought back from abroad a cartoon pen that sparkled and could write in seven different colors.
Qiao Man had just turned twelve the day before and considered herself a mature adult, yet she still found herself drifting over when the girls in class crowded around Qiqi.
“Manman! Come quick and look at my pen!”
Qiqi called out to her happily, deliberately pushing aside the others to make space for her.
Qiao Man sat down with an air of reserve, glanced at the pen in Qiqi’s hand, and commented, “Childish.”
“Are you sure? Open your eyes wide and look at it again before you say that,” Qiqi held the pen up right in front of her.
Only then did Qiao Man notice that the pen had a little bear on it—a silly-looking bear hugging the pen barrel, with an eraser perched on its head.
What kind of pen was this?
Why was there a bear?
Why was the bear holding an eraser?
And it even glowed!
Twelve-year-old Qiao Man hadn’t yet mastered the art of composure; though her face wore an expression of disdain, her eyes were fixed intently on the bear.
“You like it that much?” Jiang Sui leaned in.
Qiao Man pushed his face away. “Not at all.”
“But I think you really do,” Jiang Sui leaned in again.
Qiao Man pushed him away once more. “I don’t like it.”
“You just—”
“Get lost!”
“Okay.” Jiang Sui obediently rolled away.
Qiao Man cleared her throat, about to say something suitably mature and diplomatic.
Qiqi said, “Say you want it, and I’ll let you play with it for a bit.”
“…I want it.”
Qiqi: “Good girl.”
Qiao Man took the pen and returned to her seat, thoroughly satisfied.
She remembered only playing with it during one break and was sure she had returned it. The next morning, when Qiqi tearfully said her pen was missing, Qiao Man even helped search for it. But that evening, right after school ended, she found the pen in her own backpack.
By the time Qiao Man discovered it, a whole day had passed since Qiqi lost the pen.
Because the pen was a limited edition from a famous brand and quite expensive, the matter had escalated all the way to the principal. Almost every student in the class had been questioned by their parents—even Jiang Sui was no exception.
Everyone except her.
Her parents trusted her completely; at most, they would ask if Qiqi’s pen had been found, never probing or hinting at her like other parents did.
And yet, the pen had ended up in her backpack.
Qiao Man’s first instinct was to call Qiqi and return the pen.
But as she picked up her phone, she hesitated.
A whole day had already passed.
She had missed the optimal window.
Returning it now would feel like turning herself in out of a guilty conscience.
Even if Qiqi didn’t think so, what about others? Would they see it that way?
Twelve-year-old Qiao Man believed she was mature enough to shoulder all the pressure like an adult, yet she still lost sleep over a pen that wasn’t hers.
Twelve-year-old Qiqi’s moods shifted as quickly as June weather—overcast one moment, sunny the next. Within twenty-four hours of losing her cartoon pen, she was back to her cheerful, playful self.
The teacher helped search for two days, but seeing that neither Qiqi nor her parents seemed overly concerned, the matter was gradually dropped.
Everything seemed to return to how it was before the pen went missing, but only Qiao Man knew she was trapped.
Jiang Sui was the first to notice something was off. After pressing her repeatedly and getting only evasive answers, he quietly slipped into her room.
When Qiao Man returned to her room after dinner, she found him sitting on her study desk, holding a beautiful, glowing cartoon pen in his hand.
She froze on the spot.
“Is this what’s been bothering you these past few days?”
At twelve, Jiang Sui was still short all over. Sitting on the desk, his feet didn’t even touch the floor, making him look like a little figurine.
Normally, when he took over her desk like this, she would either shoo him off or tease him about his short stature.
But today, she stood frozen in place.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Jiang Sui tilted his head.
Qiao Man stared at him for a long time before her voice suddenly choked up: “I didn’t steal it…”
When she was younger, she had actually been quite the crybaby.
After starting elementary school, she suddenly decided that crying wasn’t cool at all, so she began learning to control her emotions. Gradually, she really did stop crying much.
Jiang Sui couldn’t even remember the last time Qiao Man had cried. Seeing her eyes suddenly redden, he panicked, hopping down from the desk, his hands fluttering nervously, unsure where to put them.
“D-don’t cry! I know you didn’t steal it. How could you ever steal someone else’s things?”
He wiped her tears with his hand, but they only fell faster.
Qiao Man sniffled. “Y-you didn’t see it happen. How can you be so sure I’m not the thief?”
“Because you have me. Whatever you like, whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. Why would you ever need to steal from someone else?”
As he spoke, Jiang Sui pulled out a narrow, beautifully wrapped gift box from his pocket.
He had specially gone to the stationery store near the school to have it wrapped, complete with a pink bow. He had originally intended for Qiao Man to open it herself, but now…
He glanced at her tear-streaked face and decided she probably wasn’t in the mood. So, he tore it open roughly, revealing a brand-new, beautiful cartoon pen.
A glowing pen with a little bear whose head was an eraser—a truly lovely cartoon pen.
Qiao Man stared at the pen, suddenly stunned.
“I specially asked a proxy buyer to get it. It cost me three months’ allowance, and I even had to borrow a bit from my dad,” Jiang Sui said with a hint of helplessness. “For the next few months, I might have to rely on you, my liege, to support me.”
Qiao Man sniffed and took the pen from his hand. “When did you buy this?”
“The day you said Qiqi’s pen was pretty.” Seeing she had stopped crying, Jiang Sui breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “This one is a limited edition among limited editions—super rare, totally out of print. It can record and play music. It’s way better than hers.”
Qiao Man touched the pen but still didn’t feel much better.
Jiang Sui pulled her to sit by the bed. Seeing she remained motionless after sitting down, he helped her take off her shoes, then hopped onto the bed himself to discuss the matter with her face-to-face.
Qiao Man clutched a pen in her hand, pouring out all her worries from the past few days before finally covering her eyes in distress.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Jiang Sui laughed: “Such a trivial matter isn’t worth all this anguish.”
Qiao Man lowered her hands and looked at him unhappily: “You talk as if you have a solution.”
Leaning against the pillow while hugging the rabbit he’d given Qiao Man when he was ten, Jiang Sui analyzed the current situation for her.
“It’s simple – this matter is already over in class. Qiqi and her parents don’t intend to pursue it further, so just act like nothing happened and carry on as usual. If you feel guilty, give me the pen. I’ll help you destroy the evidence, or I can secretly slip it into Qiqi’s backpack to make her think she was just careless and the pen was never actually lost.”
Qiao Man frowned.
Jiang Sui’s lips curved upward, his still-childish face already hinting at the handsome features to come.
He said with a smile: “But I still hope you’ll go find Qiqi and explain everything to her face-to-face.”
“Why?” Qiao Man bit her lip.
Jiang Sui explained: “Because if you hide this, you’ll definitely feel guilty and conscience-stricken. You won’t be able to interact with her as naturally as before. Over time, you might lose this friend. And whenever you meet her in the future, you won’t be able to stand tall.”
This was quite a serious matter – a queen should always be open and forthright, decisive in her actions.
“But if I go to her, what if she thinks I stole it?” Qiao Man countered. “Wouldn’t we still end up not being friends?”
Jiang Sui said: “But you still have me.”
Qiao Man froze.
“Look at my dad – after earning his first bucket of gold, he saved his initial startup capital. After that, he only used profits for business. The business might succeed or fail, but as long as that principal remains, theoretically he never actually suffers losses.”
Jiang Sui patted her head. “I’m your principal. Your other friends, though genuine like me, may come and go – that’s normal. You might sometimes feel frustrated by their coming and going, but as long as I’m here, you might not gain, but you can’t lose either. If you’re not going to lose anything, what are you afraid of? Just do what you need to do.”
Qiao Man fell silent.
“Besides, I don’t think Qiqi would cut ties with you over such a small matter. Can’t you be more optimistic?” Jiang Sui tossed the rabbit to her.
Qiao Man caught the rabbit, held it for a long time, then decided to confess to Qiqi.
She originally planned to wait until school the next day to find Qiqi, but Jiang Sui jumped off her bed.
“No more delays – your dark circles are practically hitting the floor. You must resolve this tonight, then get a good sleep and continue being the queen.”
Saying this, he forcibly pulled her outside.
Not wanting to alert the adults, he quietly wheeled out his bicycle and took her to find Qiqi.
It was late summer, and the weather was still quite hot.
Jiang Sui pedaled with Qiao Man for nearly half an hour before finally reaching the building where Qiqi lived.
As Qiao Man went upstairs, she glanced back at Jiang Sui once more.
Jiang Sui shook his head, sweat droplets flying everywhere, some landing on Qiao Man.
“So much sweat.” She stepped back disdainfully.
Jiang Sui stretched lazily: “Give me a break, little ancestor. Who did I do this for anyway?”
Qiao Man snorted softly and went alone to find Qiqi.
Jiang Sui didn’t accompany her, waiting downstairs by himself.
By the time his sweat had dried, Qiao Man finally came downstairs with red-rimmed eyes, holding Qiqi’s cartoon pen in her hand.
Jiang Sui stood up, watching her quietly.
Qiao Man rubbed her eyes: “Jiang Sui.”
“Hmm.”
“You were right, I should be more optimistic,” she said with a sob.
Jiang Sui knew she hadn’t finished speaking and didn’t interrupt.
After taking several deep breaths, Qiao Man finally stabilized her emotions: “This was put in my backpack by Qiqi. She bought two – this one was for me, the one that got lost was the other one…”
This pen had been Qiqi’s surprise for her all along. She had just delayed giving feedback for too long, then Qiqi lost the pen and forgot about the whole matter.
She had been worrying unnecessarily all along.
Jiang Sui laughed and whistled at her.
Qiao Man laughed too, then felt embarrassed and refused to look at him.
On the way back, Qiao Man who hadn’t slept well for days was suddenly overcome with drowsiness. She leaned against Jiang Sui’s back, the faint scent of his sweat lingering at her nose.
“Jiang Sui.”
“Hmm?”
“What if I really had stolen that pen?” Her voice was slurred with exhaustion.
Jiang Sui answered immediately without apparent thought: “Then you’d be amazing. Getting what you want immediately – such initiative. You could be a big boss someday.”
“…Stop joking, I’m serious,” Qiao Man pinched his waist, successfully making the bicycle swerve before continuing, “If I were a thief, would you still be friends with me?”
Jiang Sui didn’t speak.
After waiting a long time without getting an answer, Qiao Man was about to pinch him again when she heard him say leisurely: “So you didn’t listen to a single word I said earlier, huh?”
“Huh?”
“I’m your capital, baby. Even if you were a thief, even if you were a murderer, I’d have to help pass you the knife and help you dispose of the body. How could I possibly ignore you just because you stole a pen?”
Jiang Sui started laughing at his own words, “And to be honest, when I was looking for a purchasing agent, I already thought – if we can’t buy it, I’ll pressure Qiqi. If she won’t give it, I’ll steal it for you. So instead of worrying about whether I’d ignore you if you were a thief, you should think about whether you’d ignore me if I were one.”
“…Where are your principles? And who are you calling baby?”
“Don’t pinch! Principles? Little Qiao Man ate them all when we were three… Ouch, stop pinching!”
Jiang Sui yelped in pain and quickly stood up to pedal. Qiao Man almost fell off the back seat, barely stabilizing herself by grabbing his seat.
“You’re insane,” Qiao Man laughed and cursed, raising her hands to let the wind rush through them.
The sky had completely darkened. The boy rode his bicycle under the overpass, the late summer wind billowing his shirt. When Qiao Man looked up, she could see sweat beads on the back of his neck.
Of this memory, many details had faded from Qiao Man’s mind, but she clearly remembered the sweat on Jiang Sui’s neck that day.
Beep beep.
The car honked twice, bringing Qiao Man back to the present. She glanced at Gu Hantian who was driving.
Hmm, nowhere near as good as Jiang Sui.
The holiday wasn’t over yet, but it seemed like all the folks across the country had poured out of their homes.
Gu Hantian’s SUV was imposing, but the moment it entered the city center, it felt awkwardly stuck between advancing and retreating.
The car inched forward like a snail, and Qiao Man began to ponder whether getting off at this moment would affect the male lead’s already limited goodwill toward her, thereby impacting the subsequent plot.
Just as she was deep in thought, Gu Hantian suddenly spoke: “You’re right. I’m the one who bullied her.”
“Hmm, then remember to apologize,” Qiao Man replied dismissively.
But Gu Hantian suddenly fell silent.
Qiao Man looked at him in confusion, and upon noticing his unnatural expression, raised an eyebrow: “Is apologizing difficult?”
“Isn’t it?” Gu Hantian retorted.
Qiao Man thought for a moment but hadn’t reached a conclusion when her phone vibrated.
It was Jiang Sui: Are you back yet?
Qiao Man: Yes.
Jiang Sui: Want to have dinner together tonight? I reserved a restaurant.
Qiao Man: ???
Qiao Man: You only told me after making the reservation?
Jiang Sui: I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I was wrong. I’ll never do it again… Please forgive me this time and grace me with your presence for some French cuisine?
Qiao Man stared at Jiang Sui’s message for a long time before looking up and taunting Gu Hantian: “If you think apologizing is hard, what kind of man are you?”
Gu Hantian: “?”
Two days at the Manor felt like a lifetime. By the time she got out of Gu Hantian’s car, Qiao Man felt every muscle in her body relax.
She smiled as she watched Gu Hantian drive away. Just as she was about to enter the school gate, a car honked behind her.
Qiao Man turned and slipped into the car.
“Changed cars again?” she remarked with mild sarcasm.
“Thinking about how I won’t be able to spend money so freely after returning to the real world, I can’t help but splurge,” Jiang Sui said, steering with one hand in the opposite direction of Gu Hantian. “What’s with you? You didn’t even check who was in the car before getting in. Weren’t you afraid of getting into the wrong one?”
“Who else would be so inconsiderate as to honk at the school gate?” Qiao Man retorted.
Jiang Sui thought about it and agreed—after all, he was indeed that lacking in manners.
It was still early afternoon, far from dinner time, so the two decided to catch a movie first.
By the time they left the cinema, the timing was just right. Jiang Sui followed behind Qiao Man, strolling leisurely toward the restaurant when he suddenly stopped halfway.
“Huh?”
Qiao Man paused and turned to find him staring at a shop window.
“Isn’t this the pen you loved most in elementary school?” Jiang Sui pointed at the cartoon pens displayed in the window.
It was the same brand, and the design was somewhat similar, but not quite the same.
Her two pens were prettier than any of these.
Qiao Man: “I never liked such childish things.”
Jiang Sui paused, then suddenly flashed a mischievous smile.
“…I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” Qiao Man turned and walked away.
Jiang Sui followed at a leisurely pace: “Really, you don’t like them?”
“No,” Qiao Man replied without looking back.
“Who was it that cried and begged me to buy them for her, saying she’d be my willing servant if I did?” Jiang Sui asked.
Qiao Man stopped and protested, “Who begged you? You were the one who insisted on buying them for me.”
“Why would I insist on buying them for you?” Jiang Sui countered.
Qiao Man: “Because I lik—”
Her voice cut off abruptly.
“Like what?” Jiang Sui feigned ignorance, looking both handsome and irritating under the mall lights.
Qiao Man stared at him for a long moment before suddenly shifting her gaze to a shop window diagonally ahead of him.
Jiang Sui followed her line of sight and discovered it was a sex shop.
The small shop was lit with stereotypical pink lighting. Due to size constraints, the window display only featured unremarkable small whips along with some discounted medication information. Though inconspicuous in the bright shopping mall, people occasionally entered.
“You’re interested in these now?” Jiang Sui was still staring.
Just as Qiao Man was about to speak, Gu Hantian sent a message – the registration page for the Caisson Model Design Competition.
Gu Hantian: Joining?
Jiang Sui leaned over to look: “Who’s messaging you?”
Qiao Man put away her phone and suddenly said: “You should exercise more recently.”
Jiang Sui withdrew his gaze and looked at her in confusion.
Qiao Man patted his shoulder sympathetically: “Only with a good physique can you endure it.”
Jiang Sui: “?”