On the first Wednesday after university started, Ruan Xingmian was fortunate enough to wake up naturally.
Deep down, she was lazy.
After her savings hit seven digits, she refused to get out of bed unless she woke up naturally.
Even when accepting advertisements, she only picked the ones she liked.
She would never let work interfere with her sleep.
Now that her bank balance was zero, she couldn’t afford to laze around. Yawning, she got up to wash up. While brushing her teeth, she looked at the twenty-year-old Ruan Xingmian in the mirror and whispered firmly to motivate herself: “You have eight years. By your twenty-eighth birthday, your savings must reach a hundred million!”
The longer she slept, the more she dreamed of the original owner’s real-life scenes.
That girl never refused anything, accepting advertisements until her hands were sore.
Plus, she knew how to package herself, making her outings as grand as those of a third-rate celebrity.
With her Granny Gray hair, she smiled radiantly.
This month, after a few livestreams, her income doubled compared to before.
The comments mocking her as a country bumpkin had decreased.
Because she had become prettier, with a confident and poised demeanor.
Netizens began attacking her, calling her a low-tier internet celebrity who copied celebrities by getting cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery.
A twenty-year-old soul was at the age to stand her ground.
She caught that Black fan on the spot and performed a “hand-tearing” of her facial features to prove her Mother-born face.
Then, she read out the Black fan’s nickname and started a countdown in the livestream: “I’ll give you three minutes to delete your account and run. You brought people to my livestream to spread rumors about me. After three minutes, I’ll bring people to your account and add you as a friend. We’re all Flesh mortal bodies, born and raised by mothers. I don’t believe I can’t spread rumors about you too?”
Someone in the livestream called her petty.
She immediately turned hostile: “We’re all human. If she won’t let me off, why should I let her off?”
That one livestream directly gained her two hundred thousand followers.
She wondered if they were all Black fans.
After such a long dream, Ruan Xingmian was so exhausted she kept dry-heaving.
She had no appetite at all.
She didn’t forget to turn on the camera to record the most authentic moments.
To save time,
she planned to collect footage for Short Videos about prenatal checkups as well.
After finishing the theme of renovating the rental apartment, she would naturally transition to the theme of prenatal checkups and relationships.
Between these two themes, Ruan Xingmian decided to end each episode with a carefully designed dinner.
To highlight the central theme—Simple tea and plain rice, beautiful life.
She knew how to cook many dishes.
Using food as a common thread could increase Fan stickiness.
Thinking of food, Ruan Xingmian made a spontaneous decision.
She would buy groceries and cook a meal for Big Aunt.
Even though she insisted on running away from home, Big Aunt’s family hadn’t asked for her key back.
Once the nausea subsided, Ruan Xingmian drank half a glass of warm water.
Typing with one hand, she replied to Gu Xing’s message.
Remembering how he had dropped her off at the rental apartment last night,
he scratched his head and stammered, “I’ve never been in a relationship before. If there’s anything… I’m not doing well…”
Under the streetlight, his gaze was sincere, like a clear stream—transparent and free of impurities.
“You say, I’ll change.”
Ruan Xingmian looked into his eyes and immediately made a request, “Open your WeChat, go to my chat page.”
Gu Xing did as told.
Ruan Xingmian glanced and saw there were no unread messages, meaning Gu Xing had seen the photo but hadn’t replied.
She didn’t ask why he hadn’t replied but continued her request: “Type ‘pretty’ and send it to me.”
At such a close distance, she clearly saw Gu Xing’s eyelashes trembling.
After sending it, he looked up at her.
Ruan Xingmian nodded in satisfaction: “Also, like my Moments post.”
She patiently explained, “You don’t know how much I look forward to your messages every moment.”
Love was never a one-person show. She needed Gu Xing to take the initiative first, so she could let go of her inhibitions and become more proactive herself.
He held his phone, thinking carefully, weighing his words for a long time before replying, “Sorry, I’ll remember.”
He treated not replying to messages and not taking the initiative to reach out as a mistake in love that needed solving.
Early this morning.
At exactly 5:30, Ruan Xingmian received her first “good morning” message.
From the recognized academic god of the Research Institute—smart and hardworking—Gu Xing.
At 10:30, Ruan Xingmian replied with a head-patting emoji—【Good boy】.
And sent over a typical, meaningless line used in relationships: I’m awake now.
At the same time, in the Artificial Intelligence Professional Deep Learning Laboratory, Ruan Xingyue discovered something unbelievable.
Gu Xing had actually pulled out his phone during class, stared at it for five seconds, and seriously typed a reply.
This was a core course for their major.
Had Gu Xing really started dating?
Out of concern for her high school “friend,” Ruan Xingyue activated small note mode.
She wrote a sentence and tossed it over.
Gu Xing picked it up, opened it, glanced at it, took out a pen, wrote a reply, and threw it back.
Ruan Xingyue opened it.
On it were two sentences written in different handwriting:
—Are you secretly dating someone?
—Are you saying only officials are allowed to set fires, but common people aren’t allowed to light lamps?
Gu Xing was mocking her.
For having an underground affair with Lu Tian.
Ruan Xingyue crumpled the paper in anger.
If it weren’t for her foolish younger sister being madly obsessed with Lu Tian, would she have wasted her own research time pretending to be Lu Tian’s girlfriend?
Ruan Xingyue thought for a long time, still fuming.
She scribbled furiously on a piece of paper and tossed it over.
Ruan Xingyue: I heard you reported those three from your dorm to the Institute. I didn’t see them in class this morning.
Ruan Xingyue: Did Academic God Gu bully his roommates as a group again?
Ruan Xingyue: How can you stand Lu Tian provoking you again and again?
Ruan Xingyue: If I were you, I’d roll up my sleeves and beat him up until he kneels and begs for mercy. Let’s see if he’d dare to bribe people to target you again.
Ruan Xingyue: Gu Xing, are you even a man?
“Lu Tian,” Gu Xing suddenly looked up.
Lu Tian, who was auditing the class from the diagonal seat, raised his head. “What’s up, bro?”
Ruan Xingyue lowered her head and made a warning gesture at Gu Xing.
“Nothing,” Gu Xing said calmly. “Just wanted to invite you to lunch.”
“Sorry, bro, I already have plans. Maybe another day.”
“Alright.”
The crisp sound of keyboard typing filled the classroom again.
On the paper Gu Xing threw back, only eight wildly scrawled words were written in reply:
If he can pretend, why can’t I?
Ruan Xingyue crumpled the paper and let out a scoff.
Adult life was like acting.
Saying words not from the heart.
Wearing a mask of hypocrisy.
Gu Xing was acting, but wasn’t she doing the same?
They had brains but no capital.
Forever destined to be gunmen under the control of capital.
Her phone vibrated.
Ruan Xingyue flipped it open.
The first message made her physically uncomfortable.
She replied to the second one first.
Ruan Xingmian: 【Sis, I bought some ribs and want to cook a meal for you and Big Aunt. I want to apologize to Big Aunt.】
Ruan Xingmian: 【Sis, can you come home for dinner tonight? It’ll just be me and Big Aunt. I’m scared.】
Ruan Xingyue’s fingers paused and trembled slightly as she typed. She suppressed the complex emotions in her heart: 【What time? I don’t eat cilantro, green onions, or ginger.】
Ruan Xingyue: 【Are you sure you know how to cook? Are you trying to send me and my mom to an early grave?】
Ruan Xingyue: “The last sentence was a joke, please don’t mind.”
She exited her sister’s chat with a smile, then entered Lu Tian’s chat with a cold expression and typed her reply.
Lu Tian: “Honey, I have to meet with my advisor at noon today, so I can’t have lunch with you.”
Ruan Xingyue: “No problem, sweetie.”
She suppressed her urge to gag, hating how deeply she had immersed herself in the act.