The dilapidated residential building was so poor it didn’t even have a proper entrance gate.
Just a street-facing unit block.
No elevator.
Gu Xing walked her to the building entrance.
“I’m free on Saturday,” he said seriously. “We should go for… a prenatal checkup.”
The last two words, spoken in his usual icy tone, seemed to waver slightly.
Ruan Xingmian could sense his nervousness.
She smiled, pressing her lips together, and agreed, “Okay.”
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. “Can I ask you two questions?”
Gu Xing thought for three seconds, then nodded. “Mm.”
“Do I count as your girlfriend now?”
His gaze shifted from the top of Ruan Xingmian’s head to somewhere else, and he let out a faint, drifting “Yes.”
Ruan Xingmian was so happy she swayed gently from side to side. She lightly tapped Gu Xing’s phone case with her index finger. “Then… can you take me out of your blocklist?”
As she withdrew her finger, it brushed against the back of his hand. Gu Xing froze for a moment, his fair skin flushing red under the sunlight. “Right away.”
Ruan Xingmian pulled out her WeChat QR code as fast as she could. “And this.”
Gu Xing: “Okay.”
【I am Gu Xing】
【The above is the greeting message】
【You have added Gu Xing. You can now start chatting.】
Ruan Xingmian couldn’t wait to send her first message.
Stars Sleep Well: 【Hello, boyfriend.】
Gu Xing glanced at the new message and pursed his lips.
He put away his phone. “I’ll walk you upstairs.”
Ruan Xingmian grabbed his arm. “Reply to my message first. Boyfriend Rule Number One: you must reply to your girlfriend’s messages.”
Gu Xing hesitated, then took out his phone again.
His fingers flew across the screen, typing at lightning speed.
Soon, Ruan Xingmian received his message right in front of him.
Gu Xing: Hello, girlfriend.
Satisfied, Ruan Xingmian nodded, trying to hide the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The next second, she took the snacks from his hand.
Her tone was light and cheerful. “I’ll go up by myself. You have classes this afternoon.”
She moved quickly, grabbing her things and rushing toward the residential building like a twenty-year-old girl who had just fallen in love, completely forgetting about the little one in her belly.
“Gu Xing! Remember to message me when you get to school!”
She bounded up the stairs so energetically that Gu Xing held his breath, feeling a pang of worry.
Even from the second floor, she could still see Gu Xing standing where she’d left him.
Ruan Xingmian peeked at him through the window.
She watched him stand there hesitantly, his backpack slung over his shoulders.
Then he turned and left.
He didn’t take a taxi; he headed for the bus stop instead.
This guy.
Just like in the original story, frugal and stingy with himself.
But generous and considerate toward his girlfriend.
He was a good person at heart.
A pang of bittersweet emotion welled up in Ruan Xingmian’s chest. He deserves for me to treat him even better.
He took a taxi to bring her back, but he was taking the bus to return.
Ruan Xingmian returned to her shared apartment, set down her things, and went to brush her teeth and wash her face.
She liked to organize her thoughts while washing up.
The first thing she needed to do now was apply for a leave of absence from school.
But her aunt would definitely not agree.
Her aunt placed great importance on the impact of education on a person’s life and had once said that the more of a girl you were, the more you needed to study.
Her uncle was often away driving trucks, and he only listened to her aunt.
No help there.
The matter of taking a leave of absence was tricky.
The pregnancy also needed to be kept secret for now. First, she wasn’t close to the Ruan family and didn’t know what kind of trouble they might stir up. Second, she had no money of her own and couldn’t yet come clean to her family to rightfully take control of her own life.
Most importantly, she envied the original host for having someone to discipline her. She had never been disciplined and didn’t want to hurt the Ruan family with her stubbornness. Parents who cared about their child’s future would never tolerate them dropping out of school to get pregnant and have a baby for someone else.
Even if it was just a junior college, it was something her aunt had pressured her into getting into.
But they didn’t know.
This child of Ruan Xingmian’s was for herself.
At a mental age of 28, she knew exactly what she wanted.
Balancing studies and starting a business.
She shook her head.
She couldn’t do it.
She didn’t have the brains or energy of a genius like Gu Xing.
As foolish as she was, she could only focus on one thing at a time.
Not to mention, she was pregnant now.
Wait a minute.
A leave of absence required a parent’s signature.
Would the school accept her legal husband’s signature?
But she couldn’t force Gu Xing to marry her just for a signature.
What if she scared him off?
After some thought.
Ruan Xingmian changed into her pajamas and lay back in bed.
Remembering she still had one parent—her graduate student sister, Ruan Xingyue.
Parent-teacher meetings in the past had always been attended by Ruan Xingyue.
She made her decision.
Keep taking leave.
Build up her account, earn some income, and then go cry in front of Ruan Xingyue.
This cold older sister seemed unapproachable, sharp-tongued and stern-faced.
But her heart was actually very soft.
Once she figured it out, Ruan Xingmian settled down for a nap.
But she didn’t dare sleep too long. With insufficient balance in her bank card, she couldn’t afford to slack off.
She set an alarm for half an hour.
The first thing she did upon waking was check her messages.
Twenty minutes ago.
Gu Xing: Arrived.
Ten minutes ago, there was a missed call.
Not from Gu Xing, but from the annoying Male Lead, Lu Tian.
Ruan Xingmian sat up, shaking off her drowsiness, as the phone rang again.
Lu Tian was impatient.
“Xingmian, did you really manage to win over Gu Xing?”
Please call me by my full name, thank you.
“Yes, he admitted I’m his girlfriend.”
Even now, saying it still made her heart feel sweet.
If it weren’t for the fact that it was Lu Tian, whom she hated the most, she would’ve been grinning from ear to ear.
“Well done. Keep coaxing him, make him fall completely in love with you.”
Lu Tian seemed to be smoking, letting out a sound of pleasure and satisfaction.
“As a reward, pick a place this weekend, and I’ll take you on a trip.”
And then sleep with me, satisfying your despicable fetish—cuckolding the best friend you envy and hate the most.
What a sicko.
When the original host threw herself at you, you avoided her like the plague, claiming you weren’t interested.
The moment I became Gu Xing’s girlfriend, you want to take me to a hotel?
You’re just too damn cheap.
“That doesn’t seem right, what about my sister?”
Lu Tian: “Since when do you care about your sister? Didn’t you hate her the most?”
“After all, we’re sisters. She’s been good to me.”
Lu Tian snorted in displeasure. “Mianmian, have you forgotten what it feels like to live under someone else’s roof?”
“Ugh!”
Ruan Xingmian let out an untimely retch.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing, nothing. I just ate too much at lunch.” Ruan Xingmian quickly changed the subject. “Let’s not go out this Saturday. I want to prepare a birthday gift for you properly.”
The Wednesday after next was Lu Tian’s birthday.
Lu Tian let out a low, ambiguous laugh. “Mianmian, everyone says you’re uneducated and immature, but only I think you’re wonderful, truly wonderful. I’m falling more and more in love with you. I can’t live without you.”
“Ugh!”
Ruan Xingmian hung up the phone, clutching a trash can as she dry-heaved, her throat itching.
The original host was too foolish.
Such obvious emotional manipulation, and she actually took it as sweet talk all along.
Hearing such disgusting words felt worse than swallowing a fly. Ruan Xingmian felt as if both her ears had been dirtied.
Gu Xing’s voice was much more pleasant.
Her fingers hovered over Gu Xing’s chat page.
She wanted to call him, just to hear him speak.
But she was afraid of disturbing him.
After a moment of thought, Ruan Xingmian lowered her head and began typing.
After several rounds of deleting and rewriting, she finally sent a two-word reply to his check-in message.
Stars Sleep Well: 【Okay.】
Gu Xing was reserved with his emotions.
She shouldn’t be too overly enthusiastic and risk scaring him away.
Thinking of Gu Xing’s cool, distant eyes, Ruan Xingmian gradually recovered from the urge to vomit.
She put away her phone and began writing her career plan in her notebook.
She typed slowly because she had never taken an information technology class and wasn’t familiar with the keyboard. Instead, her handwriting was quite beautiful.
That’s why she had developed the habit of writing scripts by hand.
She buried herself in writing, focused and serious.
Then, one by one, she crossed out her ideas.
“2003: A Girl Living Alone Challenges Herself to Renovate a Rental Apartment—Friends Say She’s So Good at Saving Money!”
Crossed out reason: High initial investment, long timeline, slow follower growth.
“2003: A Day in the Life of a Girl Who Took a Break from School to Rent an Apartment and Just Chill.”
Crossed out reason: Only focuses on the break-from-school topic, lacks staying power, not conducive to fan engagement.
“2003: A Girl Challenges Herself to Spend Only 1,500 Yuan in a Month.”
Crossed out reason: Long timeline, hard to secure ads afterward.
…
She wrote and crossed out as she went.
Gradually, she crossed out every idea in her head.
Ruan Xingmian plopped down on the floor, momentarily lost in confusion.
Once again, she thought of her ten million yuan in savings, and her heart ached so much she could hardly breathe…