"My greatest wish is to live a better life." After thinking for a moment, Xu Qian answered honestly. "I once lived on the First Layer. Although I always wanted to forget those days, the truth is that they were my most vivid memories. Every night there, I swore to myself that if I ever left that place, I would never go back."
"So after you left, you never went back?" Zhang Heng asked.
"That's right. Is there a problem with that?" Xu Qian asked. After a pause, she continued, "I've come so far, all the way to this point. Now I only need one more step—the final step—and I can achieve my dream. I know what you think of me: a vain female streamer. I don't deny it. But becoming a resident of the Fourth Layer really is important to me. Besides, my boyfriend is a good person too. He'll make a qualified life partner."
Zhang Heng neither agreed nor disagreed. He merely said, "It's getting late. Get some sleep. We're heading out tomorrow."
Xu Qian nodded and unsteadily rose from the floor. As she had the housekeeping robot clean up the unfinished snacks on the ground, she said to Zhang Heng, "If you have any physical needs, I can pay to find you... a professional to take care of them. I just hope that, for the sake of the fact that we've gotten along fairly well lately, you won't hurt me."
"Oh, you're overthinking it," Zhang Heng said. "I'm your bodyguard. Our contract isn't over yet, is it?"
"Yes. Anyway, um... thank you for helping me find the person who was following me at the mall." Xu Qian hugged her arms and walked back to her bedroom door. "And, um... good night."
"Sweet dreams."
After Xu Qian returned to