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"Then please consider it now."

Interrupted, she was taken aback, "... Now? What now?"

"Right now, your heart is completely devoted to your Young Master. How will you respond to him?"

"I..." How could she possibly answer? She had absolutely no Li Chenjing...

"While the Young Master was still ill, he asked me if he had mistreated you in the past. I told him the truth, that I had never seen you by his side."

"Yeah, yeah! We really never had anything going on, right?"

Wei Chenmu shook her head. "We'll see him again in the future. I'll never hide him again; I'll take him everywhere I go. That's what the Young Master told me."

"..." That guy, he must be overthinking again, he must be thinking that he didn't let her see anyone around her in the past because she was a man, to avoid suspicion... Why is he being so considerate and thoughtful, putting so much thought into her, as if she really is his lover, as if he really owes her so much, and is desperately trying to repay her for the sweetness he never got before...

He didn't need to do so much for her at all. He owed her nothing, and she didn't want his sacrifices. To him, she was just a stranger. Why did she suddenly become so entangled?

"Finally... forgive my impertinence, but I implore you not to take the Young Master to see Miss Liu. For the Young Master, forgetting Miss Liu might be a great blessing."

How can forgetting the person you love most be a great blessing?

If it were her, and she forgot who she used to like just because she tripped and fell, she would be so angry she'd die!

My Old Man once said, existence is reality. Just because of Miss Liu's identity, societal norms don't tolerate it, so why avoid it and bury the past without a trace? Isn't that unfair to Li Chenjing?

"What if the Young Master's feelings are unrequited and he cannot obtain them?"

"..."

"So, shall we still help the Young Master recall his past?"

"Help him, don't help him, help him, don't help him, help him..." Inside the Wuya Bookstore, Zhu Bafu crossed his chair legs, pinched a daisy, and muttered to himself as he tore off the petals.

She plucked the last petal, staring blankly at the calyx, frowning. "Not... help him?"

Does even fate think she's meddling?

Unrequited love and unrequited love—she never expected the relationship between Li Chenjing and Liu Rongrong to be so dramatic. With his handsome face, he should have been invincible among women, how could he be such a hapless unlucky guy with unrequited love?

In terms of appearance, talent, and family background, apart from a slight problem with his character, he was excellent in every way and there was nothing to criticize.

Even if people nitpick and say that his family background is too good and that being with him is stressful, given Li Chenjing's protective nature, he would never let his beloved suffer the slightest loss. At least... these past few days, he has been treating her this way, not allowing others to criticize her, not allowing his family to be disrespectful to her, and staying by her side all the time, afraid that she would make a mistake if he turned his back.

Those subtle, minute gestures weren't the product of disordered memories; they were clearly an outpouring of thoughts previously suppressed in her heart, so considerate that it was overwhelming, making one want to bring the whole world to her.

As a result... she even scolded him for being childish, clingy, and ungrateful.

But what could he do? He had transferred all his subconscious desire to protect Liu Rongrong onto her; she couldn't possibly accept something that didn't belong to her, could she?

Li Chenjing, his heart, body, and soul—none of them belong to her; they should rightfully be returned to their rightful owner.

She still couldn't turn a blind eye like Lord Wei. If Li Chenjing didn't want it, she would have to go to the Chunfen Pavilion again and ask Miss Liu to come see him!

But what if, as Lord Wei says, Liu Rongrong has no feelings for him whatsoever and refuses to make time for their appointment?

"... What the hell! What does that woman not like about him?"

She slumped listlessly on the table, nearly knocking her writing brush and inkstone off. Suddenly, a feather duster flew over her head and struck her squarely on the forehead, leaving a bright red mark.

"I'm the one who should be asking you what you're up to! Zhu Bafu, are you trying to quit this job? You haven't come to work for days without saying a word, and now you're just slacking off?"

Zhao Wuya, the investor and owner of Wuya Bookstore, never hesitates to spend lavishly. Even though she was a highly paid advisor and manager, he still didn't hold back. Despite being the owner of a bookstore, he had no scholarly airs. He preferred to chew betel nuts and curl up in the bookstore's private room flipping through Erotic Book. Although—most of those Erotic Book were ones she encouraged him to stock, and which she personally selected—what could he do? In this day and age, to make money from a bookstore, you couldn't just sell classical texts to fill your own stomach! Even the most profound philosophies had to pay homage to romance and poetry.

Just like her—despite being well-read, she still had to be exploited by betel nut shop owners for surplus labor.

"Don't you even remember who advised you to write more erotic Erotic Book so you could turn your losses into profits? And you dare to slap me on the head?" she muttered, taking the book from the customer at the counter and scanning the catalog to calculate the price.

"Harmonious Joy of Pleasant Nights," "The Record of Peerless Beauties," "Who Stole My Bodice," "Alluring Joy" Volume Two... Hmm, another lecherous beast with such heavy reading tastes. Looks like I need to restock. I still have a few copies of "Alluring Joy" in the warehouse. Volume One sold out years ago, but I didn't expect Volume Two to be such a bestseller. The printing guy said the reprint will probably take a while, but I should be able to pick it up in a few days. These few copies should amount to...

"Sir, would you like cash or a banknote?" He lowered his head to calculate...

"Cash."

After settling the bill, Zhu Bafu looked up with a businesslike smile. "Hmm, it's one tael and two mace in total. Thank you for your patronage... You?!"