The Iceberg Has Its Own Joys

Shen Qingling did not take Chu Jiaojiao's attempts to win him back to heart.

To Shen Qingling, once he returned to the Gu Family, Chu Jiaojiao would inevitably regret it.

Besides, she had long grown accustomed to Shen Qingling taking care of her. Without him, she would be like a fish without water—sooner or later, she would be unable to resist swimming back toward it.

Shen Qingling would make her realize one thing: she simply could not live without him.

That night, Shen Qingling made a post on Moments for the first time in forever.

The Original Host rarely posted on Moments, but Shen Qingling liked using it to build an image and fish for attention.

With the Original Host's aloof personality, there were many things and feelings he could not bring himself to say directly to anyone on his own initiative. Moments thus became the best outlet.

To be able to lose it meant I never truly had it.

The caption was simple, but anyone could tell what it meant at a glance.

Before long, quite a few people liked it and comforted him, telling him not to be sad.

Shen Qingling had not posted it to gain sympathy. While building his persona, he also wanted to post his photo.

Paired with the caption was a picture of him.

Chu Jiaojiao had taken this photo for him before. The icy male god in everyone else's eyes seemed to have come alive in Chu Jiaojiao's phone.

Under the setting sun, a faint smile touched his stern features. It was simply the perfect embodiment of the words "white moonlight."

This was also a side of Shen Qingling that most people had rarely seen.

The instant Chu Jiaojiao saw this photo, she froze.

She remembered that it had been taken outside their high school after the college entrance exams ended.

Shen Qingling had stood at the end of the road waiting for her. Just like every ordinary day before, he had always been waiting for her.

"How did you do, Jiaojiao?"

"Not great. I'm not a top student like you. Sigh, I can probably only barely get into a second-tier university."

"It's okay. Even if Jiaojiao couldn't do anything at all, I'd still take care of you."

"Right, you've already been guaranteed admission to Jiang University. Your future is boundless from here on out. I'll have to ride your coattails properly."

"That's not riding my coattails. Jiaojiao, you stand within my future. Wherever you are, that's where I'll be."

Chu Jiaojiao had believed Shen Qingling liked her because he always told her that no matter what happened, no matter what the future held, he would stand firmly by her side.

Unfortunately.

She did not want that.

Now, seeing this photo and recalling Shen Qingling's words, Chu Jiaojiao actually felt sad too.

She opened her photo album. It contained countless pictures of her and Shen Qingling, every one of them brimming with memories.

"Chu Jiaojiao, what are you sad about?"

"You already gave him up for a hundred thousand. What right do you have to be sad now?"

"He'll never forgive you again."

With one photo, Shen Qingling once again stirred up Chu Jiaojiao's heartache and regret.

Chu Jiaojiao's affection value +10, regret value +10.

What Chu Jiaojiao recalled upon seeing the photo was Shen Qingling's goodness.

But to Ruan Mingyi, it was naked temptation.

True to her usual absurdist nature, she left the following comments beneath it:

"Little brother, guess what I'm doing with your photo."

"Not replying to me? Then guess what I used to like your post?"

"The hand you photoshopped in doesn't even have the right proportions. It should've been based on mine."

"I kept losing while gaming just now, but after seeing you, I won several rounds in a row."

Shen Qingling directly deleted her comments.

Ruan Mingyi felt as though she had successfully teased him.

She then went to harass Shen Qingling on WeChat.

Ruan Mingyi: I want to know about your childhood, the pain and joy of your past. I secretly listen to the songs you like, silently memorize every hobby and habit you unintentionally reveal, pay attention to your zodiac sign and favorite flowers, watch the movies you love, screenshot and save everything about you, buy you the food you want to eat, research which restaurants near your home are good or which shops are suitable for photos and check-ins. I love you, including your vulnerability, mediocrity, and dark side. Oh, right—are you big down there?

Shen Qingling: Where did you copy this joke from this time?

Ruan Mingyi: I can copy jokes. Can I copy you too?

Shen Qingling: ...

Ruan Mingyi: You seem to really love sending six dots. Would you still have this attitude if I were a new Pinduoduo user?

Shen Qingling: Do you have to be this absurd? Can't you talk about something normal?

Ruan Mingyi: Yes. I bought a cake just now, but I think I forgot to take a fork.

Shen Qingling: Can't you just have the shop send you another one?

Ruan Mingyi: The shop's closed. Could you mail a fork to me?

Shen Qingling was truly, utterly defeated by Ruan Mingyi.

Seeing Shen Qingling fall completely silent, Ruan Mingyi felt she had successfully teased him. With a face mask on, she laughed so hard her face was about to crack.

Ruan Mingyi's affection value increased by 10.

Seeing her laugh until she could barely catch her breath, Ye Qiao asked curiously, "What's gotten you so happy?"

Ruan Mingyi casually tossed the five-hundred-yuan face mask aside, sat up, and said with a laugh, "I made Shen Qingling go silent."

Ye Qiao said, "Isn't that your specialty? Using that poison-dipped little mouth of yours to shut men up."

Ruan Mingyi shook her head. "No, no, no. This time he wasn't angered into silence. He got shy."

For some reason, she did not enjoy teasing other men. The moment those men saw the jokes she sent, they would immediately get lewd ideas and send back things even dirtier and more vulgar than hers. She found it boring at once.

But Shen Qingling was different. He was far too proper—so proper that it made people want to strip away that outer layer of moral gentlemanliness and see the uninhibitedly sexy side beneath.

Only teasing proper people counted as teasing. A personality like Shen Qingling's had practically been born for her.

Icebergs had their own delights, and proper people had their own ways to play—one of Ruan Mingyi's famous sayings.

Shen Qingling had probably figured out the preferences of several of his targets by now.

Ruan Mingyi liked abstinent, iceberg-like male gods with a contrast to them—ones who could get shy.

Song Zhining liked cool, composed, rational, intelligent older men who seemed cold on the outside but warm within.

While Chu Jiaojiao liked money, she also could not let go of Shen Qingling's kindness toward her. She regretted it even as she did heartless things that could never be undone.

Without question, Chu Jiaojiao would have the most miserable ending among them.

Shen Qingling was now looking forward to seeing Chu Jiaojiao's reaction after he returned to the Gu Family and regained his identity.

Shen Qingling fell asleep with beautiful visions of the future in his mind.

Elsewhere, however, someone tossed and turned, plagued by nightmare after nightmare.

Lin Qingdai had that dream again. Once more, she dreamed of Gu Yijin and Shen Qingling.

Half-asleep and half-awake, she was so terrified that cold sweat streamed down her body. She jolted awake from a wash of bloody light.

"Don't!"

She screamed and opened her eyes, only to find herself still in her room. She gasped for breath.

"That dream again..."

Was it really a dream, or a warning from heaven?

Lin Qingdai could not tell.

Everything would have to wait until that young man returned to the Gu Family before she could have an answer.

"Shen Qingling, this time... will you stand by my side?"