The male lead

By the time Jiang Ci woke up, it was already evening.

Dad Si and Mom Wen were in the living room, practicing self-defense with Si Beichen.

Mom Wen had saved her dinner. After eating her fill, she took out four apple pears and put them on the table.

Munching on a pear herself, she leaned over the balcony railing and looked outside.

Si Beichen asked her, "What are you looking at?"

Jiang Ci said, "The entrance to the complex. Why aren't those people outside coming to steal water anymore?"

She was still waiting for them to come cause trouble again so she could snipe them and get some more practice.

Si Beichen was helpless in the face of Jiang Ci's appetite for trouble. "Because those three brothers in Building Seven who know how to dig wells helped them find a suitable spot outside to dig one. They've already struck water."

Looking disappointed, Jiang Ci sat back down, her enthusiasm gone.

Seeing Dad Si and Mom Wen practicing so enthusiastically piqued Jiang Ci's interest too. After finishing her pear, she joined them.

After two hours of practice, she was drenched in sweat. Jiang Ci went to the small balcony off the kitchen and filled the water tank.

She went to the bathroom, took a shower inside her space, changed her clothes, and headed out again.

This time, however, she brought Si Beichen along.

Cutting down trees alone was too tiring. Better to bring her big-brother bodyguard along.

This time she drove, while Si Beichen sat in the passenger seat.

They went to the same spot on the outskirts as last night.

Handing Si Beichen a chainsaw, she said, "I want to stock up on some wood to burn for warmth and cooking when it gets cold."

Si Beichen looked at the signs of logging nearby and asked, "You came here alone to cut down trees last night?"

"Yep."

"Call me for heavy work like this from now on."

"Will do!"

Jiang Ci was happy to take it easy, but she didn't sit idle either. She took another chainsaw and leisurely joined in cutting down trees, though she wasn't working as hard as last night.

With Si Beichen there, all she needed to do was follow behind him and put the felled trees into her space.

When Si Beichen turned around, he was rather startled to find that all the trees he'd just cut down were gone.

He glanced toward Jiang Ci just in time to see her reach toward a felled tree at her feet. The tree vanished instantly.

A bold guess formed in his mind. Without saying anything, he turned back and continued cutting down trees.

Jiang Ci knew Si Beichen had been watching her. She had deliberately let him see.

After all, if she wanted to put away all these felled trees, she needed Si Beichen to have some idea of her ability.

The four of them lived under the same roof, and she would be taking out even more things to use in the future. Keeping it completely hidden was impossible.

Since that was the case, she might as well let Si Beichen know. He would keep her secret and was trustworthy. He wouldn't be surprised no matter what she took out, and he could help her work too. There were multiple benefits.

If all else failed, she would win Si Beichen over and make him her man. They weren't related by blood anyway. She would bind him to her for life and keep an eye on him forever to make sure he never leaked her secret.

The more she thought about it, the more workable it seemed. That was how the novels she'd read always went: usually, only the male lead knew what was special about the female lead.

Although she wasn't the female lead of a novel, she was still the protagonist of her own life, so she could find herself a male lead too.

With that thought, she sidled over to where Si Beichen was working and found a stump to sit on.

The man's thick eyebrows tilted slightly upward with a rebellious air. Beneath his long, slightly curled lashes were eyes as clear as morning dew.

With his straight, handsome nose, thin, lightly pressed lips, sharply defined features, and tall, lean yet not bulky build, he was like an eagle in the night, cold, proud, and aloof, yet imposing.

Tsk, the more I look, the more he seems like my ideal type.

"Si Beichen, how many relationships have you been in?"

Si Beichen's hands paused on the saw, and he looked up at the delicate, beautiful girl sitting on the stump like a woodland sprite.

"None."

"Ah, what a shame. How about I become your girlfriend and let you experience dating?"

Si Beichen's heart immediately began pounding with nerves. He didn't know why he was so nervous. It wasn't as though no girl had ever confessed to him before.

Ever since secondary school, countless girls had used all sorts of methods to confess to him and catch his attention.

Even in the military, quite a few female soldiers had openly pursued him.

But no girl had ever made his heart race like this.

Unsure how to respond, he could only offer an excuse. "I'm your older brother."

"Tch, an older brother who isn't related to me by blood."

Jiang Ci had only acted on a passing impulse. The moment the words slipped out, she regretted them and felt she'd been too rash.

Si Beichen's refusal was within her expectations. Not particularly bothered, she hopped off the stump and went back to sawing wood.

The two worked until dawn was breaking. On the way back, Si Beichen drove.

They took the same road where someone had thrown a brick at Jiang Ci. Sure enough, as they passed through again, they saw a sedan that had been forced to pull over by the roadside.

A gang of young thugs surrounded the sedan, saying something to the people inside.

Someone heard the engine and turned to look at the approaching Land Rover.

The longer he looked, the more familiar the vehicle seemed. After a while, as though he had finally remembered something, he shouted, "That she-devil's back! Run!"

The young thugs immediately scattered as though they'd seen a ghost.

Si Beichen drove through that stretch of road without trouble.

Jiang Ci stuck her head out the window and turned to look at the young thugs fleeing in every direction behind them, nodding with an expression that said they could be taught after all.

She had gone a little easy on them that day, merely shocking them unconscious rather than killing them.

She hadn't expected them to be so sensible, knowing to run the moment they saw her car.

Not understanding what was going on, Si Beichen glanced in the rearview mirror but saw nothing that explained it. All he knew was that Jiang Ci was in a very good mood, grinning happily.

Seeing Jiang Ci looking so carefree left Si Beichen feeling stifled.

He was already seriously considering their relationship, all right? Why was Jiang Ci, the one who had started this, acting as though nothing had happened?

Was everything Jiang Ci asked me just now only a joke?

But what am I supposed to do now that I've taken it seriously?

Heh, no one has ever gotten away unscathed after provoking me.

Just give me a little more time. Once I've thought it all through, I'll decide how to deal with that little liar!

Jiang Ci really hadn't taken the matter to heart. After all, in her mind, Si Beichen was simply her ideal type, his looks matching her criteria for a partner perfectly. It was nowhere near affection or love yet.

She knew there was a kind of affection in this world called love at first sight.

But she preferred feelings that grew over time, a steady, lasting love.

She couldn't speak for anyone else, but what caught her at first sight wasn't love. It was a face.

So if Si Beichen, her ideal type, was willing to be her boyfriend, she was willing to date him properly, to work through their differences and share experiences, letting time help her test whether this man was really suitable to spend her life with.

If he didn't want to be with her, that was fine too. She didn't like him that much yet anyway, and she wasn't the sort of girl who couldn't live without a man.

To her, a boyfriend would be icing on the cake. Without one, she would still shine.