"It's me." It was Lu Zhou's voice.
Su Mian first said goodbye to Duan Xuanyu on the phone. "Someone dumped trash at my door. I'm going to clean it up."
Duan Xuanyu said, "Okay. See you tomorrow."
After hanging up, Su Mian went to open the door.
Lu Zhou anxiously looked her over and spoke before she could. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The accident on the dating show today hadn't been made public.
But as the boss of Starry Entertainment, Lu Zhou naturally knew everything.
Su Mian's face was full of impatience. "If you've got shit to say, spit it out."
"..." Lu Zhou took a deep breath. "All right, Mianmian, enough is enough. Have you really forgotten everything we shared? Have you really let it all go? I don't believe it."
Su Mian said, "What did we share?"
She really wanted to see whether Lu Zhou actually knew what the original owner had done for him.
Lu Zhou choked.
His first instinct had been to bring up her slitting her wrist, to show how much Su Mian cared about him.
But she hadn't seemed to slit her wrist because she loved him...
It was because she'd been bullied relentlessly, driven into a corner with no one to rely on, and even her boyfriend ignored her, leaving her utterly hopeless about the world.
Bringing that up now would be courting death.
He had to think of a sweet memory they shared.
Finally, after racking his brains, he came up with one.
"Back when I pretended to have no money, you got paid three thousand yuan for a role and took me out for hot pot to celebrate. You mixed my dipping sauce, poured my drinks, and wouldn't let me lift a finger the whole time. How could all that care and consideration have been an act?"
"Su Mian, if you didn't love me, you could never have done that much for me!"
Su Mian found it laughable. "Then go to Haidilao. They'll love you to death."
Lu Zhou said, "..."
"Get lost." Su Mian couldn't be bothered to say more and reached back to close the door.
Lu Zhou grabbed the doorframe. "Mianmian, hear me out."
Su Mian was expressionless. "Let go, or I'm slamming the door."
Lu Zhou was brimming with confidence. "I'm not letting go. I bet you can't bear-"
Before he finished, Su Mian slammed the door with a bang!
"Ah!" Lu Zhou screamed and pulled his hand back.
Su Mian took the opportunity to shut the door completely and lock it.
She returned to bed and opened the original owner's Moments feed.
There were many posts here that only the original owner could see.
From these posts, Su Mian could understand why Lu Zhou was so certain she would never leave him.
Because she'd truly loved him too much before, loved him until she humbled herself into the dust, loved him until she lost herself.
For example, this post from two months ago:
[Today was my birthday. I specially put on the dress he'd said looked pretty and went to the hot pot restaurant early to wait for him.
I'd been looking forward to this day for so long. Neither of us earns much right now, and normally we can't bear to spend money at this expensive hot pot restaurant. Only on my birthday did I dare splurge.
But I waited five hours, and he still didn't come.
Every time I called, the line was busy.
I sent him message after message, telling him it was my birthday, telling him he didn't need to prepare any presents... he never responded at all.
Then three in the morning came, and the hot pot restaurant closed.
I thought he must have been too busy with work, so busy he hadn't even had time to check his phone.
But when I opened Moments, I found he'd posted something just ten minutes earlier.
He was watching fireworks with his "little sister." In their photo together, they were both smiling so happily.
I wish, just once, he could put me first when it came to choosing between her and me.]
"..." Su Mian didn't know where to start cursing.
His line was always busy when she called. Obviously, she'd been blocked!
Maybe the original owner hadn't wanted to expose the truth or leave herself looking so pathetic, so she'd lied to herself that he really was on another call, deliberately refusing to consider that she'd been blocked.
There really was no limit to what a scumbag Lu Zhou was!
He'd blocked her number while they were still dating!
Su Mian kept scrolling.
Two days later, the original owner had posted again:
[Today, I wore that dress he'd complimented to see him again.
But he said my taste was getting tackier and tackier.
That casual compliment of his might have just been something to fob me off.
Yet I kept remembering it as though it were an imperial decree.]
The more Su Mian read, the more she felt it hadn't been worth it for the original owner!
This bastard had trampled all over someone else's sincere feelings before.
What the hell was he putting on this devoted act for now?!
Only after the baby died did he think to feed it!
Still, although Su Mian had no feelings for Lu Zhou whatsoever,
reading through the original owner's emotional journey still made her heart feel a little uncomfortable.
And...
Her body bore both the wrist-slitting scar from this world and the sword wound from the previous world.
Su Mian couldn't help suspecting that, like Duan Xuanyu, she'd transmigrated in her own body.
She was closely connected to both this world and the original owner.
In short, no matter what, she absolutely had to live the life she wanted.
And she would never give that damned scumbag Lu Zhou even the slightest chance.
Suddenly, Lu Zhou's roar came from outside the window. "Su Mian, what exactly do you want from me? Do you want me to give you my life?! Come out and talk this through with me! If you don't, I'll stand downstairs and shout all night!"
凸(艹皿艹 )!
This man really had no manners!
It was the middle of the night, and plenty of other people lived in this apartment building.
Yet here he was, barking like a rabid dog!
Did he think he was the male lead of an idol drama?
Did the whole world have to suffer for his romance?
Su Mian walked to the window and called down a warning. "Get away from my building. Stop disturbing the neighbors, or I'll throw water on you."
For once, Lu Zhou was utterly resolute. "If it'll calm you down, go ahead."
Su Mian went to get things ready.
Then she brought over a basin of water.
And threw it downstairs.
Lu Zhou didn't dodge at all. He even lifted his face.
He felt he was so broken, so devoted, so tragically beautiful.
Until the instant the water hit his face.
"Ah!!!" Lu Zhou screamed again!
"Su Mian, you're vicious! You actually threw boiling water!"
Thunderous laughter erupted throughout the building.
A man with a loud, rough voice even shouted, "Good job, sis! That's what he gets for disturbing the neighbors!"
"..." Only then did Lu Zhou realize he couldn't keep shouting here.
Mainly because he needed to get to the hospital right away.
Thrown from that high up, the boiling water had already been cooled by the air and wasn't as damaging anymore.
But he still had to get it checked. He couldn't let it leave a mark.
At the hospital.
After his examination, Lu Zhou transferred another ten thousand yuan to Su Mian and sent her a message.
Lu Zhou: "I'm in the hospital now. Have you calmed down?"
Su Mian accepted the money for her savings.
Lu Zhou waited ages, but she still didn't reply.
Lu Zhou: "Aren't you going a little too far? Taking the money without saying anything? Who does business like that?"
Su Mian: "1."
Lu Zhou transferred another ten thousand.
Su Mian: "1."
Lu Zhou transferred yet another ten thousand.
This time, before Su Mian could reply, he hurriedly sent, "Connect me to a human agent."
A few seconds later, Su Mian actually sent him a human response.
Su Mian: "How long has it been since I last called you?"
Lu Zhou: "About six months, I think... why are you asking?"
Su Mian: "Think about why I stopped calling you."
When Lu Zhou thought about it, he really couldn't understand...
Su Mian used to be very emotionally dependent on him.
Whenever anything happened, she would call and ask for his help.
But it seemed that, starting six months ago, she'd never called him again.
Puzzled, Lu Zhou instinctively opened his contacts.
Only then did he discover that Su Mian was actually on his blocked list!
But he'd never blocked Su Mian!
Someone else must have tampered with it.
Aside from himself, the only person with access to his phone was Xu Qingyun.
Lu Zhou immediately called Xu Qingyun. "Qingyun, did you use my phone to block Su Mian?"