Chapter 7: His body trembled even harder…

Imagine this: a man who once forced you to donate a kidney to his precious first love is now holding you and crying.

How would you feel?

The answer: horrified.

Lu Hui couldn’t even begin to recover from the shock. This whole situation was absolutely terrifying.

Xie Ran was hugging her so tightly she felt like her ribcage was going to cave in—she could barely breathe.

His bloodshot eyes, tear-drenched lashes, and trembling hands brushed along her cheek. Feeling the warmth under his fingertips, his trembling only grew worse.

She was alive. The real her. Not a hallucination from his dreams that he could never touch.

After thinking carefully, Lu Hui gave the most reasonable response she could:

“Sorry, sir—I don’t know you.”

Amnesia is a trope that never goes out of style.

Even though she didn’t know how Xie Ran managed to cross over from the book into her world, the moment she diligently completed her task, they were supposed to have nothing to do with each other anymore.

Xie Ran’s face was pale.

Lu Hui looked up and met a pair of eyes filled with disbelief. She calmly repeated, “Yes, I really don’t know you. Sir, you must have mistaken me for someone else.”

Xie Ran looked like he had suffered a major blow and stood there dazed, unable to recover for a long time.

“I’m Xie Ran. How could you not remember me?” he mumbled, frowning.

Lu Hui wouldn’t admit she knew him even if it killed her. What was this man doing here? Was he trying to take her other kidney now!? My swan!

“It seems you really have mistaken me for someone else.” Lu Hui pulled her hand free from his grip. Her gaze was clear and sincere, as transparent as glass—nothing like someone who was lying.

She took a few steps back, putting some distance between them.

Beside her, Xu Qin looked frightened too. Xie Ran had moved too fast for her to react, and she had no idea what was going on, nor could she understand their conversation.

Xie Ran stared into her eyes and said in a hoarse but certain voice, “I couldn’t have mistaken you.”

He seemed to realize his earlier actions were too abrupt and slowly calmed down. His brows relaxed slightly, and his tone softened. “I was too impulsive and scared you. I’m sorry.”

Lu Hui replied politely, “It’s all right.”

Xie Ran didn’t like how distant she was being, but he had no right to object. In some matters, he had long since forfeited his qualifications.

Lu Hui turned to her mother and said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to my room.”

Surprisingly, Xu Qin didn’t stop her. She frowned and said, “Go on up.”

Xie Ran’s eyes followed her every move. Watching her back, he said, “I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”

Lu Hui: “……”

No need for that, really.

After Lu Hui went upstairs, Xu Qin couldn’t help herself anymore. Her sharp eyes swept over Xie Ran a few times. She smiled and asked, “Mr. Xie, are you and Huimei old acquaintances?”

Xie Ran replied with a vague “Mm.”

Xu Qin’s heart skipped a beat. “How come Huimei never mentioned knowing you?”

Xie Ran lowered his eyes. “I did some things that let her down. She probably hasn’t forgiven me yet.”

Let her down was putting it lightly. He still didn’t dare recall those moments—the memories were too cruel. How could he have been so heartless back then? He ignored her pleas, her tears, her pain, and didn’t even hesitate for a second before pushing her into the abyss.

Xie Ran refused to believe he had mistaken her. She must just be pretending not to know him because she hadn’t forgiven him yet.

But a person’s gaze couldn’t lie. The way she had looked at him just now was no different from looking at a stranger.

Xu Qin, however, was in a better mood. “Huimei’s just young and impulsive. Please don’t take it personally.”

“I appreciate your concern. I’ll take my leave.”

The driver had been waiting in the car for a while. Xie Ran got in, his temples throbbing. His black eyes turned cold as he looked out the window.

Suddenly, he asked, “Do you think she’s really forgotten me?”

The driver, caught off guard, replied stiffly, “Maybe…”

Xie Ran nodded, convincing himself, “It’s fine if she has. Maybe it’s better if she doesn’t remember.”

He closed his eyes, but a few minutes later, opened them again, his nose tingling with emotion. “But I don’t want her to treat me like a stranger.”

The driver pretended to be mute. The less said, the better.

Xie Ran couldn’t rest even with his eyes closed. He picked up his phone and rewatched Lu Hui’s old videos several times—especially the one where she asked her agent, “Could the fiancée he mentioned possibly be me?”

His expression shifted.

He realized that she might have tricked him tonight.

She hadn’t lost her memory at all. She was faking it. Pretending not to know him.

Xie Ran almost asked the driver to turn the car around, but it was getting late—she was probably already resting.

He comforted himself. It was fine. There was plenty of time. He had found her, and that was what mattered.

—

After making sure her door was locked, Lu Hui logged into her transmigration system bureau account on her computer. When her profile icon lit up in the group chat, her former colleagues were stunned.

Campus Novel Delicate NPC:
[? Huimei, didn’t you already retire gloriously?]

Era Novel Rags-to-Riches NPC:
[Why are you back? Ugh, I’m so jealous. I really want to quit. The 1970s suck, and the male lead is such a chauvinist. I don’t wanna do this anymore.]

Rebirth Novel Slap-Sister NPC:
[Long time no see, sob sob. Love you, Huimei. Seeing you gives me motivation again. Compared to your experience, our jobs are a joke!]

Lu Hui was silent for a long time. They’d already sent over 999+ messages.

Finally, she exploded in her silence, furiously typing:

Most Tragic Supporting Role in History – Lu Hui:
[That damn system! Get your ass out here!!!]

[...]
[...]
[...]

As soon as Lu Hui started raging, everyone suddenly remembered they had “work to do” and fled the chat.

A minute passed, and the system still didn’t show up, so she kept swearing in the group chat.

The lurkers were terrified. She was fierce.

Even when she had her kidney and heart cut out for her transmigration missions, no one had ever seen Lu Hui this angry.

Two minutes later, still no response from the system—until she raged so hard she crashed the backend server.

Finally, the system couldn’t take it anymore.

A familiar voice rang in Lu Hui’s mind, cheerful and courteous:

“Hello, dear user, this is System No. 666, here to assist with post-service support. How can I help you?”

Lu Hui said coldly, “Why did Xie Ran show up in front of me? I want an explanation.”

“……” The system cleared its throat and said, “Sorry, I don’t know who that is.”

Lu Hui let out a cold laugh. “Keep pretending, and I’ll blow up your headquarters.”

The system couldn’t keep up the act and gave in.

“To be honest, when we first found out, we were just as stunned as you.”

“And then?”

“After investigation, we discovered that this was an uncontrollable event caused by a character detaching from the world. The male lead’s intense resentment and obsession disrupted the balance between worlds. He found a node to cross over, which is how the incident occurred.”

“So how do we fix it now?”

“Sorry, dear. He’s not a staff member of the Fast-Travel Bureau, so he’s out of our jurisdiction.”

Lu Hui understood. What this shameless system meant was: they couldn’t do anything about it—out of their hands, end of story.

She hadn’t been this angry in a long time. She truly couldn’t understand—what gave Xie Ran the right to have such a powerful grudge? He wasn’t even the one who suffered physically and emotionally!

“Sweetie, feel free to summon me again if anything comes up. But it’s not nice to curse in the group chat~”

“What use are you, you useless trash? Get lost.”

“Waaah waaah waaah.”

After figuring out the situation, Lu Hui decided that pretending to have amnesia was her best option.

She seriously suspected that Xie Ran had come to dig out her second kidney. Dream on! He could go back to wherever he came from.

When Sheng Weicai got home, he asked Xu Qin about the situation.

Xu Qin poured him a cup of tea. “Mr. Xie came to see Huihui.”

Sheng Weicai looked stern. “Did she cause trouble for Xie Ran?”

Xu Qin smiled. “No, I think Mr. Xie likes our Huihui. There were some misunderstandings between them that haven’t been cleared up yet.”

Sheng Weicai’s expression relaxed a bit. “As long as she didn’t cause any trouble.”

Sheng Zhaoming interjected, “Xie Ran likes her?”

Xu Qin was a bit intimidated by her stepson. With his sharp brows and starry eyes, he exuded a powerful presence—not someone you could easily bluff. “That’s how it seemed.”

Sheng Zhaoming folded up his newspaper and gave a cold laugh. “Did Lu Hui tell you that?”

Xu Qin had wanted to shake her head and explain, but Sheng Zhaoming was already getting up. Tall and slender, he glanced at her with such sharpness that she immediately felt uneasy.

“Lu Hui’s self-righteous attitude isn’t new to you. It’s one thing for her to embarrass herself in front of family, but don’t let those kinds of things spread outside. If people start laughing at us, it won’t end well.”

With that, Sheng Zhaoming went upstairs.

That was just how he was—always blunt and direct. He was fiercely protective of anyone with the surname Sheng, especially his sister, Sheng Lian. He wouldn’t let her suffer even a shred of injustice.

But with Lu Hui, it was a completely different story. His disdain for her was plain as day. His attitude was cold and perfunctory, his words sharp, his standards unreasonably high.

Lu Hui was still fuming after Xie Ran’s sudden appearance. After her shower, she decided to go out on the terrace to cool down. But luck wasn’t on her side—just as she opened the door, she bumped right into Sheng Zhaoming heading upstairs.

She acted like he didn’t exist, brushing past him without a second glance.

Sheng Zhaoming chuckled at her act. She was putting on quite the performance—she could be an actress and wouldn’t be out of place.

He didn’t know who had taught her the tricks of “playing hard to get” and “advancing through retreat,” but they seemed to be working, at least a little, on him.

Sheng Zhaoming grabbed her arm. “Stop right there.”

Lu Hui turned back, face full of disdain. “What do you want?”

“When did you get involved with Xie Ran?” he asked.

Lu Hui looked up at him, her expression basically asking, Are you out of your mind?

All he ever talked about was Xie Ran. Someone might think Sheng Zhaoming had a crush on the guy.

Sheng Zhaoming had been treated like royalty since childhood. He had never felt this disrespected. She openly ignored him, gave him attitude, and even dared to talk back—completely outrageous.

He said lazily, “So what, you think I’m not falling for your tricks, so you’ve switched targets and are now cozying up to someone else?”