On the set, Lin Jianshen had his head lowered to read the script, memorizing his lines. Dai Zhong suddenly called out to him, “Jianshen, take a look at this.”

Dai Zhong handed over his phone and the WeChat post he made was displayed on the screen. In the center, the word Red Cotton Tree shines brightly on the comment section.

Lin Jianshen read it slowly and returned the phone without any change in expression.

Dai Zhong couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so he clicked his tongue and said, “What kind of stimulation did Red Cotton Tree received? She used to be a staunch mother fan and I thought she’s pretty good, but I didn’t expect that she also has other intentions.”

Lin Jianshen glanced at him faintly, then lowered his eyes and slowly turned the pages of the script without saying a word.

Dai Zhong continued, “Hey, do you have any thoughts?”

Lin Jianshen didn’t even lift his eyes, his voice was calm and composed, “What thoughts?”

Dai Zhong rolled his eyes and said grumpily, “You think I don’t know that Red Cotton Tree have always been special to you? She calls you husband, but you don’t have any reaction at all?”

Lin Jianshen stopped flipping the pages with his fingers and was lost in thought for a moment. When he came back to his senses again, he saw Dai Zhong’s teasing look.

He looked back at him and said in an unruffled tone, “I already have a fiancée.”

Dai Zhong was astonished, “Don’t your fiancée like Chu Yan? She used to spread dirt about you online and don’t like you at all. How can you persist in such a loveless business marriage?”

Lin Jianshen’s tone was faint, “Why can’t I?”

Regardless of whether he and Yu Mian had a romantic foundation or not, there’s no way to hide the fact that they’re engaged. The spirit of contract^[1]the general obligation of both parties in a contract to line up to the spirit as well as the technical requirements of their agreement was the most basic morality that people need to abide by. He wasn’t loyal to Yu Mian, but loyal to his own principles.

His broken family made him detest emotional betrayal, so even if Lin Jianshen and Yu Mian signed a contract and the two parties had no feelings for each other, he would still assume the responsibilities and obligations of a fiancé.

Besides…… whether they would form feelings or not was still uncertain for the time being.

The first thing he noticed when he saw the content of Red Cotton Tree’s comment was that she said she’s wearing a coat with bunny ears. This reminded him of the young woman wearing pink bunny pajamas he saw at the Yu family’s house, looking petite as she was nestled under his shadow, with two fluffy bunny ears on the back of the neck.

This made him dazed for a moment and he was more than a little baffled after coming to.

Lin Jianshen had to admit that spending the past two days together had made him changed his view of his fiancée.

That was…… she’s a sweet woman, pretty and clever, and especially pitiful when she cried.

Contrary to rumors, she wasn’t extremely hostile.

Lin Jianshen had never experienced the warmth of family. In his mind, he even considered himself as someone without one. Yu Mian was his fiancée, even if it was only in name, she naturally had a special status in his heart.

Just like a relative whom one hadn’t seen for many years and one actually doesn’t have much affection with to speak of. But once they meet and know that the other person was their blood relative, they would immediately have a different feeling and feel close to them from the bottom of their hearts.

The lack of family aspect made him subconsciously yearn for a warm home. This was a longing that comes from the depths of the soul and was something that couldn’t be avoided. No matter how strong his psychology was, he couldn’t be an exception.

Before they met, he did have some expectations about her. But he was able to suppress this feeling and treat her rationally and calmly.

Later, he discovered that Yu Mian rejected him and those expectations were buried deep in his heart, but they didn’t die. The closeness Yu Mian was showing to him made them start to stir again.

As for Red Cotton Tree…… if Yu Mian’s attraction to Lin Jianshen was family, then Red Cotton Tree was the long-lasting companionship.

He had also wondered what Red Cotton Tree, who had accompanied him for eight years and had firmly chosen him from the beginning until now, looked like across the screen.

But Lin Jianshen was a rational person. He was aloof to the core and doesn’t believe in real feelings, let alone the illusory Internet. He had restrained himself well over the years, keeping the distance between the two of them and not developing any feelings for the other party that went beyond ordinary boundaries.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t curious as to why Red Cotton Tree changed, but he wasn’t going to ask any more questions.

If he had to have an explanation, it would be that it’s already late.

If there was no Yu Mian, he would probably cooperate with her to take a step forward. But now a Yu Mian appeared, and he had to stop there.

———pr

After that day, Deer never responded to her message again.

Yu Mian was aware that her change might have scared the other party. Deer was a very serious person. The other party was old and doesn’t understand fandom. She’s afraid that most elders couldn’t stand the behavior of young girls calling celebrity husbands on the Internet.

She had a feeling that she had just lost a friend. Although Yu Mian was mentally prepared, she was still a little sad.

However, this sadness didn’t last long. She was once again blocked in the cafeteria and Yu Mian felt like crying with no tears.

The young man opposite her bent his eyes and sat down with a gentle smile. His gaze was soft and his handsome face was as gentle as jade, just like a graceful young master in ancient times.

“Yu Mian, what a coincidence. We meet again.”

Yu Mian secretly muttered, what coincidence?! They met every day at noon for a week even when she had changed to several cafeterias. No fool would believe it if he said it was a coincidence!

She had no idea where Wen Quyi heard about her. During this period, he would come block her every day. And in addition, he also created various ‘accidental encounters’. And such encirclement made Yu Mian frightened.

“Wen Quyi, why are you doing this?”

Yu Mian decided to get straight to the point. She really didn’t want to go around in circles with him anymore. It didn’t matter if he found out her identity. No one would believe him even if he told them anyway.

Wen Quyi was startled and then the smile on his face became deeper. He thought she would continue to hide. It was also fun to tease her. However, he didn’t expect that she would stop avoiding him so soon.

He said softly, “Can’t you see? I’m pursuing you.”

When she heard him say that, Yu Mian was surprised. She never thought that one day she would see Wen Quyi chase a girl.

When she was young, she had a naive crush on him. However, the feeling was very shallow. Most of it was because Wen Qu Yi was too outstanding and there were no remarkable members of the opposite sex around her. She had reached the budding puberty and naturally had a crush on him. But soon, this crush also passed with the end of adolescence.

She had previously guessed what kind of girl Wen Quyi would like, but she didn’t expect to see ‘her’ today.

However, being chased by someone she once liked, Yu Mian didn’t feel any happiness. After the initial surprised, she started to have a headache.

Wen Quyi has outstanding appearance and excellent abilities. Such a young man who stood out would never have a shortage of girls who like him. Even someone like her who didn’t pay attention to the outside world had heard about the talented exchange student from the Music Department. She heard that as soon as he arrived, he ascended to the school grass^[2]school hunk throne and was regarded as the department’s idol.

So why would Wen Quyi pursue her?

Yu Mian didn’t think he had fallen in love with her at first sight. She looked similar to her previous self, had the same name, and also died at the same time. She had reason to suspect that Wen Quyi might have noticed the connections and was intrigued.

She didn’t want to get entangled with him, nor did she want to see him dwelling in the past and deliberately approaching her because of her former self.

“I’m sorry, Schoolmate Wen Quyi, I have a fiancé. I can’t accept your pursuit.”

Facing the courtship of such a campus idol, Yu Mian’s expression remained tranquil and could even calmly say those words to reject him.

Wen Quyi was really stunned now, and so were the surrounding students who were quietly stretching out their ears to eavesdrop.

It’s not so much for her refusal but because of the fiancé she mentioned.

“……If I remember correctly, you’re only eighteen years old.” Wen Quyi laughed. “Even if you want to reject me, you should find a better reason, right?”

Yu Mian’s expression remained unchanged. She looked at him seriously and said, “I’m not lying to you. I really have a fiancé, we’re already engaged.”

The smile on the young man’s face slowly faded. He couldn’t see any hint of joking in her expression. She was serious. This discovery made his eyes gradually darken as a layer of gloom slowly clouded his fair and handsome face.

The young man who had been previously smiling had a cold expression on his face, the darkness in his eyes bottomless, and when he look into other people’s eyes, it made them feel inexplicably chilled.

The corners of his lips twitched, seeming to be smiling but looking extremely weird.

“I don’t believe it. You said you have a fiancé but I’ve never seen you in contact with anyone of the opposite sex all this time. Your fiancé doesn’t even come to school to pick you up?”

Yu Mian was also a bit scared. This state of Wen Quyi was just like the day she went to pay her condolences. His whole body was filled with depression and gloom, completely different from how he usually was.

She cautiously retorted, “I-it’s not like you know who I’ve been in contact with.”

Wen Quyi stared at her, his eyes heavy and gloomy, as if he was about to devour someone.

A thought suddenly popped up in Yu Mian’s head. He wouldn’t really know, would he?! Did he have a hold of her daily schedule? Otherwise, how could he accurately block her every day? Looking at his abnormally twisted appearance, it’s quite plausible.

Wen Quyi abruptly questioned, “Is your fiancé Shen Shang?”

He also knew about Shen Shang. Did he discover that she would go to her teacher’s place after lunch every day and speculated so?

Yu Mian was almost frightened to death by her own conjecture. Her childhood friend was such a good child, mild-mannered and gentle. How did he drastically change after not seeing him for only a few years?

She nodded in panic, really not daring to communicate with him anymore. In order to get rid of him, she simply admitted, “Yes, Shen Shang is my fiancé, so don’t look for me again!”

Wen Quyi suddenly laughed and the wave of frustration on his face dissipated.

He looked at her tenderly and said in a soft voice, “You’re really lying to me. Shen Shang is your teacher, right? I know you’re learning painting from him. You don’t need to use him to put me off.”

Although Wen Quyi was smiling beautifully and softly, Yu Mian…… was even more afraid.  QAQ

She took out her phone and found her list of contact. Her mind was in chaos so didn’t have much time to think about it and dialed the number marked ‘A’ in a desperate attempt.

“What are you doing?” The young man in front of her asked.

Yu Mian held the phone nervously, her heartbeat accelerating with every ring coming from the speaker. In order not to appear too timid, she tried to keep her composure and told him, “Aren’t you doubting me? I did lie to you just now because it’s inconvenient for my fiancé to come here, but I really have a fiancé. I’ll let him tell you.”

There was a precedent before so Wen Quyi obviously didn’t trust her. He looked at her leisurely, his lips gently curled up.