Chapter 001: The Enchanting Loop Is Broken

For the twentieth time, Fang Yimeng woke up on the bed of the penthouse suite in a five-star hotel.

According to the plot progression of the novel, the bathroom door would open in the next second.

Click.

Sure enough, the door opened.

A tall man stepped out, his upper body bare, revealing defined muscles on his slender waist and broad shoulders. His physique was perfectly balanced—not overly bulky, but enticing enough to stir one’s dazed mind, drawn in by the sheer force of masculine allure.

But after seeing this half-naked scene twenty times, Fang Yimeng had long learned to stay calm and unbothered.

According to the story’s next beat, the suite door would be opened by a hotel staff member…

Click.

A neatly dressed female hotel staffer stood frozen at the doorway, holding a room card with a stunned and helpless look on her face.

Behind her, a paparazzo with a long-lens camera peeked over her shoulder, rapidly pressing the shutter as he caught Fang Yimeng disheveled on the bed and Lu Jingshan standing at the bathroom door.

The paparazzo snapped away without a shred of humanity. The female staffer reacted quickly, turning around to block the shots.

Fang Yimeng lay flat on the bed, having already given up resisting. She had fought it twenty times before—either flashing the camera by accident and suffering a social death, or stepping on Lu Jingshan’s carelessly discarded belt and face-planting, only to die of embarrassment all over again.

No matter what she did, the outcome was always public humiliation.

It was absurd. So absurd, even absurdity itself couldn’t explain it.

According to the next part of the plot, her agent would start bombarding her with furious messages, emphasizing the growing gap between her and Liao Ran’s public image. Then, she’d have to endure her family’s relentless scolding—calling her shameless, accusing her of throwing herself at a man.

And who exactly was Liao Ran? And who was Fang Yimeng?

Excellent questions.

Fang Yimeng and Liao Ran were perfect foils.

Liao Ran was the golden girl—loved by all, effortlessly rising to the peak of life.

Fang Yimeng, on the other hand, was the woman everyone scoffed at, the one constantly ridiculed for being Liao Ran’s sworn rival, serving as the novel’s key plot-driving vicious supporting character.

So why had she become so resigned and calm in such a desperate, anxiety-ridden loop?

That started after the fifth loop, during a face-slapping scene where she, the “vicious female side character,” suddenly awakened and had an epiphany.

In short, Fang Yimeng was well and truly emo now.

Whoosh—

A sharp gust of wind suddenly whistled by her ears.

But wait—the transitions in this novel’s plot were always silent. Where was that wind coming from!?

Just as the plot progression was inexplicably broken, Fang Yimeng was still dwelling on how stupid and irrational her character setting was.

Her brain didn’t even have time to process what was happening.

A bathrobe was suddenly thrown right over her head, and then Lu Jingshan’s deep, smooth voice sounded by her ear.

“My girlfriend and I are spending our anniversary at Anlan Hotel. Is this how you treat your guests’ privacy?”

Girlfriend? Anniversary?

The loop was suddenly and forcefully broken, and Fang Yimeng instinctively tried to lift her head.

But a large hand pressed down firmly on her shoulder, forcing her back onto the soft bed.

Fang Yimeng: ??

Was the world going crazy, or was it just her!?

The hotel staffer quickly pulled out her walkie-talkie and called in an emergency. In no time, the nearest security guard rushed over and pinned the paparazzo—still clutching his long-lens camera—right at the suite’s doorway with a set of rapid military moves.

The female staffer bowed repeatedly in Lu Jingshan’s direction, her attitude deeply apologetic.

“President Lu, please don’t worry. Anlan Hotel will absolutely provide you with a satisfactory resolution.”

Lu Jingshan casually threw on the white shirt hanging by the bedside and fastened the collar with one hand. A trace of suppressed irritation flickered in his cold, piercing gaze.

“Confiscate his camera and report him to the police. As for what happens next… that will depend on your sincerity.”

He strode over to the paparazzo, now a mess on the ground, and looked down at him coldly.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he reached out and snatched the camera the man was desperately guarding. With practiced ease, he removed the memory card and tossed it into a glass of water on the table. Then, after pressing a few buttons on the camera, he casually tossed it back in front of the man.

The thick carpet cushioned the camera’s fall, sparing it—temporarily—but the real treasure inside had already been destroyed.

Just as suddenly as the scene had erupted, it ended.

With a click, the door shut once again.

Fang Yimeng couldn’t wait to toss the bathrobe off her head.

Looking around the unchanged surroundings, her eyes began to shimmer with excitement, and a subtle yet undeniable smile lit up her otherwise delicate, calm face.

“The loop… is broken?”

Suppressing her giddy anticipation, she looked toward the man in front of her.

Lu Jingshan, within this novel, had a strange kind of uniqueness. To put it bluntly, if she hadn’t been stuck in a time loop and constantly interacting with him, she might not have even remembered his character.

But despite being a minor character, his looks were infuriatingly flawless.

A tall, straight nose, deep-set peach blossom eyes, and a head of damp black hair that clung softly to his forehead. At a glance, he was a commanding, strikingly handsome man. But if you looked closely, he often unconsciously pressed his lips together.

That small habit made him seem harmless, innocent, and unsure—yet those eyes of his were razor-sharp.

Two completely contradictory traits coexisted on him—and yet, strangely, it worked. The more you looked, the more you couldn’t look away.

While Fang Yimeng was observing him, Lu Jingshan was also observing her.

“I know you’re not the same person you used to be. Now that the loop’s broken, it means our cooperation worked. Just in case the loop returns… how about we coordinate over the next few days? A light partnership?”

Lu Jingshan looked at the memory card now soaking in the water glass. Without any pretense, he laid everything out clearly, giving Fang Yimeng full agency to choose.

Hearing his smooth voice, Fang Yimeng couldn’t help but recall the chaos of last night—the man, breathless and intoxicated, collapsing onto her in a moment of passion.

That bed… had hosted a wild “battle of the heavens” just yesterday.

Well, people do have needs.

And he was… ahem, not bad at all.

Fang Yimeng quickly pushed those seductive thoughts out of her mind. Wrapping the bathrobe tightly around herself, she grabbed the clothes Lu Jingshan had casually tossed aside yesterday and hurried into the bathroom. The sound of running water soon followed.

Determined to strategize with Lu Jingshan, she dropped her usual sluggishness and moved quickly. Half an hour later, her carefully styled wavy curls were now softened and damp from the steam, hanging loosely down her back in clumps.

Instead of returning to the bed, she sat down on the red velvet sofa and looked up at the man standing in front of her.