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Proofread by Yu Bing

The corridor becomes quiet again. Su Ni is afraid of being found outside the door, so she holds her breath and quickly leaves. ESHINE looks at Gu Zechen incredulously. Gu Zechen says exactly the same thing as is said by Su Ni. Hearing him saying that from his lips gives her a very strange feeling.

“You really…”

ESHINE trembles, shaking her head, unable to finish her words. Gu Zechen, after saying this, his countenance instantly assuming an aspect of the deepest gloom on the other hand, says in a cold voice. “You’d better not appear in front of Su Ni again. Just remember, “The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.”

After saying that, Gu Zechen walks away immediately, leaving ESHINE alone in the dim corridor. The latter, apparently not ready to resign herself to this, whose eyes dwells on the lengthening shadow of Gu Zechen fading away, lets out a groan from her heaving breast. At length she speaks through gnashed teeth, “Gu Zechen, you start it first. Furthermore, Su Ni already knows everything. Although she doesn’t say anything, I’m afraid that your love illusion will be shattered.

When Su Ni returns to the lounge, she sees Gu Zechen already there. She greets him calmly with a smiling face, and hugs him from behind, with her head leaning on his back. “Why do you come back? Shall we go?”

“Where did you go?” Gu Zechen turns around to ask her, his face expressionless.

“I took some wine.” Su Ni points to the glass using her eyes and asks. “Would you like some?”

Gu Zechen shakes his head, his eyes soft. “Take your things, we will leave early.”

“OK.”Su Ni nods her head, feeling relieved. She doesn’t dare to mention that she went past the hallway on her way to the toilet, so Gu Zechen won’t have noticed that she overheard everything.

It is already night. There’s a cool breeze this evening. Just out of the hotel, Su Ni can’t help but shiver.

At the sight of this, Gu Zechen takes off his coat immediately and puts his coat over her. Su Ni says thank you with a smile. Gu Zechen opens the car door, motioning Su Ni to go in first.

“Take her back to the hotel!”

The car door is closed. Su Ni rolls down the window and asks, worried. “Don’t you go back?”

“I still have things to do. You go back first, and you don’t need to wait for me.” Gu Zechen doesn’t turn back. Su Ni knits her brows, but she can do nothing. She can only watch Gu Zechen crawling into a Lexus.

“I left my bag in the room. Please wait a minute.”

Su Ni quickly gets out of the car. In a corner where nobody can see her, she makes a phone call. Then she gets into the car again perfectly calm and collected. “Go back to the hotel.”

An hour later, Su Ni finishes her shower. Her phone lights up, displaying a new text message.

“Gu Zechen doesn’t come to my place, instead he goes to Moganshan Mountain.” Su Ni wraps her hair in a towel and quickly texts him back, “I got it”. Then she tosses the phone aside.

It isn’t until she blows her hair dry with a hair dryer, applies a facial mask and lies down on bed that she picks up her phone again. There is a new WeChat message. “Isn’t Gu Zechen there to see his dead ex-girlfriend again?”

“Don’t be so mean! He goes there every year. It would be strange if he didn’t go today.” Without any fluctuation in her heart rate, Su Ni texts back quickly.

“Only you, a cold-blooded woman. Your husband goes to meet his ghost lover in the middle of the night, and you can still be indifferent. Only you, Su Ni, can be so calm.” Su Ni looks at the text message with a smile.

“Don’t you know what kind of person I am? Furthermore, how can I compete with a dead woman?” Su Ni tries to put the conversation to an end with two rhetorical questions and an emoji to show to the person at the other end of the phone that she really is not upset or frustrated.

She is now satisfied with her relationship with Gu Zechen.

“Fine.”The person at the other end of the phone just replies with one word to end the conversation .

Su Ni is about to toss her phone aside when another new message comes in again. “Take care of yourself.”

Su Ni sips her mouth and replies, “Got it.”

“Come out and meet me if you have time. I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

Su Ni thinks a while and replies. “I don’t want Gu Zechen to know that I know you or he’ll definitely suspect me. You are my chess piece and I still want to make good use of you.”

Relieved at Su Ni’s half-joking tone, the person at the other end of WeChat also sends an emoji back, saying, “Don’t worry, if Gu Zechen comes to the Half City Hotel, I’ll let you know.”

Su Ni sends an emoji of “OK”. Then she begins to flip through the photo album. There are no selfies, only a photo of her at a meeting, so she quickly sends this photo over.

A big crying emoji is sent back. Su Ni smiles, shakes her head, deletes all the messages, turns off WeChat and turns on the music to relax herself.

Late at night, not knowing what time it is, Su Ni suddenly hears a sharp knock on the door. Startled, she sits up immediately.

Is that Gu Zechen? Su Ni isn’t sure. Usually, Gu Zechen doesn’t see anyone when he comes back from Moganshan Mountain. Does he forget that she also stays here? Bare footed, Su Ni hurries to the door and with a palpitating heart, Su Ni looks through the peephole to confirm and then opens the door. Before she says something, Gu Zechen has already fallen towards Su Ni.

The huge body almost overwhelms Su Ni. She leans against the wall to support herself, and then asks. “How much have you drunk?”

Gu Zechen mutters and waves his hand, motioning her to put him on the sofa. Su Ni hurriedly does so as is told, staggering under his weight. When she places the man on the couch, Su Ni looks at Gu Zechen, her hands on her waist, panting from exhaustion.

Doesn’t he go to Moganshan Mountain? Does he come back to drink again?

“Water…” Gu Zechen begins to mutter, and Su Ni, who is made unable to sleep again, begins to run back and forth. She pours water and heats towels. In the end, Gu Zechen, who is lying on the couch, begins to snore, and Su Ni is paralyzed with fatigue.

“Gu Zechen!” Su Ni calls his name, but the person lying on sofa doesn’t respond. Su Ni secretly kicks Gu Zechen but he doesn’t respond either.

“Fine. Since you helped me so much today and protected me in front of ESHINE, I’ll take care of you tonight.” Levering herself up from the couch, Su Ni struggles to stand up. After that, she hears the sound of vomiting. She has no time to think about it and quickly rushes to the bathroom.

It is late already.

The sight of Gu Zechen who keeps dry heaving and asks for water gives Su Ni a big headache. As far as she can remember, she never recalls Gu Zechen so drunk before, so she naturally lacks the experience of taking care of drunken patients. Even if it is Gu Zechen, the acid smell of alcohol in the air alone is enough to turn her stomach. Su Ni looks at the dark circles under her eyes in the mirror. She clenches her fists to root for herself. Finally, she holds her breath to return to where Gu Zechen lies quickly.