Suddenly, a mix of sourness and grievance.

Countless emotions flooded her mind, and Chen Xi remained silent for a while before a relieved smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

As expected... she still couldn't replace Bai Xi's presence...

In this competition, she lost, lost completely, and even before the so-called duel began, the result was already destined.

But she wasn't in a hurry, truly not in a hurry.

No matter how good Bai Xi was, she could only live in memories, while Chen Xi had the opportunity to change Yan Feng's mind.

If once wasn't enough, then a few times, if a few times weren't enough, then countless times. She was confident in herself; as long as she persisted, one day she would make the man fall in love with her too.

However...

Perhaps she could collect some interest in advance now?

Chen Xi looked at the man sleeping soundly in front of her, her face slightly flushed, and leaned down.

Past and present intertwined, she wore a woman's clothes, styled her hair like Bai Xi's, and amidst the surrounding scent of alcohol, kissed the man's forehead just like Bai Xi did.

"Good boy..." Chen Xi lifted her head, looked at the man in front of her, her eyes curving into a smile, and murmured as she caressed his cheek, "Sleep... don't be sad anymore... you're home now..."

…………

The next morning.

Yan Feng woke up with a headache, feeling as if there was a drill working inside his head, buzzing.

Getting out of bed, recalling last night, he felt somewhat like he was in a different world, sitting on the bed in a daze for a full five minutes.

The dream last night was too real, so real that he almost believed it was reality, that Bai Xi... had really come back to see him...

But how could that be possible... it was just a dream after all... an unrealistic dream...

He needed to return to reality.

He picked up his phone, unlocked it, and scrolled down, planning to check if there were any messages from the company.

But just then, a news headline caught his attention, and he glanced over, then froze.

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"Famous film star exposed in scandal, marriage to wife ten years younger sparks controversy."

Yan Feng swallowed, then clicked on it almost involuntarily.

Ignoring the cause and process of the event, he quickly scrolled to the comments section.

"Old cow eating young grass, huh? This guy really has no shame."

"The guy's rich, so what? Isn't that someone who married an 18-year-old girl at 60?"

"Seriously, what are girls thinking these days? So materialistic?"

"So pretty, yet only thinking of shortcuts, people these days..."

"......"

Yan Feng couldn't bear to read the rest of the comments.

The online bickering had nothing to do with him, but his mind couldn't help but conjure up an image...

Chen Xi being shackled, branded guilty, kneeling in the middle of a crowd, with everyone pointing at her, calling her indecent, disgusting, gold-digging, with insults pouring out endlessly...

"Enough!"

Yan Feng said coldly, holding his head, gritting his teeth, breathing heavily, and after a moment of calming down, his hands fell weakly to his sides, making him look like he aged ten years in an instant.

He couldn't... let this continue...

He had to... do something...

Getting up, he walked towards the door, and as soon as he opened it, he saw the young girl in an apron busying herself.

"Uncle, you're awake?" Chen Xi wiped the sweat off her forehead and smiled, "Come and eat, I followed a video to make two dishes for you, just tasted them, and though it's my first time, they turned out okay."

Yan Feng stood at the door, his gaze involuntarily surveying the entire living room...

The floor had been mopped, the furniture was arranged more neatly, the cactus he kept had been watered, and there were a few washed and dried clothes hanging on the balcony...

Did she do all this?

Looking at the busy yet particularly happy Chen Xi, he felt a pang of guilt, but he knew this couldn't be delayed any longer, so he braced himself and asked:

"Little Xi... can we... talk?"

Chen Xi, who was setting the table, froze for a moment, her smile slightly fading, then she wiped her hands clean on her apron and softly said while looking at the dishes on the table:

"Let's eat first... otherwise, it'll get cold and won't taste good..."

They sat down.

Yan Feng spoke first, getting straight to the point: "Little Xi, there's no possibility between us."

Chen Xi was momentarily stunned, the remaining smile on her face disappearing instantly, but she quickly put it back on.

She didn't respond, instead picking up some food with her chopsticks and placing it in his bowl:

"Here, try this, garlic sprouts with scrambled eggs, it's quite tasty..."

"Little Xi..." Yan Feng couldn't bear to look at her disappointed face, so he focused on the chopsticks in front of her and said softly, "You need to understand... us being together is a serious issue..."

"You'll have people pointing fingers at you, looking down on you at university, being treated differently, and if the teachers find out, they might expel you, not to mention future work and life..."

Yan Feng raised his voice slightly, swallowing, and continued to persuade:

"I understand that for some reasons you might have some feelings for me, but this is just the kind of admiration for adult men that people your age might have, many have similar feelings, it's not wrong, but you need to understand, thoughts and reality are two different things..."

"And then?" Chen Xi propped her chin with her hand, smiling as she asked, "What's the difference?"

Yan Feng was puzzled, just about to ask when she interrupted him.

"Uncle, you're not me, you haven't experienced what I've been through, do you think just because I don't like you, or I'm not with you, people will respect me?"

The young girl said, letting out a cold laugh, and continued: "Until the third year of high school, my grades were always good, but it was that year, she passed away."

"Since then, everything changed, I couldn't stay in any school for more than two months, wherever I went, I was labeled as a 'goddess' or 'top student'."

"Many were jealous of me, whether it was my looks or my grades, so they spread rumors about me, saying how indecent and promiscuous I was."

"And many liked me, though only for my looks, but after being rejected, they would get angry, and the group spreading rumors would grow."

The young girl said, sticking her chopsticks into the scrambled eggs in front of her, her smile growing colder:

"I don't know if you've heard this saying, Uncle, but once suspicion is born, the crime is already established, with rumors growing, even teachers started believing I was a promiscuous student."

The chopsticks lifted the scrambled eggs slowly, bringing them to her mouth, biting, chewing, and then swallowing:

"They just want to trample me underfoot, all they need is an excuse, it has nothing to do with whether we like each other or are together."