"I..."
Was that even a proposal? Not even a ring.
"But I'm sincere, Qiqi. Won't you think it over?"
"No—way."
※※※
That night, Qiqi dreamed—
She dreamed of Rong Yi leaning against the courtyard gate, smiling gently at her and saying—Qiqi, why not marry me?
Qiqi's face turned as red as a persimmon. She darted out of the yard like a gust of wind, running countless laps through the winding, maze-like alleys, scattering her chaotic feelings all over the ground.
Then, Rong Yi sat on someone's wall, gazing at the girl gasping for breath while leaning against the wall, and said with deep affection—Qiqi, you should still marry me.
Qiqi screamed in fright and fled in panic, bolting more than two miles away. Somehow, in the confusion, she ended up back in her own yard, collapsing under the old locust tree to pant heavily.
But a faint voice came from above—Rong Yi sat on a tree branch, looking down at her with the same detached gaze a celestial god might cast upon mortal beings, his voice husky—Qiqi, will you marry me tomorrow?
Ahhh—Monster!
Qiqi let out a scream, sharp as a dolphin's cry, startling a flock of black crows into flapping wildly around the yard...
Then, Gu Qiqi finally woke up in terror.
At this point, nearly ten hours had passed since the *drug incident. Qiqi glanced at her phone—it was past midnight.
Having been frightened during the day, she couldn't sleep well at night either. Qiqi simply pulled the blanket around her and sat up.
Her heart churned with a mix of shyness and lingering fear, like riding a runaway roller coaster.
After experiencing so many sudden events, could anyone really fall asleep peacefully?
So, Qiqi lay awake.
Sigh, can't sleep—might as well get up.
Qiqi dressed, fumbled in the dark, and stepped into the yard to clear her mind.
A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a faint silver glow—beautiful. Qiqi sat under the old locust tree, staring blankly for a while.
Then, whether it was an auditory hallucination or not, Qiqi suddenly heard a faint sobbing—a strange woman's cry, seemingly coming from some dark corner of the yard.
Who's there?
Qiqi's hair stood on end, goosebumps rising in rows on her arms like soldiers at a National Day parade.
But touching the demon-repelling ring on her left hand, she steadied herself a bit—as long as she wore the ring, no demon or ghost could harm her, unless it was a human.
Since it was a human, and in her own yard, with Rong Yi nearby, she wasn't so scared.
Thinking this, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the study. But as her gaze swept past it, she caught a faint glimmer of ghostly fire in Rong Yi's room.
A weak golden light, flashing and gone in an instant—but Qiqi bet she really saw it.
Was it Samadhi True Fire again? Was Rong Yi still boiling silver ear soup this late? No, that guy was too clean to cook in his own bedroom.
Qiqi stood up, driven by some inexplicable impulse, and tiptoed lightly toward the study.
The study's curtains were drawn, faintly revealing a hint of firelight.
Yes, golden light was seeping from inside the study, indicating Rong Yi was using magic.
In the middle of summer, his window was tightly shut. Yet, there seemed to be an airflow inside the room, because Qiqi noticed the curtains faintly bulging against the glass.