Chapter 7

Qin Wu looked at me. His expression barely changed, but I could tell he was angry.

"Jiang Si, who did you meet?"

I opened my mouth.

Then closed it and rolled my eyes.

"What's wrong with you? What do you care where I go or who I meet? Are you my father?"

【...There it is. The familiar routine.】

【That nervous person a moment ago must've been possessed. THIS is the original.】

Qin Wu frowned. "Jiang Si."

"Jiang Si, Jiang Si." I slipped past him into the living room. "You police where I go, what I wear, whether I eat hot pot. Now you want to police who I meet, too? Qin Wu, do you have a secret crush on me?"

12

The comments exploded.

【WHY DID SHE JUST SAY IT???】

【Fuck fuck fuck!】

【What kind of frontal assault is this???】

【No, she hasn't realized he likes her. She's insulting him!!! Look properly! Stop shipping everything! Be rational!】

【Rational? I don't want to be rational anymore!】

Qin Wu went still in the entrance hall.

Something about his expression suddenly amused me.

"Are you blushing?"

"No."

"Your ears are red."

"It's hot."

"The air-conditioning's on. How are you hot?"

The comments were hysterical.

I sat on the sofa, crossed my legs and looked at Qin Wu, still standing in the entryway.

"All right, stop guarding the door. What did you come here for?"

He was silent for two seconds, then came over and sat opposite me.

"You went to West Bank Café today. You met Shen Lu."

I narrowed my eyes.

"How do you know?"

"A friend of mine owns it."

I said nothing, waiting.

Qin Wu looked at me steadily.

"What did she tell you?"

"Why don't you tell me what you know first?"

A brief silence.

"Someone took over your body."

The room went quiet.

So did the comments.

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"You knew?" I repeated.

"Yes."

"When?"

"The third day."

The comments: 【He knew on day THREE? And held back for six months? What is he, a Ninja Turtle?】

【What else could he do? Someone was still occupying his sister's body.】

I leaned against the sofa, suddenly uncomfortable.

"You knew someone had taken my body, and you did nothing?"

"I did something."

"What?"

"I froze her supplementary card."

Me: "..."

Qin Wu added, "Stopped the allowance, too."

【HAHAHAHAHA!】

【Qin Wu: I can't get rid of you, but I can make you broke.】

I shot upright.

"So THAT'S why she spent my money!!!"

Because he'd frozen her card!

Qin Wu watched me, his lips curving slightly.

"She didn't spend your money."

Bullshit!

If she hadn't spent it, where had it gone?

Where else would that agent have got money?

He took out his phone, tapped a few times and showed me the screen.

"I moved all your savings into another account."

There was the balance.

I counted the zeros.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions.

Eleven million.

With a million a month added over the past few months.

Exactly right.

The comments erupted.

【He's secretly saving money for his sister? What's the point? She only uses the supplementary card! Give it to me instead!】

【Then what about the money the agent spent???】

"Then what about the money the agent spent?"

Qin Wu looked at me, his mouth curving faintly.

"I recorded every transaction."

He put his phone away and said calmly, "I'll settle that debt with her."

I answered irritably, "How? She's gone."

Easy for him to say.

She'd still been using my body to spend it.

He'd better not make me pay in the end.

"There are ways, even if she's gone." He looked at me. "Leave it to me. You don't have to worry about it."

I watched him for two seconds.

"Fine." I leaned back. "You deal with it, then. I don't want to bother anyway."

【That's IT??? You're not even asking how he's going to do it???】

【Sister: Someone's doing the work for me. Why would I ask?】

【Is this how rich young ladies think? I'm jealous.】

Qin Wu looked at me and suddenly laughed.

"Hungry?"

I considered it.

"A little."

I'd only had coffee.

And I hadn't enjoyed that much.

"What do you want today?"

I'd had hot pot yesterday.

So today, obviously—

"Barbecue!"

I stood and went to the entrance to change my shoes.

Qin Wu followed, then spoke.

"Jiang Si."

"What?"

"Did Shen Lu say when the system's people were coming?"

I paused.

"Tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Didn't say."

He picked up his car keys.

"All right. Let's eat first."

13

At noon the next day, the doorbell rang.

I was still asleep. I rolled over, unwilling to move.

It rang twice more. Then a key turned in the lock.

Qin Wu let himself in.

I sat up wrapped in my quilt, my hair sticking out like a green hedgehog, and squinted at him.

"What are you doing here?"

He stood in the bedroom doorway holding a bag. His gaze rested on my face for a second, then moved away.

"Food."

"Not hungry."

"You barely ate last night."

I opened my mouth, but couldn't argue.

I really hadn't eaten much at the barbecue place.

Mostly because...

The food was genuinely awful.

Internet-famous restaurants were such a scam!

He set the bag on my bedside table and went out.

I opened it.

Plain congee, soup dumplings, a small dish of vinegar.

Just like yesterday.

I looked at the dumplings for three seconds, picked one up and ate it.

Then got out of bed to wash and change.

Black camisole. High-waisted wide-leg pants. Combat boots.

For makeup, extended eyeliner, thick false lashes and true red lipstick.

When I opened the door, Qin Wu was standing by the living-room window. He turned at the sound, looked me over from hair to shoes and frowned faintly, but said nothing.

"What time?"

"Three."

"I'll drive you."

"No need."

"I'm driving."

He repeated it in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

I glanced at him. Couldn't be bothered to argue.

"Suit yourself."

At ten to three, we walked into West Bank Café together.

The wind chime rang.

Shen Lu sat by the window.

Today she wore a pale-gray knit sweater, her hair tied low. Gentle. Harmless.

She showed no surprise at Qin Wu's presence, merely nodded.

"Jiang Si. Qin Wu." Her voice was calm. "Sit down."

The comments drifted past.

【She knows him?】

【Obviously. The male lead was the agent's target. How could the system's people not know him?】

【Fair.】

I sat opposite her. Qin Wu sat beside me.

Shen Lu got straight to the point.

"Jiang Si, you can probably guess why I asked you here."

"To erase my memories," I said.

"Yes." She nodded. "They weren't reset. That's a bug we need to fix."