Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
I nodded.
"I'm not."
My gaze moved between them.
According to the novel, they'd grown up together. Why did Song Zhiyue dislike Jiang Chi so much?
As though reading my mind, he edged closer to me and eyed Jiang Chi warily.
"Don't be fooled by that delicate appearance."
"He's actually a guy!"
A guy?
A guy?
A GUY?!
My ears had to be broken.
He'd just said Jiang Chi was a man!
Jiang Chi looked at him reproachfully.
"So now you're disgusted because I'm a man? You weren't like this when we first met."
Song Zhiyue immediately protested.
"I didn't know it was YOU!"
It took a fight before they finally settled down.
The three of us sat and pieced everything together.
The two of them had a mission.
Give the male and female leads a happy ending, and they could return home.
Then they both looked at me.
"What about you, Lin Beibei?"
I considered it.
"Probably just watch you two live happily ever after."
We decided to speed things up and get the plot over with.
Only Jiang Chi had read the story.
When he described what happened next, Song Zhiyue and I both stared.
He looked embarrassed.
"I was bored. Accidentally clicked a pop-up ad."
"Really! I'm not lying. I clicked it and happened to read a few chapters."
8
Seeing we didn't believe him, he raised his voice.
"Fine! Fine! I admit it. I like reading this stuff!"
"But I really am a man, all right? Don't get ideas!"
"What's wrong with having a hobby? They're just novels. Besides, now I can get us home sooner."
Song Zhiyue crossed his long legs and leaned back.
"Suddenly, life as a CEO doesn't seem so bad."
Jiang Chi looked at me.
I smiled.
"Honestly, being the old butler isn't bad, either. Good money, little work. Only three lines to say."
He snorted furiously.
"Fine. Neither of you wants to go back? Then I'm staying, too!"
He moved close to Song Zhiyue.
"Mr. Song, let's take good care of each other for the rest of our lives!"
Song Zhiyue shuddered and shot to his feet.
"There are too many NPCs here. Not as authentic as reality."
"Perhaps we should discuss what comes next?"
According to Jiang Chi, a villainess would appear very soon.
An important plot point. Probably couldn't skip it.
She liked Song Zhiyue and would scheme against Jiang Chi.
Once she was out of the picture, the leads would get their happy ending.
So the three of us waited for her.
Three months later, she finally came online.
The villainess, Li An'an, was Song Zhiyue's cousin. She'd liked him since childhood.
This time, she'd returned for him.
She was the glamorous type.
Like every other villainess, beautiful and arrogant.
The instant she saw him, she threw herself at him.
Song Zhiyue stood still, his ears turning red.
Before I could deliver my line, Jiang Chi shot forward.
He pulled Li An'an aside and demanded, eyes reddening, "Mr. Song! Who is this woman?!"
"Who is she?!"
He was strong. He shook Song Zhiyue dizzy.
Then gave him a hard shove.
Song Zhiyue staggered and nearly landed on the floor.
He'd barely recovered his balance when Jiang Chi cried, "Say something!"
He opened his mouth.
Before he could speak, Jiang Chi shook his head wildly.
"I won't listen! I won't listen!"
Then he flung out, "I hate you!"
And turned to make a theatrical exit.
I stood gaping.
Even Li An'an was stunned.
It took her a long time to recover.
"What... what's wrong with her?"
Annoyance flashed through Song Zhiyue's eyes.
Then he reached out and shouted, "Chi Chi, let me explain!"
And ran after him.
Only Li An'an and I remained.
She looked at me, then at Song Zhiyue's retreating back.
Her mouth stayed open for a long time.
I folded my hands in front of me and gazed benevolently after them.
"It's been so long since I last saw the young master smile."
Li An'an gave me a stiff look, turned and left.
From that day on, she didn't come back.
9
Jiang Chi nearly laughed himself sick talking about her.
He grabbed my hand.
"Beibei, you have no idea. That villainess isn't wicked at all. She's kind of cute."
"When she got home that day, she immediately called Song Zhiyue's parents to ask whether he'd suffered some sort of shock lately."
Then he told me she'd gone to the company several times.
The biggest scene had taken place in the CEO's office.
When Li An'an arrived, they'd deliberately been holding each other.
Her "villainess" character setting activated at once.
She rushed over, pulled Jiang Chi away and tried to slap him.
He dodged.
But being Jiang Chi, he deliberately spun around and sank to the floor in slow motion.
Clutching his cheek with one hand, he secretly added a few eye drops.
When he raised his head, his eyes were red.
"Darling, look what she did!"
"She hit me!"
"Darling, say something!"
Then Song Zhiyue flew into a rage and threw Li An'an out.
She left in tears.
And never appeared again.
Apparently, the proud young lady had gone abroad.
At the news, Jiang Chi was bewildered.
"Isn't she supposed to be the villainess? She's gone overseas before she even got around to being wicked?"
Eventually, he decided there might be differences between the book and what actually happened.
Even NPCs had feelings outside their fixed storylines.
Once Li An'an left, the two began preparing the wedding.
It went perfectly smoothly.
On the wedding night, all three of us sat in the bridal chamber.
We stared at one another and waited to be sent home.
Jiang Chi kept repeating their address.
"Lin Beibei, remember it. Make sure you remember."
I gave them mine, too. They both nodded.
At exactly midnight, a sudden wave of sleepiness swept over us.
We exchanged a look.
We all knew it was time.
All three of us toppled over.
My last thought before losing consciousness was whether someone would misunderstand if they found me asleep with the bride and groom.
When I woke, I was home.
I washed, changed and immediately went to the address Jiang Chi had given me.
Nobody was there.
Only an apartment complex under construction.
I'd lost all contact with him and Song Zhiyue.
I even began to wonder whether it had all been a dream.
Life returned to its old routine.
Every day, the same familiar commute and rounds.
A colleague leaned close and whispered, "Beibei, have you heard? We've got a new CEO. Really young. Apparently unmarried. Single."
I didn't even look up.
A CEO?
I'd seen plenty of domineering CEOs inside a novel. This one was probably nothing special.
Never mind Song Zhiyue or Song Hancheng—even the men my butler father had rejected after I lost my job hadn't been ordinary.
I turned.
"You said that when the new manager arrived. He was single, yes. Divorced-single."
"Very brainy, too. Lost nearly all his hair."
Chen Wan stuck out her tongue.
"That rumor was wrong! This time it's true!"
She'd barely finished when our potbellied manager approached, looking stern.
"Clear your desks. The CEO's coming down to inspect!"
Ten minutes later, he appeared, bowing and scraping beside a man.
Tall. Beautifully dressed in his suit.
Chen Wan nudged me.
"Look, Beibei. He's really handsome."
I raised my head.
And met a pair of deep, strangely familiar eyes.
He looked at me for a long time.
"What's your name?"
I lowered my head.
"Lin Beibei."
Then I heard him say, "I'm Song Zhiyue."
I looked up.
He was watching me with a meaningful smile.
After work, I stepped outside and found him leaning against a car door.
Exactly as I remembered.
He called my name.
"Lin Beibei. Long time no see."
I smiled.
"Long time no see."
Extra
Song Zhiyue took me to meet Jiang Chi.
No—Jiang Zhi.
An athletic-looking young man, a good six feet tall, with tanned skin.
He gave me an honest, uncomplicated smile. I couldn't connect him to the Jiang Chi in my memories.
Then he opened his mouth.
"Dearest Mr. Song, you've finally found your Beibei."
All right. Definitely him.
Jiang Zhi said they'd kept looking for me after returning.
But the address hadn't matched.
I told them I'd looked for them, too.
The three of us fell silent.
Perhaps our memories had shifted on the way back. That would explain why we couldn't find one another.
Jiang Zhi looked at me.
"You don't know this, but Song Zhiyue never gave up looking for you. Three whole years."
"I even told him you might belong to another world. We'd already traveled into a book. Stranger things weren't impossible."
"But he wouldn't believe it. Whenever he heard the name Lin Beibei, he'd go and check."
Surprised, I turned to Song Zhiyue.
He looked away, a little uncomfortable.
Jiang Zhi said he'd seen my name at a company branch.
That was why he'd come to our office in person.
A year later, Song Zhiyue and I got together.
Curiously, I asked, "Your tastes are pretty unusual, aren't they? You liked me when I was that honest old butler?"
He touched his nose.
"Actually, what I saw was different from everyone else."
"I saw you as you are now."
I paused.
Was this the male lead's halo at work?
Even an NPC's disguise couldn't fool him?
He smiled.
"Perhaps it was fate."
"In my world, you're the heroine."
"And I'd like to be the hero in yours."
I rose onto my toes and kissed his lips.
Of course.
He always had been.
(The End)