Video Editor

"Fang Yuan, what's the deal with your 'surrogate father' job?" At this moment, the scumbag Tao Jun crossed his legs and approached Su Ning, who was tidying up her tools, with a gossipy look on his face. "Could it be some kind of special service? I think the female employer is quite rich."

Without looking up, Su Ning continued repairing the old projector in the movie theater: "Stop having those dirty thoughts. It's just ordinary housekeeping service. It's just that maybe her child lacks a father's love."

"Come on!" Tao Jun waved his arms exaggeratedly. In his mind, men and women only had that one thing going on. "What housekeeping company requires a three thousand yuan deposit in advance? I bet she's after you and wants to keep you as her sugar daddy."

"Tao Jun!" Lin Li's scream came from the inner room, interrupting Tao Jun's rambling.

"What's wrong?"

She stormed out, carrying a tempting pink bra, her face ashen. "Hmph! What is this? Someone explain!"

Tao Jun's face turned deathly pale instantly, and he stammered, "This...this must be Fang Yuan's! Hasn't he been going out a lot lately? A normal man definitely has some needs."

"Bullshit!" Su Ning, naturally unwilling to take the blame for Tao Jun, knew she had no self-sacrificing spirit. "I don't even have a girlfriend, where would I get women's underwear?"

Lin Li's suspicious gaze swept back and forth between the two men, finally settling on Tao Jun: "Tao Jun, you'd better tell me the truth..."

Just at this critical moment, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Lin Li stormed to open the door, only to find Lu Qing standing outside with a big smile on her face.

"Is Fang Yuan here?" Lu Qing peeked inside.

Upon seeing Lu Qing, Tao Jun immediately had an idea. "Girl, you've finally arrived. This bra must be yours, right?"

"What?" Lu Qing was undoubtedly dumbfounded.

"..." Tao Jun kept giving Lu Qing meaningful glances.

Lu Qing's gaze suddenly locked onto the bra in Lin Li's hand. "Oh dear! How did my bra end up with you?"

The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Tao Jun felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly said, "See! I told you it was a guest's stuff!"

Lu Qing took the bra, then suddenly turned to Su Ning, a sly glint in her eyes: "Mr. Fang, you took advantage of me while I was drunk that night and molested me, and even stole my underwear. How do you plan to settle this?"

"What?! Miss, you've mistaken me for someone else!" Su Ning's eyes widened. "I don't know you at all!"

Lin Li and Tao Jun were both stunned.

Lu Qing persisted, "You dare to do it but not admit it? That day at the subway station, you..."

"Enough!" Su Ning grabbed his coat. "Let's go! We'll go check the subway station's surveillance footage right now."

"Alright! Who's afraid of who!"

Half an hour later, in the station's monitoring room, staff impatiently pulled up footage from a few days earlier.

In the video, a drunk girl staggers toward the railway tracks.

Just as the train was about to pull into the station, a figure rushed over and pulled her back; it was Su Ning.

"Did you see that clearly?" Su Ning pointed at the screen and questioned Lu Qing in front of her, "I saved your life, but you're accusing me of indecent assault?"

Lu Qing stared blankly at herself on the screen, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

She turned and rushed out of the monitoring room. Several staff members shook their heads and sighed, "Don't risk your life just because you two are having a fight! Young man, be nicer to your girlfriend."

"..."

When Su Ning chased after her, Lu Qing was leaning against the railing outside the station, sobbing.

He handed me a tissue: "Why did you commit suicide?"

"What's it to you!" Lu Qing slapped his hand away. "Who gave you permission to meddle? It's my freedom to die!"

"Have you broken up with your boyfriend? Did he cheat on you? Or did he die of illness?"

"Shut up! It's none of your business."

Su Ning sighed: "Fine! I was just being nosy! But please don't bother me again. We're even now."

"Even if we're even?" Lu Qing suddenly sneered. "You forcibly dragged me back into this disgusting world, how can we settle this score?"

"..."

Then she wiped away her tears, took out her phone, and said, "Call me."

"Why?"

"Otherwise, I'll call the police right now and report you for sexual harassment." Lu Qing looked at him defiantly.

Su Ning reluctantly gave out the number, warning him before leaving, "Listen! I'm not a good person, and I have plenty of women around me. Someone like you who can't handle this is better off staying away from me."

Lu Qing scoffed, "You? A male nanny living in a homeless house? What are you bragging about!"

"I'm sorry..."

……

Three days later, Lu Qing showed up uninvited again, barging into the movie theater with several bottles of liquor: "I'd like to treat you to dinner! To thank you for saving my life!"

She deliberately emphasized the last four words, her eyes filled with provocation.

At the dinner table, Lu Qing kept drinking, one glass after another, when she suddenly pointed at Tao Jun and yelled, "You men are all the same! Sister Lin Li, break up with this womanizer as soon as possible!"

Tao Jun nearly choked on his beer: "Lu Qing, what's wrong with you!"

"Did I say something wrong? That pink bra isn't mine at all." Lu Qing, her eyes blurry with drunkenness, pulled out her phone's photo album. "Look! This is my ex-boyfriend, Zou Fei. We dated for six years, and he was secretly having an affair with a female student! You men are all so despicable!"

Lin Li's face turned ugly, and Tao Jun hurriedly explained, "Honey, I'm not the same kind of person as her ex-boyfriend! Besides, don't listen to her nonsense."

"..."

"What's the difference!" Lu Qing smashed a wine glass. "They're both scumbags who fall in love with every girl they see!"

The scene was chaotic.

In the end, Suning forcibly dragged the drunken Lu Qing out of the restaurant.

After she regained consciousness, Su Ning said seriously, "Listen! Lu Qing, I'm a hundred times worse than your ex-boyfriend. I change women faster than I change clothes, you can't handle that."

Lu Qing suddenly laughed: "Weren't you the one who dragged me out of the car that day?"

"In what car?" Suning was completely confused.

"Stop pretending." Lu Qing's eyes were complicated. "Although I was very drunk at the time, I remember your voice. Because your head is so big, you saved me twice. Why? Are you the new marriage destined for me by heaven?"

"..." Su Ning then realized that the system had not given him all of the original owner's memories.

"Tell me! Do you like me?"

"Crazy line!"

"Hmph! I hate men like you who have the guts but no brains."

"Lu Qing, you've really mistaken me for someone else! Even if I did save you, it was just something I did on the side. Don't flatter yourself."

Lu Qing's expression instantly turned cold: "Who's being presumptuous? I hate you too much to even think about it! What right do you have to make decisions for me?"

She stood up unsteadily. "Just you wait! I'll make you regret meddling!"

Watching Lu Qing's departing figure, Su Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, my phone rang. It was a message from Gao Yawen: "Fang Yuan, can you come see Daniel tomorrow? He keeps asking when 'Dad' will come again."

"okay, I get it."

The next day, Su Ning brought his self-made astronomical model to the school.

Daniel excitedly rushed over: "Dad! Look at the solar system I drew!"

Su Ning examined the painting closely: "Wow, they even drew the asteroid belt! But Neptune's orbit should be more elliptical..."

He picked up a colored pen and made a few corrections, "This will make it more accurate."

Gao Yawen stood aside, watching their interaction in surprise.

During lunch break, she couldn't help but ask, "Fang Yuan, do you really know a lot about astronomy?"

"I know a little bit." Su Ning was helping Daniel adjust his binoculars. "I... have taken care of quite a few children before."

He almost let slip his experience of traveling through multiple worlds.

Daniel suddenly looked up: "Dad, why do you always change jobs? Last time you said you were at a shipyard, and this time it's a nanny."

Su Ning was startled and quickly smoothed things over: "Because Dad likes to try different things! Just like you like astronomy and dinosaurs, right?"

Gao Yawen watched thoughtfully as Su Ning skillfully handled the child's various questions, her gaze gradually softening.

As she was leaving, she whispered, "Thank you! Daniel hasn't been this happy in a long time."

“He’s very smart; with proper education, he could become a scientist,” Su Ning said casually, then realized her mistake. “Uh, I meant…”

“I know,” Gao Yawen smiled slightly. “Daniel is indeed extraordinary.”

At this heartwarming moment, Suning's phone started vibrating incessantly.

After the call connected, Lu Qing's hysterical voice came through: "I'm in the university library! If you don't come, I'll tear up all the books here!"

"Sorry! We have a new client, I have to go get back to work now."

"Okay! Then you get back to work."

"It was another phone call."

"it is good."

When Su Ning arrived, Lu Qing was frantically grabbing a stack of books in front of the lending desk.

She pulled out library cards and tore them to shreds: "These are all books that Zou Fei borrowed! I'm going to destroy them all!"

"Calm down!" Su Ning snatched the book from her hand. "Is it worth ruining your future for a scumbag?"

"What do you know!" Lu Qing cried, tears streaming down her face. "More than two thousand days and nights, he changed his mind just like that!"

Then Su Ning pulled the crazed Lu Qing away and pressed her shoulders, saying, "If you keep acting crazy like this, I'm going to send you to a mental hospital."

"you……"

"Listen! This world is incredibly complex! I've dated more women than you've ever met. Does a man need a reason to change his mind? The important thing is that you live a better life for him!"

Lu Qing suddenly fell silent, then sneered, "You? What are you bragging about? Show me the proof you can!"

“Lu Qing, I don’t need to prove anything to you.” Su Ning released his hand. “But if you continue to degrade yourself like this, you’ll only end up hurting yourself.” Lu Qing stared at him for a long time, then suddenly laughed: “Su Ning, what are you pretending to be, some seasoned lover? You can’t even lie properly. I’ve checked, your ex-wife divorced you because you were too honest, not because you were a womanizer.”

Suning was stunned. The background information the system gave him was actually like this?
"What do you know? My ex-wife divorced me because she saw me in bed with another woman. Otherwise, why wouldn't she let me see the children?"

"Really?"

"Why would I need to lie to you? Besides, what do I need to explain to you?"

However, Lu Qing wiped away her tears and said, "Fang Yuan, don't try to get rid of me with such a lame excuse. I'm going to stick with you until you admit you saved me twice!"

"..."

Looking at Lu Qing's stubborn expression, Su Ning suddenly felt a headache coming on.

This woman was much more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

"Fine! I admit I saved you twice. Are you satisfied now? Stop bothering me, okay?"

"Fang Yuan, am I really that annoying?"

"I'm telling the truth! If you can afford to play a game, then all the better, but if you can't afford to play it, then don't enter the game."

"What if I insist on playing this game?"

"That means you're both bad at the game and love to play! I hate women like you the most."

"I……"

"Alright! I don't have time to waste here rambling on with you. Remember not to call me again."

"..."

……

Rain pattered against the car window, and meandering water streaks twisted into strange patterns on the glass.

Lu Qing's fingernails unconsciously dug into the leather stitching on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white from the force.

“Just turn right up ahead,” she said in a dry voice.

Looking at the increasingly desolate scenery outside the window, Su Ning frowned and asked, "Are you sure this is the place? There aren't even any streetlights further ahead."

"What? Afraid I'll kill you and bury your body in the wilderness?" Lu Qing sneered.

"I'm actually a little worried."

"Don't worry, if anyone's going to be killed, it'll be me."

The car eventually stopped at the edge of a birch forest.

Lu Qing pulled two folding spatulas and a bulging travel bag from the trunk, and tossed a spatula to Su Ning: "Let's get started."

The mud mixed with rainwater stuck to the shovel, and Suning's shirt was quickly soaked with sweat.

He stole a glance at Lu Qing; she seemed to have a grudge against the land, each shovel stroke laced with ruthlessness.

When they dug to a depth of half a meter, Lu Qing suddenly knelt down in the mud and unzipped her travel bag.

A pristine white wedding dress was the first to be pulled out, with the words "Forever Love" embroidered in gold thread reflecting the light under the car headlights.

Next came couple T-shirts, movie ticket stubs, faded plush toys... She threw each item into the pit.

"Today I should be standing in the church wearing this rubbish." Lu Qing grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it on her wedding dress. "Now I can only send it off to its grave."

Rain dripped down her chin, indistinguishable from tears or raindrops.

Su Ning watched silently as she frantically threw things into the pit, when suddenly a hard object hit his feet.

It's a picture frame; the glass is broken.

In the photo, Lu Qing and a boy wearing glasses are smiling brightly under a cherry blossom tree.

"Zou Fei gave me this as a birthday gift, saying it was specially made by a Japanese craftsman." Lu Qing scoffed. "Later I found out that he took every girlfriend to take pictures under that tree. Then he said it was specially made by a Japanese craftsman."

"You're really good at this kind of fun!"

The process of filling the soil resembled a bizarre ritual.

Lu Qing knelt before the gradually rising mound of earth, took out an invitation from her wallet, and lit it with a lighter.

The flames licked at the gilded lettering, burning the words "Respectfully Inviting Mr. Zou Fei and Ms. Lu Qing to their wedding" into curled ashes.

"Get back in the car! You're shaking all over." Su Ning reached out to pull her.

Lu Qing shook off his hand: "Tell me a story."

"what?"

"I'll tell you a story!" Lu Qing suddenly screamed, her voice particularly piercing in the open wilderness. "It's too quiet on the way back to the city, I'm going crazy!"

On the way back, Lu Qing turned the heater up to the maximum, but she still couldn't stop shivering.

She kept urging, "Speak! Talk about anything! How did your ex-wife dump you? Or how many women have you slept with?"

Suning gripped the steering wheel tightly: "I can't remember."

"Bullshit!" Lu Qing slammed her hand on the dashboard. "Don't you men love to brag about these things the most?"

A sudden stop, the tires screeching as they slammed on the wet road.

Su Ning parked the car on the side of the road, and the look in her eyes as she turned to Lu Qing silenced her instantly.

There was something in those eyes that made her feel dangerous, like an undercurrent of danger beneath a calm sea.

"Lu Qing, are you sure you want to hear this?" Su Ning's voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

Lu Qing subconsciously shrank back, but still stubbornly raised her chin: "Of course!"

The next second, Su Ning's hand was already gripping the back of her neck, and his lips, smelling of mud and rain, pressed down hard.

At this moment, Lu Qing's eyes widened, and she pushed him desperately with both hands against his chest, but he held her waist firmly with his other hand.

The assault between her lips and teeth was punitive and brutal, the taste of tobacco and mint filling her mouth.

“Ugh… let go…” The broken protest was swallowed up.

Lu Qing's fist slammed into Su Ning's shoulder, but gradually lost its strength.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly stopped struggling.

Tears welled up in her tightly closed eyes, and her stiff body went limp as if her bones had been removed.

When Su Ning finally released her, only their heavy breathing remained in the carriage.

Lu Qing's lips were slightly swollen, and her lipstick had smudged.

She mechanically straightened her disheveled collar, staring blankly out the window.

The sound of the engine restarting broke the stillness.

Su Ning stared straight ahead, his voice chillingly calm: "If you want to call the police, you can do so now."

Lu Qing didn't answer, but simply rolled down the car window, letting the cold night wind dissipate the ambiguous heat in the car.

The rain had stopped, and moonlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, casting dappled shadows on her face.

"Don't worry," her voice was as light as a feather, "I won't bother you anymore."

Silence spread through the car.

Suning's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel as the car sped up.

At one corner, he caught a glimpse of Lu Qing wiping her eyes, but she didn't say anything in the end.

As the city lights came into view again, Lu Qing suddenly said, "Put me down at the subway entrance just ahead."

"I'll take you home."

"No need! I want to take a walk by myself."

"You're crazy! This car is yours."

"I……"

"Besides, I'm completely soaked. You have to let me take a shower, right? There's no place to shower in the movie theater."

"..."

Then Su Ning took Lu Qing to Lu Qing's house, and sure enough, they went to her bathroom to take a shower.

Hearing the rushing water in the bathroom, Lu Qing's mind drifted back to the thrill she had just experienced.

"dong dong dong"

"what?"

"I found you some clothes! They all belong to my ex-boyfriend."

"..." Su Ning opened the bathroom door from the inside and pulled Lu Qing in directly.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

"Aren't you asking knowingly?"

"you……"

After another hour or two, Lu Qing had completely given up resisting and then lay on the big bed, tightly hugging Su Ning.

Lu Qing, who had taken a while to come to her senses, was both amused and exasperated. "Fang Yuan, now I believe what you said."

"what?"

"Fang Yuan, you really are a master at picking up girls! You've already stolen my heart."

"Tch! It's not too late to find out now. You'd better stay away from me from now on."

"It's too late! My heart already belongs to you."

"Then let's continue..."

"what……"

...(End of chapter)