Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

"Ah~~~"

The next morning, Lin Mo had just returned from his morning exercise when a gasp came from the living room.

"What's wrong?" Lin Mo was taking a shower and couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, there was a series of thumping footsteps, and then the bathroom door was suddenly flung open. Liu Ruyan exclaimed with delight, "Little brother, I've lost a pound since yesterday! Your black coffee is really effective!"

I drank a cup yesterday at noon, ate very little, and wasn't hungry at all. I didn't expect it to work so well!

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo turned to the side, covering herself repeatedly, and said with a speechless expression, "Say what you want, but can you not be so rude? Sister, I'm taking a shower!"

In response, Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes at him and said, "Tch~ What are you pretending for? What haven't I seen?"

"That's different. I mean, we can talk through a door, there's no need to be face to face, right?" Lin Mo said helplessly.

Although the two are a couple and are already living together, having the shower door suddenly opened while they are showering is still a bit too forward and quite frightening!

Even if you can be more unrestrained in your own home, this is going too far.

"What a disgrace! I don't even want to look at her!" With that, Liu Ruyan turned and left.

Seeing this, Lin Mo helplessly closed the bathroom door manually. There was someone in this house, and they didn't give him any privacy at all! Fortunately, boys usually shower quickly, and three minutes later, Lin Mo appeared in the living room.

Today's breakfast was potatoes, eggs, lettuce salad, and a cup of black coffee.

Ever since she found out she had gained weight, Liu Ruyan made a special effort to cook breakfast for herself today. However, since she wasn't a good cook, she could only learn how to make the simplest weight-loss meals online.

It's basically boiled eggs, steamed potatoes, mashed and mixed with lettuce, with a tiny bit of soy sauce. Lin Mo took a bite and could only describe it as bland and tasteless.

Although he had never eaten pig feed before, this stuff gave him the original taste of food, but its shape was very similar to pig feed.

It has to be said, when this woman gets ruthless to herself, it's truly frightening.

"What are you looking at? If you want some, go get it yourself. I made extra so you can try my cooking!" Liu Ruyan said when she saw her little man staring at her like that.

Hearing this, Lin Mo rolled his eyes at her: "There's no need for that. Can you really manage eating so little?"

“Why not? This is the fastest way to lose weight. I have boiled shrimp and broccoli for lunch every day, plus your black coffee. I feel like it won’t be long before I lose a little over 100 pounds,” Liu Ruyan said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo opened his mouth, wanting to tell her that even if she ate normally, as long as she had black coffee, it would help her gain weight, but Liu Ruyan definitely wouldn't believe him.

"Alright, alright, but be careful not to starve yourself to the point of illness," Lin Mo said helplessly.

"I know what I'm doing," Liu Ruyan said nonchalantly.

In response, Lin Mo couldn't help but ask, "Oh, by the way, my cousin should have finished her resignation process by now, right?"

"Yeah, I signed the papers and went through the formalities yesterday. I got all my things back this afternoon. If nothing unexpected happens, she should be lounging at home right now. She's having a good time. No, I'm not happy that she's so comfortable. I have to find her something to do right away!" Liu Ruyan finished her special breakfast in a few bites, then grabbed her car keys and went downstairs to work.

Seeing this, Lin Mo sighed helplessly. If he were his cousin Su He, he would have been working like a slave since graduation. After so many years, he finally quit his job and wanted to stay a few more days to rest.

But judging from Liu Ruyan's condition, her cousin's peaceful days are probably numbered.

After breakfast, instead of staying home to write his thesis, he went downstairs a little after ten o'clock to see what Chuanmei was like.

As long as he's alright, I can rest assured. After all, he and Director Wang noticed something was off about Chuanmei last night, so they had to go check on her.

I went straight to the studio and as soon as I entered through the back door, I could hear the clattering of keyboards inside.

"You're all busy, huh? Why are there only the three of you? Where are Sister Yuan and Chuanmei?" Lin Mo asked as he came in and saw that only Section Chief Wang, Squad Leader He Xiaoyue, and the other two were working.

Upon hearing this, the class monitor couldn't help but say, "Sister Yuan slept in today and was too lazy to get up. She said she was exhausted yesterday. Chuanmei wasn't home; she went out early this morning. I don't know where she went."

A few of us were even planning to discuss with him what ads to insert into yesterday's footage.

Now look what's happened! Our commander's gone, and we're all alone!

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo frowned slightly: "You went out so early this morning? Did you make a phone call?"

"I called, he said he went to the city," Director Wang said. Lin Mo nodded, it seemed he had gone to see Cui Xue, he would check again later, then asked, "You guys too, why don't you wait for him to come back before doing it? Why are you in such a hurry!"

"Aren't you in a hurry? What we did yesterday has generated a lot of buzz online. Lots of videos have already surfaced. If we don't hurry, the buzz will quickly die out."

"If it weren't for Chuanmei saying that this work must be meticulously crafted, we would have released a simple preview last night," He Xiaoyue couldn't help but say.

She was getting anxious, especially after seeing many passersby posting their videos from yesterday, as well as clips from their live streams. Her heart was pounding like a cat was scratching at her.

Lin Mo then went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, sat down, and prepared to wait for Chuan Mei to come back. Luckily, Miss Yuan wasn't there, otherwise, drinking water? What a joke, he still had a bunch of yogurt left!

Fortunately, the yogurt wall has been noticeably reduced recently. After all, there are many people, and it's not a problem to sell two boxes a day on average, or at the very least, one box can be sold.

At 10:40 a.m., there was a noise coming from the back door of the studio. Lin Mo looked up and the next second, Chuan Mei walked in looking a bit dejected.

"Chuanzi, where have you been? You look a little unhappy." Lin Mo asked quickly upon seeing this.

He knew perfectly well that Chuanmei had gone to the city to find Cui Xue, but he still had to ask, just in case he was mistaken.
"That's all," Chuanmei said with a sigh, then slumped onto the sofa, her hands clasped together, looking somewhat dazed.

"Just say what's on your mind, why are you looking like that?" Lin Mo leaned over, put his arm around Chuan Mei's shoulder, and shook her with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the Sichuan girl remained silent for a while before finally saying, "Cui Xue is gone!"

"Gone? So what if she's gone? What, you didn't actually fall for her, did you?"

Wang Chu and the other two put down their work and came over. He Xiaoyue spoke up.

In response, the woman from Sichuan shook her head: "No, it's just that I felt like I hadn't said goodbye yet, and then she suddenly left."

She looked a lot like someone I knew. I thought that since I couldn't help her before, now that I could, I wanted to help her, to make up for my past regret. I never expected her to suddenly leave without saying goodbye. She said last night that she was leaving the day after tomorrow. I never imagined this would happen.

"Did you two exchange contact information? Didn't you call and ask?" Lin Mo asked.

The Sichuan girl shook her head: "We just met yesterday, and we haven't had a chance to talk yet, but she left me a note at the hotel front desk saying she's gone!"

As she spoke, the Sichuan girl took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket, without even an envelope, and unfolded it.

Li Chuan, I'm leaving. I feel I shouldn't bother you anymore. Thank you for letting me go back to being 24 years old yesterday. Yesterday felt like a beautiful dream that was out of reach, but now I've woken up.

People say that loneliness is a normal part of life, which makes companionship all the more precious. Some people are not in our lives, but they are in our hearts; some people are not by our side, but they are in our minds.

Memories are like a book that can never be fully read—beautiful, regretful—but I have to move on. I haven't lived enough yet, so I'm going to fight my way out of this mess.

When I know the ending, the process is important; when I don't know the ending, the ending is the most important; when I don't care about the ending, the present moment is the most important.

I've made up my mind. I'm not going to continue. I'm going to have surgery. I said I came out to clear my head, but actually I was just scared. I'm afraid I'll never wake up again, afraid my last hope will be shattered, and afraid things will turn out even worse.

Thank you for giving me a wonderful dream yesterday, which made me realize that when it's my turn to go on stage, I must not back down. When it's my turn, I must go on stage, regardless of whether I mess up the performance or not.

The throbbing and drumming in my heart isn't fear; it's my body sending a signal, urging me to embrace new life. It's giving me strength and encouragement.

You too, if one day you stand on an important occasion in your life and feel your heart pounding, don't be afraid, you should feel excited, because it's like a thousand troops in your heart beating drums for you.

Try it with enthusiasm, experience failure. Fear of losing will make you panic, while the desire to win will only make you forge ahead.

Cast aside your wavering resolve to back down, grip the sword in your hand ready to strike, face the wind, head towards your goal, and rush toward the halo that belongs to you in life.

I didn't become someone's unwavering choice, but it wasn't because I was weighed against the pros and cons and abandoned, nor was it related to my value or that anyone was better than me. I was just running away at the time. I was afraid to face the days ahead, so I chose to leave voluntarily.

But now I understand that these are all gifts from God through this relationship. I just need to move forward with clarity and accept that everyone's ability to love is different, and their fate is also different.

I'm leaving. I hope that many years later, I'll be driving and suddenly smile. When people ask me what's wrong, I'll say, "Nothing. I was just thinking about a hurdle I faced when I was young, a hurdle I felt I couldn't overcome at the time, but I've gotten over it now."

Cause and effect is not about you punching me and me punching you; cause and effect is actually like a butterfly flapping its wings, changing the world with a single thought!
Keep going, and I hope we'll meet again someday! — Cui Xue!

Everyone fell silent. Lin Mo glanced at her and could only pat Chuan Mei on the shoulder. Sometimes, the connection between people is just so unexpected.

(End of this chapter)