Wait, why is this blond guy a lolicon?

"Alan...I...I—", Song Ruyu stammered, instinctively using Time Reversal.

However, after the rewind, the mask disappeared as usual—it was Jiang Ling who took the mask back!

Why?!

Song Ruyu felt anxious and angry, mixed with a sense of grievance at being betrayed.

Her relationship with Alan had only just begun to warm up.

It's far from being able to explain all the complexities of the past!

But then I thought about it again—maybe he had a deeper meaning in doing so?

She tried to go back in time again, but her intuition told her that the outcome wouldn't change.

As long as Jiang Ling doesn't "allow" it.

That mask will never come back.

Going back in time would only be a futile repetition of this painful scene.

That's it!

Song Ruyu steeled her heart and stopped the urge to go back in time.

Since we can't avoid it, let's face it!

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly beating heart, and raised her eyes to meet Lan Xinlan's shocked, bewildered gaze, which was gradually gathering into a complex mix of emotions.

Lan Xinlan stared blankly at the face in front of her—a face she thought she might never see again in her life.

Her delicate features and aloof demeanor perfectly matched the image in my memory, yet the passage of time and the complex circumstances of the moment made her seem somewhat unreal.

At that moment, she understood why Ayu was always so concerned about Song Ruyu's affairs—it wasn't because their names both contained the character "Yu" (jade), but rather…

"Ayu" is Song Ruyu.

Song Ruyu is "Ayu"!

"I'm sorry, Alan."

Song Ruyu's voice was dry, but it carried an unprecedented sincerity.

She lowered her eyelashes, not daring to look at the turmoil in Lan Xinlan's eyes: "I lied to you, it was wrong of me to approach you with a fake identity."

"Then... how many more things have you been lying to me about?" Lan Xinlan didn't know what expression to make, so she covered her face and slumped to the ground.

No matter how naive or willing to believe in the good.

Faced with this bloody "coincidence" and "disguise"

Lan Xinlan could no longer deceive herself.

The air was filled with the cold, bitter smell of a lie being exposed.

Jiang Ling and Ru Yu...

They must be hiding a lot of things from me!

Why would Ruyu go to such lengths to disguise herself as someone else in order to get close to him?

Are they really... just simple "colleagues"?

The image of the hot spring inn room not long ago uncontrollably resurfaced in my mind.

That heartbreaking scene—

The scene of them "kissing".

At the time, they were temporarily fooled by Jiang Ling's explanation of "detoxification".

But now that I think about it...

Those details...

When Ruyu was kissed, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck in dependence, and a fleeting, dreamy glint appeared in her eyes as their lips intertwined.

Even the slight upturn at the corners of her lips, lost in the moment...

original……

That's not an antidote.

Or rather, not entirely.

A cold and clear answer.

Like an ice-breaking awl, it chipped away at the last glimmer of hope in her heart.

"Now that he has Miyu, he's still willing to accept me..."

Lan Xinlan raised her head, the last glimmer of light in her eyes seemingly extinguished: "There's no reason... not to accept you, right?"

Her gaze pierced Song Ruyu: "You and him... are also in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, right?"

"Alan...I..."

Song Ruyu opened her mouth, wanting to explain and deny, but all the words got stuck in her throat.

She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms, causing sharp pain, but it was nothing compared to the regret in her heart.

She can continue to lie, using even more sophisticated lies.

But looking into Alan's eyes, which seemed to see through everything and were filled only with sorrow, I realized...

She can't.

Tell me everything.

"Alan..."

"Ruyu, if you still have feelings for me, please stop lying to me."

A long silence stretched between the two, almost freezing the air itself.

"..."

"He and I... went left."

"As expected."

Lan Xinlan closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

There was no hysteria.

There was no weeping or wailing.

There is only a kind of weariness that comes with the dust settling down.

She lowered her head, her long, light blue hair falling down and obscuring most of her face.

"I like him, of course... Alan, I... I hope we can mend our relationship! I'm sorry... I was wrong before!"

"I'm sorry, Ruyu."

Alan's voice came from behind his hair, muffled, carrying a resolute determination to sever ties with the past:

This time... I won't let you... take away the person I love.

a bolt from the blue!

Song Ruyu stared at her blankly.

"We...we..." Lan Xinlan finally raised her head, her face still wet with tears.

She bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled, and said each word resolutely:

"We are—'enemies' (love rivals)!"

Boom—

Suddenly.

A deafening roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart, suddenly came, the ground shook violently, and the ceiling collapsed without warning!

"Be careful!"