He tricked the female lead into becoming his boyfriend, but then went on to criticize the male lead.

Originally, Sang Jiuning came from an ordinary family and was a genuine art major. She devoted herself to drawing and design for four years in college. She finally graduated and had just secured a job she liked. Before she could even step into the workplace and start her hard and busy working life, she unexpectedly transmigrated into this melodramatic novel that she had never even read.

To make matters worse, the original owner's major happened to be English.

That was a subject she had avoided in her past life, a natural weakness, and one she could never master no matter how hard she tried.

Drawing comes naturally to her, but she knows absolutely nothing in English. Her talents, interests, and areas of expertise are all completely mismatched. Her time-traveling start can only be described as a complete disaster.

Before my thoughts could recover from the joy of my past life and the misfortune of my present, something even more chilling suddenly crashed into my mind.

When she picked up her phone this morning, she clearly saw the message Wen Zhaoci had sent in the early hours of the morning.

A light, gentle "goodnight" message arrived late at night, landing on the screen, yet it made her heart clench.

Not only that, the other party also sent an invitation in advance—there were no classes this afternoon, and they invited her to go to the library to study together.

The imprisonment, abandonment, indifference, and rejection from the nightmare are still vivid in her mind, but in reality, the male protagonist's gentle and affectionate invitations still come rushing in.

The stark contrast made Sang Jiuning stiffen, and the lingering drowsiness instantly vanished, leaving her completely awake. A thin layer of sweat even quietly broke out on her back.

She now had only one thought in her mind: she had to get away from Wen Zhaoci as soon as possible, and cut ties completely as early as possible.

The ending in her dream was too terrifying, and she guessed that in the original story, the male and female protagonists were probably obsessed with each other and entangled endlessly.

After the terrifying nightmare she had last night, she was even less willing to get close to the male lead.

I was already sitting in the last row of the classroom, a secluded spot far from the podium, so the teacher's gaze couldn't reach me at all.

Sang Jiuning carefully bent down, took out her phone from under the table, her fingertips tightened slightly, unlocked the screen, hesitated for a moment, and then directly opened the Baidu search box.

In the dark input box, she typed out a line quickly, word by word: "How to gracefully break up with my college boyfriend whom I just met?"

The cursor blinks, and the search terms appear.

The page instantly displayed countless answers, long and short, all kinds of opinions.

Some methods involve cooling off and distancing oneself, others involve subtly suggesting incompatibility and gradually fading the situation, some involve directly and frankly confronting each other to avoid wasting each other's time, and still others involve reminding each other to avoid entanglement and leaving no future troubles.

Sang Jiuning leaned forward slightly, hiding her phone under her textbook. She quickly scrolled down the screen, her eyes fixed on each suggestion, her brows furrowed, her mind racing with calculations.

Wen Zhaoci comes from an outstanding family and has a deep and reserved personality. He appears aloof and dignified in front of outsiders, but once he makes up his mind about something, he finds it difficult to let go.

She was the one who initiated the relationship, and now that she's suddenly withdrawing, the other party certainly won't give up easily.

She couldn't be too blunt, lest she anger the other person. Recalling the terrifying scenes in her dream, she still felt lingering fear.

We can't drag things out or leave any lingering ties, otherwise it will only cause more trouble in the future, and if we get involved with Weng Zhicheng, we'll end up in a miserable state.

Her fingertips curled slightly as she stared at the various breakup lines on the screen, pondering the wording as she read, her heart beating faster than usual.

Sang Jiuning quickly memorized the "cold treatment" methods on the webpage, then opened her phone's notes app and carefully wrote down her escape guidelines:

Distance yourself by giving the cold shoulder, minimize contact, deliberately maintain distance in daily interactions, and avoid replying to messages unless absolutely necessary, or reply late rather than immediately.

The breakup cooling-off plan officially begins at this moment.

The library invitation that Wen Zhaoci sent in the afternoon was the first hurdle in her plan.

Not only did she have to delay her return, but she also had to refuse, and through this refusal, she wanted to subtly widen the distance between them, draw a clear line, and gradually withdraw and retreat, completely severing this absurd relationship that never belonged to her.

On the podium, the English teacher continued to explain the text with intonation and rhythm, intertwining vocabulary and grammar. The classroom was filled with the sounds of pens scratching across paper and pages turning. Everything around her was both ordinary and noisy, as if her terrifying nightmare from last night and her anxious calculations at this moment were completely out of place.

The long and arduous class finally came to an end. The bell rang, and the students packed up their books and left the classroom.

Sang Jiuning followed the crowd out of the teaching building and hurried back to the girls' dormitory.

As soon as she stepped into the dormitory, she didn't even sit down. Instead, she climbed up the ladder to her upper bunk, curled up behind the bed curtains to block out all the light, and looked like she was someone to be avoided.

Too lazy to even go downstairs for lunch, I reached out and texted my roommate Tang Tongtong, asking her to bring me some back for me.

Hiding behind the small, quiet curtains of the bed, feeling a little safer, Sang Jiuning took a deep breath, suppressing the remaining panic and unease in her heart, and tapped WeChat with her fingertips, precisely opening the chat box with Wen Zhaoci.

Looking at the gentle goodnight message above her in the early morning, her fingertips paused slightly. A terrifying image flashed through her mind: she was abandoned in the deep mountains and imprisoned in a locked room in her dream. Her heart tightened suddenly.

Without further hesitation or delay, she typed out the aloof message she had prepared beforehand and sent it directly: "I've been too busy lately, no time."

The message was sent and received a voice reply almost instantly.

ZC: [Why are you replying so late? What have you been up to?]

The man's tone was flat, revealing no emotion, but the more nonchalant he was, the more frightened Sang Jiuning became.

Wen Zhaoci's personality appears aloof and gentle, but in reality, he is deep-thinking and has an extremely strong desire for control; no abnormality can escape his notice.

She quickly put together an excuse, trying to make it sound as plausible and reasonable as possible, and replied swiftly: "Just finished class, just got back to the dorm, busy reviewing, busy with part-time jobs, busy with classes, my schedule is packed."

At this moment, Wen Zhaoci was in the school's computer laboratory.

A pen was still held between his fingers, several computers were running quietly beside him, and the surrounding environment was cold and quiet.

The moment his phone vibrated, he glanced down at the screen.

Upon seeing the message from Sang Jiuning, his previously calm and composed brows suddenly furrowed.

His brows furrowed slightly, his fingertips hovered above the screen, and his gaze was fixed intently on those few lines of text.

Wen Zhaoci tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, his deep eyes darkening slightly.

He didn't think it was just a little girl throwing a tantrum, or that he had unintentionally offended her, and that this was a sign that she wanted to distance herself from him, or even break up with him.

He doesn't cherish what he has; he's such a little liar.

He thought for a moment and then sent a message.

ZC: [Didn't you say you could see me whenever you wanted? Now I want to see you.]

The ruffled-hair little Totoro: [Busy, no time.]

ZC: [You have time to chat with me now, which means you're not busy. I'll be waiting for you downstairs at your dorm in fifteen minutes.]

The ruffled Totoro: [No, I need to go out later.]