Love, Gun, Cupid

“Oh, right… then it’s alright.” Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve been reading relationship forums, and a lot of women who have been married for a few years are complaining that their husbands are getting worse every day and that they’re always avoiding them… Lin Jiade, I’m afraid you’ll become like that too.”

“How could that be?” Lin Jiade shook his head. “I do Kegel exercises every day and use the hot and cold water alternation method to reduce my sensitivity, all to cope with the complex terrain combat environment with high temperature and high humidity.”

Lin Jiade's words sounded somewhat weak, so Jasmine pushed him away, and the two began a more serious battle. Lin Jiade was working to digest the potion, while Jasmine was working on her rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, Dujuan arranged to meet Mumian at a fast food restaurant. After four days of adjustment, Mumian seemed to have regained her composure, but Dujuan's gaze penetrated the confusion spell and noticed that Mumian's haggardness was written on her face.

"Sugar releases signals of happiness, which is why fat people are the happiest in the world." Du Juan handed the other person a durian-flavored milk tea. "Let's find a place to drink it."

As if to provoke her, Du Juan took Mu Mian to the burger shop near Lin Jiade Community that held memories for her. Mu Mian hesitated for two seconds, then let out a self-deprecating laugh and went inside.

Du Juan ordered a family bucket of fried chicken, while Mu Mian simply drank her durian-flavored milk tea. She hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is he... alright?"

“My sister comforted him, and he prescribed himself a remedy: keep busy. He’s not feeling too well right now, but he’ll get back on his feet eventually… What about you?”

"You still care about my condition?" Mu Mian said. "Besides my own factors, the person who was most proactive in breaking me up with Lin Jiade was you and Di Tao."

“I told Di Tao how to break you two up,” Du Juan said.

The murderous aura released by Kapok instantly caused Dujuan's hair to flutter slightly. Dujuan nodded: "Very good, it seems that your emotions have not affected your strength."

"Why are you doing this?"

“Because that was just a joke,” Du Juan said arrogantly. “Do you think your useless sisters are worth my personal attention? I’m just reaping the benefits.”

"Then let's not waste our time!"

"Your personal relationship with Lin Jiade is over, but your relationship isn't over yet... To put it bluntly, you're like a typical Senate couple, each doing your own thing, but on the surface, this relationship is still important, and your interests are intertwined."

Lin Jiade needs to build a strong protective umbrella, and you need Lin Jiade as your sword to achieve victory and resolve family troubles.

"What if I give up and leave the game?" Kapok asked.

"Whether your sponsors will let you off the hook, and as the loser, what will your own fate be? After you left Fuxing City, you seemed to have tormented Di Tao for a while as revenge for Di Tao's interference in Lin Jiade's affairs."

Even if Di Tao were just copying what you did to her, you'd probably still find it hard to accept.

"so?"

“Like I said, you and Lin Jiade continue to team up, win the competition, and then you can each do your own thing in private, and neither of you should interfere with the other. This relationship should be maintained until Lin Jiade is promoted to a senior professional title.”

“He won’t agree; he hates me,” Kapok said.

“If you agree, I have a way to get him to agree. He hates you, but he also loves you.”

"You clearly don't welcome us being together, yet you're giving us another chance to mend things. Aren't you worried you're playing with fire?"

Du Juan held up two fingers: "First, your strength is too weak, you're not even a flame."

Secondly, the rift you created in Lin Jiade's heart is so large that even if you mend it, your relationship will definitely be unequal.

Lin Jiade is the master, and you are the slave. Whenever he wants, the Pain Mark will activate, bringing you excruciating pain—just as he did when he learned you were the culprit.

Would you go to such lengths for love? I don't think so, because being a slave means losing too much: independence, freedom, dignity, personality, and career, and these things combined are far more valuable than any love.

Therefore, in the name of Cupid, I declare that there is no longer any love between you and Lin Jiade.

Chapter Ninety-Four: Prioritizing the Overall Situation

When the food that Du Juan ordered arrived, Mu Mian left. She had agreed to Du Juan's suggestion—to maintain a superficial relationship with Lin Jiade, even if Lin Jiade wanted to hurt her, she was unwilling to let Lin Jiade disappear from her sight.

This was a regrettable affair. Kapok felt guilty, had a sense of luck, and had fantasies. But when Lin Jiade smashed the sword of contract, she endured the pain, yet also breathed a sigh of relief.

From now on, she no longer needed to worry about a landmine threatening to explode on her path. However, on Wednesday night, she still drank beer from the refrigerator while crying helplessly.

The swordsman lost her beloved sword, and the sword lost her beloved swordsman. How can she hold back her tears?

Hehuan, her most loyal friend, gave Mumian immense comfort. When Mumian tore up her past and told the truth, Hehuan calmly replied, "I know."

"?"

“When my family interacted with your family, we inevitably heard about some illegitimate children—well, illegitimate children born through surrogacy with the same parents. They also learned about me. Your brothers pursued me and coveted my family's resources, while your sisters drove a wedge between my friendship with you.”

"Why didn't you listen to them?" Kapok asked.

"Because you understand love, both the love of the Hart family and worldly love. The love of the Hart family led you to choose destruction when you could not have Lin Jiade, while worldly love made you feel guilty about your atrocities."

Two different perspectives, one affirming you, the other negating you, and your regret outweighs your choice. Therefore, you chose worldly love, and from then on, your life will be spent paying the price for that fatal mistake.

Hehuan handed the tissue to the other person: "Your brothers and sisters only understand the love of the Hart family. I can't see a trace of guilt in them, so if I had to be friends with a Hart family member of the same age, I would only choose you."

Kapok cried bitterly until not a single tear remained in her eyes. The next morning, she got up feeling dizzy and disoriented, kicked away the empty beer can, and confusion filled her mind.

Hehuan couldn't cook, so she took out two self-heating meals from the refrigerator to make breakfast for Mumian. It was her first time using self-heating food, and she was flustered and inexperienced, so Mumian ended up eating a half-cooked meal.

"Have you calmed down now?" Hehuan asked.

"Barely acceptable."

"So today..."

"Ah, I will definitely attend the club activities. If I am absent for two consecutive days, everyone's trust in me will be shaken. Even if I have to pretend, I have to act like nothing is wrong in front of them."

Hehuan breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you think that way."

The sun rose as usual, warming Kapok's body, but her heart was ice-cold. She was almost certain that Lin Jiade would miss the club activities. Thursday, Friday... all the way to Sunday, she waited for Lin Jiade like a waiting stone for his arrival every time there was a club activity, but he never came.

“I’ve seen my junior. He’s very fulfilled now… but not happy. He’s deliberately keeping himself busy to cut off other thoughts, which shows that he’s in pain too.”

Hehuan said, "If you still have feelings for him, you should hurry up and take action. It's not realistic to talk about feelings right now, so let's talk about interests. After all, you and Lin Jiade have a deep-rooted connection of interests."

"In the Hart style?" Kapok asked.

"The Hart family is indeed very good at binding interests together."

Even if Lin Jiade dislikes Hart's approach?

"Hate is better than ignore."

Can a relationship characterized by sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams lead to a good outcome?

"You'll only know after you try," Hehuan said, crossing her arms. "If you don't try, you're bound to fail."

"Thank you."

The acacia gave the kapok courage, and coincidentally, the cuckoo had the same idea. She went to see the cuckoo and brought back a mixture of humiliation and hope. The cuckoo was too confident. The arrogant celestial observer thought he could control everything and that all of them were just puppets in his hands.

But the cuckoo is wrong. Humans are both controllable and uncontrollable. Humans experience joy, pain, rebellion, and submission, yet humans... are never satisfied. This desire will devour the cuckoo's tricks, making the celestial observers taste the bitter fruit of arrogance.

Thus, Kapok gained another reason to pursue Lin Jiade; she had to snatch him away from that wicked woman, Du Juan.

When Du Juan returned, she heard Lin Jiade's painful gasps and Jasmine's disappointed voice in the bathroom, "So the side effects are real." Her gaze pierced through the wall, and she suddenly realized what was going on. Then she looked at her sister, who was trying not to laugh.

"You guys are really something," said Du Juan.

"Let me tell you, sis, Lin Jiade has become like a lion, ugh, don't even mention how dark his face was when he first found out, and that little female dragon..."

"It would be good if Lin Jiade turned into a lion, Reed Warbler. Do you remember what animal you usually transformed into?"

The warbler paused for a moment, then stammered, "Lion."

"As long as you don't cause the same mess as last time, you can be whatever you want with him... Of course, don't break him."

"I take good care of my tools."

"'Own'?"

“Alright, it’s yours for now,” said the reed warbler. “And what was the outcome?”

"They'll naturally agree."

"But I object."

Shortly after washing up, Lin Jiade instinctively gave an answer to Du Juan's question. Then, Jianlan said, "I declare your objection invalid."

Lin Jiade looked at her and said, "I'm really afraid I'll punch her when we meet!"

“You can’t beat her,” Jasmine said.

"Uh... I can't get along with her. Even if I can't vent my hatred, it will fester in my heart. And even if I force myself to cooperate with her, what kind of understanding can we have?"

Jianlan explained, "In fact, even if you become a sword and lie there doing nothing, Kapok can still exert tremendous power by holding you, because you are a sword transformed by a special secret method. In terms of energy conduction and energy storage alone, you are incomparable to ordinary weapons."

"So, I am a second-rate swordsman and a fine sword, but unfortunately, I can't find another swordsman to hold me."

Lin Jiade took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said, "The bigger picture is more important, right?"

“We need your sacrifice, Lin Jiade,” Kapok said gently.

"Then I have another question. Supporting Mumian to take power has many benefits, but that's only if she can keep her promises. What if she goes back on her word?"

"First of all, she's not that kind of person; second..."

Jianlan took out a USB drive and said, "Did you think I was completely unprepared?"

Chapter Ninety-Five: Segmentation Scheme

Lin Jiade was somewhat surprised: "You were prepared from the beginning?"

Sword Orchid nodded: "Korobochka's experience tells me that even allies need to be prepared."

Lin Jiade pointed to himself: "And me?"

"Of course, if you insist on being a heartless man and abandoning me, you will suffer the resentment of a poor woman... I will take out your heart, put it in a box, put you in a black dress and veil at midnight, and bury you in the Korobochka family cemetery."

“Good idea, then I want Lin Jiade’s head and (beep) soaked in formalin,” Jasmine said.

"So the limbs and the rest of the torso are ours?" Dujuan asked.

"Can you please stop hating this kind of topic that gives me nightmares?" Lin Jiade said.

"In short, this is a last resort. What we expose can destroy Kapok, but conversely, we ourselves are not far from destruction. No one will be our ally anymore, and we will lose credibility."

Lin Jiade was still hesitating when Du Juan said, "Although it was Kapok that caused you to become like this, Kapok's sisters also contributed to it. They tormented Kapok to the point of collapse before finally delivering the fatal blow to you."

If you support Kapok to win, then you'll have the chance to retaliate against them first, and then against Kapok. But if they win, you'll likely only be able to retaliate against Kapok and never be able to retaliate against them.

“I… I’ll listen to you,” Lin Jiade said through gritted teeth.

Jasmine and Gladiolus were saddened to discover once again that Azalea held the most significant influence over Lin Jiade. As night fell, Lin Jiade was taking a shower when Jasmine hugged him from behind. He assumed she was going to withdraw money from her savings account, but Jasmine simply held him.

“If it were before, I probably would have run away, but I’ve grown a bit over the past few months. I will face Kapok directly, the person I both love and hate, and I will work closely with her… for our common good,” Lin Jiade said.

"Will you fall in love with her again?" Jasmine asked.

"The love has always been there, but it's no longer pure. I think no matter how our relationship ends, resentment will accompany us for life."

It's a bit strange to discuss an ex-girlfriend in front of your current girlfriend. Jasmine tightened her grip on Lin Jiade's waist, and Lin Jiade let out a howl.