Bai Siyu had long been impatient to meet Hu Kaiwen. She had even planned to resign, settle abroad in the future, marry Hu Kaiwen, have children, and spend the rest of her life together in devoted harmony.
Yao Yao could not understand Bai Siyu's actions at all. She felt there was something fishy going on, and that the so-called Hu Kaiwen might not be as simple as he seemed.
She tried her utmost to dissuade Bai Siyu.
"Siyu, stop being foolish. You haven't even met the man in person, how can you already have your future mapped out? What if he's a scammer?"
Yet Bai Siyu refused to listen to a single word, immediately firing back:
"Yao Yao, I won't allow you to talk about my Kaiwen like that. He is dashing, refined, with the demeanor of a true gentleman, and good in every possible way. He gives me a total sense of security."
"He made an agreement with me that in another half a year we'll register our marriage and get the certificate. By then, he's going to throw two grand weddings for me—one abroad and one here at home. He has promised that with all our friends and family as witnesses, he will marry me in grand style and give me a lifetime of happiness..."
Whenever Bai Siyu brought up Hu Kaiwen, there was a light in her eyes, brimming with tenderness and love.
"As for him, unlike my past few exes, he has a great personality. He's kind, gentle, thoughtful, and capable, and he's never once cursed at me. We're doing great. We do video calls every day, and even though we're thousands of miles apart, our hearts are tightly glued together..."
Yao Yao sighed. Not wanting to listen any further, she had no choice but to cut her off sharply: "Enough, say no more. Siyu, do you have any idea that there's AI software capable of face-swapping? Even on a video call, you wouldn't be able to tell."
"The more flawless a target seems, the more likely it's a fabrication. Chances are, this is a butchering-pig scam tailored just for you!"
Unable to bear the thought of Bai Siyu being scammed, Yao Yao spoke with deep earnestness: "Siyu, I advise you not to go abroad. If you really want to see him, have him come here to us, and I'll vet him for you!"
"Yao Yao, you don't understand. Kaiwen works in finance and is usually very busy. I happen to have my annual leave, so I can just go abroad to see him and take a vacation at the same time. I'm not a child, and I'm not stupid—you don't need to worry about me getting scammed!"
Even so, Yao Yao remained a thousand times uneasy.
She felt that Bai Siyu was an absolute, terminal case of lovelickness. Unfortunately, those involved are blind while onlookers see clear, and no matter how hard she tried to persuade her, Bai Siyu simply would not budge.
"I hope that pill is real, so Siyu can recover her reason and snap out of it!"
An hour later, Bai Siyu arrived on schedule.
As soon as she stepped into the room, she couldn't wait to have Yao Yao help her pick out clothes. "I just went to the mall and bought a bunch of outfits. Yao Yao, you have great taste, help me give me your advice in a bit!"
"You still haven't given up? You're seriously going abroad to meet Hu Kaiwen?"
"Of course! We made a deal, next Saturday rain or shine. I got my passport a long time ago, and I've already booked the flights and the hotel!"
A radiant glow lit up Bai Siyu's face. The mere thought of meeting Hu Kaiwen filled her with such excitement that she felt she had never been this close to happiness.
"Sigh, then do as you please." Knowing that saying more was useless, Yao Yao simply shut her mouth.
She handed Bai Siyu a cup of coffee she had brewed earlier, which had a melted Love-Curing Brain-Cleansing Pill dissolved inside it.
"Here, I brewed this latte specially for you. It's still hot, drink up!"
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Thanks a lot, my bestie!"
Unaware that anything was amiss, and happening to feel a bit thirsty, Bai Siyu polished off the cup of coffee in two or three gulps.
Immediately, she began to experience symptoms. For some reason, her head started throbbing with pressure, and flashes of intense light danced before her eyes.
At a loss for what to do, her complexion turned rather ugly. Yao Yao, sitting close by, felt her heart tighten and quickly asked with concern:
"Siyu, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"
"I, I don't know... My head just hurts a bit, it feels all muddled..."
A mysterious force was darting wildly inside her brain, making it impossible for her to concentrate and wiping away all emotional clarity.
Oh no, could there be something wrong with that pill?
Seeing her best friend in such agony, Yao Yao felt miserable inside. Could these be the pill's side effects?
Yet her cousin had clearly told her that the pill worked wonderfully, produced instant results, and was completely harmless to the human body.
How come when it came to her best friend, the reaction was so intense?
Yao Yao hadn't been in the livestream room for long, so she had missed Su Nanqing's warning.
"Right, a quick reminder to friends who ordered the pill: the Love-Curing Brain-Cleansing Pill is harmless and has no side effects, but there will be brief adverse reactions after taking it."
"The intensity of these adverse reactions is directly proportional to the severity of the user's lovelickness."
"In other words, the more severe a person's lovelickness is, the stronger their reaction after taking the pill... But don't worry everyone, this is only temporary. Good medicine tastes bitter, but it cures the disease!"
Had Yao Yao known this, she would have understood just how severe her best friend Bai Siyu's lovelickness really was...
"Do you want to drink some water?" Yao Yao panicked a little. "If you're still in pain, I'll call an ambulance for you right now..."
Bai Siyu waved her hand, struggling to reign in her discomfort. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's probably just my blood sugar acting up. Let me rest for a moment and I'll be better."
"Then don't push yourself."
Guilt pricked at Yao Yao's heart. She didn't dare tell Bai Siyu that she had secretly tampered with the coffee.
Although she meant no malice, what if her good intentions led to bad results?
If something really happened to Siyu, she would never forgive herself.
Fortunately, not long after, Bai Siyu returned to normal. Her whole body felt refreshed, enlightened, and her thoughts became exceptionally clear.
Numerous fragments of her time spent with Hu Kaiwen flooded her mind. In this abnormal online romance, she had been blinded by so-called love, sinking so deep into the river of romance that she couldn't pull herself out, rendering her unable to analyze and judge things with normal reasoning.
Yet right now, she sensed Hu Kaiwen's wrongness more and more, gradually realizing that she might have been conned and treated as a fat, clueless pig waiting to be slaughtered in Hu Kaiwen's eyes!
"Yao Yao, I don't know what happened, but I suddenly figured a few things out."
Grasping Yao Yao's hand, Bai Siyu spoke in a serious tone: "Right now, I can only trust you. You are my very best friend, Yao Yao, help me analyze this."
"I suspect Hu Kaiwen is a scammer!"
"Whenever I send him a message, he always replies instantly. Logically speaking, with him being so busy at work, it's impossible for him to stare at his phone every second."
"When we video-called before, he kept refusing until he finally agreed just recently. To be honest, the way he looked on video differed a bit from the photos he posted on his Moments, but I didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a filter issue."
"Thinking back now, I'm afraid all his photos were photoshopped. All that talk about high education, high looks, and high income—none of it can be trusted!"
"Not long ago, he even told me it was raining on his end. But I checked the weather in Singapore, and that whole period had been completely sunny. I just assumed he misspoke."
"Last night, he sent me a voice message in the middle of the night, saying he had a project on hand with a very high return on investment and minimal risk. He wanted to buy a stake in it, but unfortunately all his cash was tied up in bank financial products and couldn't be withdrawn immediately, so he wanted to borrow five hundred thousand from me."
"He even promised that he would return every single cent of this five hundred thousand to me next month, along with 35% interest. He claimed that the reason he wanted to invest in this project was all for our future..."