"What are you staring at?" Bo Yanchi blocked his gossiping gaze, shoving him away with an unnatural and displeased tone.
"Well... A-Yan, did this little madam do anything to you?" Zhou Ran asked, uneasy.
"No." Bo Yanchi looked somewhat awkward. "I'm a grown man. What could she possibly do to me?"
"I just think when things are abnormal, there's bound to be a demon. You still need to be careful around her," Zhou Ran worried.
"I know. She wouldn't go that far."
Bo Yanchi moved to close the door. "Wait outside for a moment. I'll have her change her clothes first."
With that, he slammed the door shut.
By now, Yu Lizhi had finally woken up. She sat up from the sofa, scratched her fluffy, messy hair, and asked in confusion, "Huh? How did I end up on the couch?"
"What do you think?"
Bo Yanchi said with a trace of annoyance, tossing a bag at her. "I had Zhou Ran buy these for you. Go put them on."
"Got it." Yu Lizhi opened the bag, took a quick look, stood up, and went to the bedroom to change.
Once she finished changing and came out, she remembered that last night she had wanted to seduce Bo Yanchi, but he took too long in the shower and she fell asleep.
She had missed her chance.
Never mind.
She was determined to sponge off him at his place anyway; there would be plenty of chances to tackle him in the future.
Yu Lizhi rummaged around for her phone and discovered dozens of missed calls.
There were calls from Wen Xin, Lin Lin, and her dad.
Why were so many people calling her?
Yu Lizhi called Wen Xin back. "Hello, Xinxin."
"Lizhi, my little ancestor, where on earth are you?" Wen Xin asked anxiously.
"Xinxin, I'm so sorry. I forgot to tell you last night, A-Yan and I came home together," Yu Lizhi said hurriedly.
"What? You're with Best Actor Bo?" Wen Xin gasped.
Yu Lizhi smiled sweetly. "Yeah, why are you making such a big fuss? A-Yan said he's going to take me in."
"My little ancestor, what kind of trick are you playing this time?" Wen Xin sounded like she wanted to cry.
"Could it be that because Fu Sichen didn't win the Best Actor award last night, you were afraid he'd be heartbroken, so you ran over to Best Actor Bo's house to steal his award?"
"Xinxin, leave it to you to think of that." Yu Lizhi was amused into laughing out loud.
"I'm not crazy. This Best Actor award belongs to A-Yan. Even if I stole it and gave it to Fu Sichen, the Golden Snake Award wouldn't recognize it."
Just then, Bo Yanchi walked over. Hearing fragments of Yu Lizhi talking about stealing the award for Fu Sichen, his handsome face darkened.
Steal the award?
What kind of bizarre stunt was this?
So it turned out she was doing this because her beloved Fu Sichen didn't win, and she refused to accept it.
Therefore, she was shamelessly clinging to him simply for the sake of this trophy?
"Yu Lizhi, so your behavior in front of Fu Sichen last night was all just an act?"
A surge of anger boiled in his chest. Bo Yanchi strode over, grabbed Yu Lizhi by the wrist, and demanded with furious exasperation, "You knew how badly he wanted this trophy, so you stubbornly insisted on latching onto me just because Fu Sichen didn't win? You were going to steal my trophy for him?"
Yu Lizhi was taken aback and began to struggle. "A-Yan, you've misunderstood me."
"Best Actor Bo, please don't be angry," Wen Xin shouted anxiously upon hearing this through the phone.
"Lizhi was just messing around. The trophy is already yours anyway. Stealing it wouldn't do any good."
Hearing this, Yu Lizhi felt the world go black before her eyes.
Oh, Xinxin.
Truly her greatest best friend.
A total teammate from hell.
Terrified that Bo Yanchi would misunderstand, Yu Lizhi hurriedly cut off the call.
To Bo Yanchi, this reaction was a sign of a guilty conscience.
Was she really here at his house just to steal the award?
"Well, aren't you something, Yu Lizhi." Bo Yanchi's eyes turned red with fury. "It's just a trophy! For Fu Sichen's sake, do you really have to go this far?"
"A-Yan, let me explain..." Yu Lizhi swallowed hard, feeling nervous.
"I knew it. How could you possibly have a sudden change of heart?" Bo Yanchi laughed bitterly at himself.
"You used to hate me so much that even sharing the air with me made you feel like it was tainted. For the sake of an award, you're even willing to sacrifice your body to steal it for him, is that it?"
If anyone else had suggested something so absurd, who would ever believe it?
Yet she was Yu Lizhi.
A hopelessly head-over-heels romantic.
For Fu Sichen's sake, she refused to live the life of a pampered young heiress, instead running off to wash clothes and cook for him, serving him like a maid.
Whatever Fu Sichen wanted, she was ready to give him.
Bo Yanchi believed that even if Fu Sichen wanted the stars in the sky, Yu Lizhi would be willing to climb up and pluck them for him.
His heart filled with a sour bitterness, Bo Yanchi felt like a total clown. Yesterday, when she held him and called him husband over and over again, he had dazedly thought it was an illusion.
He had even humbly thought that even if he were just a pawn in her and Fu Sichen's little game, at least he still possessed her momentary tenderness.
Yet now he realized he had overestimated himself. He could not bear being played like a dog by Yu Lizhi while her heart and mind were entirely consumed by Fu Sichen.
"I'll smash it to pieces before I ever let him have it." With wet, reddened eyes, Bo Yanchi practically gritted his teeth as he turned, grabbed the trophy, and prepared to smash it onto the floor.
"No—don't—" Yu Lizhi lunged forward to stop him. "A-Yan, don't smash it."
She knew how much this trophy meant to him.
She knew all too well how regretful he had been in their past life when he failed to win the award.
"What?" Bo Yanchi sneered at her sarcastically. "Afraid that if I smash this trophy, you won't be able to report back to Fu Sichen? Even if the Golden Snake Award doesn't recognize it, he still has to snatch what's mine, is that it?"
"A-Yan, I didn't mean that." Yu Lizhi's eyes reddened as well. "Why won't you just trust me for once?"
"Yu Lizhi, how do you expect me to trust you?" Bo Yanchi laughed bitterly.
"Don't you remember how much you used to hate me? Suddenly you throw yourself into my arms and relentlessly pester me to live together. It's pretty hard for me not to suspect you have an ulterior motive."
Yu Lizhi froze, her heart contracting sharply.
That was true.
Her sudden transformation was indeed hard for anyone to believe.
In their past life, every time she encountered Bo Yanchi, she wore a scowl, mocking or belittling him and tearing him down until he was utterly worthless.
She had even told him he wasn't worth a single toe on Fu Sichen, making a huge fuss about wanting to call off their engagement, declaring that marrying him was worse than death and that she would never marry anyone but Fu Sichen—words that had broken his heart completely.
If he was unwilling to trust her in this lifetime, she had only herself to blame.
"A-Yan, let's both calm down."
Yu Lizhi let go of the trophy and said dejectedly, "You worked so hard to win this trophy. If it gets smashed, your heart will ache. I'm leaving."
She turned away shoulders slumped, and walked out.
Watching the figure of her departure, Bo Yanchi dejectedly lowered the trophy, wretchedly wiped his eyes, and turned his face away.
Her mission had failed.
Was she going to run back to Fu Sichen's side again now?
As expected, she didn't care about him at all.
She hated him.
Bo Yanchi, stop harboring illusions.
Perhaps their engagement really should be called off.
He shouldn't use the despicable excuse of being her fiancé to keep binding Yu Lizhi to him.