Early morning.
Sunlight filtered through the heavy linen silver curtains, mottling the disheveled king-size bed.
Gu Xiaoer, waking up in a daze, felt awful all over. What met her eyes were the luxurious chandeliers and the ceiling, and in her palm was the feel of smooth, expensive velvet, not the small roof of her home or the pilled cotton quilt she was familiar with.
Her hand touched something fleshy. She stiffly turned her head to see a handsome face sleeping peacefully beside her, which terrified her so much that she instantly rolled off the bed.
Who the hell is this?
In her head, fragments of the previous night slowly started to come together.
Her boyfriend cheated on her, so she went to the bar to drown her sorrows. Drunk but not resigned, she clamored about renting a professional boyfriend to infuriate her ex, and then the one she rented was too handsome—blurrily, she couldn't recall who made the first move...
Ah... Gu Xiaoer let out a wail like a bereaved widow and hurriedly covered her mouth, afraid to wake the man in the bed.
Suddenly remembering something, she frantically checked herself from head to toe. Thank goodness, thank goodness... her kidneys were intact, her liver was still there...
She crouched at the foot of the bed, stealing glances at the man sleeping soundly on it. His chiseled profile, his healthy, pale skin, lying there silently as if he were a humanoid doll straight out of an anime—impossibly perfect.
What a catch, what a catch, she definitely didn't lose out on this deal.
But in her heart, it felt as though there was a thousand pounds of cotton stifling her breath.
She wanted to cry but had no tears. Pulling out a few red bills from her clothes, she slapped them down on the table, quickly gathered herself, and slunk away like a thief.
Show off your love, whatever!
For some reason, she was scared to face this man; she just wanted to escape and never see him again for the rest of her life.
Under the bus stop sign, Gu Xiaoer anxiously awaited the bus home. The reason for her anxiety was because she didn't know what the rented boyfriend had done to her, and she was eager to go home and thoroughly check.
Her phone chimed twice—it was a text message.
She opened it, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.
"Xiao Er, Kexin and I are getting engaged today and having a celebration party tonight. You should come too, Kexin and I both hope for your blessing. Also, it wouldn't look good for Kexin if you don't show up."
It was a message from Lu Tianze.
Reality was indeed tragic; just yesterday, she discovered her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend, and today she received their engagement notification. What was even more ridiculous was that these two were worried about gossip and had the nerve to invite her to whitewash their affair!
Ha! Expect her to be cuckolded and still smile and give her blessings? When she found out yesterday, she should have not been kind and should have just recorded it and posted it online—she might have even made some money from the copyright fees!
As her thoughts were in turmoil, before even replying to Lu Tianze, calls from her best friend Ai Le bombarded her.
"Gu Xiaoer, what's going on? I can't believe I just heard about Lu Tianze and Lin Kexin's engagement!"
"Lele, it's just as you've seen."
"..." There was a pause on the other end. "Fuck!"
For the next ten minutes, Gu Xiaoer listened to Ai Le's endless, creative tirades, which never repeated. Her head began to ache, but eventually, she made out one clear message: "Bitches aren't to be coddled!"
After hanging up, her phone lit up with a few more texts.
"The address is at Jingan Avenue Yanhuang, reply to me when you see this!" Signed, Lu Tianze.
"You stood at the doorway for so long yesterday, Tianze and I both saw you. Wasn't the live show we gave you a nice surprise? The sheets you washed were very clean. As a thank you, remember to come to our engagement ceremony!" Signed, Lin Kexin.
Ha! The mistress is getting promoted and wants to show off their love, is that it? Just wait, she's got a professional boyfriend!
Gu Xiaoer turned off her phone with an expressionless face, not knowing how long she had squatted there. Finally, sniffing, she walked towards the hotel she had checked into the night before.
She pursued Lu Tianze for a year, and they were together for two, her pure and innocent first love, all her beautiful fantasies about romance were given to him.
You could say that her world of the opposite sex was a complete blank slate.
Oh, right, there was also the so-called fiancé.