The abandoned courtyard, where even the dogholes were webbed with spider silk, actually had people in it, two of them!
Qu Tong, who had wriggled halfway out, wondered whether to leave or not.
But she recognized the voices, weren't they her cousin, who harbored a secret love, and her beloved?
"Wanwan, after so long without seeing you, didn't you miss me?"
The girl shyly said, "I missed you, here I am taking the time to see you."
"Our Wanwan is so outstanding, I would feel heartbroken if you wore yourself out."
"Hey, once I pass the entrance exam, we can be together every day," the girl cooed softly, her voice sultry.
At this, the man was unable to restrain himself any longer and drew closer to the girl, his gaze intense.
"Third Young Master, not here... Mm!"
"Why not? Don't you want it, hmm?"
The man mischievously pinched the girl's waist, causing her to let out a soft yelp.
"Ah! No, it's not that..."
"Baby, I've missed you to death!"
"Third Young Master~"
The man pressed on step by step, the girl half-resisting and half-welcoming.
Splashes and pants filled the air, in a chase for dominance.
Qu Tong looked at the two people, lost to the world not far away: "..."
She rolled her eyes speechlessly, half-narrowing them.
Tch, the nerve.
So engrossed were the two in their kiss, they didn't notice the person's head that suddenly popped up from around the corner.
Qu Tong carefully, slowly moved her whole body out and then grabbed a broom nearby to block the hole.
Just by the door were the two people, making it impossible for Qu Tong to sneak out quietly.
Conveniently, there was a stool not far away which Qu Tong hooked over with her leg.
In a flipping motion, Qu Wanwan was pinned against the doorframe by the man, who leaned in aggressively, the intensity escalating.
Qu Tong also caught a glimpse of the man's side profile, and the forgotten memories assaulted her.
Three years ago, Qu Tong had seen him, Lan Xingye of the Lan Family, the notorious playboy of influence.
"Cough cough!"
Finally, when Qu Wanwan's clothes were half-undone, and the man's hand moved towards his belt, Qu Tong interrupted.
She couldn't keep watching; it would be impolite.
"Ah!" Qu Wanwan gasped, pushing Lan Xingye away and hastily pulling up her clothes over her chest.
Lan Xingye, who was pushed back, remained calm, merely sweeping Qu Tong with an impatient gaze before he began to neatly arrange his clothes.
"Little... Qu Tong! What are you doing here?!!"
Qu Tong blinked, not wanting to be here either.
Although the handsome man and beautiful woman both looked good, she certainly didn't have any special fondness for live performances.
Lan Xingye whispered something in Qu Wanwan's ear and then turned to leave the room.
Qu Wanwan's cheeks visibly reddened even more, and she nodded shyly.
As soon as he left, Qu Wanwan's expression turned, replacing the flush with anger and threat: "What are you doing here?"
"Cousin seems to have forgotten, this courtyard was originally mine to begin with. Instead, you brought someone into my room without even a word."
Qu Tong stood up and moved step by step towards Qu Wanwan.
Qu Wanwan's face flashed with momentary panic, then glared fiercely: "You'd better pretend you know nothing about today's incident, otherwise, I'll make you regret it."
"Sure, a hundred thousand Star Coins, and I'll keep your secret," Qu Tong said with a sunny smile.
She was just worrying about having no money to spend.
"What? You even dare to make conditions with me?" Qu Wanwan was taken aback for a moment.
In Qu Wanwan's eyes, Qu Tong was just a coward, only capable of cowering and being bullied by her.
After three years on Huangxing, she dared to stand up to her.
Qu Wanwan's voice dripped with scorn, prideful: "You must have banged your head while picking through trash on the junk planet, right? That must have hurt, huh?"
"Not too bad actually, do you want to give it a try?" Qu Tong replied with a semblance of a smile, as if discussing something trivial.
Qu Wanwan: "..."
Qu Wanwan felt that the current Qu Tong was inexplicably infuriating.
"I don't have a hundred thousand, at most fifty thousand, otherwise don't blame me for being rude."
"Fine."
Without a second word, Qu Tong took out his optical brain and moved closer.
"..." Qu Wanwan was even more irritated!
She felt that the little waste was doing it on purpose, her monthly pocket money was only 50,000 Star Coin.
Seeing that Qu Wanwan had not yet transferred the money, Qu Tong raised an eyebrow and glanced over, just as a "click" sound was heard.
"You little waste, what are you doing..." Qu Wanwan's words stopped abruptly.
She looked down towards her left shoulder and could just see half a red cloud peeking out beneath the white strap.
"I deleted the photo, I'll transfer it to you, don't go overboard." Qu Wanwan said, somewhat exasperated.
She covered her shoulder and transferred the Star Coin to Qu Tong.
Qu Tong quickly deleted the photo after receiving the money.
"You've taken the money, don't go around spouting nonsense, or you won't have it easy either." Qu Wanwan did not forget to warn.
"Got it." Qu Tong dismissively waved his hand, hurrying her out: "Older cousin, aren't you leaving yet? Careful, your sweetheart might get impatient and go looking for other fish."
"You!" At this time, her affair with the third young master couldn't be revealed, and the normally docile little waste dared to talk back to her, which made Qu Wanwan very frustrated.
Thinking of the third young master's words before he left, she could only leave with clenched teeth, sarcastically saying a few words: "Don't think marrying War God Your Highness is such a good thing, it's only because I didn't want him, a 30-year-old old man, just wait to become a widow!"
Qu Tong couldn't be bothered to argue.
A fertility value of zero wasn't a big deal, as interstellar people had an average lifespan of two to three hundred years; what did a little age difference matter? If war dead, she could ascend to being a single wealthy woman.
In her era, conditions like that were simply too good to be true, like finding a needle in a haystack.
30 years old wasn't really old, was it?
It's not like the young don't know that thing...
Forgot.
Besides, she wasn't 18 years old.
Once Qu Tong was certain that Qu Wanwan had left West Garden, she followed her memory, moved a stool, and retrieved a metal box from the lamp fixture above her head.
The palm-sized metal box was square-shaped and fit perfectly hidden inside the moon decoration of the light fixture.
It was especially clear in the original host's memories that she treasured this object greatly.
She knew she couldn't protect it, so she hid it carefully.
*
In the evening, Qu Jianwen came to find Qu Tong once again, stating that the Empress Dowager had agreed to her request and would take her to the palace tomorrow.
Qu Tong raised an eyebrow but showed little surprise.
Touching her forehead, which had recovered to its original state, she marveled inwardly at how effective the Healing Chamber was and thought of getting one for herself someday.
She did a quick online search.
After seeing the price followed by many zeros.
She lost interest.
She casually started browsing the Interstellar Network.
She immediately saw the top headline: [Scandal! Empire's male god revealed to have a fertility value of zero, what's next for the thousands of heartbroken girls?]
The comments below were a frenzy of activity.
[Ahhh! Heartbroken! My god of men!]
[How could my perfect husband be like this? How are we to go on living?]
[Even with a fertility value of zero, War God Your Highness is still the god I adore the most!]
[Exactly, War God Your Highness has killed so many of the Insect Clan and Star Beasts, defending the whole Empire, you all are so superficial.]
[Let me remind you, the Royal Family has already officially announced that War God Your Highness has a fiancée.]
[Scram! Ugly reject!]
...
Qu Tong saw such down-to-earth headlines and fangirl comments, her mouth twitching slightly, quickly scrolled through the comments, and soon shifted her focus elsewhere.