Turning the doorknob, the door showed no sign of opening.

Was it locked from the inside?

Xia Wan turned the bottom lock, but the door still wouldn't open.

"That's not it?"

The door wasn't locked before, and it wasn't this complicated for her to go in and out.

The door lock was quite complicated, with several smart buttons at the bottom. She tried them one by one, and her patience was wearing thin.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden sound from behind startled Xia Wan.

She turned around and saw Cui Ziqi, clutching her wildly beating heart.

"You scared me!" she said. "I wanted to go downstairs for a walk, but I just can't open the door. Can you help me take a look?"

She lied without batting an eye.

She went back to her carefree self.

"It's late, don't go out."

Cui Ziqi walked over and took Xia Wan's hand. "Don't go out alone anymore. Call me and I'll go with you."

"Why?"

Xia Wan frowned. Why was her personal freedom suddenly restricted?

Cui Ziqi stroked the delicate skin on the back of her hand and said calmly, "I'm afraid you'll run away. If you run to a place where I can't find you, where am I supposed to look for you?"

He was smiling.

Xia Wan, however, felt that his smile contained a hint of something unsettling.

Almost instantly, all the confusion that had been building up in her heart exploded.

Cui Ziqi's unpredictable mood.

Cui Ziqi's favorability rating has increased significantly.

The relationship between unknown energy and Cui Ziqi's favorability.

And then there was that question he asked her in front of the coffee shop today, "Lost your phone?"

Her actions were being controlled without her even realizing it, and the person controlling her was perhaps Cui Ziqi.

A chill ran down her spine, and she swallowed hard.

The hand that Cui Ziqi was holding had nails that dug slightly into the back of his fingers.

"Ziqi, have you been spying on me all along?"

(End of this chapter)