Chapter 107, Chapter 8: The Lost Manor

On her first night in Psycheburg, Li Yufei slept fitfully.

Countless memories formed a fragmented dream.

Six years have passed, and many things about Cheng Yuzhou have become blurred, but Li Yufei still remembers Cheng Yuzhou vividly.

Many men admired and pursued her, and Li Yufei had to admit that Cheng Yuzhou was the most outstanding among them.

It wasn't just his looks and wealth, but also his love for her.

At seventeen, on the day they got engaged, she lifted the tablecloth and slapped Cheng Yuzhou; while he contacted an architect and began designing the Psyche Manor.

He has no backbone at all; he always clings to her like a piece of mud.

Eighteen-year-old Li Yufei looked down on this sticky and gooey appearance;

Twenty-eight-year-old Li Yufei thinks of him from time to time:

When she argues and fights with her boyfriend, she thinks, "If Cheng Yuzhou were here..."

When the rented apartment leaked and water flooded the kitchen floor, she thought, "If Cheng Yuzhou were here..."

When she was estranged from her parents and homeless, she wondered what it would be like if Cheng Yuzhou were here...

But Cheng Yuzhou is no longer here.

He died a month before his wedding, and the last person he contacted before his death was her.

Li Yufei clearly remembers that it was February 3rd, three days before Lunar New Year's Eve, and more than a month before she turned 23.

On his way back from his business trip, Cheng Yuzhou called her and asked, "The wedding dress has arrived, where are you?"

Cheng Yuzhou answered the phone in his car while driving: "Another hour, we'll be on the highway soon. Is the wedding dress beautiful?"

"Hmm, it's alright. Didn't you say you'd be back around noon? Why are you so late?"

"We visited our home along the way."

"Home?" Li Yufei realized, "You mean that manor?"

"Yes, I checked, there's no formaldehyde smell anymore." His voice was tender. "After the New Year, we'll put your portrait in, and then we can hold the wedding."

Li Yufei was still hesitant. "Cheng Yuzhou, why don't you think about it again? Ever since you turned 22, my parents have been racking their brains. After the wedding date was set, they've become even more and more crazy, like they're on drugs. I sincerely advise you to change your mind."

He chuckled twice, his laughter gaining a touch of magnetism through the electronic signal conversion.

“Feifei,” he didn’t answer her question, but just chuckled softly, “I’m so happy…”

The voice burned Li Yufei's ears, causing her to blush inexplicably.

Ever since the wedding date was set, this jerk has been inexplicably smiling, making her uneasy.

“We’re almost at the gas station,” he said. “I’m hanging up now. See you in an hour.”

Li Yufei covered her burning ears and hurriedly hung up: "Bye bye bye!"

These were the last five minutes of Cheng Yuzhou's life.

Five minutes later, the gas station's surveillance footage showed that while Cheng Yuzhou was refueling, two children leaned out of the rear window of a car next to him that was also refueling.

This is a car preparing to return home for the Chinese New Year, with a father and two children.

While the car owner was refueling, he went to the restroom, and the two boys couldn't wait to open a box of firecrackers.

While the adults were away, they playfully threw the firecrackers out the window, and the firecrackers exploded between two gas trucks.

boom--

The flames quickly engulfed the entire gas station.

The raging fire burning in the New Year's snow was simply an absurd feast.

Even more absurd scenes followed.

Upon learning of Cheng Yuzhou's death, Li's parents were devastated. After the funeral, they immediately rushed to Cheng Yandong, demanding a compensation plan from him.

Cheng Yandong unceremoniously kicked the two out of the house.

For more than half a year, the Li family has been working on this matter, contacting lawyers on one hand and searching through all the records of Li Yufei and Cheng Yuzhou on the other, trying to find any evidence that Cheng Yuzhou gave Li Yufei property.

Blocking Cheng Yuzhou turned out to be Li Yufei's luckiest and most correct choice.

Before blocking him, they were childhood sweethearts who could talk about anything and had a two-year online-like relationship.

After Cheng Yuzhou was added back, their few conversations only explicitly mentioned the debt the Li family owed Cheng Yuzhou.

Unable to find any evidence, Li's parents had no choice but to give up. Without Cheng Yuzhou's support, Li's father's already troubled company soon faced a major crisis.

Before Cheng Yuzhou's anniversary was even over, he had already arranged a blind date for Li Yufei.

That year was absurd and bizarre from beginning to end; in retrospect, it was like a farcical and satirical black-and-white silent film.

Before visiting Cheng Yuzhou's grave, Li Yufei made the most important decision of her life.

She took the things Cheng Yuzhou had bought for her and severed ties with her family.

That scene must have been the climax of the silent film.

She took the stub of the check Cheng Yuzhou lent to their family, spread it out at the blind date dinner, and told her new blind date that he had to come up with at least that amount for her father to be satisfied.

When Li's father got home, he was so angry that he threw a vase at her. The next day, Li Yufei dragged a solid wood chair and smashed his office, cursing him in front of all the employees.

Her younger brother, Li Yuming, came over to pull her away. She was worried that the old man couldn't withstand her strength, so she casually told Li Yuming to pay for his father's debts, and he ended up in the hospital.

Li's mother slapped her, but she didn't hit her mother back. Instead, she turned around, grabbed a match, struck a match, and threw it into Li's mother's dressing room.

After leaving home, Li Yufei stood on the street, her phone constantly buzzing with new messages: invitations to eat, drink, and have fun; flirtatious chatter; flirting and showing off her wealth; and pleading poverty to borrow money.

The 99+ red dots could never be cleared, but looking at the people and cars coming and going, Li Yufei suddenly felt lost, not knowing where she belonged at this moment.

Dragging her suitcase, she went to Cheng Yuzhou's grave.

He was even more unlucky than her; he'd been dead for almost a year, and not even his own father had come to visit. Cheng Yandong probably didn't even remember where his son's grave was. Apart from his secretary, no one else had ever visited Cheng Yuzhou's grave.

Li Yufei belatedly realized many things, including those of Cheng Yuzhou, Fang Yuzhou, and Cheng Yandong.

She squatted in front of his tombstone, prepared to cry today, and deliberately didn't put on makeup, but when she actually arrived at the grave, not a single tear came out.

Perhaps it was because her elegance was ingrained in her very being, and her body knew that when there was no coat to cover her disheveled state, her tear ducts would consciously shut down.

"This is the first and last time I've come here to see you, Cheng Yuzhou."

She raised her hand and brushed the dust off the tombstone, muttering to herself, "May I be reborn into a better life next time. I don't need to be so rich, but at least... I'll have normal parents. If all else fails, I'll find a girlfriend who loves me."

“If you can’t even do that,” she lowered her head, “then love yourself well…like me.”

Li Yufei did not go to pay tribute to him.

Finally, Cheng Yuzhou completely withdrew from her life.

Six years later, she lay in their original marital home, where even with only half a window open, she could faintly smell the scent of roses.

She stared wistfully at the dark gold and crimson bed curtains, lost in thought for a long time before her consciousness returned to the present from the events of six years ago.

Now, she is a passenger here, and this is an asset of Song Xiaona's company;

Now, Cheng Yuzhou has been dead for six years, and her boyfriend is Zheng Jianbin.

By the way, she broke up with that jerk Zheng Jianbin; he's her ex-boyfriend.

Li Yufei rolled over and turned on her phone.

It was already dawn; he should have realized he'd been dumped. She'd deliberately put her phone on silent before bed, knowing he'd bombard her with messages... But no?!

Eight or nine hours have passed, and I haven't heard a single message from him!

If it were Cheng Yuzhou, she might just frown and he could stand outside her door all night—no, Cheng Yuzhou hardly ever argued with her at all.

If it were Cheng Yuzhou who was required by her to report to her every hour, he doesn't know how happy he would be, and he would never scold her for being controlling.

If it's Cheng Yuzhou...

If she had cared about him even a little bit back then... maybe she could have made it to see him one last time.

He clearly told her that he would be there in just one hour.

Cheng Yuzhou didn't come back that day, and she sent him a message that night to ask him about it, but he didn't reply, and she didn't care at all.

Anyway, that's just how Cheng Yuzhou is. He might be busy and unreachable sometimes, but he'll always be there when she needs him. There's no need to worry about him.

Looking at the chat interface that hadn't received any new messages all night, Li Yufei was suddenly taken aback.

No, something's not right.

Although Zheng Jianbin didn't cherish her as much as Cheng Yuzhou, his temper was still acceptable.

He is very good at seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. When she is angry, he will stay far away. Usually, after a night, when he guesses that she has calmed down, he will immediately start to fawn over her.

It's already daylight, and he should be sending her a message to test the waters, but the new contact request page is completely empty. This is very unusual!

There's been no news for so long, could something have happened...?

Li Yufei couldn't stay in bed any longer and immediately got out.

She paused, then went to check on him to make sure he was still alive before returning to the breakup.

She quickly tidied herself up, and the moment she opened the door, her head was already out, but her feet were still inside the room.

Zheng Jianbin stood outside the gate.

This is the room at the very end of the seventh-floor corridor, and he is the only person on the entire corridor.

The rays of the rising sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, leaving arched golden spots on the dark carpet.

He stood between the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathed in a hazy, dreamlike light from the two dazzling golden beams in front and behind him.

Their eyes met, and a long-lost joy welled up in those eyes that Li Yufei was so used to seeing.

"Feifei." The man smiled, his eyes and brows full of tenderness.

He was half-hidden in the blinding light. Li Yufei swayed, her eyes stinging from the golden sunlight, and a thin mist welled up in them.

In that instant, she felt as if she were in a dream.

It was indeed Zheng Jianbin in front of her. She blinked, clearing away the inexplicable tears and the thoughts that had arisen for no reason.

"What are you doing?" Coming to her senses, Li Yufei immediately crossed her arms. "A good dog doesn't block the way. Didn't you find me annoying? Why are you blocking my door so early in the morning?"

She spoke harshly, but her tone was relatively gentle.

This man has actually come to his senses. Before, he would only send a picture and ask her what she wanted for breakfast; or he would use a high-pitched, raspy voice to beg his wife for forgiveness. In short, he would only come over to coax her with a grin after confirming on his phone that she had calmed down, and he wouldn't be willing to try again even once more.

Now they're not even trying to test the waters, they're just coming to our door.

Li Yufei knew exactly what he was going to say next—

Honey, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong this time. Don't be angry, okay? Here's a kiss.

"Feifei, I'm sorry." "Who's your wife... huh?" Li Yufei was taken aback.

Zheng Jianbin, standing before her, lowered his eyelids and gazed at her anxiously, his expression devoid of any playful smile, only filled with a youthful apology.

Is this refreshing and sincere attitude still the same Zheng Jianbin who blew kisses to fans and race queens on the track?

His sudden sincerity disrupted her rhythm, and her previously firm decision to break up began to waver slightly.

Li Yufei cleared her throat. "Is 'sorry' all it takes?"

"No, of course not, how can I make it up to you?"

He was quite uneasy, frequently observing her expression, as if afraid of being rejected and abandoned.

Li Yufei thought to herself that he arrived just in time, and that she still had enough patience to forgive him one last time.

"Very well, it seems you realize how outrageous you've become," she said. "I haven't thought about the specifics yet. First, tell me yourself, do you still need to report to me in the future?"

Zheng Jianbin's eyes flickered slightly. "I will, Feifei. I will report your itinerary to you every half hour from now on."

“That’s right!” Li Yufei put her hands on her hips. “You should feel honored to have such a beautiful and considerate girlfriend who cares about you. Don’t take your good fortune for granted, Zheng Jianbin.”

“You’re right.” The man smirked. “Before… I was truly blessed but didn’t know how to appreciate it, how to be grateful, how to be shameless. Feifei, thank you for always caring for me and being so patient.”

His attitude changed so quickly that Li Yufei couldn't keep up. "Well, it's not too late for you to realize this now. It won't take half an hour. I'm not an unreasonable woman. Just send me a message within an hour."

"Okay, Feifei."

"Alright, I'll give you one more chance—the last one." She turned and went into the room, but when she caught a glimpse of Zheng Jianbin following her in, she wanted to say something, but then swallowed her words.

Now that things have come to this, even she is a guest in this room, so there's no reason why Zheng Jianbin can't enter.

Li Yufei sat down to put on makeup again. To make sure Zheng Jianbin was safe, she only washed her face before rushing out.

She's traveled such a long way to come here, and she didn't even know what she was doing on the first day. Today she'll have to take lots of pictures.

The room was equipped with a smart beauty mirror, and Zheng Jianbin sat down in the chair next to her.

Li Yufei patted water on her face, her hands were slippery, and Zheng Jianbin opened the lotion cap for her.

Li Yufei glanced at Zheng Jianbin, "The sun must have risen in the west! You still know there's emulsion after the water? Okay, I'll give you a chance, what's next?"

Zheng Jianbin paused as he reached for the concealer.

He shifted slightly and picked up the foundation next to him. "This?"

"Not bad," Li Yufei exclaimed in admiration. "Although it's not quite right, you're still correct."

The order in which concealer and foundation are applied varies from person to person, but Zheng Jianbin's decision not to hand her the lipstick directly was already unexpected for Li Yufei.

“I’m going to apply concealer first, but I’ll give you a break today.” She took the foundation from Zheng Jianbin and lectured him, “Remember next time, when I have pimples, I apply foundation first, and when I don’t, I apply concealer first.”

"Okay." Zheng Jianbin's eyes darkened slightly. "I've got it."

While applying makeup in front of the mirror, Li Yufei casually asked, "You usually don't even look up when I do my makeup, but I didn't expect you to remember the order."

Zheng Jianbin smiled and said, "I didn't know at first. I made you angry last night and wanted to buy you something to make it up to you, so I watched your video."

I didn't expect him to still have this thought; he actually knows he was wrong?

Li Yufei tilted her head to the side, her face expressionless with a tight smile, but a hint of amusement in her eyes. "The latest episode?"

"...Yeah, I just glanced at a few."

"I'm quite impressed, Zheng Jianbin." Li Yufei stopped applying makeup, turned to him and smiled. "I've always been the one watching your competition videos. You didn't just watch my videos, you watched a relationship blogger's dating course, did you?"

She wanted to praise him, but the man's face darkened.

He stared at her intently, a hint of bitter pain in his eyes.

After a while, he slowly raised his lips and forced a smile: "I'm sorry, Feifei, I was too careless towards you before."

"I'm not being sarcastic, why do you look like you're about to cry?" His expression reminded her of someone.

"Alright, alright, calm down, Zheng Jianbin." She quickly changed the subject, "What are your plans for today?"

Zheng Jianbin shifted his gaze slightly, "I'll go tell them in a bit that I'll stay with you today."

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Li Yufei glanced at him while applying nose contouring. "This is, after all, your team-building celebration. If you and I go out alone, won't they have a problem with you?"

Zheng Jianbin frowned deeply.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, then said, "Feifei..."

"Um?"

"Do I always make you feel this wronged?"

Li Yufei instinctively wanted to retort, but the words on the tip of her tongue changed: "I'm not bringing up old grievances with you, Zheng Jianbin. I don't care about anything else, but think about it yourself, where were you on our anniversary?"

He remained silent, and Li Yufei closed her eyeliner, making a crisp snapping sound.

"Your old captain went back to China, and you drank with him, fine, but you lied to me and said the team had extra training, a two-day closed training session—what does that mean, Zheng Jianbin? Closed training means you don't even want to read my news."

Li Yufei didn't intend to argue, and half a year had passed since then, but she couldn't hold back when it came up: "You lied to me like this, but your brothers brought their wives along."

“You come back and tell me that you didn’t know they would bring their wives. They said they were afraid that I, a woman, would feel awkward in the middle, and that it would make you guys feel uncomfortable.”

"Yeah, I believe you. I know it's the truth. If you had known they were bringing their families, you would have brought me too, just like how you begged me to come this time."

“But Zheng Jianbin,” she said disappointedly, “your brothers didn’t know beforehand whether there would be women present, so why did they think to bring their wives, while you told me it was a closed training program?”

"Why, Zheng Jianbin!"

Zheng Jianbin behaved quite well this morning, and Li Yufei swore she really wasn't angry with him.

But why did he get so angry!

He was the one who wanted to ask, and now he had a sullen face, exuding a ghostly, cold aura.

"What, did I say something wrong?" Bringing up the old topic made her unhappy to be even more upset, and he gave her a cold shoulder. "Are you even being reasonable? You asked me to say it, and now you're unhappy!"

Zheng Jianbin suddenly snapped out of his daze, concealing his anger, "No, Feifei, it's not about you, it's about...I'm very disappointed in myself. Looking back, I can't even stand myself."

"You know that much better!" That's more like it.

Zheng Jianbin clasped his hands together and rested them on his knees, pondering, "Feifei, I don't understand, why do you still like me after I treat you like this?"

Her beautiful fox-like eyes darted left and right. "You seem alright."

There's no why. Zheng Jianbin isn't stingy or ugly. He took the initiative to pursue her and promised to report to her every hour, so she agreed.

It's not like a romance drama where the couple has to be inseparable to be together.

This answer wasn't romantic or sentimental, but Li Yufei never fell into the trap of self-justification. Whenever she felt guilty, she would turn around and question others, "And what about you? You just like me because I'm pretty. If I were disfigured one day, you would definitely run as far away as possible."

“No, I won’t.” He abruptly interrupted her. “No matter what I was like before, I will love you with all my heart from now on.”

“Feifei, I have so many shortcomings in the past. If there is anything I did wrong, please tell me about it this time. I will correct it all and we can start over.”

With a dreamlike smile, he whispered in a vow-like tone, "From now on, I will definitely treat you very, very well."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Lu Qi: You're not Lulu, where is Lulu?!

Wen Ting: He's not Gong Baidie, so what is he...? Let's observe him first.

Song Xiaona: Although I'm not familiar with Zheng Jianbin, this doesn't seem like Zheng Jianbin.

Li Yufei: Heaven has eyes, and my boyfriend has turned over a new leaf and become a better person!

In short, congratulations to Zheng Jianbin for speedrunning the game and being the first to return home!