Chapter 153 Extra: The Lost Manor

"Why are you only just getting back?" A disgruntled scolding voice rose as soon as the door opened.

“I’m sorry, I…” Cheng Yuzhou froze.

On the sofa, Li Yufei's legs were bare, and she was wearing his pajamas.

She was tall, not much shorter than him, and her black top just reached below her hips, revealing a bit of her figure whether she was walking, sitting, or lying down.

She's worn the "no pants" style before, but right now she's wearing—

Seeing Li Yufei walking towards him, Cheng Yuzhou staggered backward. "Fei...Feifei..." "What's wrong?" Li Yufei snatched the bag of food from his hand. "What did you buy?"

"Feifei!" Cheng Yuzhou could no longer ignore her. He strode forward and grabbed her urgently, but stopped when she turned around, and whispered weakly, "What are you wearing...?"

Li Yufei followed his gaze to her own buttocks.

Underneath the half-covering pajamas, gray cotton underwear was visible.

"Underwear," she said.

"But that seems to be..."

"So, do you want me to go naked, or wear unwashed clothes?" Li Yufei didn't care at all. "What's wrong with me borrowing them?"

They've been living together for four years, and seven years including the ghost stories, and she doesn't care at all.

"How can it be okay!" The 19-year-old boy was so ashamed he almost fainted. He awkwardly handed over the paper bag in his hand, his voice barely audible, "I bought a new one, you can go and exchange it."

Li Yufei put down her things, turned around, and looked at him with her arms crossed.

"Now that this one's been replaced, who's going to wash it?"

Cheng Yuzhou trembled and stared blankly as he looked up.

Li Yufei glanced at him and said, "I'm too lazy to wash my t-shirt anyway, are you going to?"

He couldn't meet her gaze at all, his face flushed as he looked away, his Adam's apple bobbing, and he turned his head away in embarrassment.

If she had nothing to do, Li Yufei would definitely take it off on the spot and stuff it into Cheng Yuzhou's hands, telling him to go wash it right now.

But she was busy right now, so she didn't want to get entangled with this shy young master.

Li Yufei pulled out a chair and sat down. "Alright, stop standing there like an idiot, sit down quickly, I have something very important to say."

Cheng Yuzhou felt as if he had a high fever, and the high temperature in his head made him dizzy.

Is this the new method she came up with?

She thought that doing this would scare him away and make him call off the engagement?

He was indeed frightened, but...

His breath was long, hot, and deep. Cheng Yuzhou sat down and gazed at Li Yufei across from him with a dazed look.

Perhaps her purpose this time wasn't to break off the engagement; she was simply teasing him and wanted to see how embarrassed he would be.

Li Yufei opened the box to eat her late-night snack, first taking a skewer and sharing it with Cheng Yuzhou, who had returned from looking for food.

"Okay." She handed it over, and Cheng Yuzhou was taken aback.

"Here you go." Li Yufei blinked. "Do you want me to feed you?"

She leaned closer, and amidst the sweet scent of rose shower gel, Cheng Yuzhou looked around in alarm.

Where are the cameras and surveillance devices?

Who was helping Li Yufei devise a plan? From getting him out of the house to installing cameras, the whole scheme was executed flawlessly.

Such a smooth plan couldn't have been accomplished by Li Yufei alone. Where did they hide the surveillance cameras?

No, although Yufei dislikes him and will humiliate him in front of others, she will not allow others to take photos or videos.

Someone once took a picture of him, but Li Yufei smashed their phone and kicked them out.

She wanted to annul the engagement, not ruin Cheng Yuzhou's reputation and career, nor did she want to put the Cheng Group in the news.

So now, does she not care anymore...?

Cheng Yuzhou stared blankly at Li Yufei, who was so close to him. She no longer cared about him at all and planned to put pressure on the board of directors by leaking a video of him behaving in an embarrassing manner, thereby canceling their engagement.

That's a really clever idea.

Cheng Yuzhou lowered his eyelids and gave a self-deprecating twitch at the corner of his mouth.

A bitter feeling welled up inside him when suddenly the chicken skewer was shoved into the corner of his mouth, the cold taste transforming into the flavor of salt and pepper.

"I just can't do anything with you," Li Yufei laughed. "I'll just feed you a bite, and you can eat the rest yourself."

She hadn't fed Cheng Yuzhou so simply in a long time. The 19-year-old Cheng Yuzhou still had a bit of a childish look on his face, and she was happy to pamper him.

He looked up blankly, a skewer stuffed in his mouth, one cheek bulging out, his teeth chewing unconsciously a couple of times, the skewer in his mouth wobbling around.

It's kind of cute. Li Yufei forgave him for his outrageous remarks at the karaoke bar.

Her fox-like eyes were filled with a soft smile, as if she loved him.

Cheng Yuzhou twirled the bamboo skewer and then smiled.

Yufei, how long has it been since she smiled at him?

He decided to indulge himself in this beautiful dream, even if his scandal would spread throughout the streets the next morning.

"Alright, I'm about to start my important speech." Li Yufei grabbed a skewer of chicken for herself. "You'd better be mentally prepared."

Cheng Yuzhou gazed at her as if in a dream, "Okay, Feifei."

We've been married for two years.

Cheng Yuzhou's beautiful dream was interrupted. "Hmm?"

“I’ve been reborn,” Li Yufei said. “What’s in front of you is me at 32.”

Cheng Yuzhou was unsure how to react.

“I’m serious! Seriously!” Li Yufei noticed his hesitation and emphasized, “The truth is even more complicated than that. When you were 23, you were killed by two children who set off firecrackers. Six years after you died, I went to that manor. You, the ghost, killed my boyfriend at the time and took his form. We stayed there for three years—this is what you told me. I don’t remember it, but you did die and then came back to life. We lived together for three years and got married. Now it’s our second year of marriage. I was waiting for you on the sofa when I was suddenly reborn.”

"The manor?" Her words were quite disjointed, and Cheng Yuzhou caught the key phrase, exclaiming in surprise, "You know that manor?"

Li Yufei said, "I also know that the castle has 153 rooms. Now do you believe me?"

It's not hard to find out about the existence of the manor, since construction has already begun, and you can easily find out who the investor is by asking around.

But Cheng Yuzhou had a gut feeling that Li Yufei was telling the truth.

Otherwise, why would her eyes be filled with love when she looks at him?

He took a moment to process this, then couldn't help but ask, "So, what about our future...?"

"Huh?" Li Yufei suddenly reached out and poked at the air. "What's this?"

A golden-red "60" appeared before her eyes.

"60" quickly became "59", then "58", "57", "56"...

"Is this a countdown?" Li Yufei asked, puzzled.

"What?" Cheng Yuzhou looked in the direction she was pointing. "I didn't see anything."

"You can't see it?" Li Yufei asked, even more surprised. "There's a countdown timer in front of me, what is that..." After she finished speaking, the two looked at each other and guessed the answer at the same time.

"So fast!" Li Yufei jumped to her feet and screamed, "Is I already going back?"

"Feifei, calm down," Cheng Yuzhou said helplessly, trying to comfort her. "How much time do we have left?"

"45...44, only 43 seconds left!" Time was running out. Li Yufei cried out urgently, "Quick, I'm telling you the most important thing, you absolutely must remember it!"

"Okay, okay." Before Cheng Yuzhou could even take out his phone to record, Li Yufei rattled off a bunch of beans, "You absolutely must not go to the gas station at the foot of Wanshan Mountain! No, you absolutely must not go to the gas station!"

Gas station?

Connecting this to what Li Yufei had just said—that she was killed by two children with firecrackers at the age of 23—Cheng Yuzhou suddenly realized how he had died.

“I understand.” He nodded. “Is there anything else I should keep in mind?”

“Yes, yes, and…” Li Yufei sped up her speech, “Tell me here, absolutely do not associate with Manyue, Wenshiyayin, TAZ, F21, or Shui Sanqu, they’ve all collapsed! And don’t get involved with bloggers like Z Fengxian, Qiuqiutu, Anwanhaidiwan'ezhubenzhufushicaojiujiasansandejiu, they’ve collapsed too! Oh, and Mosizeyuewandoujian… Ahh, so many collapsed accounts! Can you even remember them all!”

With less than 30 seconds left on the countdown, Li Yufei was frantic. "Never mind, never mind, let's talk about you first. Gold prices skyrocketed on the 27th and 28th, so hurry up and buy gold, Cheng Yuzhou! And then the stock market... never mind, on the 29th, the whole world was in a trade war, foreign trade was a complete mess, and we had to quickly bring back our overseas business. And you signed some kind of project on the 21st, which caused you a huge disaster... what was it again! Ugh, really!"

"Don't worry, Feifei, don't worry."

There's no time left, only 10 seconds left. She can only say one more sentence at most.

“There’s something else important!” Li Yufei grabbed Cheng Yuzhou’s shoulder and looked at him closely.

"I have never hated you."

"Cheng Yuzhou, I've always liked you!"

Cheng Yuzhou's pupils suddenly contracted.

Reflected in his eyes was the girl's anxious yet sincere face. "Stop pretending to be magnanimous, just get on with it! If you can't do it, at least you'll cry!"

"Cry and beg me to love you, beg me not to abandon you, say that your world will collapse without me, and you should cry as hard as you can! While you're crying, throw money and gifts at me, and hug my legs..."

She didn't finish speaking.

The last word abruptly ended.

The girl swayed, and Cheng Yuzhou quickly steadied her.

She swayed twice, then slowly opened her eyes as if she were still hungover.

"Feifei?" Cheng Yuzhou asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Those fox-like eyes opened completely, and Cheng Yuzhou was startled—

She left.

With just one glance, he knew that the woman in his arms was not the previous Li Yufei, but the 19-year-old Li Yufei from this timeline.

"W-What are you doing!" She pushed him away like a cat with its fur standing on end. "Who gave you permission to hug me!"

Cheng Yuzhou's eyes darkened slightly. He instinctively stepped back, and the words of apology welled up in his mouth, but then he suddenly remembered Li Yufei's last words to him—

"I have never hated you."

"Cheng Yuzhou, I've always liked you!"

Is what she said true...?

A scream suddenly rang in her ears, and Li Yufei looked at her clothes in disbelief.

"What happened? Where are my clothes?" She touched her buttocks in shock. "Where am I? Cheng Yuzhou, what did you do to me! Whose underwear is this?!"

Cheng Yuzhou was startled: "This...this is..."

*Slap!* "Pervert!" Li Yufei slapped him for the second time today. "He did this while I was drunk!"

Cheng Yuzhou was speechless and his thoughts were in turmoil, but he sensed something was different.

The two slaps were clearly different.

His cut lip was burning and itchy. He pursed his lips, and a salty, bitter taste of blood spread on his tongue.

That slap at the karaoke bar left his cheekbone throbbing, and her eyes were filled with hatred as she looked at him; but now—

Her gaze was warm and moist, her cheeks flushed, and her touch was almost flirtatious, making his cheek feel numb, itchy, and burning.

"This isn't something you wore, is it?!" Li Yufei gripped the sides of the underwear, still quite naive and angry, wanting to take it off but unable to. "Pervert! Pervert! What do you mean? What do you want to do?!"

Did he finally lose his temper and go crazy after being slapped by her in the karaoke bar?

Has he finally seen the light? Has he turned to the dark side? Fed up with her刁难 (diāonán, making things difficult for her), he decides to force himself on her and keep her as his mistress, forcibly loving her from then on?

How could that be?

If Cheng Yuzhou had even a shred of backbone, he wouldn't have smiled as he let his fiancée spend her virginity with another man.

NTR has never seen a first-night NTR before. Cheng Yuzhou is a complete coward! What right does he have to get engaged to her?!

"Occupying a toilet without using it"... the metaphor doesn't seem quite right.

"What do I want to do..." the boy murmured.

The side of his face, which had been slapped, was slightly flushed and warm.

The words she spoke before she left stirred and churned within Cheng Yuzhou's heart.

She never disliked him;

She has always liked him.

Cheng Yuzhou never dared to dream of such a thing, but this warm and fragrant slap seemed to truly confirm "her" words.

Maybe it's true...

Maybe Li Yufei really doesn't dislike him?

Is this possible...?

He wasn't sure, he didn't dare to fantasize, but a few minutes passed, and Li Yufei, dressed in his pajamas and underwear, only felt embarrassed and anxious, not disgusted or resentful.

“I don’t know, Feifei.” He looked up, his dark eyes calm and misty, “I don’t know how to please you. I don’t want you to hate me, I don’t want to never see you, I don’t want you to ignore me.”

Li Yufei was stunned.

He was like the Jiangnan region during the Qingming Festival, shrouded in continuous rain and mist, completely soaked.

"I love you, I love you..." Cheng Yuzhou smiled with a frown, making Li Yufei feel a pang of bitterness.

“I know we wouldn’t have come to this if we hadn’t gotten engaged. But I can’t live without you,” he said, clutching his head in anguish, his back hunched over. “How can I keep you? Please, don’t abandon me, don’t break up with me, we won’t break up. We’ve been together since we were little, please don’t leave me…”

Amidst the trembling, hoarse voice, warm tears fell.

Li Yufei opened her mouth, a barely perceptible hint of panic flashing in her eyes.

When Cheng Yuzhou looked like a dead man, she was furious and wanted to tear him to pieces; but when he begged her with tears streaming down his face, how could she say anything harsh?

"Stop...stop crying!" She turned away awkwardly. "Just talk, why are you crying? I haven't even cried when you drugged and raped me, why are you crying?"

"I didn't!" Cheng Yuzhou suddenly looked up, his eyes red. "How could I do that to you... You are the person I cherish most, how could I force you? I would never do that."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it!" Li Yufei raised an eyebrow. "Did you think I got drunk and put this on while I was acting crazy?!"

Cheng Yuzhou fell silent, his gaze drifting to the side.

Li Yufei paused.

Following his gaze, she saw several paper bags of clothes on the sofa, including pajamas and unopened underwear.

...Why are there new clothes here?

If Cheng Yuzhou rushed to buy women's clothing, then his purpose couldn't possibly be to make her wear his clothes.

There are only the two of them here, her and Cheng Yuzhou. If it's not Cheng Yuzhou, then...

Li Yufei felt hot all over.

She couldn't believe it! She absolutely couldn't believe she would do such a thing!

Pushing Cheng Yuzhou aside, Li Yufei ran towards the master bedroom. Standing at the door, she saw the open wardrobe.

Inside the closet, the outerwear section was neatly organized, while the pajamas section was a mess, rummaged through haphazardly, much like the state of her closets at home.

Li Yufei stood stiffly for half a minute.

"Fei..." Cheng Yuzhou had barely opened his mouth when the bedroom door slammed shut with a bang.

The door closed so quickly that Cheng Yuzhou only had time to see the girl's chin, which was so red it was almost bleeding.

Cheng Yuzhou stood alone in the living room for a long time, stunned.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the yakitori on the table, which he had only eaten a few bites of. His heart belatedly began to pound, faster and louder.

Her reaction didn't seem to indicate that she genuinely disliked him.

...

In a moment of impulsiveness, Li Yufei hid in Cheng Yuzhou's bedroom; she had utterly lost face.

Go to hell! Can't Cheng Yuzhou just die? If he dies, she won't have to face him anymore!

She looked down at her underwear.

Li Yufei had no recollection of these underwear; her memory had been completely blank ever since she slapped Cheng Yuzhou.

She clearly remembered that Cheng Yuzhou had asked her and Siqi to spend the night together, so why was she at Cheng Yuzhou's house?

And just now...

He cried like that...

For three years, she dumped him, beat him in front of her parents and elders, humiliated him in public, and kissed other men, but Cheng Yuzhou never reacted at all. His heart remained stagnant, and he never even uttered a word of love for her.

But today he...

Li Yufei covered her mouth, her eyes burning, her mind filled with Cheng Yuzhou's tearful pleading confession, so fragile that he seemed to collapse without her.

Li Yufei has never been one to bully the weak. If someone argues with her, she will argue back even more; if someone gives in to her, she will soften her heart and forgive them.

Okay, if what he said just now really was his true feeling, then they can't really have a proper talk again...

He was crying so hard, so she took pity on him out of compassion.

The following morning, when Li Yufei had mentally prepared herself, she was utterly shocked when she opened the door.

A profusion of roses.

As far as the eye could see, the entire house was filled with roses. Among the bright red flowers were SN's classic collection, Red Rain and Muker's latest bags, dazzling jewelry, and two Maybach keys—why were they both Maybachs? Wait…did he still remember the boast she made in elementary school?

Li Yufei was almost overwhelmed by the overpowering rose scent. How could the house have turned into this state after just one night!

"Cheng Yuzhou!" she called out to him.

On the balcony, Cheng Yuzhou poked his head out.

He was holding a large bouquet of roses in his arms, which he was arranging.

“You’re awake, Fei Fei.” He smiled at her.

"What's going on?" Li Yufei frowned. "What are all these, these, and these?!"

"It is love."

Li Yufei looked like she'd seen a ghost. "What?" This was something Cheng Yuzhou would say.

“It’s love.” Cheng Yuzhou smiled and repeated.

He walked towards her.

The ground was covered with roses and gifts, and he carried a huge bouquet of flowers. He walked with difficulty, almost tripping along the way, but finally he reached Li Yufei.

He reached out and pulled a thornless rose from his bouquet, placing it before her and gazing at her expectantly: "I love you. These are all for you. Can you..."

What can it do?

Li Yufei felt inexplicably nervous. He was surrounded by the fragrance of flowers, with the early winter sunlight behind him, and his gaze towards her was dazzling.

She suddenly felt a little thirsty. If Cheng Yuzhou were to say "Can you get back together with me?" at this moment, she might really waver.

Cheng Yuzhou seemed equally nervous; his skin was tinged with the color of roses, his Adam's apple bobbed several times, and finally, he mustered his courage and whispered behind the radiant roses, "Could you... agree to have breakfast with me?"

Li Yufei narrowed her eyes.

"..." She rubbed her forehead, feeling dizzy from the fragrance of the flowers.

Cheng Yuzhou almost laughed out loud at her.

"Are you sure?" She crossed her arms, sulking uncontrollably. "Fine, then every time we eat together from now on, it has to be this extravagant."

"Really?" His eyes lit up. "Okay, okay, I'll remember that."

"Remember my foot!" Li Yufei couldn't help but kick him. "Clean it up! It's a mess, and the smell is giving me a headache!"

The door slammed shut again in front of Cheng Yuzhou.

Her calf, which had been kicked, throbbed slightly. She pushed him away forcefully, but accepted his roses nonetheless.

Golden sunlight streamed obliquely through the window. Cheng Yuzhou snapped out of his reverie and smiled at the door, "Okay, Feifei, I'll get ready right away."

Even through the door, the vibrant joy in his voice reached Li Yufei's ears perfectly.

What are you laughing at? It's just Cheng Yuzhou. He was like a dead man yesterday, how come he gave her this scare today?

It's so tacky! Who displays so many roses? It looks like something a nouveau riche would do. It's so tacky that she was embarrassed to take a picture.

The girl leaned against the door, twirling the thornless rose in her hand, her cheeks flushed.

Inside and outside the room, the air was filled with bright sunshine and the fragrance of flowers.

——

(End of Unit 3)

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Author's note: Alright, all three stories have come to an end here.

There will be another chapter related to [the world] tomorrow; those who are interested can take a look.