I turned my head and saw that it was true.

The black-haired youth who appeared at the store entrance was none other than Xu Heyu, the male protagonist of the original book.

As expected of the male protagonist in the book, even though he is only nineteen years old, his body proportions are amazing.

Even though he was still wearing the dark gray uniform of the Federal Academy, it couldn't hide his good figure with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.

Looking up at his eyebrows and eyes, he was very dashing, with a pair of signature wild blue eyes that made him look like a lazy black panther.

As her gaze swept over the crowd, Qiao Mei could even feel a sense of oppression.

However, if she remembered correctly, it was Thursday, and the Federal Academy hadn't started its holiday yet. Why did Xu Heyu come over here so soon?

After Xu Heyu finished confronting the troublemaking girl, he glanced coldly at her pale face before his gaze returned to Qiao Mei, who was wearing a pomegranate red spring dress.

The girl looked somewhat different from what he remembered. Her face was still the same, but her beauty had become somewhat flamboyant. Those red eyes that had always been filled with love in front of him now looked... clear and serene.

Xu Heyu paused for a moment, then stepped forward under Qiao Mei's puzzled gaze. His deep blue eyes held a turbulent undercurrent, and with each step he took toward her, his nose began to sting.

When he finally stopped in front of her, his eyes filled with her perfectly healthy appearance, he suppressed the tears welling up in his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Long time no see, little rose."

In Qiao Mei's memory, Xu Heyu always called the original owner that. No matter how outrageous the original owner did, or even when she acted recklessly in Xu Heyu's name, Xu Heyu would never blame her.

Instead, she said to the original owner of the body with a mixture of affection and helplessness, "If it's you, then anything is fine."

It was precisely because of this that the original owner devoted herself wholeheartedly to Xu Heyu, even to the point of becoming a fanatical love-struck individual.

The original story did not explain Xu Heyu's situation after the original owner died. After all, the original owner was just a cannon fodder who was not even a supporting character and only deserved to live in the background description. Who would care?

But now, seeing Xu Heyu's obviously off-putting emotions, she felt that something was amiss.

"Heavens, what brings Xu Heyu here?"

"Ahhhhh, he's so handsome!! Qiao Mei must have accumulated a lot of good fortune in her past lives to have him as her childhood betrothal partner, waaaaaah..."

"He's so protective of Qiao Mei, damn it, if I were Qiao Mei, I'd be love-struck too!!"

As the onlookers gushed over her, the girl who had been rebuked by Xu Heyu earlier slowly faded from their sight, her face pale. But as she left, the malice and twisted look in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Why should she? Qiao Mei was just born into a better family; she's no worse than her at all!

Thinking of this, the girl glanced at Qiao Mei again, her eyes fixed on the little black dragon wrapped around her neck, and a wicked idea began to brew in her mind.

Qiao Mei had no idea about any of this, and was then pulled into a VIP room in the store by Xu Heyu.

"Xu Heyu, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in class at the Federal Academy right now?"

Qiao Mei tried to pull her right wrist back, but couldn't break free. Just as she frowned, about to say something, she was stunned by Xu Heyu's red-rimmed eyes.

"Why...why are you crying?"

Xu Heyu still didn't let go of Qiao Mei's wrist, and even tried to pull her into his arms when she wasn't expecting it, which startled Qiao Mei.

Fortunately, Ao Cang was still wrapped around her neck. After realizing Xu Heyu's intention, he stretched out his dragon tail and pressed it against her face, his golden dragon eyes full of displeasure.

What do you want to do to her?

Xu Heyu then remembered that Ao Cang was still there. After a moment of surprise, she stared intently at Qiao Mei and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm just very glad to see that she is still alive and well."

Instead of becoming a corpse, unable to even touch his ashes...

Qiao Mei wasn't quite sure if Xu Heyu had ever liked the original owner of this body. Besides, apart from being with Qiao Yingying, the scheming female lead, there was basically nothing to criticize about Xu Heyu in the book's plot, so she didn't have any prejudice against him.

After thinking for a moment, she reached out her right hand and patted his shoulder, comforting him: "Now that you see I'm alright, you can rest assured. Wipe away your tears."

She truly didn't expect that Xu Heyu, the male lead, would shed tears in public.

Xu Heyu took the napkin from Qiao Mei, but didn't use it. Instead, she wiped her tears with her fingertips and gave a genuinely happy smile: "Yes, you're alright now. I'm not crying anymore."

"However, have you found a way to cure the little black dragon? If you need anything, you can just tell me."

Seeing that his mood had calmed down a bit, Qiao Mei told him that she had taken Ao Cang to the treatment center for a check-up yesterday. Then she asked him again why he had suddenly come over while he was still in class today.

Her failed awakening happened a few days ago. Given the relationship between Xu Heyu and the original owner, she should have gone there on the same day after the news spread.

When she asked about this, Xu Heyu suppressed the violence in her eyes and raised her head again, her blue eyes filled with gentleness: "At the time, I was in the simulated battlefield on the Federation Star and couldn't come out. By the time I came out and heard about this, it was already this morning."

In other words, he actually arrived as soon as he could.

"I've also heard about Qiao Yingying framing you. Do you have any key evidence? I can help you investigate later."

When the young man spoke of this, there was no suspicion in his blue eyes that Qiao Mei expected to see, nor did he ask about the details, as if he was certain that Qiao Yingying was the one who did it.

This surprised her and touched her heart slightly.

After all, she had received far too little kindness since she entered the world of the book.

"I don't know if this counts, but I'm sure she used this to eliminate the familiar power that was originally in my familiar stone."

As Qiao Mei spoke, she projected the image of the Gang Stone, which Yu Tong had previously drawn, into the air from the optical brain bracelet.

"Gang Stone?!" Xu Heyu's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmm, you know about this too?"

Xu Heyu glanced again at the familiar image of the Gang Stone and nodded: "I've seen it in a book."

The professors at the Federal Academy had comprehensive knowledge, so Qiao Mei had no doubts. By the time she finished telling Xu Heyu the whole story of how Qiao Yingying framed her, almost half an hour had passed.

Seeing Xu Heyu's obviously tired face, she told him to go back and rest first. She would continue to buy some familiar beast equipment for Ao Cang to prepare for the familiar beast training that would officially begin tomorrow.

Xu Heyu refused her suggestion, saying that he wasn't very tired yet and that he had been through it all, so he could give her some advice on how to buy equipment for his familiar beasts.

"But you mean you're planning to apply to the Federal Academy?"