Chapter 46. Only a little bit was seen... not much.

Wen Chu angrily jumped back onto the bed and rolled around in bed.

Don't be angry... don't be angry...

This isn't Lu Ming's fault. She should pull herself together and face all the hardships and unexpected events.

"You've got some skills, huh? I underestimated you!" Wen Chu sat up in bed and said fiercely to the air, "You wait, I will not be defeated so easily! I understand, you're just trying to mess with my mentality!"

Having enjoyed a comfortable life for so long, she almost forgot the malice that this damned system had initially harbored towards her.

"Never mind! I'll just get some sleep." Wen Chu puffed out her cheeks, preparing to lie back down on the bed, only to notice a black mark on her blue pillow, something she couldn't tell where it had come from. Then, belatedly realizing what it was, she rushed to the bathroom in a panic.

Sure enough, the mascara she applied in the morning smudged. It was probably because her application technique was unprofessional. Now, her lower eyelids were covered in shadow, making her look like she had been punched or like a panda that hadn't slept for three days. It was unbearable to look at.

Damn it!! When did I faint?! It was just a tiny, insignificant thing when I was chatting with Qi Siyan! Wen Chu quickly grabbed some water and a towel to wipe it clean, but she didn't know if she fainted from rubbing it while lying in bed, or if it had already happened while she was talking to Lu Ming.

She couldn't possibly have been arguing with that guy for ages with such a ridiculous makeup look, could she? No way... Doesn't this guy have any decent manners at all? Didn't he even remind her? Was he just deliberately trying to make her look foolish?

I angrily wiped my eyes for ages, but there was still a dark patch under my eyes. This mascara was like a stubborn plaster; it couldn't be removed without makeup remover.

Wen Chu clenched her fists in front of the sink, feeling as if a small volcano inside her was about to erupt.

She stormed out of the bathroom, jumped onto the sofa, and furiously pounded on the brown cushions for several minutes before she could barely vent her anger.

Then she decided to go home and remove this damn makeup; her whole day had been incredibly unlucky! No, not just today!

A mountain of curses had been building up inside her. Wen Chu stormed out of the door, only to bump into a solid yet slightly springy wall. She yelled, clutching her bruised forehead, and took two steps back. Frowning, she looked up at Lu Ming standing in her doorway, both angry and confused: "What are you doing standing in my doorway?!"

Lu Ming hadn't expected her to suddenly come out of the room. He lowered his eyes and asked her, "You...slept well?"

"Do I look like I'm asleep?" She pointed to herself, then suddenly realized that her face looked like a ghost. She immediately turned her head away and covered her face with her hands, trying to walk past the man downstairs: "Forget it, I can't be bothered to argue with you. I'm going home."

Lu Ming grabbed her arm and whispered, "I want to talk to you."

“But I don’t want to talk to you right now.” Wen Chu tried to shake her arm and leave, but found that the hand holding her arm was unusually stubborn.

"I want to ask you a question," Lu Ming said to himself.

"Alright, alright," Wen Chu couldn't confront the person directly, so she had no choice but to compromise, turning her back and half-covering her face as she said, "Then ask quickly."

Lu Ming, however, put his hand on her shoulder and used some force to turn her around again, slapping away her hand that was covering her face. As if he couldn't see her panda-like makeup, he insisted on staring into her eyes and asking, "Did I... promise you something this morning, but forgot?"

Wen Chu, who was still fretting about her dark circles, felt a jolt in her heart upon hearing Lu Ming's question and looked at him incredulously: "You..."

Why would Lu Ming suddenly say that? How did he know?

Lu Ming took in every subtle expression on the girl's face and continued to press, "Did you promise to take you out to play?"

Then he saw that the girl's expression was even more shocked.

"You...remembered?" Wen Chu loosened her grip and asked tentatively.

The girl's reaction confirmed his guess.

Is that really how it is...?

Has something really gone wrong with his brain? Lu Ming's eyes darkened, a hint of seriousness flashing across his brows, which he quickly concealed.

He tilted his head and questioned Tian Gang, "Couldn't you have reminded me if I didn't remember?"

Wen Chu was completely bewildered. The system hadn't said anything about forgotten memories being restored, had it? And this time, she hadn't said or done anything, so how did she remember them? Was there a bug?

Looking at her accusing expression, Lu Ming made it seem as if she were the one who had failed in her duty and ruined their date. Confused, she could only vaguely reply, "How do I know if you genuinely forgot or did it on purpose? What if you deliberately wanted to stand me up?"

"Is that how you see me?"

"Who knows?" Wen Chu said, her eyes darting around.

Lu Ming took a deep breath, seemingly a little helpless, but said earnestly, "I won't go back on my word without a reason, it's just... sometimes I'm too busy and forget. I had an emergency meeting this morning, and I apologize to you. If it happens again next time..." Lu Ming's eyes darkened, and he continued, "If this happens again, you can remind me."

He somewhat veiled the reason for forgetting as work, even though this might leave a bad impression on the other party.

But before he could find out the truth about his physical condition, he didn't want Wen Chu to know that his memory function was abnormal.

Wen Chu glanced at him sideways: "I did call, didn't you turn your phone off?"

“This was an accident.” Lu Ming paused, then explained, “It wasn’t intentional that I turned it off.”

Only now did Lu Ming realize the source of the woman's unusual behavior throughout the morning. He had seen on the surveillance footage that the usually lazy woman had gotten up very early, not only not sleepy, but also full of energy, and walked downstairs quietly, as if afraid of waking him.

Forty minutes later, she reappeared at his house, dressed in a completely new outfit.

Lu Ming knew from the woman's disappointed expression that she must have felt terrible. His gaze fell on Wen Chu's face. She had dressed up so carefully for him, but he had completely forgotten and even misunderstood her.

But he couldn't remember when he made the appointment with her. Was it last night? How come he didn't remember mentioning it? He was thinking of bringing it up with her after the meeting.

Forgetting the appointment was indeed a terrible thing to do. His brows furrowed unconsciously, and his eyes held a complex emotion. As if by magic, he reached out to wipe the other person's eyes, but the next second, Wen Chu slapped his hand away swiftly and violently as if avoiding a plague.

Lu Ming suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes flickered, and he looked puzzled by the person's dismissive behavior. "You..."

Wen Chu snapped out of her shock and confusion, not having time to think about what was going on, and quickly covered her face with her hands. She rushed downstairs, making a clattering sound on the wooden stairs as she went, saying, "Are you done talking? I'm going home first!"

"Hey..." Lu Ming watched the person's retreating figure disappear into the distance, and had no choice but to swallow the rest of his words.

He sat on the living room sofa for a while. To avoid the person taking up too much time at home, he sent her another text message. But the image of the woman throwing her phone in a corner and fiddling with it herself quickly flashed through his mind.

Forget it, it's safer to just make a phone call.

He dialed the number, and the call was answered quickly. He could even hear the sound of a tap running.

Wen Chu said "Hello," turned on the speakerphone, placed the phone on the table, and asked, "What?" Then she grabbed a splash of water and splashed it on her face. The sound of the water was so loud that she couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the phone, so she bent over, craned her neck, and asked into the speakerphone, "Huh? What? Say it again?"

Lu Ming repeated, "You have ten minutes to wash your face and come out. We'll go now."

"What?"

Lu Ming thought she hadn't heard him again. He usually hated it when someone repeated a sentence a second time, and now she was repeating it a third time. He was in the wrong first and should have been tolerant of her disability, but he couldn't hold back his venomous tongue and said sarcastically, "Are you twenty-two or eighty-two? Should I help you get an appointment with an ENT specialist to see if you're aging prematurely?"

Wen Chu was initially surprised by the man's words, wondering if it was all so sudden. Was there even after-sales service for this? But hearing his exasperated tone, she grinned and feigned ignorance, asking, "What? What? What are you talking about? Hey?"

Then, Lu Ming hung up the phone.

Hearing the busy signal, Wen Chu's playful laugh vanished instantly. She rolled her eyes, wiped her face, and muttered, "Is that all the patience you have? If you were doing this strategy mission, wouldn't you have to stay in this world until you die?"

No, so should we go or not? Wen Chu glanced at the time; it was almost two o'clock, but it was still early, so she could still go out.

"Ugh, I should have known better than to be so rude... Now I have to coax her." Wen Chu wiped her hands, walked out of the bathroom, stood in front of the full-length mirror with a long face, tied her hair back up, and her face returned to its clean look.

Given this failed attempt, she'll probably stick to just applying foundation and lipstick from now on and stop trying all those fancy technical things.

She thought about it carefully and felt it was unlikely to be a system bug, otherwise the system would have already issued a warning. Perhaps her behavior that morning was too unusual, and this guy was smart enough to deduce it himself? Or was it really unrelated to the system this time, and this workaholic had simply forgotten about going out to play because he was in such a hurry to get to the company meeting?

It seems reasonable no matter how you look at it.

The former goes without saying; he has the ability to read people. The latter…

This person works day in and day out, and it's possible that a small change like going out with a girl, which doesn't happen once a year, could be overshadowed by years of habit, and he might just be too busy to think about it.

After all, going out to play is a very important thing for her, but for the other person it might just be a trivial and somewhat annoying task, something he would mention casually and not take up much of his attention.

Thinking this way, Wen Chu still felt that she couldn't stop learning about the psychology of love.

You need to make yourself occupy more time in the other person's mind.

She remembered that she had forgotten to post a heartfelt quote on social media last night, so she quickly took out her phone, opened the posts she had saved, found one that was perfect for the moment, smiled slyly, copied and pasted it with one click, and then clicked send.

After sending the message, she tossed her phone aside and noticed a water stain around the neckline of her tank top. She hesitated for a moment, then decided to change. She silently summoned the changing room.

A row of virtual clothing images floated neatly in the air; Wen Chu only needed to touch them to automatically switch to wearing them.

But as she was making her selections, the bedroom door, which was half-closed, was lightly knocked on twice and then pushed open.

Lu Ming stormed to Wen Chu's door, only to find her rushing in without even closing the door properly. He decided to just go in and confront her without further ado. Just as he reached the living room, his phone received a notification. It was a social media update from the woman, and without thinking, he clicked on it, only to see Wen Chu's post—

My thoughts are easy to guess: it's either you or making a fortune.

Lu Ming's heart was stirred again, as if doused with a hot spring. Was this referring to his standing her up that morning and his misunderstanding that she had impure intentions and was involved with Qi Siyan? The words seemed to radiate grievance. Lu Ming pursed his lips, feeling his guilt deepen.

He really shouldn't have questioned her like that.

He went upstairs, saw the door wasn't closed, and without thinking much of it, knocked twice, pushed the door open, and said, "Do you have time to send—"

Wen Chu's mind went blank for a moment when she heard the knock on the door. When she saw who it was, she immediately screamed and instinctively turned her back to try to block the changing interface in the air. Realizing that it was futile, she quickly waved her arm and shrunk it to hide it.

Before Lu Ming could even focus his gaze, he heard the woman's scream. Seeing Wen Chu hurriedly turn away to cover her chest, his face instantly contorted with panic. Before his mind could process what was happening, he had already retreated and closed the door.

Wen Chu was still in shock, clutching her chest as she tried to recall the split second that had just passed. Had Lu Ming seen her cheat code? If he had, how could she explain it? She could only ask the system to reset it for her.

Without a second thought, she made sure the door was closed, quickly went to the changing room to change into a tank top that matched her outfit, then rushed out, feigning composure and observing her surroundings before striking first: "Wait, how did you get in?"

"You left the front door open again..." Lu Ming asked her in annoyance, "Why are you changing clothes in the middle of the day? I thought you were washing your face and putting on makeup..."

"Can't I change my clothes? Who said I can't change my clothes at noon?" Wen Chu accused him on the surface, but in reality she breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from his reaction, he probably didn't see it.

Lu Ming glanced at her outfit and frowned. "You didn't change either, did you? Why were you shouting so loudly just now?"

"Who said I didn't change? Is it wrong for me to buy several of the same clothes as spares? This one is new, okay?" Wen Chu was afraid that people would think her dodging behavior was suspicious after they calmed down, so she quickly added fuel to the fire, pretending to be a victim, and covered her chest, saying, "You almost saw the whole thing! You pervert!"

"You?! Who wants to see you?" Lu Ming gasped upon hearing the other person's words. He never imagined that the word "thug" would come out of their mouths to describe him. "I just wanted to urge you to leave quickly..."

His chest heaved, and his ears were still red. He had never done anything so rude before; it was truly a case of acting impulsively once and regretting it for life. He explained hastily, "I really didn't do anything..."

But he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes glazed over for a moment before his expression became even more complicated.

Wen Chu was startled. The man's expression seemed to indicate that he was recalling something from what had just happened. Oh no, did he really see it? The panel was quite large, and she hadn't been able to retrieve it in time.

She asked urgently, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Lu Ming's ears turned even redder, and he changed his words: "I only saw a little... not much."

"Huh?" Wen Chutian felt like her sky had collapsed, but she also vaguely felt that Lu Ming's expression was a bit off. Seeing such a strange scene, shouldn't he be coldly questioning her about where she came from, what her purpose was, and whether she was an alien?

She scratched her head and asked again, "You really...you really saw it? What exactly did you see?"

"How much more specific can it be?!" Lu Ming looked away, stammering—a rare occurrence for him: "I only saw a little bit below... really, not much..."

"Huh?" Wen Chu was completely confused. What? What do you mean by "a little below"?

Unbeknownst to her, just a moment ago, the system, following her instructions, replaced Lu Ming's one-second memory of the changing room with another scene of changing clothes as she described.

Wen Chu took a few more seconds to process what he meant. Oh, was he referring to her exposed lower abdomen?

Is such a big reaction really necessary?

Oh well, never mind. Even the system isn't in a hurry, so why is she? Judging from her explanation, it doesn't seem like what she saw.

She patted the person on the shoulder, pretending to be very magnanimous: "Forget it, I won't hold it against you. It's not like we haven't met before."

Lu Ming's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this: "When did I...?"

He paused, then thought of that absurd night, the woman's bathrobe spreading open to reveal the curves of her body... He quickly banished the thoughts from his mind, pursed his lips into a thin line, and remained silent.

If this counts as having seen it before, then he truly has nothing to say.

"Are we going or not? Didn't we just say we were going out to play? I'm all packed, we can go now." Wen Chu had no idea that what they were thinking was completely different, and she nudged them lightly with her elbow to urge them on.

Lu Ming took two deep breaths, finally managing to regain his composure. "Let's go."

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Author's Note: System: That's right, I'm just that much of a dog, you said it yourself. [Dog head holding a rose]

Lu Ming: I really didn't intend to see it; it just popped into my head on its own. [Melted]

Wen Chu (completely unaware): Go go go, let's go! [Sprinkling flowers]