To be clear

"Ji'an, come this way." Deng Yi stopped and gripped the bicycle with both hands.

Zhou Ji'an quickly broke away from Yu Xi, ran to the other side of the bicycle, and stood next to Deng Yi.

Zhou Ji'an glanced past Deng Yi at Yu Xi, whose expression had turned cold. She was wearing a simple black short coat, jeans, and leather boots, and her face was free of makeup, yet she was still stunningly beautiful.

On the day of Zhou Ji'an and Deng Yi's wedding, Yu Xi did not wear any makeup, but she was dressed in a red dress, which attracted the attention of most people when she appeared.

At that moment, Lu Jianni was doing Zhou Ji'an's makeup when she heard the commotion outside. She dropped what she was doing, ran out to take a quick look, and when she picked up the eyeshadow palette again, she said to Zhou Ji'an, "That Yu Xi looks more like a bride than you do."

From Deng Yi proposing a fake marriage to them reaching an agreement and holding the wedding, it took less than half a month.

For the past two weeks, Zhou Ji'an has been unable to sleep at all, feeling anxious and uneasy about everything known and unknown, and suffering from severe sleep deprivation.

At this moment, her eyelids seemed to be filled with lead, and they were already tightly closed.

Seeing that she didn't react at all, Lu Jianni was so angry that she wanted to pinch her arm. "While there's still time, I'll take you away from the wedding and let that person who usurped the position truly become the master."

Zhou Ji'an, head bowed and drowsy, replied dismissively, "Okay."

"You said it yourself, I'll call someone to come and meet you right now." Lu Jianni held her head and found that her eyes were tightly closed, so she knew that she hadn't heard her at all. She pinched her cheek and shouted, "Wake up! You're running away from your wedding, do you hear me? I'm going to take you away from your wedding."

Before the shout had even finished, the door to the dressing room was pushed open.

Zhou Ji'an's sensitive nerves twitched at the unfamiliar voice, bringing him back to his senses. He turned around and saw Deng Yi standing at the door carrying a white bag.

He must have heard what Lu Jiani said, because he stood at the door for a long time without moving.

Zhou Ji'an glanced at Lu Jianni, who looked indifferent, and then at Deng Yi's expressionless face. He felt that explaining was unnecessary, so he simply said, "It will take a while before you finish your makeup."

"Hmm." Deng Yi entered the dressing room and placed the paper bag on the dressing table. "There are bagels, nuts, and bananas inside. Have some if you're hungry."

"Okay." Zhou Ji'an just wanted to sleep and didn't care whether he was hungry or not.

After Deng Yi left, Lu Jianni reluctantly continued to apply makeup to Zhou Ji'an. "You two must have some kind of secret agreement. Otherwise, how could the groom be so calm and not worried at all when he heard the bride's friend urging her to run away from the wedding?"

It's perfectly normal for someone who has never planned to get married to suddenly register their marriage and hold a wedding to be so suspicious of by their friends.

Zhou Ji'an half-closed his eyes again, and as he was feeling drowsy, he added, "He usually has that expression; his emotions are always very stable."

“People who are too emotionally stable are actually cold-hearted.” Knowing the outcome was already decided, Lu Jianni softened her movements and carefully covered the dark circles that had suddenly appeared under the man’s eyes.

Less than three minutes later, the door was pushed open again. Lu Jianni was about to curse when Yu Xi, swaying in her red dress, went straight into the dressing room.

An unfamiliar fragrance wafted through the air. Zhou Ji'an leaned against Lu Jiani's waist and looked up to see Yu Xi.

Yu Xi's eyes and the tip of her nose were similar in color to the red dress she was wearing.

"You haven't even met any of Deng Yi's friends yet, so how come you're suddenly marrying him?"

Her voice was very nasal; she had definitely been crying.

When Zhou Ji'an realized that Yu Xi hadn't recognized her, he shifted the blame to Deng Yi, saying, "You'd better ask Deng Yi about this; I can't answer it."

He should be the one to take the blame.

Yu Xi smiled, but her joy was not evident. "I've already asked."

"Oh." Zhou Ji'an's sleepiness continued to surge, and with Lu Jianni by her side, she felt safer. After a few seconds, her consciousness began to blur again.

"I even asked him if you were pregnant." Yu Xi was annoyed by being ignored, and her tone was cold.

Lu Jianni was so frightened that she woke Zhou Ji'an up and said seriously, "You better tell me the truth."

"No, no." Zhou Ji'an was on the verge of collapse from all the torment. He closed his eyes in discomfort, wanting only to fall asleep as soon as possible to escape reality for a while. He mumbled a sentence in his drowsy state.

Because Zhou Ji'an was too sleepy, he didn't realize what he said. When the wedding ceremony officially started, he noticed that Yu Xi looked much brighter and her eyes were much friendlier.

When no one was around, she quietly asked Lu Jianni what she had said at that time.

This time, Lu Jianni really pinched her arm. "Don't you remember?"

Zhou Ji'an nodded.

Lu Jianni: "..."

At Zhou Ji'an's request, the wedding ceremony was stripped of its elaborate rituals and sentimental songs.

She and Deng Yi only needed to walk to the ceremony area to exchange rings.

Before Zhou Ji'an went to the ceremony area, Lu Jianni told her that she had impatiently said that she and Deng Yi would not sleep together.

Since this statement almost confirmed Yu Xi's guess, Zhou Ji'an has not dared to mention it to Deng Yi so far.

According to the agreement between her and Deng Yi, her actions constitute a breach of contract, and Deng Yi can demand compensation or file for divorce.

Currently, he has neither demanded compensation nor mentioned divorce, so Yu Xi probably hasn't told him yet.

"Director Deng, isn't this overacting?" Yu Xi and Deng Yi, on the other side of the bicycle, kept pace with each other and stopped their probing, seeking an answer directly.

Zhou Ji'an's heart skipped a beat.

So Yu Xi had already told Deng Yi, and Deng Yi had already admitted that they were in a fake marriage?

"What are we acting out?" Deng Yi switched to pushing the bicycle with one hand and grabbed Zhou Ji'an's hand tightly with the other.

His actions seemed to suggest that he was indeed acting.

Zhou Ji'an is basically certain that Yu Xi and Deng Yi have already discussed their fake marriage.

Deng Yi and Yu Xi are good friends from the same school but different majors. Yu Xi is the female lead in Deng Yi's graduation play, and Yu Xi is also the female lead in Deng Yi's first and only movie.

The two worked for the same company, which was owned by Deng Yi.

Yu Xi has excellent acting skills and appearance, and is popular with audiences, which has made the company a lot of money.

Zhou Ji'an had previously seen news reports that other companies wanted to poach Yu Xi, but Yu Xi refused them all.

In a later interview, Yu Xi said that she had developed a deep affection for her former company and would not sign with any other company.

One comment in that interview video was particularly insightful.

"It's probably because he has a deep affection for Deng Yi from his original company and can't bear to part ways with him."

Rumors of a romance between Deng Yi and Yu Xi have been circulating for a long time, but the two have never admitted to it.

Zhou Ji'an didn't know what had happened between the two of them over the years, but she suspected that what happened between them directly prompted Deng Yi to inexplicably ask her to have a fake marriage.

Perhaps Deng Yi was the one who couldn't have her, so he faked a marriage with her to provoke Yu Xi?

If that's the case, then in Zhou Ji'an's eyes, another layer of the filter has shattered.

Is he thinking about Yu Xi but actually wants to sleep with her?

It really proved Lu Jianni's warning true: all men are the same; from a distance they look like a person, but up close they're just a genital.

Yu Xi put her right hand on the bicycle handlebars and said dismissively, "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Zhou Ji'an was unable to adapt to Yu Xi and Deng Yi's dramatic push-pull and probing.

She recalled that on their wedding day, Deng Yi's gaze kept involuntarily drifting towards Yu Xi.

His gaze then was just as complex as Zhou Ji'an's feelings now.

Are these two using her as a tool now?

No wonder some people, when in love, want the whole world to know, and want to drag everyone in the world into their love game.

The supporting characters and the audience will create constant dramatic conflicts in their love story, and will also make them believe that their love is unique.

Simply put, some people in this world have a "protagonist complex."

Some ordinary people with a "protagonist complex" are unaware that their love stories lack entertainment value, so when they showcase their romances, they are always ridiculed.

But Yu Xi and Deng Yi are not ordinary people; their love story is highly entertaining.

Zhou Ji'an had also read a romance novel featuring the two of them as the main characters, and she had become quite engrossed in it at one point.

Having looked into it, Zhou Ji'an now thinks: if someone walked up behind them, they would definitely think they were a family of three taking a walk, or parents taking their daughter to learn to ride a bicycle.

She is, of course, a daughter.

Zhou Ji'an couldn't bear this torment.

She wanted to confront Yu Xi.

So what if she breaches the contract? So what if she has to pay compensation? At worst, she can just return all the benefits she has received so far to Deng Yi. In the end, she won't suffer any loss.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Ji'an's fingers began to struggle, attracting Deng Yi's attention. Looking at his puzzled expression, she made up her mind and said, "Why don't you just tell her directly?"

We still have to try to shift the blame to him. He has everything she doesn't, so taking the blame for him won't have much of an impact on him.

Deng Yi, his face cold, lowered his eyes to scrutinize her. "Tell her what?"

Zhou Ji'an saw the expression on his face when he beat Wei Jinglin, and a chill suddenly rose from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

A sense of fear crept in after the chill, shaking Zhou Ji'an's resolve. She gritted her teeth and said, "Tell her I don't like her."

Zhou Ji'an originally wanted to say: Tell her you don't like her.

Considering that this statement might not be true, the subject was changed.

Deng Yi was visibly stunned, as was Yu Xi. Although they were pushing the bicycle, it didn't move forward at all.

"Why don't you like her?" Deng Yi asked without any hesitation, pulling back her escaping fingers.

Zhou Ji'an was stunned.

He could have easily used this opportunity to brush off Yu Xi and let their lies continue.

But he deliberately didn't do that, and instead inexplicably created problems for her.

Zhou Ji'an did dislike Yu Xi, but if asked to explain why right now, she couldn't.

Yu Xi, on the other hand, wore an arrogant and indifferent expression, completely unconcerned about her dislike.

She's like an unknown extra in a teen idol drama, suddenly called in by the male lead to provoke the female lead during a big argument between the male and female leads.

"Well, because she's beautiful, has a great figure, is a big star, rich and famous, and has a very outgoing personality. Many people like her, while I'm just an ordinary person." Zhou Ji'an simply got into character. Anyway, saying this would make the male lead think that the female lead was being envied, causing him to fly into a rage, and then other innocent bystanders would be tormented.