Ye Qingyun looked at Gu Chenyuan blankly, without reaching out to take the thorny rose.
Gu Chenyuan put the flowers back into the bouquet and silently watched the little girl selling flowers.
Upon seeing this, the little girl immediately understood and hugged Ye Qingyun's leg, saying, "Big brother, please accept it. You're helping me out of kindness. If I can't sell them, I won't have any money to eat!"
Having said all that, Ye Qingyun found it hard to refuse. He reluctantly accepted the flowers, feeling extremely uneasy.
Who would have thought that the first flower he received upon entering this world was a gift from the aloof and solitary protagonist?
Gu Chenyuan: "It looks good."
You look good.
Ye Qingyun: "...Thank you, I think it looks pretty good too."
This flower is quite pretty.
The little girl happily accepted the money, and listening to Ye Qingyun and Gu Chenyuan's nonsensical conversation, she went along with it and said, "Big brother, we have an event here recently. As long as you show affection, you will get a reward! The prizes are plentiful. Take your little brother to take a look, maybe he will find something he wants!"
Ye Qingyun: "..." What kind of lovey-dovey relationship does he and Gu Chenyuan have to show off?
The little girl took a brochure out of her pocket, handed it to Ye Qingyun, and skipped away.
Ye Qingyun casually flipped through the book, which was filled with a dazzling array of couple activities, such as which couple kissed the longest; which couple had the best chemistry; and which couple could test how loyal their man was to them and whether he would be tempted by others, and so on.
Out of the corner of Ye Qingyun's eye, she saw that Gu Chenyuan's gaze was fixed on the contents of the booklet, and he was very focused.
What are you looking at? Watching how other people kiss?
Ye Qingyun felt a little ashamed to be reading this kind of thing with a cool and aloof guy, so he slammed the book shut.
"Do you want to play?" Gu Chenyuan asked.
Ye Qingyun's lips twitched slightly, and she retorted, "Who do I play with? You?"
Logically, Gu Chenyuan should have sneered and walked away. But the Gu Chenyuan in front of him seemed rather abnormal.
Gu Chenyuan didn't leave. He remained silent for a moment, observing Ye Qingyun's expression, before speaking, "You are a very outstanding person. You should contribute to the development of interstellar space, not be troubled by Pu Tian. It's not worth it. This kind of entertainment can cheer you up. If you need..." This time, Gu Chenyuan remained silent for even longer. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing further resentment from Ye Qingyun, so he carefully chose his words, "If you want to find me, of course you can."
Ye Qingyun was startled!
He never expected that Gu Chenyuan's admiration for his knowledge would reach the point where he was willing to sacrifice himself for him!
To be fair, he himself would never be able to do that.
Ye Qingyun realized how backward his thinking was. For a moment, he had even suspected that Gu Chenyuan liked him. How filthy his thoughts were!
Ye Qingyun awkwardly flipped through the book: "No need, I don't like any of the prizes here, I won't—"
Ye Qingyun stopped speaking and saw the prizes on the opened page of the booklet.
It was a dazzling energy stone called the Stone of Love, which was extremely rare on the market and was usually given as a token of love between couples.
Ye Qingyun was very interested in it, not for any other reason than the rare energy contained in that energy stone, which he had never been able to obtain before.
The promotional slogan printed on that brochure was as follows:
The strongest sword protects the most beautiful person, and yields the most precious love stone! Want to know if the person protecting you is truly the strongest? Participate in this challenge, see their true strength, and don't hesitate to break up!
Ye Qingyun looked at the page with its tagline that was practically a breakup letter and panicked.
He really wants it!
How come he's such a delicate and frail technician!
What should we do now?!
A hand with distinct knuckles snatched the booklet from Ye Qingyun's hand. Gu Chenyuan closed the booklet and said calmly, "Let's go, let's go over there."
Ye Qingyun: "...Wait a minute?"
No, although Gu Chenyuan is indeed very strong, he is not the kind of teacher who takes advantage of his students!
Moreover, Gu Chenyuan has such lofty ideals, what if he is misunderstood if he participates in this kind of competition?
Wouldn't that be a stain on the life of a pure and noble person?
Gu Chenyuan knew that Ye Qingyun was unwilling to be associated with him in this way, so he persuaded her, "This competition doesn't require us to do anything. The content of the competition is also my forte, so you don't need to worry."
Ye Qingyun was very touched, but he tried to keep a cold face: "I won't take advantage of you. I will use this stone for research, and if there are any new discoveries, I will let you participate in the research."
Gu Chenyuan smiled faintly: "Mm."
The love stone he gave to Ye Qingyun, as long as Ye Qingyun accepts it, even if Ye Qingyun uses it for other purposes, even if Ye Qingyun has no intention of accepting him at all, is enough for him to cherish that scene for a lifetime.
——————
After registering for the event, Ye Qingyun and Gu Chenyuan went to the waiting area.
During the registration process, Ye Qingyun learned that the event had been promoted for a long time and had gathered many people from different planets, making the competition extremely fierce.
Ye Qingyun was a little nervous. He looked at the screen above the waiting area, which showed the ongoing duels. Everyone was incredibly strong, and their fists were as big as his face.
Ye Qingyun secretly glanced at Gu Chenyuan's face again. Gu Chenyuan's face looked very handsome, but it didn't have even a tenth of the ferocity of others.
Although he knew Gu Chenyuan was very strong, who knew if there might be hidden experts here?
Ye Qingyun gave a roundabout warning: "I won't collect your body. You'd better come back alive."
Gu Chenyuan smiled and said, "Mm."
Ye Qingyun snorted and focused on watching the live stream screen above.
After several rounds of competition, two more people went on stage.
One of them was quite famous, and as soon as he appeared, many of the participants in the competition in the lounge recognized him.
"It's the notorious thief Hans! I've seen his videos; he single-handedly took down a whole group of people who came to arrest him!"
"I heard that although his ability level was rated A+ during the test, in actual use it, it's not much worse than an S-level ability!"
"He should have won this match. Anyone with superpowers close to S-class can be ranked. It's impossible for him to be defeated in the first match."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion. The thief Hans threw a punch at the people below the stage, and the camera also lingered on Hans's lover for a few seconds. She was a rather pretty girl.
The next moment, the camera switched to Hans's opponent, a young man with black hair and black eyes who looked rather taciturn and had a gloomy expression.
The man was not famous, and everyone remained silent. But when the camera turned to his lover, everyone erupted in discussion.
"Oh my god, that person is..."
"Third Prince!"
"Wait, I remember a rumor that the Third Prince has been looking for that person, right?"
Is this person the Third Prince?
Ye Qingyun stared in shock at the blond-haired, arrogant young man on the screen, feeling puzzled.
Why would someone as accomplished as him participate in such a small competition?
In the original novel, the Third Prince is also one of Gu Chenyuan's suitors, and is an arrogant supporting character arranged by the author.
Ye Qingyun was a little worried. Although she didn't know why the Third Prince had a partner now, the partners of members of the royal family must be incredibly powerful. She hoped Gu Chenyuan wouldn't get hurt.
Without exchanging many words, the two began their duel. Ye Qingyun watched as they exchanged a dazzling array of moves for a long time, until finally the Third Prince's partner defeated the villain, securing victory in this round.
The camera then focused on the Third Prince, and a reporter immediately stepped forward to interview him: "Is there anything you would like to say to your loved one? Do you have confidence in him?"
The Third Prince smugly twirled a strand of hair behind his ear with his index finger, seemingly unintentionally revealing a blue flower-shaped tattoo on the back of his hand: "Confidence? Of course, he won't lose."
The interview ended, the camera cut away, and everyone was immediately in an uproar.
"What's that tattoo on the back of your hand? It must be that one! It must be that one!"
"Holy crap, the Third Prince really found that person!"
"And he actually made that person fall in love with him..."
"The tattoo has grown onto his hand! How big must that tattoo be?"
"I heard that the emperor hadn't decided who to pass the throne to before, but now it seems like it's a sure thing!"
Everyone around him seemed to know what he was talking about. Ye Qingyun listened blankly for a moment, then asked the person sitting next to him in a low voice, "Brother, what are you talking about?"
"You didn't know?" the burly man replied, "There's a rumor that the Third Prince has been searching for that humanoid weapon who won't betray him, and he swore he'd make her fall in love with him. Tsk tsk tsk, and he actually found her!"
Ye Qingyun was taken aback, remembering the post she had seen on the forum.
He initially thought such a person couldn't possibly exist, but now he's actually met him.
Ye Qingyun was about to ask another question when his fingertips were suddenly touched lightly. He turned around and saw Gu Chenyuan looking at him.
Gu Chenyuan: "If you want to know anything, you can just ask me."
"You know about it too?" Ye Qingyun thought for a moment and asked, "Is that power really that strong?"
Gu Chenyuan looked at Ye Qingyun for a long time, then smiled and said, "Yes, he is very strong, almost invincible. That's why countless people have tried to find him."
Ye Qingyun: "Wow..."
Gu Chenyuan waited for Ye Qingyun's answer. He hadn't expected to run into someone impersonating him here, but now that he had, he couldn't help but anticipate Ye Qingyun's reaction.
Will Ye Qingyun be tempted to get to know that person? Will Ye Qingyun regret not having met that person before the Third Prince and missing the opportunity?
Ye Qingyun took a sip of water and licked her lips: "I think... I think all this fighting and killing is disgusting, rude, and uncivilized. It makes me dizzy. I'm leaving. Are you coming with me?"
In fact, Ye Qingyun's question was absurd. The competition rules stipulated that both partners must be present. If one partner left, the other partner had to leave as well, and the competition could not continue.
Gu Chenyuan lowered his head, a silent smile playing on his lips.
Ye Qingyun was not moved.
Ye Qingyun was worried that he would get hurt and wanted to forcibly take him away.
This realization made Gu Chenyuan feel something overflowing in his heart, as if his whole body was being immersed in a warm current.
“He is no match for me,” Gu Chenyuan said slowly. “Stay here, and that Stone of Love will surely belong to you.”
He would get anything Ye Qingyun wanted for him.
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