**Chapter 48: The Betrothed Arrives**
The morning sunlight, with a touch of warmth, spilled over her body, and the air was filled with the fragrance of fresh grass and the faint moisture evaporating from dew.
Facing the east, bathed in the morning sun, Lu Yibei stood frozen in place, her mind swirling with questions.
What on earth is going on? What’s happening? What am I supposed to do?
Wasn’t it said that bathing in the morning sun would restore things to normal?
Why does reality not match the description?
She had thought that she could experience the life of a beautiful girl for a little while and then return to normal, like a pleasant seven-day holiday.
Yet reality told her that everything comes at a cost.
The beautiful girl experience card expired, and following the “instruction manual” didn’t restore her to normal, just as a supposed seven-day holiday had been shortened to three days, with a need for adjustments, making the experience overwhelmingly suffocating.
Lu Yibei looked down at her hands.
Those delicate and fair fingers seemed to whisper to her, “Don’t look at us; it’s not us with the problem, it’s you with the problem. You were always this way!”
It was just like buying something that didn’t match the description on a shopping site, with after-sales service offering dismissive, evasive responses.
“It was always like this! How could I not know how I was originally?”
Lu Yibei bitterly complained, her mood sinking as she thought about the various scenarios she might face next.
Setting aside the long-term troubles ahead, right now, a huge crisis was rapidly approaching her.
Really, in her daze, she could almost see a line of bright red WARNING signs flying around like they were from the FBI.
She had previously set a meeting with Nanling Yaohua and Su Mi today to discuss where to book their graduation dinner, but in her current state, there was no way she could appear before them.
Never mind whether Nanling Yaohua could accept that her boyfriend had suddenly become a sister.
Not to mention, she had once vowed with Su Mi in their youthful recklessness that if anyone among them transformed into a beautiful girl, they would definitely let their brother enjoy it first.
Just thinking about how to explain her current situation to them made Lu Yibei’s cheeks flush, her mind racing like a visual novel, flashing through countless possibilities and endings.
……
If she pretended to be sick, Nanling Yaohua would definitely drop everything and rush over to see her.
At that point, if she took out her spare key and walked in only to find a strange beautiful girl there, it would likely lead to a scenario where this strange girl would swallow the humidifier Gu Qiqi couldn’t ingest.
【THE END. Caught in the House】
If she contacted Su Mi first and had Su Mi provide cover to buy some time, it would lead to two different situations.
Branch one: Su Mi would rush over to Lu Yibei’s place, demanding she fulfill her vow.
【THE END. Brother’s “Bullfighting” Carnival】
Branch two: Su Mi’s poor acting and inappropriate wording would lead to her lies being exposed by Nanling Yaohua.
【THE END. Brothers on the Road to the Underworld】
……
Lu Yibei spent a good ten minutes using her usual visual novel logic to hypothesize dozens of endings, only to find she had no avenue for a “HAPPY END.”
It felt as if a sharp long sword hung above her head, inscribed with words like 【Social d*ath】, 【Mental Disorder】, 【Life Derailment】, 【Being Unhuman】… and so on.
That sword could fall at any moment, and once it did, Lu Yibei as “Lu Yibei” would be shattered to pieces, disappearing from this world.
“Darn! What a pile of nonsense is this!?”
So, looking for a sense of reality in games and trying to apply it to real life was surely a sign of a problem.
Do you really think that after playing hundreds of romance simulation games, you can genuinely find a girlfriend? Real-life girls are much more complicated than those in games!
When you say to her, “Maternal pig care should start from the prenatal stage,” she can turn it into, “Do you not love me anymore?”
“According to common tropes, unless an omnipotent celestial maiden suddenly appears, I’m afraid I have only one way to end—d*ath, right?”
Lu Yibei murmured, looking toward the eastern sky.
The sun had fully risen, and her dream of returning to normal…
Had completely shattered.
————
Moments later.
Under the bright morning sun, the spacious house was oddly quiet.
It was as silent as if the small vendors who usually frequented the neighborhood for second-hand furniture, the big guys selling fresh vegetables on tricycles, and the aunties selling handmade buns were all off duty.
Even the seniors doing morning exercises and the kids playing had seemingly evaporated.
The only sound came from the clock in the living room, softly ticking as the hands moved.
In the bedroom, Lu Yibei lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, like a fish that had lost its dreams.
The ticking of the clock constantly reminded her that time was slowly approaching their agreed hour.
Amidst a rustling sound, her coat snuggled up beside her, as if trying to comfort her, brushing against her cheek.
Lady Witch, are you feeling unwell?
(｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)
Lu Yibei sighed silently, turned her head, and looked at the coat, mumbling, “Coat, do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
The coat, like a well-behaved elementary student, “sat” beside her, raising its hood, lightly nodding twice, and then slowly shaking its head.
Lu Yibei touched the coat’s hood, feeling lethargic, “I wish the apocalypse would just come right now.”
With the apocalypse, who would care if “Lu Yibei” had turned into a beautiful girl?
She just hoped that the place where she would be buried wouldn’t have a particularly enthusiastic mausoleum, as she had mild social anxiety and worried…
Worried that the mausoleum would find her unbearable, putting on resurrection armor and moving her grave overnight. Lu Yibei thought.
————
It was impossible for the world to suddenly arrive at the apocalypse without warning; some things still had to be faced.
What they call growing up is learning to accept whatever situations arise in life.
Lu Yibei felt that when she was ready to send a message to Nanling Yaohua and Su Mi, attempting to muddle through and buy a couple of days to find a way to return to normal, she had grown.
She climbed to the bedside table, mustered her courage, and picked up her phone. Just as she unlocked the screen, she furrowed her brow.
It seemed something was off.
In the right corner of the phone’s screen, the icons for mobile signal, WIFI signal, and battery status were neatly arranged, yet none of them were normal!
Mobile signal: None.
WIFI signal: None.
Battery… twelve percent battery can hardly be called normal, right?
In today’s world, charging a phone with depleted battery life for some people was not just recharging; it was about continually sustaining life!
Looking anxiously at the low battery, Lu Yibei quickly got off the bed and walked to her desk.
As she watched the data cable plug smoothly enter the phone’s port, she felt a wave of relief, as if all her limbs were cheering, celebrating this moment.
However……
The wonderful charging notification sound did not ring, and Lu Yibei instantly fell from heaven to hell.
“What’s going on?”
Lu Yibei picked up the phone, switched cables, and plugged it in, yet the charging notification still didn’t sound.
After trying several different cables, she looked at the top-right corner of her screen, lost in thought.
No mobile signal, no WIFI, and nothing charging…
Could it be that this broken phone is dead?
This phone was initially hers, turned into a backup after it exploded due to a harrowing surge of temperature.
Such an idled device showing issues during use was too common.
If so, she could only log into a certain goose social software on her computer and message Xiao Hua or Su Mi… Lu Yibei thought.
As she pondered, she pulled out a chair, sat at her desk, and opened the computer.
A minute later.
As the certain goose social software popped up a login failure dialog, Lu Yibei frowned, slowly shifting her gaze to the network connection icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.
In the lower right corner, a small computer-shaped icon showed a bright red cross, clearly indicating a network connection issue.
“Strange, how could this happen?”
If the computer also faced network issues, then it definitely wasn’t just the backup phone that was at fault.
But……
Under what circumstances would there be a situation of simultaneous outage, electricity loss, and no phone signal?
Could it be that I somehow jinxed it, and the apocalypse truly did arrive? Lu Yibei joked to herself, immediately getting up and walking towards the front door.
She planned to check the circuit breaker box in her house.
Setting aside the phone signal issue, if the circuit breaker tripped, it could also lead to power outages and internet disconnection.
Taking the key for the circuit box from the shoe cabinet in the hallway, she opened the door and accessed the circuit box in the corridor.
Seeing the indicator light off and the power meter not running, Lu Yibei frowned, “Could it be a power outage? Why weren’t we notified beforehand?”
“Or is it that some unforeseen incident caused a temporary blackout?”
She muttered softly, relocking the circuit box and returning indoors.
“Knock knock knock… knock knock knock…”
Just as Lu Yibei closed the door and hadn’t even stepped out of the hallway, a sudden knocking sound entered her ears, causing her heart to jump into her throat.
How could she face anyone in this state?
Even if it was Grandma Wang outside, there was no way she would open the door in a bathrobe again. Two times in a row at the bath? That was a little too coincidental.
But if she wasn’t in a bathrobe, it wouldn’t disguise the fact that her figure was considerably skinnier compared to Mrs. Wang Meili.
The difference in their body types was comparable to that of the Gobi Desert versus the Tai Mountain range.
“Knock knock knock… knock knock knock…” The knocking continued.
Lu Yibei suddenly sensed something was off and squinted her eyes.
That knocking sound was very light and weak, as if someone was hesitant to knock too loudly for fear of disturbing something.
“……”
Xiao Hua holds my spare key, so it was impossible that she would knock.
Such a timid knocking sound could not be from Grandma Wang, Su Mi, or even a neighbor; they wouldn’t be so cautious and careful.
But if it wasn’t them, who could it be?
Lu Yibei wondered, leaning towards the door and looking through the peephole.
Then……
She saw a pair of clear, bright, round eyes staring back, and heard a soft voice from the other side of the door calling out.
“Lu Yibei… Lu Yibei… are you home? Can you let me in?”
d*mn! What sort of creepy thing is this during the day?
Wait, that voice sounds familiar… is that Gu Qiqi?
She had just discovered she had a betrothed yesterday, and to her surprise, here she was showing up at her door today.
Realizing it was Gu Qiqi outside, Lu Yibei’s face instantly turned red.
Before reading Gu Xinian’s diary, she could think of Gu Qiqi as a ghostly girl or an enormous troublemaker trying to haunt her.
However, knowing that Gu Qiqi was the child bride arranged by her father, seeing Gu Qiqi again brought about a subtle change in her mindset.
It felt like suddenly discovering that the girl with whom she often bickered and fought had secretly had a crush on her all along.
Simply put, it was awkward, embarrassing, and disorienting.
With an intense wave of shyness and embarrassment crashing over her, Lu Yibei’s temperature rose uncontrollably, and soon wisps of white smoke wafted above her head.
“Pffft——!”
The next moment, she heard a scream from outside the door.
Through the peephole, she saw Gu Qiqi leap back a step, stumbling a bit before falling to the ground, her small hands looking red and blistered as if scalded by boiling water.
Lu Yibei’s gaze gradually shifted down to her hands pressed against the door, and her eyelids twitched.
As her body temperature soared, the front door had already…… turned red.
Lu Yibei, “……”
This… shouldn’t count as domestic violence, right?
————
Moments later, in Lu Yibei’s home, in the living room.
“Am I going to poke it now? Just bear with it, it will hurt a bit.”
“Wait, wait! It’s my first time; I’m not mentally prepared!”
Lu Yibei put down the disinfected needle she had in her hand, giving Gu Qiqi a sidelong glance, irritable, “Popping a blister doesn’t require any mental preparation; just grit your teeth and get through it!”
When a burn creates a blister, after disinfecting, you should ideally pop the blister to allow proper drainage and prevent infection from the blister fluid, which could affect healing.
Considering that others couldn’t see Gu Qiqi’s blister, going to the hospital would be pointless; Lu Yibei had to take care of it herself.
“But just thinking about it is painful…” Gu Qiqi weakly retorted.
“……” Lu Yibei pondered for two seconds before seriously suggesting, “How about this! I’ll get you some pain medication, I guarantee it works immediately! After taking it, you won’t feel any pain.”
“Then I’ll help you with the blisters afterward, alright?”
“Hmm…” Gu Qiqi pouted, softly asking, “Is that medicine bitter?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not bitter; it’s sweet!” Lu Yibei assured her.
How could calcium milk tablets be bitter… Lu Yibei secretly added in her mind.
“Eh? Really?” Gu Qiqi’s eyes lit up, “Then can I have another one?”
Lu Yibei, “……”
My dear father, what do you see in her? Can’t you pick someone better?
She didn’t even question if the pain medication could be sweet; she didn’t even doubt whether I truly intended to give her the pain medication – she even wanted to take two!
If I had some ** on me, I would have knocked her out right there and then, not caring about her feelings… hehehe! Just to take care of those blisters, Lu Yibei thought.
Unaware that Lu Ming employed the “all of it, do not pick” strategy with no doubt, Lu Yibei silently complained a bit, then expressionless got up, walked toward the bedroom, retrieved two calcium milk tablets, and returned to hand them to Gu Qiqi.
Gu Qiqi looked at the “pain relief medicine” in Lu Yibei’s hand, then at her own hands covered in blisters, and said pitifully, “But I’m like this right now…”
Lu Yibei rolled her eyes, interrupting, “Got it, open your mouth!”
As she spoke, she picked up a calcium milk tablet and raised it to Gu Qiqi’s slightly open mouth.
“Om nom——!”
Slightly catching the sweet aroma of the calcium milk tablet, Gu Qiqi eagerly took it, swallowing the tablet along with Lu Yibei’s finger.
Since the last time she sneakily left Lu Yibei’s house, she hadn’t eaten in two days.
The sudden warm and moist feel at her fingertips froze Lu Yibei completely.
She stared blankly at the girl in front of her, noticing that Gu Qiqi was also tilting her head and looking at her, the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl’s face flushed pink.
Both beautiful and rosy.
Her large eyes sparkled, eyelashes fluttering, shining as brightly as a baby, appearing extraordinarily pure.
The pink lips were wrapped around Lu Yibei’s finger, her face slightly puffed, giving her small round face an endearing charm that was utterly captivating.
Lu Yibei, “……” Who am I, where am I, what am I supposed to do?
Gu Qiqi, “……” Why isn’t calamity coming my way? Am I being toyed with again?
Seeing Lu Yibei hesitating without action, Gu·Master of Vocal Mimicry·Qiqi furrowed her brows slightly, sensing something was amiss, and immediately decided to “steal” that sweet pain medication from Lu Yibei’s grasp.
Therefore, her soft little tongue acting like a clever little snake, slipped into the gap between Lu Yibei’s fingers, gently flicking.
The next moment, Lu Yibei’s body radiated an astonishing heat.
“Pffft——!”
Accompanied by the sound reminiscent of meat being dropped into a hot frying pan, a scream echoed through the room.
“Ah——!”
The scream pierced Lu Yibei’s eardrums, and she jolted back to reality, looking at Gu Qiqi, her eyelids twitching.
She saw Gu Qiqi looking at her, teary-eyed, her mouth slightly open, with a large blister on her tongue.
“Wuwu, you lied to me; your medicine is definitely not sweet…” Gu Qiqi mumbled incoherently.
Is it my fault? I did tell you to open your mouth, but I didn’t say to hold it! Lu Yibei facepalmed.
“Just stop talking, look at your mouth; what has it become… At most, I’ll make you a nice meal afterward?”
Hearing this, Gu Qiqi recalled Lu Yibei’s delicious roasted pig trotters and hesitated for a moment before raising five fingers, huffily exclaiming, “Five meals of roasted pig trotters!”
Lu Yibei, “……”
What exactly is this “pig trotters”? It’s not some urban legend, is it?
