Lin Ling listened quietly, his golden eyes cast slightly downward.
Perhaps he was thinking of someone he longed for but could not reach.
He let out a soft sigh.
“Xiao Wang is so pitiful.”
Yuhua, however, kept his focus on the main point and continued to interrogate her.
“Even if you are an entity like this, you have hands and feet. You even have the ability to integrate into society. Why did you use the excuse of ‘failing the postgraduate entrance exam and needing support’ to exploit Wang Zeqi? Isn’t that just using his feelings for fraud?”
“One is willing to hit, and the other is willing to suffer. If he is willing to support me, is it your place to object?”
Gu Yanzhen crossed her arms over her chest, her chin tilted up.
“I provided him with the Emotional Value of his favorite childhood friend, and in return, he provided me with financial support. Isn’t that just a reasonable job?”
“This, this… But no matter how you try to argue, Wang Zeqi has the right to make a choice after knowing the whole truth.”
For a moment, Yuhua couldn’t think of anything to refute her, so the final decision had to be left to Wang Zeqi.
Under Lin Ling’s coercion, she had no choice but to agree to confess the truth.
The group arranged to meet again in a Park.
As requested, Gu Yanzhen repeated everything she had told Yuhua and Lin Ling to Wang Zeqi, including the process of how the real girl had actually disliked him.
“I see… As I thought, it really is like this. Actually, I already had a vague feeling in my heart. After all, the real Big Sister would never… act so weak and beg me to support her.”
“So, what do you plan to do? You aren’t going to keep supporting her, are you?”
Yuhua asked.
Gu Yanzhen glanced at Yuhua with some disgust, then turned back to Wang Zeqi, speaking in a persuasive tone.
“Even though you have lost your childhood friend, I can fully serve as her replacement. I can give you the same tenderness she did—perhaps even more perfectly—and I know better how to respond to you. Besides, I only need a source of income to keep me fed and warm. It won’t cost you much money.”
Seeing Wang Zeqi’s eyes flicker as if he were being swayed and showing signs of nodding, Yuhua quickly emphasized,
“She already told you that most of the kindness your childhood friend showed you was fake. It was just an act to appease her parents. Why are you still so obsessed with her?”
Wang Zeqi, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head.
He seemed to have made up his mind.
“Even if it was an act, even if it was just a task… the summers in my memory, the road she walked with me, the words of encouragement she spoke, and the way she looked when she smiled… the warmth and happiness they brought me won’t become fake because of that…”
“Sigh, usually the White Moonlight in one’s memory is supposed to be a shattered illusion. How did you end up with a Mental Seal instead?”
Yuhua lamented.
However, he didn’t have the right to make the choice for him.
“So, you still choose to keep her?”
Despite everything, Wang Zeqi still nodded and let out a faint, barely audible,
“Yes.”
“I guess that’s fine. Anyway, it’s not like you’re good at dating. If you pick up a wife, so be it.”
Although Wang Zeqi’s image seemed a bit too pathetic in Yuhua’s eyes, he didn’t want to say anything more and could only offer his blessings.
“After all that trouble, the resolution is actually him leaving the single life. How come an Awakened Entity hasn’t taken an interest in me?”
Liu Shuxing muttered from the side, her tone sounding sour.
“Lin Ling, what do you think?”
“I think… why not try talking to the real Gu Yanzhen again?”
Lin Ling gave an unexpected suggestion.
“What if, after all these years, she sees that you’ve been through so much and still hold on to these feelings? Perhaps her mind will change. Even if the possibility is small, trying is better than placing all your hopes on a phantom simulating her.”
Yuhua finally understood the theoretical basis for why Lin Ling continued to pursue Shui Hua even after being rejected so many times.
“That’s true. At least give it a try.”
Although Yuhua also felt the chances were slim, it was better than not trying at all.
Wang Zeqi’s eyes wavered, but then they dimmed again.
“B-But… hasn’t she already abandoned this account? How could I possibly contact her…”
“I happen to remember her other Contact Information, though I don’t know if she’s still using it.”
The fake Gu Yanzhen spoke up.
This was clearly a proposal that worked against her, but she seemed to be preparing a final strike against Wang Zeqi because she knew the real Gu Yanzhen all too well.
The fake Gu Yanzhen recited the number.
Soon, Wang Zeqi dialed the phone according to the number provided.
After several long rings, the call was picked up.
“Hello?”
a female voice that Wang Zeqi was quite familiar with came through.
Wang Zeqi’s hand trembled slightly.
He took a deep breath and said in as steady a voice as possible,
“Hello… is this Big Sister? It’s me, Xiao Wang. Wang Zeqi. Do you still remember? When we were little…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence.
A response carrying obvious impatience soon came from the other end of the line.
“So annoying.”
The person didn’t even care about Wang Zeqi’s voice or how he had obtained her number.
She simply spoke with irritation and hung up.
Beep — beep — beep —
Wang Zeqi held his Mobile Phone, frozen in place.
He quickly comforted himself,
“It’s fine, I already expected this.”
Then he looked at the fake Gu Yanzhen and said with a sincere tone,
“It’s okay. She doesn’t understand my feelings for her, but you will, right? I’ll treat you well, just like I would have treated her.”
“You little brat, from childhood until now, you’ve always been so lacking in boundaries and so repulsive.”
The fake Gu Yanzhen seemed to return to her true nature at this moment.
Her words carried a tone that Wang Zeqi had once thought was “tsundere,” but now she showed him an expression of pure disgust.
Wang Zeqi suddenly froze.
The image of the White Moonlight before his eyes began to shatter along with his memories.
The image of the Big Sister who was always a bit impatient gradually became clear.
At that very moment, Gu Yanzhen’s figure fluctuated violently.
Snowflakes and digital noise began to emit from her edges as she gradually faded into the air.
Immediately afterward, an Old Smartphone fell with a thud onto the road at Wang Zeqi’s feet, its screen shattered to pieces.
“This is a rare situation… It’s said that if a powerful obsession causes an object to experience the Alienation Phenomenon, then once that obsession dissipates, the phenomenon will also disappear, returning the object to its original form.”
The well-informed Lin Ling quickly provided an explanation for everyone.
“Xiao Wang, are you okay?”
Although Yuhua had been dissatisfied with his choices, seeing him like this made him worry about his state of mind.
However, he didn’t cry out loud, nor did he fall into silence.
He simply said:
“Dog-Torturing Zone, you guys win.”