Madam, Please Behave

An Yuanyao had a very small appetite and ate with elegance.

She used her chopsticks to pick up the noodles, bringing them to her lips and gently blowing on them before cautiously slurping them into her mouth, as if worried the splashing soup might stain her.

In stark contrast, Liu Changqing was much rougher.

He started by drinking a sip of soup directly from the bowl. Then, after snapping apart his disposable chopsticks, he grabbed a large clump of noodles and inhaled them with a storm-like fervor.

An Yuanyao was startled by his eating style.

After chewing and swallowing, Liu Changqing noticed her gaze and asked curiously, "Why are you staring? Eat!"

Logically, someone like An Yuanyao should dislike this kind of dining manner. However, watching Liu Changqing eat somehow made her appetite stir. She didn’t know why, but there was something oddly satisfying about how he ate.

It had been years since she’d had ramen. Trying a bite of the dish from this small diner, she found it tasted pretty decent.

Due to her irregular eating habits over the years, An Yuanyao’s stomach wasn’t in great condition. Her appetite had always been small, and after just a few bites, she started to feel a bit full and set her chopsticks down.

One gulp, chew, swallow.

"You're full already?"

"Mm."

An Yuanyao nodded without saying more.

Seeing that she had barely touched the surface of her noodles, Liu Changqing’s face showed a pained expression.

Such wastefulness! What a headache. How could she just throw this away?

With that thought, he reached out, took her bowl of noodles, and dumped them into his own.

An Yuanyao’s face instantly turned red.

"You! What are you doing?"

"You eat so little. Wasting food like this is a no-go."

"But! But that’s what I already ate from!"

"You didn’t spit into it, did you? So why not?"

Liu Changqing looked at her in confusion, seeing nothing inappropriate about his actions.

For years, he had been finishing off whatever his daughter left behind. Otherwise, how could he maintain his robust physique?

An Yuanyao’s face burned as she watched Liu Changqing mix the two portions together and continue devouring them heartily.

This... this guy!

Shame and embarrassment surged within her. An Yuanyao abruptly stood up, grabbed her duckbill cap from the table, and, with her head lowered, muttered, "I—I’m heading back first."

She then dashed out the door in a hurry.

Watching her leave, Liu Changqing shook his head, bewildered at her reaction.

Whatever. Time to focus on the noodles.

An Yuanyao returned to her residence. Since she’d lost her keys, she had to get assistance from the property manager. Fortunately, she eventually made it safely back home.

Having taken a nap at Liu Changqing’s place, she had a troubling dream that left her drenched in cold sweat. As a result, she decided to take a bath to refresh herself.

Filling the bathtub with hot water, An Yuanyao stepped in after undressing.

Letting out a long breath, she felt all the exhaustion melt away at that moment.

She soaked for a while, and when she was done, she dried herself off and emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

Standing in front of the mirror, An Yuanyao held a towel in both hands, rubbing her damp hair.

Her movements paused.

Her gaze shifted to the mirror...

She stared at her reflection for a moment before leaning closer, scrutinizing her face.

It didn’t seem… that bad.

Her hands moved to her face, gently touching it.

Although her complexion wasn’t great, the foundation was still there.

She pouted slightly. Her lips were quite full too.

After a bit of self-reassurance, An Yuanyao stepped away from the mirror, grabbed a hairdryer, and dried her hair.

Once her hair was dry, she applied some moisturizer to her face, then headed to her bedroom. Turning on the light, she laid down on her soft bed.

With her eyes closed, her mind was a mess, a whirlwind of thoughts tumbling around.

But she couldn’t shake the image of one particular person.

Oh, right!

Suddenly remembering something, An Yuanyao grabbed her laptop from the side and powered it on.

She recalled seeing Liu Changqing writing a novel at the bookstore earlier. She hadn’t forgotten the title.

After the computer booted up, she opened a web browser and searched for it. It was serialized on a particular online novel platform.

At the bookstore, she hadn’t read much, just glanced at a few character dialogues without understanding the story’s progression.

Deciding to kill some time, she clicked on the first chapter.

“Battle Power: Three Ranks!”

The opening left her baffled.

Even so, her eyes followed the words down the page.

As time passed, An Yuanyao found herself surprised. While the writing wasn’t particularly remarkable, it far exceeded her expectations.

She had assumed it would be crude and unreadable.

It was... okay.

That thought surfaced in her mind as she continued reading. Watching the protagonist, Xiao Yan, endure unfair treatment, she felt an inexplicable tension building within her.

Minutes turned into hours, and An Yuanyao read on without realizing how much time had passed.

Night had fallen, and when the wall-mounted clock struck twelve, its chimes pulled her back to reality.

Her legs had gone numb. Stretching them out brought a wave of relief that washed over her brain.

She placed the laptop on the bedside table and plugged it in. Although it was a new model, it still didn’t have an extended battery life.

Hugging her pillow, An Yuanyao lay there, her eyes still fixed on the screen.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was completely engrossed.

The story of Xiao Yan’s fall from genius to ridicule, followed by his fiancée’s public rejection, resonated deeply with her. It reminded her of Liu Changqing.

That once confident young man… now reduced to this middle-aged figure.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, she began to overlap their images. It felt like Liu Changqing was the real-life embodiment of Xiao Yan.

Then… who did the story’s Xiao Xun’er represent?

Li Wanran, perhaps?

When she read the scene where Xiao Yan tore up the engagement and shouted, “Three years from now, the east of the river will shift to the west,” it brought to mind Liu Changqing’s nonchalant words in the café about being divorced.

Unknowingly, An Yuanyao stayed up late into the night.

It wasn’t until the sun began to rise that her exhaustion overtook her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she struggled to stay awake.

Summoning the last bit of energy, she moved her mouse cursor to the reward button and clicked.

The next day, Liu Changqing started work as usual. After getting everything in order, he sat down to upload a new chapter.

When he opened the management dashboard, he saw the number of favorites displayed: over 50,000.

He froze, thinking he was seeing things. He blinked and refreshed the page.

The number had jumped past 60,000.

Staring at the screen, he finally reacted.

He pointed a finger at the monitor and muttered, “Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand…”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“The numbers are still climbing!”

Author's Note

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