Ning Guiqu wanted to slap himself and dig a hole to escape, but those were cowardly behaviors! He refused to be a coward and decided to explain himself to Lu Yuan once more!

Lu Yuan ignored Ning Guiqu completely, crouching down to open a small bag of cat food and pour it on the ground. The meowing orange cat purred as it ate, rubbing against Lu Yuan’s pant leg.

Ning Guiqu shamelessly squatted beside Lu Yuan, watching the cat with him.

Lu Yuan had no intention of speaking.

Ning Guiqu spoke up first. “This kitten seems to be the one you fed last time.”

Lu Yuan grunted in response.

The atmosphere was dry and awkward.

Ning Guiqu fell silent for a moment. In this atmosphere, talking about transmigrating into a novel seemed too strange. Lu Yuan already didn’t believe him, and it would only make him appear more deliberate.

“I won third place at the sports meet. I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight,” Ning Guiqu said stiffly.

“Congratulations,” Lu Yuan uttered softly, but his expression showed no hint of congratulations, nor did he say whether he’d go or not.

Ning Guiqu felt utterly defeated and wanted to give up.

He hesitated a while longer as the kitten nearly finished its food. Scratching his face, Ning Guiqu thought for a moment before saying, “I don’t like Song Huai.”

This time, Lu Yuan spoke a full sentence, “Why tell me who you like? Don’t you hate him? And hate me by association.”

His voice remained flat, but Ning Guiqu sensed a hint of sarcasm.

Ning Guiqu explained earnestly, “I don’t hate you! I thought you misunderstood that I still liked Song Huai. You’re his friend, and you probably thought I was pestering him too much. You wanted me to get on the right track, but I chose to avoid you instead. Did you think I was madly in love with him?”

Lu Yuan’s eyelids lifted slightly as he finally looked at Ning Guiqu. “Aren’t you? Ning Guiqu, you know very well in your heart.”

Ning Guiqu: “…….”

What did he know?! He suddenly realized that while Lu Yuan thought he was madly in love with the protagonist gong, he had abruptly chosen to avoid Lu Yuan. It really seemed like he was sulking and ignoring Lu Yuan out of embarrassment!

As it turned out, Lu Yuan really misunderstood him!

“I really don’t like him!” Ning Guiqu retorted urgently, as if a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on. His voice was so loud that it startled the kitten, which meowed protestingly at him.

Ning Guiqu quickly covered his mouth.

A flicker of emotion passed through Lu Yuan’s cold eyes.

Realizing his voice had been too loud, Ning Guiqu lowered his hand and said softly, mindful of his volume, “How could I possibly be madly in love with him? I really did transmigrate into a novel.”

The flicker in Lu Yuan’s eyes instantly vanished.

He lowered his head and stroked the kitten’s head, saying to it, “I’m leaving now. I’ll come back to feed you next time.”

Ning Guiqu: “…”

Ning Guiqu quickly grabbed Lu Yuan’s arm as he was about to stand up. His eyes widened, seemingly pleading, “Lu Yuan, can you please listen to me finish?”

Lu Yuan didn’t move and glanced at Ning Guiqu’s hand on his arm.

Ning Guiqu looked pitiful. “Can you please not leave?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan thought that Ning Guiqu looked very much like his rabbit at that moment. He remained cold, merely grunting in response.

The kitten, unaware of the situation, ate a few more bites and then rubbed against Lu Yuan’s pant leg.

Seeing that Lu Yuan wasn’t planning to leave, Ning Guiqu released him. He knew he couldn’t directly talk about transmigrating into a book, since Lu Yuan wouldn’t believe it. He also couldn’t outright say he didn’t remember the original owner’s past or that he had no memories. Lu Yuan might think he was playing dumb if he did.

So, with a grave expression, Ning Guiqu asked, “We were in the same class in high school, right?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan raised his eyelids. “What do you want to say?”

Ning Guiqu looked directly into Lu Yuan’s eyes, seriously inquiring, “Have you noticed that I’m very different now compared to how I was in high school?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

“I don’t know you well enough.”

Ning Guiqu: ?

Don’t know well enough??

That made sense. He had pursued Song Huai, not Lu Yuan. Someone with Lu Yuan’s personality probably couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him. Moreover, Lu Yuan might think there wasn’t much difference. After all, in Lu Yuan’s eyes, he was still chasing after Song Huai.

Ning Guiqu felt world-weary.

He continued, “But I’ve actually changed a lot. In your eyes, am I someone with a gentle personality and an exceptionally good temper?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

If it weren’t for the venting in the alt account, he might have thought so.

Lu Yuan grunted in agreement.

Ning Guiqu sighed in relief; it was finally the answer he wanted.

Ning Guiqu hugged his legs, curling up like a roly-poly toy. He turned his head towards Lu Yuan, looking particularly sneaky.

But Ning Guiqu didn’t think so. His eyes were sincere as he said, “That’s not true. That was the old me. Now, my personality is terrible. I curse as soon as I open my mouth and know countless swear words. But to maintain the gentle image of my former self, I’m just pretending now.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered slightly, listening impassively.

Ning Guiqu continued, “Because the current me and the former me are two completely different people! I’ve transmigrated into this book!”

Lu Yuan’s eyes darkened. Huh.

Unaware of these subtle reactions, Ning Guiqu spoke even more earnestly, “It’s true! I’m just a loser now, cynical every day. But for the sake of the original owner’s image, I can only pretend to be nice. I feel so stifled, like I’m about to explode! But just when I was about to explode, I got together with you.”

Lu Yuan’s heart raced uncontrollably, his eyelids twitching.

What did he mean by ‘got together’?

Lu Yuan corrected him in a low voice, “Ning Guiqu, mind your words! Before you started avoiding me, we were friends at most.”

Ning Guiqu nodded seriously and continued sincerely, “I know. But you’re the first friend I made in this world. I cherish you and want to give back equally. I wouldn’t avoid you just because of Song Huai. Lu Yuan, haven’t you ever thought there might be some conspiracy behind all this?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan didn’t want to answer such a childish question. He shouldn’t have stayed to listen to Ning Guiqu’s absurd talk about transmigration.

Ning Guiqu rambled on, “The conspiracy is that the original me liked Song Huai, but I don’t. I don’t like him at all! Since I’ve transmigrated, I know the future plot. The original me, the original owner, will stab Song Huai in four years due to unrequited love and go to prison. So I don’t want anything to do with Song Huai! That’s why I’ve been avoiding you, too, because you’re Song Huai’s friend. If we became close, I’d eventually have to interact with Song Huai!”

Lu Yuan didn’t believe a word of it. He even felt the urge to grind his back teeth. Stabbing someone due to unrequited love?

“Do you love Song Huai that much?” Lu Yuan asked incredulously.

What about that guy Song Huai was worth such love from Ning Guiqu?

Ning Guiqu corrected him, “It’s the original owner, not me! I don’t love him at all. Lu Yuan, if you just believe I’ve transmigrated, everything will be solved! I really have no feelings for him at all. And, let me say something that might make a straight guy like you uncomfortable – I’d rather love you than him.”

Lu Yuan wasn’t uncomfortable at all. His eyes took on a subtle look, and Ning Guiqu clearly noticed that Lu Yuan seemed to have softened.

Was he starting to believe?

Ning Guiqu grew nervous.

Lu Yuan began to question Ning Guiqu’s logic again, “If you’re not the original owner and don’t like Song Huai, why would you stab him in four years? Unrequited love?”

Seeing that Lu Yuan had finally asked about the main issue, Ning Guiqu hurriedly explained, “No, no, I’m worried that in the future, I might inherit the original owner’s memories, along with his feelings. Also, I’m actually the only villain in this book. Without me, the main couple’s love story would have no obstacles. So I feel like I might uncontrollably fall in love with him in four years. But right now, I absolutely don’t!”

This was Ning Guiqu’s biggest worry, something he hadn’t even told his “alt account,” only Lu Yuan.

Ning Guiqu grew more excited as he spoke, even grasping Lu Yuan’s arm, his voice earnest, “If you don’t believe me, you can call him over, and I’ll even spit on him. I have no manners at all! Because I’m not the originally gentle Ning Guiqu, I’m loser Ning Guiqu!”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan felt a headache coming on.

Ning Guiqu kept repeating the same point – that he had transmigrated into a novel.

To be honest, Lu Yuan didn’t believe him.

But now, Lu Yuan wasn’t angry like before when Ning Guiqu talked about transmigrating. He didn’t even care about Ning Guiqu’s made-up story of stabbing for love.

Because it seemed Ning Guiqu was wracking his brains to explain his transmigration, while also telling Lu Yuan that he didn’t like Song Huai. He even went so far as to call himself a loser.

The reason Ning Guiqu fabricated all this wasn’t just to explain that he didn’t like Song Huai. After all, if he didn’t like Song Huai, he could have just said so directly. Ning Guiqu made up so much to justify his behavior of avoiding Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan didn’t believe Ning Guiqu could dislike Song Huai so much that it extended to him as well. It was too childish, though Ning Guiqu was indeed quite childish.

So he still leaned towards the idea that Ning Guiqu had some feelings for Song Huai, and that he had threatened Ning Guiqu not to interfere, causing Ning Guiqu to avoid him out of frustration.

But then again, Ning Guiqu liked him too.

Lu Yuan didn’t really doubt that Ning Guiqu liked him. After all, Ning Guiqu was a fickle gay man who could have feelings for many people at once. Adding one more wouldn’t be impossible. Naturally, with so many people in his heart, losing one wouldn’t matter either. So, if Lu Yuan never said anything, Ning Guiqu could keep avoiding him.

And now, he was trying so hard to explain. He desperately wanted Lu Yuan to believe he didn’t like Song Huai. This could only mean one thing: Ning Guiqu had given up on Song Huai and chosen him instead.

After all, Lu Yuan was single, even if he was straight.

Being fickle was so convenient – if one option was gone, another could be chosen.

After the kitten finished its food, it nuzzled Lu Yuan and ran off. Lu Yuan stood up. Ning Guiqu hurriedly stood up, too, grabbing Lu Yuan’s arm excitedly. “Do you… believe me now?”

Lu Yuan lowered his eyes without speaking.

He was thinking.

Ning Guiqu pressed on, “Actually, I have strong evidence to prove that I’m uncultured and a loser, which would definitely differentiate me from the original owner. But I can’t show you.” Ning Guiqu looked up with teary eyes. “If you saw it, my embarrassment would be the least of our problems. The bigger issue is that it might scare you away! Because you’d see Chinese writing so uncultured that you’ve never encountered before.”

Lu Yuan stopped thinking and even felt a bit suspicious.

If he hadn’t guessed wrong, Ning Guiqu was probably referring to the rants on his phone?

Those comments were indeed quite rude, but compared to truly uncultured people, Ning Guiqu was still quite refined. And now, with Ning Guiqu’s red-rimmed eyes making him look like a rabbit…

Lu Yuan’s heart softened again and again.

That rabbit had lost its ears. Ning Guiqu still had his ears, but his eyes were red. Was it just because Lu Yuan didn’t believe him? And he was afraid of scaring Lu Yuan away?

Believing such an absurd story would make one a fool, wouldn’t it?

Lu Yuan finally spoke, “Whether you’re cultured or not doesn’t prove that you’ve transmigrated into a novel. Who knows if the previous Ning Guiqu wasn’t uncultured in private? I really don’t believe you’ve transmigrated. Could you believe it if I said I was a penguin?”

Still stone-hearted.

Ning Guiqu’s joyful mood vanished. He dejectedly lowered his hand, which had been gripping Lu Yuan’s arm, and said in disappointment, “It’s not about whether I believe it or not. You’ve already denied being a penguin.”

Naturally, Lu Yuan couldn’t believe he had transmigrated either.

It was a dead end.

Ning Guiqu felt he truly had no way to make Lu Yuan believe him now. He had said everything he should and shouldn’t have said.

“But I don’t care about any of that. Ning Guiqu, I’ll ask you one last time, do you still like Song Huai now?”

Ning Guiqu looked up in surprise, his eyes slowly regaining focus. He answered extremely quickly, “No, I don’t.”

Lu Yuan made a sound of acknowledgment, his deep voice tinged with a hint of pleasure. “Let’s go take a photo then. I’ll end my friendship with Song Huai. You’d better be telling the truth about avoiding me because Song Huai and I were friends.”

Lu Yuan only wanted to accept this one reason. After speaking, he turned and walked towards the sports field.

Ning Guiqu stared wide-eyed, following beside Lu Yuan, rubbing his ears in disbelief.

What did he just hear?

End the friendship with Song Huai? Was that the protagonist gong?!

Wait, he only wanted Lu Yuan to know that he had no intentions towards Song Huai. He didn’t think about any of this at all!

As they approached the field, the noise grew louder. Ning Guiqu poked Lu Yuan’s arm, and Lu Yuan turned slightly.

Ning Guiqu hesitated, “You’re ending your friendship with your friend for me?”

Lu Yuan replied calmly, “I’m doing it to find out if you were avoiding me because I was his friend.”

Although he was confused, Ning Guiqu’s thoughts remained clear, “But didn’t you say you didn’t believe I transmigrated? My avoiding you was attributed to my transmigration. If you don’t believe I transmigrated, shouldn’t all of this be untrue to you? Besides, if it’s just this, you and Song Huai could still be friends in the future. Can you really avoid him for life?”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan remained silent.

Ning Guiqu waited for Lu Yuan’s explanation.

After a long while, Lu Yuan still didn’t explain. They reached the sports field where the sports meet was still ongoing.

Lu Yuan: “The class monitor is looking for you.”

Lu Yuan abruptly changed the subject, clearly not intending to address Ning Guiqu’s questions.

Ning Guiqu didn’t leave. Amidst the bustling crowd, he said earnestly to Lu Yuan, “Although I don’t know what you’re thinking, I’m actually quite terrible and uncultured inside. If that’s exposed, you’ll probably hate me. So if you must choose between me and him, you should stick with him.”

Lu Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly.

At this moment, Lu Yuan wasn’t concerned about who Ning Guiqu wanted him to associate with, but rather—

“How do you know no one would like your true personality? There are plenty of uncultured people. As long as you’re not hurting others, who would bother hating you?”

Ning Guiqu thought for a moment and sighed, “I probably did cause harm.”

He had insulted people using alt accounts!

Lu Yuan pressed on, “How? By insulting people with alt accounts?”

Ning Guiqu’s body jolted, and he quickly denied, “I didn’t!” Then he scratched his face.

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lu Yuan felt that Ning Guiqu seemed to lack self-confidence and needed some psychological guidance or encouragement. But what did that have to do with him?

Without reason, Lu Yuan reached out and ruffled Ning Guiqu’s hair.

Ning Guiqu looked up in confusion.

Lu Yuan casually withdrew his hand.

“Anyway, no matter what your personality is, many people will like you.”

“Who I choose to cut ties with is my business. You don’t need to think about these things. Just focus on whether you’ll continue avoiding me.”

Ning Guiqu sighed again.

“Try sighing one more time.”

Ning Guiqu was frightened and held his breath. Lu Yuan was threatening him with that deep, creepy, and cold voice!

Ning Guiqu timidly said, “…Will you come for dinner tonight?”

Lu Yuan made a sound of agreement.

Ning Guiqu continued, trying to be understanding, “So, are you cutting ties with your friend forever? Lu Yuan, don’t end your friendship with him because of me. It’s not worth… it.”

Ning Guiqu’s voice trailed off.

Lu Yuan was threatening him with those cold eyes again, silencing him!

Too scary.

Lu Yuan.

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