Fainting

A head suddenly poking through the doorway plunged the room into an eerie silence.

Bai Yan was leisurely leaning by the coffee machine, watching Bai Xin paint. Clearly stunned by the other's nerve, he looked taken aback.

Fu Liangxia, however, merely cast a brief glance before looking away, feeling a wave of heat prickling where the boy's gaze landed on her cheek.

It felt like she was about to be stared through.

*Enough is enough.* She let out a soft sigh.

Even Fu Liangxia herself couldn't understand where Fu Haoyao's inexplicable affection came from. Was it just because she was good-looking? But Saintland had plenty of girls with finer features. Because she had good grades, or because she beat him at gaming? With his terrible grades, he should have fallen for half the student body by now.

So why?

Fu Liangxia never believed in easy affection. What they called love or marriage was nothing more than a trade of interests.

A racing heart wasn't something people still carrying burdens could afford.

That said, it made sense in his case.

After all, the second Fu heir had money and time to spare, with an elder brother above him shouldering the real responsibilities—no need to do anything he didn't want to. Maybe his only worry was having half his allowance docked by Fu Langshu for underperforming this month.

—She really had never seen a second-generation heir as miserable as Fu Haoyao. After scaring off one tutor after another, his brother had cut off his allowance for three straight months. That was why, when she'd first gone to the Fu residence, he'd only dared to secretly play games instead of kicking her out on the spot.

Word was that the only things on Fu Haoyao with any value now were his ID number and his meal card.

For a rich kid to end up like that—it was pretty pathetic.

Of course, there were even more pathetic ones now, like having to face Bai Yan's mockery and unbridled scrutiny.

Bai Xin was completely lost in his own world. When he focused, he could shut out all external noise entirely—as long as his model didn't make too outrageous an expression or movement, nothing could disturb him.

But being twins, Bai Yan was the complete opposite. He loved lively scenes and, more than that, loved watching others cause them.

So when he saw Fu Haoyao craning his neck, his gaze stealing over to the girl on the sofa, Bai Yan grinned.

"Oh, here to watch Xiaoxin paint—" Bai Yan drawled out the words, full of mischief, "—or to watch the model painting."

He said it slowly, deliberately.

Fu Liangxia paused at the words and saw Fu Haoyao freeze for a moment before pasting on a fierce, blustering expression. "Get lost. Who's as filthy-minded as you?"

With a righteous look, his platinum-blond hair slightly messy and swept back, Fu Haoyao's face—one built to bully the whole world—wore a completely contradictory air of solemn virtue.

Given his height and long legs, he nearly blocked the entire doorway.

The aunt's timid voice came from behind him again. "Master Fu, how about I send the dinner in first..."

He might look slim, but he was broad-shouldered. The aunt had no confidence she could squeeze past him and the doorframe.

"Oh, sorry." Fu Haoyao rubbed his nose.

Earlier at home, the moment he'd thought of Fu Liangxia spending hours alone at night with the Bai twins in that house, his mind kept drifting away. Eventually, even the friend across from him noticed his distraction.

"What's wrong with you today? You missed your E-skill, and you could've gotten a double kill."

The boy in front of the screen had his face lit by the display, light and shadow flickering across his features, casting overexposed colors onto his skin.

Fu Haoyao's eyes were fixed out the window as he said offhandedly, "Got a problem? We won anyway, didn't we?"

His friend choked on his words. True, they had won, but Fu Haoyao was clearly off today. Mistakes that basic were something he'd never make normally.

But did he dare say it? No, he didn't. Instead, driven by a thirst for gossip, he probed carefully, "No tutoring today? Fired another one?"

Fu Haoyao: "..."

Fu Haoyao: "No."

"Then your new tutor?"

"I don't care where she went." Fu Haoyao let out a soft snort through his nose, as if he really couldn't care less.

His friend: "..." He hadn't even asked that.

So yes—Fu Haoyao's awful performance today definitely had a reason. His tutor hadn't come, and his mind was already flying to her, yet here he was insisting he didn't care.

Men. Hilarious.

Still, duty-bound as a loyal sidekick, he had to offer practical advice. "Alright, fine—*I* care, happy? Dwelling on it like this won't help. You'll end up sleepless again. Why not just go find her? See what she's up to, and you can get back to your own stuff in peace."

His friend's logic was simple: if something could make the guy give up a day's high pay, it must be urgent. Maybe Brother Fu could even help out.

After all, the average person's troubles were only of two kinds—money and power. Brother Fu had plenty of both... wait, he suddenly remembered Brother Fu's cards had been cut off by his brother. Lately, even buying merchandise and game cartridges depended on handouts from them.

His friend fell silent for a beat, then, trying to phrase it in a way that wouldn't wound his pride, asked, "Brother Fu, I know you're not short on cash, but I've got some spare these days—want me to split it with you?"

Fu Haoyao understood what he meant, but at the same time, he didn't fully get it.

What did his going to see Fu Liangxia have to do with money? Did his friend think he couldn't even afford the gas to Bai residence?

That was ridiculous.

Fu Haoyao wanted to say he didn't want to go see her, but the words got stuck in his throat.

After a long pause, he said thoughtfully, "Would it be weird for me to show up?"

His friend: "..." Well. He was in deep. He was even considering other people's feelings now.

"No, it wouldn't." He swore confidently. Who could hate a rich, powerful, handsome guy?

"She might even be happy to see you."

Fu Haoyao raised an eyebrow, unable to picture Fu Liangxia being cheerful in any scenario. He shook his head. "Not likely. Bai Xin—"

Bai what?

His friend was startled. What did Bai Xin have to do with this? Could it be—

"Are Bai Xin and her..." But before he could finish, Fu Haoyao cut him off, voice absolute.

"No."

The tone was cold.

His friend muttered inwardly, *Fine, no it is. No need to snap at me.*

...

Snapping back to the present, Fu Haoyao caught the aroma of food and realized he hadn't had dinner either. Without an ounce of shame, he joined them at the table.

The Bai family had money and clout—surely they could spare him a meal.

They certainly could, but Bai Yan wasn't about to let him off easy. "The mighty Master Fu can't even afford a meal now? Got to come begging at our place?"

Since Fu Liangxia, the model, also needed to eat, Bai Xin put down his brush, and the four of them gathered around the low tea table. A soft woolen carpet covered the floor, making it comfortable to sit directly on it without hesitation.

Still, Bai Xin thoughtfully passed her a cushion.

Fu Liangxia was wearing a skirt—not too short, but not entirely convenient either. The cushion made things much more comfortable.

She hadn't expected him to be so considerate. Softly, she thanked him.

"Try some of this."

The boy at her left reached out with his long arm and used the communal chopsticks to scoop the untouched half of a king crab from Bai Yan's plate onto hers. His gaze swept over her, thick lashes flickering as he said, "Air-freighted from R국 this afternoon. Eat it while it's fresh—it's way more tender than the stuff at restaurants."

Bai Yan: "?"

*And just when did you get so familiar, acting like you're the third Bai?* he wondered.

Staring at his now-empty plate, Bai Yan couldn't exactly snatch it back. So he just flashed Fu Liangxia a smile. "Mm, that's right. Eat up, Xiaoxia. If you like it, I'll have the auntie make it for you on the weekend."

Bai Yan had one of those exquisitely delicate faces. As he smiled lightly, the corners of his eyes tilted upward, a faint blush dusting the skin beneath—breathtakingly beautiful.

Even Fu Liangxia was stunned for a moment.

What a face blessed by heaven.

But Fu Haoyao misread her distraction. Glancing at Bai Yan's unabashedly smug smile, a cold sneer rose in his chest. *Who are you showing off for?*

His eyes darkened. "Weekend?"

"Mm, don't tell me you're planning to come mooch again, Fu Er?" Bai Yan raised his hands in a helpless gesture under Fu Haoyao's icy glare. "But we haven't set a date yet."

Like he believed that.

Fu Haoyao knew Bai Yan's rotten personality all too well. With a snort, he used the act of reaching for food to squeeze himself into the line of sight between the two, cutting off Bai Yan's little performance.

Fu Liangxia withdrew her gaze accordingly.

She didn't mention that she was frail, that she ran cold and couldn't eat crab. Instead, she slowly picked up a piece with her chopsticks.

To be honest, Fu Liangxia never considered herself truly equal to the other three—not as friends who could bare their hearts.

This world was twisted. People were ruthlessly ranked by family background, and those at the top could control everything about those below. The lofty ones above might smile at her now for some reason, but if she ever provoked them?

She knew she had no capital to fight them with.

Just like the Cheng Xingzhou from the original owner's memories—he'd seemed polite enough, but the moment he turned cold, it was instant. Who knew if these people would be the same?

As for relying on that so-called Affinity Points?

Sorry, she didn't believe in that.

But aware of her own limits, Fu Liangxia only pretended to eat, swallowing very little.

Bai Xin noticed her discomfort and turned his head. "Don't like it?"

Under the warm light above, the boy's beauty was amplified tenfold. His pink hair fell softly, somehow lending him a gentle air.

But saying anything would be wrong. Not only were all three present her employers in some sense, but purely from an etiquette standpoint, calling the food bad while being a guest was terribly rude.

"No, it's delicious. Really tender." She smiled.

"Is it?" Fu Haoyao, who had been exchanging glares with Bai Yan, turned around, eyes bright. "If you like it, mine's untouched. I can give—"

But Bai Xin's voice cut him off. "Your complexion looks awful though."

She probably didn't realize how bad she looked. Her normally fair skin had turned nearly paper-white, her lips bloodless and trembling faintly.

She seemed so fragile it looked like she might vanish from this world at any second.

*No way,* Fu Liangxia thought. She'd been so careful. Was the World's Will not even letting this slide?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the System's voice rang in her ear: 【Due to consuming excessively cold food, a random ailment is about to trigger!】

"Clatter—!"

The chopsticks slipped from her hand.

The last thing she saw was a pair of panicked eyes—anxious, guilty, scared, worried... so many emotions tangled together that she almost thought he was about to cry.