Green Tea? She's Clearly a Hidden Gem!

Su Muzhi stared at Jiang Linyuan for a long time. Without continuing the conversation, she turned around and entered the house without a word.

“Su Muzhi…”

Jiang Linyuan called out.

“What is it?”

Su Muzhi didn’t turn around but paused the motion of closing the door.

“Well, if I absolutely had to find someone to be my fake girlfriend, I don’t think I’d need to go through all that trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do I really have to spell it out?”

“Of course.”

“Didn’t you just pretend to be my girlfriend a moment ago?”

“Say it.”

Su Muzhi turned her face and looked at Jiang Linyuan.

“Xiao Su…”

“Call me by my name.”

She cut him off firmly.

“Su Muzhi, will you be my fake girlfriend?”

“You added one extra word.”

“Xiao Su, don’t push it!”

“Hehe…”

Su Muzhi broke into a smile.

“You said it. No backing out.”

“If we’re going to act, let’s commit to the role. Just so we’re clear, we’re only fooling Zhao Qiulu. Afterward, we’re still good friends, okay?”

Jiang Linyuan reminded her.

“Sure.”

Su Muzhi nodded, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

Finally, a crack to slip through.

“Then, see you tomorrow, boyfriend.”

She raised her little hand and waved, winking playfully, like a sparkling ice crystal in the snowy night.

Watching Su Muzhi close the door, Jiang Linyuan turned and went back to his own room.

*When falsehood becomes truth, truth becomes falsehood. Where nothing exists, something emerges.*

But he wasn’t Jia Baoyu, and Su Muzhi wasn’t Lin Daiyu.

The relationship was fake, the feelings were half-real and half-fake, but the pain was genuine.

Jiang Linyuan lay on his bed, staring at the frozen snowflakes on the window. They were beautiful.

But they would always melt away.

…

According to his original plan, Jiang Linyuan hadn’t intended to stay in Yanjing this long.

But change came faster than plans—just like someone who originally planned to give his favorite girl a rose.

But halfway there, the rose broke at its stem, so all he could do was offer the flower head.

To earn points with Miss Zhao’s kind of card, Jiang Linyuan chose to stay in Yanjing a few more days.

Ah, I really put all my heart into every girl I charm.

Isn’t this a form of affection in its own way?

The next day, Miss Zhao slipped away early, nowhere to be seen.

Jiang Linyuan didn’t bother. She was the one who should be anxious now. He washed up, went to the entrance, and bought breakfast.

“You look like you’re not in great spirits?”

Shen Wanyu, seated at the dining table drinking millet porridge, glanced up at Jiang Linyuan.

“Stayed up all night gaming yesterday.”

Jiang Linyuan bit into a stuffed bun and answered casually.

Shen Guoguo, eavesdropping on the side, initially wanted to show some concern and tell him to take care of his health.

But then she remembered Jiang Linyuan was a jerk, so she gnawed on her steamed bun in silence.

“Where’s Su Muzhi? Still sleeping?”

Shen Wanyu glanced toward the direction of Su Muzhi’s room.

“I woke Xiao Su up last night, so she’s catching up on sleep now.”

As Jiang Linyuan spoke, he looked back at Shen Wanyu.

“Department Head, you’ve got dark circles.”

“You’re seeing things.”

The Department Head was being stubborn again.

*You’re probably really tired too, aren’t you? Unlike me, you don’t have ‘Refreshed and Renewed.’ Staying up late watching stars and secretly stalking me. If I counted, you probably only got three or four hours of sleep.*

“Department Head, if you’re sleepy, make sure to rest well today.”

Jiang Linyuan kept up his caring act.

“What about you?”

Shen Wanyu countered.

“I’m waiting for Miss Zhao to come save me.”

Jiang Linyuan put on a pitiful expression.

“From today on, I’m Xiao Su’s little plaything.”

“Little plaything?”

Shen Guoguo, drinking soy milk, choked a little. How were the relationships getting messier by the second!

“Yeah, yeah, Guoguo. From now on, I might be a caged canary, never able to see you again.”

Jiang Linyuan deliberately wore a sorrowful look.

“You, you need to fight back!”

Shen Guoguo felt he wasn’t lying and panicked, shouting.

“Can’t fight back. Xiao Su’s family has the whole world in their hands. I’m just hoping a Celestial Maiden will descend from the heavens to rescue me.”

As Jiang Linyuan said this, he glanced at Shen Wanyu.

She was calmly drinking her porridge.

*Shen Wanyu, I hate how you’re like a block of wood!*

“If you’re worried about that, I… Sister Wanyu and I will both help you!”

Shen Guoguo was very flustered, because this situation really did seem like something that Bad Woman would pull off.

“Wuwuwu, it’s not worth it for me. I understand. In the Department Head’s heart, I’m just a nobody, someone dispensable. How could she possibly be willing to save me…”

“If you’re doing it willingly, and if that day ever comes, maybe I’ll send you my blessings.”

Shen Wanyu finished her porridge, wiped her mouth, and her calm eyes met Jiang Linyuan’s.

“As long as you two have fun playing house, that’s all that matters.”

*Mind reading is way too unfair!*

“I want to play house with the Department Head too.”

Jiang Linyuan said, thinking, *Please don’t tell me to call you ‘Mom.’*

“I’m tired. I’m going back to catch up on sleep.”

Shen Wanyu stood up, let out a helpless sigh, and walked toward her room.

Halfway there, she stopped and turned her head to look at Jiang Linyuan.

“You should start thinking about how to make it up to Su Muzhi now.”

With that, she entered her room.

“What did Sister Wanyu mean by that?”

Shen Guoguo felt their conversation was all smoke and mirrors.

“I don’t get it either.”

Jiang Linyuan said, sighing inwardly.

*The Department Head is too clever.*

*Pretending to be a couple—Xiao Su knows it, I know it too.*

*But she wants to use this chance to make it real. The more she invests, the more it hurts, because I’ll constantly remind her that it’s fake.*

*Because it’s fake, the more she does this, the more painful it becomes.*

*And when the pain reaches a breaking point, even the most foolish person would realize what kind of feelings they really have.*

*When that time comes…*

“Boyfriend? Eating without me?”

A crisp, pleasant voice rang in his ear. He turned his head.

Su Muzhi stepped out of her room with a smile, radiant and dazzling.

“Xiao Su, we agreed it was just for show in front of Zhao Qiulu.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“Hehe, don’t you even understand the concept of rehearsal?”

Su Muzhi came to Jiang Linyuan’s side, pulled up a chair, sat next to him, gently elbowed him, and laughed.

“You’re so worried because you’re afraid you might accidentally turn fake into real, right?”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Linyuan nodded.

“You’re lying again.”

Su Muzhi shot him a glance.

“Xiao Su, I never like to lie, you know?”

“Hehe…”

After they finished breakfast, Jiang Linyuan’s phone rang.

“Who’s calling you?”

Su Muzhi asked.

“Zhao Qiulu.”

Jiang Linyuan replied, pressing the answer button and turning on speakerphone. *Time to act!*

He lowered his voice, adding a hint of anger.

“Why are you calling? Xiao Su made it clear to me yesterday that we need to keep our distance from you.”

“But you still answered, didn’t you?”

Zhao Qiulu’s slow, unhurried voice came through the phone.

Jiang Linyuan paused for a moment.

“What do you want to say?”

“Do you want to get back at Su Muzhi?”

“Are you kidding? Xiao Su and I are deeply in love. You’re telling me to get revenge on her?”

“Deeply in love? Is that what you call being trained like a toy? Last night, you didn’t even dare to breathe loudly in front of her. Even if you’re just a pretty boy, that has to be hard to swallow.”

“Don’t try to drive a wedge between me and Xiao Su!”

“I’m helping you, and I’m helping myself. Jiang Linyuan, you’re a smart person. You should remember the milk tea shop where we met last time. Today at four in the afternoon, I’ll be waiting for you.”

With that, Zhao Qiulu hung up without waiting for Jiang Linyuan’s reply, a faint smile on her face.

“Aren’t you afraid he won’t come?”

Li Wang, sitting across from her, asked in surprise.

“If he really wanted to reject me, he would have hung up the moment he picked up the call.”

Zhao Qiulu said lightly.

“Everything after that was just meaningless nonsense. I know he holds a grudge against Su Muzhi. That’s enough.”

Li Wang didn’t want to get involved in her feud with Su Muzhi. He just nodded.

“I still need your help with something on my end.”

“Li Wang, we’ve already broken up. Whatever comes next is your own business.”

Zhao Qiulu stood up, dropped the remark coldly without any courtesy, turned around, and left.

Li Wang watched her retreating figure.

*A truly heartless woman.*