My girlfriend is from the future!

The sound of the video paused briefly when the option appeared, making the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The photography PD looked at the close-up of He Tianran's face in the viewfinder, waited a few seconds, and seeing that he still hadn't made a decision, couldn't help but ask:
Is this a difficult choice for you?

Upon hearing this, He Tianran snapped out of his daze, a look of helplessness on his face, as if he had been manipulated by the production team. He nodded slightly and said:
"I've never encountered this in real life, so I really should think about this situation carefully..."

He said he needed to think about it, but his hand pressed the red button. Since thinking also takes time, silence was the answer. After all, in reality, there's no way to pop up an option screen that can make the world stop instantly.

Sure enough, He Tianran's choice caused his chemistry with Wen Liang to drop another level. The film restarted, and the groom's inaction made the bride slightly angry, but she couldn't show it because of the wedding. Her smile became much stiffer, and combined with the AI-generated Wen Liang face, it looked even more awkward.

"You chose to remain silent because you thought your partner would be tolerant of your past? But it seems things aren't going as planned."

The program team asked the pre-prepared question again, but this time He Tianran didn't hesitate much. Looking at the increasingly tense wedding scene on the projector, he calmly replied:
“I don’t think my partner would tolerate these things. On the contrary… she is actually a very possessive person. I can even imagine that if this scene really happened, her reaction would be more vivid than in the film, and she would throw a tantrum.”

"You knew your teamwork would definitely decrease, yet you still made this choice?"

He Tianran was taken aback, turned to look at the camera, and asked, "Is this a test of tacit understanding, or a test of flattery?"

The photography PD fell silent, but He Tianran started talking on and on, seemingly oblivious to everyone else:

"I know she'll be angry, and I know what she wants me to do, but I'm still an independent individual. Faced with this situation, my heart won't allow me to deny my past, but I... I really don't know how to face it..."

Actually, there are still some thoughts he can't express right now. In the mental world of this "lead singer" personality, he can only see Wen Liang. He doesn't even appear when facing other people. So when he sees that long-haired girl in the video, just a back view and a familiar tone are enough to make his heart churn with pain.

Where does this pain come from?

Is he the "writer" who still feels lost in the face of Cao Aiqing? Or is he the "young man" who reveres her like a god?
Without a doubt, none of the three personalities that He Tianran developed due to hypnosis could face this situation. Their only options were silence, escape, and trying their best to avoid such a situation from occurring.

At the same time, this is also a warning from the "writer" to the "lead singer," meaning that if the latter does not restrain his emotions and only cares about warmth and coolness, then this film is very likely to become a reality. At that time, how should Cao Aiqing, the real girlfriend of "He Tianran" body, deal with it?

Can He Tianran withstand such a scene?

Clearly, this is an unsolvable problem that none of the three sub-personalities can solve.

However, right next door, separated by only a wall, Wen Liang was asked the same question, but her answer was slightly different...

……

……

“I knew he wouldn’t choose something as heartless as ‘This is just a friend of mine.’ In my opinion, your show gave too few options and wasn’t bold enough. You should have added something like ‘This is my first love.’ If you had that option, he would definitely have chosen it.”

Wen Liang stared at the bride in the projection who had the same face as her, who was making sarcastic remarks about the two of them. Her face showed both anger and helplessness, and she kept saying:

"Oh, and another thing, you screenwriters still don't understand me. I'm angry about this, but if I use innuendo, I'll lose. In this situation, I'll just pull He Tian—pfft, I'll just pull the groom into my arms and kiss him, and then add a finishing touch: 'Thank you for teaching my husband to cherish and to make better choices.' Then all that white moonlight and first love will be out of the running!"

The PD listening to her was sweating bullets, thinking to himself, "No wonder she's the villainous female lead who can kill off both the male and female leads in a TV series. Director He isn't just casting actors; she's practically ripped the character out of the script..."

Tsk tsk, this is ruthless—she not only kills you, but also destroys your spirit. What a vicious woman...

The PD then asked:
"Your partner is quite emotionally intelligent; he'll proactively introduce his first love to the bride at the wedding. But you seem very certain he'll do that. Why?"

Just moments ago, she had been complaining about He Tianran's coldness, but now, unusually, she didn't delve into the matter further and even began to explain for him:
"This has nothing to do with emotional intelligence. Or is this so-called compatibility test just an attempt to show how two people are trying so hard to please each other, afraid that if they make a single mistake, the other will start to act rudely? Isn't that exhausting...?"

Wen Liang slowly leaned back on the sofa, one hand resting on the armrest, the other supporting her chin. Her long legs were crossed, the toes of the upper leg swinging slightly. As she watched the video, she seemed to be recalling something, and slowly said:
"You ask me how I can be so sure... I can only say that when it comes to these kinds of emotional disputes, my partner is sometimes... quite decisive... When it comes to being honest, you don't know why he dares to be so brave, but... that's always... a good thing."

The girl recalled that night on the beach, when he covered himself in a garbage bag and said he loved her. He was a man who was no different from garbage. The only person in the world who could make a girl like Wen Liang back down was probably He Tianran.

That He Tianran, really...

You're really good at handling these kinds of situations...

"..."

But what's that jerk been up to lately?

She said he had time-traveled, and then asked her to monitor him. She had been rejected by him before, but now she seems to care about her man again. Is she out of her mind?
After all, a normal person wouldn't say they liked themselves, but then we had to end things here and jump into the trash bag...

Wen Liang thought it made more and more sense, and then she heard the PD ask again:

"So, in your mind, your partner is a man who dares to take responsibility for his actions?"

"Haha~"

This villainous woman, seemingly straight out of a TV drama, gritted her teeth:

"One thing at a time, it's true that he's bold and responsible, but when it comes to being a scumbag, my partner is quite skilled, and he has one flaw..."

"What's wrong?"

Wen Liang did not answer. In the film, the first love who had captivated the groom had already wisely left. Although she had never shown her face in the film, she made the couple who were about to enter the wedding hall feel completely unfamiliar.

"You still can't forget her? If you had the chance to do it all over again, you would definitely choose her over me, right?"

As the bride had her outburst, the scene paused again. From Wen Liang's perspective, she didn't see any new options pop up. It seemed that she would have to wait for He Tianran to make his choice first, and then choose based on his reaction. However, she noticed that He Tianran's heart rate in the upper left corner suddenly rose to 160, which was the highest heart rate recorded by a man during the recording of the show today.

“At times like this, he will probably bring out a set of arguments like ‘fate has no ifs, and I can’t go back to the past,’ which are neither right nor wrong and are impossible to refute. If I continue to make a scene, it will only make me seem petty.”

Wen Liang waited coldly for the other party's decision, at which point the PD cautiously offered a reminder:
“There is no such ambiguous option in the script.”

As if to confirm this statement, the groom in the video also reacted:
"I will choose you."

This answer surprised Wen Liang, who was watching from outside the video, and her own options finally appeared:

"You're still bothered by his past, you cherish the time you've spent together, but you also know his character well, so you can immediately tell from his reply that what he meant—"

Hong: To be honest.

Blue: Lies.

Upon seeing this option, Wen Liang breathed a sigh of relief and continued, finishing her sentence:

"Our Director He has a quirk that even he might not know. Once, when we were filming with him, we were shooting a night scene until 3 a.m., and then we had to start shooting the next scene at 6 a.m. That day, he was waiting for the scene change with us actors in the van. He was half asleep. When it was time to leave, the on-set producer called to urge him. Guess what he did?"

"Slept soundly? Didn't catch it?"

Wen Liang shook his head:
"No, he was indeed very sleepy that day, but he woke up immediately after the phone rang only once. Then, in a particularly deep and clear voice, he arranged all the work, as if he had been awake for a long time and was full of energy."

Our staff members who were in the car at the time were very curious and asked him, "Director He, aren't you sleepy? Or have you not been able to fall asleep at all?"
He was yawning, with dark circles under his eyes, his eyes half-open and half-closed...

The girl propped her eyelids open with her fingers, mimicking He Tianran's tired expression from before, and said in his tone:

"I'm so sleepy, but I don't want my tiredness to bother others, that wouldn't be right..."

After saying that, Wen Liang lowered her hand and continued:
"At that time, I noticed two things. First, this man had an incredibly stubborn sense of responsibility, which was sometimes really inexplicable. He was too tense and didn't know how to relax at all..."

She paused for a moment at this point.

"What about number two?"

Suddenly, the girl smiled, and whether she was feeling sorry for her or mocking herself, she came to a different conclusion:
"Those who have known Director He for a long time know that he likes to speak the truth when he's drunk, but few people probably know that our Director He actually prefers to lie while pretending to be sober. The more sober he is, the more tired he is, and the more tired he is, the more untrue his words are!"

Wen Liang then pressed the blue button representing the lie and gave an instruction to the stunned photographer beside her:
"By the way, don't broadcast this part. There's a high chance that only I know about this. If you broadcast it and he becomes suspicious and starts to be on guard, then I really won't be able to tell whether what he's saying is true or false."

The cameraman stared blankly at the screen showing the two's chemistry had plummeted to rock bottom, thinking, "If this clip airs, no one will think they lack chemistry, right? What the hell did we just test..."

……

……

On the other side, in He Tianran's room.

The film has progressed to the couple's wedding ceremony. After exchanging vows, the groom's option is whether to put the wedding ring on her finger. He naturally chooses yes, but the scene remains paused, waiting for Wen Liang's choice.

Do you think she will accept it?

"I think... will..."

"You don't seem very sure?"

"Big brother, if we lower our team synergy any further, it'll be reset to zero! The group will automatically disband! She... can't just make a random choice at this time, can she?"

Clearly, He Tianran wasn't very confident about this either, since it was a variety show and it wasn't impossible for Wen Liang to use it to create some effect.

Just as he was struggling with his decision, the projector suddenly went dark, and the romantic wedding scene was replaced by a black screen. A line of white text, signifying the end of the film, appeared before the man's eyes—

"Desire alters the past, possession imprisons the present, and lies poison the future."

"The knot... is over?"

"Uh-huh!"

He Tianran glanced at the shattered progress bar of their tacit understanding and quickly walked out of the room. He originally wanted to go to Wen Liang's room to ask what was going on, but he didn't expect that the other party's door was already open and she had already walked a distance away.

He jogged after him and asked:
"No, what happened? What did you choose in the end?"

Wen Liang continued walking without stopping, not even glancing at He Tianran who had circled around from behind to the front of him, and simply said:

"You lie too much. You chose me and put a wedding ring on my finger, but when I asked you about your ex-girlfriend, you stammered and wouldn't admit it. Once the show airs, I guarantee the screen will be full of comments like, 'Can I really marry this jerk?'"

He Tianran panicked, "No, every choice I made was from the bottom of my heart!"

"Ha, I don't believe you for a second."

The girl deliberately made these choices, ruining the pairing, because she felt that if she catered too much to the show's CP (couple) theme, it would definitely affect the relationship between He Tianran and Cao Aiqing. It just so happened that every choice she made was from the heart, but she was convinced that every choice He Tianran made after his ex-girlfriend was just a fake choice to cater to the show.

"So... what's your last choice?"

The man persisted, which annoyed the girl, who blurted out:

"Two choices: red, put on your wedding ring and accept the present; blue, get as far away from me as possible. Guess what I chose!"

She lied too.

The blue option is actually to go back to the past, but Wen Liang doesn't want to say that because it feels like going back to the past to break up other people. Her pride doesn't allow her to openly express such thoughts. But if she could really go back to the past, she doesn't know what she would do.

"No, isn't there even the slightest bit of trust between us? My subsequent choices were not against my conscience in the slightest."

The two walked and talked until they returned to the living room. He Tianran was still chattering away. They were probably the first group to return, and the sounds of their argument echoed throughout the entire mansion.

"Fine! Then prove it to me! You've been lying through your teeth, saying you're not being dishonest at all! Do you dare!"

Wen Liang was also very aggrieved, so much so that the other party's tactless persistence made her stop in her tracks. She stared straight at He Tianran, her gaze unwavering, her suppressed emotions bordering on aggressive.

"Why...why are you angry...just cooperate a little?"

"Can't I even get angry?! You said you genuinely chose that, do you think I didn't?"

"you……"

He Tianran hesitated, speechless because of the stubborn look in Wen Liang's eyes.

Wen Liang really couldn't understand how far this man was going to go before he would stop acting...

Didn't you already reject me? Don't you have a girlfriend?
I'm trying to give you a way out, don't you understand? Now you're questioning why we don't have any chemistry, why we're not cooperating? Why aren't we cooperating with what? Not cooperating with you in this ambiguous drama?
He Tianran, in your heart, am I just an actress who can be manipulated at will?
In your eyes, are my feelings really so cheap, something you can summon and dismiss at will?
In an instant, a mix of warm and cool emotions burned the man reflected in her eyes into a misty vapor rising from them...

If it were a different time, a different place, if... if it were a different He Tianran...

The outcome will likely remain unchanged.

But only at this moment, only now, can this rose be ignited, allowing her to be undisguised, open and honest, to see He Tianran clearly in her eyes...

It exists because of her existence.

Every choice he made was genuine...

A red light, like a ball of fire, began to spread from above their heads, eventually engulfing them.

He Tianran faced Wen Liang's stubborn gaze, which was so unsettling it made one's heart tremble. He knew what to do. He walked away. The girl was somewhat disappointed, but her gaze followed his retreating figure to the portrait hanging in the living room, and then she couldn't look away again...

The sound of her heartbeat filled her ears, making it difficult for her to hear anything else for a brief moment. An indescribable feeling, as if every pore was about to burst with joy, coursed through her body. It was a feeling of anticipation and fear that something would happen, a mixture of expectation and fear of disappointment.

Fortunately, the man came back after removing the red card from behind the picture frame...

Then, he pulled the still-dazed girl into his arms.

The tall man lowered his head, affectionately touching forehead to forehead and nose to nose, a burning yet ambiguous fire burning in his heart...

He seemed to be saying something...

Wen Liang couldn't hear clearly, it sounded like...

I like the way you look into my eyes when you're being stubborn.

Sigh, none of that matters.

The girl just found him annoying; his rambling on and on without ever getting to the point was really frustrating...

And so, this wild rose, which had always been independent and unconventional, raised its head and, with its softest lips, fiercely exerted all its strength…

She pricked the mouth of the person she loved most.

"Only then can it be considered proof!"

The girl thought to herself. (End of Chapter)