My girlfriend is from the future!

Are you reminding me of something?

Cao Aiqing turned her head to the side, her face icy and chilling.

Yu Naoqiu tilted her head, avoiding a direct confrontation. She shifted to a more comfortable position on the sofa, glancing around before finally fixing her gaze on the ashtray on the coffee table. She reached out and playfully fiddled with the lily petals inside, giving an irrelevant answer.

“These flowers are really unique,” ​​she chuckled. “Brother Tianran, are all your ashtrays this artistic?”

No one answered her.

He Tianran turned to look at the suitcase by the door, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"you……"

"I came back to get some things."

Cao Aiqing's voice drifted from afar, then paused, just like that suitcase. It stood at the door, but it seemed to have never truly entered the house. You could see it, but there was a distance between you and it.

"...Did you get it?"

"not here."

The lyrics of the song "Shape Of My Heart" also contain a metaphor about playing cards and true feelings. Cao Aiqing suddenly turned around, walked to the stereo, and pressed the stop button. The music stopped abruptly, and for a moment, the only sound in the room was quiet breathing.

"Explain it," she said, her voice eerily calm.

He Tianran opened his mouth, then closed it again.

His gaze swept over the spotless living room, the neatly ironed shirts, and the plants on the balcony that had just been watered.

Finally, he looked at Cao Aiqing, who stood there like a lily that had been touched by frost.

“Nao Nao has been providing me with some psychological counseling services recently,” the man finally managed to say.

"What kind of consultation requires lipstick on your collar? And to bring it home with you tonight?" Cao Aiqing's voice remained calm, but her fingers were already clenched into fists.

Yu Naoqiu suddenly burst out laughing, "Ha~ Sister Ai Qing, what you're saying..."

She stood up, walked to He Tianran's side, and naturally took his arm:
"Today, Brother Tianran invited me to make a guest appearance on his show. After the recording, he felt I had worked hard all day and said he wanted to show off his skills, so he brought me back for dinner. As for this lipstick mark, well... it's probably not mine. After all, Brother Tianran has a pretty good relationship with the female artists in his company, didn't you know?"

Cao Aiqing's gaze fell on their intertwined arms. She recalled how much effort she had to rub off the dried grease stains when wiping the stove earlier...

And now, something is clinging to her life in a more stubborn way.

"Ms. Yu, has your long career in psychological counseling led to some psychological problems of your own? Do you prefer to target men who have girlfriends?"

Cao Aiqing asked softly, her eyes fixed on He Tianran.

Yu Naoqiu knew she was referring to Zhang Zhifan, her smile froze for a moment, she released He Tianran's arm and took a step forward:
"So, Sister Aiqing, to prevent me from repeating the same mistake, I must nip it in the bud this time. So I must remind you of something I misspoke: does Brother Tianran have a girlfriend now?"

"Ask him," Cao Aiqing said, turning Yu Naoqiu's question to He Tianran, whose gaze had been fixed on her the whole time.

He Tianran finally spoke: "Nao Nao, you go back first."

"But."

"Either you go back, or you go upstairs and wait for me to finish talking with Ai Qing before you show up."

The man's tone carried the same domineering air as He Panshan's.

Yu Naoqiu pursed her lips, picked up her handbag, and as she passed Cao Aiqing, she suddenly lowered her voice:
"The flowers in the ashtray are beautiful, but it's a pity they're in the wrong place."

The woman ultimately did not choose to leave. A good show was unfolding, so why would she leave so easily? Yu Naoqiu finally chose to go upstairs and gently closed the door.

Now only the two of them remain in the living room, amidst a scene of chaos and silence.

He Tianran loosened his tie, walked to the sofa and sat down. He looked very tired, with a weariness in his eyes that Cao Aiqing had never seen before.

"Is the Nanzhi Island project finished?" he asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Cao Aiqing did not answer. She walked to the coffee table, picked up the ashtray containing the lilies, went to the stove, turned on the tap, and the water washed away the white petals.

"Does she often come when I'm not around?" she asked with her back to him.

He Tianran was silent for a while, then said, "No, only today. As for the future... who knows."

"Stop smoking."

"...Today is an exception."

Cao Aiqing turned off the tap, ignoring the warning, as if the last piece of advice she could give was the one about not smoking. Water droplets slid down the stainless steel sink like silent tears.

She turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Wen Liang called me."

He Tianran suddenly looked up: "What does she want with you?"

“She said some people think she used you to climb the social ladder, and she hopes I can help explain.” Cao Aiqing observed his reaction. “Tell me, what do I need to explain?”

He Tianran's expression became complicated. He stood up, walked to Cao Aiqing, and wanted to hold her hand, but she avoided him.

"Ai Qing, some things are not as you think."

"What did it look like?" Her voice finally showed a hint of emotion. "Was it a lipstick stain on your collar, or a 'psychological counselor' you brought home in the middle of the night?"

He Tianran sighed: "The situation has been very complicated lately, I..."

"Stop making excuses..." Cao Aiqing interrupted him, "He Tianran, look at me."

He looked up and met her gaze. Those eyes, which were once full of tenderness, now held only weariness and evasion.

"Do you love me?" she asked softly.

He Tianran did not answer immediately; this silence was like a knife, piercing Cao Aiqing's heart.

“I need time,” he finally said. “There are some things I need to take care of.”

Cao Aiqing nodded, walked past the man, went to the living room, retrieved her phone, pulled the handle of her suitcase, and the wheels made a soft sound on the floor.

"Are you leaving?" He Tianran's voice was tinged with panic.

“I’ll give you time…” she said without turning around, “but we don’t have time.”

As she grasped the doorknob, He Tianran suddenly spoke: "That day when you returned to the country, we were at the airport. When I said I missed you, I meant it."

Cao Aiqing paused for a moment before slowly saying:

"Do you really think of me, He Tianran? Or is it that in this world, in your heart, you just want someone to anchor your sense of belonging?"

"..."

The moment the security door closed, the tense atmosphere in the living room suddenly relaxed, like a punctured balloon.

He Tianran stood alone in the overly tidy living room. The scent of lilies in the ashtray had not completely dissipated, but the man's shoulder line slumped slightly.

He raised his hand, his fingertips smearing heavily across the striking magenta at his collar, leaving a slippery lipstick stain on his fingertips.

A slight noise came from the second floor. Yu Naoqiu walked down the stairs, wearing a man's black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the hem just covering her thighs. She leaned against the stair railing, her gaze sweeping over the spotless living room.

"How virtuous you are..." Her voice was exceptionally clear in the silence, "You even wiped the cracks in the floor so clean."

He Tianran tilted his head slightly: "You heard everything?"

"What you say is heard, but what you really think is another matter."

As Yu Naoqiu spoke, she walked downstairs. She was barefoot, stepping on the floor that had just been wiped clean. The hem of her oversized shirt barely covered her thighs, and the collar was casually open.

This alluring posture made He Tianran frown.
When did you take my shirt?

"Just now……"

Yu Naoqiu slowly walked behind him, her fingers gently tracing his back. The woman's lips approached the man's ear, creating an ambiguous distance.

"...while you were busy acting all sentimental."

He Tianran finally turned to look at her. She went behind the bar, opened the refrigerator, and took out a bottle of mineral water. The sound of the bottle cap being twisted open was particularly loud.

"Don't you want to say something?"

After asking the question, she tilted her head back and drank water, her throat and neck forming a graceful line. Water droplets slid down the corners of her mouth, and her shirt buttons were undone, revealing a patch of ambiguous white skin below her collarbone.

"What do you want me to say?"

Yu Naoqiu put down the water bottle, walked up to him, and mimicked Cao Aiqing's actions from earlier, reaching out to straighten He Tianran's collar. However, this time, instead of tightening it, he loosened it.

"Tell me, your reaction just now doesn't seem to match your carefree attitude in my office. You don't seem like someone who can't clean up a breakup cleanly."

The woman deliberately brushed her fingertips across the man's chin, first lightly touching it, then gently stroking his entire face along the contours of his cheek.

However, this aggressive move lasted less than two seconds before He Tianran grabbed her wrist.

“You’re right… I do regret breaking up with her. I think I could still win her back, given how good she is…”

The man seemed to have an epiphany, and Yu Naoqiu chuckled softly, letting him hold her hand.

"Regret? It's normal. When people encounter strong emotional stimuli, the brain controls the increase and decrease of dopamine and endorphins. One manages excitement and the other controls calmness. The feeling of regret is the former inhibited and the latter increased. But these are all temporary emotions, not the real you."

"Doctor, do you think you understand me well?"

He Tianran narrowed his eyes, his fingers tightening slightly. Yu Naoqiu winced in pain, but a mocking smile remained on his lips.

"What? Now that they're gone, you suddenly want to maintain some semblance of decorum? He Tianran, don't forget what you told me. I'm really into this now, so don't try to play along!"

"Bam—"

Suddenly, He Tianran reached out with his other hand and grabbed Yu Naoqiu's neck with his five fingers like iron clamps!
The attack came without warning. The immense inertia left Yu Naoqiu with no time to react. Her body was thrown backward uncontrollably with a thud as her back slammed against the cold refrigerator door, causing the bottles on the top shelf to clang loudly.

A feeling of suffocation instantly overwhelmed him. His trachea was compressed, and the air was cut off. Yu Naoqiu instinctively grabbed He Tianran's wrists with both hands, digging his nails into his flesh, trying to pry open that terrifying force, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

He Tianran's face drew close to hers, his nose almost touching her cheek.

The weariness and complex emotions that had been in the man's eyes vanished, leaving only a cold, naked ferocity.

He leaned close to her ear, his warm breath brushing against her sensitive earlobe, yet the words he uttered carried a chilling coldness, each syllable distinct and clear:

"So what if you can afford to play? So what if you can't?" His voice was low, like a viper hissing. "Don't forget, I'm the dealer!"

He tightened his grip on her neck, and Yu Naoqiu let out a painful groan as her vision began to blur and her oxygen-deprived brain buzzed.

"You don't think..."

He almost whispered the last few words into her eardrums:

"I'm not...you...can't...be...right?"

The dizziness and suffocation in her brain made Yu Naoqiu truly feel the danger of the man in front of her.

It was no longer the scheming and game of the business world, nor the tug-of-war and testing of love, but a more primitive, more savage threat concerning life and death.

But the more dangerous it is...

Amidst the agony of severe oxygen deprivation and the fear of spiraling out of control, an even more twisted and insane emotion emerged.

After the forced tears welled up in Yu Naoqiu's eyes, the already alluring light in them became even brighter, carrying with it a hint of almost manic excitement and trembling.

The woman's nails, instead of loosening their grip on the man's wrist, dug even deeper, almost drawing blood.

With difficulty, she slowly tugged at the corners of her mouth, forcing out a broken yet highly provocative smile amidst her extremely pained expression.

Because the more dangerous...

The more she looked, the more it proved that she hadn't misjudged.

He Tianran seemed to be intimidated by the other party's obsessive and manic state, and unconsciously reduced the force in his hand.

In that tiny gap where breath could seep back in, Yu Naoqiu almost squeezed out the last bit of air from his lungs, spitting out fragmented yet exceptionally clear and firm words from the depths of his compressed throat:
"It's not...it has to be me..."

Yu Naoqiu's bloodshot eyes were fixed on He Tianran. There was no pleading or fear in them, but rather a burning, almost pious, twisted fanaticism.

"But...it must be me!"

She practically screamed the last four words, her voice filled with the excitement of oxygen deprivation and an undeniable certainty.

He Tianran's pupils contracted slightly, and the hand gripping her neck stopped completely.

The man could clearly see his reflection in her eyes—

He Tianran, who was out of control, dangerous, and momentarily frozen in place by her madness.

The man seemed to have seen this look somewhere before; it wasn't calculating or greedy, but rather a kind of self-destructive, obsessive conviction.

It was as if Yu Naoqiu wasn't the one being choked and suffocated by He Tianran, but rather that the woman had finally touched something that could bring her ecstasy.

The cold air from the refrigerator seeped out from the cracks, wrapping around He Tianran's arm that had just been assaulted, bringing a chill.

Taking advantage of his momentary hesitation, Yu Naoqiu moved his hand, which was pressed against the refrigerator door, with difficulty. His fingertips groped for the door, and then he pressed down suddenly!
"Di-"

With a sudden, long beep, the refrigerator's quick-freeze mode was forcibly activated, the compressor emitted a muffled roar, and icy white vapor suddenly surged out from the door gaps.

The sudden noise and cold snapped He Tianran back to his senses.

At that very moment, Yu Naoqiu used his last bit of strength to raise his knee and slam it into his abdomen!
He Tianran groaned, and in pain, the restraints were finally completely released.

Yu Naoqiu's body slid down the cold refrigerator door, collapsing to the floor. She coughed violently, swallowing large gulps of air, leaving a clear, shocking red mark around her neck. She raised her head, her wet eyes gleaming with a triumphant light, though the smile was shattered by the coughing.

“Look…” her voice was hoarse, yet tinged with a strange smile, “You hesitated… He Tianran…”

She leaned on the refrigerator door, struggled to her feet, her body still trembling slightly, but her eyes held the look of someone who had seen their favorite thing.

"You're the dealer... but at the gambling table..."

She was panting, and she spoke slowly and deliberately:
"You're not the only... madman!" (End of Chapter)