Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

Aze?

Lu Jingyan sat in the driver's seat, looking at the woman in front of the car with tears streaming down her face, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

He quickly went through the original owner's memory bank in his mind and confirmed that he was neither named Aze nor did he know the woman in front of him who seemed to be in an unstable mental state.

[Ding! New type of "protagonist halo" energy fluctuation detected!]

[Target: Bai Lian. Identity: Female protagonist of the classic angst-filled novel "The President's Substitute Wife".]

[Character Attributes: Mother complex, paranoid, severe Stockholm syndrome sufferer.]

The system notification sounded at the opportune moment, accompanied by a melodramatic plot summary.

In short, this woman named Bai Lian has a first love named "A Ze" who is like a white moonlight. Later, A Ze died unexpectedly (actually, it was a fake death), and she was forcibly taken by a domineering CEO who looks seven parts like A Ze. She suffered all kinds of physical and emotional abuse, but in the end, she fell in love with the CEO.

As for Lu Jingyan, fortunately, he looks nine-tenths like that deceased white moonlight.

Lu Jingyan: "..."

He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to slam on the gas and kill this "coincidence".

He thought he had seen all the oddities in the world: staged accidents, scams, murders, drug trafficking...

I never expected to run into a living fossil that came straight out of a tragic novel.

"Aze, it really is you..."

Bai Lian continued her performance, her trembling hand reaching out as if to touch Lu Jingyan's cheek, murmuring to herself, "I knew you weren't dead... You must have come back for me, right?"

Lu Jingyan pushed open the car door and got out.

He ignored Bai Lian's heartfelt plea and immediately turned on his body camera. He then walked around the front of the car and carefully inspected the paint.

Great, no scratches.

"This lady."

Lu Jingyan straightened up, maintaining a safe social distance of more than three meters from Bai Lian. His tone was as cold as if he were reading an autopsy report. "First of all, I am not Aze. Secondly, your behavior just now constitutes 'ghosting out' in dangerous driving, which not only endangered your own life but also seriously disrupted normal traffic order."

"Finally, please move out of the middle of the road immediately. Otherwise, I will take coercive measures against you for 'obstructing official business'."

This emotionless "three-part legal education" left Bai Lian completely bewildered.

She had imagined countless scenarios of their reunion.

He might hug her excitedly, ask her with tears in his eyes how she has been all these years, or even resent her for "not helping her when she was in distress" back then.

But she never expected that the other person would talk to her about... traffic safety laws?

"Aze, what's wrong? Don't you recognize me?"

Bai Lian's tears flowed even more fiercely. She approached Lu Jingyan step by step, her empty eyes filled with hurt and confusion. "I'm Lian'er! Your Lian'er! Don't you remember? We used to be under the sycamore tree..."

"stop."

Lu Jingyan took a step back, his brows furrowed, his eyes looking as if he were looking at a patient who needed to be sent to a mental hospital immediately.

"Madam, I'll say it again, I'm not Aze. You've mistaken me for someone else."

"No! I didn't admit I was wrong!"

Bai Lian suddenly became agitated. She rushed forward and tried to grab Lu Jingyan's hand. "It's you! Your eyes, your eyebrows, they're exactly the same as his! Although... although your lips are a little thinner than his, making you seem a bit cold, you are him!"

As she spoke, she reached out to touch Lu Jingyan's lips, as if she were appraising a lost and found antique.

Lu Jingyan's face darkened completely.

He sidestepped, and at the same time grabbed Bai Lian's wrist with his other hand. The force was not great, but it made it impossible for her to break free.

"Let go!"

"I don't!"

Bai Lian cried her heart out, clinging to him tightly. "Aze, stop hiding from me! I know you hate me! You hate me for leaving you for money, you hate me for not being by your side when you had that car accident! Hit me! Curse me! Anything will do as long as it makes you feel better!"

These words were spoken with such heart-wrenching intensity and profound emotion that they moved heaven and earth.

Several passersby who were unaware of the situation stopped and started pointing and whispering about Lu Jingyan.

"What's wrong with this guy? He made the girl cry and he's still so indifferent?"

"Sounds like a heartless man, starting a relationship and then abandoning it?"

As Lu Jingyan listened to the surrounding discussions, his temples throbbed.

He felt that his career was facing unprecedented challenges.

Catching drug dealers isn't this mentally exhausting.

"Ms. White Lotus, is that right?"

Lu Jingyan took a deep breath and activated "absolute rationality" mode, forcing himself to calm down.

"This is your last warning. Let go of my hand now and get out of my sight."

"Otherwise, you will pay the legal price for your actions today."

"I don't!"

Bai Lian didn't let go; instead, she hugged him even tighter, wrapping herself around him like a vine, burying her head in his chest, inhaling the cool scent of soapberry on his body, and showing an infatuated expression on her face.

"It's the same smell... Aze, you haven't changed at all..."

Lu Jing-Yan: "..."

He felt that his patience had reached its limit.

Just as he was about to disregard the difference between men and women and throw the crazy woman out with an over-the-shoulder throw.

Bai Lian suddenly raised her head, her tearful eyes filled with despair and questioning.

"Aze, why won't you acknowledge me?"

Her voice trembled, carrying an almost manic obsession.

Are you still blaming me...blaming me for not saving you back then?

"But do you know how I've gotten through these years? I think about you every single day, and I regret it every single day!"

"I cremated your body myself! I still have your ashes..."

Lu Jingyan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stared intently at the woman before him, interrupting her chillingly passionate confession.

"What did you say?"

"You said...whose body did you cremate?"