All the goddesses in the world are lusting after my body.

Qiu Lengyan gripped the wine glass so tightly that her fingertips turned a pitiful pale.

045 Things They Didn't Know

Jiang Tang's honesty is the best quality for those close to him.

But he isn't always honest; it's not that he'll lie or anything, but he'll sometimes hide things.

For example, he concealed from Ye Shixue the fact that he had become someone else's rented boyfriend, and he also concealed the fact that he had found a part-time job at a bar.

Their existence will be exposed one day, entirely under Jiang Tang's control. You will find out when he wants you to.

He now wants Qiu Lengyan to know that he has a girlfriend.

A woman I really like, a silly woman who likes to eat the sour hawthorns in candied hawthorn skewers.

But then he suddenly realized that a person's life is very long, but it passes by unnoticed.

Has anyone ever accompanied Qiu Lengyan through the long streets and alleys, to eat those local snacks?

Will it happen in the future?

"You're jealous just because you saw my concert?"

"Or is it because you've fallen for me?"

Qiu Lengyan's thoughts were so chaotic that they had lost all order.

She and Jiang Tang didn't have any special relationship, so she shouldn't have used such ambiguous language.

But whenever she recalls the scene she saw on the surveillance camera—starlight like the sea, a boy taking a girl's hand and turning away—she feels an overwhelming sadness.

Clearly... I'm the one who's most suitable for you.

The harm caused by discovering the truth yourself is completely different from the harm caused by having the other person tell you.

If I had to pinpoint it, it would be the difference between normal damage and true damage.

Qiu Lengyan did consider that Jiang Tang already had a girlfriend, or rather, it was obvious. Even if he didn't have a girlfriend, he would most likely confess his feelings after the concert and then they would naturally get together.

Jiang Tang didn't even finish watching his own concert.

"Sister Qiu, we've only known each other for less than a day."

Jiang Tang's response was visibly reluctant and helpless.

But he was right, and Qiu Lengyan knew that too.

They just don't want to admit it.

Whether it's due to a girl's natural emotional nature or a vague, restless sense of resentment deep inside, it's all part of the story.

Is the length of time you've known someone really that important?

“For me, there is still something.” Jiang Tang paused for a moment, then continued.

"Let me ask Sister Qiu. Why are you so concerned about me? You not only asked my agent for my contact information, but you also asked me out to dinner."

"The only reasons I can think of are that encounter that day and the sudden departure at the concert."

"It's because of these things..."

Of course, the bigger reason is because you are you, Jiang Tang.

Qiu Lengyan bit her thin lips, which were shimmering with the rosy hue of a mountain peach.

This time, it was her turn to reveal her true intentions.

“I don’t know what you went to the Civil Affairs Bureau for, but what I did was get a genetic match, you know… what that is, right?”

As expected, the atmosphere in the private room froze as soon as Qiu Lengyan finished speaking. Jiang Tang's gaze was deep, reflecting the red wine glass beside his right hand, but after hesitating for a moment, he still did not pick it up and drink it.

Because you shouldn't drink and drive, and you shouldn't drive after drinking.

Qiu Lengyan might get drunk, and Jiang Tang might need to take her home.

"Of course I know, because my purpose that day was also to get a genetic match."

Jiang Tang recounted the events truthfully, a faint melancholy rising in his voice.

"You did it!?" Qiu Lengyan's emotions suddenly became agitated.

Fortunately, it was just her and Jiang Tang in the private room. Otherwise, if others saw Leng Yanyue's face flushed with emotion for the young man, and saw the surprise and anticipation in her eyes, they would be in trouble.

That's really big news.

Jiang Tang looked at her in confusion, the slight smile on his lips seeming more like self-consolation, and he didn't forget to crack an inappropriate joke.

"Sister Qiu looks pretty even when she's angry, but her words... can easily make people misunderstand that I went outside and did something strange with other girls."

"Besides, we haven't reached that level of intimacy where we can control each other, have we?"

But Qiu Lengyan didn't care about any of that, and just murmured to herself, letting her emotions run wild.

"Since you've already done it, how could you not understand...you and me...!"

She was restraining herself, probably because she felt she was becoming less like herself.

She was also suddenly aware of the unfamiliar version of herself in front of Jiang Tang.

Qiu Lengyan took a deep breath and spoke as she exhaled.

"How can you continue to take it for granted that you can be with that woman?"

Whatever the previous relationship was like, if there truly is only one option, the best partner in the world.

From Qiu Lengyan's perspective, since she has no romantic experience yet, she would choose the side that is "better".

Emotions can be cultivated, and they can actually develop very quickly.

For example, now that Qiu Lengyan has written so many love poems and sweet tunes, how could she not understand that the one who is making her heart so confused is none other than Jiang Tang in front of her?

You've developed feelings of caring about him, and caring can be liking or having feelings for him.

Hearing Qiu Lengyan's puzzling words, Jiang Tang's handsome yet gentle brows furrowed, like raindrops pattering on a pond, rippling with a touch of melancholy.

"It is precisely because I underwent genetic matching that I should do so."

The boy's tone revealed a rare sense of determination.

He always felt he owed Shixue something; perhaps she could have had a more suitable "best partner" in theory, but because of Jiang Tang, she gave up that option...

She will not leave Jiang Tang, just as Jiang Tang can never leave her side.

The latter could only make up for it with the rest of his life by pampering the maid who loved him like a fool.

Jiang Tang has a genetic defect, so he and Ye Shixue probably won't have children in the future.

But depending on the circumstances, the two might get a pet or adopt a child.

These are things that Qiu Lengyan is unaware of.

Of course, everything has two sides, just like the two sides of a coin.

What Jiang Tang was also unaware of was...

Just before his data was artificially erased from the vast database, Qiu Lengyan was fortunate enough to learn about her best match.

It was Jiang Tang; who else could it be?

Finding someone with the same name in Chengdu is easy, but finding someone who will move Qiu Lengyan's heart... is much more likely to be a needle in a haystack.

"You...you bastard!"

"Hey, why are you suddenly cursing at me?" Jiang Tang asked, looking puzzled.

Now, in his mind, Qiu Lengyan has begun to be downgraded from "a strange woman" to "a strange woman with no reason."

If it weren't for the fact that she needed to pay the bill, Jiang Tang wouldn't be so good-natured as to not fight back or talk back when hit or scolded.

"How dare you ask me..."

Qiu Lengyan's words fell in a sobbing, muffled tone.

How come she's the one who's now the one looking wronged?

Taking a bite of the tender and juicy lobster meat, Jiang Tang felt that women were truly unreasonable, so he could only vent his dissatisfaction with the scolding on the food.

But why shouldn't Qiu Lengyan be sad?

When she realized that she had been longing for the perfect partner.

When he's a sugarcane man who can take it for granted that he can keep you hanging on while dating and having affairs with other women without even realizing it!

046 They both see each other as scumbags

He went for a genetic match!

He should know that his best companion is himself!

But he still didn't break off contact with his girlfriend. He even shamelessly came to meet her and took her support for granted.

He must have seen through this seemingly gentle and harmless boy who was actually cunning and ruthless.

He realized how much he cared, and therefore became even more reckless.

He knew he wouldn't let go, and he knew that the result of the genetic matching would be the chains that bound the two of them together.

So he can freely enjoy his youth...

In fact, since its inception, the gene matching system has not brought only good things.

There are also examples showing that, whether male or female, there is a small group of people who are absolutely despicable.

They are often matched with an "honest man" or an "honest woman".

Then, they can enjoy the boundless tolerance of these honest people while indulging in debauchery and philandering outside.

Because they know that no matter how willful they are, based on the results of genetic matching, their honest original spouses will still obediently support them, pitifully and tragically praying that their loved ones can settle down and return to the family as soon as possible.

But the likely outcome is that they will only escalate their actions.

—I guess I'll just make do.

This statement is the root of all evil, whether it comes from someone else's mouth or from your own "pitiful and hateful" mouth.