Chapter 35: The Unexpected Visitor at the Door

Outside the familiar bedroom door, Gu Xue was dressed in a pink-white JK-style cinched shirt and a black pleated skirt. She wore delicate little leather boots, with sheer black stockings hugging her slender, jade-like legs. On her head, she had purposefully placed the cat-ear headband her ex-boyfriend loved most. She took a deep breath, picked up a mirror to smooth out her bangs one last time, and finally, after setting the mirror down, gathered the courage to knock gently on the door.

“Knock, knock, knock—”

After three crisp sounds, Gu Xue called out softly toward the room, “Ruoyu… are you home?”

*Huh?*

Zhou Ruoyu, who was currently in the living room frantically snapping photos for a deadline, turned her head toward the front door with a flash of impatience upon hearing the knocking. The young girl felt a sudden sense of confusion, wondering who on earth would be coming to her place at an hour like this.

Considering her social circle, her home was usually completely ignored. The visitor count was probably lower than that of the Backrooms. Yet, two people had shown up in a single morning. Previously, Gu Xue would have been the only one to visit, and even that was rare. Had the sun risen from the west today? Just who could it be?

However, the next second, when she heard that plaintive call, Zhou Ruoyu froze in place. A moment later, her pupils dilated, and her heart tightened sharply.

*No… it can’t be?*

It really was Gu Xue!

In an instant, Zhou Ruoyu admitted that she was panicking. The young girl was so nervous she couldn’t even hold her phone steady. She never imagined that this ex-girlfriend—who had constantly gaslit her, used the threat of a breakup every day, and even cheated before they actually split—would show up at her doorstep after the fact.

Zhou Ruoyu couldn’t guess the woman’s intentions at all. Based on the phone call from yesterday, she could only speculate that perhaps the woman was here to beg for a reconciliation.

Sure enough, after a short while, seeing that Zhou Ruoyu hadn’t replied, Gu Xue’s eyes dimmed. After a moment, she knocked on the door again, her tone suddenly turning aggrieved as she shouted loudly:

“Ruoyu… please, I’m begging you, just talk to me. It’s a day off, right? You must be home! There are things we didn’t clear up. I just want to talk to you face-to-face today. We’ve been together for over four years. Everything I said about breaking up before was just to scare you. I actually… I don’t want to break up at all. Please open the door, I want to see you… *sob*…”

Listening to her ex-girlfriend’s somewhat sorrowful plea, Zhou Ruoyu’s heart genuinely softened for a moment…

But the black-haired, long-straight little girl quickly snapped back to reality. *Wait, see her? See what?* Even if they did meet, if she told Gu Xue she was Zhou Ruoyu, the girl probably wouldn’t believe her anyway!

What’s more, there was an even thornier issue at hand…

Gu Jiachen was still inside her house! *Ahhhhhh!*

What to do? She was being cornered right at her own door! If these two met, setting aside their own secret affair, it would be incredibly awkward to have them meet here… but the biggest problem was…

What if they compared notes and deduced her true identity? Wouldn’t her motive for approaching Gu Jiachen seem highly suspicious? If the corporate espionage aspect was exposed, Gu Jiachen would probably hug Gu Xue and toss her into the river to drown!

*This is life-or-death! This is life-or-death!*

After a whirlwind of brainstorming, Zhou Ruoyu solidified a single, firm belief:

She absolutely could not open this door!

To be precise, she absolutely could not let Gu Jiachen and Gu Xue meet in front of her, or everything would be ruined!

But what now? Gu Xue was blocking the doorway, looking like she had no intention of leaving. Gu Jiachen was in the bathroom washing his hair. A man wouldn’t take long to wash his hair; he would likely be out soon!

With the sound of the shower running, Gu Jiachen probably couldn’t hear anything, but once he stepped out… if Gu Xue shouted a few more times at the door, he would definitely hear her! It wasn’t as if they didn’t know each other…

*Hiss—*

In an instant, Zhou Ruoyu felt she had hit a dead end, ready to crash headlong into a stone wall. If she could, she really wished that in her next life, she could just be a… *Wait, no, no!*

After a moment, Zhou Ruoyu calmed down slightly and took two deep breaths. Finally, a plan flickered in her mind.

The solution was simple: stall. Keep Gu Jiachen from leaving the bathroom, and hope Gu Xue would eventually think no one was home and leave out of boredom. She just had to survive this one time!

So, as her ex-girlfriend continued to pound on the door, Zhou Ruoyu didn’t dare utter a single word. Instead, she rushed to the bathroom door, ready with a hairdryer.

Soon, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped. Gu Jiachen slowly pushed the door open, only to find the black-haired little girl desperately blocking the entrance. She prevented him from coming out while thrusting a hairdryer through the gap in the door, saying:

“Hey, heh heh, dry your hair first, President Gu. Don’t catch a cold!”

“Hmm…”

Gu Jiachen tilted his head. He felt like it was a bit noisy outside the living room, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He just took the hairdryer and smiled gently.

“Thank you, my virtuous little bunny~”

“Ha… haha, of course! Mom taught me since I was little to be a virtuous girl~”

Zhou Ruoyu was truly babbling nonsense now. Well… it wasn’t too bad, though. In truth, Zhou Ruoyu’s mother had told him to marry a virtuous girl, though that seemed a bit difficult nowadays.

With that, she immediately slammed the door shut, nearly pinching Gu Jiachen’s hand. The President blinked in suspicion, muttering to himself. Could it be that this little bunny hadn’t finished organizing the files yet? Was she in such a hurry?

*Tsk… she’s not being very smooth, is she~*

Gu Jiachen sighed as he began to blow-dry his hair. Hearing the hum of the hairdryer, Zhou Ruoyu finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked toward the door, only to hear her ex-girlfriend’s voice growing increasingly frantic.

“Zhou Ruoyu, stop pretending! Why won’t you see me? I know you’re home! I heard someone talking. Is there a girl’s voice in there? So that’s it… you were in such a rush to break up with me because you found someone new, right? Heh… you’re already living together, aren’t you? How could you? Open the door! Open it! I want to see you! I won’t let you abandon me to be all lovey-dovey with another girl! Ahhhhhh—open the door!”

*Hiss—*

Listening to Gu Xue’s clamor, Zhou Ruoyu couldn’t help but gasp. *Wait, where is this even coming from?* How did it get to her having a new lover? Where was this other girl? *Uh… wait, was she talking about her?*

*Ahhhhh, I can’t worry about that now!* The problem was that Gu Xue seemed absolutely convinced she was inside. She was going to stay here and never leave! Her voice was getting louder and louder. What if Gu Jiachen heard her?

“Who is that outside?”