Chapter 1 The Beginning

September 5th, 5:20 AM.

Feng Bujue opened his eyes, glanced at the time, then yawned and crawled out of the game pod.

"Haaah…" He walked to the window, stretched, and casually pulled open the curtains.

The light of dawn streamed in through the glass, casting a bluish-white hue over the entire living room.

"Pull the curtains, you bastard!" Two seconds later, Asazhi's grumbling voice rang out. "Do you want to die?" She was clearly in a bad mood from just waking up.

Hearing this, Brother Jue had no choice but to reluctantly pull the curtains closed again. After all, she hadn't fully woken up yet, and it was wrong of him to brighten the room without asking.

"Sigh… at least she doesn't pee and poop everywhere anymore." Brother Jue consoled himself as he headed for the bathroom.

When he finished washing up and came out, Ruoyu happened to be at the bathroom door.

"Oh? You're awake too?" Feng Bujue asked casually.

"No…" Ruoyu replied sleepily, "... just getting up to use the bathroom."

She really did look like she hadn't fully woken up. She didn't even realize that the loose t-shirt she was wearing had "slipped off" her shoulder, revealing one side of her bare shoulder and bra strap as she stood groggily in front of Brother Jue.

"Oh…" Feng Bujue responded nonchalantly, neither reminding her nor glancing at her. He simply brushed past her, giving her access to the bathroom.

From their old-married-couple-like exchange, it was clear that… in the days since Ruoyu had moved in, Feng Bujue had inadvertently seen countless "benefits," and Ruoyu had grown accustomed to similar "accidents." So… the current situation was no big deal…

…………

Ten minutes later, Ruoyu had gone back to bed; and Feng Bujue had changed into a set of gray sportswear, put on a pair of Nikes, and set off for his morning run.

He did some simple warm-up exercises in the elevator downstairs, and after leaving the residential building, he put on his headphones, turned on his phone's player, and set off on his planned route.

Generally speaking, when running in the morning, the song at the top of Brother Jue's playlist was always "gonna_fly_now," this morning running anthem… probably wouldn't be outdated in a hundred years. It not only put people in an athletic state instantly, but also created a psychological suggestion of "50% increase in exercise effect."

"Yo, Xiao Feng, morning."

"Yeah, morning to you too."

As he passed the entrance to the vegetable market, Brother Jue happened to meet his landlady, Aunt Liu, who was out buying groceries.

"Out for a run?"

"Yes." Brother Jue said, politely taking off his headphones. "Are you out preparing breakfast for your granddaughter?"

"Hey~ I'm just doing the usual 'Ma Da Sao' (Shanghainese pronunciation, meaning buying, washing, and cooking) stuff." The aunt replied.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Feng Bujue was about to leave. Just as he was about to say "I'll keep running," he never expected…

"By the way…" Aunt Liu seemed to suddenly remember something. "When are you going to stop hiding your secret girlfriend from me?"

At this moment, Feng Bujue's acting skills exploded, Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Jackie Chan… soul possession.

"Huh? What did you say I was hiding?" Brother Jue answered the question with a question, and his face showed a very natural, puzzled expression from beginning to end.

However, Aunt Liu didn't fall for it at all. "Heh… Xiao Feng…" She looked directly into Brother Jue's eyes. "I'll give you one more chance…" She paused. "... tell the truth."

The momentary eye contact made Feng Bujue realize one thing… continuing to lie would probably lead to certain death.

"Okay… let me explain." Brother Jue sighed. "Actually… she's a friend of mine, and for some reason… she's going to stay with me for a while."

"Friend?" Aunt Liu's expression changed. "Girlfriend, right?"

"Uh…" Brother Jue stammered, "Now… should… indeed… can… be called… a girlfriend." He divided a sentence into five or six segments before finishing it, as if each word was squeezed out.

"Oh…" Hearing his words and observing his expression, Aunt Liu seemed to understand something, or rather… she misunderstood something. "A friend stayed at your place for a while, and then she became your girlfriend, right?"

"Uh…" Feng Bujue heard the hidden meaning in her words and immediately looked sideways. "It's not what you think…"

"Alright, alright~ you don't need to explain to me." Aunt Liu interrupted Brother Jue. "That's you young people's freedom…"

It seemed… even if Brother Jue wanted to explain, it might not be useful.

"Anyway, I've already rented the house to you, just don't tear it down or turn it into low-rent housing and sublet it." Aunt Liu continued. "One more person or one less person… it's not a big deal." She changed the subject. "But… as an elder, I still have a few words of advice for you…"

"Yeah… please speak…" Feng Bujue lowered his head and replied.

So, Aunt Liu continued, "I've met that young lady with the surname Li a few times, and to be honest… her conditions… are wasted on you."

For some reason, Feng Bujue felt like crying and laughing when he heard this.

"I've also seen the car she drives…" Aunt Liu added, "It seems that she couldn't possibly be after your money."

The old lady knew her stuff; she knew… that Ruoyu's car alone was worth all of Feng Bujue's possessions.

"Xiao Feng, although many people misunderstand you, I know what kind of person you are…" Aunt Liu continued, "It's rare to find such a fate, I hope you can cherish it and not let her down. If you need any help financially, feel free to ask Auntie, if I can help…"

Feng Bujue basically guessed what she was going to say next. Brother Jue couldn't help but think in his heart, "Does she… think I'm too poor to marry her? Hmm… but come to think of it… I'm not really wealthy, at least not on par with Ruoyu in terms of family background."

Some things, people of Feng Bujue's age… wouldn't consider. This wasn't a matter of intelligence or lack thereof, but rather, people's attitude towards life and the direction of their thinking changed with age and experience. For example… the word "dream," for an eighteen-year-old and an eighty-year-old, were completely different concepts.

Brother Jue's situation was similar. If Aunt Liu hadn't said these words to him today, perhaps he would have waited until the situation was upon him before realizing… if his relationship with Li Ruoyu really came to fruition, then he would have to face many very real problems.

…………

At seven o'clock in the morning, Feng Bujue returned home.

At this time, the sun had fully risen, and golden sunlight penetrated the curtains, illuminating the living room.

Brother Jue put a breakfast on the coffee table, then went to take a cold shower.

When he returned to the living room, Ruoyu had just opened the bedroom door and walked out, rubbing her eyes.

"Brought you back breakfast." Feng Bujue said as he walked to the bottom of the bookcase.

"Oh… I'll go brush my teeth first." Ruoyu replied.

Two seconds later, she turned her head and said to Brother Jue, "Why are you thinking of tidying up the bookcase so early in the morning?"

At this time, Feng Bujue had moved a chair and stood on it, flipping through the books on the top shelf of the bookcase. "I'm going to look for some information to prepare for a new book." He paused for half a second and added, "Although *Second-Rate Detective and Cat* is still being serialized, *Nightmare on Both Ends* is already finished, so I might as well start a new one."

"Haaah—" Ruoyu yawned and asked, "You're actually being this diligent?"

There was a reason why she thought Brother Jue was being diligent… because every time Feng Bujue published a physical book in the past, he would take a vacation for himself for various reasons. Not to mention starting a new book, he would even interrupt the novels he was serializing… and his readers all knew about these things.

"I want to save money to buy a house." Feng Bujue replied matter-of-factly without turning his head.

"Save money to buy…" When Ruoyu said this, she seemed to realize something, and the remaining sleepiness was immediately dispelled. "...Hey… what do you mean by that?"

Feng Bujue didn't answer the question, but instead turned around, tilted his head, and gave Ruoyu a big, carefree smile.

After looking at him for a few seconds, a blush inexplicably appeared on the latter's cheeks.

She then said in a rather flustered tone, stuttering, "You… you're crazy!" Saying that, she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, leaving Brother Jue alone… smiling without saying a word.