Gu Qingtong didn’t know that, with her taking the initiative to plant this kiss, she was also reclaiming something intentionally “left behind” by Yan Chi many years ago, something most precious to her. But at this moment, regardless of anything else, nothing compared to the intoxication caused by this kiss. The kiss between the two began with just the touching of lips, led by Gu Qingtong and exceptionally pure in its youthfulness. Gu Qingtong still didn’t understand anything, but just the softness and warmth were enough to make her uncontrollably start to tremble. The sensation transmitted all the way to her fingertips, causing her hands holding Yan Chi’s cheeks to burn for a moment. She quivered while daring to deepen the kiss. It seemed that only this sense of unbearable longing could once again confirm to Gu Qingtong that she now possessed everything of her own. However, after a moment, Yan Chi seemed to snap out of it, and her breath suddenly became dominant.
Clearly, it was Gu Qingtong who held and kissed Yan Chi, but it was Yan Chi who first pried open the lips and teeth of the other, taking control back into her own hands in an instant. She guided Gu Qingtong, step by step, to the peak of sensation. Sensing what Yan Chi intended to do, Gu Qingtong’s initially innocent and hesitant face instantly blushed, and her whole body became halfway limp. As if she wanted to resist but also welcome the advances, at this moment, both of them desired to unabashedly possess each other.
After a moment, the fragile defense between their lips and teeth was breached by Yan Chi, and their tongues intertwined. Gu Qingtong began to tremble, almost unable to bear the electrifying sensation transmitted by her tongue, yet she was unwilling to pull away even a bit. Persistently meeting her, she responded to every exploration by Yan Chi.
With her eyes wide open as they kissed, gazing deeply into Yan Chi’s eyes, her entire perception was set in motion because of her. It felt as if she couldn’t breathe anymore…..
Gu Qingtong was kissed so passionately that she could only emit a faint gasp, almost unable to catch her breath, pleading for mercy. A thin layer of mist appeared in her eyes. The hands that were originally cupping Yan Chi’s cheeks seemed to be clutching at something like a straw.
It was at this moment that the sound of fireworks came from outside the ferris wheel. The colorful lights reflected in the bewildered eyes of the two, finally bringing a moment of clarity. The fireworks were part of the variety show task assigned to Yan Chi, timed to ignite in the night sky outside the ferris wheel at this very moment.
Yan Chi finally released Gu Qingtong, but her gaze remained fixed on her, as if concealing a thousand words. While Gu Qingtong breathed rapidly, she gazed blankly at the fireworks outside the glass window, as if suddenly realizing something.
She smiled and looked into Yan Chi’s crystal-clear eyes, where the reflection of the fireworks bloomed like countless flowers:
“The ferris wheel has started moving again.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Chi’s eyes suddenly trembled, and the suspicions that had lingered in her heart were once again confirmed.
“Yeah, it will never stop again.”
This seemingly easily promised commitment was the result of the two stumbling and overcoming obstacles to reach the other side.
“Tongtong,” Yan Chi’s tongue touched her palate, softly calling out the endearing nickname that had been used for who knows how long, “you’ve remembered too, haven’t you?”
The reason she knew that Gu Qingtong would remember before her was that Gu Qingtong’s awakening and memory were closely linked to Yan Chi, and she was even the one who orchestrated it. Yan Chi would never allow both of them to be completely erased from memory and become strangers.
As early as the moment when everything came to a halt and started anew, she had found a way to plant the seeds of memory in Gu Qingtong, waiting for the day they would sprout and bear fruit.
As Gu Qingtong kissed her, Yan Chi finally reclaimed the consciousness and awakening memories that belonged to her once again. It was the most precious thing that Yan Chi intentionally “left behind” with her in their previous lives. This was why Gu Qingtong could repeatedly experience glimpses and flashes of the past in dreams and flashbacks, peering into a corner of what was once, yet completely unaware of the whole story.
All her original memories and the awakening recollections from the past were the results of these seeds taking root and sprouting. “Do you want to hear about all of our past?” Yan Chi looked at Gu Qingtong, her eyes carrying a hint of warmth and tenderness. These self-awareness and memories awakening were inherently hers, and there was no astonishment or surprise when recalling them. Every memory related to Tongtong was her most cherished treasure.
Although Gu Qingtong could piece together the story from the fragments she knew, it was the first time she felt so close to the truth. She nodded, and the tension in her heart eased a bit as Yan Chi, lost in memories, spoke with a relaxed and slightly amused tone.
“Where should we begin the story? It seems we have to start from that romance novel….” Both Yan Chi and Gu Qingtong were supporting characters in that original romance novel. The world they initially inhabited wasn’t real; they were born into a pre-set novel world, playing their roles according to the plot.
However, the difference was that Yan Chi was a character “abandoned” by the author. Originally, she existed as the antagonist, the biggest obstacle on the protagonist’s path to success.
But after appearing only once, the author felt that this character’s setup was too powerful and perfect, almost like a bug. It even overshadowed the male lead’s halo, leading the author to intentionally “forget” about her. That’s why, after the car accident, when Gu Qingtong remembered the general plot of the original book for the first time, she found that Yan Chi rarely appeared. Except for the beginning, she was hardly mentioned again.
It was this intentional “forgetting” that allowed Yan Chi to avoid being confined like the other characters in the original. From the beginning of her memory, she developed self-awareness, becoming the biggest variable in the entire world. She was the only one who could break free from the constraints of the original plot and do as she pleased.
Although Yan Chi wasn’t explicitly aware that this was a false world, she remained emotionally unaffected by anyone or anything in this world. She coldly observed her father’s betrayal, her mother’s madness, and all the childhood misfortunes caused by her stepmother and half-brother, as if she were witnessing someone else’s experiences.
Everyday activities felt mundane to her, and she chose not to inherit the family business, entering the entertainment industry instead. However, she didn’t experience anything significantly different from the emptiness of the affluent circle she belonged to. Despite excelling in academics, career, and awards, she became the unattainable flower on the high peak in everyone’s eyes, yet felt increasingly hollow.
In the midst of boredom, she unexpectedly noticed that her half-brother, Yan Song, born from the same father but different mother, seemed somewhat extraordinary. Regardless of the absurd twists of fate, he could still head towards a predetermined happy ending.
Yan Chi never believed in destiny, but amidst the monotonous daily life, she found some joy in disrupting and changing things. So, she started intervening in Yan Song’s affairs from the shadows.
It wasn’t to compete for the family fortune. It was simply a way to see if, under her orchestrated “accidents,” he could still come out as the winner. This was the origin of the encounter between Gu Qingtong and Yan Song at the beginning of the banquet, as she had dreamed of before.
Yan Chi encountered the drugged Gu Qingtong in the banquet’s parking lot, who was following the scripted storyline of entering a marriage alliance with Yan Song, bringing significant benefits and opportunities for him. Aware of her status as the heiress of the Gu family, Yan Chi took her away, leading to a night of excess.
Initially, Yan Chi had no interest in this woman who had fallen under the influence of drugs. She maintained her usual indifference, never expecting their relationship to develop into something intimate. However, when Gu Qingtong lost herself, those eyes on the verge of tears and the teardrop mole about to ignite seemed to reveal a side completely different from the haughty heiress.
Awkwardly, Gu Qingtong embraced Yan Chi’s neck, seeking to please the iceberg before her. Amidst the broken sobs, Gu Qingtong seemed extremely distressed, her eyes reddened as she softly begged:
“Big sister, help Tongtong, Tongtong is having a hard time…..”
The sweet cries with a touch of softness indeed sparked a desire in Yan Chi that she had never experienced before.
Delicate and afraid of pain, Gu Qingtong was purely there to lie down and enjoy herself. Yan Chi’s actions were ruthless, and her carefully manicured nails left a series of scratches on her neck.
After the drug’s effects wore off, Gu Qingtong immediately changed her attitude, quickly putting on her clothes and leaving. The taste, surprisingly, was quite pleasant, almost tailored to Yan Chi’s preferences, leaving her with a nostalgic feeling.
The next time they met, even at the engagement banquet with Yan Song, upon hearing the familiar name, Yan Chi couldn’t help but smile. Despite having the audacity to sleep with her fiancé’s sister just before, Gu Qingtong proceeded with the engagement as if nothing had happened.
Even though she knew about Yan Song’s unrequited love and that the engagement with Gu Qingtong was merely a business arrangement, Yan Chi effortlessly disrupted the engagement. Seizing the opportunity, she indulged in the taste that occasionally appeared in her dreams.
This time, Gu Qingtong wasn’t drugged, and she wasn’t cooperative in bed. Despite clearly desiring it, she maintained a stubborn front. With her hands restrained by Yan Chi’s nails, her only option was to resist with bites and kicks, unwilling to give in to Yan Chi’s seemingly harmless resistance, which could potentially cultivate her into enjoying Yan Chi’s peculiar tastes.
However, the young miss was indeed stubborn, merely resisting with her words. She indulged in pleasure and became immersed in it.
After once or twice, there were countless more times. In these intimate moments, Yan Chi discovered that Gu Qingtong was gradually becoming more lively.
Beneath the unreasonable and mischievous facade of the young miss, a completely different, soft, and vivid side emerged. This side, originally only appearing in the drug-induced haze and during the high moments, gradually manifested in everyday life, taking control of her body.
At this point, she wouldn’t maliciously harm others out of jealousy. Instead, she would earnestly work hard towards her goals. She feared injections and medicine, and just like a small animal, she would pester people with her cuteness for the things she desired. She could also be guilt-ridden to the point where all her emotions would be written on her face.
Regardless of who encountered danger, the immediate reaction was always to rush in and save others, without considering whether one could handle the situation. Like a splash of color in a black-and-white world, Gu Qingtong attracted all of Yan Chi’s attention.
Yan Chi gradually realized that it was because Gu Qingtong was by her side that she had “cultivated” this truly vibrant version of Gu Qingtong. So, she got closer, indulging and nurturing the woman, hoping to see if it could bring more surprises and changes.
However, Yan Chi never anticipated that, in such proximity, she would inevitably be stained with the other person’s colors. Unconsciously, she was being changed by Gu Qingtong.
The once indifferent and cold-hearted Yan Chi, at some point, began to feel all emotions pulsating along with that splash of color. She learned for the first time what possessiveness, worry, and palpitations felt like. It brought her a sense of truly living in this world, with a beating heart that echoed the rhythms of humanity.
Even more surprisingly, Yan Chi developed a desire she didn’t dare to believe in herself. She wanted Gu Qingtong to kiss her, simply because of Gu Qingtong’s words: “Kisses are meant for someone you like.” Yan Chi’s unspoken desires became evident.
However, just as Yan Chi started harboring such desires and began striving for Gu Qingtong’s affection, an unexpected twist occurred. Gu Qingtong, unlike Yan Chi, was not a character who could freely and recklessly act in this world. Even as the crucial element driving the plot as the “vicious supporting female lead,” her existence held a distinct purpose within the predetermined world of the original story.
Three months after the plot went offline, as Gu Qingtong’s self-aware personality fully awakened, the original story automatically initiated the mandatory plot correction program, much like countless novels out there. The “vicious supporting female lead” was destined to love the male lead in vain, repeatedly intervening in the romance between the male and female leads to add obstacles to their relationship.
The first thing to be erased from Gu Qingtong was the budding and unnoticed liking for Yan Chi. So, in the dream she later had, where she realized her feelings and decided to bravely face them, she responded to Yan Chi’s lonely and vulnerable request, “Can you kiss me?” In what seemed like a pre-programmed response, amid endless struggle and trembling, she uttered the same rigid answer: “The person I like…..is not you.”
At that time, Yan Chi was still unaware that Gu Qingtong had fallen under the control of the original story.
She became desperate as Gu Qingtong inexplicably retreated and evaded time and time again, even developing a stubborn idea of forcibly keeping Gu Qingtong by her side. It wasn’t until she discovered that both she and Gu Qingtong had fallen ill that everything seemed amiss.
Yan Chi began to experience prolonged bouts of fever throughout the night, agonizingly drifting between dreams and reality. Without exception, every dream featured Gu Qingtong’s presence. Every moment with the woman in her dreams felt like a dual torment of ice and fire upon her body.
Gu Qingtong’s illness became even more pronounced. After every intimate encounter, she would run a fever. Even when others took care of her, she recovered much faster than when Yan Chi attended to her. It was as if…..their relationship was forbidden, and this “punishment” was the consequence.
As Yan Chi delved into the truth and temporarily distanced herself from Gu Qingtong, the original story’s correction on Gu Qingtong became more direct. The once sunny presence was now shrouded in darkness, suddenly losing its color and radiance.
Everyone around and on the internet spontaneously began to condemn Gu Qingtong, the so-called “vicious supporting female lead,” with overwhelming malice. Regardless of whether she had committed those acts or what the truth might be, the consequences were devastating.
Misfortune struck relentlessly. Incidents unfolded one after another within the Gu family, with Grandfather Gu falling seriously ill, causing the Gu family to plummet to rock bottom in just a few days. All of this happened because it was part of the fate the vicious supporting character had to endure in the original plot.
The forced correction of the plot accelerated these events, causing Gu Qingtong, who had done nothing wrong, to directly experience the downfall of a universally despised supporting female character.
Yan Chi could never forget the hurried return to Gu Qingtong’s side. Seeing the once tearful eyes now pitch-black, as if completely overshadowed by boundless malice and darkness.
Helping her calm the storm and settling her family, Yan Chi held Gu Qingtong tightly.
Even considered spending a lifetime silently guarding her like this, and there would be nothing wrong with that. But the next moment, she met Gu Qingtong’s tearful and hazy eyes.
Confused and saddened, she questioned herself as if someone was abandoned by the world: “Yan Chi, is it that when someone is born…..they’re not allowed anything?”
Yan Chi’s heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. No one understood better than her how much Gu Qingtong, nurtured and grown under her careful guidance, yearned for freedom.
This hesitation persisted until one night. Every night, Gu Qingtong, who could only feel secure enough to sleep in Yan Chi’s embrace, suddenly moved. Violently breaking free from her hold, she pulled out a fruit knife that had been prepared under the pillow.
Her lifeless and hollow eyes stared at Yan Chi. It was unclear whether the knife gleaming with cold light was meant for Yan Chi or herself.
Yan Chi didn’t give her any chance. Reacting swiftly, she forcefully restrained her hand. The fruit knife fell to the ground with a crisp sound. When Gu Qingtong’s gaze returned to focus, looking at herself again, confused and exhausted, Yan Chi had already made up her mind.
The other party could freely control Gu Qingtong’s body, even directly……silently erasing all traces of a person’s existence. The only way to protect Gu Qingtong was to confront the rules of this false world. After coaxing Gu Qingtong to sleep, Yan Chi tied her hands and feet, locking her in her own room, ensuring that even if the awakened person was not Gu Qingtong, they wouldn’t be able to seek death.
Yan Chi kidnapped her own half-brother, the “son of destiny” from the same father but different mother. After observing and analyzing for so long, she had already understood the rules of this world. It was ridiculous that everyone existed for such a despicable person. She would be the one to personally obliterate it. She didn’t believe that if the protagonist was about to die, the other party wouldn’t appear. Yan Chi knew that as the one controlling this world, the other party surely had other ways to save Yan Song. But Yan Chi only needed to make the other party fear her, forcing them to negotiate. After all, as long as the other party didn’t appear, she wouldn’t stop harassing this “world center” that was the easiest to access. With a sense of revenge, Yan Chi even applied one aspect of her own “unfortunate childhood”.
Her mother forcibly locked her, at the age of seven, in the basement to experience charcoal burning. Yan Chi’s gamble was correct. As the carbon monoxide levels became increasingly dangerous, during the suspended time, she met the “other party.” However, it was not an assailant at all; it was just a mediator maintaining the rules in various worlds. He revealed the truth: the automatic correction program for each novel world was set and automatically repaired from the beginning of its existence.
The automatically awakened Yan Chi and the passively awakened Gu Qingtong were completely different. Unlike Yan Chi, who could almost directly enter the real world as a true person, Gu Qingtong’s cultivated personality would be gradually repaired or even erased.
The only solution was for Yan Chi to bring forth her self-awareness to support this world, thereby cutting off the connection between the original plot and everyone. She could make Gu Qingtong awaken, and naturally, she could radiate influence to more people, turning this fictional novel world into an independently existing real world.
The cost is that this world, already riddled with holes from the original plot, must be rebooted to a timeline before the original plot to avoid influence. Moreover, including Yan Chi, no one will remember anything that happened in this world or know about the original plot.
Yan Chi understood the meaning of this cost. If the world restarts, she and Gu Qingtong will not remember each other. Even in the next life after the reset, they wouldn’t have any intersection, missing each other forever.
The mediator knew all of this and asked her to reconsider. However, unexpectedly, Yan Chi softly said: “What I seek is just for her to be free, like an ordinary person, able to do whatever she wants.”
It seems that her words touched something in the mediator. After a long silence, the mediator hinted: “Do you still remember the illnesses you and she brought upon each other? Without unexpected events, if there’s no antidote, these illnesses will be carried into the reset world until they are completely cured. Perhaps, you can use these illnesses to notice each other again.”
Even without the mediator saying it explicitly, Yan Chi understood. The antidote is for both of them to overcome their inner demons and fall in love with each other, finally achieving a happy ending.
❖❖❖❖❖
The day of the reboot is the image that Gu Qingtong recalls—a shared memory between the two of them. Therefore, it seems that Yan Chi’s story ends here as Gu Qingtong occasionally looks at her, either exclaiming in surprise or feeling sorrow.
“No wonder I didn’t get sick today even though we were together yesterday,” Gu Qingtong blushed as she heard the explanation about the “illness.”
This story was too long to finish, and in order to continue, the two of them even stayed in the cabin. Amidst the bewildered looks of the staff, they took another turn on the revolving ferris wheel.
“So, Tongtong’s affection for me isn’t based on past memories but falling in love with me all over again in this life, right?” Even if Yan Chi didn’t hear the confession, she knew that Gu Qingtong’s affection for her in the previous life was revealed on the ferris wheel.
The confession interrupted by Yan Chi was also due to the diminishing influence of the original work, without the forced correction. Gu Qingtong almost instantly realized that her entire dependence on Yan Chi was a feeling called “liking.”
This indicates that, at least before yesterday’s variety show, Gu Qingtong, the seemingly unenlightened block of wood, had already buried a liking deep in her heart.
So…..was today’s confession also prepared early on? Thinking about how Gu Qingtong had been unwilling to confess within the program’s specified time just now, and the way she covered her mouth, Yan Chi’s heart skipped a beat as she gradually hid her feelings spanning two lifetimes.
Gu Qingtong, feeling shy and unwilling to answer, only responded with a thick sense of loneliness: “Blame you for interrupting my confession. Otherwise, in the previous life, you would have known about my feelings, and we wouldn’t have had to wait so long…”
Clearly, influenced by her previous life and awakening too late in this life, Yan Chi had been waiting for Gu Qingtong’s response all along…..
“It’s not like that,” Yan Chi looked at Gu Qingtong, and her smile was full of tenderness as she revealed the last story that Gu Qingtong didn’t know.
“Tongtong, do you know? Our recent kiss wasn’t our first.”
“Back on the ferris wheel, after I finished speaking and we began to fade away, you disregarded everything and kissed me. From that moment on, I knew all about your feelings.”
