The next morning.
The sky outside was already bright, and the bright sunlight filtered through the canvas, illuminating the tent.
Lin Qinghe, whose eyes were tightly closed, let out a soft moan and slowly opened her eyes. The familiar surroundings that greeted her made her pause.
Still in the tent?!
Had she not entered a new world yet?!
As Lin Qinghe was stunned, a familiar voice sounded in her ear, "Awake? Hungry? Should I go out and prepare something to eat first?"
Lin Qinghe turned her head and saw You Rong's chiseled face.
She was completely dumbfounded.
She really hadn't entered a new world!
Why was this happening?!
Lin Qinghe immediately checked the system's progress bar and found that it had only increased by one percent, her expression one of disbelief.
She and You Rong had slept together, and the progress bar had only increased by one percent. It wasn't even full?!
What was going on?!
Too shocked, Lin Qinghe's mind was a mess. She couldn't bother with You Rong beside her, nor did she answer his question.
You Rong looked worried, lowered his head, and touched Lin Qinghe's forehead, "What's wrong? Or did you catch a cold last night and feel unwell?"
Lin Qinghe slightly snapped back to her senses, shook her head absentmindedly, "No... no, I just, I just..." She lowered her eyes and changed the subject, "What time is it? It seems quite late. We agreed to watch the sunrise together, and we missed it."
You Rong stroked Lin Qinghe's cheek and smiled, "I saw you were sleeping so soundly, and I was afraid you were too tired last night, so I wanted you to sleep longer. I didn't wake you. If you want to watch the sunrise, we can come again next time."
"Oh, is that so..." Lin Qinghe suddenly looked up and met You Rong's eyes, asking abruptly, "You Rong, do you truly love me?"
You Rong remained silent for two seconds before replying, "Of course, I truly love you!" He then asked back, "And you? Do you truly love me?"
Lin Qinghe was preoccupied with her thoughts, so her answer was careless, "Of course... of course, I truly love you..."
You Rong noticed Lin Qinghe's absentmindedness. His eyes dimmed for a moment, but he didn't ask further.
"Mhmm... you get up first. I'll go out and make something to eat. We'll head down the mountain after we eat."
Lin Qinghe: "Oh... okay."
You Rong put on his clothes and went out of the tent.
Lin Qinghe flipped over and sat up, running her hands through her hair in frustration, "Where did it go wrong? Why isn't the remaining twenty percent of the progress bar increasing?!"
She had even suspected You Rong of being a scumbag, sleeping with her while saying he truly loved her, but in reality, it wasn't like that!
They had a simple breakfast of milk and toast on the mountain, and Lin Qinghe drove down with You Rong.
All the way, Lin Qinghe's mind was filled with thoughts about the progress bar's stagnation, so much so that she didn't notice You Rong's preoccupied state.
The car stopped at the downstairs of Lin Qinghe's dormitory.
You Rong turned his head and saw Lin Qinghe biting her fingernails, her beautiful brows furrowed, lost in thought, completely unaware that they had arrived.
"Qinghe? Qinghe..."
You Rong called out several times, and Lin Qinghe suddenly snapped back to attention, looking at him with a confused expression, "Huh? What's wrong?"
"..." You Rong: "We're at your dormitory."
Lin Qinghe suddenly realized, "Ah? Oh, oh! Sorry, I was thinking about something and got too absorbed, I didn't notice." She unbuckled her seatbelt and gave You Rong an embarrassed smile, "I'll go up now. Drive carefully on your way back. See you on Monday!"
You Rong pursed his thin lips and nodded, "Mhmm, see you on Monday."
Lin Qinghe pushed open the car door to get out, then suddenly stopped. She sat back down and closed the door again.
You Rong asked in confusion, "Qinghe, do you have something else to tell me..."
The next second, Lin Qinghe leaned forward and kissed You Rong. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately and lingeringly.
You Rong was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he returned Lin Qinghe's kiss even more passionately.
After a while, they separated, their breaths uneven. Lin Qinghe seemed shy, her face flushed, and she quickly said, "See you tomorrow," before getting out of the car and running into the women's dormitory.
In the car, You Rong took a long time to recover. He looked up at the women's dormitory with a complex expression for a long time. It wasn't until someone came to remind him that parking was not allowed here that he collected his thoughts and drove away.
Upstairs.
Lin Qinghe patted her flushed cheeks, calmed herself down, and opened the system to check the progress bar. After confirming it multiple times, she could accept that she hadn't made a mistake.
The progress bar hadn't increased at all!
Lin Qinghe was almost going crazy, "Ah! What on earth is going wrong? It shouldn't be! Before, with intimate contact with You Rong, the progress bar would at least increase by one or two points. Now, it's completely still..."
Lin Qinghe racked her brains but couldn't figure out what the problem was.
She lay on the bed listlessly, cursing in frustration, "What a lousy system. Could it be malfunctioning at this point? It's possible... If this lousy system hadn't malfunctioned, why would You Rong, who was fine, lose his self-awareness in the system and I would have to enter to execute auxiliary tasks and be forced to replace the female lead and date him to increase the progress bar..."
Despite her curses, Lin Qinghe's determination to become a chief tasker did not diminish at all. She did not get discouraged. The next day at school, she did all sorts of things to flirt with You Rong, occasionally blurting out confessions of love, cooking for him by hand, etc., to express her sincerity, and praising You Rong from head to toe, not missing even a single strand of hair.
Lin Qinghe swore that in her twenty-four years of life, whether in reality or in the system, she had never been so servile!
Yet, even so, the progress bar remained stubbornly still.
Lin Qinghe was out of ideas. After a few days of torment, she was exhausted physically and mentally.
After lunch, she slumped on her desk, staring at You Rong, and couldn't help but ask again the question she had asked on Xin Nv Mountain.
"You Rong... do you truly love me?"
You Rong turned to look at her and said without hesitation, "Of course, I truly love you."
"Then why..." Lin Qinghe's words stopped abruptly.
She couldn't directly tell You Rong, "If you truly love me, why is the progress bar stagnant?"
You Rong held Lin Qinghe's hand and asked with some concern, "What's wrong? Do you have something you want to tell me?"
Lin Qinghe shook her head listlessly, "...Nothing."
You Rong gazed at her, his eyes flickering, and then asked abruptly, "And you? Do you truly love me?"
Lin Qinghe said, "Mhmm... of course, I tell you I love you every day! Didn't you hear me?"
"I mean..." You Rong lowered his eyes, "Would you still love me if I were my past self?"
Lin Qinghe was so focused on the progress bar that she didn't look at You Rong carefully and casually replied, "Yes! I told you, as long as it's you, I love you, no matter what kind of you..." Sudan Fiction Network
You Rong pursed his lips and said softly, so only he could hear, "...Really?"