The rain outside fell in a soft, soundless drizzle; traffic was snarled, yet even the clamor of car horns seemed muffled, leaving an atmosphere of profound stillness.

Wang Zhuo lay with his head pillowed on a double stack, a sleep mask covering his eyes, letting his mind go completely blank, focused only on savoring this most unique experience of his life.

What moved him most about Siyuan, beyond her talent, were her charmingly naive little schemes, the intensity of her focus when fully absorbed in something, and her selfless love.

A woman's love is exclusionary; while Qi Fei and Guan Yingying had accepted Wang Zhuo’s current situation, they hadn't reached Siyuan's level. Her love was pure, all-consuming, and carelessly devoted. Wang Zhuo knew that if a woman were willing to die for him, Siyuan might not be the only one, but she would undoubtedly be the first to rush forward.

He had once wanted to refuse her, thinking that, as in so many stories, she would eventually grow up and turn her affections elsewhere. But now, it seemed, she couldn't wait any longer...

After an indeterminate time—perhaps only five minutes, perhaps more than half an hour—just as Wang Zhuo was tenderly stroking her earlobe, his arm rising and falling rhythmically with the gentle movement of her head, the door next to them clicked softly, followed by the faint, shuffling sound of slippers heading toward the bathroom.

Qin Siqing had woken up and gone to the lavatory.

Their movements abruptly ceased. Wang Zhuo flung the sleep mask off his face and shot upright. Siyuan hastily lifted her delicate face, watching him with shy eyes.

Wang Zhuo cupped her face in his hands, ignoring the single crystalline thread of moisture clinging to the corner of her mouth, and pressed a deep, firm kiss onto her rosy, vibrant lips. He then swiftly smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and gestured toward the floor-to-ceiling window.

The young girl looked ready to swoon with happiness. Dazed, she slid off the bed, pulled back the curtains, picked up a small spray bottle from the windowsill, and pretended to water the potted plants.

Wang Zhuo quickly found his underwear and board shorts, pulled them on, adjusted his crotch to give the fabric a slightly looser look, and then silently eased the door open just a hand-width crack before returning to his computer and powering it up.

The pair erased all traces of their activity in less than a minute. When Qin Siqing emerged from the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth, she was met with a harmonious scene: Wang Zhuo was online chatting, and Siyuan was tending to the room's potted plants.

“Morning,” she mumbled, extracting the toothbrush.

“Morning. Just woke up too?” Wang Zhuo sat ramrod straight before the computer, smiling and waving at her.

“Mmm,” Qin Siqing replied. “When did Xiao San'er wake up?”

“A little earlier than you,” Siyuan answered diligently while watering, without looking up.

“She woke up and immediately came to wake me,” Wang Zhuo chuckled, his words carrying a deliberate double meaning.

Qin Siqing simply hummed an acknowledgment. “I’m going to wash my face.”

With that, she retreated back to the bathroom. Siyuan immediately set down the spray bottle and walked quickly toward the exit. As she passed Wang Zhuo, she shot him a fleeting, shy glance, paused, unsure what to say.

Wang Zhuo gave her a wry smile and nodded: “You win.”

Siyuan instantly understood the implication of his words. With a delighted leap, she threw herself into Wang Zhuo’s embrace, hugging his body tightly and looking up, demanding a kiss.

Wang Zhuo kissed her lightly, a mere brush of his lips, and whispered, “Hurry up and get ready, and be careful not to let anything slip.”

Only then did Siyuan reluctantly pull herself away, shaking Wang Zhuo’s hand with playful affection before heading toward the washroom.

Watching her retreating figure, Wang Zhuo felt a wave of affection mixed with the realization that he had acquired a little temptress. This girl was effusive and terrible at hiding things; this secret affair was bound to be exposed sooner or later.

Qin Siqing was washing her face when Siyuan entered, beaming. “What’s got you so happy?” she asked curiously.

“Nothing, just remembered something pleasant.” Siyuan truly wasn't skilled at lying; the casual excuse she offered sounded transparently evasive.

Fortunately, though Qin Siqing was generally easygoing with her, they had only known each other for less than twenty-four hours, and she couldn't press the issue, so she let the answer pass with a simple smile.

After Qin Siqing finished her routine and left, the blissfully happy Siyuan couldn't bear to brush her teeth or rinse her mouth; she merely washed her face before coming out...

The flood situation was quite severe; even the ground floor of the Shengshi Dynasty store had taken on water. The manager had no choice but to temporarily close down and mobilize the staff for relief efforts.

The rain eased for over an hour that morning, and the water level on the streets dropped slightly. Xiao Wanjun called Wang Zhuo, saying that if the sun stayed out for another couple of hours, they could probably send Qin Siqing back home.

Qin Siqing wasn't in a hurry to leave; she was quite comfortable at Wang Zhuo’s place. What did it matter if she played the homebody for a couple of days? She had food, drink, and entertainment, communication and internet access, and quite a few things in common with Siyuan. Most importantly, she held a strong affection for Wang Zhuo, so why rush home?

Siyuan, on the other hand, was desperately hoping this three-thousand-watt 'third wheel' would depart quickly. But she couldn't show any sign of it, leaving her in a state of internal turmoil. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with Qin Siqing; she felt a sense of kinship with her, but this was not the time. Her entire focus was already fixed on Wang Zhuo.

The only one truly unconcerned was Wang Zhuo. While he hadn't exactly been a Casanova, he was long past the stage of being a frantic lecher. If Qin Siqing left, it would be a smooth progression; if she stayed, it would simply mean a delay—and he thought that was fine too.

The three of them spent the morning online. In the afternoon, they went out to splash around a bit. Many children were having water fights in the streets, having turned this disaster into a source of fun, reminding Wang Zhuo of his own childhood, completely oblivious to the ruthless nature of water and fire.

Grocery prices surged again. Bottled and purified water were about to sell out completely, and fresh vegetables and side dishes had vanished days ago. The two girls praised Wang Zhuo for his foresight. The trio then visited the women's clothing section and bought some affordable garments for washing and changing.

The day slipped by. Qi Fei, far away in Macau, specifically called Wang Zhuo to ask about the situation in Jiangzhou.

She was worried that Siyuan might have thrown herself at Wang Zhuo, and he, unable to resist, might have taken advantage of the situation and formalized things. Unfortunately for Qi Fei, the very thing she feared had already come to pass; Qin Siqing had proven ineffective as a barrier.

“Oh, Sister, don't worry. How could I possibly make a move on a little girl who hasn't even fully sprouted?” Wang Zhuo whispered into the phone, explaining himself, while thinking to himself that while he hadn't made a move on her, Siyuan had certainly made a move on him.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Qi Fei quickly added, worried about sounding nagging. “I just thought you might be bored by yourself in Jiangzhou, afraid you’d be lonely.”

“Then hurry up and fly back to keep me company,” Wang Zhuo seized the opportunity to suggest.

“Soon, I should be able to return in a few days,” Qi Fei chuckled lightly. “Call me if you miss me.”

After hanging up, Wang Zhuo fell into a state of anxiety. Even if Siyuan’s affair could be concealed from others, it absolutely couldn't be kept from Qi Fei, who lived with Siyuan. How should he handle this? Should he lay all his cards on the table?

...

As evening approached, just when Siyuan thought Sister Xiao Yue would be the unwelcome third wheel again tonight, news arrived that brought her joy.

A fire brigade unit conducting emergency repairs on the city’s water pipes nearby had access to motorcycles and inflatable assault boats. The municipal leader in charge of the situation somehow learned of this, reported it up the chain, and Xiao Wanjun instructed them to spare some personnel to transport Qin Siqing to the Municipal Committee offices.

After seeing off Sister Xiao Yue, Siyuan bolted ahead of everyone else back to the house, cheering and leaping like a caged bird finally set free. But when she heard the sound of Wang Zhuo opening the door, she instantly transformed into a frightened little rabbit and fled back to her room.

She had expected Instructor Wang to turn into the Big Bad Wolf, smash down the door, and pin down Little Red Riding Hood. Instead, Wang Zhuo lingered at the door without making a move, much to her bewilderment.

At that very moment, however, Wang Zhuo was sitting before the computer viewing her QQ chat history. When he’d taken Qin Siqing downstairs earlier, she had been so excited she forgot to log out of QQ on Wang Zhuo's laptop, leaving it running. As Wang Zhuo went back upstairs, he happened to glance over with his clairvoyance and caught sight of a QQ group she belonged to called the "Aizhuo Frontline Alliance," which made him pause.

The Aizhuo Frontline Alliance? The name struck Wang Zhuo as both amusing and ridiculous—what a bizarre collection of nonsense.

Wang Zhuo had quite a few fans online, but since the wave of censorship swept through, videos depicting him fighting punks at the swimming pool, engaging in brawls, raiding a police station for a gun, or beating up city management officers on Nanjing Road had all vanished from local servers.

But Chinese law couldn't govern foreign servers. If you had a firewall, he had wall-piercing abilities. On several overseas websites, those videos still existed, and some were incredibly popular, racking up views in the hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions. The video of Wang Zhuo fighting the city management officers on the American site "YouTubai" alone had accumulated ten million views.

Although those videos couldn't be found on video streaming sites, they could still be spread via peer-to-peer software like BT downloads, eMule, and Vaga. Thus, Wang Zhuo’s fans could continue to disseminate the glorious deeds of "Instructor Wang" through various channels, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with figures like the Five-Stripe Cadet, Emperor Li Yi, Brother Chun, and Brother Zeng.

Wang Zhuo usually didn't pay attention to these things, but he was aware of the most famous fan clubs and occasionally chatted with their leaders or key members. However, he truly had never heard of this organization called the "Aizhuo Frontline Alliance."

Opening the alliance group chat, he saw there were quite a few members. The creator was Siyuan, listed as Xiao San'er. Besides her, there was a female administrator named Ah Jiu, using a profile picture of a Fish-Girl-Rabbit avatar, and then no one else.

“Quite the grand alliance,” Wang Zhuo muttered, about to close the QQ group with a wry smile, when he suddenly noticed that the Fish-Girl-Rabbit avatar was identical to one of his QQ contacts. His hand paused out of curiosity, and he clicked on her profile information.

Upon looking, Wang Zhuo realized this was the netizen he had been chatting with. He had enjoyed their conversations immensely but had no idea when they had become friends; he had always assumed the contact number had been added previously. Now, it seemed that wasn't the case?

Could this be Siyuan using an alias, or an undercover agent she had planted beside him? Wang Zhuo felt a sense of confusion. He casually opened her chat history with Siyuan.