"Keep it?" Wang Qiqi and Zhu Lina didn't find Lu Qiaowei's question strange. After all, when the photos were secretly printed, everyone except Daizi had admired them; they had strongly requested a few of Daizi's most clueless shots.

Of course, Wang Qiqi and the others rejected their requests. Are you kidding? How could such photos be given to them? After all, they had promised Daizi they would destroy them. What if those few men suddenly showed the photos to Daizi? If Daizi couldn't deal with the men, he could certainly deal with them. Gong Junyu and the others had brought up the matter several times, even devising various tricks to obtain the photos. Due to various reasons, the album was hidden more and more securely, and once they realized there was no way to get the photos, they could only give up.

Even though Lu Qiaowei was Daizi’s girlfriend, Wang Qiqi and Zhu Lina certainly wouldn't agree to her proposal. If Daizi saw the actual pictures, it would be disastrous, the kind that no one could rescue him from. Especially since they showed Lu Qiaowei Daizi’s most embarrassing side—truly, sigh.

"Right, not only can I not give you these photos, but you should also pretend these other photos don't exist," Zhu Lina said as she put the album away and hid it again. Wang Qiqi cautioned Lu Qiaowei, "Know that these are your ultimate bargaining chips for the future, for instance..."

Lu Qiaowei nodded, indicating she understood. Only now did she truly grasp why Daizi spoke of them with such awe mixed with apprehension. They really knew how to cause trouble and bully people. Moreover, from the looks they exchanged, Lu Qiaowei could tell these photos would have great utility; Wang Qiqi and the others wouldn't let them simply sit in a safe.

Shi Man returned home, placing the breakfast she bought on the dining table. Soon after, she heard the doorbell ring. "Who is it?" Who would come this early in the morning?

"It's me." Dai Lijun had assumed everyone inside was still asleep. He hadn't expected such a quick response, and it was Shi Man, who was supposed to be out. This made Dai Lijun hesitate slightly.

Dai Lijun knew that if Shi Man hadn't had an appointment with Feng Xuanxiang yesterday, she wouldn't have let him off so easily. The moment he thought of his girlfriend still being in the lion's den, Dai Lijun, even if he wanted to flee, had to maintain his composure.

Hearing it was Dai Lijun, and noticing it wasn't even ten yet, Shi Man first found it strange. Why would Daizi come so early on a non-school day? Then she remembered her bed was occupied by Daizi’s girlfriend, and she realized Daizi came early because he didn't trust her, wanting to prevent her from bullying his girlfriend. Hmph, so petty. Shi Man heavily marked down Daizi, who was waiting outside the door, in her mental ledger.

Shi Man intended to give someone a good chilling lesson, letting him stand in the hallway to catch a bit of cold air, but she worried about scaring Daizi away. After some deliberate delay, she slowly went to open the door. "You’re here so early. Good, we still have some scores to settle."

Hearing Shi Man's words, Dai Lijun knew things weren't looking good. He looked around and saw no one in the living room. He inwardly screamed, I’m done for, done for! How could Wang Qiqi and the others still be asleep? The others could sleep in, but his dear girlfriend should be awake. With her presence, Shi Man would surely hold back somewhat.

Shi Man sat on the sofa and noticed Daizi hadn't followed her in. He was standing foolishly by the door, unmoving. She said crossly, "Stop looking. All three of them are sleeping soundly." Hmph, before teaching Daizi a lesson, how could Shi Man forget to survey the enemy positions?

Daizi glanced at Shi Man upon hearing this, realizing if he didn't move over, he was courting death. He quickly moved to sit on the sofa beside her. "Manman, I can explain." Since there was no external support, Daizi stuck to the principle of 'confession brings lighter sentence, resistance brings heavier penalty.' Only an idiot would quibble with Shi Man at a time like this, and besides, he had his own plans.

As Dai Lijun explained, Shi Man continuously emitted soft 'harrumphs' and radiated cold air. Every time Shi Man snorted, Daizi’s body would twitch, and his voice would start to shake. Gradually, his explanations faded into near silence.

Shi Man watched Daizi quiet down. She really wanted to knock open his head, but she didn't want to wake the people sleeping inside. She continuously educated Daizi in a low voice. While being lectured, all Daizi could do was keep bowing his head, admitting his mistakes, and constantly saying he wouldn't make such errors again. What else could he do?

Wang Qiqi groggily climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom and saw people sitting in the living room. She wondered why they were up so early when the three of them had chatted so late last night. As for Wang Qiqi saying yesterday that Daizi and the others should come over for a meal, Wang Qiqi had decided that at most, the men could bring takeout, or they could just have a simple hotpot. As for the hotpot aroma she disliked the most, since they were leaving tonight anyway, a strong smell wouldn't matter much.

Wang Qiqi rubbed her eyes and realized it was Shi Man and Daizi. Seeing their posture, it was clearly Shi Man lecturing Daizi. When Daizi looked at Wang Qiqi with pleading eyes upon seeing her appear, Wang Qiqi completely ignored him. She wasn't going to be foolish enough to put in a good word for Daizi. Just as she was about to wave her hand to signal the lecture should continue, Wang Qiqi suddenly remembered something. "Manman, remember to tell Daizi to go to the market later to buy some vegetables. The few of us chatted really late yesterday, and I have neither the energy nor the mood to cook. Let's have hotpot for lunch."

"Hotpot sounds great!" Shi Man naturally had no objection to eating that for lunch, and what pleased her even more was that she wouldn't have to work. "Qiqi, you rest well. I'll have Daizi buy the vegetables, and I'll have him prepare them too." Hmph, after someone made such a big mistake, he certainly needed some proper teaching.

Wang Qiqi, hearing Shi Man assure her Daizi would buy and clean the vegetables, simply replied with an "Oh," and returned to bed to sleep more. She was simply too tired; if she didn't catch up on sleep during the day, she'd be exhausted after an all-night train ride. "Work hard, Manman, you supervise."

Shi Man gave Wang Qiqi an OK gesture. "Don't worry, once you're up, we can eat. Let Daizi show off a bit in front of his girlfriend." The point of this meal was to let Lu Qiaowei know that our Daizi was quite skilled—capable of cooking and earning money.

Not long after Wang Qiqi returned to her room and slipped back into sleep, she felt someone climbing onto her low platform bed. "Manman?" At this hour, the only person who would leave the warm duvet to get into hers had to be Shi Man.

Shi Man grunted and pulled Wang Qiqi into a tight hug. "How was your talk with that girl yesterday?" She hadn't expected Daizi’s girlfriend to stay over yesterday. She missed out on so much!

"It was okay. Besides, it was just the first exchange. She's quite wary of us too. Daizi must really like that girl, though," otherwise, why would he have come so early? Yesterday, it seemed they had worked late into the night. By normal standards, Daizi wouldn't have shown up until mealtime. He must have come over out of concern that I was bullying his girlfriend.

Shi Man hugged Wang Qiqi and snorted coldly. "He finally found a good girl he thinks highly of and doesn't try hard to keep an eye on her." Really, having a girlfriend changed the whole person. Look, he didn't even sleep in this morning, rushing over early. "I just sent him to buy groceries, and he didn't even question it."

Wang Qiqi detected the sour tone in Shi Man's voice. "Since Daizi's girlfriend is here today, be mindful of what you say. She was asking about us yesterday, especially about your relationship with Daizi, in a very roundabout way." My relationship with Zhu Lina and Daizi is just that of good friends. But Shi Man and Daizi are like 'close friends,' the kind of close that would make Feng Xuanxiang jealous. However, he knew nothing could happen between Shi Man and Daizi. The problem was, Lu Qiaowei didn't know that. If she saw the intimate way Shi Man and Daizi interacted, wouldn't she have ideas?

Shi Man sighed several times. "I know, I know. I'll watch my words." She used to interact with Daizi more because she was worried that if someone’s secret crush failed, they would completely lose confidence.

Wang Qiqi had intended to catch up on sleep, but with Shi Man joining her, she couldn't drift off again. Shi Man kept pulling her aside to recount how she had just lectured Daizi. Wang Qiqi had only one thought: why didn't Daizi take that child out with him when he left? "Did you not do any work last night? How are you still this energetic?" Has someone's capability declined recently?

Shi Man, who had been happily recounting how she disciplined Daizi, flushed when she heard Wang Qiqi’s question. "What do you mean by that? What do you mean?" How could Shi Man not be tired? It was just that she worried if she went back to bed immediately, the sisters would talk about what happened last night. So she forced herself to stay up and chat with Qiqi, not expecting Wang Qiqi to utter such a remark. This deeply stung Wang Qiqi. "Hmph, I was worried you might be upset because your man left. Now it seems I worried for nothing." Good intentions truly go unrewarded.

Wang Qiqi fell silent for a moment. "Let's sleep. I’m so tired. There’s nothing I can do about feeling sad. For the sake of the future, separating now is for better days ahead, and there will be many more separations like this, so we must adapt." Since her rebirth, Wang Qiqi had been with Han Tao quite often, and even their separations were brief. This time, however, they couldn't talk on the phone for a whole month, only communicating through cold internet links—it wasn't a good feeling. "Manman, you need to start adapting slowly too. By the way, how are your man’s study abroad preparations coming along?"

Hearing Wang Qiqi ask this, Shi Man's mood immediately soured. The thought that her man was also leaving her to study in America, and for a whole year at a time, made her feel she would be even lonelier than Wang Qiqi.

[Rebirth: Mecha Storm] Author: Ya Tou Yi Mei Synopsis: First, she will stomp that person under her heel!

[Boudoir Matters] Ya Tou Yi Mei Synopsis: A certain loli expresses that fighting in noble houses is quite stressful; she still prefers chatting nonsense with ghosts!