An Junlie was startled, realizing he had inadvertently dug a pit and buried himself. He hastily explained, "I was just kidding." Ziye's face remained stern.

"I was not kidding." An Junlie nearly regretted everything, grabbing Ziye's hand to stop her from moving. Ziye wouldn't yield an inch.

"I need to prepare for my final exams. You should go back." An Junlie wanted to say more, but the opportunity was lost.

Because the Ligong Hotel had arrived. Without sparing him a glance, Ziye disembarked the airship, linking arms with Lingyin and Tang Wan, the three girls laughing and chatting as they walked off.

An Junlie desperately wanted to move closer and say, "I was wrong." However, he simply couldn't utter the words in front of Lingyin and Tang Wan. Little Chi, Little Red, and Little Green, three thoughtless sprites, played wildly, and Yun Lan joined the commotion.

An Junlie drank distractedly, occasionally glancing at Ziye from the corner of his eye, hoping for her to turn back. But Ziye never once looked at An Junlie.

The celebratory gathering didn't end until midnight when they returned to the small building. An Junlie trailed Ziye up to the third floor, glancing left and right.

Seeing no one nearby, he was about to apologize when the door slammed shut in his face without mercy. An Junlie refused to give up and raised his hand to knock.

Thud— Thud-thud-thud— There was no response from the door. An Junlie tried to call out for Little Sprout, but the sprite seemed to be asleep, offering no reply.

Frustrated, he squatted on the ground, drawing circles. Lingyin and Tang Wan, half-drunk, stumbled upstairs, supporting each other.

They accidentally spotted An Junlie standing mournfully in the shadows. Tang Wan let out a surprised "Eh?" and was about to speak when Lingyin pulled her forward quickly, saying as they walked, "He must have done something wrong for Ziye to treat him this way.

Men are all the same; they just want to use the liquor to make a move." Tang Wan mumbled, "I think so too. Let's hurry back, or he might silence us." The two said their goodbyes and fumbled their way back to their respective rooms, closing the doors.

An Junlie nearly spat blood onto the floor; the concept of bringing ruin upon oneself felt tragically real. He couldn't figure out why Ziye suddenly disliked him so much.

He waited by the door until three in the morning. All the lights in the small building were out, yet he hadn't earned a change of heart from Ziye.

He secretly called out for Little Sprout, but the sprite didn't even stir. An Junlie sighed heavily and left the third floor, casting reluctant glances behind him.

If he had known a casual joke would lead to this outcome, he wouldn't have said it even if his life depended on it. Back in his room, he paused, then dialed the number of Vice Commander Lan Li.

"Lan Li, do you have time to chat?" the Commander asked pitifully, sounding exactly like an abandoned young beast. Three or four in the morning was the deepest part of sleep.

Lan Li was jarred awake by the sudden high-frequency transmission, and hearing a request that sounded nothing like an emergency, Lan Li almost smashed the communicator on the spot. Damn it, did he think the Vice Commander was some kind of on-call puppet?

Ugh, An Junlie might not need sleep, but Lan Li did! Lan Li’s face darkened like the sky before a storm, and he roared in exasperation, "Are you calling me in the middle of the night to discuss life and ideals?" An Junlie was silent for a moment.

"I forgot you have morning grogginess." Hmph! To hell with morning grogginess!

Lan Li finally couldn't hold back his outburst. "You try being woken up in the middle of the night!" An Junlie belatedly realized his mistake.

"Sorry, I woke you up. You should go back to sleep; I'm fine." Lan Li’s knuckles cracked audibly.

He woke him up and then just walked away without saying anything else? Could Commander An get any more outrageous?

He suppressed the urge to send An Junlie flying, shook his head to clear his thoughts, and tried to look composed. "Since I'm awake anyway, what is it?" An Junlie glanced at Lan Li, then said sheepishly, "Ziye doesn't want me anymore.

She's sending me back to the Angel Domain." A look of profound satisfaction crossed Lan Li's face, even as he mentally logged An Junlie's midnight call against Ziye. He analyzed the situation rationally.

"Why doesn't she want you? What exactly did she say?" An Junlie finally found someone to confide in, and his pent-up grievances finally had an outlet.

"Recently, Ziye hired a designer for the Jiuya Group. That designer actually has designs on her!

How could I possibly tolerate that? So I..." Lan Li precisely latched onto two words: "Jiuya?" An Junlie felt an immediate urge to punch him.

Jiuya isn't the point, okay? The point is that designer is coveting Ziye!

Lan Li asked again, "Jiuya Group? What is that?" An Junlie was frustrated, but he accepted that explaining the background would help Lan Li understand his mood.

"It's the mecha corporation Ziye just founded. That designer is named Yun Lan; he used to be part of the elite design team at the Vajra Group." Lan Li clicked his tongue.

"Commander, oh Commander, what can I say about you? Look at Ziye—so ambitious!

She's founded two corporations before even finishing university. What have you been doing lately?" An Junlie broke out in a cold sweat.

"That's not the point." Lan Li snapped, "If that's not the point, what is? Did Ziye say anything wrong?

You really should return to the Angel Domain and focus on your work." An Junlie regretted it instantly. Why on earth did he call Lan Li?

Wasn't this just courting disaster? Lan Li hated his idleness and loafing around the most.

Alas. When a person is unlucky, even dialing a random number results in being thoroughly berated.

After finishing his lecture, Lan Li felt refreshed. He hung up and immediately went back to deep sleep, infuriating An Junlie to the point where he wanted to blast him awake.

When tolerance reaches its limit, what then? An Junlie sat on his bed, wide awake, and noticed the time was four in the morning.

It wouldn't be appropriate to bother anyone else now. An Junlie closed his eyes in resignation.

Fine, he'd sleep a little and deal with things after five. His sense of time was incredibly precise.

The moment five o'clock struck, he was instantly awake. An Junlie got up, pulled open the curtains.

The outside light was only at a third of its strength, allowing the natural depth of the starlit sky to envelop the space station. He re-drew the curtains, washed up, dressed, and tiptoed up to the third floor.

He sat down on the sofa in the balcony area, facing Ziye's door. The balcony was some distance from Ziye's room, and he hadn't turned on the balcony light, making it hard to spot him unless someone looked carefully.

At six in the morning, Ziye opened her door exactly on time, flanked by two robots, F4002 and W9999. An Junlie's heart pounded with excitement, and he was about to rush out to apologize, but then he heard Ziye instruct the robots, "The alien should be out jogging by now.

You two, pack his things. After he finishes breakfast at seven, send him back to the Angel Domain." An Junlie felt as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over him; his whole body turned cold.

Ziye was resolute! He stepped out onto the balcony, his feeling a mixture of confusion and deep sorrow.

"Do you really not want to see me?" Ziye shook her head. "No." An Junlie asked, "Why are you driving me away?" Ziye gave him a small smile.

"Can't you figure it out? Go back and think about it." With that, she walked past him without hesitation.

The light breeze from the balcony lifted the ends of her hair, making her look devastatingly cold. An Junlie stood stunned in place.

Where exactly did he go wrong? He looked toward Ziye's retreating back just as Little Sprout flew up from Ziye's head.

His eyes lit up, and he beckoned to Little Sprout with a finger. Little Sprout glanced furtively at Ziye.

Seeing she wasn't paying attention, it flapped its wings quietly and flew toward the balcony. "Silly Ziye, your great self is sticking to the virtual training base today, so I won't go jogging with you." Ziye waved her hand and headed downstairs.

An Junlie waited until she was gone before rushing to Little Sprout’s side, asking urgently, "Dou Dou, do you know why Ziye suddenly hates me?" Little Sprout sat there like a sovereign, pointing a small sprout on its head. "I can tell you, but you have to bring Douzai out first." To get the answer, An Junlie was willing to take the plunge.

He ran to Douzai's dedicated room and lifted it out of its nest, only to see it was full of poop. Just then, Little Sprout’s coquettish voice drifted in from outside.

"If Douzai has pooped, you might as well clean it up while you're at it." An Junlie sighed in defeat, carried Douzai over and placed it next to Little Sprout, then turned back to help clean the droppings. It could be said that cleaning Douzai’s droppings was a technical task.

Douzai had many flavors of metal chew toys and switched them frequently, so its droppings were different every time. Cleaning them required a simple metal analysis; based on the indicated characteristics, the droppings had to be deposited into their designated locations—not a single speck could be wasted.

F4002 was usually responsible for cleaning Douzai’s feces, but if someone in the small building made a mistake, Ziye would assign them this punishment. Little Orange was the one punished most frequently, becoming nearly as skilled as a professional metal analyst through sheer practice.

While sorting the droppings, he replayed the scene of Ziye ordering him away. Why would Ziye suddenly detest him?

Or perhaps she never liked him, and his joke was the final straw that broke the camel's back? Deep freezes don't form in a single day.

Had Ziye been tolerating him for a long time? An Junlie was startled by this thought.

Could it be that Ziye never liked him? Was it because he always acted as her protector?

Because he hadn't told her about Bai Lanxue? But he had explained that matter to her.

Or was it because he always prevented her from interacting with other men? "Ah, you idiot!

You put the poop in the wrong place!" Little Sprout’s sudden voice rang out overhead. An Junlie looked and saw he had indeed misfiled it.

Under Little Sprout's contemptuous gaze, he quickly moved the droppings to the correct location. "No wonder Ziye doesn't like you.

You really are too dense," Little Sprout said, shaking its head pompously, looking utterly disappointed. Something stirred in An Junlie's heart.

"Why doesn't Ziye like me?" Little Sprout turned its head to look at him. "You can't tell?" To uncover the truth, An Junlie decisively submitted to Little Sprout.

"I am too dull-witted; please be explicit." Little Sprout nodded. "I think you are utterly dense." -RS