Chapter 30 - 1.27

"When two people like each other, what does Zicheng ge think they must do?" Xu Jiaqi teased, picking up her glass of wine gently and sipping the alcoholic liquid in a sultry manner. Her eyes were kept on Qin Zicheng the entire time, and picked up his undeniably shaken attitude.

Qin Zicheng thought to himself deeply before answering innocently.

"They should marry each other?"

Xu Jiaqi's eyes widened, then blinked a few times. She knew that Qin Zicheng was quite innocent in matters like these, but to this point?

"Ao? Zicheng ge, what year is it? How come you jump straight to marriage? Aren't you afraid that I'm some gold digger who would steal your fortune when you're not looking? Marriage.. That kind of thing can't be done like changing clothes, ah. I hate people who think marriage is a convenient thing." Xu Jiaqi puckered her lips, pouting in disappointment.

Qin Zicheng panicked and shook his head. "No, I don't just ask people to marry me like this out of nowhere.. Qiqi, you are different."

"..If one day.. let's say, I lose my memories, and I'll no longer be the Xu Jiaqi you know, then are you going to abandon me?" Xu Jiaqi asked. "I'm different from the others, hm? That's vague. If I suddenly acted like everybody else, are you going to cancel out your feelings?"

Xu Jiaqi was getting bitter, and a part of her chaotic emotions suddenly took over as she muttered these words. She didn't know what went by her head. She just suddenly thought of her situation, thought of how acting was such a prominent thing everybody did in their lives.

Right now, to Qin Zicheng, she was also acting to a certain level.

'How pathetic.' Xu Jiaqi thought.

A good actor was someone who wouldn't break out of their character when doing their job. Xu Jiaqi still hasn't fully mastered separating her character from her true self, so she got a bit wary after this incident happened. The fact that even after she sought to forget her past memories, the sentimental values still stayed back was quite dangerous to her future prospects.

"This matter.." Qin Zicheng's brows crumpled as he sought the answer within himself.

However, just as he was about to come close to the answer he wanted to present, Xu Jiaqi suddenly cut the topic off.

"Fret not. I'm not asking you to answer this kind of philosophical question right off the bat. I was just raising the idea up. For now, since we know that both of us like each other, then we can just simply date. It's as easy as that. Dating isn't like marriage, where you have to go through the trouble of setting everything up. We can just enjoy our time together as a couple." Xu Jiaqi leaned back to her seat and spoke.

Qin Zicheng showed a frustrated expression, perhaps because of his lack of ability to answer the question Xu Jiaqi had thrown to him. However, he was more interested in the promise Xu Jiaqi made, and that was to date.

"What do you think about this, ge?" Xu Jiaqi questioned.

"Of course.. of course we should. We should date." Qin Zicheng replied resolutely. He never knew that engaging in something like love would be this much of a heart exercise. His heart was pumping through and through, making him constantly worry about himself.

"Then it's set. Congratulations on our first day, please remember the date. Let's see... 23rd of April. It's not my favorite number, but it's fine, I suppose?" Xu Jiaqi tilted her head as she pulled out her phone and opened up the camera.

In her camera app, there was a filter specially made for couples who just treaded on their first day of relationship. The filter had hearts floating around the screen, and allowed you to input a date on the bottom right corner. Xu Jiaqi quickly snapped up a picture of the two of them and saved it into his gallery.

In seconds, this picture was sent to Qin Zicheng's message box, which triggered the man to look at the picture with great interest.

Xu Jiaqi typed on the message app.

Little Qiqi: There you go.

Little Qiqi: Oh hello there, my boyfriend :)

Little Qiqi: Zicheng ge, come to my house when you are free and face my parents. Be prepared :D

A smile bloomed on Qin Zicheng's face seeing his girl's playful chats. However, instead of replying, he shut off his phone and placed it into his pocket.

"Ao, you're not going to respond?" Xu Jiaqi complained.

"The real person is right before me, and she's so pleasing to look at. Why would I prefer to look at a boring screen?" Qin Zicheng's playful manner also seemed to awaken after his initial stages of shock and surprise. He began to rack up his mind to not only retaliate on Xu Jiaqi's teasing, but also do it better than her.

"...Very welllll. Look as much as you want, I know that I'm pretty." Xu Jiaqi dragged out her words, posing beautifully for the man to see. "Do you like a cute girl? Or perhaps a charming woman, a strict figure, or someone you could pamper until death?" Xu Jiaqi changed her poses, acting into different characters consecutively.

To this question, Qin Zicheng refused to pick out of the selections he was given.

"I like.. Xu Jiaqi." He calmly said without shame. "Xu Jiaqi, I only like you, I don't need you to become something else."

"...Is that so?"

He liked Xu Jiaqi, the persona she was acting. It was quite ironic. She 'liked' him because she had a mission. She brainwashed herself to 'like' Qin Zicheng, her target, so that her character would be fulfilled. The Big Miss Xu of this world, not the soul inside the body.

He only liked the Xu Jiaqi, a character she made to fulfill her mission.

Once again, she felt conflicted.

Xu Jiaqi: Why is it so complicated?