"Welcome, parents, to the Happy Every Day Kindergarten for our drama performance," said the teacher.
"First up is the Sunflower Class performing the story of Cinderella."
Yi Qingju enthusiastically applauded from the audience.
The girl playing Cinderella was an adorable little girl.
The tiny girl knelt on the floor scrubbing stains when a milky voice called out, "Cinderella, you lazy girl, where are you hiding?"
Then a petite girl wearing a frilly dress, cruel stepmother wig and red lipstick appeared with two other girls.
"Oh my, how cute! Whose child is that?"
She instantly won over all the parents.
Yi Qingju, hiding her identity behind a mask, couldn't help sitting up straighter and taking out a handmade sign she had stayed up all night making.
My child!
Though the lines were a bit altered for children, the plot was the same as the Cinderella Yi Qingju knew, made more amusing by the children's mispronunciations.
Qi Xinian's clear enunciation stood out from the other children, making everyone pay special attention when he was on stage.
Finally, it came to the confrontation between Cinderella and the cruel stepmother.
The poor girl didn't understand why she was being treated that way. "Why are you doing this to me?"
Just as Qi Xinian was about to deliver his line, he caught sight of Yi Qingju's sign in the front row out of the corner of his eye.
'I am Di Ka. I'm cheering for Qi Xinian! Let's see who dares oppose him!'
Qi Xinian barely managed not to break character.
He then shifted his gaze and opened his mouth to speak—
Only to realize he had forgotten his lines...
Sun Wenjuan glanced over at Yi Qingju.
Yi Qingju: "It wasn't me!"
Really.
Fortunately Xiao Baozi had strong stage presence. After that one hiccup, the rest went smoothly according to the script.
Yi Qingju breathed a sigh of relief.
She turned to glance at Qi Weiran's private booth, but all she could see was darkness.
【The mission target is right nearby. Host Yi Qingju, why aren't you by his side?!】
The familiar mechanical voice suddenly rang out in Yi Qingju's mind, giving her a tremendous shock.
Touching the petite figure of Xiao Jiji and getting a response calmed her racing heart.
Xiao Jiji had said before that he couldn't completely kill the original system in her body, only suppress it, so it would pop up from time to time.
"I have something to take care of. I'll take my leave first, Auntie An," she said to Sun Wenjuan beside her who was staying to watch the other classes' performances.
【Don't make a fuss, I'm going to serve Master Qi】 Yi Qingju couldn't help retorting to the prompt ringing in her brain.
Before she reached the door, she ran into Qi Weiran surrounded by layers of bodyguards in the hallway.
Perhaps because Qi Weiran had been treating her fairly well recently, Yi Qingju greeted him without any hard feelings.
"Sir."
She took the initiative to walk over.
Unexpectedly, Qi Weiran didn't even look her way. He just said coldly, "Step aside."
Yi Qingju was taken aback.
She was very familiar with this attitude from when they had first married.
She instinctively moved out of the way for his entourage to pass.
Before she could consider whether Qi Weiran had secretly lost his memory, the accursed alarm rang out in her brain again.
【Host Yi Qingju! What are you doing! Hurry up and follow him!】
A current suddenly shocked her entire body, bringing tears to her eyes.
The pained look on the girl's now white face was quickly replaced by an ingratiating smile as she limped after them.
Little Jiji was so distressed he nearly cried.
Mistress, just a few more minutes, hang in there a few more minutes!
"Sir, Xiao Baozi's performance was great just now. Did you see it?"
With the bodyguards surrounding Qi Weiran, Yi Qingju could only hover around the edges, trailing behind.
No matter what the girl said, the man's expression didn't change.
He couldn't hear her heartfelt words.
Was it because he had developed his own subjective consciousness and no longer imagined her according to the persona he had created for her?
So was everything just his fantasy after all?
He had imagined this Yi Qingju as another interesting soul.
During the electric shock punishment for chasing Qi Weiran, Yi Qingju's legs suddenly gave out and she crashed to the carpeted floor with a muffled thud.
Yet she made no sound of pain.
Qi Weiran, who had been staring straight ahead walking, paused in his tracks. His lips twisted subtlely as he ordered, "Help her up."
Zhang Wei shot him a surprised glance before silently carrying out the order.
"Mistress." Only after helping her up did Zhang Wei notice she seemed to have injured her elbow and ankle.
Her skin was too delicate and sensitive. The coarse carpet had scraped her elbows and knees while her foot was also sprained.
Though he didn't understand why the Master's attitude toward her had changed back, Zhang Wei still dutifully reported, "Sir, the Mistress is injured."
Of course Qi Weiran saw.
The girl sat motionless on the ground as if oblivious to pain, blankly staring at her phone which had fallen to the floor, its screen lit. Her slender shoulders trembled slightly.
Qi Weiran's eyes darkened. She was innocent. It was his own fault to begin with. Seeing her injured now when she had done nothing wrong would be unmanly to ignore.
Just as he was about to tell them to take her to the hospital, an excited voice suddenly rang out in his mind, seeming to pierce his cranium.
【Oh my god!! I hit the jackpot - candlelight dinner date with the male lead!!】
【Who's calling him male lead anymore】
【Hello, may I ask if you would do me the honor of becoming the male lead in my life? 】
【Finally found a successor for when Qi Weiran kicks the bucket! Heaven is on this old lady's side!】
Qi Weiran: "......"
Just as Yi Qingju was shaking with excitement, a pair of shiny leather shoes suddenly appeared before her. Then her body was lifted up into the air.
When she came back to her senses, she was cradled in Qi Weiran's embrace.
The man's strong arms held her steadily as he strode forward.
"To the hospital."
Yi Qingju: ?
【Are you bipolar with paranoid delusions or short term memory loss that just came back?】
Qi Weiran thought, neither.
He was an auditory hallucinating mental patient who had conjured up his dream girl out of thin air.
