Chapter 81: Hurry and Come Find Me!

The mist in Ruan Cha’s eyes crystallized. Her aching eyes reddened, and tears fell one by one. She felt so miserable—why did Gu Zhenzhi have to treat her this way? Was it because she trusted him too much, and so her heart had already set high expectations for him?

Her mind was a tangle of confusion. She said nothing more, pressed her lips together, stared at Gu Zhenzhi for a long moment, then turned and walked away.

…

The mountain forest was a maze of complexity; after walking for over ten minutes, Ruan Cha was thoroughly lost among the trees. She crouched on the ground, idly fiddling with leaves in her palm. Ever since the mother in the book had left, the first thing she learned was not to trust others, not to give her feelings away.

She had approached Gu Zhenzhi only to advance the plot of the book, yet when he had decisively declared that nothing could ever happen between them, she still felt uncomfortable. Ruan Cha couldn’t understand why. Even with eighteen years of life in the real world and sixteen years in the book, she couldn’t make sense of it. Some things, she had never experienced from beginning to end.

After steadying her emotions, she stood up and retraced her steps. She should hurry and finish her storyline; once the curtain fell, she would return to the real world, and everything in the book would no longer concern her.

Ruan Cha walked back the way she had come, but after circling several times, she realized the scenery around her never changed, no matter which way she went. She pulled out her phone, intending to send Gu Zhenzhi a message, but before she could finish typing, she noticed—there was no signal at all.

She raised her phone, wandered a few steps, and found a faint signal. Instantly, she dialed Gu Zhenzhi.

“Gu Zhenzhi, I’m lost! Please come find me!” she cried. No sooner had she spoken than the signal dropped.

Ruan Cha fiddled with her phone for a while, realizing the reception in these mountains was truly terrible. She found a stone and sat down.

Forget it.

Just as she was about to rest, thunder rolled fiercely across the sky. The heavy rumble crashed above, and when she looked up, dense black clouds churned overhead.

So, whenever the plot reached a moment of sorrow, must heaven also shed a few tears?

No sooner had she thought this than rain began to pour, drenching her through. She scrambled up from the stone and sought shelter beneath a tree.

Cold air swept in, chilling her to the bone; the wind turned her nose bright red.

…

Half an hour passed, the sky darkening further, thick storm clouds blanketing the mountain. Ruan Cha checked her phone again—still no signal. She wondered if Gu Zhenzhi had heard her message; if not, then she was waiting here in vain.

With that thought, she took out her phone and opened the base’s internal communication system—just as she was about to type—

“Ruan Cha!” The deep voice was rough with exhaustion, laced with urgency impossible to ignore.

She turned her head.

Under the darkened sky, Gu Zhenzhi stood beneath a tree not far away. His clothes were soaked, his slender frame seeming frail in the cold wind.

Ruan Cha’s breath caught.

As Gu Zhenzhi drew closer, she saw more clearly. His face was deathly pale, frighteningly so; the rain had drenched his black hair, strands falling across his eyes, shadowing the emotion within.

“Gu Zhenzhi…” Ruan Cha managed to speak, her voice trembling faintly.