When Xie Rong refreshed the page, she saw Fang Cheng Ran's reply.

Great God wanted to meet her at the old place?!

She rubbed her eyes, making sure she hadn't misread, then almost fell off the upper bunk.

Zhu Zhu, who was now shampooing her hair in the bathroom, was alarmed by the sound. Wiping the bubbles off her forehead, she squinted in and asked, "What are you doing? Demolishing the bed?"

"No... Nothing..." Xie Rong was honestly unable to move. She patted her face in an attempt to calm herself down. She could still see the green text of "Author's reply" on the screen, and she giggled wretchedly.

At the old place, she had an 'old place' with the Great God... Wait a minute. Where was the old place?

In her mind, she carefully went over all the places they had been to. The bar, cafe, concert hall and... his doorstep.

Wasn't that the old place where she had ambushed him at the house gate so many times... Oh, Great God, you bold and unrestrained beast! She wanted to scream!

As that was happening, the comment area exploded.

"...What the hell is this?"

"I feel like a new black wave is coming. The theme this time is Great God hooking up with their readers [goodbye]"

"I believe I saw in the news yesterday that a certain star slept with a fan again [laugh cry]"

"Where is 'the old place'! Surrender the address and we can still be friends!"

"Has anyone noticed that this Auntie Washing Railways was the one who used to send advertisements? Maybe Great God is just putting their foot down."

"Great God, if you're successful in hooking up, will you finally resume updating? [Laugh cry]"

...

Seeing all the replies, Xie Rong feared that she might blacken Great God's reputation and quickly explained: "Everyone, you've misunderstood! It's I who has been doing the hooking!"

All readers: "..."

Watching the cool screen, Fang Cheng Ran's mouth could not help but quirk up. To have found such a crazy girl to play the part of his girlfriend, his standards must have dropped to the point where it didn't bear thinking about.

The next day Xie Rong got up early, putting on a face mask and choosing clothes, bustling about happily. At nine o'clock, she finally hurried out with her bag.

The girl sleeping at the door heard the sound of the door closing, and mumbled, "Who was that?"

Zhu Zhu, who had been lying in bed reading a novel, replied, "Little Xie Rong."

"Huh? Doesn't she usually sleep in the latest? It's still the weekend."

"Don't you think she's changed recently?" Zhu Zhu speculated. "I suspect she's in love."

Love was always a hot topic for a girls' dorm, so those who were sleeping woke and those who were reading put aside their novels to discuss Classmate Xie Rong's emotional issues with great interest.

Xie Rong arrived at Fang Cheng Ran's doorstep within 30 minutes, and then, as was her habit... hid in the corner.

Five minutes later, the door opened and Fang Cheng Ran came out in a suit. Xie Rong’s eyes lit up and she hopped out from her corner. “Good morning, Great God!”

Fang Cheng Ran was slightly surprised. He sized her up for a long time before asking, “Are you a gopher?”

Xie Rong: “...”

“Why did you come here?"

"Didn't you ask me to meet you at the old place?"

A muscle twitched in Fang Cheng Ran's mouth. "I meant the café we met at yesterday." He then observed her thoughtfully. "How did you know where I live?"

Xie Rong hesitated, then said, very innocently, "Baidu."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

Who are you fooling?!

He took a deep breath, summoned his patience, and smiled at her. "Since you're here, that saves me some time picking you up. Come in."

Xie Rong was frozen on the spot. Great, Great God was really inviting her into his house! What should she do if he had any requests later!

"Miss Xie." Fang Cheng Ran stood at the door, a warm smile on his face.

She returned to her body and quickly trotted up. "Great God, there's no need for the 'Miss'! You can straight up call me 'baby'!"

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

"It's my nickname, that's what my family calls me! "

Fang Cheng Ran somehow managed to keep a straight face. "I'd better call you Miss Xie."

Xie Rong thought it over. "Then you can call me Rongrong."

"...... alright then, Rongrong . "

The two sat down on the leather sofa in the living room. Smiling, Fang Cheng Ran poured her a cup of coffee. "Miss...... Rongrong, did you know why I asked you here today?"

Xie Rong shook her head very honestly. "I don't."

Fang Cheng Ran smiled helplessly. "If you didn't know, why would you come back home with me?"

"Because it's you, I'll cooperate with whatever you want!"

Fang Cheng Ran: "......"

He could not help but secretly worry for Xie Rong's parents. "Actually, it's not a big deal. Do you still remember the girl we met at the concert hall yesterday?"

Xie Rong nodded.

"Didn't I tell her you were my girlfriend? This matter was brought to my father, and now he's asked me to bring you back to meet him."

Shocked, Xie Rong's mouth fell open. She looked at him blankly.

Great God, are you asking me to pretend to be your girlfriend? She didn't know if she could hold up such a heavy role in this drama!

But she clenched her fist, her eyes determined. "You can rest assured that although I've only once played a little walk-on maid in the drama club, I have confidence in my acting skills!"

"...that's good, then." Fang Cheng Ran relied on his own strong heart to communicate with her. "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"No trouble, no trouble at all!" Xie Rong once again shook her head like a rattle. She glanced at Fang Cheng Ran a few times before testing the waters. "Great God, you're not being... forced into marriage, are you?"

Fang Cheng Ran sighed. "Well, our two families are currently cooperating with each other, so my father wants me to have a good relationship with the other's daughter."

Xie Rong wrinkled her face in a frown. "Don't worry, Great God! I hate political marriages, and I will defend your right to choose to the death."

Fang Cheng Ran couldn't help but laugh. "Then thank you."

"No, um, not at all." Xie Rong bowed her head a little shyly. "But can you promise me one condition?"

"What?"

"When this job is done, can we make this joke into reality? "

Fan Cheng Ran froze a moment. Then he smiled. "It depends on your performance."

As soon as he said that, they heard the door click. He stood up from the sofa and told Xie Rong, "My dad might be back."

Suddenly nervous, Xie Rong followed him from the sofa.

When Father Fang came in, he couldn’t help but look toward Xie Rong, who stood next to Fang Cheng Ran. Just as he was about to introduce her, he caught sight of Sun Ying Ying coming in behind his father. Fang Cheng Ran’s eyes narrowed.

Quirking a smile, he pulled Xie Rong to his side. "Baby, let me introduce you to my father."

Xie Rong was thrilled by 'baby' and greeted Father Fang mechanically.

Father Fang looked dissatisfied. "Does this young lady have no name?"

"My baby is called Xie Rong," Fang Cheng Ran said with a smile.

Father Fang: "..."

He got it. The brat was being disgusting on purpose.

Beside him, Miss Sun's face in her red dress had turned black. “Fang Cheng Ran, do you not have eyes? Are you seriously picking this skinny little free-range chicken?”

Unconvinced, Xie Rong asked, “What do you have against chickens?”

Sun Ying Ying: "..."

Fang Cheng Ran turned away, not quite able to look straight at his father's expression.

Having attacked his taste, Sun Ying Ying went on to slam Xie Rong's clothes. "Last time you wore men's clothing. Today you finally put on a skirt, yet it's so ugly. Was it from some unbranded stall on the street?"

Fang Cheng Ran frowned. "Miss Sun, please restrain yourself."

"Restraint?" Sun Ying Ying snorted. "Are you in a place to talk about self-restraint to me? After having first pretended to be gay?"

Father Fang was also rather unhappy. This Sun Ying Ying had obviously been spoiled by the Sun family. Her character was savage and her words harsh and mean. It would be difficult if she were to marry into the family.

Xie Rong was attempting to defend her skirt when the door once again opened. It was Sister Fang and Liang Ming Hao.

Seeing the excitement in the living room, Liang Ming Hao looked up pleadingly at his mother. Sister Fang brought him in and looked at Xie Rong.

Fang Cheng Ran smiled and introduced them. "Sister, this is my girlfriend."

Liang Ming Hao opened his eyes wide in surprise, then said sweetly. "Auntie, it's good to meet you." In his heart, Fang Cheng Ran gave him a thumbs up. Not in vain had he bribed the kid last night with a model airplane.

Xie Rong blushed at being called 'aunt', and Sun Ying Ying's face was even more colorrful.

Sister Fang scrutinized Xie Rong for a while before her eyes widened. "Isn't this Xie Rong?"

Fang Cheng Ran started slightly. "You know each other?"

Meanwhile, Xie Rong cocked her head and stared at his sister. Then, overjoyed, she blurted out, "You're Sister You Ran!"

Seeing Father Fang frown, Sister Fang introduced them again with one side of her mouth hooked up. "This is Xie Rong, Uncle Xie's daughter. We met once at Aunt Xie's last birthday party."

Father Fang was a trifle stunned. Indeed, Third Xie's daughter had always been a bit of a maverick. She had never liked participating in the parties thrown in their circle, but he had indeed glimpsed her before at that last dance. No wonder he had found her just a little bit familiar!

Sun Ying Ying also froze. This person was the Xie family's beloved daughter? Xie Zhen's sister?

You had got to be kidding!

"If you're really the daughter of Xie family, why would you dress like this?"

Sister Fang peered at Xie Rong's clothes. "If I'm not mistaken, aren't those designed by FAY?"

Xie Rong gazed at her with admiration in her eyes. "Sister You Ran, what a good eye you have! This was designed for my 20th birthday. It's the only one of its kind!"

Sun Ying Ying: "..."

Did an internationally renowned clothing designer have that sort of taste?!!

She was so angry that she was about to have a heart attack. "Then why didn't you say so earlier if you were really Xie Zhen's sister?" Had she deliberately waited to make a fool out of herself?!

"I didn't know big brother was so famous," Xie Rong said innocently.

Sun Ying Ying: "..."

He was on the financial magazine covers every other day, was that not famous enough for you?!

Sun Ying Ying really wanted to just slap her right then and there, but had to turn away angrily out of respect for the Xie family's face.

Xie Rong watched her go, the gave Fang Cheng Ran a sidelong glance. Fang Cheng Ran stared back, his face full of interest.

"Wh-, what is it?"

"Nothing." Fang Cheng Ran's mouth twitched a nice smile. "It's just that I didn't expect you to be rotten cotton on the outside, and gold and jade inside¹From the idiom 金玉其外，败絮其中, 'gold and jade outside, rotten cotton inside', which means exactly what you think it does.."

She considered this sentence and frowned. "Am I really so ugly?"

"It's not that you're ugly, but that your temperament is..." Fang Cheng Ran considered his words carefully, "very unconventional."

Xie Rong took that as a compliment.

Father Fang’s cell phone rang. He glanced at it and picked up the call. “Old Xie, how are you?”

“I hear that my little baby went over to your house. What did you want to see her for?”

Father Fang dropped the bombshell in a calm and bland manner. "Oh, it's no big deal. It's just that our family's Cheng Ran insists that she's his girlfriend."

Old Xie: "..."

On the other end, the phone was handed over to someone else. "Hello, Mr. Fang. This is Xie Zhen."

A deep, bass-like voice came from the receiver. Father Fang eyed Fang Cheng Ran and smiled like a fox. "Xie Zhen, how can I help you?"

"I just heard my father say that my sister is Young Master Fang's girlfriend."

"Indeed, both parties have assured me of this. "

......

Both parties were having a bad feeling.

"My sister is still in school."

"Well, now, there's no hurry. Marriage can wait until after she graduates."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

His father's expression was now very, very smug. He thought he might be in trouble.

Xie Zhen was silent. "I shall be coming over to visit the Fang residence."

Then the call was cut off.

Father Fang put away his phone and looked at his son. "Have you heard of Xie Zhen? He might be coming over to call you out pretty soon."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

Xie Rong gnashed her teeth. "It must have been the driver who leaked my whereabouts to Dad!”

Fang Cheng Ran looked over. “Driver?”

She nodded. “He's a very good driver though. He's the one that always drives me when I follow you!”

His mouth pulled up into an amused smile. "Weren't you insisting that you never followed me?"

Xie Rong: "..."

She licked her lips and quickly changed the subject. "Great God, my brother is actually pretty good at fighting. From small to large, he's beat up all the boys around me."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

He pulled her up and smiled at his father. "Well then, Dad, you've met each other, so we'll take off."

Saying so, he pulled Xie Rong behind him and left briskly.

The bright red Maserati flew through the roads, finally arriving at L University.

As soon as it appeared on the campus, it caused a stir among the onlookers. He parked next to the girls' dormitory building, and the students passing by the door stopped, waiting to see who the heroine might be.

"Thank you for today. I'll invite you to dinner next time," Fang Cheng Ran smiled as he waited for Xie Rong to get off.

She dawdled while taking off her seat belt. Then she asked, "Great God, how was my performance?"

Fang Cheng Ran raised a brow, then smiled wryly. "Not too terrible."

Xie Rong looked at him happily, "Then, can we go out?"

"I'll think about it."

She puffed up her cheeks in disappointment. "Maybe you could pay a bit of interest in advance?"

"What?"

Shyly, Xie Rong said, "A kiss~"

Fang Cheng Ran looked at her out of the corner of his eye. The sunshine poured down on his face, framing it in beautiful light and shadow. Then his mouth pulled up into a smile, and he leaned over to kiss her lips.

FIN

frostcrystal

I'm dead from happiness at having finally finished this book! There were so. many. epilogues. I don't typically read ahead, so I was just as surprised (or not) as most of you at times. Thank you for sticking until the end!

I mentioned this a few chapters back, but my next novel translation will be I Advise You To Like Me As Soon As Possible, which I actually DID read ahead for a change and am very excited about.

A couple of things frustrated me about Divorce, namely the lack of depth/realism and how much Qi Xiao Yan's chilliness was played up. So I'm happy to say that not only is this new FL a clever and competent lawyer, and her cases heartwarming and relatable, but also the arrogant, cold, handsome ML gets shat on by a chicken in chapter 2. (And he deserved it.)

I hope I'll see you all over there! :)