174.
If I were living in a manhwa, this would be the panel where my entire face was covered in shadow lines, eyes blank, mouth agape, and a chubby little soul floating out of it.

 

175.
I feigned ignorance, gave an awkward smile, tilted my head, and asked Gu Yiliang, "Huh? What do you mean?"
Even though my acting was mediocre, I really was shocked, confused, and embarrassed. A tiny part of my soul that belonged to the CP fan side of me also wanted to laugh—so my expression came out completely natural.
Gu Yiliang, seeing my reaction, looked momentarily stunned too, then raised his hands to cover his eyes, equal parts helpless, exasperated, and faintly amused: "I thought you already knew..."

Me: ? What am I supposed to know? Can you be a bit more specific? I’m about to have a heart attack over here!

 

176.
I watched him closely, then cautiously asked, "...Know what?"
He answered casually, putting out his cigarette and waving a hand: "Didn’t you twist your ankle? I saw the messages in my fan group—they’d been freaking out for a while. Some even went over to your Weibo… When I read what they were saying, I found them a bit annoying. But between you and me, there’s no conflict."
"The photo you posted—it was too emotional. Even someone clueless could tell how serious it looked. They kept screaming that it was fake," he continued, frowning slightly and rubbing his nose before smiling faintly.
"My agent told me not to get involved, and since we weren’t close, I made a video and sent it to a friend. Then I avoided posting anything on Weibo that whole day. They probably figured I wasn’t happy and finally quieted down. I didn’t think you’d ever see the video—and even if you did, with how cryptic it was, I figured you wouldn’t get it anyway."

 

177.
I was completely stunned.
Half of my soul—the CP fan part—felt like it had been smacked in the face with a giant piece of candy. I couldn’t even speak. My brain was full of exclamation marks:

Why are you so skilled at handing out sugar?
Why does your sugar feel so high-level and refined?!
No need for fancy gear or microscopes—a true master knows exactly how to hit the mark!
Huge piece of candy, dropped straight into my mouth!

The other half of my soul—Wei Yanzi’s half—was completely thrown off by how honest and direct he was, filled with a thousand swirling questions:

Why would someone who shares his favorite fairytales on Weibo go out of his way to protect me, his so-called rival, when we’d barely exchanged more than a few words?
Wait—why would he want to protect me?
He was so kind—how could someone be that perfect?
And why was I suddenly feeling these strange heart flutters, like I was going to keel over from a sugar overload?

Gu Yiliang… he seemed… kinda attractive?

 

178.
"Just now, I thought you already knew what it meant when you asked me that..."
He smiled, paused, then turned to look at me: "By the way, how did you even know about it?"

A chill ran down my spine.

 

179.
I was doomed. I’d been so busy dealing with the sugar and my emotional whiplash that I completely forgot to come up with an excuse.

 

180.
Normally I would’ve made up something ridiculous to dodge the question, but now—with all the exclamation points, question marks, and weird heartbeats—my mind was frozen.
All I could do was stare at him, red-faced and speechless.

 

181.
Gu Yiliang looked at me, his expression suddenly calmer, as if he understood something.
Then he smiled and said, "Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore. Come on, don’t we have scenes to rehearse?"

What? That’s it? That’s the end?
I didn’t understand anything anymore.
I mumbled an “oh,” stuffed down all my emotions, and walked weakly after Gu Yiliang back toward the hotel.

 

182.
We walked in silence, but his mood seemed to have improved. The atmosphere around him felt suddenly lighter, which only made me more confused.
Are all artists this hard to understand? Are their thoughts always this unpredictable?

 

183.
When we arrived at the hotel entrance, a slender woman with curly hair and bright red lips stood just outside the lobby, staring at us from a distance.
Gu Yiliang came to a sudden stop, turned and pulled me to walk away—but the woman called out his name, making him freeze on the spot.

My soul shot out of my body. I had no idea what was going on.
All I knew was that Gu Yiliang’s seemingly better mood had just taken a nosedive again.

I glanced at the woman.
Wait a minute—I’d seen her before.

 

184.
I’d seen her several times near Gu Yiliang’s agency. They seemed close. Once, they were even photographed together, but in the picture, they were just talking—no inappropriate behavior. It didn’t stir up any drama.
Now that I was seeing her up close, it turned out that this was the type of beauty Gu Yiliang preferred.
She was attractive, sure, but with a touch of vulgarity.

 

185.
If you're wondering why I could look at Gu Yiliang’s “girlfriend” without flinching or feeling guilty—
It was because I knew very well there was nothing between us.

I’m straight. He’s straight.
I was only "eating sugar" to cope with stress and calm my emotions.
But… there was still this faint sense of discomfort.
Probably just my fangirl soul getting stabbed in the heart after seeing my idol’s real girlfriend.

 

186.
The woman adjusted her hair and said, “Aren’t you even going to say hello?”
Gu Yiliang, expressionless, replied coldly, “What are you doing here?”
She chuckled softly, glanced at me, and replied calmly, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Gu Yiliang paused for a second, then looked at me blankly: “This is my stepmother.”
Ah—so she wasn’t his girlfriend.
I snapped back to life instantly, yanking the metaphorical knife from my chest. I nodded politely at the woman and said: “Hello, Mom.”

 

187.
Gu Yiliang: …
The woman: …
Me: …

 

Translator : DarNan