Chapter 656

Uh…

Fang Qi was at a loss.

Before him, the silver-haired girl stood quietly with her brows lowered, looking like a little wife who had done something wrong.

But that look in her eyes clearly said, “Liguang did nothing wrong!”

…Pfft.

Fang Qi still couldn’t hold back a laugh.

This crazy woman!

Her personality really had been overwritten by that “distinct personality file,” but there was no way to cover up the little yandere streak deep in her bones!

Since that was the case…

He might as well use the old method to punish this little yandere!

He raised his hand again and firmly pinched Liguang’s soft cheek, pulling it to the side.

“Mmph…”

Liguang’s phoenix eyes widened slightly, but she lowered them again at once, looking aggrieved and too afraid to complain.

What an act!

Fang Qi looked at her, both exasperated and amused.

But he couldn’t speak, so he pointed with his other hand at the teacup beside the kitchen counter, then at the kettle that was boiling water.

—Go make your master a proper cup of tea!

Liguang raised her eyes and looked at him gently, then softly brushed his hand away.

“Master is ordering Liguang around again.”

Her voice carried a hint of reproach.

“That’s true. Liguang exists to serve her master in the first place. It’s Liguang’s good fortune that Master is willing to order her around.”

“I’ll make the tea right away. I wouldn’t dare keep Master waiting even for a moment.”

With that, she actually turned around, facing away from him as she reached for the kettle.

Fang Qi: “…”

What was that supposed to mean? What kind of thing was that to say? She made it sound as if he were bullying his wife!

He watched as she rose onto her tiptoes to reach the small tea jar placed on the upper shelf.

Then her slender, pale fingers lifted the lid, pinched up a small amount of tea leaves, and scattered them lightly into the white porcelain cup.

Her movements were truly elegant.

Standing by the doorway, Fang Qi watched that quiet, graceful figure from behind and shook his head helplessly.

…He had to admit, it was rather pleasing to watch.

Little Sister Li really did look like a refined young lady when she was doing things. Even making tea looked so beautiful.

“…!”

He instinctively tried to speak again, but all that came out was a hoarse breath.

Sigh…

He still couldn’t talk.

But Little Sister Li kept needling him one sentence after another, needling him until his teeth itched!

Forget it. He wasn’t going to bother with her anymore!

Before turning to leave, he instinctively raised his hand, pretending he was about to smack that perky spot of hers beneath her skirt.

But his hand stopped halfway.

…No.

The current Liguang had lost all those memories. She still wasn’t used to him even getting too close…

Would she be able to handle such an intimate gesture?

Fang Qi froze with his hand suspended in midair. In the end…

He merely raised it and gave her cheek another hard pinch!

“Waaah…!”

Liguang’s little face was pinched out of shape. She furrowed her brows.

When Fang Qi let go, she covered the reddened side of her face with one hand and stared at him with wide, teary eyes, looking both aggrieved and too afraid to protest.

Fang Qi nodded in satisfaction, withdrew his hand, and turned back to the living room.

No matter what personality Liguang had, she was adorable!

…

He dropped himself back onto the sofa.

“Phew…”

He let out a long breath.

Only the floor lamp beside the sofa was lit, casting a dim yellow glow over the living room.

By now, night had fallen over the city outside the window. The lights in the buildings opposite flickered on and off.

Fang Qi looked up at the wall clock.

Hmm… It was already ten at night.

He closed his eyes and sank into the sofa, listening to the kettle bubbling away in the kitchen.

His body settled into the soft cushions, and the nerve that had been taut all day slowly relaxed.

What a nonstop day…

The amusement park, riding the Ferris wheel, getting dragged to the police station, and then having a maintenance specialist who was supposedly from the super AI behind Chenxi come over for an inspection…

And in the end, they had left him with a “Little Sister Li.”

He had been busy all the way until ten at night.

How should he put it? Although the current situation was still rather strange…

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

At least he had finally landed safely, right?

Liguang’s personality had changed, but this had all been within Liguang’s own expectations. Nothing had gone seriously wrong.

It was just that…

“Sigh…”

Fang Qi raised his hand and covered his eyes with his arm again, letting out another sigh.

It was just that he still had no idea how to restore Liguang’s memories…

For now, he still had to focus on the same task:

returning the portion of Liguang’s “authority” that was still inside him to Liguang.

Only then could he follow Xizhao’s method and try to alter the world line, solving the problem with Liguang’s memories.

Not to mention how difficult altering the world line would be, he didn’t even have a clue about the very first step…

Sigh. There were too many things to deal with. His mind was a complete mess, and he had no idea where to begin.

He…

Hmm?

Wait a second. Maybe he did have a lead?

Fang Qi froze. Then, he slowly shifted his gaze toward…

the doorway.

Toward the security door that Specialist S-02 had just left through.

…Huh?

He blinked lightly.

Wait. Hadn’t that woman just said that he could contact her if he needed anything?

Fang Qi’s pupils widened slightly.

Needed something?

What did he need?

What he needed right now was to return the authority to Liguang, wasn’t it?

If Specialist S-02 really was that super AI behind the scenes, then…

She must know a great deal.

When it came to authority, the core, and the underlying workings of the world, she was probably an expert.

More importantly, she…

Fang Qi’s pupils contracted as he stared at the door.

She had possessed authority once, too!

And now, wasn’t that authority lying quietly inside him?

Then, when she had come over this time, had part of her purpose—besides the inspection—been…

to reclaim that authority?

If she wanted to take back what she had lost, wouldn’t she first have to tell him…

how exactly he was supposed to “return” it?!

I don’t know how to return it! If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to give it back to you?!

Fang Qi slowly straightened his back and stared fixedly at his apartment’s security door.

Hey, wait a minute…

Had he just made a mistake by letting Specialist S-02 leave?

Shouldn’t he have simply…?

“Ding!”

His phone suddenly rang again.

Fang Qi: “!”

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted. He instinctively looked down.

Ah… It was another text from Lin Xiaoyou.

[Lin Xiaoyou: Senior, why aren’t you answering me?]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Oh, right. Why didn’t you come to work today? I asked around, but none of them knew either.]

Fang Qi: “…”

What?

He still had to go to work?

Uh…

Fine.

He slowly let the tension drain from him and slumped back onto the sofa, staring at the messages.

“Sigh…!”

He sighed worriedly.

What are you doing, you ditzy sweetheart?

This girl really didn’t remember anything anymore.

And she was asking why he hadn’t gone to work? Who wanted to go to that lousy job? Whoever liked it could do it!

…Honestly, she was such a ditzy sweetheart.

Fang Qi rubbed the bridge of his nose.

But the more she acted this way, the more helpless he felt.

To recover Liguang’s memories and alter the world line… he still had to rely on this ditzy sweetheart!

Oh, no.

He had to rely on Miss Genius, not this ditzy sweetheart.

But in her current state, where was there even a trace of Miss Genius left?

……Sigh. Forget it. It wasn’t time to start worrying about Lin Xiaoyou yet.

After all, he still hadn’t even completed the previous step—returning “authority” to Liguang…

With that in mind, he casually sent back a text.

[Fang Qi: I’ve taken some annual leave recently. I’m going to take some time off.]

He made up an excuse that would be easy for her to accept.

Otherwise, if he told Lin Xiaoyou outright that he wasn’t going back to work anymore, the ditzy sweetheart would definitely pester him with questions for ages!

Yes, this was what they called a white lie.

It didn’t take long for Lin Xiaoyou to reply.

[Lin Xiaoyou: Ah, no wonder! Did you go traveling, Senior?]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Or are you at home? If you’re at home, can I come over and hang out with you these next few days?]

“Clink…”

From the kitchen came the faint sound of a teacup gently striking a saucer.

Even the sound of the boiling water seemed to grow slightly quieter.

Fang Qi’s eyelid twitched.

Right. That crazy woman was still “spying” on his screen. She had probably read all of Lin Xiaoyou’s messages too.

But…

Fang Qi stared at his phone screen and fell into thought.

He didn’t immediately refuse.

After all, Lin Xiaoyou was crucial to helping Liguang recover her memories. He needed the genius girl’s brain.

Although she had become a ditzy sweetheart because of her “missing soul”…

He still needed to spend some time with her.

He needed to try… to have Liguang return her “soul” to her?

Once that happened, she would be able to become Miss Genius again. Miss Genius did love causing trouble, but no matter how he looked at it…

She was still much better than the ditzy sweetheart, right?

He was already stupid enough as it was. He didn’t want another idiot teammate who only knew how to cause trouble!

Thus, Fang Qi narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the balcony.

Across the way, in the building opposite, was the window of the apartment Lin Xiaoyou and Xiaoqing had rented…

Against the deep darkness of the night, the warm yellow light was especially clear.

Lin Xiaoyou, you’re still over there, aren’t you?

He narrowed his eyes and stared at that window for a moment before immediately replying to Lin Xiaoyou:

[Fang Qi: Come to think of it, you’ve been to my place so many times, but I’ve never been to yours.]

[Fang Qi: You’re busy with work too. How about this… I’ll come visit you at home over the next few days?]

The moment he sent it…

“Crash!”

A sharp sound rang out from the kitchen as a glass shattered!

Fang Qi instinctively looked over and saw a patch of red light glowing behind the kitchen’s frosted-glass door!

The slender silhouette remained perfectly still within that red glow, like a little demon!

Uh…

Fang Qi’s face instantly stiffened. He hurriedly added another message:

[Fang Qi: I’ll bring Liguang with me!]

“…Hmph.”

A soft snort immediately came from the kitchen.

Then came the rustling sounds of someone cleaning up the broken pieces.

The slender silhouette crouched down, picking up the shards one by one.

Fang Qi: “……”

He tremblingly raised a hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Come to think of it, in Liguang’s eyes, what he was doing now…

Wouldn’t it look like some sort of “rekindling things with an ex-girlfriend” scenario?!

Tsk…

Had he just dug his own grave?

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Xiaoyou’s reply finally arrived:

[Lin Xiaoyou: Senior is coming to my house?! When? Tomorrow? Are you coming tomorrow?!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Then I’ll take the day off too! I’ll stay home and wait for you! Bring Liguang with you!]

……Huh?

Fang Qi stared at the screen and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Tomorrow?

That worked too. He had no idea what he was supposed to do tomorrow anyway.

It was right next door. All he had to do was go downstairs. It wasn’t any trouble. For that matter, he could even go right now!

But since she had suggested it, tomorrow it was!

He would bring Liguang and go see this ditzy version of Miss Genius again!

So he replied:

[All right. Then let’s make it tomorrow for now. I’ll contact you when the time comes.]

Then, pretending not to know anything, he added:

[Where do you live? Send me the address so I can find my way there.]

He raised his eyebrows slightly as he stared at the screen.

He was curious to see how this ditzy sweetheart planned to explain the fact that she lived right next door!

She had come to his place several times already!

The reply came almost instantly again:

[Lin Xiaoyou: Yay, yay! Then it’s settled for tomorrow, Senior! I’ll take the day off!]

Then she sent Fang Qi a location pin.

……Huh?

Fang Qi stared at the location and was slightly taken aback.

The location she had sent wasn’t the apartment next door. Instead, it was…

The Chenxi employee apartments?

What?

Fang Qi immediately tapped on the location and couldn’t help freezing.

Wasn’t this… right next to Sister An Lian’s place?

Oh…

He immediately understood, his grip tightening slightly around the phone.

…That’s right. Lin Xiaoyou had mentioned this before.

Back then… hadn’t she been the one who drove him to find Sister An Lian?

Her car had effortlessly entered the underground parking garage of the Chenxi employee apartments. The barrier had simply lifted as soon as she drove up.

At the time, she had explained that her father was a core employee of Chenxi, so of course he had an apartment there. She had even said that her home was right next to An Lian’s.

Now that he thought about it, that really was the case…

He stared at the location pin. It was one of the buildings west of Sister An Lian’s apartment.

But then…

He instinctively raised his head and looked toward the building beside his own balcony, at the window that was still lit…

He froze.

Huh?

Instead of asking him to go to the apartment she and Xiaoqing had rented, she wanted him to go to…

The Chenxi employee apartments?