After Rebirth, My Ex-Girlfriend Became Obsessive - Chapter 46
Xie An’an’s words got stuck in her throat. Her gaze shifted from An Yu to Lin Duxi, and seeing that neither of them said anything, she unconsciously straightened her back. If they didn’t feel awkward, why should she, an outsider, feel guilty?
Members from different groups weren’t allowed to switch places-yet another one of the show’s malicious setups. Once paired, they had to commit to the “couple act” for the entire three days and two nights.
An Yu couldn’t tell whether Qiao Qingzhou genuinely wanted it this way or if it was just the system forcibly imposing the world’s rules. She glanced at Lin Duxi, who was the center of attention, then silently turned away.
Lin Duxi didn’t react much, merely offering her usual polite smile to everyone. No one could discern what she was truly thinking.
An Yu felt an inexplicable irritation bubbling up inside her.
The entire afternoon was spent setting up tents. The production team had assumed such a simple task wouldn’t take long, so they’d prepared plenty of icebreaker games to fill the time. But none of those ended up being used-Qiao Qingzhou’s face was the picture of exasperation.
Netizens in the livestream chat couldn’t help but complain:
[How is setting up a tent this difficult? I feel like rushing in to help them at this point.]
[Yu Fei, do you know why your tent keeps tilting? Look at the side-there’s a loose pole there.]
[Watching them is driving me crazy. Leaving a “mark” here-someone call me when they finally finish.]
[Seems like there won’t be anything fun later. An Yu and Lin Duxi probably won’t interact much either.]
[Don’t lose hope yet! Let’s manifest Xiao Lin secretly getting jealous.]
An Yu was relatively quick at setting up the tent, and since Xie An’an had experience with hiking, the two of them finished theirs in no time. When An Yu stood up and looked around, Lin Duxi’s tent was already half-done.
Unlike the others, Lin Duxi had a tent to herself. She was patiently hammering the stakes into the ground, her ink-black hair cascading down her back.
An Yu’s mind wandered back to Lin Duxi’s expression when the tent arrangement was announced earlier-it lingered in her thoughts, refusing to fade. She turned away, not wanting to look at her.
“Xie An’an,” she called, intending to ask her to go help Lin Duxi.
Xie An’an was sitting on the grass, catching her breath while staring excitedly at the nearby river. “There must be fish in there! Catching one would be amazing. I remember last time when- Oh, An Yu, you called me?”
An Yu: “…I think the director has fishing rods.”
Xie An’an scrambled to her feet and dashed off, leaving An Yu with nothing but the sight of her retreating back.
An Yu turned back, her peripheral vision catching Lin Duxi sitting on the grass, head bowed in concentration. Her tent was noticeably more complex than the others, and she seemed to be staring at one part of it, lost in thought.
An Yu averted her gaze and walked toward the river, away from Lin Duxi. But after a few steps, she turned back.
Lin Duxi’s vision was suddenly blocked by a shadow. She looked up. “A-Yu?”
An Yu didn’t answer. Instead, she sat down beside her and picked up the tent manual. “I lost mine. Mind if I borrow yours?”
Lin Duxi smiled faintly, pinching a corner of the manual and handing it to her. But just as An Yu reached for it, she let go, letting the manual fall onto An Yu’s lap. An Yu’s vision was filled with white-whether from Lin Duxi’s fingers or the manual, she couldn’t tell.
Lin Duxi gently grasped An Yu’s chin, studying her puzzled expression before murmuring, “A-Yu, your tent isn’t the same as mine, is it?”
An Yu remained unflustered. “All tents are pretty much the same. The manuals should be similar.” As she spoke, she noticed the stakes beside Lin Duxi-the damp soil made it hard to secure the tent properly.
So that’s what she had been thinking about earlier.
Without a word, An Yu stood up and helped Lin Duxi move the tent to a drier spot near her own. Lin Duxi continued to watch her with that soft smile.
The two barely exchanged words, yet their movements were perfectly in sync. Viewers in the livestream were screaming: [SO SWEET! I’M FED!] But neither the two nor the audience noticed that someone had been watching them the entire time.
A grill was set up in the clearing. The production team announced they’d hidden the charcoal somewhere nearby-each group had to search for it before they could use it.
Another cliché team-building exercise. Though An Yu had no interest in participating, she had no choice but to follow along.
Xie An’an walked beside her, buzzing with excitement. “Earlier, when I went to ask Director Qiao for the fishing rod, she told me to check the car over there. Guess what I found? A bunch of brand-new tents!” Her voice grew louder in her enthusiasm.
“So I went to the director, and she said we could each have our own tent now!” She puffed out her chest, pride and smugness written all over her face.
Honestly, sharing a tent with An Yu in front of Lin Duxi would’ve been like personally destroying her own ship-she’d rather die!
An Yu’s ears twitched as she heard familiar footsteps behind them growing distant. Lin Duxi must have heard too, she thought.
Lin Duxi hadn’t gone far when a staff member called her over, whispering something in her ear. Lin Duxi nodded and left with them. Assuming it was some secret mission, An Yu paid it no mind and headed into the woods.
The area was mostly flat grassland, bordered by a small forested hill-nothing compared to the height of Bai Mi Mountain, and the production team had already scouted it for safety.
An Yu and Xie An’an walked through the woods, sunlight filtering through the leaves and dappling An Yu’s shoulders. The forest was alive with birdsong and cicadas-not an unpleasant sound.
“Once, I went hiking with friends to this unnamed mountain abroad. Since it wasn’t well-known, hardly anyone went there. It was tough to climb, but the view was incredible,” Xie An’an chattered as she led the way.
“There’s probably nothing here. I’ll check over there,” An Yu said. Xie An’an nodded, continuing ahead.
An Yu took a different path, this one thornier, forcing her to sidestep the brambles. Unfortunately, the camerawoman got a deep cut on her hand from a thorn, blood dripping onto the ground.
“Go back and get that treated. It looks bad,” An Yu urged.
At first, the camerawoman refused, but after some persuasion-and a flood of concerned comments in the livestream-she finally relented, tearfully reminding An Yu not to wander off before hurrying back.
Left alone, An Yu continued her aimless stroll, half-heartedly scanning the ground for charcoal. She wondered if Lin Duxi had finished her mission yet. Once again, thoughts of Lin Duxi crept into her mind.
An Yu shook her head, trying to banish Lin Duxi from her thoughts. Unbeknownst to her, Lin Duxi had already taken up far too much space in her mind.
A figure emerged from the dense foliage ahead. An Yu’s mind flashed with images of crime scenes, and a pang of fear shot through her. She turned to leave.
“An Yu.” Pei Lu’s voice stopped her. He had no camera crew with him-as if he’d been waiting for her.
An Yu turned. “You were looking for me?”
She didn’t move, and neither did he. After a moment, she heard Pei Lu’s low, grating laugh.
He stepped closer, meeting her gaze with undisguised disdain. “An Yu, clinging to Lin Duxi like this-have you gotten addicted to being her dog?”
His words were laced with venom, each one stabbing into An Yu’s heart. Rage surged through her, but she stared back at him and suddenly smiled. “You’re right. I am Lin Duxi’s dog. And I’m happy being one. She’s happy too. What’s wrong with that? But to her, you’re nothing.”
Pei Lu’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected her to be so shameless. He took a sharp breath, disgust twisting his features as he stepped back. “How pathetic. Does she even like you?” He radiated confidence when it came to Lin Duxi-probably what the system called “protagonist privilege.” But to An Yu, it was just nauseating.
“She might not like me, but she’ll never-” An Yu’s words hitched. Then, with deliberate emphasis, she added, “-and will absolutely never like you.”
That seemed to hit a nerve. Pei Lu’s face flushed red with fury, his eyes bulging as he stepped forward, his protagonist aura bearing down on An Yu like a physical weight.
An Yu’s head throbbed violently-her earlier words must have triggered the system’s restrictions. The pain was overwhelming. At that moment, she wished she really were a dog-a rabid one-so she could sink her teeth into him and never let go.
Pei Lu glared at her, his mind filled with images of Lin Duxi and An Yu’s affectionate moments over the past few days. Jealousy burned through him. Those should have been his memories with Lin Duxi-An Yu had just met her a few years earlier, that was all. Then, as if remembering something, his anger cooled slightly, replaced by mockery.
“Must be tough, going from a rich heiress to a nobody overnight.”
An Yu froze, her mind blanking for a second before she frowned. “What heiress?”
Pei Lu smirked at her reaction, twisting the knife deeper.
“All these years, with your family gone, struggling to survive on your own-must’ve been hard. If I were you, knowing I was such a jinx, I’d hide away and stop ruining others’ lives. The way you are now? Pathetic.”
An Yu’s face paled, but she forced herself to stay composed. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. Weren’t you and Lin Duxi high school classmates? The bankrupt heiress-” Before he could finish, a figure suddenly lunged at him, landing a solid punch to his face.
Lin Duxi’s eyes were red, her fists clenched as she glared at Pei Lu, who was now clutching his face on the ground. An Yu stood frozen, her mind still foggy with pain, but her instincts drove her forward to wrap her arms around Lin Duxi’s slender waist.
Lin Duxi trembled, her entire body tense with barely contained rage. That punch had carried her full strength-Pei Lu wouldn’t recover anytime soon.
An Yu held her tightly, her warmth seeping into Lin Duxi’s back, slowly easing her shivers. Then, she reached down and gently pried open Lin Duxi’s clenched fist, interlacing their fingers and squeezing firmly.
When Pei Lu opened his eyes, this was the sight that greeted him-An Yu and Lin Duxi holding hands, pressed close together, looking down at him with cold indifference. The pain in his face flared even hotter.
Lin Duxi’s punch had drained her strength, and now she leaned weakly against An Yu.
An Yu rested her head on Lin Duxi’s shoulder. If she tilted her head just slightly, their lips would meet. Lin Duxi lifted her chin slightly, stopping near An Yu’s ear.
“Let’s go back.”
An Yu’s faint hope dissipated, but she didn’t mind. “Mm.”
They turned away, their joined hands remaining tightly linked as they walked out of the forest together.
Only when their feet touched the grass did An Yu’s muddled mind finally clear. What had just happened in the woods felt like a dream. She took a step, but her hand was tugged back.
“My hand hurts,” Lin Duxi murmured, looking down.
An Yu couldn’t help but smile. All the venom Pei Lu had spat at her evaporated in that moment. She cradled Lin Duxi’s hand, gently massaging her slender fingers. She didn’t stop even when Lin Duxi didn’t say anything, feeling like she’d forgotten something.
Then, suddenly, Lin Duxi wrapped her arms tightly around An Yu’s waist, pulling her close. Resting her head on An Yu’s shoulder, she pressed a barely restrained kiss into her hair, her voice low and rough.
“A-Yu isn’t my dog. I’m hers.”
A mad dog who’d sunk her teeth into An Yu and would never let go.
Two mad dogs.
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Lin Duxi appearing like a hero dayummm