Yu Ning walked forward a few steps, instinctively intending to follow the cat inside.

“Do you want to wash up, too?” Ling Wangjin asked.

That single sentence jolted Yu Ning awake. She stepped back.

Mist swirled before her eyes, and she saw an arm glistening with water resting on the doorknob.

The kitten was still meowing. Yu Ning looked down at the ball of fur spinning and rolling inside the room, feeling inexplicably stifled.

Without a second thought, she bent down, reached out, scooped it up from the floor, and pulled it into her arms.

She licked her lips. “I’m taking Xiao Mi away… hurry up.”

After saying that, she held the cat and dashed away from the bathroom door without looking back.

Ling Wangjin said nothing. Only when she heard the sound of water resume from the bathroom did she turn around and curl up with the cat on the lazy sofa.

The kitten wiggled a few times in her arms. Perhaps realizing it couldn’t struggle free, it let out a soft mi-wu and obediently lay against her chest, letting her stroke its head.

“You’re such a clingy one.”

Yu Ning tapped its wet nose gently, cradled its fuzzy armpits, and kissed its head several times.

The kitten’s head smelled like lemon too; it smelled exactly like Ling Wangjin.

Did it pick up the scent in the bathroom just now?

What exactly is he trying to do?

Yu Ning rubbed her face against the cat’s soft, fuzzy cheeks.

The lemon scent wafting from the cat’s head always made her think of Ling Wangjin involuntarily.

That restless sensation churned within her.

She rubbed the cat’s belly, listening to its purring as it kneaded her, while the sound of water from the bathroom continuously flooded her ears as background noise.

The living room was far too quiet, so quiet that she could even distinguish the subtle nuances in the sound of the water.

Sometimes the water sounded more rhythmic, as if it were splashing against some smooth, large object.

Is he washing his back?

Yu Ning immediately reined in her wandering thoughts and went into the kitchen to get water, holding the cat in one hand and her cup in the other.

She felt incredibly parched. Without waiting for the water in the dispenser to heat up, she poured a cup of cold water and downed it.

Could it be that my emotions are being manipulated again?

Thinking this, Yu Ning pulled the ice tray from the fridge, dumped the cubes into her cup, and added more water to drink.

The sound of water stopped.

Yu Ning set the cup down, and the cat jumped out of her arms with a mi-wu.

Her gaze followed the cat as she turned toward the kitchen doorway.

Ling Wangjin stood at the entrance.

He was still damp, his hair not even wiped dry, water droplets trailing from the tips.

“I heard you constantly getting water,” Ling Wangjin said.

Yu Ning didn’t reply. She realized she was feeling exceptionally stimulated after seeing him.

He walked into the kitchen and picked up the cup at her side, examining it.

“…Sorry.”

Yu Ning didn’t quite understand why he was apologizing so suddenly.

“Are you still restless?” Ling Wangjin asked.

Yu Ning nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, then reached out to cup her face.

The scent of lemon became much more intense. Yu Ning instinctively took a breath; it was as if this scent were radiating from beneath his skin.

As she smelled it, she actually felt a bit hungry.

Even though she had drunk so much water earlier.

Yu Ning stared at his neck; a small pool of water had gathered in the hollow of his collarbone.

The dampened collar clung to him.

She endured it, but she couldn’t help herself.

I need to wipe his hair dry.

Thinking this, Yu Ning raised her hand, running her fingers through his locks. She had intended to find a towel for him, but somehow, her palm ended up resting on the back of his neck.

This time, Ling Wangjin didn’t dodge her touch. He opened his arms in almost total submission, retreating backward as she moved forward.

I need to wipe all the water away.

Yu Ning wiped his collarbone and tugged at his wet collar.

He retreated the whole way until he was pressed against the kitchen counter.

Oh my, his clothes are all wet, I need to change him quickly, Yu Ning thought, grabbing the hem of his shirt.

Ling Wangjin watched her, lowering his head with a tamed expression, and took the shirt off.

Yu Ning shook her head.

Her brain felt like it was floating, yet she was incredibly excited and happy; it seemed as though she had lost consciousness for a moment in between.

When she finally came to her senses, she was sitting on top of Ling Wangjin.

She scrambled down immediately. During the process, Ling Wangjin supported her hand and handed her a towel.

Yu Ning took the towel and frantically wiped her legs, her mind filled with nothing but the thought: seduced by lust, seduced by lust!

Fortunately, he didn’t ask her anything, otherwise, in the state she was in just now, she definitely wouldn’t have been able to hold anything back.

However, after this episode, the restlessness in her body dissipated quite a bit.

“It seems the shower was in vain,” Ling Wangjin noted.

Yu Ning waved her hands immediately. “We should just bathe separately. You go use the upstairs bathroom.”

After saying that, she grabbed her nightgown from the floor and rushed into the bathroom without looking back.

In the bathroom, Yu Ning splashed herself with cold water, thinking as she did so.

She knew her temper wasn’t exactly great, and her emotional control wasn’t top-tier, but she hadn’t expected to be so easily stimulated by Ling Wangjin’s slight prodding.

She shivered under the cold water until the lingering restlessness had completely faded, then tremblingly dried off, put on her clothes, and stepped out.

As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw Ling Wangjin waiting for her, already dressed. He held a fuzzy jacket in his hand and draped it over Yu Ning’s shoulders when he saw her emerge.

“My fault,” Ling Wangjin said. “I shouldn’t have teased you and messed with your emotions.”

Yu Ning sniffled, pulling the jacket closer to her chest. “Why were you teasing me?”

“Recently, there are many things you haven’t been willing to tell me,” he replied. “It’s only in situations like this that you speak a bit more.”

Yu Ning: ”…”

So I’ve been that obvious?

Ling Wangjin lowered his head, his eyes half-closed, looking somewhat dejected. “It won’t happen again. Sorry.”

Yu Ning was startled, noticing that he had changed into a very modest, fully covered long-sleeved shirt.

“Ah, that’s not really necessary… I mean, just…”

She paused, considering how to phrase it.

“Just don’t keep me hanging like that.”

Ling Wangjin looked up.

Yu Ning didn’t know how to describe the look in his eyes at that moment. His eyes and lips hadn’t changed much in shape, yet she felt like his eyes were smiling.

“As long as you don’t hate it,” Ling Wangjin said.

She hadn’t been shy before, but now, being looked at by him, she felt a flush of embarrassment and scratched her hair.

“…I don’t really hate it.”

“Shall we go have breakfast?”

Ling Wangjin smiled and reached out. Yu Ning took his hand, and the two of them walked into the kitchen together.

She took the initiative, grabbing three eggs from the fridge to crack and beat them, noticing a bowl of marinated shredded meat sitting on the counter.

“You’ve already prepared everything,” Yu Ning said.

Ling Wangjin rolled up his shirt sleeves and put on an apron.

The apron was made of denim; tied at the waist, it instantly accentuated his waistline. Even though he was fully covered, he still looked broad-shouldered and slender-waisted, especially with the bit of forearm exposed by his rolled-up sleeves.

She hadn’t expected him to look so pleasing to the eye in an apron.

Sizzle.

Hot oil hit the pan as he fried the eggs.

Yu Ning watched him skillfully chop ginger and garlic, slice a large handful of greens, and scoop out the fried eggs.

In about ten minutes, a steaming pot of egg noodles was ready.

She carried her Pikachu bowl forward. Xiao Mi also came over, meowing and clawing at his pant leg.

He smiled as he served the noodles, then bent down to open the bottom-right cabinet, pulling out a small pink plate.

The kitten climbed up his pant leg, reached his back, and tilted its head, rubbing against his shoulder.

He rubbed the cat’s head with a helpless expression and stepped out of the kitchen to get a can of food.

“Eat your food first before mixing hers,” Yu Ning said. “The noodles will get mushy fast.”

Ling Wangjin turned his head with a smile. The round cat face and his own face were pressed together, both looking at Yu Ning.

“I have to feed these two little ancestors first.”

Yu Ning spent a pleasant weekend.

She didn’t have any dreams, and Ling Wangjin didn’t try to pry any information out of her, as if he didn’t care about whom she had met.

Or perhaps his interest in her emotional fluctuations outweighed that?

However, after having so many dreams, Yu Ning gradually began to figure out some patterns.

Most of the time, her dreams predicted the future, but if she took actions in reality that changed the future, she would then dream of the original timeline that had not yet been altered.

It felt like it was being used as a control group for her.

This also raised more questions for Yu Ning. Jin Miao had been reborn because she had foolishly run to a crime scene to investigate and met with an accident, but why was she having precognitive dreams?

While she was deep in thought, Jin Miao, who had been quiet all weekend, suddenly sent her a WeChat message.

Bionic Wonder House: Is your boyfriend home?

Hand-Cut Lemon: He’s at work. Don’t you have classes?

Bionic Wonder House: I do, but I don’t have any classes this afternoon. Why don’t we go out and chat?

Hand-Cut Lemon: Forget it. You should focus on your studies and stay out of this.

After sending this message, Yu Ning blocked her directly.

Less than ten minutes after blocking her, her phone received an unknown call.

Could it be Jin Miao?

Yu Ning checked the area code; it was Echeng.

She didn’t answer.

The phone vibrated for a while, and the other side stopped calling.

What followed were text messages, one after another, all from that unknown number.

1867891212: Sis, you can’t do this. I’ve been reborn twice now; this has become a knot in my heart. Even seeing a psychologist doesn’t help… If I don’t resolve this, I won’t be able to rest in peace even after I die in my next life!

Yu Ning glanced at the texts and flipped her phone face down on the table.

Then, her phone vibrated several more times.

She felt conflicted, watching her hand vibrate with the phone for over ten minutes.

Yu Ning sighed and answered the call.

“Sis, you finally picked up!” the voice on the other end said rapidly. “I really can’t let this go. Your boyfriend died right in front of me like that, and you had it so miserable in your past life… I really can’t let it go.”

Through the phone, Yu Ning could already feel Jin Miao’s obsession.

“Fine, fine… but don’t neglect your medical treatment. I feel like your mental state isn’t right.”

“I’ve been seeing someone,” Jin Miao said. “Let’s meet this afternoon? I have so much I want to tell you.”

Yu Ning: “Let’s talk about that later. Where did you get my phone number?”

Jin Miao: ”…Ah, this… in my past life, I went to your former company… and saw the employee directory…”

Yu Ning: “How did you know about my former company?”

Jin Miao: “I did a little digging… and followed you for a little bit.”

Yu Ning: ”…You should really keep seeing your doctor.”

The two chatted briefly on the phone, and Jin Miao arranged to meet at the cafe where they had met before.

Yu Ning: ”…Can we change the location?”

She spoke vaguely, after all, the Ling Wangjin in her dreams had already tracked Jin Miao to her school.

There was a silence of several seconds on the other end.

“From the way you’re speaking… he found me?”

Yu Ning: “I’m not sure. I saw in a dream that he tracked your location to Echeng University.”

Jin Miao let out a long “Ah.” “I knew it.”

Yu Ning: “Let’s change the place.”

“No,” Jin Miao sighed repeatedly. “Even if we change locations, it would only delay the time it takes for him to find me, and changing locations rashly might provide him with new clues and speed up the process.”

She sounded discouraged, but her tone was surprisingly calm.

“I’m already used to it…”

Jin Miao: “Let’s just meet near my school. How about we have a coffee and then go eat some braised chicken? My treat!”

Of course, Yu Ning wouldn’t let a student without a steady income pay.

In the end, they arranged to meet at the braised chicken restaurant, which counted as changing the location.

After they met, Yu Ning got straight to the point and handed her the menu.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“The chicken and pork belly here taste great.” Jin Miao quickly checked off items on the menu with a pen. The doctor she was seeing seemed quite good; her complexion looked much better than before. “My mind was a mess right after I was reborn, and I couldn’t remember some things. I chatted with my psychologist and remembered a few more details.”

Yu Ning: “What things?”

Jin Miao: “Do you know about Ling Wangjin’s family?”

Yu Ning: “I know they exist, but I don’t know the specific details. He rarely talks to me about them.”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Jin Miao said, tearing open the plastic film of the disposable utensils. “But in Life A, the life before I started being reborn, some media outlets were already claiming they had investigated his childhood.”

Speaking of this, Jin Miao emphasized again.

“I can’t be certain if it’s true, but one of those media outlets was very powerful. They had even dug up information on victims who were living under assumed names in the past. Of course, that’s unethical, but my point is that their investigative skills were very strong…”

“They claimed to have found the identity of Ling Wangjin’s mother,” Jin Miao continued. “In Life B, I told you that name… and not long after that, you blocked me. From that point on, Ling Wangjin started actively looking for me for the first time, even though he only watched me from afar…”

“Based on your reactions,” Jin Miao said, sneaking a glance at her, “I think it must be true. The things they uncovered…”

Yu Ning: “What is his mother’s name?”

Even if she knew Ling Wangjin’s mother’s name, it didn’t mean everything about her could be uncovered, but it was better than nothing.

Jin Miao: “Ling Jinqiu.”

Yu Ning froze, vaguely feeling that the name sounded familiar, but she wrote it down regardless.

“Okay, I’ll go back and see if I can find someone to help me look into this name. Do you have any other news? Did that media outlet only find out her name?”

Jin Miao opened her mouth, paused for a few seconds, looking as if it were difficult to speak.

“…You should go look up her name online.”

Yu Ning used her phone to search for the name.

The first link on the webpage was a wiki entry.

Yu Ning paused and clicked on the link.

At the top of the page, she saw a line of text.

Serial Killer.

.