Sunlight spilled over the man’s handsome features, seeming to touch his eyes with flecks of warm light. He wasn’t angry about Jiang Zheyu’s rejection.

"Do you know why they’re pink roses?" Zexun asked with a soft smile, his gaze lowering to her. His eyes, shimmering like gentle sunlight, rested upon her.

Jiang Zheyu’s curiosity was piqued. ’Shouldn’t red roses be the flower for expressing love?’ After all, Zexun had made his interest in her clear from the start, approaching her with the hope of getting to know her and becoming her Beast Husband.

The reason she hadn’t refused Zexun’s invitation was because he had helped her before, recovering the compensation she was owed.

She had figured they wouldn’t be in contact again after this, but the museum turned out to be so large that Zexun found another opportunity to ask her out again.

"Why?" ’Why pink roses?’

Jiang Zheyu asked, her own curiosity piqued.

Zexun simply held up his Light Brain, and a photo automatically projected itself in front of Jiang Zheyu.

She recognized the photo. It was the profile picture she used for her livestreams—a shot of a girl facing the light, head tilted slightly up, a pink rose held in her mouth to partially obscure her face.

"This photo is what led me to Miss Jiang’s livestream," Zexun said with a faint smile. Because that picture had led him to Miss Jiang’s stream, he had become utterly captivated. He gently offered the flowers to her. "So, do you like pink roses?"

’Of course Jiang Zheyu thought pink roses were beautiful; otherwise, she wouldn’t have posed for a photo with one.’

’So this huge bouquet of pink roses wasn’t meant to say "I love you," but rather "I thought you would like these."’

’Perhaps it meant both, but since he was emphasizing the second meaning, it was difficult for Jiang Zheyu to say she disliked them.’

"Thank you, I like them very much." Resigned, but unable to bring herself to dislike him, Jiang Zheyu accepted the pink roses.

Zexun gave her a soft wink. "Miss Jiang, don’t forget to send me a picture of you with the roses."

Jiang Zheyu paused for a moment, then smiled. "Alright."

Zexun said his goodbyes and left.

Cradling the large bouquet of pink roses, Jiang Zheyu walked into the villa. She ended up adjusting her Light Brain, raising her hand, and snapping a photo. She only captured the bouquet from her neck down, keeping her face out of the shot.

Afterward, she arranged the pink roses in a vase.

"Xiaoyi, please take care of these flowers from now on," Jiang Zheyu instructed.

A moment later, Xiaoyi replied, "Of course, Master Yu Yu."

’One date ends, and it’s time to rush to the next.’

Jiang Zheyu felt drained.

’If I’d known, I wouldn’t have scheduled them for the same day. I’m lying in bed now and I don’t want to get up.’

’Anyway, it’s not like I need to make a good impression on Si Yu. I might as well be an hour late.’

「Inside the coffee shop.」

Si Yu had arrived half an hour early. He had booked the entire café, so the only people inside were the staff in the back, accompanied by the sound of soft, instrumental music on auto-play.

He was dressed in a pure Baise suit, his long silver hair tied in a small knot at the back. His features were handsome and sharp, and his tall frame left no room to mistake his gender.

A cup of steaming coffee sat on the pristine table, but the man hadn’t touched it.

He leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, slowly reading a magazine as he waited.

An hour and a half passed. Si Yu was still the only person in the empty café.

Si Yu reached the last page of his magazine.

He slowly placed the magazine on the glass tabletop. The coffee before him had gone cold.

A server approached, head bowed and eyes downcast, to take away the cold cup and replace it with a fresh, warm coffee and a new issue of the Empire News magazine.

Si Yu’s expression remained placid. His eyes, framed by an eyebrow with a Bone Nail, were half-lidded. His fingers landed on his silver Light Brain, stroking it gently.

Just then, the door to the café finally opened.

Si Yu slowly lifted his gaze and saw the young woman walk in briskly, her eyes fixed on her Light Brain.

Jiang Zheyu’s Light Brain had just received another reminder from the Female Matching Center, urging her to complete her match soon, lest she be automatically and forcibly matched.

At the same time, another notification arrived: Dear female Jiang Zheyu, please report to the Female Matching Center at nine o’clock tomorrow morning for a re-test of your Spiritual Power Level.

Every female had to undergo a centralized Spiritual Power Level test once a month.

But the tests were always conducted mid-month.

’Is it because I purified Su Yan’s Beastification Value and it dropped too quickly? Is that why the Female Matching Center is making me test my Spiritual Power Level early?’

’Jiang Zheyu didn’t want to expose her S-rank spiritual power.’

’The Little Princess of the Empire is only an A+. If my S-rank gets out, wouldn’t I become the most sought-after female in the entire interstellar region?’

’Then I’d be forcibly matched with even more Male Beastmen.’

’Whatever. I’ll go to the test tomorrow and decide what to do then.’

Jiang Zheyu looked up from her Light Brain and saw that there was only one man in the empty café. And that man was watching her.

She recognized him. This was Si Yu. His eyes were a deep green, like mountains shrouded in mist, and he had silver Bone Nails piercing his brow and lip.

His aura was one of noble inscrutability, but the Bone Nails in his brow and lip gave him a rebellious edge.

’And this man was definitely not as polite or harmless as he appeared.’

’Jiang Zheyu recalled how the novel’s heroine had cursed him. Right—even dressed so nobly, he couldn’t hide his lowly, despicable Star Thief bloodline. A villain who thought he could become an angel just by putting on a Baise suit?’

She silently composed herself, walked over, and sat down. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced at him with a hint of arrogance. "You’re Si Yu?"

"Yes." Si Yu’s deep green eyes focused on the young woman’s snow-pale face. A hint of excitement seemed to flicker within them, but he suppressed it, burying it deep in his gaze.

’He had used some illegal means to obtain the female’s file. The photo in it looked much like the person before him now.’

’So he already knew she was exceptionally beautiful.’

’But seeing her in person still made his heart skip a beat; he was stunned by her beauty.’

The young woman had a unique presence. She always held her back perfectly straight, and she had a particularly lovely way of walking.

Like a delicate yet resilient flower, growing towards the sun.

In truth, dancers always carried themselves a little differently.

They frequently trained their bodies, so it was only natural.

The server quickly brought another cup of coffee and placed it in front of Jiang Zheyu.

"The coffee here is quite good." Si Yu didn’t mention she had kept him waiting for an hour. Arriving thirty minutes early had been his show of respect, and he could tolerate her willfulness in arriving an hour late. "Give it a try."

Jiang Zheyu rested a hand on her coffee cup. With her other, she slowly stirred the liquid with a spoon, her mind racing with ways to make him hate her.

’She searched through the original owner’s memories, trying to figure out how to imitate her.’