Ever since he was a kid, he’d had a deep interest in documentaries. When he was young, most kids Chen Yuan’s age were glued to the TV watching shows about armored heroes and super-powered warriors, but his favorite was the nature programs on CCTV-7. Although in reality, the natural environment didn’t have much to do with ordinary people, and you couldn’t blame them at all for things like whales and dolphins going extinct—he’d never even had a single bowl of shark fin soup in his life, let alone harmed any endangered animals.

However, Chen Yuan had been so steeped in the ideas of "appreciating the diversity of life, the wonders of nature, and the interdependence of all living things" that the great responsibility of protecting the environment had become stubbornly ingrained in his mind.

He had never carelessly thrown away a single battery, always placing them carefully in a small box.

On weekends, when he went to the county library, he would take his boxful of batteries to throw in the recycling bin there.

The reality, however, was always cruel. In fact, all that recycling was just for show; in the end, the batteries were all dumped into the same landfill.

Still, watching documentaries was a good habit. It helped you understand the world, which was one of the benefits of the information age. Every time Chen Yuan turned on a program, he would become completely immersed, losing himself in the experience.

But Jiang Yao had no interest in watching.

She just stared at Chen Yuan.

The resentment in her eyes was so thick you could almost touch it, making her look like a female ghost climbing out of a TV in the dead of night.

Chen Yuan was completely oblivious at first. He saw a meerkat on the screen take a tumble and get up looking dazed, and he burst out laughing. His shoulders shaking, he reached for the Coke on the table and casually glanced over at Jiang Yao.

Instantly, her expression made him shudder.

Jiang Yao’s glare was so murderous that it made his entire body go numb.

"Why do you look like you want to eat me alive?"

"I don’t," she denied flatly.

"Okay..."

Chen Yuan tore his gaze away and forced himself to continue watching the documentary, but he couldn’t concentrate this time. He could constantly feel Yaoyao’s eyes on him.

At the same time, something even more chilling happened. The faint sound of soft sobbing, full of sorrow, could be heard from the balcony, adding a startling tension to the quiet night.

His heart pounded. He craned his neck to glance toward the balcony. Ningning’s silhouette was visible behind the frosted glass; he could vaguely make out her long, loose hair and her hand occasionally rising to wipe away tears.

’Women... what a terrifying species,’ he thought.

’If you make one angry, it’s best to try and placate her. If you don’t, you’ll never get a moment of peace. There’s a reason all the most vengeful ghosts are female—their resentment runs too deep.’

"Is Jiang Ning okay? She’s been out there for a while, has she still not calmed down?" Chen Yuan asked.

When she’d left earlier, Jiang Ning had said she needed to calm down and didn’t want to stay in the living room.

There was nowhere else to go in such a small apartment, so the two of them had simply separated—one on the sofa, the other on the balcony.

"If you’re so concerned, why don’t you go check on her yourself?" Jiang Yao snorted coldly.

"Well, should I... go ask her?"

"Hey!" Her eyes widened in displeasure. "Why didn’t you comfort me when I was crying? But the second she cries, you rush to comfort her?"

"I don’t want to comfort anybody! This has nothing to do with me. You’re the one who made your sister angry."

"That’s not necessarily true. You took her side."

"How did I take her side?"

"You just did. If you hadn’t grabbed my hand, I wouldn’t have pulled on my sister’s clothes. I was about to cover her up, but then you almost... Hmph. You know perfectly well who caused this mess."

Jiang Yao had a point. Although she had played a part, this "young master" couldn’t escape the blame either.

If Chen Yuan hadn’t gotten involved, her sister wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction. But he had, and in his carelessness, he’d seen everything and even almost touched her.

Her sister, who was so protective of her virtue and modesty, cared deeply about such things. They weren’t in a relationship anymore, after all, so things were different now.

"?" Chen Yuan was completely baffled, having no idea what Yaoyao was talking about.

"Be honest. You didn’t touch her chest just now, did you?"

"Of course not!"

"You’d better not have," Jiang Yao said with a pout. "Her chest and her feet are my sister’s most sensitive spots, you know. Even I don’t dare to just touch them whenever I feel like it."

"Huh?"

Chen Yuan froze. His mind flashed back to the first time he had touched Jiang Ning’s foot. She really had cried out in alarm, her skin breaking out in goosebumps all over, just like a startled kitten.

Even after dating for so long, he hadn’t touched many other parts of her body.

"So what would happen if someone did touch them?"

"She’d definitely get angry. Then, after letting the grudge fester for a long time, she might find you one unsuspecting night and murder you. Smother you with a pillow... or maybe grab a gleaming fruit knife and plunge it right into your neck... SPLAT! Blood all over the walls."

"Are you telling me a horror story right now?"

Chen Yuan didn’t believe her for a second. It didn’t sound like something Ningning would do. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But Jiang Yao’s telling of the story was disturbingly immersive; she not only mimed the stabbing motion but also let out a few sinister chuckles.

Chen Yuan warily scooted back a little.

"This isn’t what *you’re* actually thinking of doing, is it? You’re just pinning it on your sister. Don’t try to scare me."

"Is that really how you see me?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to think?"

"Chen Yuan!"

Jiang Yao bit her lip. She had just been trying to win the argument, but Chen Yuan had refused to back down. Annoyed, she stuck out her pale foot to kick him.

In the dimly lit living room, her foot shot out in a blur. Chen Yuan reacted instinctively, his hand darting out to grab her by the ankle.

With her foot caught in his grip, she could feel the strength in his hand. She couldn’t kick out, nor could she pull away.