On the white European-style dining table, ornate carvings ran along the edges to the far end.
The crystal chandelier overhead was glaringly bright, and in Lin Beixing’s body—after an entire night of desperate studying—Lu Yu could barely keep his eyes open.

He dozed off in his seat, and no sooner had his head dipped than the woman across from him tapped her steel fork lightly against her porcelain plate.

Ding—ding.

The sharp, crisp sound felt like a reminder—wake up.

Lu Yu jolted upright.

This body seemed to instinctively fear this particular warning sound.

He forced his heavy eyelids open and straightened his posture.

Before him sat a small plate of mismatched food—
two florets of broccoli, half a corn cob, half a shelled boiled egg, and a warm cup of milk.

At first glance, it looked like a collection of leftovers randomly pieced together.

But supposedly it was “nutritionally balanced.”

To hell with nutritional balance.

This body felt like it could collapse any second—nutritional balance his ass.

Of course, most of the exhaustion came from Lin Beixing’s all-nighter yesterday.
A full night without rest, plus hunger, left the body weak.

What on earth drove Lin Beixing to push herself this hard?
Lu Yu couldn’t understand it.
He believed nothing in the world was more important than pleasing himself.
Selfish or not, the only thing worth spending time and effort on was oneself.

“What’s wrong?”

The woman across from him seemed to notice something off. Her gaze landed on him like a judge passing sentence.

Lin’s mother resembled Lin Beixing, especially in those deep, jet-black eyes.
But while Lin Beixing’s eyes always carried warmth, her mother’s were sharp as blades.

“Nothing… just a little hungry this morning,” Lu Yu murmured, picking up the only thing resembling meat—the boiled egg—with the tiny fork.

Scrape…

Something slid across the table toward him.
Lu Yu looked up.

It was Lin Mother’s untouched bowl of oatmeal.

He froze slightly, the egg still in his mouth.

“…Thank you, Mom.”

“Don’t talk while eating.”

Her voice remained cold, devoid of emotion.

At first, Lu Yu had suspected that there was no such thing as affection in Lin Beixing’s household.

But now… it didn’t seem to be that simple.

Strict, harsh, and always wearing that dignified, icy expression—
yet she undeniably loved her daughter.

It showed in the way she often picked Lin Beixing up from school,
asked about her assignments when she saw her books,
worried about her tendon sheath inflammation,
and earlier—when “Lin Beixing” mentioned being hungry—she had wordlessly given up her own food.

All of this, Lu Yu recognized as motherly love.

But this kind of love felt suffocating.

While eating, he forced himself awake and looked around the house.

The Lin family’s dining room was on the first floor. Sunlight filtered through the closed glass windows, scattering across the sill.
The central air conditioner was running—likely twenty-four hours a day—keeping the mansion comfortably cool despite the harsh summer heat.

From Lu Yu’s seat, he could see directly into the living room.
His eyes skipped over the luxurious furnishings.
Golden lights illuminated the large empty space.

Now that he thought about it, he had never once seen Lin Beixing’s father.

Given the family’s status, he was probably extremely busy.

Lu Yu had no idea what kind of father he was to his daughter.

He would have to ask Lin Beixing at school on Monday.
If their bodies were going to keep switching, he needed to understand her family situation better.

“I’m finished, Mom.”

Lu Yu had used the slowest eating speed of his entire life.
Normally he could throw this tiny meal into his mouth and gulp it down in seconds, but since this was Lin Beixing’s body, he forced himself to chew slowly.

Even so, he finished incredibly quickly.
Lin Mother had only just peeled her egg when she looked up and saw “Lin Beixing’s” empty plate.

Fortunately, she didn’t comment—just nodded lightly.

“Go upstairs. The tutor is waiting for you in the study.”

“…Okay.”

Lu Yu wiped his mouth with the small cloth napkin, tidied the dishes, and headed upstairs using his memory of the house layout.

Thankfully, his map-reading ability as a gamer came in handy.

He found Lin Beixing’s study—combined with her piano room—likely arranged so she could practice music and study her academic subjects in the same space.

The blonde piano teacher wasn’t here today.
From the crack in the door, Lu Yu saw an elderly woman sitting by the desk.

He didn’t go in immediately.
He pulled out Lin Beixing’s phone from his pocket.

Lin Mother had been staring at him the whole time; he hadn’t had a single chance to check his messages.
Now he finally could.

The phone unlocked instantly, and two notifications popped up.

The first was from half an hour ago:

Yu: Just keep your head down and pretend to read. If you look focused, the tutor won’t bother you. Avoid handwriting and doing problems. If anything happens, call me from the bathroom…

The second one was from five minutes ago:

Yu: Why is there no food in your house…? I’m starving!

Lu Yu glanced toward the old woman inside, wary of her turning around.
With eighteen years of typing experience, he fired off a reply at lightning speed.

Little Polaris: Instant noodles are gone. There are only eggs and sausages. If you really can’t manage, there’s rice and dried noodles in the drawer above the sink. Eat whatever you want.

Within seconds of sending, he saw the “typing…” indicator pop up.

Nervously, he waited—ready to hide the phone at any moment.

Before her message arrived, Lu Yu wisely switched the phone to silent mode.

Yu: I don’t know how to cook…

Little Polaris: Go downstairs and buy food.

Yu: …I checked your phone. You have no money.

Lin Beixing’s words stabbed right into Lu Yu’s heart.

It was the end of the month—he was flat broke.
He had about a hundred yuan left in Alipay, but that wasn’t enough to feed Lin Beixing.

Yu: Transfer me 500.

Little Polaris: ???

Yu: Use my phone to send money to me right now. I’m spending my own money—no problem, right? Hurry! Your cat is hungry too!

…She had a point.

Though Lu Yu really wanted to say—the cat was perfectly fine as long as it had kibble.

After a moment’s hesitation, another message arrived:

Yu: I set up facial recognition for payment. Just scan your face!

With a sigh, Lu Yu followed her instructions and transferred 500 yuan to “himself.”

It felt strangely intimate, sending money to himself like this.

He suddenly remembered Renjie’s comment from yesterday—

“Living off a woman.”

“Come in already.”

Lu Yu nearly jumped. He had been typing out restaurant suggestions for Lin Beixing when the old woman’s low voice came from inside the room.

“Time is precious. Every second counts… You should value every moment you have.”

She slowly turned her head.
Her murky eyes held none of the warmth one expected from someone her age.
They were sharp, predatory—like she might swallow him whole.

A chill ran down Lu Yu’s spine.

He quietly pocketed the phone, stiffened his neck, and stepped inside.