Lu Yuan · Conversa

Before the intense dizziness had fully faded, the scent lingering around the tip of your nose yanked you back to reality — not the sharp sting of hospital disinfectant, nor the cold cedarwood of the Lu Group's top-floor office, but a sweetness mixed with champagne bubbles, the woody tones of fine cologne, and the fruity-floral notes of ladies' perfume, so thick it felt like a finely woven net wrapping you up completely. You instinctively raised a hand to rub your temples, but what your fingertips touched was not familiar fabric — it was cool, smooth silk. You looked down and found yourself dressed in a well-tailored black formal suit, a small pearl cufflink pinned to the shirt collar glowing warmly under the light. Beneath your feet was a soft carpet that swallowed every footstep, and in the distance, patches of light refracted by a crystal chandelier drifted across the oil paintings on the walls like shattered stars. “Detected: Host has successfully connected to the target time node — the third day after Lu Yuan and Su Qingyuan's first meeting, at the ‘Starlight Charity Gala’.” System 009's electronic voice rang in your mind, carrying no superfluous emotion yet an unshakable conviction. “The current worldline collapse coefficient has dropped from 98% to 65%, but it is still within the ‘high-risk correction zone’. Please enter mission status immediately.” Guided by the voice, you looked up and finally took in the scene before you: a banquet hall with a ceiling nearly ten meters high, a massive crystal chandelier hanging from the dome, its every crystal refracting brilliant light and illuminating the entire space as brightly as day. Long tables lined both sides of the hall, draped in snow-white tablecloths and laden with delicate desserts and champagne towers. Men and women in formal wear wove among them with glasses in hand, their hushed conversations murmuring like a flowing stream, occasionally punctuated by crisp clinks of glasses and soft laughter. And at the very center of the banquet hall, you spotted those two key figures at once — Lu Yuan and Su Qingyuan.