Future Love Contract (GL) - Chapter 6

The two of them cleaned up the dishes together and loaded them into the dishwasher. After chatting casually for a bit, they saw that it was getting late, so they said goodnight and returned to their rooms to rest.

Zhao Xinyun lay down on the bed and once again found herself unable to sleep. All the questions that had troubled her during the day now floated up in her mind. What exactly was the memory the original Zhao Xinyun had lost? What direction would her relationship with Gresya take? What did her future hold? And—there was also that piece of news she had heard earlier. Though it was just some gossip, and she wasn’t sure if it was true, the content had greatly piqued her interest. She thought, if Gresya had heard it too, she would definitely feel the same way.

She remembered that Gresya had once talked to her about it. But Gresya might not realize that things had progressed to this point, and very soon, they might get the chance to participate…

Never mind. Stop thinking about it. Sleep.

The blue ceiling lights dimmed, and she closed her eyes, letting herself drift into sleep.

The next day was a day off. Zhao Xinyun had originally wanted to use the opportunity to finally sleep in. Ever since she’d transmigrated—though it hadn’t even been that many days—she hadn’t gotten a single chance to sleep late. But things didn’t go her way. When she woke up, her only thought was: I didn’t even get proper sleep, let alone sleep in.

She yawned helplessly and opened her eyes—only to find a large face right in front of her.

Of course, it was Gresya’s face. She should have been angry about her sleep being interrupted, but for some reason, her very first thought was: Gresya’s skin looks really nice—completely unrelated to the situation!

“…So why did you come over so early in the morning? Was it just to scare me?” Zhao Xinyun turned her head and buried her face in the pillow, ignoring her.

“‘The plan of the day begins in the morning’—early to bed, early to rise, good for your health! I came to wake you up.”

A muffled voice came from Zhao Xinyun, still buried in the pillow. “If it was just to wake me up, you know this bed has a timed shaking function. Why did you have to come scare me?”

She had accidentally discovered that function two nights ago before bed, when she’d pressed a bunch of buttons out of curiosity. It seemed to be designed to wake someone up, as a replacement for the alarm clocks used six hundred years ago—probably because, unlike an alarm clock, it wouldn’t disturb anyone else nearby.

“Because you agreed to be my girlfriend, remember? So it’s your duty,” Gresya said, with a mischievous look on her face.

Zhao Xinyun couldn’t hold back anymore. She turned her head and glared at her, eyes wide. “Wait, when did I agree to actually be your girlfriend?! Didn’t we say we were just pretending to be a couple? And how exactly did waking you up suddenly become my duty?!”

“It’s our day off, so your duty is to come out with me. No sleeping in.”

Zhao Xinyun thought to herself: Looks like there’s no way I’m getting that sleep-in today. But since she’d already woken up naturally, she figured she might as well go out with Gresya. After all, since arriving at the Second Venus Base, she hadn’t gone anywhere aside from job-hunting and grocery shopping.

“…Fine. Give me ten minutes to get dressed, brush my teeth, and wash my face.”

As soon as Gresya left the room, Zhao Xinyun jumped out of bed and dashed out as fast as she could.

Twenty minutes later.

To be honest, there wasn’t much to do at the Second Venus Base. After all, it was still largely under construction—how many recreational facilities could it possibly have?

Gresya had switched the car into manual mode and was aimlessly driving around. Zhao Xinyun sat quietly beside her, not wanting to interrupt. She stared out the window, lost in thought, occasionally yawning—still a bit resentful about her interrupted sleep.

Eventually, Gresya parked the car in front of a park. It was called a park, but in reality, it only had a few scattered trees and some artificial landscaping. Still, there were small groups of people strolling inside. Clearly, they weren’t here for the scenery—it was about who they were enjoying the scenery with.

But she and Gresya weren’t a real couple. If they were pretending every day like this, who was it even for? What exactly was it that Gresya wanted from her? Zhao Xinyun still hadn’t figured it out—and she couldn’t just ask her directly either.

“Don’t underestimate those trees over there—they cost quite a bit,” Gresya said, pointing to several large trees nearby, pulling Zhao Xinyun out of her thoughts.

Zhao Xinyun only needed a moment to understand. The Second Venus Base had only been officially established recently. Growing such large trees clearly wasn’t something they could have transplanted from elsewhere—not without astronomical cost. Venus’s First Base had only existed for a few decades, and it was unlikely they’d sell any of their naturally grown trees. Transporting them from other planets was practically impossible.

Which left only one explanation: these trees had been grown using some kind of special rapid-growth technology.

Zhao Xinyun sifted through her inherited memories. She had only ever heard about this rapid-growth technology in passing and didn’t know much about the details. Almost as if reading her mind, Gresya continued along her train of thought.

“But the vegetables we usually eat aren’t grown using this method,” she said, pointing to the tall tree. “It’s way too expensive. They just use regular greenhouses.”

Now that she thought about it, she and Gresya often shared similar thoughts. Was this what people meant by… chemistry?

Her imagination started running wild. Zhao Xinyun began to suspect that Gresya had used some new, undisclosed technology to detect her brainwave compatibility—and after discovering they were a perfect match, had decided to “bring her home.” And since this technology was still in the final stages of development and had to remain confidential, she couldn’t tell her the truth.

Even in the world six hundred years from now, that kind of theory was straight out of a sci-fi novel. Zhao Xinyun gave her head a hard shake, tossing out all the wild thoughts, and sat on the bench beside Gresya, trying to make casual conversation.

“Do they have parks like this on Mars?” she asked, digging through both her sets of memories. She had never been to Mars—she’d spent the last forty years on Earth. Parks from six hundred years ago had the charm of being more “natural”—though, in truth, they weren’t that natural. They were just small patches of land, identical rows of shrubs trimmed into uniform shapes, and lawns mowed every so often. Of course, it was probably unfair to compare a six-hundred-year-old roadside park to this place.

“They’re bigger,” Gresya nodded, answering briefly.

At this point, if Zhao Xinyun still hadn’t noticed that Gresya had something on her mind, she’d have to be an idiot. But what was it? Did it have something to do with her? And if it did, what exactly was it?

Was Gresya regretting the impulse decision to bring her home—thinking she’d taken on too much trouble? Or was she preparing to tell her the real reason behind all her actions, but didn’t know how to start? Or was she hesitating over whether to violate a confidentiality agreement and reveal the brainwave compatibility technology to her?

Then Zhao Xinyun remembered the gossip she had heard two days ago.

In every way, Gresya clearly had the upper hand. Was she nervous about getting selected? Or… had she been thinking about her?

Could this possibly be related to why she brought her home?

A thousand questions spiraled in Zhao Xinyun’s mind. She really wanted to ask, “What exactly are you struggling with? Is there something I can do to help?” But she was naturally shy, and given the awkwardness in their current relationship, she simply had no idea how to bring it up.

So, she stayed silent.