Be a Good Scumbag

"Is this something you just took?" Su Yang replied.

"Nope, took it earlier."

Seeing this message, Su Yang deliberately teased back, "Earlier? Who were you taking it for then?"

"Of course, it was for Brother Su! 【shy emoji】"

"Oh really?"

"Seriously! I haven’t sent it to anyone else."

"Then why didn’t you send it unless I asked?"

"Well... I was too shy~ And I haven’t taken many photos anyway."

"Fine, nice legs. I’ll treat you to a Huazi next time I’m free."

"Love you~~ Heart~~"

After amusing himself with Lin Yiyi for a while, Su Yang switched back to Douyin to browse for some 'new friends.'

Douyin was flooded with beauties, but even now, Su Yang had only found one girl—Lin Yiyi—who scored above an 85.

With makeup and the overpowered beauty filters on Douyin, practically every girl could pass as a 90+.

But once Su Yang used his 'truth mirror,' their real faces were instantly exposed.

He shook his head and casually clicked into a live stream, beginning his beauty hunt.

—System scan activated.

[Li Qiu, looks: 68]

[Huang Yueyue, looks: 65]

[Gao Xiaomei, looks: 70]

......

Su Yang scanned over a dozen girls, but not a single one even hit 75, let alone 85.

"What the hell?!"

"They all look great, but the difference is insane. Are beauty filters this powerful now?"

Refusing to believe it, he kept scrolling.

After scanning fifteen more, the highest score so far was a 77.

This 77-point girl seemed outstanding in both figure and face, but she was still far from his standard.

While a 77 would be considered very pretty in real life, if Su Yang just wanted some casual fun, he could toss a few Huazi gifts, add her on WeChat, and let things unfold naturally.

But right now, his WeChat contacts still had several 80-85s he hadn’t even touched yet.

A 77? Swiped away without a second thought.

Su Yang gave up on scanning—he wasn’t tired, but even the system was exhausted.

He immersed himself in watching the girls dance. As long as he didn’t scan, every one of them was a 90.

After browsing Douyin for a while, Pan Ning turned over, facing Su Yang.

The towel on her forehead slipped down, covering her face.

Su Yang immediately sat up, picked up the towel, and felt Pan Ning’s forehead.

"Still burning up. Let’s check again."

Beep—

Temperature reading: 39.7°C.

"Damn? Why’s it spiking again?"

He got up, replaced the towel, and checked the medicine box.

Earlier, he’d only given Pan Ning two fever reducers—none of the other meds yet.

"Guess we need a combo."

He walked to the living room, poured a glass of warm water, and returned to help Pan Ning take two antiviral pills.

Fever meds couldn’t be taken too frequently in a short time—it wouldn’t boost effectiveness and might even cause adverse reactions.

He decided to wait until midnight. If Pan Ning’s fever stayed at 39-something, he’d give her two more pills.

If it dropped to 38-something, he’d skip it—medicine was best taken sparingly.

After tucking Pan Ning in, Su Yang lay back down and resumed scrolling.

Then, a message from Lu Yun popped up.

Su Yang opened it.

"Su Yang, what are you up to?"

After a pause, he replied, "Lying around, scrolling."

"Ohh~ Did you... take Pan Ning home?"

Seeing this, Su Yang glanced at Pan Ning beside him and replied, "Yeah, dropped her off. Why?"

"Nothing, just bored and wondering what you’re doing~"

Su Yang exhaled. No way could he admit Pan Ning was currently sleeping in his bed.

Even though he’d brought her home because of her high fever—special circumstances—girls didn’t care about 'special.'

If Su Yang told the truth, most girls would ignore the context and focus on the key part.

For example:

"Pan Ning has a high fever, refused the hospital, and I couldn’t just leave her, so I brought her home. Gave her some meds to see how it goes."

What they’d likely hear:

"I brought her home."

Lu Yun might not be that type, but Su Yang wasn’t dumb enough to test it.

After some thought, he replied, "You feeling okay?"

"I’m fine, why?"

"Just checking—didn’t want you catching a cold after the rafting."

Lu Yun smiled on the other end. "Nope, I’m tough."

"Good. Get some sleep early, must’ve been tiring today."

"Kinda~ I’ll sleep now. You rest too~"

"Sure."

"Su Yang, goodnight~"

"Night, Little Deer."

Closing the chat, Su Yang mused, 'More and more girls around me... How do I give each of them a home?'

"Damn, I’m getting scummier by the day." He chuckled self-mockingly, glanced at Pan Ning, and got up.

He stepped out to the balcony, lit a cigarette, and sat on the lounge chair.

Staring at the city’s nightscape, he felt a sudden wave of reflection.

Somewhere, he’d read:

"If you’re going for the heart, don’t go for the body. If you’re going for the body, don’t go for the heart."

If you mixed both with different girls, you were undeniably a scumbag.

If you stuck to just the body with all of them, you’d be a legend—like Brother Tong.

But Su Yang wasn’t at that level yet. He realized he’d unknowingly fallen hard for both Pan Ning and Lu Yun.

Liking two at once, yet unwilling to let go of the others—what was he supposed to do?

—System? Any answers?

[The answer’s obvious. You want both heart and body? Then embrace being a scumbag.]

—Whoa, since when does the system talk like this?

[Don’t overthink it. Follow your instincts—deal with the future later.]

—You’re pretty chill about this.

[I’m just a system. Emotions aren’t my domain. Just live without regrets. But no matter what you choose, regrets will come—so stay present.]

—Wait, did you switch to a human customer service representative just now? Since when are you this chatty?

The system went silent.

After a long drag, Su Yang exhaled smoke.

—Fine. Future problems for future me.

He made himself a coffee and returned to the bedroom, collapsing onto the beanbag.

An hour later, his eyes were heavy from screen time.

After replacing Pan Ning’s towel once more, he showered, slipped into his boxers, and crawled into bed.

Setting a 3 AM alarm, he finally succumbed to exhaustion, tossing his phone aside and sinking into sleep.

……

Ring... ring.

At exactly 3 AM, the alarm blared.

Su Yang groggily rolled over and silenced it.

After two dazed minutes, he opened his eyes and turned toward the bed—only to freeze.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

The bed was empty.

He quickly sat up and looked toward the bathroom. The door was open, and the light was off. If Pan Ning had woken up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, she definitely wouldn’t have gone outside the room.

So… where was she?

…