Something's Wrong

"I came to ask you about the problems I don’t understand," Tang Qinqin said, blinking her eyes.

"Ask about problems?" Yu Kai repeated, frowning. His first instinct was to ask why she didn’t just ask her sister instead.

But soon, as Tang Qinqin blinked rapidly at him, he caught on and nodded.

"Oh, right."

"Problems, huh?"

"Sure."

"Let’s talk in my room."

"Mhm."

Tang Qinqin nodded, stood up, and excused herself to Auntie Yu before following Yu Kai into his room.

Once inside, she closed the door, grinned, and casually complimented, "Yu Kai, you’ve gotten even more handsome!" Then, without wasting time, she got straight to the point.

"Yu Kai, what else do you know about that Lin Yu guy?"

"Tell me everything."

At the mention of Lin Yu, the smile vanished from Yu Kai’s face. His delicate features twisted with anger, and he didn’t even bother to ask Tang Qinqin to sit before he started cursing.

"That Lin Yu is nothing but a scoundrel!"

"A thug!"

"A liar!"

"He used dirty tricks to deceive your sister!"

"He—he’s not even human!"

As he ranted, scenes from school flashed through his mind—Tang Manman staring blankly at Lin Yu’s retreating figure. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, his voice rising with every word.

"He’s a beast!"

"A monster!"

"Qinqin, you have to help your sister see through that bastard’s true nature!"

"We can’t let her be fooled by him anymore!"

...

Listening to Yu Kai’s furious tirade, Tang Qinqin quietly adjusted her internal gauge of his credibility downward.

Before, she might have believed half of what he said. But seeing him like this, she doubted even three out of ten words could be trusted.

After a while, when Yu Kai finally ran out of insults and paused to catch his breath, Tang Qinqin seized the opportunity. Playing along, she spoke softly,

"Yu Kai, I know Lin Yu is no good, and I believe everything you’ve said."

"But it’s not enough for just me to believe it."

"I need my sister to believe it too."

"Um..."

She hesitated, watching Yu Kai’s reddened eyes, then carefully asked,

"Yu Kai, about all these things you’ve said..."

"Do you have any proof?"

"Only with solid evidence can I convince my sister and make her see that scoundrel for who he really is."

"Proof?"

Yu Kai fell silent at that, but soon, he remembered something and exclaimed excitedly,

"I do!"

"That Lin Yu has been walking to and from school every day with that delinquent girl who bullied your sister! They’re practically inseparable!"

"Qinqin, think about it."

"If they weren’t in cahoots, how could they be so close?"

"And back when Lin Yu supposedly stood up for your sister, he did it in front of a whole hallway of people—slapping that girl, yanking her hair."

"Qinqin, if it were you..."

"If someone treated you like that, would you still walk to school with them every day?"

"You’d avoid them at all costs, right?"

"But that delinquent?"

"She doesn’t avoid Lin Yu at all. Instead, she sticks to him like glue, acting like they’re a couple!"

"Does that make any sense?"

"So that whole act of Lin Yu defending your sister? It was all staged! A setup!"

Yu Kai’s eyes burned with conviction as he spoke.

Listening to his furious words, Tang Qinqin narrowed her eyes slightly, deep in thought.

If she only considered the information Yu Kai provided, that Lin Yu guy seemed like an undeniable villain.

But could Yu Kai’s words really be trusted?

Tang Qinqin wasn’t so sure.

With that in mind, she looked up at Yu Kai, whose face was now completely flushed with rage, and grew even more certain of one thing.

Yu Kai’s words couldn’t be taken at face value.

They were just a reference.

To uncover the truth, she’d have to see for herself.

And it wouldn’t even be hard. She just needed to visit her sister’s school.

If Lin Yu really was inseparable from the girl who bullied her sister, then Yu Kai’s claims might hold water.

Having gotten what she came for, Tang Qinqin indulged Yu Kai by badmouthing Lin Yu for a while longer before making her escape. Now, she just had to wait until Monday to investigate the truth herself...

...

"Achoo!"

"Achoo!!"

"Achoo!!!"

In the bustling pedestrian street, Lin Yu suddenly sneezed three times in a row, bending over from the force of it.

Straightening up, he rubbed his nose, baffled by the abrupt and intense itch that had come and gone without warning.

Something felt off.

After the three sneezes, his nose didn’t itch at all anymore.

Suspicious, Lin Yu scanned his surroundings.

The crowd was lively, the sky was clear—everything looked perfectly normal.

But Lin Yu wasn’t convinced.

Ever since that unlucky day when he’d run into the third female lead, he saw danger everywhere.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to head back home. As for the household supplies he needed...

He’d just make do with whatever he could find at the shops near his rented place.

No way was he stepping foot in a supermarket.

Damn fate!

Trying to trick me again!

Well, I’m not falling for it!

Grumbling inwardly, Lin Yu turned around and stormed off the way he came...

...

Drying himself off with a towel, Lin Yu shivered as he burrowed under the blankets.

It was early winter, but the heating in his rented room hadn’t been turned on yet.

Outside, the north wind howled, carrying a biting chill.

Huddled in his old apartment, Lin Yu grumbled about the shop downstairs not selling electric blankets.

Seriously!

Do they even want to make money?

But soon, his annoyance at the shop shifted back to his usual target—fate.

Damn fate!

If it weren’t for you meddling, I’d have gone to a proper store and bought an electric blanket by now! Wouldn’t have to freeze like this!

As he stewed, a sense of relief crept in.

He curled up tighter, grinning foolishly in the dark.

Actually, this wasn’t so bad.

A little cold was nothing.

Better than another full day of bad luck.

Sniffling, Lin Yu stared at the closed wardrobe door, his gaze unfocused. A graceful figure surfaced in his mind.

Tang’s mother.

Something’s off about her.