The Missing Piece

After Gu Yue left, Lin Yu stayed in the hospital for a few more days. He waited until the swelling on his body had subsided enough that it wouldn't hinder putting on clothes before finally checking out.

Although the pain hadn't completely faded, with the help of medication, it was generally maintained at a tolerable level.

By this time, S University had already been in session for over a week.

Lin Yu returned to campus around one in the afternoon. Since his leave period hadn't fully expired yet, he wasn't in a hurry to attend classes and planned to rest in his dorm room for a while.

When he went back last winter, Lin Yu hadn't taken items like his bedding, merely packing them up simply into a box.

Now, he just needed to take them out and make the bed again.

After spreading the bedding on the bed, Lin Yu took off his shoes, lay down, and began silently reviewing the events that had happened during his more than half a year of university life.

Lin Yu picked out all the unreasonable incidents one by one, trying to connect them to glean more information.

It was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, piecing them together to see the complete picture.

Lying in bed, Lin Yu thought for a long time, and some fragmented pieces of the puzzle gradually took shape.

But just at that moment, his furrowed brows suddenly creased even deeper.

Because he realized he was missing several extremely crucial puzzle pieces.

The reason.

What was their reason for doing this? What did they want to gain by acting this way?

Based on the events that had occurred so far, their goal was already painfully obvious.

They lusted after his tall, strong physique!

They wanted to develop an intimate relationship with him!

So, what was their reason for doing this?

Lin Yu couldn't figure it out.

One thing was for certain: their approaches and pursuits were absolutely not born out of genuine liking but had some other purpose!

Biting his lip, Lin Yu stared at the ceiling about a meter away, silently sketching the mental puzzle pieces onto the white surface.

Looking at that large gap, Lin Yu clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Darn it!

The more he looked, the more that missing piece seemed to resemble Qing Mo!

Indeed, if Qing Mo were slotted in there, everything would make perfect sense.

She still had designs on him, so she orchestrated this whole crowd of women to try and seduce him into making a mistake...

...

The more Lin Yu thought about it, the tighter his frown became.

No.

No!

That doesn't make sense!

Qing Mo would never do something like this!

First of all, Qing Mo definitely understood him, knew he wasn't that kind of casual person.

Secondly, back when Qing Mo stood naked in front of him, he hadn't lost control like a beast. She naturally knew these ordinary beauties couldn't sway him.

Finally, she seemed to have no need for such self-deception. If she really wanted him that badly, why go through all this trouble? Wouldn't it be simpler to just tie him up and throw him in a dark room?

Unless...

There was another puzzle piece!

As soon as this thought emerged, it was like a sudden revelation, clearing Lin Yu's mind.

Right!

There's another puzzle piece!

The puzzle board was definitely missing one crucial piece!

If those women and the unreasonable incidents formed the hands, feet, torso, and body of the puzzle, and Qing Mo was the head, then what was missing was the neck piece connecting the body and the head!

With that piece, the whole picture would make sense and become clear!

After figuring this out, a new challenge presented itself to Lin Yu.

So, how was he going to find that missing piece?

Lin Yu raised his hand and rubbed his chin, feeling it was a bit tricky.

Maybe...

Go ask Qing Mo?

In all likelihood, she definitely knew that piece, since it was connected to her.

After some thought, Lin Yu quickly vetoed this plan.

Given Qing Mo's control over his current situation, she couldn't possibly be unaware of the things he'd encountered at school.

This proved she adopted a permissive attitude toward these events, perhaps even delighted to see that person succeed.

If that was the case, he definitely wouldn't get any answers from her.

Abandoning the idea of getting to the bottom of things through Qing Mo, Lin Yu rubbed his chin, feeling the only option left was to start with those inexplicable people who had approached him.

He could only see the complete picture of that puzzle piece through them.

However, this matter needed careful planning and couldn't be rushed; it would take time.

Right now, another problem lay before him.

And that was Tao Yaoyao!

Could she be one of the pieces in this puzzle?

Was she, like those other women, approaching him due to some order or for some benefit?

Regarding Tao Yaoyao, Lin Yu didn't dare jump to conclusions now.

Although she coincidentally appeared almost every time he encountered a difficult problem, offering help and seeing him through the tough times.

On the surface, it seemed eerie and suspicious.

But if he thought about it carefully, he knew some things couldn't possibly be arranged by her deliberately.

For example, she couldn't possibly have the ability to manipulate game data to make him match with that jerk, then level up to a gaming expert in a matter of seconds.

Appearing as a beautiful expert to save him and boost her favorability, right?

Moreover, her image and demeanor clearly indicated she was a young lady from a good family who had received an excellent upbringing.

Would someone like that stoop to such underhanded tactics for some benefit?

Besides, she had never expressed any desire to date him either.

Her appearances were always full of coincidence; perhaps fate had a hand in it.

...

...

While Lin Yu was deep in thought, an exclamation of surprise sounded from below him.

"Whoa!"

"Lin Yu, you're back?!"

The sudden shout startled Lin Yu. He turned to look and found it was that guy, Lv Pengju.

Haven't seen him for a while, and he seems to have gotten even chubbier!