Should be no problem, right

Lin Yu, who had just been given a thorough dressing-down by his counselor, walked along the stone-paved path leading out of campus.

He shot an unhappy glance at Tang Manman, who wore an innocent look beside him, and tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Was that really necessary?”

“My reputation at school is ruined now.”

Tang Manman turned her head at his words. Under the moonlight, her waterfall of black hair cascaded over her shoulders.

She puffed out her cheeks slightly, pressing the corners of her lips downward in grievance. Her large, limpid eyes stared at Lin Yu, as if silently asking:

“I’m this adorable. Can you really bring yourself to blame me?”

Lin Yu looked at the shamelessly cute girl before him. He really couldn’t bring himself to blame her.

After all, in a certain sense…

Her reputation had probably been ruined even more thoroughly than his.

“Yaaawn…”

Stretching his arms, Lin Yu gave a long, lazy yawn. When he lowered them, he naturally pulled the idiot who had hurt the enemy by eight hundred but herself by a thousand into his arms.

Then he leisurely made his way toward the school gates with her.

“It’s just a shame.”

“If I’m not around for the battles to come…”

“They’ll probably have a hard time qualifying for the competition.”

“You’re that important?”

“Of course I am!”

“I’m the strongest member of the team!”

“…”

…

When they returned to the rented apartment, Lin Yu went to bed early. His recent mad push to climb the rankings had left him exhausted.

Tang Manman finished washing up and drying her hair before finally coming to the bedside.

She switched off the lamp.

Then she lifted the covers and sat down on the bed.

The incredibly lazy Lin Yu had taken a quick shower before going to bed and hadn’t even bothered to draw the curtains.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, slanting across half the bedroom.

Bathed in its faint silver glow, Tang Manman’s two long legs looked as pale as moonlight beneath her nightdress.

She didn’t lie down right away.

She wasn’t sleepy yet.

The events of the evening had left her with a peculiar, indescribable feeling.

Especially when she heard Lin Yu say, “My reputation at school is completely ruined.” A faint yet utterly wild joy had unexpectedly welled up inside her.

At that moment, she had desperately wanted to stare straight into Lin Yu’s eyes and earnestly tell him, “Isn’t that even better? From now on, having only me will be enough for you.”

But in the end, Tang Manman hadn’t said it.

Because she realized that this thought—and even the impulse itself—was wrong.

But still…

It felt so good.

Hearing that Lin Yu’s social connections had been destroyed…

It felt so good that she simply couldn’t control her happiness…

The lustrous moonlight spilled over Tang Manman’s fair skin, coating it in a radiant silver sheen.

She gazed at Lin Yu, sleeping peacefully in the moonlight, and instinctively raised a hand to stroke his cheek.

Lin Yu looked much cuter in sleep than he usually did.

Immersed in the silvery moonlight, the sharp lines of his face seemed softened, revealing a hint of simple, foolish charm.

Tang Manman suddenly wanted to wake him.

For some inexplicable reason, she was excited, and instinctively wanted to do something even more exciting with him.

But when she saw the exhaustion on Lin Yu’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to disturb him.

After sitting on the bed for a long while, Tang Manman eventually pulled the covers over her head.

She had thought of a solution that would satisfy both sides.

If Lin Yu was truly exhausted, then he probably wouldn’t wake up.

But if he wasn’t that tired, then getting him involved shouldn’t be a problem either, right?

…

…

At ten the next morning, Lin Yu got out of bed with a yawn, looking as though he hadn’t rested at all the night before.

And in fact, he really hadn’t slept well.

It was strange.

For some reason, Tang Manman had suddenly become ridiculously energetic last night.

Was she secretly a werewolf or something?

Whenever the moon was full, did she shed her quiet, innocent exterior and transform into a ravenous big bad wolf, ready to devour everything in sight?

Fortunately, it was Saturday.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to go to class at all!

The moment he opened his eyes in bed, Lin Yu picked up the phone beside him and checked his unread messages.

Lin Yu didn’t have many contacts.

About half were people he had known in high school, and the other half were people he had met at university.

Several unread messages sat quietly on his screen. Lin Yu opened the most important one first.

Zhao Dahu: Brother Long.

Zhao Dahu: Are you there?

Zhao Dahu: Send me a bank account number.

Zhao Dahu: I’ll transfer your share to you.

Staring at Zhao Dahu’s messages, Lin Yu was completely confused. His fingers flew across the screen.

Long Aotian: What share?

Long Aotian: Did you get the wrong person?

Long Aotian: Do you have another Brother Long outside?

Zhao Dahu: No.

Zhao Dahu clearly hadn’t understood Lin Yu’s joke and seriously began explaining.

Zhao Dahu: You’re the only Brother Long I have.

Zhao Dahu: Didn’t you have a share in a small bar in H City?

Zhao Dahu: My brother and I discussed it, and we’ve decided to hand over the bar’s entire share of the profits to you.

As he read Zhao Dahu’s messages, a question mark slowly appeared above Lin Yu’s head.

Zhao Dahu and Zhao She had discussed it and ultimately decided to give him a share in a bar for free?

Why did that sound so strange?

Surely Zhao Dahu had begged Zhao She for it, and Zhao She had only agreed to give an outsider like him a little taste of the profits out of consideration for his younger brother?

Recalling Zhao She’s perpetually dangerous-looking, three-white-eyes stare, Lin Yu felt that this was probably the real explanation.

Long Aotian: Forget it.

After thinking it over, Lin Yu decided to refuse Zhao Dahu’s offer. There was no need to owe him such a huge favor for no reason.

In the future, if he could live off Tang Manman, he’d eat the soft rice she offered. If he couldn’t count on her, he’d just find a job. It wasn’t a big deal!

Long Aotian: I don’t want it. Keep the money and save up a little more for yourself. It can’t hurt.

Zhao Dahu: Brother Long, just take it.

Zhao Dahu: I’ve got nearly a hundred places like that under my control.

Long Aotian: ???

Long Aotian: Then give me two more.

Holding his phone, Lin Yu was utterly stunned.

Nearly a hundred places like that?

Ever since Zhao She had usurped the Black Blood Gang and turned it into his own asset, less than half a year had passed.

And he had already developed the gang to this extent?

Back in Li Yuan’s heyday, he’d only had thirty or forty of these places that could collect protection money.

The prison in H City—what kind of monster had you created?

Zhao Dahu: Sure.

Faced with Lin Yu’s shameless demand for more, Zhao Dahu—who still seemed as guileless as ever—sent back a straightforward “sure” without the slightest hesitation, then continued messaging.

Zhao Dahu: I only recently heard from my men that this bar used to have a share belonging to you, Brother Long.

Zhao Dahu: If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have changed the original profit-sharing arrangement for the bar.