The two settled into their seats at the restaurant, with Tang Yun wearing a troubled expression.
She had been lost in thought the entire way here.
What should she say, and how should she phrase it, to make this delinquent with dyed blond hair stay away from Manman without provoking resentment—lest he bully Tang Manman at school?
Teenagers at this age were impulsive. If she angered him, who knew what he might do to Manman?
After much deliberation, Tang Yun decided it would be best to approach the matter tactfully.
With this in mind, her delicate brows relaxed, and she turned a gentle smile toward Lin Yu across the table...
Her slightly parted lips froze mid-motion, the words she had prepared suddenly stuck in her throat. Tang Yun shifted uncomfortably under the young man’s intense, unwavering gaze.
This guy!
What was he looking at her like that for?
Lin Yu, meanwhile, was completely absorbed in the eerie sense of déjà vu he had experienced multiple times before, entirely oblivious to the discomfort on Tang Yun’s face.
Only one thought dominated his mind:
Weren’t there supposed to be just four heroines in this adult manga?
This doesn’t add up!!!
But...
She really did seem to be one of the heroines from that series.
The uncanny familiarity triggered a flood of memories—both appropriate and inappropriate—rushing into Lin Yu’s mind.
As vivid, unmentionable scenes flashed through his thoughts, his gaze instinctively drifted downward.
Even with the mental images as proof, he still found it hard to believe.
This... this didn’t seem to match the proportions he remembered at all...
Unaware of Lin Yu’s inner turmoil, Tang Yun clenched her fists on her lap beneath the table, feeling his stare grow increasingly brazen.
He...
He...
Surely not, right?
Kids these days matured early, but...
Was he really that desperate?
She was already in her thirties, practically pushing forty!
Tang Yun fell silent, while Lin Yu—still oblivious to the awkward tension—remained lost in thought, staring at her without blinking.
Finally, after enduring his gaze long enough for her cheeks to burn, Tang Yun reached her limit.
She took a deep breath, about to reprimand him, when she suddenly noticed the teenager who had followed Lin Yu in. The boy sat at a nearby table, slumped over the plastic-covered surface, his dark, glistening eyes brimming with what looked like unshed tears.
The sight of the pitiful boy tugged at Tang Yun’s heart, snapping her back to reason.
She absolutely could not provoke this delinquent.
Whether or not those two incidents where he’d "helped" Manman were staged, it was clear he held considerable influence at school.
Someone like him could make Tang Manman’s life miserable with ease.
Suppressing her anger, Tang Yun forced a gentle expression and spoke in a soft voice:
"Lin Yu?"
"Are you alright?"
"Huh?"
The boy across the table jolted as if waking from a dream. After a dazed moment, he plastered on an awkward grin and replied:
"I—I’m fine."
"Auntie, what did you want to talk about?"
Tang Yun studied Lin Yu, who now seemed to have reverted to the polite young man she’d expected. Though puzzled by his sudden shift in demeanor, she let out a small sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
If he’d kept acting like that unruly delinquent, she wouldn’t have known what to do...
After collecting her thoughts, she smiled warmly and continued:
"Well, Lin Yu, the main reason I wanted to meet you today was to thank you."
"Manman mentioned you helped her out twice at school?"
Her tone was probing.
"Ah, it wasn’t really a big deal. Just something any classmate would do if they saw someone in trouble."
"I’m sure others would’ve stepped in too."
Lin Yu downplayed the incidents, hoping to avoid further interactions with Tang Yun.
He still couldn’t figure out why a fifth heroine had appeared in what should’ve been a four-heroine adult manga world.
But his policy since transmigrating remained unchanged:
Stay away from all heroines!
...Even if his track record so far was abysmal.
Tang Yun’s brows lifted in surprise at his response. She’d expected him to boast about his "heroic deeds" to win Manman’s admiration.
Why was he dismissing them as trivial?
For a moment, she questioned her assumptions, but she didn’t dwell on it.
The details of those incidents didn’t matter.
What mattered was ensuring Manman could focus on her studies without distractions and improve her grades.
After a pause, Tang Yun pressed on with her prepared script:
"Regardless, since you helped Manman, I wanted to properly express my gratitude."
"Really, it was nothing worth thanking me for," Lin Yu insisted, waving his hands.
Their food arrived just then—two affordable servings of sesame noodle dishes. While Tang Yun’s was standard, Lin Yu’s portion was a deluxe edition, topped with a fall-off-the-bone braised duck leg.
They each took their meals.
Lin Yu dug in immediately, while Tang Yun absently stirred her noodles. Watching him eat with gusto, she ventured cautiously:
"Lin Yu, what do you think of Manman?"
"Uh..."
He paused mid-bite before answering:
"She’s alright. A good girl—pretty, hardworking, kind-hearted."
Hearing her daughter praised, Tang Yun smiled the proud smile of any parent. But soon, her expression clouded again as she sighed softly.
"Yes, she’s always been so dependable."
"But for some reason..."
"Her grades have dropped significantly this term."
"Since you’re her classmate, do you know why?"
"No idea," Lin Yu shook his head, equally puzzled.
Tang Yun hesitated, studying his face before asking quietly:
"Do you think... could she have started dating someone at school?"
"Probably not," Lin Yu frowned. "I haven’t heard anything like that."
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
