I didn't swear at anyone

"Why?"

Xia Yueshan pouted, asking in confusion:

"If fate's run out, why do you have to leave my sister?"

"Why cut ties with her?"

"No one's dragging or pulling you—let's be real, you just want to leave!"

"..."

Damn!

Never thought I'd be left speechless like this one day!

Faced with Xia Yueshan's accusations, Lin Yu truly had nothing to say.

The kid wasn’t wrong.

At the end of the day, it was just Lin Yu’s own fear—the fear of that twisted ending from the hentai manga playing out in reality—that made him decide to sever ties with Xia Muzhu.

But when he really thought about it, was there any reason to avoid Xia Muzhu at all?

She had no husband, no boyfriend, not even a childhood sweetheart like Tang Manman who’d grown up alongside her.

Was there really any need to push her away?

Besides.

For all he knew, she might just see him as a little brother.

What made him so sure she’d even come after him?

And even if—just hypothetically—she did, what was wrong with dating her? Or even marrying her and having kids?

He wasn’t cuckolding anyone.

There was nothing stopping him from pursuing this relationship.

And choosing her didn’t necessarily mean the manga’s horrific ending would play out in this world.

As the moderator of the Pure Love forum, he had standards.

He could hold his ground and reject the other three heroines.

So what if he just had a normal girlfriend? Where was the harm in that?

And if—hypothetically—he took in a few more heroines…

Say, both Xia Muzhu and Tang Manman.

That’d still only be two out of the four heroines. Two left untouched.

The manga’s bad ending still wouldn’t happen here.

And even if—just stretching it further—he took all four heroines, as long as he didn’t let them wear that lewd wedding dress while pregnant, wouldn’t that solve everything?

The manga’s ending could still be avoided.

And if—pushing it to the absolute extreme—he took all four, and they insisted on wearing that dress while pregnant… what if he just added a few more girls to the mix?

With five or six of them posing together, wouldn’t that still prevent the manga’s ending?

And if—

…

Enough.

No more stretching.

His brain was about to short-circuit.

Lin Yu rubbed his temples in frustration.

If possible, he’d rather not entertain any thoughts about these four heroines.

That was the safest way to avoid the manga’s ending.

And with Xia Muzhu… choosing her would probably bring the same issues as choosing Tang Manman.

He had less than a year left in high school.

What then?

If he went to college, they’d be in a long-distance relationship.

He was nineteen; she was twenty-four—five years older.

Four years of college, plus the remaining year of high school… by the time he graduated and could be with her, she’d be twenty-nine, and he’d only be twenty-four.

Hmm.

A bit of a gap.

But not a dealbreaker.

Honestly, five years wasn’t that big a difference.

The real problem was the four years of separation in college.

And even after graduation, he might not return.

Could she really wait for him that long?

Would her family set her up on blind dates?

Would she meet someone else she liked more?

The cuckolder becomes the cuckolded?

Now that’d be some dark humor…

Wait—

Was he thinking too far ahead?

He was practically planning their kids’ names at this point!

Lin Yu shook off the thoughts and looked at Xia Yueshan, who was still glaring defiantly. His mind was a mess, but he ultimately decided to stick to the original plan.

Stay away from all four heroines!

…

Wait, no.

Now it was five.

"Xia Yueshan, you don’t understand. This is fate. The bond between your sister and me has run its course. We should go our separate ways."

Lin Yu fell back on the classic adult excuse—"You’re too young to get it"—to brush off Xia Yueshan.

"I don’t buy it!"

Xia Yueshan shot back loudly:

"I don’t see any 'fate.' I only see people making choices."

"If you didn’t cut ties with my sister, your 'fate' wouldn’t have ended!"

"You have no idea."

"My sister’s heartbroken."

"This morning, when she saw me off, she hesitantly asked if I still had your contact info—if you’d blocked me too."

"When she found out you hadn’t blocked me, she started crying and begged me to reach out to you."

"Do you know what she said?"

"She actually used the word 'please' with me!"

"She said she has something to tell you. She wants to meet you."

"And what’s all this about fate and destiny?"

"Haven’t we beaten it once already?"

"Beating it again would be a piece of cake!"

Xia Yueshan pointed skyward, brimming with confidence.

Watching him, Lin Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly. For once, he genuinely wanted to say, "You’re too young to understand."

Win?

Those who try to defy fate only end up as its puppets. What kind of victory was that?

At least the outcome wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

Remembering the close call from two days ago, Lin Yu suddenly thought of that disheveled man and asked:

"What happened to that lunatic?"

"Is he in the hospital or locked up?"

"Did the police say how long he’ll get?"

"He’s already locked up."

"The cops said it’s attempted rape and assault—aggravated circumstances. Minimum ten years."

"Oh, and—"

"His mom’s dead."

"Wait, no, I’m not cursing."

"His mom actually died."

Xia Yueshan clarified:

"She’d been seriously ill and passed two weeks ago. After her funeral, he started plotting against my sister."

"Yesterday, the day before, and…"

He counted on his fingers before landing on the right day and brightened.

"The day before yesterday!"

"That’s it—the day before yesterday!"

"He hired someone to steal my sister’s wallet, then used it to trick her into opening the door!"

"That’s what the police told us!"