It's Shangguan Yurou

"Tsk, men." A faint smirk curled at the corner of Nangong Ye's lips—three parts aloofness, three parts mockery, and four parts utter nonchalance. He declared with domineering arrogance, "If this is your way of getting my attention, then congratulations. You've succeeded."

"......"

Staring at this man whose looks rivaled his own but whose speech was as cringeworthy as a middle-schooler's, Liu Muye fell into stunned silence.

Just one encounter, and Liu Muye was already so embarrassed he could dig out a three-bedroom luxury apartment with his toes.

He muttered under his breath, "So this is how awkward those overbearing CEO lines sound in real life? Guess artistic creations really shouldn’t stray too far from reality."

"Man, what are you saying?" Nangong Ye narrowed his eyes coldly. "Who exactly are you? Why are you approaching me? What’s your goal? You—mmph!"

Before Nangong Ye could finish, Liu Muye reached out and clamped a hand over his mouth.

Sweating bullets, Liu Muye said, "Save those cringey CEO lines for the female lead. I’ll pass, thanks."

The fangirls surrounding them erupted into squeals at the sight.

"Oh my god! Who is this insanely handsome guy as tall and gorgeous as Nangong Ye?"

"He actually dared to touch the flawless face of the Nangong family’s young master! He’s crossed Nangong Ye’s bottom line—he’s dead meat!"

"Even though this hottie is three centimeters shorter than Young Master Nangong, he’s still so dreamy. What a shame if he dies..."

Liu Muye listened to the background characters’ chatter, his face darkening. Though he knew they were complimenting him, the sheer embarrassment made him wish he could vanish on the spot.

He roared internally, "What was I thinking back then? How could I have written such cringey Mary Sue dialogue? No wonder my advisor told me not to admit I majored in Chinese when I graduated."

"You dare touch my face?" Nangong Ye slapped Liu Muye’s hand away and pointed at him. "Man, you’re playing with fire. Do you have any idea what happens to those who anger me? I’ll bury your entire family!"

Before meeting Nangong Ye, Liu Muye had actually been somewhat looking forward to it—after all, Nangong Ye was his own literary creation, his "son." When describing Nangong Ye’s looks and physique, he’d even modeled them after his own dashing appearance.

[What! Don’t you all know Liu Muye is as handsome as you, dear readers?]

But after just a few exchanges, Liu Muye completely disowned this "son." Though the guy was just as tall and good-looking, he was like a rebellious teenager stuck in an edgy phase—talking to him was mortifying.

"Freak. Go play by yourself."

Grumbling, Liu Muye grabbed his registration materials from the table and turned to leave.

Glancing at Liu Muye’s retreating figure, then at the freshman records on the desk—Liu Muye—Nangong Ye pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Liu Muye. I want this man’s complete profile in three minutes."

......

"Wow, is that girl a freshman too?"

"Oh my god, she’s like a fairy descended from heaven."

"The phrase ‘ethereal beauty’ has been personified in her."

"With that aura, she must be some young mistress from a prominent family in Shangjing City, right?"

Liu Muye hadn’t gone far from the registration area when these gasps reached his ears.

Following the voices, he spotted an aloof, breathtakingly beautiful girl dressed plainly but radiating elegance as she walked toward the registration desk. One glance was all it took for Liu Muye to confirm—this was Shangguan Yurou.

Just as the male protagonist drove crowds wild wherever he went, the novel’s female lead was also a universally adored beauty.

If Liu Muye remembered correctly, the first chapter of The Young Master Nangong’s Beloved depicted the male and female leads meeting at the freshman registration.

After learning they’d been betrothed by their parents, the male lead refused to meet his unseen fiancée and instead accepted his grandfather’s task to attend Siliya Academy. The female lead, unwilling to marry a stranger, ran away from home and enrolled under a hidden identity.

The rest was cliché: the two met by chance at registration, started off as hostile rivals, then gradually fell for each other through a series of contrived coincidences.

Eventually, they confessed their feelings, revealed their identities, and vowed to defy their families—only to realize it had all been a misunderstanding. They were the betrothed couple all along...

That covered the first two volumes.

In the original plot, Han Juyou didn’t appear until over a dozen chapters later, and her full descent into villainy was a third-volume development—back when Liu Muye had run out of ideas and padded the story with her schemes to meet word count quotas.

Looking back, Liu Muye wanted to time-travel and slap his past self—why did he have to drag things out? Now look where that got him.

At this moment, Shangguan Yurou—dressed inconspicuously to hide her identity—still drew awestruck murmurs wherever she walked, her delicate features and graceful aura making her seem otherworldly.

Her beauty starkly contrasted Han Juyou’s innate sensuality.

Shangguan Yurou was cold and regal, like a celestial maiden descending in white robes, untouched by mortal trivialities.

Liu Muye recalled his original description of her:

Her phoenix eyes brimmed with classical elegance, exuding dignified grace. Her nose, petite yet straight, seemed carved from jade. Her lips resembled delicate petals blooming in an ancient painting. Her oval face accentuated her refined, transcendent aura, radiating an intense Eastern charm.

Seeing her in person, he was struck anew by the poise and nobility in her every movement.

[But no matter how you describe Shangguan Yurou’s beauty, she’ll never surpass you, dear female readers (assuming this book even has any).]

Watching Shangguan Yurou, Liu Muye abruptly changed his mind about leaving. He decided to stay and spectate—the meet-cute between the leads was bound to be hilarious.

Originally, Shangguan Yurou was supposed to bump into Nangong Ye at a corner, triggering his overbearing CEO spiel and sparking their feud.

But things didn’t go as scripted. Nangong Ye was still by the entrance, phone in hand, ordering Liu Muye’s background check. The destined rivals merely brushed past each other.

Nothing happened.

"!?!"

Liu Muye, watching from a distance, froze in disbelief.

Shangguan Yurou completed her registration, collected the materials, and turned to leave—yet not a single interaction passed between the two.

Once the female lead was gone, Nangong Ye also finished his phone call and began his own registration process.

"Damn!" Liu Muye scratched his head and muttered, "This... this plot... No, this can't be right!?"

...

[When a butterfly flaps its wings just once more, the entire story is rewritten from scratch. —Liu Muye's Notes]

...