Online Love Interest

Chen Zhi was just wondering if he should head over to the campus store to grab a grilled sausage to comfort his legs, which had gone numb from squatting, when his arm was suddenly grabbed by someone.

Before Chen Zhi could even see who it was, he was dragged stumbling toward the nearby small woods by the force.

"Hey, hey, hey, who are you?"

Chen Zhi turned his head, and a somewhat unfamiliar face came into view. The girl was quite fair, with standard long straight black hair. There were even tears at the corners of her eyes, making her look pitiful, exactly like a delicate little white flower swaying in the wind.

Before Chen Zhi could ask "Who are you," the girl forcibly dragged him to the base of the wall of the equipment room next to the sports field.

"Why did you lie to me?"

As soon as the girl spoke, her voice took on a crying tone. Her big, watery eyes stared fixedly at Chen Zhi, as if looking at a heartless lover.

A question mark slowly popped up on Chen Zhi's forehead.

He subconsciously took a half step back to open up a safe distance.

"No, lady, who the hell are you? Do we even know each other?"

This curse obviously gave her a huge shock.

The sorrowful look on the girl's face instantly froze.

She probably never thought that a guy with such a handsome face would open his mouth and use such highly vulgar vocabulary.

"You... how could you swear?"

Liu Xiaoyan took a deep breath, her eyes getting redder, and her voice trembled. "You were obviously not like this on QQ. You would call me baby, order milk tea for me, and coax me to sleep."

Chen Zhi only felt a wave of chills creep up his body.

At this moment, he even suspected whether he had sleepwalked after drinking too much that night, registered an alt account, and went surfing on the internet.

"Stop, stop."

"Hold it! You can eat nonsense, but you can't speak nonsense." Chen Zhi made a timeout gesture with a look of disgust. "Although I am a man of broad love, I don't just take in any ugly duckling. You coming up and scamming me like this, believe it or not, I'll call the police."

"Impossible!"

Liu Xiaoyan got emotional and frantically pulled a phone out of her pocket, quickly swiped open the screen, and shoved it in Chen Zhi's face.

"Is this photo you? Is this profile picture you?"

Chen Zhi had to do a tactical lean back, squinting at the screen.

On the screen was a QQ profile card.

The profile picture was indeed him.

It was a candid photo taken during a school spring trip in the eighth grade, where he was yawning while standing under a cherry blossom tree.

Chen Zhi shifted his gaze down and landed on the screen name.

Forgotten Love.

Chen Zhi's mouth twitched violently.

This screen name, which was so embarrassing it made one's toes curl, couldn't be found on a second person in all of Jiangcheng, except for that idiot Li Jiahao.

He snatched the phone and quickly scrolled through the chat history with his fingers.

The more he looked, the darker Chen Zhi's face became.

Good grief.

This kid Li Jiahao not only used his photo as a profile picture but also posted his selfies on Moments, with captions full of angsty literature like "The wind is quite clamorous today" and "Lonely as snow."

The most outrageous part was the chat history.

This kid was simply a simp.

Baby, what milk tea do you want to drink today? I saved up another twenty yuan.

Baby, I don't know how to do this question, but I can learn it for you.

Baby, if you get into First High School and I also get into First High School, how about we meet up in real life?

And the replies from the other side were extremely perfunctory.

Oh.

Hmm.

I want to drink Cheese Berry, large cup, less ice.

Until the day the high school entrance exam results came out.

Li Jiahao sent a message: Baby, I'm sorry, I didn't get into First High School. I might have to go to a vocational school.

From then on, this Liu Xiaoyan never replied with a single word.

He was given the cold shoulder.

The sequence of events was already very clear.

Li Jiahao used his photo for online dating and acted as an ATM for a few months.

Liu Xiaoyan despised Li Jiahao for not getting into First High School and completely disappeared.

But when school started, she saw that the Li Jiahao from the photos was not only in First High School but also the famous top scorer of the high school entrance exam in the whole school.

So, this girl regretted it.

She felt that Li Jiahao had lied to her, saying he didn't get in when he clearly did, just to test if she was sincere.

Therefore, she came running to corner him, wanting to put on a show of "I don't care if you have money, I only care if you lied to me" to win back this long-term meal ticket.

She could even hook a wealthy husband along the way.

"Do you understand now?" Seeing that Chen Zhi wasn't speaking, Liu Xiaoyan thought he felt guilty, and her tone carried a trace of aggrieved accusation. "You are obviously so excellent, why did you have to test me? If I knew you were from First High School, how could I possibly ignore you..."

"Setting aside the facts, are you saying you are completely faultless?"

Chen Zhi pushed the phone back and looked at her like she was an idiot.

"First of all, this account is not mine."

"Secondly, the photo is me, but the person chatting with you is a dumbass."

"Lastly," Chen Zhi paused, his eyes becoming playful, "even if it were me, your face-changing speed of giving the cold shoulder when you see 'vocational school' and begging to get back together when you see 'First High School' is a bit too off-putting, isn't it?"

"You..." Liu Xiaoyan's face turned pale. Having her thoughts exposed, she flew into a rage out of humiliation. "If you don't want to admit it, fine, but why do you have to humiliate people? And to think I actually believed you had some hidden difficulties!"

Right at this moment, a voice full of a sense of justice suddenly interjected from the side.

"What are you doing!"

A boy wearing black-rimmed glasses and a face full of acne rushed over panting, and without a word, he blocked Liu Xiaoyan behind him.

He glared at Chen Zhi, his chest heaving violently, as if he were a knight protecting a princess, and Chen Zhi was the evil dragon.

"Chen Zhi! Even though you are the top scorer of the entrance exam, you can't just bully girls casually, right?"

The boy turned to look at Liu Xiaoyan, his voice instantly becoming gentle. "Xiaoyan, don't be afraid, I'm here. Did he harass you?"

Seeing that she had someone backing her up, Liu Xiaoyan's tears instantly burst forth. She covered her mouth and didn't speak, just shaking her head aggrievedly, a look that further confirmed Chen Zhi's crimes.

Looking at the scene before him, Chen Zhi only found it funny.

Damn, why are there Simp Sheep everywhere?

Looking at his behavior, he was probably just a spare tire too.

"No, bro." Chen Zhi put his hands in his pockets, looking speechless. "Which eye of yours saw me bullying her? Besides, do you even know the cause and effect before rushing up here?"

"I don't need to know!" the boy roared with righteous indignation. "Making a girl cry is your fault! You must apologize to Xiaoyan!"

Chen Zhi was angered to the point of laughing by this magical train of thought.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to lash out, a familiar light blue screen suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

That long-silent "Divorce Counterattack System" was back again.

Triggered Task: Do Not Bully the Middle-Aged and Poor!

Task Background: Your off-putting ex-wife took your hard-earned money and ran away when you were at your lowest. Now that you have made a comeback, she appears in front of you with her current partner, not only shifting the blame onto you but also trying to make you take the fall. Your child even recognizes a thief as their father and is still shedding sad tears for her. No real man could tolerate this!

Task Requirement: Counterattack with the force of a thunderbolt, and tell this dog of a couple that fortunes rise and fall, so do not bully the middle-aged and poor!

Task Reward: Vigor of a Dragon and Tiger

Chen Zhi looked at the system panel, his mouth twitching.

Child, my ass.

Li Jiahao is my child?

But... I want to ask for a friend, is this "Dragon's Vigor and Tiger's Spirit" what I think it is?

And the phrase "taking a thief as a father" is used perfectly here. That idiot Li Jiahao used my photo to act like a simp, and now he got dumped by this woman who thought he was just a useless vocational school loser. Isn't this just screwing over his own dad? After these thoughts passed, Chen Zhi took a deep breath, and his eyes changed.

His original lazy, spectating expression vanished, replaced by a worldly coldness mixed with three parts mockery and four parts nonchalance.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze bypassing that Simp Sheep, looking straight at Liu Xiaoyan.

"Apologize?"

Chen Zhi sneered, carrying a bit of the "Crooked-Mouth Dragon King" vibe from those brain-dead short dramas.

"She is the one who should apologize."

"When I was down and out, you despised me as a useless piece of trash who could only go to a vocational school, yet you still scammed me out of money for milk tea. Now that you see I am successful, you come running back to play the part of a deeply affectionate lover?"

Chen Zhi took a step forward, his aura imposing.

That Simp Sheep was startled by Chen Zhi's glare and subconsciously took a step back. "W-what nonsense are you spouting..."

"Nonsense?" Chen Zhi pointed at Liu Xiaoyan's phone. "Those few hundred bucks for milk tea—if I fed it to a dog, it would at least wag its tail a couple of times. But feeding it to you only got me months of the silent treatment?"

Liu Xiaoyan's face turned deathly pale. She had not expected Chen Zhi to know even the details about the milk tea.

"I... I didn't..." she defended herself in a panic.

Chen Zhi didn't give her a chance to speak at all. He spun around, staring at that Simp Sheep with a burning gaze, and suddenly shouted:

"And you!"

The Simp Sheep shuddered. "W-what about me?"

Chen Zhi shook his head in bitter disappointment, pointing at his nose and scolding, "Picking up the trash others threw away and treating it like a treasure, you are quite the genius! Do you know what she just called me? She called me hubby! What does that make you? A rebound guy?"

"The tables turn!"

Chen Zhi finally looked at Liu Xiaoyan, a mocking curve forming at the corner of his mouth, perfectly capturing the aura of the Dragon King.

"Do not bully the middle-aged for being poor!"

"Today you ignore me, but tomorrow I will be out of your league! Take your spare tire and get lost!"

After delivering these incredibly cringeworthy lines, Chen Zhi felt like he was about to die from embarrassment.

The system's notification chimed.

[Reward: Dragon's Vigor and Tiger's Spirit has been issued.]

A warm current instantly flowed through his entire body. Chen Zhi felt his energy become much more abundant. Damn it, it seems this isn't the "Dragon's Vigor and Tiger's Spirit" my friend wanted.

The scene was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Liu Xiaoyan was scolded into a daze, her tears hanging on her face, forgetting to fall.

That Simp Sheep looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His eyes were filled with suspicion as he looked at Liu Xiaoyan. Did she really just call Chen Zhi hubby? Then what am I?

At this moment, neither of them had the time to think about why it was "do not bully the middle-aged for being poor" instead of "do not bully the young for being poor."