"Mm..."
Ye Feng, sitting on the couch, felt somewhat awkward as Shen Mengli clung tightly to his arm beside him.
"Mengli, don’t you think you’re holding on a bit too tightly?"
"I don’t care! If you don’t explain things properly today, Feng, I’m not letting go!"
"I never said I wouldn’t tell you, Mengli. But first, can I let Yu Xin know I’m safe? I still haven’t replied to her yet."
"Fine, you can. But you’re not leaving this spot! Do it right here!"
Pouting, Shen Mengli released Ye Feng’s arm but shot Xie Yuyan a displeased glare.
Xie Yuyan didn’t dare meet her gaze. After all, she’d been alone with Ye Feng downstairs earlier. From Shen Mengli’s expression, it was clear she’d been keeping tabs on him, and Xie Yuyan had no defense for her "sneaky" behavior.
"Alright, I’ll call Yu Xin now."
Seeing Shen Mengli’s insistence, Ye Feng didn’t argue. He pulled out his phone and dialed Su Yuxin.
......
"Yu Xin?"
"Ah! What is it, Mucheng?"
Snapped out of her daze by Li Mucheng’s voice, Su Yuxin turned to her with a puzzled look, only to find her friend’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Li Mucheng stepped closer, her gaze intense, while Su Yuxin shrank back like a startled deer.
"Mu... Mucheng, what are you doing?!"
With a probing tone, Li Mucheng asked, "Yu Xin, why do you seem so distracted? Did something happen?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
Su Yuxin stammered, clearly flustered over Ye Feng’s lack of response. She wanted to confide in Li Mucheng but ultimately shook her head.
"I was just really into the movie, that’s all."
"Really?"
Under Li Mucheng’s burning stare, Su Yuxin nodded hurriedly.
"Of course! Don’t you trust me, Mucheng?"
"I do trust you. But today, you’ve been acting... off."
"Don’t be silly. I’m always like this."
Seeing Su Yuxin’s reluctance, Li Mucheng didn’t press further. Just as the room’s atmosphere grew tense, Su Yuxin’s phone rang.
"!!!"
Su Yuxin grabbed her phone and made to leave.
"Mu... Mucheng, I need to take this. It’s probably my dad. I’ll just step out..."
But as she turned to go, Li Mucheng snatched the phone from her hand and answered before Su Yuxin could react.
"Mucheng, don’t—!"
It was too late. Li Mucheng already had the phone to her ear.
"Hello."
Hearing the voice on the other end, Li Mucheng spoke first. "Teacher, calling so late—is there something you need to say?"
"Mu... Mucheng?! Why are you—"
Ye Feng cut himself off mid-sentence and changed tack.
"Is Yu Xin there? I need to talk to her."
"Whatever you have to say, you can tell me. She’s... unavailable right now."
Li Mucheng shot Su Yuxin a sharp look, clamping a hand over her mouth. Realizing the jig was up, Su Yuxin stopped struggling.
"Uh..."
From Li Mucheng’s tone, Ye Feng seemed to piece things together and shifted the topic.
"Since you already know, I won’t hide it anymore. I’ll just tell you the truth."
"Go ahead. I’d love to hear what you and Yu Xin have been keeping from me."
Li Mucheng’s ears perked up, but beneath her focus, a pang of betrayal twisted in her chest.
Why... Why would Teacher hide things from me after all I’ve done? What’s going on?!
Ye Feng’s voice turned earnest. "Mucheng, your father and Yu Xin’s father have both spoken with me. They’ve made it clear that as long as I take care of you both and don’t hurt you, they won’t interfere."
"So you’re really— Huh? Wh-what?!"
Li Mucheng, primed for outrage, froze. Stunned, she stared at the phone, her brewing anger doused in an instant.
"Well? I’ve told you the truth. Cat got your tongue now?"
Ye Feng’s teasing voice only made Li Mucheng’s face burn brighter, her grip on Su Yuxin slackening.
"Huh?"
Su Yuxin, braced for another storm, blinked at Li Mucheng’s tomato-red face.
She’s this mad? I’ve never seen her so flushed...
Holding her breath, Su Yuxin waited for the fallout.
"Mucheng, let’s leave it at that for tonight. I’ll explain more tomorrow. Don’t overthink it, and don’t take it out on Yu Xin—she didn’t do anything wrong."
"I-I... Te-Teacher—"
Li Mucheng’s words tangled into incoherence.
"Mucheng? Are you okay?"
"Ugh... Just talk to Yu Xin! I need to go!"
Shoving the phone into Su Yuxin’s hands, Li Mucheng bolted from the room, leaving Su Yuxin bewildered.
What just happened? Why did Mucheng react like that? She didn’t seem angry... What did Ye Feng say to her?
After a pause, Su Yuxin lifted the phone to her ear. "Ye... Ye Feng? Are you alright?"
"Ah, Yu Xin. Yeah, I’m fine. But Mucheng just ran off—no idea why."
"What did you say to her? She was acting so strange!"
"Nothing much. Just that your fathers have given their blessing for your futures, so—"
Click.
The line went dead. Ye Feng frowned.
"Hello? Yu Xin? Are you still there?"
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ial death, also known as "shè sǐ" in Chinese, generally refers to... well, never mind, it's not important. My name is Ye Cheng, and I'm about to experience social death firsthand. ... 【Host, your mission is to confess your love to the young lady of the Dongfang family, the current student council president, in a way that will be unforgettable for everyone at the freshman ceremony!】 【Host, assist the girl with a sprained ankle in front of you to reach the infirmary, and fulfill the wicked thoughts in your heart!】 【Host, act on your desires and punish the arrogant young lady before you mercilessly!】 【Host, follow your instincts—abandon shameful surrender, begging, or groveling, and ruthlessly criticize the domineering, ill-mannered young lady in front of you!】 【Host...】 Ye Cheng: "Here, here, you take this host role—I quit!" Wait, why is the girl with a sprained ankle the daughter of a mafia boss? And what kind of punishment method is this for the arrogant young lady? Also, who the heck said anything about wicked thoughts in my heart? Come out here, let’s settle this one-on-one!!! ... The haughty student council president, the scheming mafia princess, the fragile yandere young lady, the airheaded maid-in-waiting, the mixed-blood loli/...
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
