Inside the coffee shop.
The real Maomao gently smoothed her skirt as she took a seat.
With a slight nod and a soft voice, she said:
"It's been a long time since I've gone out, and I didn’t know your true identity."
"That’s why I asked a local friend to meet you in my place first."
"I apologize for my rudeness. I’m truly sorry."
Her words and demeanor were refined and courteous.
Though her voice was quiet, she showed no trace of timidity.
She perfectly matched Lin Yu’s subconscious image of a "well-bred lady."
Her slightly flamboyant hair color and outfit did nothing to diminish her gentle aura.
If this Maomao was putting on an act,
then her acting skills were simply too impeccable—
so flawless that there wasn’t a single hint of pretense.
On Mo Shangying’s end, she had indeed been furious about Maomao sending a stand-in.
But she belatedly realized that she, too, had stepped in as a substitute.
So, resigned, she spoke into her earpiece:
"Forget it, forget it, Master. Just accept her apology."
"Online, she seemed like a total obsessive, but who knew she’d be this polite?"
Maomao’s use of a stand-in had been exposed
because the stand-in sister was afraid of messing things up.
So every word she spoke followed the real Maomao’s instructions.
Lin Yu, on the other hand, hadn’t been caught
precisely because he didn’t blindly follow remote commands.
Forgive her?
That would mean throwing away the upper hand he’d just gained.
Shangying’s brain was sharp when it came to coding,
but reading situations and deciphering people?
She was utterly out of her depth.
"I came here in good faith, and you had the nerve to send a stand-in to meet me?"
"Do you not see me as a person?"
"And here I was, remembering it was your birthday today, even bringing you flowers."
"An apology? I won’t accept it!"
"I’m furious right now!"
Accepting the apology would mean leveling the playing field.
Right now, the other side was in the wrong.
Time to put this cat in her place!
Maomao’s startled expression vanished in an instant.
His refusal wasn’t unexpected.
This was, after all, "ZerO’s" usual modus operandi—
seizing the slightest psychological advantage to ruthlessly press the attack.
But now they were face-to-face, not online.
Maomao’s social etiquette wouldn’t allow her to lose composure in public.
She continued softly:
"Today is the birthday listed on my ID, but it’s not my actual birthday."
"I appreciate your kindness, but I was the one who acted improperly."
"And also…"
"That last line you said—it’s from Young and Dangerous, 12 minutes and 20 seconds in, spoken by Ugly Kwan."
"I understand what you’re subtly implying."
Lin Yu: "???"
Whether today was her birthday or not didn’t matter.
The real bombshell was what came after.
To pinpoint the exact minute and second of a movie from an offhand remark?
No way she wasn’t bluffing!
Mo Shangying’s fierce voice erupted in his earpiece again:
"There it is again! Master, this is definitely not a stand-in—it’s Maomao herself!"
"What I hate most about her is how she flaunts her memory like this."
"I refuse to believe it! Master, test her—"
"Ask her where The Last Porn Emperor comes from!"
Lin Yu: "..."
You damn disciple, what kind of nonsense is rattling around in your head?
This is something you say in public?!
Ignoring Mo Shangying, Lin Yu nodded approvingly.
"Still got that sharp memory, huh?"
Maomao rattled off at lightning speed:
"Fifth, fourth, sixth place, CTNY competition, CTNY competition, age 12, 095532."
"Those are the answers to all your previous questions."
Lin Yu: "..."
Who even asked you?
Clearly, Maomao didn’t just have a good memory—she was also fiercely competitive.
Facing ZerO, she probably wanted to prove herself even more.
What was worse—
after answering, the corners of Maomao’s lips curled up ever so slightly.
It was as if she was declaring in a victor’s tone:
Mentally, I’m not losing to you. The initiative is mine now!
Even if he weren’t ZerO, just an ordinary person,
Lin Yu wouldn’t let himself be outmaneuvered by a little girl.
In a sudden move, he slammed the table and stood up:
"You go to a convenience store and buy something that costs 39.80. You hand the clerk two 20-dollar bills. What does he give you back?"
Maomao clenched her fists. "He gives you… two 10-cent coins?"
Lin Yu: "He gives me a piece of bubblegum!"
Maomao: "???"
Lin Yu leaned in slightly.
"Fishing for hairtail, hairtail on the island, fishing for hairtail… Repeat it three times!"
Maomao’s throat tightened. "Fishing for hairtail, hairtail on the… dai— My memory only works for movies and shows! This is cheating!"
Lin Yu moved even closer.
"Calling it cheating? Hardly!"
"What’s the first line Liu Neng says in Country Love Story: Variations, Season 3, Episode 6?"
Maomao’s eyes widened. "I— That… I haven’t watched it…"
Lin Yu: "Tch. So you’re just… a small-time nobody."
Maomao: "That’s not the line! The actual line is—"
The scene fell abruptly silent.
Maomao could only watch as Lin Yu smugly settled back into his seat.
Her mind echoed with his final, disdainful jab.
That last one wasn’t a test—it was a straight-up insult.
ZerO in real life…
was even more terrifying, even more domineering than online.
A hundred times worse!
……
In the budget hotel room across the street.
Ye Mengfu adjusted her nearly slipping black-framed glasses and let out a long exhale.
The audio feed was so clear it felt like she was right there.
It dredged up old memories.
The immersion was too strong…
As if she were the one being interrogated by Lin Yu’s relentless barrage.
When Lin Yu got aggressive, he was downright terrifying!
"Fishing… for hairtail…"
Ye Mengfu attempted the tongue-twister in a whisper before promptly giving up.
Mo Shangying, who had temporarily lowered her binoculars, grinned triumphantly.
"Amazing! Master is too good!"
"Honestly, he feels more like ZerO than I do!"
"Thinking about it, if I ever retire, maybe Master can take over as ZerO."
Ye Mengfu’s face was a canvas of confusion.
"Just… who’s the master here?"
"And who’s the disciple?"
Just as Mo Shangying was lost in her fantasies, her phone buzzed with a notification.
An identical message also popped up on Lin Yu’s phone.
……
Back in the coffee shop.
Ding! Ding!
The simultaneous alerts from Lin Yu and Maomao’s phones interrupted their battle of wits.
The sender was none other than the representative sent by 860 Group’s headquarters.
Lin Yu skimmed the message and smirked.
"Tsk tsk. The folks from 860 Group’s HQ are about to arrive."
"Looks like today’s war of words is another win for me."
The moment the words left his mouth—
Crack.
The sound of knuckles tightening was unmistakable.
The refined "well-bred lady" instantly puffed up her cheeks like an angry pufferfish.
Though her voice remained soft, her tone was full of defiance:
"I won’t lose!"
Lin Yu blinked. "???"
Well, well.
Her competitive streak runs this deep, huh?
Still a feisty little cat, after all?
And here I am, the undefeated tiger!
Maomao’s fiery aura lasted only as long as that single sentence.
Then, like flipping a page, she reverted to her usual composed self.
"Sorry for the intrusion."
"ZerO, I was wondering—are you free tomorrow?"
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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!
