Better you than me, the sacrificial playstyle

"Isn't this... a bit too much?"

Shen Ming hesitated, voicing his doubts.

Ye Chen shook his head: "Bean Brother, at this point, we're already in too deep for you to be worrying about that. Haven't you heard the saying, 'Great achievers are not bound by trivialities'?"

"Pull yourself together. Do you really want to be tied up by the Madam again and ransomed or taken out?"

Shen Ming fell silent.

That... kind of made sense.

Let's do it!

"Alright, then what do you need me to do?" Shen Ming asked.

"Simple. Just trick the Madam into coming here. All you have to do is sigh when she asks you anything—that way, it's not technically lying to her, just a bit of a word game. If things go south, we can argue that she misunderstood."

"I've even come up with the lines for you to beg for mercy when you get caught. Here, let me write them down for you..."

Ye Chen sat down and actually started writing a mini-essay. Shen Ming stood beside him, completely dumbfounded.

You little bastard, you're a genius!

You've thought out both the winning move and the fail-safe? Your mind is that meticulous?

No wonder you can juggle all those young girls so effortlessly... impressive!

For some reason, Shen Ming found himself growing more and more appreciative of Ye Chen. With guts as big as his, he'd rank in the top three among everyone Shen Ming had ever met.

Setting talent aside, this kind of courage alone was beyond what ordinary people could muster.

In the end, Ye Chen managed to lure the Madam back in his own way, finishing what he'd started in the bathroom stall earlier. In a sense, he hadn't forgotten his original intention.

Madam, eat my elbow!

"Here, Bean Brother, take this. If we get into trouble later, don't mention my name—just say you found it on the ground," Ye Chen said, handing Shen Ming the note and the begging-for-mercy script with a solemn expression.

Shen Ming: "..."

You're this cautious?

Shen Ming's mouth twitched as he opened the note and began reading it carefully. Soon, a strange look crossed his face.

"Tsk... How many points did you get on the college entrance exam?"

The more Shen Ming looked at it, the more it resembled a perfect-score essay in both style and emotional technique. It was way better than his own—and he had almost gotten a perfect score himself.

The fact that he could still feel the gap between Ye Chen and himself after that said a lot about how good Ye Chen really was.

"Come on, Bean Brother, now's not the time to ask about irrelevant stuff. You'd be better off memorizing the note and improving your chances of survival..."

Ye Chen shook his head and sighed, wearing a look of someone utterly disappointed in a hopeless student.

Shen Ming: "..."

Alright, he'd just go look it up himself later.

But he had a rough idea now: at least 680, maybe even close to 700.

The human brain is an amazing thing—countless neurons connected together, controlling every part of the body's muscles. Take sleight of hand, for example: such precision demands absolute control from the brain.

There was no way Ye Chen was stupid.

With all the "divine moves" Ye Chen had pulled off before, Shen Ming seriously suspected he was a born prodigy.

The one back home was a cultivated genius—didn't study much, but that didn't mean they were dumb. Their brainpower was terrifying in its own way, and even Shen Ming couldn't keep up with them on some things.

Gradually, Shen Ming began to genuinely acknowledge this "classmate" of his daughter, no longer because of family reasons, but from his own personal perspective.

He hoped… that their little Hanhan would break free from that "classmate relationship" sooner rather than later.

Such outstanding young men were far too rare…

Oh, by the way, the former "Brother Doudou" was what others saw as an "outstanding young man," but now he was the bane of married women in Dahai City.

"Brother Doudou, you hold down the fort here. I need to go back to school to handle something."

Ye Cheng had been scrolling through short videos for fun when suddenly 99+ messages popped up—all from the club president. He silently swallowed a gulp of saliva, wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and stood up.

"Handle something? Need any help?" Shen Ming nodded and asked.

"No need, I can handle it myself. I know you're just being polite, Brother Doudou, but thanks anyway. Hey, as a token of my gratitude, how about next time Madam decides to get revenge, you step in front of me?" Ye Cheng blinked, putting on a look of "pure innocence."

Shen Ming: "…"

You little rascal…

Before long, the short-haired woman drove the car, carrying Ye Cheng toward the school.

Dahai City Noble Academy.

At the gate, a car marked with the Shen family emblem pulled up. Click, the door opened.

"Brother Knife, thanks! See you next time… Wait, actually, Brother Knife, just wait for me here. Otherwise, I'll have to spend money on a taxi to get back later. I'll be quick," Ye Cheng said, frowning in thought.

Short-haired woman: "…"

"I'll wait for you outside. Here's my number; memorize it. Call me when you're done, and I'll drive over to pick you up," she said, handing Ye Cheng her business card.

Ye Cheng glanced at it: "Got it, Brother Knife. You're too kind. Bye!"

"The card, you…" she frowned.

"Memorized it." Ye Cheng waved his hand and kept walking forward.

She was about to say something more but remembered the ridiculous moves he made during their gaming sessions. She fell silent again. Her worries were completely unnecessary.

Their young lady was a dragon among men, not to be judged by normal standards—just like their family's patriarch, an incredibly formidable person.

Ye Cheng headed toward the villa where the club president lived. It was still before eight o'clock, and classes hadn't started yet. Only a few scattered staff members could be seen on campus.

First thing upon returning to school… treat himself big time.

Fishing out his pocket change, Ye Cheng went straight to the cafeteria and wolfed down twenty beef buns, five eggs, three cups of soy milk, and two huge fried dough sticks, eating them while walking.

The one good thing about a rich kids' school was that it was almost always open around the clock; staff were on duty an hour or two early.

"Oh? Isn't that my Xiaxia?" Ye Cheng was still chomping on a fried dough stick with his teeth when he suddenly spotted a very familiar silhouette on the path up ahead.

Tall, dignified, graceful… Xiaxia.

Ding, ding, ding—like a slot machine hitting the jackpot, information flipped through Ye Cheng's mind, automatically matching up with the corresponding person. Everything aligned, and it clicked.

"Xiaxia!"

Ye Cheng was waving from a distance, and the head maid, who had just finished her morning workout and was about to head back to make breakfast, froze on the spot, wondering for a moment if she was hallucinating.

Otherwise... why would some idiot be at school this early in the morning?

Shouldn’t he be in the hospital?

Even if he had been taken away, he should’ve just been moved to another hospital, so how could he possibly be here…

“Xiaxia, want a fried dough stick?”

Before the head maid could snap out of it, the other fried dough stick in Ye Cheng’s hand was already shoved right in front of her mouth, still warm to the touch.

Head maid: “…”

After a moment, the two of them sat down on an inconspicuous bench on campus. The head maid munched on the fried dough stick Ye Cheng had just handed her. Hmm... a bit dry, but the flavor was decent— edible, at least.

The head maid wasn’t usually a fan of greasy things in the morning. One bite, and it felt like a calorie explosion. All the energy she burned during her workout would be wasted, and she’d even end up in the red a little.

But since it was Ye Cheng offering, she could make an exception— just this once.

“Where did you disappear to yesterday?” the head maid asked quietly, chewing small bites of the dough stick and trying to sound casual.

Ye Cheng rested both hands on the bench. “That’s a long story. Legend has it, back when chaos was shrouded in the unknown and the void was boundless…”

Head maid: “...”

Isn’t that a little too long?

“Got a shorter version? I still need to go back and make breakfast.”

“Sure, a shorter version is— I switched hospitals, played video games all night, and now I’m back for class.” Ye Cheng blinked.

Head maid: “???”

Isn’t that a little too short?

“So... you’re back for class now?” The head maid raised an eyebrow, uncertain.

“Nope, I’m back to find the Student Council President. Here.” Ye Cheng unlocked his phone and handed it to the head maid. She stared at the wall of 99+ unread messages on the screen and fell silent.

“Why don’t you tap on them?”

“You wouldn’t get it, Xiaxia. If I tap on them now, won’t that just prove I’ve already read them?” Ye Cheng wagged a finger in front of her face. NOnOnO.

“Only coming back after seeing the messages? That’s like spotting your own wanted poster on the street and suddenly deciding to do a good deed.”

A... weird analogy. But the head maid followed his line of thought regardless. “Would doing good deeds in advance even stop you from being wanted?”

“NOnOnO, Xiaxia, you’re still too young. If you don’t look, then it doesn’t exist. I think, therefore I am.” Ye Cheng shook his head.

Head maid: “...”

She felt like Ye Cheng was messing with her, but she had no proof. His words were somewhat disjointed, and yet, upon reflection... they kind of made sense?

Such a strange feeling.

Still, she admired it. And she liked it.

“Okay, go on then. The longer you drag this out, the worse it’ll be for you,” the head maid said, getting ready to stand up. The dough stick was gone by now, and it was about time to head home and start breakfast.

“Yeah, I’d better hurry.”

With that, the two of them set off toward the villa where Xia Tongxin lived.

After walking for a while, the head maid stopped.

“Aren’t you supposed to be looking for your Student Council President?”

Ye Chen blinked his eyes: "Yeah, what's the problem? But before that, I need to go check something first. The hospital's surveillance should be just about fixed by now, so I'm going to head over and hack it a different way this time."

The head maid: "???"

The "fixed" Ye Chen mentioned wasn't the physical kind of fixed. What he meant was that the school had realized they couldn't repair it, couldn't take back control from Ye Chen, and had simply scrapped the entire old surveillance system.

They went ahead and spent the money to install a new one.

Well, you've got to hand it to them—you really did.

This plan, besides being a bit expensive, was almost flawless. If anyone higher up asked, they'd just say it was an equipment upgrade for security reasons. The parents in this school? Loaded as they come—they wouldn't care less about something like this.

People might've thought it was an automatic membership renewal or something.

About ten minutes later.

Ye Chen was sitting in the computer lab again, starting to hack the school's newly installed surveillance system. This time, he was a bit more careful. You couldn't eat the meal someone else had cooked for you and then take the whole bowl away.

At most, you add another pair of chopsticks to the bowl and keep eating without anyone noticing—especially if those chopsticks are invisible.

Last time, he went overboard and ran off with the whole bowl. This time, he definitely had to be more mindful.

But of course, that meant this time would take a bit longer than before.

It was still early; plenty of time.

Ye Chen dove back into his work in the computer lab, grinding away on his own. The head maid watched from the side, her soul practically sucked into him—though of course, "watching" here didn't mean staring at the screen.

The head maid realized that Ye Chen's face seemed to be getting better looking, more captivating by the moment.

How hadn't she noticed before?

She clearly remembered it hadn't looked like this earlier. Now... now it was much more handsome.

The head maid had always prided herself on objectivity, and she knew for a fact that Ye Chen hadn't looked this way before. Now he did—and it was a definite improvement.

Rumble. The terrifying computing power in the lab was unleashed, and wave after wave of heat followed. Tiny beads of sweat began to appear on Ye Chen's forehead.

The head maid snapped out of it, seemed to think of something, quickly pulled out a tissue, and under the excuse of wiping his sweat, took the chance to cop a feel.

"Xiaxia, what are you doing?" Ye Chen asked, tilting his head to look at the head maid with a strange expression, all while still focused on hacking the surveillance.

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing'? Just focus on your own work. I'm only worried that your sweat might drip onto the computer," the head maid replied coldly.

"Uh... but here's the thing, Xiaxia—I'm not sweating?" Ye Chen said after a brief pause. He'd only just sat down. How could he be sweating already?

"Yes, you are," the head maid insisted, staring at him.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Fine, I am."

"Good. Now you admit it. I'm going to make breakfast." The head maid put the tissue away and walked out, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.

Ye Chen: "..."

Ye Chen: "Hey, Xiaxia's gotten smarter. She didn't fall for that level of tongue-twister bait this time?"

Ye Cheng sighed to himself, silently deciding to make the tongue twister even harder next time before continuing to hack the system. He estimated it would take about one to two hours, and he had to make sure the patches were all properly done; otherwise, it would be way too easy to tell that the system had been breached. With his previous experience, this time he would have to be more cautious and consider a lot more details...

Outside the door.

The head maid had reached the kitchen. She finally dropped the act, her chest heaving as she leaned against the window, clutching her heart.

"Xia Yu, you're really losing it, huh... He probably didn't notice anything just now, did he?" the head maid muttered to herself uncertainly.

The truth was, there really wasn't any sweat, and she had been possessed by some kind of madness, unable to resist reaching out and touching him.

Hmm... the sensation wasn't too clear. She'd have to try again next time if she got the chance.

For now, she needed to focus on making breakfast for her lady.

Soon, the sound of the stove igniting came from the kitchen as the head maid busied herself...

Upstairs, in Xia Tongxin's room, she was still dreaming, whimpering softly while hugging her cow plushie tightly.

"Evil woman... cow... demon..."

"I'm going to become a demon too..."

Strands of sunlight filtered through the window, falling on Xia Tongxin's hair, casting a dazzling golden glow.

Xia Tongxin, the black-haired and pink-headed girl, now had golden locks...