"What exactly does Long Aotian mean by that?" Wang Lijuan couldn't understand at all.
Mentioning this made Shen Mengjie a little angry—she had even been smacked on the head.
Amid her anger, a wave of panic suddenly rose in her heart. Could it be that Long Aotian had listened to Li Hao's words and now thought she was shameless, no longer willing to help her?
"Why don't you give Xu Shuai a call?" Zhang Mengmeng suggested softly.
Hearing this, Wang Lijuan's eyes lit up. "You're right, Xu Shuai would definitely know something."
Shen Mengjie also looked at Wang Lijuan then. Though she didn't say it aloud, she too wanted to know what Long Aotian's current attitude toward her really was.
Just as Wang Lijuan was about to call Xu Shuai, Shen Mengjie's phone suddenly rang.
She glanced at her phone curiously, then frowned slightly. "It's Huang Fei."
As she spoke, she answered the call.
"Huang Fei, what is it?"
"I'm waiting for you in the woods by the sports field. There are some things I'd rather discuss in person."
Before Shen Mengjie could refuse, Huang Fei had already hung up.
Shen Mengjie blinked in confusion, then turned to Han Xiaojing and the others.
"Go. Maybe he really has something important to say," Han Xiaojing said gently.
Wang Lijuan nodded in agreement. "I think Huang Fei has actually been really good to you. That day when he found out you hadn't returned to the dorm and couldn't reach you by phone, he was practically going crazy with worry..."
"He's a good person," even Zhang Mengmeng added.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Mengjie pulled up her hood and left the dorm.
As she walked, memories of her first meeting with Huang Fei surfaced in her mind.
Back then, Shen Mengjie could have sworn with absolute certainty about the look in Huang Fei's eyes—it was pure lust.
She had seen that look far too many times, so many that she'd lost count...
She hated that look, hated it even more when it was directed at her...
But now... no, not just now, his gaze seemed to have changed somehow...
It made Shen Mengjie reluctant to face him, because she sensed that Huang Fei might actually be serious about her...
......
In the small grove, Huang Fei heard footsteps and stubbed out his cigarette before turning around.
Seeing her, a faint smile appeared on his face. "You came."
Shen Mengjie glanced around before finally lowering her hood. "What did you want to talk about?"
Hearing the coldness in her voice, Huang Fei scratched his head. "Is being around me really that stressful for you?"
Shen Mengjie let out a light laugh and met his gaze firmly, shaking her head. "Maybe I never should have gotten involved with you in the first place."
"Pretty sure I was the one who got involved with you first," Huang Fei replied with a grin, his eyes locked on hers.
Shen Mengjie shrugged, amused. "Who knows?"
"Can I at least ask why?"
"The world doesn't owe us explanations. If it did, things would be so much easier."
"And do you realize how many people would point fingers if we were together now?"
"What if I said I don’t care at all?"
Huang Fei stepped closer, staring straight at her. "What if I said I truly, genuinely don’t care even a little?"
Under the intensity of his gaze, Shen Mengjie suddenly found it hard to look at him directly.
Seeing her avert her eyes, Huang Fei gave a bitter smile. "Liking you is my business. You don’t have to feel any pressure about it."
The old Shen Mengjie wouldn’t have felt any pressure at all. Even after being scolded outright by Long Aotian, she had remained unfazed, even calmly keeping her appointment with Senior Wang.
But after everything that had happened, she was genuinely hesitating now.
"All I’m asking for is a chance."
"You don’t have a boyfriend right now, and I don’t have a girlfriend. Give me this one opportunity. I won’t interfere with your life. If, after a year, you still haven’t been moved by me, then I’ll give up for good."
Huang Fei laid his heart bare.
Letting go now would be unbearable. He wanted to try, to put in the effort. Only then, if he truly gave it his all, could he walk away without regrets.
The determination and sincerity in Huang Fei’s eyes sent Shen Mengjie’s thoughts into turmoil.
"A year?" She was certain that her feelings for Huang Fei didn’t extend beyond friendship.
Yet, faced with his earnest gaze, his actions for her sake, and his words—"I don’t care at all what others think!"—she found herself unable to outright refuse.
If, after a year, she still felt nothing for him, he would let go, wouldn’t he?
This was so frustrating...
"If you don’t refuse, I’ll take it as a yes," Huang Fei said, smiling. "So you don’t have to avoid me or feel pressured anymore."
Shen Mengjie rolled her eyes. "Who’s avoiding you? Who’s feeling pressured?"
The eye roll didn’t upset Huang Fei—in fact, it made him laugh even harder. This was the Shen Mengjie he knew.
Hearing his laughter, Shen Mengjie couldn’t help but chuckle softly too.
"If you called me here just to say all this, then I’m going back."
"Of course not." Huang Fei’s expression turned serious again.
He then repeated Long Aotian’s theory word for word.
After hearing it, Shen Mengjie didn’t want to believe it.
The person who had nailed her to the pillar of shame was actually one of her own roommates?
How could that be?
And yet, Long Aotian’s theory was the closest to the truth.
To obtain the chat logs of thirty-eight people at once—the simplest way would have been to access her phone.
And who else could have done that but one of her roommates?
Seeing the disbelief and conflict on Shen Mengjie’s face, Huang Fei added, "Long Aotian said that after telling you this, you’d have a suspect in mind. Whether you believe it or not, you can always test it out."
It was true. Even if she didn’t want to believe it, a name had already surfaced in her mind.
After a long silence, Shen Mengjie looked at Huang Fei. "Can you leave for a moment?"
Hearing this, Huang Fei knew she had made her decision.
He nodded and walked out of the grove.
Once he was gone, Shen Mengjie took out her phone and dialed a number...

e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.

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!

ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!