The night stars were sparse, and gusts of cool wind blew. The air grew colder, heralding the slow approach of winter.
Jiang You returned to her dorm and continued to grind away at the data from her research group.
When her vision started to blur from staring at the data, she couldn’t resist messaging Teacher Zhou to vent.
Jiang You: Teacher Zhou, you have no idea how hard this is. I joined a research group and they gave me a huge pile of data. My eyes are glazing over, and I just want to smash my computer.
Jiang You: The participation points are useless to me anyway. I’m not a diligent student, so the extra credit for my final grade is pointless. But now I have to work this hard sorting through this damn experimental data. [Cry]
She had gotten used to venting her frustrations to Teacher Zhou.
Teacher Zhou: If you’re tired, I can help you sort it.
Jiang You: I can’t. This data is confidential. I signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Teacher Zhou: There are shortcut commands for data processing. I’ll send them to you; they should help.
A moment later, Jiang You saw that Teacher Zhou had sent over a lot of commands, some of which were code scripts, with detailed instructions on how to use them.
After trying them, her efficiency skyrocketed. She excitedly showered Teacher Zhou with thanks.
Jiang You: Ah, you’re a godsend, my dear Teacher Zhou!
Jiang You: Thank you, Teacher Zhou! You’re a total lifesaver!
Teacher Zhou: No problem.
Meanwhile, on a cluttered street...
Mrs. Zhou was preparing to close up their stall when she saw Zhou Yu stop halfway through clearing a table to reply to a message.
He wore a simple black hoodie over a pink apron. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing lean, pale arms crisscrossed with scars.
The young man had been clearing a messy table littered with empty bottles and dirty plates. But he had stopped to reply to a message from someone.
Beneath a mess of black hair, his dark eyes held their usual gloom, a depth that seemed to swallow light. But at this moment, they held a faint, warm glimmer.
His aura was still cold and gloomy, but a closer look revealed a subtle shift—a state of relaxed, quiet pleasure.
The light from his terminal reflected off the lower half of his gaunt face.
Mrs. Zhou saw the corner of his lip twitch into the faintest of smiles.
She rarely saw Xiao Yu like this. Grabbing Zhou Yan, who was wiping down a counter, she asked, "Hey, is your brother dating someone? I’ve noticed he’s constantly checking his terminal these past few days. He doesn’t seem so gloomy, and he even just smiled."
Zhou Yan paused her wiping. She looked over just as Zhou Yu stared at his terminal for a long moment before finally getting back to work.
She, too, had noticed that Zhou Yu had been stalking Jiang You much less lately. He still did it, but he spent far more time glued to his terminal, checking it hundreds of times a day, as if he really were dating someone.
But from what Zhou Yan knew of her brother, there was no way he would let go of Jiang You so easily to like someone else.
He was an incredibly obsessive person.
When he was little, he’d had a pet cat. After the cat died, he put its body in his school bag and carried it with him to and from school every day. He refused to throw it away, even after the corpse began to rot, stink, and breed maggots.
He would even reach in and stroke the maggot-infested corpse.
In the end, their father, Mr. Zhou, had to forcibly throw the bag away.
The memory still made Zhou Yan’s skin crawl.
"Probably," Zhou Yan murmured, her lips barely moving.
"What’s the girl like?" Mrs. Zhou asked, looking a little happy. "I can tell Xiao Yu really likes her."
’Xiao Yu likes her, but she doesn’t like him back.’
Zhou Yan didn’t say it out loud, not wanting to give her mother more to worry about.
"I don’t know." Zhou Yan changed the subject. "How is Uncle Zhou?"
"He’s in the hospital. Xiao Jin is looking after him." Mrs. Zhou was successfully distracted.
Zhou Yan nodded. "Let’s finish up quickly so we can relieve Brother Jing."
Mrs. Zhou nodded. Xiao Jin had even stopped going to school to take care of Mr. Zhou every day.
Afterwards, Mrs. Zhou asked Zhou Yan how things were at school.
Zhou Yan didn’t tell her the truth—that just yesterday, she’d been locked in a bathroom stall and had water thrown on her...
There were always people who had it out for her.
The mother and her two children continued to pack up the stall.
Jiang You was still sorting her data when her terminal vibrated. Lifting her wrist, she saw a friend request.
The profile picture was pure white, and the message read: This is Xi Cheng.
Jiang You accepted.
Xi Cheng: I look forward to our time together, girlfriend.
Jiang You froze for a second when she saw the message. ’This guy is surprisingly formal about things,’ she thought.
Her reply was a single word.
Jiang You: Uh-huh.
’Damn it. I was just trying to complete a mission, and now I’ve somehow got a boyfriend.’
There was no further reply.
Jiang You then noticed the little red dot on her Moments icon.
On some unknown impulse, she tapped it.
Sure enough, the "male bodhisattva" had posted another thirst trap.
Caption: Yearning.
[Image]
The photo was once again dimly and intimately lit, taken from the side.
A bare-chested man sat on a sofa, legs spread wide, head tilted back. His arms were draped casually over the backrest. His Adam’s apple was prominent. He wore gray sweatpants, and a certain area was... also prominent.
Jiang You covered her face. ’He’s really... well-endowed.’
’The male lead, for sure.’
She silently stared for a few moments more before casually averting her gaze.
She had, however, completely forgotten what Shen Lan had told her yesterday.
So when Shen Lan’s video call suddenly popped up a second later, Jiang You jumped in fright, an inexplicable flicker of guilt passing through her.
Shen Lan really did call every single day without fail.
When he was on campus, he was constantly stuck to her side. Now that he wasn’t attending classes, he hadn’t missed a single one of his daily calls.
He would call even if it was just to talk nonsense. And even if they ran out of things to say, he’d insist she keep the line open on her terminal so he could listen to her breathe or hear the sounds around her.
Although Jiang You had hugged and kissed the guy, it wasn’t as if she actually liked him all that much.
It was pure lust.
[Task Issued.]
Jiang You had received another mission: Seduce Shen Lan.
In the ’plot,’ she was the token girlfriend—basically, a girlfriend with no real presence or significance.
The original character, naturally, was not content with this. Unable to find Shen Lan, she would repeatedly call to seduce him.
When he rejected her, she would curse him out and blame him for everything.
Jiang You was wearing a white slip nightdress with thin spaghetti straps over her rounded shoulders. She silently tugged one strap down, letting it slide off her smooth, pale shoulder before she accepted the call.
When Shen Lan saw her, his gaze lingered, just for a moment. He had expected her to try and seduce him, but he still couldn’t help but stare.
After a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched into the barest hint of a smile.
He acted as if he hadn’t noticed a thing, speaking in his usual tone. "Baby, what are you up to?"
"Oh, just thinking about you," Jiang You said, giving a small shrug that "accidentally" caused the other strap to slide down as well.
Her slip dress now looked more like a strapless one.
But without the straps for support, the white fabric looked as if it could slip down at any moment.