Liu Yan had no idea what his Demon Pill childhood friend was thinking.
He just felt that his luck was still pretty good.
Just as he and Chen Tang had discussed, he never believed that Bai Mengling agreed to his confession because she liked him. Probably because this high mountain flower—no one else dared to confess to her the way he had.
Or perhaps, because of Xia You, Bai Mengling already had some understanding of him, and since she had never been in a relationship before, once she entered college, she held some expectations for such things. So when she heard his confession, the young lady chose to “give it a try.”
Therefore, she agreed to his confession.
There might also be the factor that she and Xia You were both campus belles, possibly with some level of rivalry between them.
But none of that mattered.
According to Chen Tang, no matter how Miss Bai agreed, the fact was she was now Liu Yan’s girlfriend, so Liu Yan should enjoy this relationship.
Honestly, Liu Yan felt this was a bit scummy—wasn’t this what people called a seamless transition?
And he thought he should be feeling sad about being dumped.
But surprisingly, after doing all this, because he was too busy, he didn’t feel empty or sorrowful inside.
It was as if his past feelings for Xia You were fake.
He thought he probably wasn’t indifferent… he just didn’t have the time to calmly think about it. He also didn’t want to stop and think—once he did, it would probably hurt.
So…
“How do I look today?”
Chen Tang, wearing pajamas, looked at him. “You’re way too formal. I feel like you’re about to put on a tie and go to work, bro. This is a date! Dress more casually, okay!”
She was quite speechless as she watched him wear an outfit almost like a suit. “Go change! She’s Miss Bai, but she’s still a girl! You’re just an ordinary guy—don’t pretend to be a corporate elite. Even if you were a real corporate elite, Miss Bai might not even care. Just go on a normal date.”
Chen Tang’s advice seemed somewhat reasonable, but Liu Yan stuck to his own ideas.
“…Fine.”
It didn’t matter anyway.
At this stage, he hadn’t truly won over the young lady yet. After the timeline shift, there was no guarantee he could actually win her over. Whether he succeeded or not, it was all the same outcome. He would date however he wanted.
She opened her bedroom door. “Did you wash my clothes?”
“Yeah, take them in around noon. It’s just tossing them in the washing machine—you really are lazy to the max!”
“Hehe~ Love you~”
Chen Tang’s love was clearly very cheap. She couldn’t even hold out until they won a game together before she started trash-talking.
Liu Yan wordlessly watched Chen Tang close the door, knowing she was going back to bed.
To be honest, Liu Yan thought Chen Tang was incredibly sneaky and cunning now. Why did he say that?
Because Chen Tang was taking advantage of her childhood friend relationship after the timeline shift!
She made him wash her clothes?
Even more twisted, she straight-up called his parents and said he didn’t want to wash her clothes, and his parents told him to take care of Xiao Tang.
That was Chen Tang’s sneakiness!
After the timeline shifted and she became a girl, she didn’t care at all about becoming female! She unhesitatingly took advantage of that fact!
This was the Demon Pill!
He really couldn’t do anything about her.
Lately, this woman was getting better at using her feminine weapons. For example, when he scolded her harshly, instead of scolding him back like before, she would look at him with those pitiful little eyes.
My god, this woman clearly knew she was a beautiful girl and knew how to handle men!
How terrible!
It was a blessing from heaven that she was born a man early on, but now she became a beautiful girl—in a way, she was a disaster.
A femme fatale!
Thinking about these useless things, Liu Yan walked out of his apartment.
When he reached the entrance of the residential area, he saw a business vehicle parked at the gate.
The window rolled down, revealing Bai Mengling’s delicate profile. She looked over and gave a slight smile. “Get in.”
The driver got out and opened the door for him.
Liu Yan got in nervously.
The back seat was spacious.
He noticed that today Bai Mengling was wearing a light blue dress, which was a bit different from her usual style—at school, her temperament felt a bit strong, but today, she seemed softer.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“This is my first time seeing you outside of school. You’re different from what I imagined.”
Bai Mengling sized Liu Yan up, a hint of a smile in her eyes. “But I didn’t expect you to dress so formally. I thought you came to discuss business with me.”
‘…I should have listened to Chen Tang.’
Liu Yan felt instantly awkward.
“But this shows you value our date, so I’m very happy~”
‘My god! Are you an angel, Lady Bai Mengling! Starting today, I swear loyalty to you!’
‘What does it mean to be a young lady?’
‘This is a young lady!’
‘Xia You? Chen Tang? Sorry, not familiar.’
‘A cold woman and a Demon Pill—how can they compare to Lady Bai! Look at the emotional value she gives! My god, are her stats balanced with her feet?’
“So, for today’s date, my dear boyfriend, do you have any plans?”
Liu Yan did have some ideas. “First, I want to ask you, my dear girlfriend, is there any place you want to go? If you don’t have any plans, we’ll follow my ideas. If you have ideas, your ideas take priority. How about that?”
Bai Mengling nodded. “I thought so.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before the date, I asked Xia You about your past dates with her. She said you planned everything. Seeing you now, it’s just as she said. Just follow your plan. I’ve never been on a date before, so I have no experience. Besides, I want to get to know you better.”
‘Wait, who did you ask?’
‘Xia You?’
Liu Yan gasped inwardly. He suddenly felt that Miss Bai might not be as perfect as she seemed. At least, he could never do something like that.
‘What do you treat having a boyfriend as?’
‘A business negotiation?’
‘When dealing with one company, do you first do background research on the company that worked with her before?’
‘Is that the same?’
‘Probably this young lady knows nothing about love.’
“…Does it bother you?”
Seeing Liu Yan silent, Bai Mengling seemed to think of something.
Liu Yan didn’t deny it. He said awkwardly, “It’s definitely a bit bothering… My current girlfriend went to ask my ex about how we dated. She didn’t badmouth me, did she?”
“No, she didn’t. You should know Xia You better than I do. She has her issues, but she’s not the type to maliciously slander someone.”
Yes, Xia You cared a lot about her image, or rather, her face.
That was why, after Liu Yan confessed to Bai Mengling, she came to confront him the next day out of anger.
Miss Xia would never speak ill of someone behind their back… unless you were close enough to her, otherwise, you’d never hear her true thoughts.
She didn’t want to lose face in front of anyone or be seen as a gossipy woman.
“So where are we going now?”
“Let’s go to the mall first. Any mall will do. We’ll experience the standard date routine for normal couples. How about just shopping, eating, and watching a movie? What do you think?”
Bai Mengling visibly relaxed.
No matter what, this was her first date, and she was a bit nervous. Hearing that the plan was this simple, she felt more at ease.
These were things she could handle.
She could handle them calmly.
“Take us to the nearest mall with a cinema. After that, find a place to rest. When our date ends, I’ll message you to come pick me up.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Liu Yan felt like he was in a movie.
This was the posture of high society!
…
Chen Tang had climbed out of bed right after Liu Yan left.
Don’t misunderstand—she wasn’t planning to stalk his date. According to the original novel’s plot, even if there were slight deviations, Liu Yan and Bai Mengling’s first date would go smoothly.
Both of them enjoyed it without any unexpected incidents.
Bai Mengling had an unexpectedly high opinion of this “ordinary date.” She thought Liu Yan was very “considerate”—he didn’t act timid because she was rich, nor did he plan a date beyond his means…
If she remembered correctly, Liu Yan would receive an expensive gift today, probably a luxury watch.
But things like that didn’t matter.
She was heading to the city hospital.
Not because she was sick, but about the upcoming debate competition.
The group supporting “wealth” had been attacking Bai Mengling… Although it was written by the novel’s author, the purpose might have been to make Bai Mengling break down so Liu Yan could win her over.
But Chen Tang wanted to investigate and see if what those people said was true.
She remembered the original line: “That child is lying in Ward 403, Bed 3 at the city hospital!” and so on.
She remembered it clearly—that part of the plot had quite an impact.
As for why she was investigating this?
Come on, she was the Demon Pill—but back when she was the Demon Pill, it was to help Liu Yan avoid bad romantic entanglements… Although it turned out to be useless.
She, Chen Tang, was a kind-hearted person!
Sure, that incident was the trigger for Liu Yan to win over Miss Bai, but did Liu Yan really need to win her over? If she confirmed it was a scam in advance, when the debate reached that stage, she could stand up from the audience and refute the opponent.
That way, Miss Bai wouldn’t develop too much好感 for Liu Yan, avoiding unclear situations later.
Bai Mengling wasn’t Liu Yan’s ideal type.
Although Chen Tang knew that in a sense, Miss Bai was a relatively perfect partner, she wasn’t suitable for Liu Yan.
If Liu Yan married Miss Bai, he would have to bear and face too many things.
For example, the entire Bai Group, and the pressures the Bai Group had to endure.
Once Liu Yan really married Miss Bai, he would have to deal with all of that.
Looking at the entire original novel, if you only considered marriage, every character except Bai Mengling could be married—though each had their own flaws.
For instance, marrying Xia You meant dealing with Xia You’s birth family, which also had pressure, but it was still better than the pressure from the Bai family and what the Bai family had to face.
So Old Bai was only suitable for dating.
Marriage was out of the question.
It was better to keep her favorability low.
That way, it wouldn’t be hard to break up later.
If Bai Mengling refused to break up, that would be a real problem.
She quickly arrived at the city hospital and found Ward 403, Bed 3 on the fourth floor of the inpatient department.
It was a shared room with three beds, and Bed 3 was the innermost.
At the moment, the bed was empty.
Chen Tang saw the nameplate on the headboard: “Shi Yiyi.”
It seemed the person indeed existed.
“Miss, are you here to visit your friend?”
Chen Tang hadn’t come empty-handed—she brought a fruit basket.
She looked at the elderly woman who had spoken to her. The woman was wearing a hospital gown, lying in bed, looking quite spirited.
“Yes, Auntie. She’s not here?”
“She went for a checkup. Her illness is troublesome—I heard a large part of the medication isn’t covered by insurance. That child’s family isn’t well-off… She has a few friends who visit often. This is my first time seeing you.”
Chen Tang placed the fruit basket on the bedside table.
“I have some things to do, Auntie. Please tell her for me.”
“What’s your name, miss?”
Chen Tang acted as if she didn’t hear and left the ward.
It seemed those people at the debate hadn’t lied. She felt a deep pressure.
In the novel, the author casually wrote a few words, and some people’s fates were changed.
Although she knew she was inside a novel, she understood that the author wrote this plot to make Liu Yan win over Bai Mengling—for that purpose, this background was created.
But what about the people within that background?
If she hadn’t transmigrated in, she probably wouldn’t have felt anything. But being in this world, she felt the author was inhuman.
Even if she wanted to go back to the original world and criticize the author or dox them, she probably couldn’t.
Because she didn’t know how to return.
Her plan to touch a meteor and go back had already failed.
For now, she could only take things one step at a time.
“Chen Tang?”
“Xia You?”
At the hospital entrance, Chen Tang ran into Xia You, and beside her was a seemingly ordinary man.
Ah—
In the original novel, it was said that this man, after becoming Xia You’s boyfriend, got into a fight with someone who approached Xia You during their date today.
Now Xia You was accompanying him to the hospital.
She had been so focused on Bai Mengling’s matters that she hadn’t expected to run into them here.