The next week was very uneventful. Of course, that was uneventful for Liu Yan.
For Chen Tang… she experienced her first period in this life.
Although in terms of timeline changes, this had become a normal part of her daily life. But for Chen Tang herself, it was indeed the first time—though she found that she actually had the relevant items prepared in her backpack.
She made a note of the brand she used.
Regarding menstruation, she wasn’t completely ignorant. At least she knew that the pad was supposed to be stuck on her underwear, not on anything else. So, although it was somewhat troublesome, it wasn’t completely hopeless.
She silently recorded that her period fell on the last week of the month.
Fortunately, during her period, she didn’t feel as much pain as rumored, and she didn’t think she was in a bad mood either—it seemed she was the type less affected by this sort of thing.
That was a huge help. She didn’t want to become a fragile mess every time her period came, unable to even walk from the pain. Just thinking about it was terrifying.
Of course, Liu Yan was actually very attentive. He immediately noticed this and spent the next two or three days brewing a cup of brown sugar red date soup for her in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
To be honest, before the world line changed, Chen Tang hated health soups like this the most. But when she found herself under the “bleeding debuff,” she suddenly found the soup delicious.
‘Maybe my lack of pain was also related to the soup Liu Yan brewed.’
This week, Xia You was very well-behaved… She didn’t come looking for trouble like before.
‘But I know that in about two or three weeks, this woman will break up with Zhou Bin. That part of the plot probably won’t change much.’
‘After that, she will turn back to focus on Liu Yan, but discover that Liu Yan is dating Bai Mengling, so she will silently observe…’
Therefore, there was no need to worry about what this person was thinking for now.
What mattered was the debate competition.
Chen Tang originally thought Liu Yan would take some action in advance—after all, he hadn’t forwarded the video to Bai Mengling.
But he still didn’t.
“You kid, are you planning to pull off a hero-saving-beauty act?”
Chen Tang looked at Liu Yan suspiciously. “That doesn’t seem like your style… You’re not actually falling for Bai Mengling and planning to win her over, are you?”
‘Actually, if the plot developed that way, I wouldn’t mind.’
‘After all, that was the original novel’s plot. It wouldn’t be strange for Liu Yan to make such a choice.’
‘It could only be seen as the correction by the hand of fate.’
‘And liking Bai Mengling isn’t really a bad thing. Her overall quality is actually quite good.’
‘And among all the female characters, the reason she left Liu Yan is at least the most acceptable in my view—mismatched social status is a very realistic problem.’
‘Not like Xia You, with her so-called “true love,” and not like the female characters that appear later—for example, the female counselor who appears in Liu Yan’s junior year. She took over Liu Yan after he broke up with Bai Mengling, but then in his senior year, she had a conflict with him because she wanted to take care of a freshman, and they broke up.’
‘This is one of the reasons I encouraged Liu Yan to confess to Bai Mengling… If it were that female counselor, I wouldn’t let Liu Yan choose her, unless Liu Yan really turned into a scumbag and planned to play her. That would be a good thing, and I would support it wholeheartedly.’
‘So no matter what—if Liu Yan plans to actually pursue Bai Mengling, I basically support it.’
‘Besides, from the original novel’s plot—even if Bai Mengling and Liu Yan break up, it would only be for less than half a year. Then Bai Mengling will regret it, feel guilty for Liu Yan, and not dare to appear before him. She will only dare to send people to silently check on him until he disappears.’
‘In other words, if Liu Yan really wins Bai Mengling over and then gets dumped by her, as long as he doesn’t find another girlfriend, Bai Mengling will come back after a few months.’
‘Then the two will have a chance to stay together in the end.’
‘If Liu Yan had to choose among the female characters, I still think Bai Mengling is better.’
‘Of course, as I said before, if the main female characters were all scumbags, useless, and bastards—’
‘Then there is still me, isn’t there?’
‘I can cover for Liu Yan.’
‘At least I can protect Liu Yan’s dignity.’
‘A good man sometimes lives for pride, for face.’
‘As long as I protect Liu Yan’s face, it shouldn’t be a problem.’
‘These women…’
Hmph~!
Chen Tang held a bottle of ice-cold cola! Her period was over, so she had stood up again and felt invincible.
“Oh~ The Student Union has quite a lineup! They even got Xia You here as a cheerleader!”
Walking into the venue with Liu Yan, Chen Tang saw Xia You sitting in the front row of the audience, holding a sign that read “Go X City University!”
In another direction, also in the front row, a few people held signs saying “Go X City University of Arts and Sciences!”
It was clear that even though it was just a debate competition, in the eyes of these college students, it was a proof of honor.
Even a lady like Bai Mengling was very passionate now. She excitedly gathered with the debaters, and a few of them put their hands together.
“One, two, three! Go!”
They pressed their hands down together, cheering and encouraging each other.
So youthful and energetic.
But Chen Tang wasn’t interested in debate competitions at all.
She had zero interest in the process or the topics.
She was only looking at one person.
A person named Shi Yiyi.
“You bastard!”
Almost instantly, she knew what Liu Yan had done.
This week, using some means and at some time, he had contacted Shi Yiyi, who was in the hospital, and somehow managed to bring her out. She knew that patients like her didn’t have to stay in the hospital all the time and could go out for fresh air… but was this appropriate?
She saw Shi Yiyi take some things out of her backpack, put on dark glasses, a mask, and pull her hood over her face.
On stage, they were preparing for the debate, and no one noticed Shi Yiyi’s presence.
She was sitting in the row in front of them. Even though there was still some distance.
“Isn’t this a bit too ridiculous? Bringing her out… isn’t that a bit of a jerk move? I wouldn’t even do something like this!”
Chen Tang lowered her voice. She didn’t have a problem with Liu Yan. In fact, it was good that Liu Yan was a bit of a jerk sometimes.
But this wasn’t something Liu Yan would usually do.
Liu Yan looked at Chen Tang’s expression and knew she had misunderstood.
“No, you’re completely judging me by your own standards. Am I that kind of person? You’re just talking nonsense here. She asked me to bring her.”
“No wonder you kept saying this week, ‘You should rest more during your period, I’m going back to my room to rest’… I went to your room and couldn’t find you. I thought you were sneaking off to date Bai Mengling, but it turns out you were going to the hospital to find that girl!”
She stared at Liu Yan. “You haven’t actually won her over, have you?”
“What are you talking about! It took me two days to find out which hospital she was in, and I’ve only known her for four days. Today is the fifth day—how could I have won her over?”
“Didn’t Miss Bai not even know you, yet she agreed to your confession right away? I think this kind of thing is easy for you!”
‘But actually, I personally think that this woman who will later become Bai Mengling’s secretary is also pretty good.’
‘Now the plot is going to be different from the original novel.’
‘My heart began to race excitedly.’
‘Shi Yiyi is already here. How can the plot still be the same?’
‘This is a major turning point!’
‘It might hold a very important place in the future, or even the entire story.’
Chen Tang decisively pulled out her phone and started recording.
“What are you doing?”
“In case something happens later, I’ll record it. Let me say this first: I’m not doing anything. I’m just here to watch the drama today. How you operate, pick up girls, show off—that’s your business.”
Chen Tang gave an advance warning.
She absolutely wouldn’t do anything today.
‘I have to witness this huge plot change with my own eyes—I know that from today onward, the original novel’s plot can only serve as a “reference,” not as actual plot anymore.’
‘Although the hand of fate might provide some correction.’
‘Still, there is a major deviation.’
To be honest, the debaters were quite skilled—at least it was clear both sides had prepared well.
“Speaking of wealth, if wealth is not guided by virtue, then all wealth is meaningless…”
“Wealth itself is wealth, virtue is virtue. Whether one has wealth has no necessary connection to whether one has virtue. Wealth does not appear or disappear because of moral character…”
The two sides had a fierce battle on the topic of choosing wealth or virtue.
As a spectator, Chen Tang thought that everyone had a point—but to her, it was completely meaningless.
What did it matter even if they won this debate?
In the end, it was just empty talk.
Better to learn two more formulas.
Of course, that was her engineering way of thinking.
But she initially thought it would be boring—yet she still admired the debaters on stage.
After all, some arguments had her feeling heated even while watching from below. If it were her, she would have started cursing her opponent’s ancestors. But these people could still argue rationally on stage. It wasn’t easy.
Even Liu Yan was sweating it out.
He watched very intently.
Then… The critical moment finally arrived.
“You, Bai Mengling, can say things like that because you have money. But us? We’re here today because winning this debate competition means a two-thousand-yuan prize, which can buy an extra box of medicine for our little debate team sister!”
As soon as this was said, not only did Bai Mengling’s face change drastically, but also the other members of X City University’s debate team, the members of X City University of Arts and Sciences’ debate team, the judges, and the audience all had expressions of shock.
This wasn’t debating anymore!
This was completely out of the scope of debate!
This was a direct personal attack on Bai Mengling!
What a hothead!
Even if that was what you thought, you shouldn’t say it—especially when it was Bai Mengling! Afraid you might end up at the bottom of the river the next day?
At this moment, Chen Tang also snapped back to reality… ‘Back when I read this plot, I didn’t think much of it. I just felt the author was setting up a problem for Liu Yan to conquer Bai Mengling.’
‘But now, thinking about it, whose subordinate was that on stage? So brave! Knowing full well that the opponent was Miss Bai, they still had the nerve to be so reckless. Not afraid of being unable to get around in X City in the future?’
‘Though Miss Bai won’t actually do anything so low-class… but wasn’t their opponent scared at all?’
‘One could only say that young people were truly passionate.’
When Bai Mengling’s face turned pale, suddenly…
“Sister Yuran! How could you say that!”
A weak voice sounded from the audience.
If it weren’t for the silence, this voice probably wouldn’t have caught anyone’s attention.
She took off her hat, glasses, and mask, revealing a thin figure.
The person she called out to, named Yu Ran, widened her eyes and exclaimed, “Yiyi! Why are you here! You should be in the hospital! I! What I just said was!”
Her earlier recklessness and courage to rebuke Bai Mengling suddenly vanished.
She became extremely embarrassed.
Shi Yiyi walked onto the debate stage.
“I’m very grateful to you all for what you did for me, Sister Yuran, and everyone on the debate team… But if the money was obtained this way—I can’t accept it. You shouldn’t make yourselves like this.”
The Demon Pill, Chen Tang, declared that she couldn’t stand this kind of scene.
She was the type who hated emotional scenes the most. She was the kind of person who would change the channel when watching a TV drama and a touching part came on, then come back after it was over.
Now, whether it was the atmosphere or something, she felt like someone in the venue was about to cry… She decisively handed her phone to Liu Yan for him to record, then slipped out of the venue while no one was paying attention.
As a result— She had been outside for about two or three minutes when Xia You also came out.
“Oh? Isn’t this School Beauty Xia? Why are you out here?”
“It’s a mess inside now.” Xia You didn’t seem to have the same hostility toward Chen Tang as before. “President Bai said that the Bai clan has a special fund that can help that girl named Shi Yiyi. Now it’s a beautiful story inside. I reckon it’ll make the X City Daily tomorrow.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Xia You looked at Chen Tang. “That Shi Yiyi was brought by Liu Yan, wasn’t she?”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“Because when President Bai encountered such a situation, he did nothing but record with his phone. That’s not his style. Unless Shi Yiyi was originally brought by him.”
“Brilliant! Ex-girlfriend-sama, you know Old Liu so well. Even I, his childhood friend, am scared. That Mr. Zhou Bin won’t be upset, will he?”