Today the two ate dinner very late.
After all, Chen Tang had thoroughly comforted Liu Yan, so it was almost ten o’clock before they properly started eating. Liu Yan’s half-prepared dishes had to be mixed together and cooked into a big stew.
But unexpectedly, it was delicious.
“It’s good that you broke up with Bai Mengling.”
Chen Tang ate while considering this matter. “Anyway, this conflict would have exploded sooner or later even if it didn’t today. Luckily you didn’t really fall for her. Isn’t that a good thing? At most, you’re a little angry and a little disappointed, but you shouldn’t be sad.”
Liu Yan thought for a moment and didn’t deny it. “You’re right. Maybe this is actually a good thing for me. Sorry to make you worry.”
“Ah~ we’re damn bros, don’t say such mushy stuff.”
Chen Tang spoke very heroically.
“Anyway, how about this: tomorrow you just find a chance to confess to me, and I’ll act surprised. Then, this way, we can avoid Xia You coming over to mock you later.”
“She’s probably not that kind of person.”
Maybe Xia Yu really wasn’t that kind of person, but Chen Tang continued anyway. “It’s not just for your sake. Do you have any idea how many private messages I get every day since the world line changed?
And all those people who want to add me as a friend, even confessing without even adding me. If you become my boyfriend, it’ll at least keep some of the troublemakers away—though I’m worried about people who have a thing for ‘married’ types. Still, it’ll be less trouble.”
“Really?”
Liu Yan was taken aback, then quickly came back to his senses. That made sense—after all, Chen Tang had turned into a beautiful girl now. But she only fooled strangers online; she never added anyone who might meet her in real life.
“If that’s the case, I guess it’s not impossible. But if it gets out, won’t I become the school’s famous playboy, always asking girls out?”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Is it?”
“Haven’t you heard? ‘A prodigal who returns is more precious than gold’—that’s a classic saying. First you lower your moral standing, so no one expects anything from you. If you have a bad reputation and then do something good, everyone magnifies your good deeds.
But if you have a good reputation and then do one or two small bad things, your bad deeds will be blown out of proportion. I say I’d rather be the bad guy. Look at me now—no matter what shitty thing I do, everyone just thinks, ‘Well, it’s Chen Tang, so that’s normal.'”
She actually had a point.
For a moment, Liu Yan felt conflicted.
Sometimes you wonder why good people don’t get rewarded.
If he had a reputation as a scumbag, it would destroy his chances with women in some ways… but then again.
His last two relationships hadn’t made him happy either… maybe he should take a break.
Being labeled as Chen Tang’s boyfriend didn’t seem like a bad idea after all.
“So how do you want me to confess to you?”
He looked at Chen Tang curiously.
Chen Tang looked puzzled. “What do you mean how? Just come up to me and say you like me and want to be together. Then I act all shy and say ‘okay.’ What more is there to it?”
“What about flowers?”
“Wouldn’t that be a waste of money?”
Chen Tang was speechless. “Bro, you do know who I am, right?”
She got a little serious. “Do you even understand my character now? In this changed world line, I’m your dear childhood friend! Like the big guarantee in a gacha game—no matter what character you failed to pull, in the end you’ll always get me!”
She exaggerated her tone. “Put yourself in other people’s shoes. Think about it—how do they see the relationship between you and me? Obviously, as soon as you confess, I’ll jump for joy and agree, and that night we’ll go to a hotel… They probably think we’re already sleeping in the same bed.
Of course, we are kinda living together now.”
Liu Yan’s expression darkened, but after thinking about it, he realized she was right.
“So if you confess to other girls, you need all that fancy stuff. But with me, those things just make it fake. You don’t even need to confess.”
She said very bluntly, “Tomorrow morning, just take my hand and walk to class. I’ll give you some perks—let you touch my leg, put your arm around my waist. Everyone will naturally figure out we’re together. And it’ll seem perfectly normal.
Of course, if you want to be more convincing, we could kiss in public. But forget it—even for me, that’s too much sacrifice. Sorry, I can’t go that far. I’m not a giver.”
“…I can’t do it either.”
Liu Yan was also speechless. “But you’re right. So we’ll do it tomorrow?”
“Yeah, anyway I already gave you plenty of perks tonight. Giving a little more tomorrow is no big deal. Just be intimate. Simple. Just closer than before. Hugging and stuff is acceptable.”
She thought for a moment. “Anyway, given Bai Mengling’s personality, she’s proud. How could she ever admit you dumped her? So she’ll probably tell everyone she broke up with you. That’s fine. The only shame is you didn’t get to do the deed.”
“You’re a girl now—can you stop talking so dirty? Honestly, hearing that kind of talk from such a cute face makes me really uncomfortable.”
“Weird?” Chen Tang glanced at Liu Yan disdainfully. “I think it’s excitement, right? We’re both men—you think I don’t know? Lots of guys love tricking cute girls into saying dirty things.”
“…People do that to see the cute shyness after the girl figures it out. Where’s your shyness?”
Chen Tang thought about it and realized he had a point. She sighed. “That’s asking too much of me, bro. Even if I had the acting skills to conquer the entertainment industry, how could I pull off real girlish shyness? I’m not one! I can tease you, though.”
“You bastard…”
After dinner, Chen Tang dutifully washed the dishes.
But she didn’t change out of the maid outfit.
“You’re not going to sleep?”
“You’re not going to play games? It’s only ten thirty! We can play at least five more hours.”
“…Well, no first-period class tomorrow.”
Chen Tang grinned at Liu Yan. “What? Don’t you want a cute maid to keep you company while you game? And you can take photos~ I actually bought a pair of cat ears too.
When you post them, just caption it, ‘Whose little kitten is this? She even plays games with people.’ Then I’ll act cute. I guarantee your parents will send you money as soon as they see it tomorrow—and all your relatives will send red envelopes. Then my parents will send me money too. We can upgrade our equipment.”
“…That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
“What’s too much? They’re giving it voluntarily. Hurry up, I’ll get the cat ears, you take the pictures.”
Liu Yan felt helpless.
He realized Chen Tang really was like a giant cat, climbing onto the gaming chair and posing in all sorts of ways—she clearly loved it.
To be honest, it was hard to handle.
The upper house had already rejected the lower house’s requests several times. If this rebellion couldn’t be suppressed, something life-or-death might happen tonight.
After all, they hadn’t prepared any protective measures.
Should he buy some one of these days?
No, no, no—if he bought some, wouldn’t that mean he’d been thinking about Chen Tang that way all along? He couldn’t do that.
He sat down in his own gaming chair. Chen Tang scooted over. “Yeah, yeah, these pictures—these ones I look the best in. And they’re not from a dirty angle. You’re pretty good at taking photos. Maybe you could pick up a side gig as a photographer.”
Liu Yan rubbed his chin. He thought she had a point. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea.”
“Right. And you’re a good cook. You’re bound to take over your parents’ restaurant someday. Might as well develop a hobby while you’re young. Too bad our gaming skills are a bit lacking. Otherwise we could start a stream called ‘Childhood Friends Conquer the King,’ that’d be a gimmick.”
A bit lacking?
Liu Yan knew his gaming level well. King? Grandmaster?
Bronze! Silver!
Unlike Chen Tang, who thought losing was all her teammates’ fault and the ELO system, he knew his gaming skills were terrible.
He’d never make a living from games.
“Are you sure it’s okay to post these?”
“Ah! It’s just a friend circle post. Nothing to hesitate about. If people gossip, they’ll gossip about me.”
She looked at him playfully. “Later people might say I’m your summon beast or something. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”
“I suggest you delete your XX comics and XX hentai sites first.”
“Are you kidding? I finally got a super short cooldown state! I haven’t enjoyed it enough yet!”
“…” Liu Yan pinched her mouth shut.
She was getting more and more outrageous. Didn’t she know how hard he was keeping his cool? If she kept talking dirty like that, tonight might end with real action.
And then they’d “no longer be bros.”
But if things turned that way… what would happen?
How would his life be different from now?
Would it be different?
He looked at Chen Tang again.
But Chen Tang had already freed herself and started the game.
“Forget it. Let’s play first. Same as usual—I’ll play Yasuo, you play Lee Sin or Malphite.”
Chen Tang smirked mysteriously. “I’m wearing cat ears today, so of course I’m playing Yuumi!”
“Huh? And the ADC?”
“Let him suffer bot lane alone.”
“How will you defend your parents?”
“Whoever types faster wins.”
“Great! Got spirit!”
They started a very happy game.
In fact, both of them were top students. Generally, if they wanted to, their game skills wouldn’t be too low—after all, games have basic logic. Once you understand the logic, playing is simple.
The main reason they couldn’t climb rank was…
They were too trolly.
They played for fun—while their teammates suffered, Chen Tang was too unscrupulous to care.
Let’s just say they had a blast.
…
Xia You finished her part-time job and lay on her dorm bed. Her relationship with Zhou Bin wasn’t as satisfying as she’d imagined… probably because Zhou Bin was a clueless guy, not as attentive as Liu Yan.
But she also knew that comparing Liu Yan to Zhou Bin wasn’t fair to either of them. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Liu Yan’s fatal flaw was that his childhood friend was always around.
Whoever dated Liu Yan could never ignore that childhood friend.
Logically, Liu Yan and Chen Tang should keep their distance, but still—
She took out her phone to browse her friend circle, like some posts before sleeping, and maybe find some gossip.
Then she saw Liu Yan’s post.
His last post was about dating Bai Mengling: a picture of two hands holding together.
A pretty standard college student relationship post.
But today’s was different.
Even though Liu Yan had put a light mosaic over Chen Tang’s face, anyone who knew Liu Yan and knew Chen Tang would immediately recognize her!
Who was that girl in the maid outfit with cat ears?!
Had their relationship advanced further?! Did Bai Mengling know about this?
Suddenly she remembered Bai Mengling asking her earlier how to date Liu Yan… That had pissed her off.
Maybe the young miss didn’t check her friend circle often?
She immediately screenshotted everything, saved every picture, and sent them all to Bai Mengling.
Bai Mengling sat dazedly in her room when her screen lit up.
It was Xia You sending picture messages.
What was that about? Was it her parents asking Xia You to persuade her or something?
But what was the point?
Then she saw it.
A cute girl in a maid outfit.
That was Chen Tang.
And then she saw Liu Yan’s caption:
“Whose little kitten is this?”
“He just broke up with me today!”
She immediately sat up in bed.
Then she pushed open the door and walked out.
“Dreamling!”
Her mother looked delighted.
“You… have you come around?”
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