Chapter 27: Anger Surges, Jealousy and Rivalry

Had she figured it out?

Bai Mengling didn’t think so at all. She had simply realized one thing… an extremely obvious thing.

That was, when she saw the woman in the photo, when she saw Liu Yan’s caption, she sent him a message in disbelief, only to see a red exclamation mark.

She was furious.

All the pain, hesitation, and internal conflict vanished at that moment, replaced by pure, unadulterated “anger” burning in her chest.

She wouldn’t allow it!

She wouldn’t let Liu Yan actually end up with Chen Tang! Liu Yan was supposed to be hers!

At that moment, she finally heard her own inner voice!

Her parents disapproved?

So what?

Could her parents actually chain her up?

She looked at her mother, a wealthy woman past her prime but still beautiful, looking like a young girl in her twenties or thirties, and said with utmost seriousness, “I have to go find Liu Yan. If you think this behavior is unacceptable, then do whatever you want. Have another child, adopt one, whatever. Just don’t fixate on me!”

“…Huh?”

Have another child?

I’m over forty, how can I have another child?

No, wait… listen to what you’re saying. Is that even human?

But seeing her daughter’s face flushed red with anger, the wealthy woman wisely chose to remain silent, lest a mother-daughter war erupt today.

“As for things like industry and company issues, come find me after all that is settled.”

Her anger was burning fiercely.

It was the first time she realized she had possessed something, and then it vanished.

She possessed a lot. For Bai Mengling, nothing in her past life was irreplaceable, nothing was lacking. Whether it was food, drink, entertainment, or even friends… everything, even consumable items, was immediately replenished after use.

Exotic delicacies, rare toys, expensive jewelry, beautiful performances, and the people who revolved around her—when one disappeared, another would immediately appear.

Nothing was ever special.

But Liu Yan was different.

For the first time in her life, she had genuinely liked someone, and that person disappeared.

And Bai Mengling was certain… if she didn’t take action, this person would vanish from her life forever, and she would never forget him!

If she acted like before, listened to her parents’ words, and followed their instructions, she realized… she would never become Bai Mengling.

She would forever just be “the daughter of the Bai family.”

To many, this might seem like a luxury. After all, people often say you shouldn’t give up money for dignity.

If their roles were reversed, countless people would swap identities with Bai Mengling and live that seemingly controlled but incredibly wealthy life.

However, for Bai Mengling herself, she still hadn’t realized the preciousness of the wealth around her. She wanted Liu Yan more. For her at that moment, Liu Yan was someone she could never lose, someone unique in her life, someone she had to hold onto!

…

The next day, Chen Tang directly linked arms with Liu Yan on their way to school.

Liu Yan personally thought it was a bit much, but since it was a benefit for him as well, he had no reason to refuse. Though he had to admit, Chen Tang could be pretty cute when she was acting adorable.

Still, seeing Liu Yan and Chen Tang so close wasn’t surprising to their classmates. Everyone was college students, so relationships weren’t as tight as in high school, but their core classes were the same.

Their childhood friend thing wasn’t a secret, and there had always been a problem with their personal space.

It’s just that now they seemed to have stopped pretending.

As for the reason…

After they sat down, Chen Tang unhesitatingly leaned into Liu Yan’s arms, practically trying to stick to him like glue, incredibly clingy.

There was no need for further questions or actions. Everyone knew they had started dating.

Many who were interested in Chen Tang, the “Demon Pill School Beauty,” silently gave up their thoughts. They had assumed that since these two were so close without dating, and Liu Yan had other girlfriends, they would never be together.

Too bad. This attitude was too obvious. Maybe they had even taken things further last night…

For Liu Yan, he personally felt his good brother’s sacrifice was too great, making him feel a bit guilty. Who knew how much mental preparation Chen Tang had to do to be able to cling to him like this and still look happy.

Did I really seem that hurt yesterday?

But that wasn’t the key issue yet.

Today, he still had to help Liu Mengmeng move.

His family had called this morning, saying they had agreed to Liu Mengmeng moving in with them, and told him to go help move her things.

It was a pretty busy schedule. But his mom mentioned that Liu Mengmeng’s parents would give him a living allowance to cover her expenses at home.

So, there was a middleman taking a cut. He was already making Chen Tang’s meals anyway; it was just adding another pair of chopsticks. With an extra person, he could make another dish—making the meals more varied.

He held Chen Tang beside him, planning out his day.

But there were still a few minutes until class started. The professor hadn’t even arrived yet.

These university professors… they’re even less eager to start class than the students.

“You two are pretty affectionate.”

Bai Mengling’s voice suddenly sounded.

Liu Yan snapped his head to the side and saw Bai Mengling sitting on the opposite side of Chen Tang, but still right next to him.

His seat was empty, probably because his classmates didn’t want a close-up view of him and Chen Tang, leaving the surrounding seats vacant.

He hadn’t expected Bai Mengling to sit there.

For a moment, Liu Yan felt a huge amount of pressure.

Chen Tang, however, slightly lifted her head, saw Bai Mengling, and seemed about to say something. But instead…

She just rested her head back on Liu Yan’s shoulder, closed her eyes, and pretended to enjoy herself, completely ignoring Bai Mengling’s arrival, as if she hadn’t even heard her speak.

Bai Mengling felt a huge provocation.

This woman named Chen Tang was way too infuriating.

But she quickly suppressed her anger—she had done all her anger last night.

She smoothed her skirt, then sat directly next to Liu Yan, and said in a gentle tone, “Darling, even though you sent me a breakup message yesterday, I didn’t agree. Was it really appropriate for you to just delete me as a friend?”

Darling?

Liu Yan’s eyes widened. This wasn’t Bai Mengling’s usual persona!

But Liu Yan didn’t feel moved. He only felt trouble. Clearly, his actions yesterday had provoked Miss Bai’s pride, making her unable to accept reality.

Had Chen Tang proactively contacted Bai Mengling and sent that WeChat Moments screenshot to her?

Thinking about how Chen Tang had insisted he take the photo last night… it was very possible.

So, was this trouble caused by Chen Tang?

He would have to deal with it.

“I’ve never heard that a breakup requires mutual consent. It’s not a marriage. There’s no such thing as a ‘relationship certificate’ or ‘breakup certificate’ in this world. As for the RTX 5090 you bought me before, I took it out yesterday and mailed it to the Bai Group. I don’t know if anyone received it, but at least my conscience is clear.”

Bai Mengling’s heart twitched. She knew Liu Yan didn’t like her, and he even saw her as a nuisance. For this man, being involved with her was dangerous. It would attract attention from people like Du Zitang and her parents, leading to a miserable life for him.

“But, you confessed to me, and then you just dumped me. Is that really okay?”

“Just think of me as a scumbag. I never thought you’d accept when I confessed.”

Liu Yan remained calm. He casually stroked Chen Tang’s hair, which was now smooth and glossy.

His attitude was firm. He wanted to create distance from Bai Mengling.

Even though Bai Mengling had anticipated this, it still hurt deeply when it actually happened.

She found it very hard to accept.

The once gentle, wonderful Liu Yan had become like this.

Didn’t he care about the history between them?

Even though their relationship was short, for her, Bai Mengling…

The surrounding students had their ears perked up.

Oh my god!

What was going on?

Someone dared to dump Miss Bai of the Bai family?

Was this even human?

Did he have a death wish?

And why was Miss Bai acting like a “lick dog,” asking these questions?

“You shouldn’t be like this,” Liu Yan finally said.

“What should I be like? Should I be the perfect young lady, not caring after a breakup? Should I act like I’m doing fine, looking down on you with disdain?”

“Yes.”

Liu Yan replied, “That would be best for both of us. You should know what happened yesterday. You should also know what your parents chose.”

“I know what happened yesterday. That’s why I came today.”

Liu Yan looked at her with some confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I apologize for what happened yesterday.”

Liu Yan looked into her sincere eyes, then said, “But this has nothing to do with you. Your parents didn’t plan to do anything. You’re not the one who needs to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong to me.”

His tone was gentle, but she couldn’t feel any warmth in it.

Bai Mengling suddenly realized something. Maybe it had always been like this.

Maybe Liu Yan had always had this attitude towards her.

It was just that before, she was sure she would attract him. She was sure she had charm in his eyes. Even if just for her looks, he would definitely like her.

But she was wrong.

Her gaze fell on Chen Tang’s face, resting peacefully on Liu Yan’s shoulder.

She wasn’t resting at all!

Her eyes were slightly narrowed, waiting to see her make a fool of herself! As if she couldn’t tell!

“So, are you two together now?”

“Can’t you tell?”

Chen Tang opened her eyes immediately at this topic, answering before Liu Yan could speak.

Liu Yan had many good qualities. Honesty was one of them. When talking to Bai Mengling, he probably wouldn’t admit it.

At most, he would avoid the topic.

So Chen Tang took over the conversation.

She admitted it directly: “What? Our Miss Bai isn’t going to pull some ‘chasing the husband through the crematorium’ act, is she? Are you really that close to my Liu Yan? How come I heard that you two were dating for a month without even kissing? I’ve been holding Liu Yan every night while sleeping.”

She was completely making it up.

The students around them were getting excited hearing this.

“Are you calling that a relationship? It’s just children playing house! If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were deeply devoted~ How ridiculous!”

Her tone was sarcastic, completely playing the victor.

“Oh? Isn’t that the cute little cat from last night? A pet is a pet, a maid is a maid. Since when does a pet or a maid get to speak in the household?”

Oh?

Miss Bai’s fighting power has skyrocketed!

Is this the legendary ‘dark powers gain three levels’? Interesting!

Chen Tang was intrigued. She immediately entered battle mode: “Sigh~ Some people still haven’t gotten past children playing house, huh? Don’t you understand ‘kink’? Oh, maybe that vocabulary is too hard for the pure Miss Bai to understand.”

She pressed her face against the exasperated Liu Yan and said, “Master~ Look, there’s a clown here~”

Master!

In front of everyone! Chen Tang actually said something like that?!

She dared to say it, but he didn’t even dare to hear it!

Bai Mengling blushed crimson, but for some reason, she suddenly had a vision of herself wearing the same outfit Chen Tang had worn last night, with cat ears, crawling on the ground, holding something in her mouth and approaching Liu Yan, who then reached out and patted her head.

No, no, no, no!

Bai Mengling, have you no shame left?! Chen Tang can do that, but you can’t! How could you even imagine such a thing?!

Chen Tang had no idea what Bai Mengling was thinking at that moment. “And class is about to start. The esteemed Student Council President isn’t busy with her own affairs. She’s here to audit a first-year class? Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“The Student Council has the duty to inspect courses. I’m here on behalf of the school to observe the quality of this class. Some people better be studying hard.”

“Eh~ Really? The President is such a studious, hardworking, and dedicated person, willing to contribute to the school~ Speaking of, President, as a student, I have a question for you. Could you answer it for me?”

Bai Mengling sensed something was wrong, but she still said, “Go ahead.”

“I heard a marriage certificate counts as a national-level certification. If I got one, could I ask the school for two extra credits?”