“What? Me hitting Chen Tang? Really?”
At this moment, that’s exactly how Bai Mengling felt.
This person can’t be beaten!
In the relationship between Liu Yan and Chen Tang, unless Chen Tang herself chose to give up… no, even if Chen Tang gave up, Liu Yan wouldn’t give up.
It’s like a drowning person desperately grabbing every chance to breathe. Even if Chen Tang chose to walk away, Liu Yan would still stay by her side. There’s no doubt about this at all!
It’s a completely different kind of connection compared to anyone else.
To try and insert oneself into that relationship and actually win? That’s unbelievable.
How could anyone defeat such a powerful opponent?
As Bai Mengling’s mind churned with unease, Liu Yan returned.
As if to prove her own words from earlier, Chen Tang said to Liu Yan, “You were sleeping just now, so I’ll sleep a bit now. Lend me your thigh.”
Before Liu Yan could say anything, Chen Tang lay down directly on his thigh.
“Your leg is all muscle, not soft at all.”
She complained a little, then closed her eyes.
Liu Yan sighed helplessly.
‘It’s just like Chen Tang—she has to sleep back on my lap just because I used hers. Why don’t you use your pretty-girl status now and go find a girl to lie on? You lie on my thigh and complain about the muscles… seriously.’
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
Bai Mengling stayed silent. She felt a bit redundant at that moment.
In truth, she deeply regretted her actions today. Chen Tang was a terrifying opponent. If she wanted to take Liu Yan from Chen Tang’s side, she couldn’t do it when Chen Tang was present. She had to act when the two weren’t clinging to each other, and target Liu Yan alone. She hadn’t been prepared this time.
But then again, those two were attached at the hip…
She needed to plan carefully.
As the saying goes, “Plan first, then act.”
Acting rashly would only bring disaster.
When the class bell rang, Liu Yan glanced at Chen Tang and saw that she had no intention of getting up.
So he took Chen Tang’s notebook and started taking notes for her.
“…”
‘Are you two serious?’
‘I mean… you’re already attached at the hip. Couldn’t one of you take notes and the other copy later? Why take notes for each other?’
‘Why is this so natural?’
‘Is this just some wordless understanding?’
Bai Mengling felt suffocated.
Every second, every minute, she was being tortured.
Finally, the class ended.
“Ahem, I have some things to take care of. I’ll head out first.”
Like a loser dog, she fled the classroom in disgrace.
Chen Tang finally got up from Liu Yan’s lap.
“Didn’t you say you’d sleep for a bit? You slept through the whole class.”
Chen Tang smiled. “It seems I’m more suited to a harder pillow… By the way, I felt something poking my head while I was asleep. Do you have any idea what that was?”
“Your imagination?”
“Really?”
“What do you think it was?”
“I thought it was your—”
“Stop talking!”
As always, they bickered noisily.
“Speaking of which, Eldest Miss Bai seems to want to win you back. You really don’t want to accept her?”
Liu Yan shook his head. “It’s too messy. She’s not the ideal partner for me. Dating her would be exhausting. Some might say the Bai Clan is the Bai Clan, and Bai Mengling is Bai Mengling. I’d be dating Bai Mengling, not the Bai Clan… But the Bai Clan is an inseparable part of Bai Mengling. Separating them is stupid self-deception. It’s the same logic as with you—I can’t ignore your parents when I’m with you. Same principle.”
“True. Though personally, I think Eldest Miss Bai has a pretty good personality and temper. A little tsundere, but not a bad person.”
In fact, among the several heroines in the original novel, from Chen Tang’s perspective, Bai Mengling was the better one.
Because her reason for breaking up with Liu Yan was family background.
As for the other female characters…
For example, the female instructor. Later, she broke up with Liu Yan because she paid too much attention to a new freshman—at that time, Liu Yan was already a junior.
The awkward part was… in this timeline, because Chen Tang had meddled, the relationship between Liu Yan and Bai Mengling, which was supposed to last nearly a year, ended in just two weeks.
And unlike the original novel,
After breaking up with Xia You, Liu Yan was supposed to be heartbroken, and the one who comforted him was Bai Mengling—so Liu Yan did genuinely like Bai Mengling.
But after the timeline change, Chen Tang seemed to have taken Bai Mengling’s ecological niche in relation to Liu Yan. So Liu Yan didn’t fall in love with Bai Mengling after breaking up with Xia You, nor did he sink into despair after breaking up with Bai Mengling and then meet the instructor.
‘Holy crap!’
She suddenly realized just how much she had changed the plot.
If this continued, the other two heroines—the female instructor and the sports-type beauty—might not even need to appear. After all, Liu Yan wasn’t trapped in that cycle of “breakup → comforted → second betrayal → breakup.”
Following that line of thought, she might no longer need to watch Liu Yan’s behavior so strictly.
The reason being… this man would no longer be easily toyed with by women!
So she could rest easy.
It was time to think about how she could find a way back to her original world.
Who would’ve thought that the meteor wasn’t the answer to returning?
The two of them made their way home.
Liu Mengmeng was there today.
Yesterday, Liu Mengmeng had moved her things over but hadn’t officially moved in. Today, she officially moved in.
Liu Yan cooked a big meal again, and the three of them celebrated.
“Welcome, Mengmeng, to living with us! Cheers!”
The three of them raised their glasses of orange juice, soy milk, and cola together.
“By the way! Brother Yan! The post you made on your Moments yesterday was so mushy! That was Sister Tang, right?”
Chen Tang nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why did she wear a maid outfit alone?! The clothes looked so cute! I want to wear one too!”
“If you want, buy one yourself!”
Chen Tang glanced at Liu Mengmeng’s figure… ‘Why does she look plumper than me even though she’s younger?’
‘Ah, it must be natural.’
“Ehh~ Then send me the link. By the way, hehe~”
Suddenly, her expression turned smug. “You two, I won’t say anything about whatever you’ve been up to before, but now that I’m here, I won’t allow any funny business!”
“Funny business?”
Liu Yan was speechless. “Kid, don’t think about useless stuff all day. What do you mean by funny business? Have your sister Tang and I done anything funny?”
He put on his authoritative cousin face. “As for you! I’m telling you, if you do anything out of line, I’ll tell your parents right away! Look at the message they sent me.”
“Xiao Yan, if Mengmeng acts up, just hit her! Don’t bother telling us! Just hit her directly!”
Liu Mengmeng saw the message and instinctively covered her butt, then blushed and lowered her head awkwardly. “You! How can my parents be like that!”
“So you’d better watch out. Don’t blame me if I have to get physical without mercy!”
Chen Tang giggled and leaned close to Liu Mengmeng’s ear, whispering, “Don’t worry. He won’t spank you. You’re a beautiful girl now. If he did that, it’d be sexual harassment. He’s just bluffing.”
“Chen Tang! What are you saying again?”
Even though he didn’t hear what she said, Liu Yan could tell from her expression that she was up to something. He didn’t need to guess what she told Liu Mengmeng.
“Ehh~ So fierce~ In this house, it’s just the two of us weak girls living with a big man like you. You won’t bully us, right~?”
The two little ones hugged each other, pretending to shiver in fear.
“…What kind of roleplay is this?”
Liu Yan was speechless. They made him sound like some kind of Demon King.
After dinner, Liu Yan went to turn on his computer, while Chen Tang and Liu Mengmeng washed the dishes.
“Mengmeng, are you happy now?”
“What do you mean, Sister Tang?”
“I mean moving in here. You’ve wanted to do this for a while, haven’t you?”
Liu Mengmeng instantly blushed. “Wh-what are you talking about…”
“Sigh. We’re both girls. Don’t lie to me. I could tell at a glance. You call him cousin, but you’re not close relatives—it’s just that his parents are close to yours, right?”
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
“You like your cousin, don’t you?”
“!”
Liu Mengmeng just kept washing dishes!
Chen Tang grinned. “As the saying goes, ‘A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first.’ If you’re interested, you’re about to start college, so you’re old enough. You can confess directly. Society is open now. It’s not a big deal to say you like someone. Don’t be shy. Your cousin, despite how he is, has never lacked girlfriends. That’s a fact. He just broke up with Bai Mengling, but based on my guess, he’ll find a new girlfriend soon.
If you don’t make a move, you’ll let him get involved with someone else.”
After all, the Hand of Fate would probably still work. Even if she didn’t want the story to go that way, Liu Yan would likely end up meeting the remaining two heroines for various reasons and have some interactions.
But the current Liu Yan probably wouldn’t be easily swayed.
Liu Mengmeng was a good choice.
She wasn’t one of the heroines—just a Tool Man to advance the plot.
If Liu Mengmeng could end up with Liu Yan, that might be a good outcome.
“Sister Tang, why don’t you date him?”
Chen Tang waved her hand casually. “Liu Yan and I are too familiar with each other.”
She thought for a moment. “It’s not that I think ‘too familiar to date’ is a valid excuse. It’s just…”
A strange smile crept onto her face. “I have to wait until he finally looks at me before I can talk about this, right?”
‘Look at my move!’
Chen Tang’s heart cheered.
‘How literary and refreshing this line is!’
It revealed that she liked Liu Yan, which would stimulate Liu Mengmeng, but it also made clear that she wasn’t dating him yet, and because they were too familiar, he didn’t see her that way.
If he never looked at her, she would never have a chance.
“Sigh… Sister Tang, you’ve had it rough too. Cousin has always been like that—oblivious to romance.”
Chen Tang just smiled. “I can’t do anything about it now. No matter how intimate my actions are, he just sees them as normal… I can’t just jump on him and kiss him, can I?”
“But you’re different. If you have feelings, use this opportunity to make your move. Don’t wait until you’ve missed your chance and regret it. I’m being serious. Look at Bai Mengling—she’s full of regret today.”
She told Liu Mengmeng about what happened today.
Liu Mengmeng never expected something like that to happen. That was the Eldest Miss of the Bai Clan!
“So you see, despite how he is, he’s surprisingly popular with girls. If you don’t act fast, someone else will snatch him up.”
Liu Mengmeng seemed to finally make up her mind. She pulled out her phone and ordered a maid outfit.
“…Alright, then.”
After washing the dishes, Chen Tang and Liu Mengmeng joined Liu Yan in the gaming room.
Liu Mengmeng brought a stool and sat next to Liu Yan.
“Mengmeng, don’t you play games?”
“I don’t know how to play these~ I usually just play matching games or dress-up games.”
A very ordinary girl.
“Do you understand what’s going on?”
“Some of it. Some boys in my class like to play this game. They’d watch match videos on the projector during breaks. Over time, we understood a bit.”
She smiled. “Do you want some fruit? I’ll wash some grapes.”
“Thanks!”
“Get him! Brother Yan! Take him down!”
“Sister Tang! Why didn’t you use your ult!”
They found out that Liu Mengmeng, who was just sitting and watching, was even more excited than they were.
But at least she fed them grapes.
Having a beautiful girl serve them while gaming was definitely a nice experience.
After the intense game session, the three of them looked at each other.
“Who wants to shower first?” Liu Yan asked.
Chen Tang then looked at Liu Mengmeng.
Both of them looked at Liu Mengmeng.
“Then, I’ll go first!”
Saying that, she disappeared into the bathroom.
Liu Yan and Chen Tang both lounged on the sofa.
“Tsk tsk tsk. Now that Mengmeng’s moved in, I won’t be able to give you any perks~ Unless Mengmeng’s willing too.”
Liu Yan rolled his eyes. “You make me sound like the kind of guy who only thinks with his lower brain. It’s just a few perks, isn’t it?”
“Really? If I were you, I wouldn’t let it slide so easily.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like getting both beautiful girls drunk, doing something, then blaming it on the alcohol. You could play dumb. Anyway, neither Mengmeng nor I would call the cops on you. Then you could be king of this little house and start your harem.”
“I’d have to be insane to do that!”