Chapter 67: Lie Detector

Milk Tea Shop.

Three in the afternoon.

Lin Mo sat by the window, holding a cup of lemon tea.

Sitting across from him was Li Tingting.

She was wearing a light pink dress today, with light makeup and her hair down.

It looked… quite deliberate. She had clearly put a lot of thought into her appearance today.

Sigh…

To be honest, Lin Mo felt a bit awkward.

He hadn’t really wanted to come.

But Li Tingting had sent him eight messages this week.

One a day.

“Lin Mo, are you free tomorrow?”

“How about the day after?”

“And the day after that?”

“How about the weekend?”

In the end, even Zhang Yang couldn’t stand it anymore. “Just go. Otherwise, she’ll keep messaging you until next month.” Lin Mo sighed.

So he came.

…

Li Tingting was in a very good mood right now.

Exceptionally good.

So good that even the milk tea tasted sweeter than usual.

Because she felt—

Lin Mo had finally asked her out.

(Even if it was a passive initiative, he was here, and that’s what mattered)

Didn’t that mean…

He liked her?

She stole a glance at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo was staring out the window, lost in thought.

He wasn’t looking at her at all.

Sigh…

Li Tingting comforted herself: He’s shy. He must be shy.

She cleared her throat.

“Lin Mo, thank you for coming out today.”

Lin Mo snapped back to attention.

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine.”

Li Tingting smiled.

She was just about to say something else.

The door was pushed open.

Two people walked in.

Zhou Duoduo.

Wang Xue.

Li Tingting’s smile froze on her face.

Lin Mo also stiffened.

Zhou Duoduo paused for a moment when she saw them.

Then she smiled.

That kind of smile. “Well, isn’t this a coincidence.” She walked over.

Sat down next to Wang Xue.

Right across from Li Tingting.

Wang Xue sat down as well.

Three people.

One small round table.

The atmosphere became delicate.

…

Lin Mo scratched his head.

“You guys… came for milk tea too?”

Zhou Duoduo nodded.

“Yeah. Heard this place was good, came to try it.” She looked at Li Tingting.

“Hope we’re not interrupting?”

Li Tingting gritted her teeth.

“Not at all.”

Zhou Duoduo smiled.

“Good.”

A server came to take their orders.

Zhou Duoduo ordered a caramel macchiato.

Wang Xue ordered a pearl milk tea.

Then, both of them looked at Li Tingting at the same time.

Zhou Duoduo said with a smile:

“Tingting, you’ve been pretty busy lately, huh?”

Li Tingting’s heart tightened.

But she kept her composure.

“Not really, why do you ask?”

Zhou Duoduo rested her chin on her hand.

“Nothing. Just heard you’ve been pretty active lately, chatting with people all over the place.”

Li Tingting was taken aback.

“What chats?”

Zhou Duoduo blinked.

“You know… the forums, the group chats, all sorts of places.”

Li Tingting’s expression changed slightly.

But she quickly adjusted.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Zhou Duoduo smiled.

“Don’t know? Alright then.” She turned to look at Lin Mo.

“Lin Mo, how have you been lately?”

Lin Mo nodded.

“Alright.”

Zhou Duoduo sighed.

“Ah, I’ve had it rough lately. People spreading rumors, slandering me, almost got me socially ostracized.”

Lin Mo asked curiously.

“What rumors?”

Zhou Duoduo looked at him.

“You haven’t seen that post? About my high school stuff, saying I bullied freshmen.”

Lin Mo shook his head.

“I don’t really check the forums much…”

Zhou Duoduo smiled.

“You’re lucky then.” She turned back to look at Li Tingting.

“Tingting, don’t you think the person who posted that is despicable?”

Li Tingting’s grip on her cup tightened.

“…Yeah.”

Zhou Duoduo nodded.

“So, what do you think should be done with such a person?”

Li Tingting didn’t speak.

Zhou Duoduo continued:

“I looked into it. Those accounts stirring up trouble all seem to be following the same person.”

She smiled.

“What do you think?”

Wang Xue, sitting beside her, hadn’t spoken at all.

But she had been observing Li Tingting the whole time.

She was watching Li Tingting.

To be precise, she was using her ability.

[Lie Detector – A-rank]

It could determine whether what someone said was true or false.

Truth.

Half-truth.

Lie.

She watched Li Tingting.

That earlier sentence, “I don’t know what you’re talking about”—

[Lie]

…

The corner of Wang Xue’s mouth curved up slightly.

Seeing that expression, Zhou Duoduo understood.

She continued:

“Tingting, are you an Ability User?”

Li Tingting froze.

“H-how did you know?”

Zhou Duoduo smiled.

“Oh, so you do have an ability. The probability of students in this school being Ability Users seems a bit high.” She leaned in a little closer.

“Could you use your ability to help me figure out who’s been posting all this stuff slandering me?”

Li Tingting’s face changed.

“H-how would I know who posted it…”

Zhou Duoduo looked at her.

“You don’t know?”

Li Tingting gritted her teeth.

“I don’t know.”

Wang Xue blinked beside her.

[Lie]

Zhou Duoduo received the signal.

She smiled.

“Alright. If you don’t know, you don’t know.” She leaned back in her chair.

Picked up her milk tea and took a sip.

“This milk tea is good. Tingting, what did you order?”

Li Tingting gripped her cup. “…Milk tea too.”

Zhou Duoduo nodded.

“Good. Well, you two carry on. We were just passing by.”

She stood up.

Wang Xue stood up as well.

The two walked towards the door.

At the entrance, Zhou Duoduo suddenly turned back.

“Oh, by the way, Tingting.”

Li Tingting looked at her.

Zhou Duoduo smiled.

“That person who posted… they’d better pray I don’t find them.”

She left.

The door closed.

Li Tingting sat in her seat.

Her face was a bit pale.

Lin Mo looked at her.

“Are you okay?”

Li Tingting snapped out of it.

Looked at him.

Her eyes suddenly became a bit…

Pitiful?

“Lin Mo…”

Her voice softened.

“You don’t think… I posted those things, do you?”

Lin Mo was taken aback.

“Huh? I don’t know.”

Li Tingting’s eyes turned slightly red, looking utterly wronged.

“I really didn’t. I don’t know why they’re targeting me either.”

Sigh…

Lin Mo scratched his head.

“Well… maybe it’s just a misunderstanding…”

Li Tingting looked at him.

Her mind started racing: Is he speaking up for me? Does he also think Zhou Duoduo went too far? Does he…

Her eyes suddenly lit up.

Just now, Zhou Duoduo was so aggressive. Lin Mo hadn’t directly defended her, but he hadn’t defended Zhou Duoduo either.

And he said “maybe it’s just a misunderstanding”—

Wasn’t that hinting that he believed her?

Li Tingting’s heart raced.

So that’s how it was.

He was silently supporting her.

He was just too shy to say it outright.

She looked at Lin Mo.

Her gaze changed from pitiful to… somewhat excited.

Lin Mo felt a bit uneasy under her stare.

“Um… are you still drinking that?”

Li Tingting nodded. “Yes!”

She picked up her cup and took a big gulp.

Her mood instantly improved.

What does Zhou Duoduo matter?

What does Wang Xue matter?

Lin Mo is on my side, that’s enough. After all, I’m the one Lin Mo likes… no, wait, Lin Mo is the one who likes me.

She looked out the window.

The sun was shining brightly.

Her mood was even brighter.

—

In the distance.

At the entrance of another shop.

Su Qing stood there.

Holding a cup of coffee.

Looking in the direction of the milk tea shop.

Watching Lin Mo and Li Tingting.

Watching Zhou Duoduo and Wang Xue leave.

Watching Li Tingting’s expression change from flustered to excited.

…

The corner of her mouth curved up.

Interesting.

What on earth is that woman Li Tingting imagining? Interesting. I’ll dig into it later, see if I can give everyone a surprise.

She was about to turn and leave.

Suddenly, she felt…

Someone behind her.

She immediately turned around.

No one.

Only students coming and going.

…

Su Qing frowned.

That feeling just now…

Weird.

She looked around.

Still found nothing.

Probably just my imagination. She turned and walked away.

But what she didn’t know was, around a street corner she hadn’t seen.

Lin Xian’er was leaning there.

Holding a cup of milk tea.

Watching Su Qing’s retreating figure.

The corner of her mouth also curved up.

Interesting. Too interesting. I almost want to join the game myself and play with them.

Hmm, should I set a mission for myself?

Win over Lin Mo amidst all this competition?

That’s a bit too easy. How about… winning over all of them? Su Qianqian, Shen Qingyue, Lin Mo, Zhou Duoduo, Wang Xue, Li Tingting? Hmm, now that’s a challenging mission. Isn’t that a bit of a bargain for Lin Mo? It’s fine. The harem I conquer will be all women besides him. He can just help me manage it.

Thinking this, the expression on Lin Xian’er’s face grew even more brilliant.