Regarding Xia You, Chen Tang had never really held any prejudice against her. From the original novel, if one had to analyze this woman deeply—the first woman to abandon Liu Yan—aside from being a bit foolish, she couldn’t really be considered bad.
On one hand, she was well aware that her looks were, in a sense, her greatest weapon; her beauty was the biggest chip to attract others. On the other hand, she longed for recognition and hoped that others would not approach her solely because of her appearance. And in even more obscure corners—as a woman from a modest family who wished to be independent and self-reliant—she was inevitably influenced by her birth family, both in ideology and other aspects.
Simply put, meeting him at the sports festival, then encountering him again at a matchmaking event, and concluding that he was her destined one—this kind of thinking wouldn’t occur to a normal person. But for Xia You, she felt it held some merit. In other words, concepts like “fate” or “destiny” were very enticing to her. And she was a woman of integrity—Chen Tang knew that too. From Xia You’s perspective, you couldn’t really call it wrong.
But Chen Tang understood even more clearly: she wasn’t here to sympathize with Xia You’s troubles. People naturally have their own positions in life. As the saying goes, one’s position determines one’s viewpoint. When you’re an employee, you hate your boss for squeezing you; but when you become the boss, employees suddenly become untrustworthy, always trying to slack off and steal wages.
She was on Liu Yan’s side. No matter how reasonable Xia You’s actions were, no matter what angle she came from, no matter how much sympathy she garnered, the core issue never changed. She was here to help Liu Yan. Even setting aside the purpose of her transmigration—though this transmigration itself wasn’t something she wished for—she was still Liu Yan’s childhood friend, his friend. She had watched him grow from a babbling toddler in diapers to the young man he was now, enjoying his youth.
You want me to consider things from Xia You’s perspective? What a joke. I’m going to hit Xia You hard! How dare she break up with Liu Yan! Just one of the heroines, and she’s so arrogant? Today she breaks up with Liu Yan—what will she do tomorrow? Chen Tang didn’t even want to think about it.
But actually, dealing with Xia You wasn’t a high priority for Chen Tang. Her higher priority was always Liu Yan himself. The important thing wasn’t these women; it was Liu Yan’s own mindset.
In fact, over this period, Chen Tang had come to realize something: the story’s development didn’t really matter much anymore. After all, she had already become a beautiful girl with childhood friend attributes. Some might say that in such stories, the childhood friend always loses to the sudden love interest, no matter how many buffs she stacks. But then again, Chen Tang’s goal was never to win! She didn’t care who won. In the end, all these women would hurt Liu Yan anyway. The past her, as Chen Tang the male, couldn’t change some things. But Chen Tang the female could.
As a beautiful girl, she could do things the past her never could. If these women still ended up hurting Liu Yan, then… couldn’t she just stay by his side? Would she ever hurt him herself? If one day she decided to hurt him, that would mean her original intent had changed, and at that point, would Liu Yan’s outcome even matter to her?
So from this perspective, she had realized the most important thing in the past two days: she had become Liu Yan’s big guarantee. Yes, a childhood friend might not be able to beat a sudden love interest; a childhood friend might not win. But she wasn’t trying to win. She was just waiting there as a “backup.” If one day, under the hand of heaven’s will, Liu Yan still walked toward a painful ending, then at least she could truly “comfort” him.
Of course, she knew this cliché setup—even if the male lead ended up with the childhood friend, the next volume might have a sudden love interest wave a hand, and the male lead would run off. But again, it didn’t matter. Because Chen Tang wasn’t here to win. That was a fact she had always been clear about.
So dealing with Xia You could wait. First, let her spend some time with her current boyfriend. The main task for now was to truly win over Bai Mengling.
If she remembered correctly, according to the original plot, the reason Bai Mengling fell for Liu Yan was very simple. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, there would be a debate competition. Several universities would participate. As the student council president and the eldest daughter of the Bai family, Bai Mengling would join this debate. The topic was “Noble Quality vs. Millions of Wealth.” Simply put, the affirmative side argued for “choosing noble quality,” while the negative side argued for “choosing millions of wealth.” Chen Tang wasn’t sure which exam composer came up with such a precise topic, but without a doubt, Bai Mengling chose “noble quality.” Then she was verbally cornered on stage.
“You, Bai Mengling, can say things like that because you’re rich. But what about us? We’re standing here today because winning this debate earns us two thousand yuan in prize money, enough to buy an extra box of medicine for our little sister on the debate team.”
As part of a debate competition, this was already a violation—directly attacking the participant herself. In the novel, this scene completely shattered Bai Mengling’s composure. Then Liu Yan would step in.
“The person I like isn’t the eldest miss of the Bai family, but the Bai Mengling who comforted me and backed me up after I got dumped…”
With that move, he won her over. Of course, Liu Yan thought he looked cool at the time. He really believed Bai Mengling was different. But when she later told him their social statuses didn’t match, he truly felt the pain. It turned out Bai Mengling really was the eldest miss of the Bai family.
Currently, the things Chen Tang had done—or the butterfly effects she had caused—shouldn’t have gone that far. The debate topic probably wouldn’t change. If she didn’t do anything, Bai Mengling would still join that debate and get mentally wrecked. As long as Liu Yan stepped in like in the original story, he could win her over easily.
But now the problem was that Liu Yan’s feelings for Bai Mengling were different from the novel. This time, Chen Tang had urged him to confess, and even though Bai Mengling accepted, the part where Bai Mengling comforted Liu Yan never happened. So what kind of feelings did Liu Yan have for Bai Mengling now?
She didn’t plan to do anything about it. At least not for now. She wanted to see if the so-called “hand of fate” was truly invincible—whether, under some special causal chain, Liu Yan would still fully win over Bai Mengling. If that happened, she would have to think long-term. If it didn’t, even better.
You get it, right? The choice not to get emotionally involved with Bai Mengling is correct. Those who don’t care won’t get hurt. People get hurt because they care too much. There’s an online saying: “If you don’t love, don’t hurt.” That’s ridiculous. If you don’t love, there’s no hurt. Only the one who loves gets hurt. If someone who doesn’t love gets hurt, it can only be from direct physical or material damage.
She hadn’t used Xia You as a test subject because when she found out Liu Yan was dating Xia You, she had already given up. She had invited Liu Yan to watch the meteor shower, planning to tell him the truth when she was about to leave this world. It would be a farewell to their long friendship. If Liu Yan still didn’t listen to her and remained stubborn after seeing her leave, then she wouldn’t owe him anything. But who knew she would end up turning into a beautiful girl herself? What? You say the head coach is warming up?
Regardless, since this had happened, it meant Chen Tang had to take some action and conduct a more comprehensive analysis.
“Your Lee Sin is definitely trash. You might as well play Malphite.”
Chen Tang frowned. “What do you mean? Wasn’t that flash-kick R-flash just now cool enough?”
“But I didn’t have ult!”
“You’re a Yasuo with no ult?”
“I have no ult, and you go for the flash kick? I give you a zero.”
Chen Tang laughed in frustration. That bastard Liu Yan was a total noob at games… though she wasn’t much better. But she didn’t think it was because she was bad; she felt it was because she always played with Liu Yan, corrupting her playstyle. If she solo-queued, she’d rank up fast. She pushed her computer desk, letting her gaming chair slide out a bit. “Seriously, did you make a date with Bai Mengling?”
“Yeah, she said she’s looking forward to meeting on Saturday. She originally wanted to come find me, but the student council has a meeting at 7 p.m. every day. After it ends, it’d be too late to come.”
Chen Tang clicked her tongue. “That eldest miss sure takes her career seriously. A woman like that—can you handle her, kid?”
“Whether I can or not, I have to! I already confessed, and she accepted. If I say I was just joking now, we’ll be separated forever.”
Chen Tang shrugged indifferently. “So how are you planning to date her? Shopping, eating, watching a movie? Classic and old-fashioned, but you know, sometimes it’s better to do nothing than to make mistakes. I think the classic three-piece set isn’t bad.”
“I think so too. Right now, I guess I can only hope she gets bored with me and quickly gives up?”
Just don’t start playing the hero and meddling in her affairs. But that was unlikely. She knew Liu Yan’s personality inside out. In short, a pushover. Yes, classic… so classic that Chen Tang wanted to grab those authors and press a hammer to their heads, asking if they could only write a pushover male lead. Had the domineering, arrogant return of the ancient dragon king fallen out of fashion? Why did it have to be this kind of nice-guy pushover? This was cultural invasion!
But regardless, when Liu Yan saw Bai Mengling get shredded on the debate stage, he would definitely try to do something. And that was exactly what Chen Tang was hoping for. She wanted to see what Liu Yan would do. So she didn’t plan to warn him in advance. Could Old Liu win over Bai Mengling again? Chen Tang wasn’t sure.
—
“A date… this is my first date ever.”
Bai Mengling put down her phone.
Many people think that girls from wealthy families aren’t allowed much contact.
Actually, that’s a misunderstanding—as long as you don’t hurt them, wealthy families aren’t petty enough to kill someone just for approaching and talking. In fact, the higher a person’s status, the more approachable they often are.
For example, when you’re working and run into a senior leader, they might chat cheerfully with you, even put an extra chicken leg from their own lunch into your lunchbox as a young worker.
They’re not necessarily trying to buy loyalty.
They might genuinely see you, remember their own past, and do a kind deed.
Often, the ones employees find ruthless are their direct supervisors. As the saying goes, the local magistrate is less effective than the current official.
The person who directly supervises you and assigns tasks is usually the one you have the worst relationship with. It’s not that there aren’t good relationships, but the proportion is small.
For someone like Bai Mengling, her family wouldn’t object to her dating—as long as it didn’t lead to marriage. To put it bluntly, even if she fooled around outside, the most they’d do is tell her to mind her lifestyle. But if marriage came up, then much more consideration was needed.
Simply put, although Liu Yan and Chen Tang half-expected Bai Mengling’s parents to find Liu Yan and slap a bank card with ten million yuan on the table, telling him to stay away from their daughter—that kind of scenario would never happen.
“What should I wear? And really, what does one do on a date?” The eldest miss felt she needed to do some research. It would be best to consult someone with experience… Someone experienced? She scrolled through her contacts and found Xia You’s account.
“Xia You, I’d like to ask you something. When you and Liu Yan dated before, what was the usual routine? Please make a detailed PPT and send it to me. I’ll pay you accordingly.”
Who better than Xia You—someone who had been Liu Yan’s girlfriend and gone on dates with him—to answer that question?