The moment Su Mu opened her eyes, she found herself leaning against a tree, while nearby, Ling Wei and another boy were intimately discussing some problem.
Su Mu: “……”
How should one act when the first thing they see upon arrival is the person they like acting all lovey-dovey with another man?
“System, what is Weiwei’s favorability toward me right now?” Although her heart couldn’t bear to watch, Su Mu felt it was better to ask the system for information first.
“59…” The system said tremulously while looking at the system panel.
“If I remember correctly… a year ago, Weiwei’s favorability toward me was 53, right?”
“Mhm…”
“Then what is the favorability toward Nangong Shan?”
“50….” The system felt its life was about to end.
“System, you really did a ‘great’ job…” Su Mu gritted her teeth so hard they nearly shattered upon hearing the system’s words. What kind of mess was this? Judging by Nangong Shan’s tone and the situation just now, he was clearly the “gentle type,” and his level was unknown amounts higher than Murong Yun’s.
“Host, the female lead’s current state toward you is ‘more than friendship, less than love,’ and toward the male lead, she is at the ‘good friend’ stage. Rest assured, things aren’t that dire yet,” the system explained weakly, seeing Su Mu’s darkened face.
While Su Mu was getting a handle on the situation, the conversation between Ling Wei and Nangong Shan ended. Ling Wei waved a hand in front of Su Mu’s eyes: “Come back to earth. Mu Mu still loves dazing off as much as ever.”
“Mu Mu, Nangong just invited me to dinner, so you go back to the dorm first…” As she spoke, she walked away shoulder-to-shoulder with Nangong Shan.
Looking at Ling Wei’s coldness toward her compared to her happy chatting with Nangong Shan, Su Mu felt like she had become a “lightbulb” (third wheel).
However, Su Mu didn’t follow them. The situation wasn’t clear yet, so she couldn’t act rashly. Su Mu intended to return to the dorm to properly understand the year she had missed.
“Host, you and the female lead are currently freshmen at Lingchuan University. It is now the second semester of freshman year. The male lead and female lead are both students in the School of Finance, while you are in the School of Fine Arts. I hacked the campus system to put you and the female lead in the same dorm to make it easier for you to ‘use the proximity to your advantage’.”
“Mhm.” Although living with Ling Wei was convenient, it was impossible to stay with her all the time during school hours. Moreover, Nangong Shan was in the same college as her, so they must have many common topics. From this perspective, the male lead had a greater advantage. It seemed she needed to seize every opportunity.
“However, Host, you have another advantage right now: the female lead’s parents have a very high favorability toward you.” The system hurriedly told her this “good news” after seeing Su Mu’s grave expression.
“Excuse me? I’ve already met the parents?” Su Mu expressed shock at this information.
“Mhm. Because during this year, the system code replaced you and helped the female lead get into Lingchuan. The female lead’s parents wanted to know who managed to carve such a piece of ‘rotten wood’ like their daughter into something better, so they told the female lead to bring you home. Because it was handled by the system tool at the time, all questions from Father and Mother Ling were answered perfectly. They really admire your calm and composed attitude.”
#What is this sudden feeling of joy?#
“Host, I will now transmit the memories of this past year to you. Get ready.”
“Mhm.”
After receiving the system memories, Su Mu realized that the intelligence of the system code was not to be underestimated. In this year, it had not only maxed out the favorability of Ling’s parents but also used a “cheat” to buy several stocks with great trends for Su Mu. Now, Su Mu was no longer the poor person she once was. Furthermore, the talent she displayed in art surpassed everyone else, making her a source of pride for the teachers at the Art Academy.
Su Mu: Expressed that she didn’t know she could be this excellent.
So now, I just need to focus on raising Weiwei’s favorability. Su Mu’s eyes shifted, and she saw a drawing board by the head of the bed. She stepped forward and picked up the brush, intending to familiarize herself with this skill.
Thinking of the first time she met Ling Wei, her hand unconsciously began to draw. In less than an hour, a sketch was completed. Although it was just done in pencil without any further processing, Ling Wei’s angry expression and Su Mu’s slightly surprised look were vivid on the paper. Su Mu looked at it with great satisfaction. Gazing at Ling Wei on the paper, her eyes flickered with an indescribable tenderness and deep affection.
Because Su Mu’s routine was quite early, Ling Wei moved lightly when she opened the door, fearing she would wake her. Seeing her still drawing, Ling Wei was a bit surprised—especially seeing the way Su Mu looked tenderly at the drawing board. The light hit Su Mu, casting a layer of gentleness over her.
Ling Wei had always known Su Mu was very good-looking. Even though she had looked at her for a long time, she would still occasionally be dazed by it. However, ever since Murong Yun was sent to America, Su Mu had been close to her over the past year but always carried a sense of distance. Although she really wanted to ask about it, whenever she thought of their past relationship, she worried that speaking out would break the current balance. So, she let things be; after all, the current situation wasn’t bad.
Seeing that Su Mu hadn’t noticed her yet, she stepped behind her. Discovering that she was actually drawing the scene of their conflict, her heart couldn’t help but be surprised again. Especially seeing Su Mu’s deep, lingering gaze, the strangeness in her heart deepened….
“Weiwei, do you think my drawing looks good?” Su Mu saw a shadow blocking the light and knew Ling Wei was behind her. She nonchalantly took down the drawing paper and turned to give Ling Wei a shallow smile.
“It’s good, but why the sudden drawing of this?” Seeing Su Mu turn around, Ling Wei hid the surprise in her eyes and asked softly.
“It’s nothing, I just suddenly had an inspiration. If you like it, I’ll give it to you!” Knowing that Ling Wei could sense her “off-ness” over the past year which was why the favorability had been hovering without breaking through to the lover stage Su Mu breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was better for the person she liked to love her, even if she was occupying the same body.
“Sure, I really like this drawing…” Looking at Su Mu’s tender expression, Ling Wei felt a bit unnatural. She took the drawing, turned, folded it gently, and placed it on the bed. Then, after a word to Su Mu, she went into the bathroom.
The two spent the night as usual. The next morning, because Ling Wei had class, she left the dorm first. Seeing Ling Wei leave, Su Mu began chatting with the system.
“System, what is Nangong Shan’s current favorability toward Weiwei?”
“Host, the male lead’s favorability toward the female lead is already 75. Because the male lead fell in love with the female lead long ago, he only had a secret crush because Murong Yun was there. Later, when Murong Yun went to America for treatment, he planned to win the female lead’s love during university.”
“The standard for second male leads has been high since ancient times gentle personality, wealthy family, gentlemanly manners. They are always unknown amounts better than the male lead. But since ancient times, second male leads only win the readers’ love. If it weren’t for an intruder like me, Nangong Shan wouldn’t even have this chance.” Thinking carefully, Nangong Shan’s strength was quite formidable. It seemed she needed to hurry up and confess to Weiwei, but what format should she use?
A few days passed peacefully. Su Mu suddenly received a call from her high school class monitor saying there was a class reunion scheduled for this Friday. Seeing she had nothing to do that day, Su Mu agreed and specifically told Ling Wei about it, intending to go together.
HOWEVER!
Why was that “lightbulb” little b*tch Nangong Shan…
…also going!
Su Mu sat in the back seat grumbling internally. Watching Ling Wei sit in the passenger seat chatting so happily with Nangong Shan, Su Mu’s face was tense, as if black aura was about to solidify. However, since Su Mu was usually like this, the two in front didn’t notice Su Mu’s emotional fluctuations at all.
Especially when the class monitor saw Ling Wei and Nangong Shan together and lecherously asked Ling Wei if Nangong Shan was her boyfriend. Before Su Mu could refute, that “dios” (loser/commoner) ran inside. When the three opened the door to the private room, they found the entire class looking at Ling Wei and Nangong Shan with ambiguous gazes.
Su Mu’s expression darkened further, looking at them with a face full of frost. Seeing Su Mu’s expression was off, a girl hurriedly came forward, grabbed Su Mu’s hand, and shook it: “Little Su Su, long time no see! Did you miss me?”
Su Mu: “……”
“Host, she was your front-row neighbor. She can ignore all the cold air you release; her nerves are exceptionally thick,” the system explained while Su Mu was speechless.
While Su Mu was pulled away, she didn’t notice Ling Wei looking at her with a complex gaze for a long moment before pretending to nonchalantly continue her conversation with Nangong Shan.