Yu Jinyao was woken up by a clattering noise.
Her apartment had a great location, good security, and plenty of space, but the soundproofing left much to be desired.
Ever since she rented out the secondary bedroom with an en-suite bathroom to Chen Xanyu, the obscure male lead, she’d gotten used to hearing sounds from next door.
This male lead, who wasn’t famous yet, had severe paranoia. He never ordered takeout and insisted on buying his own groceries and cooking his own meals.
In this entertainment industry novel, Yu Jinyao’s persona was that of a quiet, socially anxious introvert.
—That was the persona most suited to her actual personality, so playing it required zero effort.
Since the plots of the three books weren’t entirely separate, thanks to the aristocratic academy novel, Yu Jinyao was at least still the daughter of the second-rate wealthy Yu family.
With the small world’s logic being self-consistent, she’d gone from being a simple roommate to the owner of this apartment, and from being a simple errand-running Plot Device Character for Chen Xanyu to a resource-providing Plot Device Character for him.
Her drowsiness dissipated completely. Yu Jinyao got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.
In the mirror, the young woman had skin as smooth as congealed cream. On her delicate, palm-sized face sat a pair of slightly flushed apricot eyes that gave off an innocent, youthful look when she wasn’t smiling.
Yet her eye corners tilted slightly upward at the outer edges and curved slightly downward at the inner corners, adding a hint of peach-blossom charm that made her eyes even more lively and beautiful.
Yu Jinyao admired her own eyes, feeling glad she didn’t have to wear glasses.
In this world, she used her own name and her own face, but the System had adjusted her condition to its best—her acne was gone, her skin had improved, and she barely recognized herself.
After spitting out the toothpaste foam and washing her face, she heard her phone ringing.
It was a call from a contact labeled “Mom.”
“Yaoyao, school starts tomorrow, right? Come home for a visit—let’s have a nice family gathering.”
The voice on the other end was soft and gentle, like every mother longing for her child.
Since she’d transmigrated, Yu Jinyao had stayed in this apartment she shared with the obscure male lead Chen Xanyu and had never once returned to the Yu family.
After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. “Okay, I’ll head back in a bit.”
The young woman’s voice was soft and sweet, filling Lin Shuya’s heart with relief.
“Mom made your favorite wasabi shrimp balls. I’ll be waiting for you at home.”
After hanging up, she saw a greeting message from Shen Xinghe. Yu Jinyao just tapped away the little red notification dot without replying.
To put it bluntly, she was Shen Xinghe’s sugar mommy now—whether she replied was entirely up to her mood.
She changed her clothes, threw on a fleece-lined jacket, opened the balcony door to air out the room, and then headed out.
Chen Xanyu was sitting at the dining table eating breakfast.
Hearing the sound, his distinctive phoenix eyes glanced over.
The young woman kept her head slightly lowered, her somewhat overgrown bangs partially covering her eyes, and a pair of black-framed glasses obscured most of her face.
Her plain outfit would make her disappear into any crowd.
She merely gave him a polite nod before hurrying through the living room and out the door.
Chen Xanyu lowered his head and continued eating, as usual.
In the month since he’d moved in, he’d never once gotten a clear look at his roommate’s face, nor had he exchanged a single word with her.
He could tell she wasn’t good with words—somewhat socially anxious.
He needed exactly this kind of low-maintenance roommate. A stranger living under the same roof was the best kind of relationship for him.
After finishing breakfast and cleaning up the table and kitchen, Chen Xanyu returned to his room.
While watering the flowers on the balcony, he noticed a few pieces of clothing hanging on the neighboring balcony.
A gray-blue plaid pleated skirt, a white shirt, a lavender knit vest, and a navy blue blazer.
That was the uniform of Xingyao Academy, the most famous aristocratic university in the country.
His quiet, tasteless, socially anxious, utterly unremarkable roommate was actually a student at Xingyao Academy?
His thick lashes lowered slightly, casting a shadow over his eyelids.
And concealing the calculation and scheming in his eyes.
…
After getting into the taxi, Yu Jinyao yanked off her plain-glass glasses and stuffed them into her bag.
She then parted her bangs to both sides, revealing her beautiful eyes.
Her low ponytail came loose, and her thick, silky black hair cascaded over her shoulders and chest. That cowering, self-deprecating aura vanished in an instant.
There was no helping it—one person had to play three roles, but she wasn’t a little doll in a dress-up game, so she couldn’t completely transform her appearance.
This relatively ordinary outfit couldn’t be changed.
But it didn’t matter. In the original owner’s memories, she was practically invisible at home anyway.
If she actually dressed herself up all glamorous and eye-catching, it would only invite trouble.
…
The taxi drove into the capital’s famous wealthy district and wound along the mountain road for a while before the Yu family villa came into view.
After getting out of the car, Yu Jinyao took a deep breath to steady herself before walking toward the ornate carved gate.
“The second young miss is back!”
The servant called out toward the house while smiling and guiding her inside.
The heavy door, with its dark coffee-toned base and gold three-dimensional relief, swung open. What appeared before Yu Jinyao was not the butler or servants she had imagined.
Instead, it was a handsome, gentle-looking young man.
His features were as delicate as a painting, his lips lightly tinted, and his eyes as soft as water, radiating an innate warmth that made people instinctively want to draw closer to him.
He wore a light-colored knit sweater paired with dark casual trousers—simple, comfortable clothes that somehow looked strikingly refined on him.
Yu Jinyao looked up at him and caught a flicker of coldness in those gentle eyes.
It vanished so quickly it felt like an illusion.
Wen Jiayan’s lips curved into a faint smile, his gaze fixed steadily on her.
“Are you Jinyao? Come in—Uncle and Auntie have been waiting for you for a long time.”
He stepped aside to make way.
Yu Jinyao hesitated before stepping into the living room.
As she passed by him, Wen Jiayan caught a faint, subtle fragrance.
While changing her shoes, her long hair cascaded down, but she felt a prickling sensation on her back, as if eyes were boring into her.
Drawing on the original owner’s memories and the plot of the book, she could roughly guess who this unfamiliar young man was.
The only son of the empire’s largest conglomerate, the Wen family, and the student council president of Xingyao Academy—Wen Jiayan.
Naturally gentle and courteous, unlike the other members of F4 who were cold and arrogant, he was the first person the academy’s pure and innocent heroine, Ruan Zhi, took a liking to.
He was also the one who protected her every step of the way.
Last semester, the original owner had been trailing behind the eldest Miss of the Xia family the whole time, having little interaction with the male and female leads.
Xingyao Academy was strictly hierarchical. Someone like Wen Jiayan was someone she could only glimpse from afar, without even a chance to get close.
But now, why was he in her home?
Despite his amiable demeanor and calling her “Jinyao,” she felt no joy at all.
Instead, a chill ran down her spine, and her heart thumped nervously.
Entering the living room, she found not only her father, Yu Haochuan, but also her half-sister, Yu Mingyin, present.
Yu Mingyin, with her striking features, looked up and froze for a moment upon seeing her.
Then, as usual, she ignored her, her gaze shifting to the person behind her: “Jiayan, I can’t get past this level no matter what. Come over and help me take a look.”