Su Yunting’s fingers tightened around her phone.
Was she?
In a sense, she was!
But it wasn’t about scamming money—it was about scamming a person.
Using the identity of “Little Sweetheart” to have an online romance, luring someone in to become hers.
Using the Protagonist Halo to free herself from the plot’s ending.
Three months—once three months of plot time passed, she’d be safe.
Anyway, it was just an online romance, and the book said Shen Yuli was very difficult to deal with—he definitely wouldn’t fall in love with her.
Once she was safe, she’d find an opportunity to break up, and everything should be fine.
But for now, she still needed to play it safe.
Su Yunting cheered herself on.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【How could you think of me like that, shocked kitten jpg.】
Looking at that wide-eyed kitten sticker, the image of those watery eyes automatically surfaced in his mind.
Shen Yuli’s finger unconsciously tapped the screen twice.
Pretty cute, actually.
Su Yunting hadn’t forgotten the main purpose of this chat.
To avoid exposing herself, it was best to get Shen Yuli to stop using MI.
She took a breath and mustered her courage.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【Brother, didn’t we say we’d chat on WeChat from now on? Why did you go back to MI again?】
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【?? -? ? -? ??】
Shen Yuli looked at this message and smiled.
Her verification message when adding him on WeChat had indeed said she didn’t want to use MI anymore, but…
L: 【If I’m not mistaken, it seems you were the one who messaged first.】
She was quite skilled at shifting the blame.
Su Yunting: It wasn’t me—that was He Jiaojiao who sent it!
If you two chat a few more times, I’m going to be exposed!
The little person in Su Yunting’s mind was spinning in circles frantically, but the message she sent had a completely different tone.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【It’s just a habit for me to send there~】
Su Yunting had already thought of her excuse.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【I send because it’s a habit, but you can’t reply to me!】
Shen Yuli raised an eyebrow.
L: 【Only the magistrate is allowed to set fires, but the common people aren’t allowed to light lamps?】
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【Mmhmm ^_^】
Su Yunting pressed her lips together and thought, actually I’m the common people here.
Even though what she said was a bit unreasonable, it was the best approach.
As long as Shen Yuli didn’t look at messages on MI.
Then her risk of exposure would decrease.
If he could just uninstall MI, that would be even better, Su Yunting thought silently.
Shen Yuli looked at the message she’d sent.
Mm, not only does she like to shift blame, she’s also good at being unreasonable.
And she’s the type who’s confident even when she has no grounds.
L: 【Since it’s a habit, then don’t change it.】
Su Yunting’s eyes suddenly widened.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【How can that be!】
Realizing she’d been too agitated, Su Yunting immediately started covering her tracks.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【There are so many people on MI—what if someone else wants to chat with you too~】
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: 【I don’t want you chatting with anyone besides me. I’ll get jealous, unhappy jpg.】
This was the excuse Su Yunting had prepared.
Using jealousy and insecurity as a pretext to get Shen Yuli to stop using MI.
That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about being exposed.
Shen Yuli held his phone, pondering.
Jealous?
His online romance with Little Sweetheart was because of a game punishment, but she didn’t know that.
She’d… actually fallen for him?
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
Based on their previous chats on MI, that possibility wasn’t very likely.
Then she was afraid that she would chat with someone else on MI and transfer the money originally meant for her to someone else?
Su Yunting held her phone, her eyes flickering.
Not replying for so long—could it be that he didn’t believe her?
Although the credibility of her words was indeed quite low.
Just as Su Yunting was considering whether she should think of another way—
A message popped up from the other side.
L: [Are you jealous?]
Su Yunting’s eyes lit up.
There’s hope.
Strawberry Sweetheart: [Yes, brother~]
Shen Yuli lowered his eyes, his slightly curled fingers lightly tapping twice on her reply, his tone slow: “Little liar.”
L: [Image jpg.]
L: [There’s no one else.]
What Shen Yuli sent was a screenshot of his MI friends list.
There was only one person on it: MI Sweetheart.
He wasn’t that bored—the one sweetheart was added only because of a punishment. There wouldn’t be anyone else; too troublesome.
And the transfer was only after adding WeChat, when he saw that photo of her wet, glistening eyes, the girl’s pitiful look, and his heart stirred, so he casually transferred the money.
As for other times, he didn’t have a hobby of being a spendthrift.
Su Yunting: …
It’s precisely because there’s only one sweetheart that I’m worried!
Strawberry Sweetheart: [Can we only use WeChat to chat from now on, brother~]
Sensing the other party’s attitude softening, Su Yunting immediately climbed up the pole.
Maybe because of a sixth sense, Su Yunting felt Shen Yuli would agree.
However, the next second, Su Yunting sat up straight abruptly.
Staring intently at the screen.
L: [Didn’t I say not to use MI? Why are you sending me messages on it again?]
Oh no, oh no.
It was He Jiaojiao who sent him a message!
In a flash, inspiration struck.
Strawberry Sweetheart: [I was testing you.]
Su Yunting’s fingers were typing so fast they were almost flying.
Strawberry Sweetheart: [To see if you would really not reply to me on MI.]
He Jiaojiao would definitely still send messages to Shen Yuli, so she had to find a reasonable excuse for this behavior.
So that no matter what He Jiaojiao sent in the future, Shen Yuli would treat it as her testing whether he was using MI.
Strawberry Sweetheart: [Congratulations, you passed the test!]
Her heart was pounding.
She was gambling—gambling that Shen Yuli hadn’t replied to He Jiaojiao on MI.
In just one minute, Su Yunting felt time was as slow as a snail.
On MI, Sweetheart sent several messages in succession.
Shen Yuli glanced at the MI notification popping up on the screen, then clicked back to the WeChat chat box.
L: [Well, your test is quite unique.]
Seeing this message, Su Yunting let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed he really hadn’t replied to He Jiaojiao.
Yay, goal achieved.
Su Yunting quietly set off fireworks in her heart.
Strawberry Sweetheart: [Brother, look, we’re both using WeChat to chat now, can we delete MI?]
Since he agreed to use WeChat to chat from now on, deleting the online dating app shouldn’t be a difficult matter, right?
Hope rose in Su Yunting’s heart.
This time Shen Yuli replied quite quickly.
But the result wasn’t what Su Yunting wanted.
L: [No.]
The one-month period hadn’t arrived yet. According to the punishment requirements, he couldn’t delete MI.
Since he had accepted the punishment, he wouldn’t be lazy about it.
Seeing his unhesitating refusal, Su Yunting’s head drooped.
It seemed that deleting the online dating app wasn’t going to work for now.
And she couldn’t say anything more.
After all, the excuse she used was that she was afraid he was chatting with someone else, and Shen Yuli had already sent screenshots proving that there was only Little Sweetheart.
If she kept pushing relentlessly, it would seem very suspicious.
Su Yunting could only temporarily give up on the idea of making the current Shen Yuli delete the MI software.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [It’s okay, even if you don’t delete it, I believe you’ll only chat with me~]
When Su Yunting sent the message, her expression was completely defeated.
If he didn’t delete MI, when would her days of living in constant anxiety come to an end?
Su Yunting sighed: “Ah…”
But she quickly adjusted her mindset.
It’s fine, it’s not like there was no progress at all.
Although he didn’t delete MI, at least he promised her that he wouldn’t use MI much anymore.
That greatly reduced her risk of being exposed.
This could also be considered a good thing.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [I’ll also only chat with you^_^]
Shen Yuli pressed his lips together: …
L: [Talk properly.]
Su Yunting: ?
She stared at the message she had sent for a long time.
Was there something wrong with what she said?
No.
Su Yunting’s chatting style was learned from the internet, where everyone said you had to be the sweetest.
So Su Yunting didn’t think there was anything wrong with the message she sent.
An honest person strikes without knowing how hard.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [What do you mean talk properly, I am talking properly.]
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [Confused kitten jpg.]
After a long while, Shen Yuli’s gaze moved away from the words “only chat with you.”
L: [Nothing.]
Su Yunting looked at the reply and didn’t think much of it.
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [Are you busy? I won’t bother you then, let’s chat later.]
Strawberry Little Sweetheart: [Mwah~]
Shen Yuli’s expression froze again as he pondered.
Is this how online dating chats are these days?
Like they carry some inexplicably flirtatious hook.
The way she talks, and the memes too.
Shen Yuli lowered his eyes and stared at the kiss emoji. After a long while, he expressionlessly turned off his phone.
Not long after, he opened it again.
He long-pressed the emoji and selected add.