The atmosphere at the dinner table was utterly awkward. Song An’an kept piling food onto Liang Sheng’s plate, while Lu Ziqing shot her nonstop glares and nitpicked relentlessly. “Hey, you trying to stuff Liang Sheng until she bursts?” she snapped. “She’s already got enough on her plate—you’re just wasting food!” “That dish tastes awful, and you’re still serving it to Liang Sheng?” “Can’t you let Liang Sheng eat on her own? Keep feeding her like that, and people will think you’re her girlfriend!” Every single complaint revolved around Liang Sheng’s name.
When Lu Ziqing landed on that last jab, Song An’an’s cheeks flushed a suspicious pink. She sneaked a glance at Liang Sheng to gauge her reaction. Seeing no response at all, she felt a pang of disappointment but quickly reassured herself: Liang Sheng didn’t object, so that must mean she consented to being her girlfriend.
Lu Ziqing couldn’t stand it anymore. She grabbed her chopsticks and served a piece to Su Ze, hoping to rile up Song An’an. Don’t you like Su Ze? Let’s see if this doesn’t make you mad, the young miss schemed inwardly, her lips curving into a sly smile.
But Song An’an didn’t spare it a glance. She stayed laser-focused on serving Liang Sheng more food and even wiping her mouth, her little face glowing bright red.
“Thwack!” In a fit of fury, Lu Ziqing slammed her chopsticks down. She inwardly cursed Su Ze—if he hadn’t dragged this annoying tag-along into the picture, she wouldn’t be this pissed off. And who knew? She might even be the one chatting and laughing with Liang Sheng right now.
Whoosh— Favorability dropped.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Su Ze: 100+”
Though Liang Sheng found Lu Ziqing’s inexplicable drop in favorability toward Su Ze rather odd, what really piqued her interest was how high it must have been in the first place for it to still read “100+” even after the decline.
At the table, only Liang Sheng was chowing down with greasy lips and a happy grin. Song An’an was utterly devoted to serving her, Lu Ziqing was glaring daggers while huffing in frustration, and Su Ze idly fiddled with his phone.
As they parted ways, Young Miss Lu Ziqing planted her hands on her hips and shot Liang Sheng a meaningful look—whether deliberate or not. “Liang Sheng, see you at school tomorrow. Heh, it’ll just be the two of us in the classroom—no more tag-alongs in sight~”
Song An’an clung tightly to Liang Sheng’s arm, glaring venomously at Lu Ziqing.
Liang Sheng could only sigh helplessly. Today, the girls were at it again, fighting over her affections.
—— —— ——
Back home, Liang Sheng’s mother beamed at her. “Making so many friends in just a week? My daughter’s amazing!”
Warmth bloomed in Liang Sheng’s heart. If only her original mother had been like Liang Sheng’s mom.
Grinning ear to ear, she replied, “Yeah, Mom! Your daughter Liang Sheng is super awesome. You know Lu Ziqing? The young miss! She’s totally into me.” It was a bit of an exaggeration, but true enough—after all, the favorability metrics proved it.
Mother and daughter dissolved into laughter.
The next morning, a burst of commotion outside jolted Liang Sheng awake. Groggy, she rolled over to snag a few more minutes of sleep, but the noise only grew louder. Irritated, she sat up and flung open the window to see who dared disturb her beauty rest.
Peering down from the second-floor window, she spotted a short-haired girl with hair just like hers chatting with her mother. Liang Sheng snapped fully awake as memories from the novel flooded back. This had to be her cousin—number ten on the male lead’s girlfriend roster. But that couldn’t be right; she wasn’t supposed to show up until after chapter eighty.
Liang Sheng stared intently at the short-haired girl, narrowing her eyes until a data panel popped up.
“Name: Liang Jin
Age: 15
Height: 161 cm
Weight: 47 kg
Looks: S
Favorability Toward Su Ze: 84
Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 51″
Something was off… way off. Liang Jin couldn’t possibly know Su Ze yet. In the story, they’d met when he was in his senior year and she was a freshman, but they weren’t even at the same school now!
Liang Sheng chewed her thumbnail, racking her brain until it hit her: the butterfly effect. It had kicked in.
Down below, the girl seemed to sense the intense gaze. She looked up, locking eyes with Liang Sheng. Her face lit up with delight. She waved enthusiastically and shouted, “Hi! Sister Liang Sheng!” Then she dashed into the three-story villa.
Liang Sheng scrambled to change clothes. She’d just peeled off her shirt when Liang Jin burst through her bedroom door. Damn! Forgot to lock it! Mortified, Liang Sheng clutched her chest. “Hey! Get out! Don’t look!”
Liang Jin froze, her eyes glued to her cousin’s bosom. After a long moment, she blurted, “Sis… your boobs are bigger than mine!”
Humiliated and furious, Liang Sheng hurled a pillow at her. Liang Jin burst out laughing and slammed the door shut.
Hmph! So frivolous at her age, Liang Sheng grumbled inwardly as she quickly slipped into an outfit—something super cute, in line with the original Liang Sheng’s wardrobe. It made the current her feel a tad uncomfortable.
She opened the door to find a face somewhat like her own beaming with a sultry smile. Too bad it lacked cute dimples. Liang Sheng studied it closely. Hmm… not as pretty as mine. Satisfied, she nodded.
“Hey, little lass, what brings you here?” Liang Sheng asked in the original’s tone, hoping not to give herself away.
Liang Jin didn’t answer. Instead, she reached out and poked Liang Sheng’s breasts. “Oh yo~ Feels nice.”
“Th-that’s… uh, wait, I’m asking you a question.”
Taking charge, Liang Jin dragged Liang Sheng back into the bedroom and shut the door. Leaning in mysteriously, she whispered, “Sister Liang Sheng, does your school have a guy named Su Ze?”
“Uh? How do you know him?” Liang Sheng asked, stunned.
Liang Jin scratched her head sheepishly and murmured, “I… I think I like him.”
Liang Sheng’s jaw dropped, her voice trembling. “How… how did you end up liking him?”
Blushing, Liang Jin ducked her head like a girl deep in infatuation, giggling softly. “Yesterday afternoon, I went out to buy veggies for Mom and ran into Su Ze with some girl. I swear he doesn’t like her—he looked totally annoyed with that chick…”
“Stop!” Liang Sheng cut her off. “I asked how you fell for him. You’re going off-topic.”
“Oh, right right, hold on. Anyway,” Liang Jin paused before barreling on, “I tripped over a rock, and Su Ze swooped in like a hero, catching me steady. Ah~ I looked back and saw his handsome face. That’s when our princess-and-prince romance began… Ah, a song lyric popped into my head: ‘Confirmed it with a glance—I met the right one~’ Ah~ My destined emperor…”
“Enough already, all that nonsense. Su Ze’s not even as handsome as your big sis here—might as well crush on me instead!” Liang Sheng rolled her eyes.
“Ah! You do know Su Ze!” Liang Jin exclaimed gleefully. She grabbed Liang Sheng’s sleeve and pleaded, “Sister Liang Sheng~ Set up a meet for us? Pretty please~ For your little sister’s love?”
“No way,” Liang Sheng said coolly. “Absolutely not. You’re still too young—focus on studying, ace your exams, get into a top uni, land a great job, make bank, and then you can keep all the pretty boys you want. You’ll have everything.”
“No!” Liang Jin pouted. “That’s not the same! I love Su Ze, not some random pretty boys. You wouldn’t get it—you’re like that monk Fahai who hates on love!”
Liang Sheng laughed despite herself. “Love? What do you know about love at your age?”
“Doesn’t matter! I wanna see Su Ze, and if I don’t, I’ll crash here forever!” Liang Jin whined, playing dirty.
Liang Sheng sighed. “Fine, I’ll set it up. But when you’re disappointed, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Thanks, Sister Liang Sheng! You’re the best~”
“Tomorrow—I wanna see Su Ze tomorrow!” Liang Jin grew more insistent.
Liang Sheng’s face hardened. “No dice. We’ve got evening self-study till nine.” Realizing she’d been too sharp, she softened. “Next Saturday morning, I’ll hook you up with Su Ze. Deal?”
Their high school was way better than her old world’s—weekends off except for that evening study. Back then, only Sunday afternoons were free, leaving her no time for showers or naps.
“Fine…” Liang Jin drooped, dejected.
Once she finally shooed Liang Jin out, Liang Sheng sat cross-legged on the bed. The story’s plot had veered off the rails, thanks to her meddling and kicking off this butterfly effect.
With a sigh, she flopped back. All she wanted was to help—after all, the male lead’s girlfriends in the original all ended up miserable, living like second-class citizens in some ancient patriarchy. It was heartbreaking.
But… Liang Sheng sat up again. What if she altered things too much and got killed off? Pure speculation, but still possible.
After mulling it over, she resolved: no more messing with the main plot. Stay out of the muddy waters, steer clear of the male lead’s temptations, and she could dodge his harem altogether.
Oh yeah! From the moment she’d transmigrated, she hadn’t even poked at this Favorability System—her golden finger. She’d just been eating, drinking, and goofing off without a clue.
“Damn,” she muttered, punching her own arm. All play and no work—zero progress on anything important.
Slipping on her slippers, she headed out. She still wasn’t fully familiar with the house, but hey, living so carelessly? (What, you think otherwise? That’s just her scatterbrained personality!)
Passing a mirror, Liang Sheng paused. A sudden thought struck her: if she was one of the female leads, could she check her own stats? Eyes narrowing, she focused.
A data panel materialized.
“Name: Liang Sheng
Age: 17
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 43 kg
Looks: SS
Favorability Toward Su Ze: 68
Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 100+”
Okay… pretty narcissistic, huh? Liang Sheng chuckled awkwardly. But why was her favorability toward that big scumbag Su Ze at 68? She sure as hell didn’t feel that way about him.
What was going on here?
