“What?!” Liang Wengao bellowed right from the start, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Trembling all over as if he had just won a ten-million jackpot, he snatched the report card. One glance at it, and he hugged it close, bursting into sobs.
Liang Sheng had seen this scene so many times it barely registered anymore.
Zhong Wen followed the same routine: snapping photos, posting them to her social feed, and beaming at the flood of likes and complimentary comments.
Liang Sheng pursed her lips, unsure what to say.
—— —— ——
On Monday, Dong Yue suddenly announced that the school would hold an art performance on Thursday, followed by a group trip out of town from Friday through Sunday.
Liang Sheng was so thrilled that she couldn’t focus on the lesson at all. This sort of thing only happened in novels. Back in her old high school before transmigrating, there had been nothing but endless studying… and tests.
Dong Yue leaned casually against the lectern, tilting her head in thought. After a long moment, she sighed. It was her first time teaching, and she had no idea what program to sign up for.
“Why don’t you all decide?” Dong Yue decided to hand the problem off to her students.
A hush fell over the class, quickly replaced by a buzz of excited whispers and chatter.
After a while, they still hadn’t reached a decision.
Liang Sheng propped a pen under her chin, swaying her head as she pondered. She had no clue what program to pick either. Anything but studying would do (good kids, don’t try this at home).
Hm… right—this chapter in the novel featured one. Things were finally veering back toward the normal plot. Liang Sheng’s eyes lit up. In the story, Class 1-B’s program had been a solo violin performance by Lu Ziqing. Under normal circumstances, it should still be that.
Then reality slapped her hard across the face.
Blushing bright red, Lu Ziqing raised her hand. “Teacher, I know how to play the violin. I want Liang Sheng to perform with me.”
Liang Sheng whipped her head around in disbelief to stare at Young Miss Lu Ziqing. Thinking it was a gesture of thanks, the young miss scoffed with a “Tch” and muttered under her breath, “No need to thank me.” Young Miss… which of your eyes saw any gratitude here?
Liang Sheng turned to stone on the spot.
“Great!” Dong Yue replied cheerfully. At last, someone had solved her dilemma.
“Teacher, I…” Trembling, Liang Sheng raised her hand, ready to tell Dong Yue she didn’t want to participate. But from behind, the young miss jabbed her hard in the waist with the tip of a steel pen and fixed her with a menacing glare. Jolted, Liang Sheng swallowed the rest of her words.
Dong Yue glanced at her curiously. Liang Sheng hurriedly shook her head. “I’m fine!”
She was weak and pitiful; she didn’t dare provoke a rich and powerful young miss like that.
After class, Liang Sheng grabbed Lu Ziqing’s sleeve and whined tearfully, “Young Miss, I don’t know how to play the violin at all!”
Lu Ziqing shrugged nonchalantly. “You can just stand on stage and watch. I never said you had to perform.”
In other words, she was supposed to stand there like a human prop?
“No way! Just standing there would be so embarrassing.” Liang Sheng covered her face, fretting deeply about her future.
“Well then…” Lu Ziqing hesitated. Hope flickered back to life in Liang Sheng’s eyes, and the young miss softened.
“If you don’t like standing, you can sit.”
Liang Sheng: “…” Despair crashed over her once more.
“Could I lie down instead?” Liang Sheng shot back in exasperation, hoping the other girl would catch her sarcasm.
Lu Ziqing gave her a strange look. “Sure, lie down. You could even sprawl out—no problem.”
…Fine. She would just wallow in despair.
“Young Miss, I’m serious—I really can’t do this.” Liang Sheng was on the verge of tears.
Splash~ Favorability dropped.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 55”
Liang Sheng felt a spark of annoyance. That was such a young miss temper tantrum.
“Fine. Forget I even thought of you.” Lu Ziqing stood up and stormed out of the classroom.
This time, Liang Sheng didn’t chase after her to coax her. Lu Ziqing’s behavior really had gone too far.
“Hmph!” After walking a short distance, Lu Ziqing glanced back and saw that Liang Sheng hadn’t followed. Anger and hurt welled up inside her.
Big dummy, big jerk! I was only thinking of her. Lu Ziqing fumed, cheeks puffed out.
She won’t even come to coax me! The young miss ground her teeth in frustration.
Just then, someone emerged from the classroom. Lu Ziqing’s eyes lit up. See? Liang Sheng would come to coax her after all. She couldn’t help the upward tug at the corners of her mouth.
But when she looked closer, it wasn’t Liang Sheng—it was Su Ze. An inexplicable emptiness settled in Lu Ziqing’s chest.
Su Ze walked over and gently patted her head. “Don’t be mad. She’s the one who doesn’t know a good thing when she sees it. It’s not your fault. Just ignore her from now on.”
Tears spilled from the young miss’s eyes, pattering down her cheeks. As expected, only Su Ze truly understood her!
Ding~
Favorability rose.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Su Ze: 100+”
Su Ze flashed a sudden smile and turned back toward the classroom.
Once inside, he approached Liang Sheng’s desk. Bending down slightly, he leaned in close to her ear and murmured, “Liang Sheng, don’t be upset. Ziqing’s just got that young miss temper. Don’t take it to heart. I already tried talking her down.”
Grateful, Liang Sheng looked up and thanked him.
Su Ze gazed at her, then whispered in evident confusion—almost as if to himself—“You… don’t like me?”
“Hm?” Liang Sheng hadn’t quite caught it. She stared at him quizzically.
Su Ze blinked and recovered with a smile. “Nothing.”
After Su Ze walked away, Liang Sheng checked her reflection in a small mirror. Sure enough, the favorability had risen—a lot. From 70 all the way up to 85.
If she hadn’t misheard, Su Ze had said something about “liking” or whatever. What could it mean? With Su Ze’s current favorability toward her, he couldn’t possibly like her. So… was he asking if she liked him?
Liang Sheng lowered her gaze to the floor, her mind racing.
In this novel, every girl fell for the male lead at first sight and was smitten by the second. The original owner of her body, Liang Sheng, was no exception. But the story never explained how they fell for him. Sure, he helped them out, but not every girl could fall for the same trick.
Su Ze’s scenes were actually pretty sparse, mostly serving as foils for the female leads’ interactions.
Wait… Liang Sheng jolted upright. In the book, the story ended once all the female leads ended up with Su Ze. But what happened after that? Could twelve girls really live happily ever after together?
The thought sent chills racing across her skin.
Or could one guy really be such a playboy that he genuinely liked twelve girls at once? Or… did he have some other motive?
Liang Sheng shook her head. No way. This was just a silly, brainless harem romance novel. It couldn’t be one of those stories that turned horrifying upon closer inspection. She was overthinking it.
Even so, something felt off in her heart. What was it? Su Ze’s baffling question? Or that smile of his, impossible to read?
She didn’t dare dwell on it further. If she did, the whole world of this novel might unravel completely.
Sigh. Better go coax the young miss.
Liang Sheng stood and headed out. Spotting Lu Ziqing lingering by the classroom door, she seized the girl’s wrist and yanked. Caught off guard, Lu Ziqing stumbled forward into her arms. Liang Sheng caught her steadily, then leaned in close to her face with a pitiful expression. “Ziqing, I was wrong.”
Lu Ziqing hadn’t expected Liang Sheng to be so bold and flirtatious. Her face flushed scarlet in an instant. She ducked her head, avoiding Liang Sheng’s gaze, and mumbled, “I… I’ll reluctantly forgive you. But if you ever do that again… if you ever… I’ll ignore you for a whole… an entire day.” She didn’t dare suggest something as drastic as cutting ties.
“I’m sorry~ Please don’t be mad?” Liang Sheng wheedled on, playing up the coquettishness.
“Hey, I already said I forgave you.” Ecstatic inside but hiding it, the young miss pressed her lips together to stifle a sneaky grin.
Ding~
Favorability rose.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 68”
Man, Su Ze had just told her not to bother with Liang Sheng, called her ungrateful. But clearly… she was great.
Splash~
Favorability dropped.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Su Ze: 100+”
Liang Sheng smiled faintly, sneaking a glance at Su Ze out of the corner of her eye. Just as she’d suspected, he was getting restless—fists clenched, eyes locked on them the whole time.
Su Ze was off. Something was wrong with him.
This time, Liang Sheng had flirted with Lu Ziqing on purpose, just to gauge Su Ze’s reaction and test her suspicions.
It proved he had an issue. Could it be… he had a Favorability System like hers? No, the original novel never mentioned him having one. Or maybe he was a transmigrator too, coming with his own system? Unlikely—how many transmigrators could one novel have?
The more she thought, the more confused she got. Liang Sheng shook her head, forcing herself to drop it.
“How about this, Liang Sheng?” Lu Ziqing spoke up abruptly, interrupting her thoughts.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“I’ll play the violin, and you can accompany me on a duet.”
Liang Sheng panicked. “Young Miss, I don’t play any instruments at all.”
“Eh?” Lu Ziqing shot her a disdainful look, her little mouth curling sweetly. “You’re so lame!”
Fine, if you say I’m lame, I’ll own it. I’ve got thick skin now. Liang Sheng chuckled dryly. “Heh heh.”
“What can you even do…?”
“I…” Liang Sheng racked her brains and finally came up with, “I can eat…”
“Heh.” The young miss sneered. “So you’re just a rice bucket?”
How had she gone from lame newbie straight to bottomless pit?
“Can you sing?”
“Tone-deaf.”
“Dance?”
“Square dancing okay?”
“…What else besides eating?”
Liang Sheng shot back smugly, “I’m good at studying!” Haha, finally she could brag about her grades with total confidence. Damn, it felt good!
“You really are!” Lu Ziqing clapped her hands together, taking the joke seriously. “How about you do the announcement? Something like: ‘Hello, everyone. I’m Liang Sheng, first in the class and second in the school. Coming up next, Miss Lu Ziqing’s violin performance.’ Sound good?”
Liang Sheng fell silent. That speech was pure arrogance. She’d go up standing and come down horizontal. Why? The crowd would riot—who was this shameless braggart trying to flex on? They’d tear her apart.
