The next day, Liang Sheng headed out shopping to dodge surveillance from a certain yandere.
“Hey, do you see that person up ahead?” Kazuko suddenly spoke up.
“Who?” Liang Sheng replied, craning her neck to look. The crowd was packed tight, heads bobbing everywhere, leaving her dizzy and unable to spot whoever Kazuko meant.
“The one with the big wavy red hair—she’s got real poise, and she’s wearing killer heels!” Kazuko raised her voice.
Liang Sheng perked up and kept searching, only to realize a serious problem. This was a Mary Sue harem novel, full of all sorts of wild hair colors and eye shades—like her own “healthy” shade of long hair, which stood out as downright normal.
She glanced up and saw the evidence: one girl with half-black, half-white pigtails that screamed punk rocker; another whose hair started white at the roots and faded to pink at the tips, like a bad dye job; and the weirdest of all, rainbow hair, straight out of a Mary Sue playbook.
Shoes it was, then. Liang Sheng bent down, scanning pairs amid the sea of feet—like finding a needle in a haystack. But killer heels lived up to their name. After about thirty seconds, she spotted an outrageously tall pair. She shoved through the crowd toward them.
As she pushed her way forward, Liang Sheng didn’t forget to ask Kazuko, “Who’s this? Important?”
Kazuko answered, “That’s Ou Lu.” Since Liang Sheng had already asked about her previous host, there was no penalty for sharing this kind of info.
Liang Sheng froze at the name, taking a moment to place it. Ou Lu was the more hated of the book’s two villainous side characters, always scheming with dirty tricks to steal the male lead. Her end was tragic: her family’s conglomerate went bankrupt, and she died in a car crash. A real sad case.
“Kazuko, don’t I have two open slots for binding favorability? Put one on her,” Liang Sheng decided on the spot.
Kazuko didn’t hesitate. A single “Okay,” and Ou Lu was locked in tight.
Liang Sheng sidled closer to Ou Lu and squinted. A flood of data popped up.
“Name: Ou Lu
Age: 20
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Looks: SS
Hobbies: Ukulele, perfume-making
Traits: Scheming bitch
Features: Elegant and ruthless
Family: Perfume Family
Favorability toward Su Ze: 0
Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 0″
Liang Sheng considered the timeline, recalling what should happen in the book around now. A smug smile spread across her face. Su Ze, this time I’m beating you to the punch.
“Miss, you dropped your wallet!”
Liang Sheng froze. So did Su Ze across from her.
That’s right—they’d both shouted it at the same time.
Damn. Missing the first move was bad enough, but what if his sneaky, ruthless Heartthrob Value System got suspicious of her? Liang Sheng’s heart sank.
On the surface, though, she stayed cool, flashing a bright, sunny smile and waving at Su Ze. “Hey, Su Ze, you’re shopping too? What a coincidence, hehe.” Perfect—she needed to make him think she really liked him.
Su Ze hadn’t expected this either, but he returned her greeting with a polite smile and a wave. “Yeah, Liang Sheng, small world.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words. Why did that feel loaded? Was she overthinking, or was her cover blown—you can’t wrap fire in paper, after all?
If it was blown…
Liang Sheng hurried over with feigned eagerness, picked up Ou Lu’s wine-red wallet, and held it out with a sweet smile. “Sister, is this your purse? It’s so pretty—though not as pretty as you, beautiful sister~ Hehe~” Time for some honeyed words. Who could resist her silver tongue!
Sure enough, Ou Lu smiled right away. She loved the flattery.
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Ou Lu’s Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 8”
Hehe, Liang Sheng itched to spin around, flip Su Ze the middle finger, and top it off with a smug grin. But she didn’t dare. Instead, she giggled nervously and mentally trashed Su Ze—Big Pig Hoof—a million times over, plus decimals.
Su Ze’s eyes darkened as he clenched his fist tighter.
Liang Sheng, huh…
“Your mouth is so sweet, little sister. Yes, that’s my wallet.” Ou Lu took it back. Her deep red lips were sultry, her mixed-race features sharp and striking. She outshone Liang Sheng in allure and elegance. Liang Sheng couldn’t help but click her tongue. What a scorpion beauty—too bad her heart was rotten. Such a waste of a face.
Now, how to get closer? Liang Sheng tilted her head, stumped. No good excuse for contact info. But… this was a Mary Sue romance. Awkward worked fine!
“Sister, could I have your contact info~?” Liang Sheng blinked her big, watery eyes, staring hopefully at Ou Lu.
Ou Lu eyed her warily. “What do you want it for, little sister?”
Liang Sheng wilted like a sad puppy, ears drooping, lips pouting. She mumbled, “Because you’re so pretty… It’s the first time I’ve seen such a gorgeous big sister. If you don’t want to give it, that’s okay too…” She even squeezed out a few tears.
Ou Lu smiled with delight and generously pulled a card from her wallet, handing it over. “Here’s my contact. Call if you need anything.”
“Yay~” Liang Sheng giggled like an airhead, bouncing happily as she took the card and spun in place with feigned excitement. She wasn’t really that thrilled—just playing it up to stroke Ou Lu’s ego.
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Ou Lu’s Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 11”
“Want my Koukou too?” Ou Lu offered her phone’s QR code for Liang Sheng to scan.
Now Liang Sheng was thrilled for real—Koukou made getting close way easier! Her hands shook as she pulled out her phone, scanned it shakily, and added her. That’s when she noticed Ou Lu’s online handle, plunging her into awkward silence.
Perfume Queen.
Question mark central—do you have a lot of friends? Liang Sheng glanced at the elegant Ou Lu, stunned that someone so refined had such a cheesy net name. She’d expected some obscure English moniker. This? Really? Mary Sue novels—nobody in them had a normal brain (herself included now).
