As a smart person, one had to know when to bend and when to stretch. Liang Sheng was plenty smart, so she immediately grabbed Lu Ziqing’s hand. “What does anything the Liang Sheng from half a minute ago said have to do with the current Liang Sheng? So don’t be mad at the current Liang Sheng anymore.”
“Pfft!” Lu Ziqing couldn’t help but burst out laughing again, despite herself.
“Hey~!” Liang Sheng reached out and pinched the other girl’s cheek. “Young Miss, you’re hilarious! That proves you’re not mad at me anymore~”
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 110”
“Hmph.” Lu Ziqing seized Liang Sheng’s hand and yanked it down. “I’m not happy at all. I’m still mad. Liang Sheng, don’t get all glib with me!”
Liang Sheng could tell Lu Ziqing was just being stubborn and tsundere again. She stepped forward and wrapped her in a firm hug, followed by a barrage of soothing words—things like “I was wrong” and “Don’t be mad, it’s bad for your health.” Even so, she still had no clue what exactly Lu Ziqing was mad about.
Lu Ziqing’s mood improved a bit from Liang Sheng’s sweet talk, but then she lobbed out a real killer question. “Fine, then. Tell me exactly what you did wrong.”
Well played. That one stumped her completely. Liang Sheng scratched her head, at a total loss.
“Come on, say something!” Lu Ziqing pressed aggressively.
Hana, I miss you right now. Liang Sheng nearly teared up. Turns out, the world held something even scarier than a yandere: a willful, unreasonable tsundere young miss.
“Young Miss… why don’t you tell me what I did wrong? I’ll fix it, I swear!” Liang Sheng groveled with a fawning smile, rubbing her hands together nonstop.
Lu Ziqing grew exasperated. “You don’t even know what you did wrong, but you’re still saying sorry? Are you just brushing me off?”
“No, no, no! Don’t say that!” Liang Sheng denied it three times over, shaking her head vigorously like a rattle-drum.
Thanks to habits from her pre-transmigration life, Liang Sheng knew how to talk her way out of things. She grabbed Lu Ziqing’s hand, staring at her with earnest, sincere eyes. “If I’ve made you mad, Young Miss, that’s my fault. So I’m sorry. I might be too dense to know exactly what it was, but I want to know. I want to fix it because I hate seeing you upset—it’s bad for your health, right? Just tell me, okay? I really want to make it right.”
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Liang Sheng: 115”
Those words instantly doused most of Lu Ziqing’s anger. She huffed and hemmed for a bit, tempted to spell out exactly what Liang Sheng had done wrong—only to realize she didn’t have an answer. Liang Sheng really hadn’t messed up anywhere. But… our tsundere young miss would never admit that.
There was that famous saying—people were adaptable, so words could be twisted to fit (Lu Xun: That’s not about me this time?). And so, the ever-principled Miss Lu decided to wing it.
“You didn’t even give me any advice when Su Ze confessed to me earlier,” Lu Ziqing said solemnly, her face straight as a board.
“Oh, right!” Liang Sheng nodded eagerly, though inwardly she thought: He’s confessing to you—what was I supposed to say right there in front of both of you? “I object!” On what grounds? As your dad? Your mom? Oh god, not as the third wheel. Sorry, but if I’m gonna be the other woman, I’d rather be Young Miss’s side chick than Su Ze’s.
“As my best friend, shouldn’t you be a little more possessive and tell me to turn him down?” Lu Ziqing started rambling self-destructively.
“Oh! I get it now!” Liang Sheng pretended to have an epiphany, acting like someone jolted awake from a dream. In reality… what was the conflict between friends and lovers anyway? She itched to roll her eyes.
“And… and…” Lu Ziqing trailed off with a few more huffs, out of steam.
Liang Sheng patted her chest reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Young Miss. From now on, I’ll do exactly as you say. I’ll go find Su Ze right now and turn him down for you!”
Lu Ziqing froze. That wasn’t what she meant at all! She hurriedly grabbed the eager Liang Sheng as she started to stand, stopping her from charging off to Su Ze. Because when she calmed down and thought it over, the boy she’d crushed on for years had just confessed to her! Why turn that down?
“What’s up?” Liang Sheng sensed trouble. Had the young miss come to her senses and decided to accept Su Ze’s confession after all? If she was the seer, she was as good as knifed.
“Young Miss, what do you really feel for Su Ze?” Before Lu Ziqing could figure out her next move, Liang Sheng hit her with the question.
Yeah, what did she feel for Su Ze? Lu Ziqing paused, pondering it herself.
The first time she’d met Su Ze was when she was little. He’d bumped into her, sending her tumbling to the ground. She’d been about to cry when he pulled her right back up. For some reason, she’d fallen for that awkward boy on the spot. She still found it odd—there were plenty of handsome guys out there, so why did a simple collision make her head over heels? Why the sudden urge to cling to him?
Maybe it was love at first sight. Sweetly smiling at the thought, Lu Ziqing lit up. Liang Sheng took one look at that smile and knew she was in deep trouble.
“Young Miss, do you still like Su Ze now?” Liang Sheng fired off another question.
Now? Lu Ziqing stubbornly believed the one she liked was Su Ze. They’d been childhood sweethearts, known each other for years—liking him from that first meeting, crushing on him in secret for so long. Even if she didn’t like him anymore, the fact that the guy she’d pined for all those years had confessed… Besides, the oblivious girl still hadn’t realized who she actually liked these days.
One glance at Lu Ziqing’s expression told Liang Sheng they were doomed. The young miss had come around.
“Young Miss, don’t you think that’s weird?” Liang Sheng grabbed her shoulders in a panic.
“I told him about all those other women, and he didn’t deny a thing! Haven’t you realized he’s a total player? He’s got a whole harem on the line—he’s a scumbag, a big pig hoof who dreams of three thousand beauties in his palace!” Liang Sheng yelled desperately at her.
How could Lu Ziqing tolerate anyone badmouthing the guy who’d been her heartthrob for years? Her favorability toward Liang Sheng didn’t drop, but her face darkened on the spot. Liang Sheng’s head throbbed. Come on, Young Miss— you can trash Su Ze, but I can’t?
“Fine, how about this?” To keep Lu Ziqing from saying yes to Su Ze, Liang Sheng cooked up a plan. “I’ll go ask him about it again. You listen in from outside, okay? See what he says.”
Lu Ziqing thought it over and reluctantly nodded.
Wait—Liang Sheng paused, deciding that wasn’t solid enough. She leaned in close to Lu Ziqing’s ear and whispered a more carefully considered scheme.
A moment later, Lu Ziqing stormed out of the room in a huff, Liang Sheng trailing behind with apologies. She marched straight to Su Ze’s door without knocking or announcing herself, shoving it open. It startled Su Ze, who was in the middle of changing and hastily wrapped his upper body with his clothes.
It was a sudden turn of events. Liang Sheng poked her head in after Lu Ziqing, peeking at Su Ze—only to spot a nasty scar on his arm. Whoa, what had Su Ze been up to? Someone must’ve beaten him up—probably the boyfriend of one of the girls he’d been chasing. Good riddance, serves the scumbag right. Liang Sheng’s mind wandered to dark places.
Lu Ziqing shrieked at the sight, clapped her hands over her flushed eyes, and spun around to bolt. “S-Su Ze, put some clothes on! I need to talk to you.”
Then she noticed Liang Sheng staring at Su Ze and felt a surge of irritation—not sure if she was jealous of Liang Sheng eyeing him or jealous that Su Ze had been seen by Liang Sheng. Either way, it soured her mood. She yanked Liang Sheng out with her.
“Hey, Liang Sheng, what are you ogling like that? No staring! How can you, as a girl, look at a guy’s body like some pervert? Bah, shameless!” Lu Ziqing lectured her.
Liang Sheng perked up at that. Oh yeah? You call me shameless? Watch this.
Grinning mischievously, she looped her arm around Lu Ziqing’s. “You’re right, Young Miss. I’m a girl—it really isn’t proper to look at a boy’s bare body. Against decorum. So I’ll stick to looking at girls instead. What’s wrong with one girl checking out another? No big deal. Hey, Miss Lu, when are we taking a bath together~?”
“You—you—you!” Lu Ziqing flushed with anger and embarrassment, shoving Liang Sheng’s arm away. Liang Sheng giggled nonstop beside her.
Su Ze finally fumbled into his clothes, ran a hand through his messy hair, and walked up to Lu Ziqing with an awkward smile. “Miss Zi Qing, what brings you here?”
Lu Ziqing planted her hands on her hips, chin held high.
“I accept your confession.”
The blunt declaration left Su Ze stunned. Just moments ago, from her attitude, he’d thought she was about to reject him—who knew she’d suddenly flip to accepting?
Liang Sheng’s face fell. “Young Miss, you— I told you all about Su Ze already…”
Su Ze shot Liang Sheng a glance, noting her awful pallor and stammering words. His heart leaped with joy.
