“Oh no! Where’s my phone?!” Liang Sheng suddenly opened her mouth wide in exaggerated dismay, shaking her little head vigorously all the while.
Then she darted frantically toward the table where she had left the teddy bear.
A bad premonition suddenly welled up in Su Ze’s heart. But he still tried to reassure himself. It’s fine. Liang Sheng’s teddy bear was tipped over. And he had checked it thoroughly—there really was no phone there. So what could she possibly have used to record him?
When Liang Sheng reached the brown teddy bear, she pulled her phone from her pocket and flashed a faint smile. She had captured every one of Su Ze’s sneaky little moves on her phone because…
Who said a pinhole camera had to be installed in the teddy bear’s eyes? Liang Sheng smiled sweetly as she plucked the tiny device from the bear’s ear.
It was all thanks to the surveillance teddy bear Hana had given her—and at the thought, a pang of bitterness stirred in Liang Sheng’s heart.
After she had discovered the pinhole camera, Hana had handed over the teddy bear, camera and all, with a cheeky grin. But Liang Sheng hadn’t felt the slightest bit grateful. She really didn’t want a gift like that!
As for why she carried the brown teddy bear with her everywhere? Pure coincidence—call it her lucky break. Her scatterbrain nature had actually paid off this time. She had mistaken the bear, which looked just like her little bear backpack, for the backpack itself. Only when she pulled it out did she realize her mistake. But she’d been too lazy to go back for the real one by then.
And why had the brown teddy bear toppled over? She had yanked it down with a thread, of course. Not that she carried string around—she’d just pulled some loose threads from her own clothes. Thank goodness for those frayed bits.
No rush. No need to expose Su Ze just yet. She’d play along with him a little longer.
Liang Sheng shuffled back with her head hung low, and Su Ze instantly felt the tension in his chest ease.
She clutched her phone and the brown teddy bear close, having already removed the pinhole camera from its ear and stuffed it into her clothes pocket. She plopped down sullenly nearby, looking every bit the wronged child—her eyes red-rimmed, pitiful enough to tug at anyone’s heartstrings.
“Sister Ou Lu…” A moment later, Liang Sheng sidled up to Ou Lu again. “Sister Ou Lu, could we… could we take a photo together? I-It’s okay if not. It’s just… you’re so beautiful, Sister. I’m just… waaah.” And with that, she burst into tears again.
Of course, it was all an act. When words failed her, crying and playing pitiful always worked.
Ou Lu wasn’t one to fall for a little girl’s tricks, but she reluctantly agreed anyway.
Liang Sheng opened the camera app on her phone—and with a “slip of the finger,” she accidentally tapped into the photo gallery instead.
“Oops, wrong one…” she muttered, as if to herself. “The camera and gallery icons look way too similar.”
“Huh?” Her eyes landed on the first video, and confusion spread across her face as she drew out the syllable. “When did it record this? I don’t remember it at all.”
The phone had a privacy screen, but since it was right in front of Ou Lu, she leaned in to look as well.
Liang Sheng tapped play, furrowing her brow and mumbling under her breath. “It’s nothing much—just some scenery. Must’ve been an accidental press.”
“Ah!” Liang Sheng clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, stammering. “S-Su Ze… Classmate Su Ze, you…”
The sudden shout startled Su Ze so badly he jolted. Under the stunned gazes of Liang Sheng and Ou Lu, he snatched her phone away in one swift grab—a scene that felt all too familiar.
“Wha…!” Su Ze’s eyes bulged in disbelief. “This…?!” It was impossible!
“Classmate Su Ze…” Liang Sheng hadn’t even started her performance.
Whoosh! Favorability dropped sharply.
“Ou Lu’s Favorability toward Su Ze: 69”
“Su Ze, you’d better explain yourself!” Ou Lu snapped back to her senses and shot to her feet. “What’s with this video?! What are you trying to pull?! What did you do?!”
She yanked Liang Sheng’s phone from Su Ze’s hand and jabbed a finger at the screen.
“I…!” Su Ze went pale as a ghost, staring at Ou Lu in panic. With such ironclad evidence, he had no idea how to respond.
Her furious shout jolted even Cha Susu and Bai Zhen out of their acting. The filming stopped, and the extras halted their performances. Cha Su was so startled that the cigarette dangling from his lips fell right onto his slipper.
“That was close!” Cha Su nearly scorched himself with the dropped butt.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Cha Su hurried over in a flash, still clueless about the drama. “My little ancestors, what’s all this fuss about?”
Ou Lu jabbed a furious finger at Su Ze’s face. “This big grown man—a real man supposed to be—tripping up a little girl, making her fall, and framing her? Shameless!”
Well said! Liang Sheng couldn’t help applauding inwardly. Ou Lu had voiced every bitter thought in her heart.
“I…!” Su Ze was frantic, and with everyone watching, he felt utterly humiliated—his face twisting through a rainbow of colors.
Ah! Liang Sheng’s gaze toward Ou Lu began to change.
This woman had nothing in common with the venomous side character from the book. What an upright, tolerant girl! Now Liang Sheng was starting to doubt the book’s descriptions of every character’s personality.
“I… I didn’t do it!” Su Ze stubbornly denied it, spinning a long string of nonsense. “Classmate Liang Sheng, how could you have recorded that? How did you know ahead of time that I’d bump into you, that you’d fall, and set up the recording? And what reason would I even have to knock you over? We’ve got no grudge between us.”
Damn him! Liang Sheng itched with hatred—this explanation was pure garbage! It didn’t hold water at all; it was just his last desperate flail.
“Maybe… it’s because the way you looked at me was so scary, Classmate Su Ze. So I got cautious.” Liang Sheng’s eyes welled up again.
“I-I’m really sorry, Sister Ou Lu. I lied to you. I recorded it on purpose, and my surprise earlier was fake too. I’m sorry… waaah…” Same old trick: when logic failed, cry it out. Who could resist a cute girl like her?
