“Hand it over!”
Sweat beaded on Ni Sihan’s forehead. “Hand over… what?”
Su Ze raised an eyebrow, his gaze flicking to the phone clutched in her hand. “In the haunted house, when you paid, I saw certain photos. Right? Adoration Value System—Akino—Hoshiko!”
“You!” Ni Sihan broke out in cold sweat the instant she realized her cover was blown.
“You gonna hold onto something this good till doomsday?” Su Ze reached out to snatch Ni Sihan’s phone.
Akino Hoshiko suddenly yelled right in her host’s ear, “Dodge! Don’t let him grab the phone!”
Su Ze couldn’t see Akino Hoshiko, but Akino Wakako could. She promptly materialized as well. “Heh~ The Favorability System is the biggest threat right now. Don’t you want to take her down?”
Akino Hoshiko didn’t spare a glance at her useless little sister. She was entirely focused on the phone in her host’s hands. “Delete those photos quick! Seriously, why’d you take them in the first place?”
Ni Sihan felt wronged. Wasn’t she supposed to charm those girls? With how high their favorability toward Liang Sheng was, how else was she supposed to gain any edge?
In the ensuing struggle, female strength inevitably fell short against male. Ni Sihan stumbled, and the phone clattered to the floor.
Ni Sihan and Su Ze both eyed the phone. In perfect sync, they lunged for it.
The phone had landed closer to Ni Sihan. She beat Su Ze to it by a step and snatched it up. Then she bolted upstairs.
And so she fled, he pursued, and neither had anywhere to run.
As she ran, Ni Sihan deleted the two photos from her phone.
Thud!
Yet she still couldn’t escape the fate of being tackled to the ground by Su Ze.
After pinning Ni Sihan down, Su Ze wrested the phone from her grasp. The screen hadn’t locked and was still lit, paused on a selfie of Ni Sihan.
Su Ze frowned and tapped into the gallery. Without exception, it was all selfies, scenic shots, or food pics. Not a trace of any intimate photos involving Liang Sheng and someone else.
“You deleted them?”
Ni Sihan shoved Su Ze hard and scrambled back to sit on the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She had no idea what was going on, but following her money-making system’s advice was always the right call!
“Tch!” Veins bulging with rage, Su Ze nearly swung a fist at Ni Sihan’s face. “Do you have any idea those photos could’ve ruined Liang Sheng? Isn’t that the outcome you want too? Why delete them?”
Ni Sihan couldn’t explain it either. She was just as baffled. Letting Su Ze leak the photos for her would’ve been perfect—she could’ve sat back, watched them tear into each other, and reaped the benefits. But why had her Adoration Value System, Akino Hoshiko, been so frantic about deleting them?
She didn’t get it.
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about!” She stuck to her line.
Su Ze ground his teeth. Then inspiration struck. He swiftly opened the gallery’s recycle bin.
“Heh!” A sinister grin spread across his face. Good thing they hadn’t been purged yet.
Laughing, Su Ze restored the two photos and forwarded them to himself.
The moment Ni Sihan saw that smile, she knew she was screwed. She’d forgotten to empty the recycle bin.
Damn it! She scrambled up to grab the phone back, but the gap in strength was too vast. Su Ze shoved her, sending her stumbling right back to the floor.
Bastard…
“I’ve already sent them to myself,” Su Ze crowed, tossing the phone into Ni Sihan’s lap. He turned to leave, then paused and glanced back. “Thanks for the help, by the way~ If you get more like this, send ’em my way.”
“What do you mean by that…” Ni Sihan caught the implication.
Su Ze laughed until he shook, doubling over. “Hahaha, obviously, that you stalked them to snap these~ How about that? Don’t worry, you’ll get full credit.”
“Hah, you?!” Shameless! Ni Sihan was stunned. Su Ze was playing the good guy—trashing Liang Sheng while pinning the “creepy stalker” label on her.
“You’re utterly shameless!” she spat.
Su Ze’s laughter cut off. He gave her a meaningful look. “If I wasn’t shameless, how would I have survived this long?”
Ni Sihan didn’t catch his meaning and could only watch powerlessly as Su Ze vanished bit by bit.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
It was over. Akino Hoshiko was probably going to chew her out.
“Sigh.” Akino Hoshiko let out a heavy sigh. “No need to beat yourself up. It’s all up to fate now.”
Ni Sihan still didn’t understand, but she didn’t dare ask.
Meanwhile, Liang Sheng was lounging comfortably on her bed, with Bai Zhen sitting at the edge. The poor girl had no idea misfortune was headed her way.
After tending to her for a bit, Bai Zhen left.
Not long after she departed, Liang Sheng drifted into a hazy sleep.
Ding-dong!
Ding-dong-ding-dong!!
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong!!!
A barrage of message alerts and ringing calls jolted her awake.
“Who the hell? Damn, so annoying!” Bedhead grumpiness hit Liang Sheng hard. She nearly hung up but blearily checked the screen and froze. It was Gu Yuqi calling.
What was this about? A bad feeling stirred in Liang Sheng’s gut.
“Hello…” She hadn’t even finished the word.
“Liang Sheng! What’s the deal with that photo?” Even the ever-poised and cool-headed Gu Yuqi was losing it, dropping the “Junior Sister” from “Junior Sister Liang Sheng.”
“Huh? What? What photo?” Liang Sheng was baffled. “I… I don’t know!”
“I’m sending it to you!” Gu Yuqi’s hands shook as she forwarded the photos Su Ze had sent her.
Liang Sheng opened them and went blank. What the fuck? Who took these?!
“M-Me? Who? Who took these?!” Liang Sheng got worked up too.
For now, Gu Yuqi didn’t care who took them. She just wanted to know why Liang Sheng was kissing someone else.
“Liang Sheng! You… you’re with Bai Zhen now?” When Gu Yuqi asked, her mind blanked. Hadn’t Liang Sheng been leaning on her shoulder just days ago, confessing she liked her?
“No! No, Senior Sister, listen to me explain!”
Liang Sheng had already noticed Gu Yuqi’s favorability toward her had dropped to 135. The other girls’ had dipped a bit too.
Beep-beep~
Another call came in. Liang Sheng hung up in frustration. Right now, she just wanted to clear things up with Gu Yuqi first. See? When it came down to the other girls or Gu Yuqi, she’d chosen Gu Yuqi after a moment’s hesitation.
“Liang Sheng?” With no explanation forthcoming, Gu Yuqi panicked. Had Junior Sister Liang Sheng really gotten together with that Bai Zhen?
