“Why are you leaving Ah Sheng in a stranger’s care?” Song An’an asked, displeased.

Lu Ziqing rolled her eyes again and sneered, “Are you stupid? There’s a test today. Your homeroom teacher for Class E, that ‘Extinction Nun,’ is proctoring it. You’re not going? Fine, I’ll ask for leave for you.”

“Ah... um, well...” Song An’an chickened out. She looked back at Liang Sheng with reluctance, then slunk away.

Ye Yuze could only prop up his head in boredom and watch Liang Sheng alone. Mm, this girl was pretty cute. Too bad I don’t like girls.

—— —— ——

Liang Sheng slowly woke up and vaguely saw a white ceiling.

Where is this?

She turned her head, and a burst of pain came from the back of it. She winced and didn’t dare move anymore.

Who’s this?

The light was a little harsh. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the person lying by her bed. It was a strange face.

A status window popped up and startled Liang Sheng. She hadn’t known this person was one of the main characters.

“Name: Ye Yuze

Age: 16

Height: 173 cm

Weight: 53 kg

Looks: SS

Affection toward Su Ze: 0

Affection toward Liang Sheng: -3”

Why is there another one with negative affection toward me? Liang Sheng pressed a hand to her forehead.

Hm?

She raised a brow. Wait, this name...

He seemed to be one of the two guys in the story. A cross-dressing beauty.

She didn’t have time to think too much. The pain at the back of her head stung her tear ducts, and the corners of her eyes turned a little red. She reached out and gently pushed the sleeping Ye Yuze, wanting to ask what was going on.

Ye Yuze was nudged awake. He opened his eyes groggily and looked at Liang Sheng, then jolted alert.

“You’re awake?”

Then he noticed her reddened eyes and the tears in them. He got a little flustered and quickly asked, “What’s wrong? Where do you feel bad?”

Liang Sheng said pitifully, “My... my head hurts so much, big sis.”

She deliberately called him big sis. She knew he’d be happy.

“Hehe...” Ye Yuze narcissistically ran a hand through his hair and let out a few silly laughs, not denying it.

“Ding~” Affection increased.

“Ye Yuze’s affection toward Liang Sheng: 2”

As expected. Liang Sheng secretly felt smug. I really am the queen of socializing. I’m amazing.

Ye Yuze carefully helped Liang Sheng sit up and stammered an explanation. “I... I saw you faint, so I carried you to the infirmary. No need to thank me.”

Yes. He was lying again.

Liang Sheng nodded gratefully. “Thank you. You’re such a good person, a real hero who loves helping others!”

Ye Yuze felt so guilty from the praise that he lowered his head. He didn’t even know where to put his hands.

Liang Sheng didn’t notice him. She said angrily, “Which bastard threw that basketball? If I see him, I’m definitely chopping him into pieces! I’ll kick him like a ball!”

Gulp.

Ye Yuze swallowed hard. Cold sweat broke out in his palms. In a weak little voice, he said, “I... I think that person probably didn’t mean to do it.”

Liang Sheng pouted. “I don’t care. He hit me, so he has to pay!”

Ye Yuze let out a breath of relief. Ah, compensation. That was manageable.

“Mm...” Liang Sheng pressed a finger under her lips. Only after thinking it over again and again did she speak. “I thought about it. Let’s say two hundred thousand... no, that’s too little. Three hundred thousand. If he won’t pay, I’ll lie on the ground and never get up.”

Miss, this isn’t even a scam anymore. This is straight-up extortion. Open and shameless extortion!

Ye Yuze’s head throbbed. How had he ended up stuck with a living little ancestor like this?

Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat was the best one. Ye Yuze quietly edged toward the door.

Liang Sheng had sharp eyes. Seeing that he wanted to leave, she asked, “Where are you going?”

Ye Yuze trembled in fright and started acting again. “I... I’m going to find the two girls who were with you. They said when you woke up, I should tell them so they could come see you.”

Liang Sheng thought his tone sounded a little strange, but she didn’t dig deeper. She nodded and let him go.

Ye Yuze hurriedly fled this place of trouble.

Only when he ran to the sports field did he realize he had no idea what class those two girls were in...

So he turned back to ask Liang Sheng.

By chance, he looked up and noticed a vague figure on the rooftop. The person had fiery red hair.

Then... she actually stepped onto the railing and started climbing out. One foot was already over the rail, hanging in midair.

She wasn’t about to jump, was she?

Ye Yuze was shocked. He immediately ran toward the principal’s office. Whether it was real or not, he had to report it first.

To get to the principal’s office, he had to pass the infirmary. Liang Sheng was staring blankly outside the door when she suddenly saw Ye Yuze sprint past like the wind. Puzzled and unable to suppress her curiosity, she got out of bed, went to the door, and called out to stop him.

“What happened? Why are you in such a rush?”

“There’s a red-haired girl on the rooftop. She looks like she’s going to jump!” Ye Yuze shouted, then kept running toward the principal’s office.

Jump?!

Liang Sheng was startled too.

Wait. Red hair. Could it be that girl who came looking for Senior Yu Qi this morning?

Right! It was her!

Liang Sheng suddenly remembered this scene from the novel: Wu Qian threatened Gu Yuqi. If Gu Yuqi refused to let her become her girlfriend, then she would jump in front of her and make her regret it for the rest of her life.

In the end, Wu Qian still jumped.

Because after Gu Yuqi agreed on the surface, she suddenly changed her mind again. Wu Qian said she knew Gu Yuqi had only been coaxing her not to jump. To make Gu Yuqi remember her, she still leaped.

And also...

There was no time to think more. Ignoring the pain in her head, Liang Sheng ran for the rooftop.

But in the original story, Wu Qian only jumped after Gu Yuqi confessed to Su Ze. So why was she jumping now?

It was all messed up. Completely messed up.

Liang Sheng gritted her teeth and rushed up the stairs to the rooftop.

“Huff... huff...”

After finally making it up there, Liang Sheng panted heavily without stopping. The injured spot on her head burned with pain.

She clung to the door and peeked out.

Wu Qian’s fiery red hair floated in the wind, like flames blown into scattered fragments. Wu Qian herself was like fire too. She was using her own body as a wager, trying to trade it for Gu Yuqi’s insincere love.

Her love burned so fiercely that no one else could even touch it.

The flames of Wu Qian’s love burned around Gu Yuqi. Sweat covered Gu Yuqi’s forehead.

Drip.

A drop fell to the ground and shattered apart, leaving only a few faint wet marks. But under the blazing sun, they quickly dried away without leaving a trace.

It was almost like a sign of Wu Qian’s ending.

“Student Yuqi, do you love me?” Wu Qian gave a bleak little smile.

Gu Yuqi clenched her teeth and forced out a few words through the gaps. “What... exactly... do you want?”

“Nothing much...” Wu Qian smoothed her hair, one hand gripping the railing as she looked toward the building across from them.

Then she turned back and smiled. The curve of her lips looked a little eerie.

“Student Yuqi, let me be your girlfriend, okay?”

Gu Yuqi clenched her fists tightly. Her nails dug deep into her palms, and her voice trembled. “Come... come over here first.”

“I won’t!”

A shrill scream tore through the tense air. It only made the atmosphere even tighter. Wu Qian rubbed at her hair. Her red hair looked like a blooming crimson rose. Covering her face, she cried.

“Say you love me, okay?”

Gu Yuqi bit down hard. “I love you. Come over here, now!”

“Hahaha...” Wu Qian threw her head back and laughed. Her eyes were full of loneliness. “Keep saying it. Say you love me a hundred times, and I’ll come down.”

Gu Yuqi was on the verge of breaking. Tears filled her eyes. Like a robot, she repeated the same words over and over.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you...”

“Kneel.”

Wu Qian made another unreasonable demand.

“Beg me to be your girlfriend. Like a dog.”

Gu Yuqi’s knees bent slightly. She was actually about to kneel.

When Liang Sheng saw that, the fire in her chest ignited with a whoosh. Wu Qian’s figure overlapped with someone in her memory. It dragged up ugly memories she didn’t want to recall.

Furious, she rushed out from behind the door.

“Heh. Then jump. Either way, you’re going to die sooner or later.”

Liang Sheng let out a cold laugh. This wasn’t a tactic to provoke her. She truly hoped Wu Qian would jump. She hated people who used their own lives to threaten others.

“Liang Sheng!” Gu Yuqi shouted anxiously. “Don’t say things like that!”

“Senior, whether you hate me or not, I still have to tell you this.” Liang Sheng glared at Wu Qian, the corners of her lips lifting slightly, her tone icy. “She’s not worth saving. Jump. Aren’t you trying to die? Then hurry up and jump!”

“You!” Wu Qian’s pale face twisted viciously. She roared, “Why are you here? Didn’t you hear Yuqi saying she loves me?”

“Shut up!” Liang Sheng stared at Wu Qian viciously. “You don’t deserve to say those two words. You’re about to be a corpse. Saying someone else’s name will only bring them bad luck!”

Wu Qian turned and looked at Gu Yuqi. “Yuqi, do you want me to die too?”

“No, no, come down first!”

“Then...” Wu Qian seemed to think for a moment. She tilted her head and smiled. “Slap Liang Sheng until I’m satisfied.”

Gu Yuqi froze in place. She looked at Liang Sheng, not knowing what to do.

Liang Sheng’s gaze changed completely. She turned to Gu Yuqi and said, “Senior, what do you want to do?”

What should she do?

Gu Yuqi didn’t know either. She was like an ant trapped in a crack, struggling desperately but getting nowhere.

“I... I...” Gu Yuqi crouched down in pain.

“Senior, do you know you’re really annoying when you act like this? If she jumps from here, it’s not your fault. It has nothing to do with you. If she dies, she deserves it.”

Liang Sheng spread her hands, looking like she felt disappointed that iron wouldn’t turn into steel.

Gu Yuqi looked at Liang Sheng in shock, as if she were looking at a stranger. Even her tone turned strange.

“That’s a human life...”

“Crash!!!” Affection plummeted.

“Gu Yuqi’s affection toward Liang Sheng: 2”

“Do you really want to save her? I’m asking one last time.” Liang Sheng narrowed her eyes.

By now, Gu Yuqi had completely lost her usual goddess-like composure. She suddenly stood up and shouted at Liang Sheng, “That’s a life! A living, breathing human life!”

Lowering her head, Liang Sheng ground her teeth. “Fine. I’ll help you this once.”

But don’t regret it.

She slowly raised her head, chin lifting slightly, and looked at Wu Qian.

“You love Gu Yuqi very much, right?”

Wu Qian answered almost without hesitation, “I do! Of course I do! I love Yuqi more than anyone! If not for you... if not for Liang Sheng, Yuqi would still be by my side right now!”

She glared at Liang Sheng viciously, like a wolf locked onto its prey.

“Haha...” Liang Sheng smiled faintly, without the slightest sign of discomfort or fear. “If you fall, it’ll go splat, and you’ll turn into a pile of meat, right? Tsk tsk. That’d be a really ugly death.”

“Senior Wu Qian, you pitiful thing. A clown showing off with her own life. Just watch carefully from up there. Don’t get so worked up that you jump too soon.”

With that, Liang Sheng lunged toward Gu Yuqi in quick strides.