Attack! A New Stage Unfolds in Full Force

Young Master Fei drove his low-key Volkswagen Bora, squeezing through N congested intersections amid the endless traffic before finally arriving at the entrance of Little Flower Shop.

He parked, turned off the engine, pulled out the key, and got out.

After only a few steps, he reached the shop entrance—and ran into someone he did not want to see again.

Was this the legendary law of protagonists and villains inevitably converging?

Did villains and male and female leads unconsciously attract one another from time to time?

"Jiang Anran!?"

"Young Master!" Jiang Anran was quite surprised to see him too, raising her right hand and waving it vigorously.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to go back with A Jiu?"

"No, Young Master. After A Jiu went back, she kept thinking about when her Young Master would return and was really troubled. So I brought her out to clear her head. I was planning to take her in to chat with Xiaoxiao."

"Uh..." Young Master Fei was speechless.

Why you were here was not important. The important thing was that you were here.

Now that you were here, didn't that mean his plan to shake you off had gone bankrupt?

He could send her away now, but she and Chen Xiaoxiao were best friends. There were no secrets between them.

Once they compared notes later, wouldn't everything be exposed?

He could already imagine it:

"Xiaoxiao, what was my Young Master doing at your shop today?"

"The one who came was your Young Master?"

Then, with a "boom," everything would be exposed...

Come back another day?

If he did not treat it today, then by the time he came back another day, there might be no point in treating it. It would be untreatable, worsened—and his eyes would be ruined.

Since she knew he had come here, there was no way to avoid her finding out about what happened next.

"Where's A Jiu?"

"There! Behind you."

Suddenly, Young Master Fei felt an unidentified creature pounce onto his back. This unidentified creature wrapped its arms around him and refused to let go.

Judging from Jiang Anran's words and basic human instinct, this person could only be A Jiu.

"A Jiu, what are you doing?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Mm. I just feel less afraid when I hug you like this."

Hearing that, Young Master Fei shook his head with a wry smile. This girl, honestly...

It seemed she had no sense of security at all right now.

Even Jiang Anran could not comfort her.

But why hug me?

Young Master Fei could not figure it out.

Still, no matter what, he could not let her cling to him like this. He had serious business to handle in a moment.

He could not exactly bring a grown girl along and act out Ye Chen and Chen Xiaoxiao's reunion scene, could he?

That would be ridiculous.

"A Jiu, get down first. Later, I'll let you hug me all you want, but promise me one thing, okay?"

"?" A Jiu tilted her head.

"I'll be using your Young Master's identity in a moment. Promise me that you'll call me Young Master later, and I'll let you hug me once."

"My Young Master's identity?" A Jiu leaned closer with her head tilted.

"That's right. Don't be too surprised later."

After saying that, he stuck the disposable voice changer beneath his chin. Without needing to imitate anything deliberately, his voice became exactly the same as Ye Chen's when he spoke.

"A Jiu, don't be too surprised."

"Y-Young Master?" Startled, A Jiu let go, ran in front of Young Master Fei, and poked at his face in confusion.

Young Master Fei could not help marveling that anything produced by the system was bound to be top-quality.

Since even Ye Chen's four personal guards could not tell the difference, dealing with Chen Xiaoxiao's storyline should be a piece of cake, right?

"You're not Young Master. You don't feel like Young Master."

No shit, of course I'm not Ye Chen. Didn't you watch me put on the voice changer? Young Master Fei rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm not. So, about what I said just now? Later, I'll be 'Ye Chen,' and you'll be Ye Chen's guard."

"Won't it harm my Young Master?"

"How could it? Do I look like that kind of person?"

I was helping him here. If the plot hadn't gotten stuck and needed someone to push it along, I wouldn't have taken on this troublesome job.

"Alright, I promise you. Pinky swear~"

"Pinky swear!"

As usual, once the pinky-swearing ritual with A Jiu was over, Young Master Fei hurried to find the other person present.

"Jiang Anran, cooperate with me later and play 'Ye Chen.' And don't tell anyone about what happened today—especially Chen Xiaoxiao!"

With Jiang Anran and A Jiu helping, things might even go a little better.

One was Ye Chen's guard, and the other was Chen Xiaoxiao's best friend.

That would make his identity as Ye Chen more convincing.

It would also make it more convincing that the person who had met Chen Xiaoxiao was Ye Chen.

Even Fei Yangyao hadn't expected this to come in handy.

Jiang Anran had plenty of questions in her head.

Why had Young Master's voice suddenly changed? Was that a voice changer?

And what was Young Master planning to do?

But judging from Young Master's anxious expression, he must have been in a hurry, right? She could ask those questions later.

The little maid thoughtfully refrained from asking anything and agreed. "Alright."

Young Master Fei was overjoyed. After giving them a detailed set of instructions—

"You both understand?"

"Understood!" x2

Young Master Fei entered the shop.

"Jingle, jingle~"

"W-Welcome! What flowers would you like?"

Strange. Young Master Fei had no idea why, but Chen Xiaoxiao seemed somewhat flustered... and strange?

"Xiaoxiao, is that you? Xiaoxiao!" There was no time to think. He had to push the plot forward. He began with Ye Chen's opening line from the book.

"You are?" Chen Xiaoxiao seemed not to recognize the voice at first. She suppressed her previous emotions, a puzzled expression appearing on her face as she asked.

"Xiaoxiao, don't you recognize me?" As he recited the unbearably cringeworthy lines from the original novel, Young Master Fei's toes had practically dug out a luxury villa beneath his feet.

"I'm Ye Chen!"

"Ye... Chen?" Chen Xiaoxiao looked deeply suspicious. "Are you really Ye Chen?"

"Genuine, no substitutions!" Young Master Fei said firmly.

What was going on? Chen Xiaoxiao didn't seem very excited. There was no joy, no anger either. In the original novel, she had been extremely emotional!

Chen Xiaoxiao frowned in thought for a moment, then suddenly took several steps forward and reached for "Ye Chen's" face.

Young Master Fei jumped in fright and quickly stepped back, dodging her hand.

"You're not Ye Chen! Ye Chen wouldn't dodge!" After saying that, Xiaoxiao glared angrily in "Ye Chen's" direction with her vacant eyes.

Young Master Fei had initially been afraid she would feel something amiss, but then he reconsidered. No, they hadn't seen each other for years. She might not even recognize what he looked like now, let alone tell by touching his face.

With that thought, he naturally stretched out his neck and offered his head to her.

"You don't recognize my voice? Go ahead, touch me."

Chen Xiaoxiao slowly extended her fingers and gently touched "Ye Chen's" face. Her gaze remained empty, but she seemed to be trying hard to sense something.

Young Master Fei held his breath nervously, terrified of exposing a flaw.

However, Chen Xiaoxiao did not seem to notice anything unusual, and her expression gradually relaxed.

"Maybe you really are Ye Chen..." Her eyes lowered as she spoke softly, no one knowing what she was thinking.

Young Master Fei secretly rejoiced. It looked like the opening had gone well.

With Chen Xiaoxiao's acknowledgment, he could proceed to the next steps.

"Xiaoxiao, how have you been all these years while I was gone?" Following the plot's progression, he continued playing Ye Chen.

A trace of sorrow flashed through Chen Xiaoxiao's eyes, and she silently shook her head.

"There's no point in talking about that now..."

"I've always felt deeply guilty about what happened back then..." Young Master Fei said, trying to fill his voice with remorse.

Chen Xiaoxiao raised her head and looked in "Ye Chen's" direction. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.