Three Great Illusions of Life!

"System, system, how much did Su Lexuan's Favorability toward me increase?!"

Walking home, Shen Lang impatiently communicated with the system in his mind.

Judging from Su Lexuan's behavior just now, Shen Lang was delighted and excited, certain that her Favorability toward him had broken past 20!

Ding! Su Lexuan's Favorability toward the host is 7 points. Please keep up the good work!

"How much?"

The mechanical electronic voice in his ear instantly sent Shen Lang's expectations crashing to the bottom: "System, did you make a mistake?"

The atmosphere between them had been so pleasant just now. Su Lexuan had even taken the initiative to ask for Shen Lang's WeChat and sweetly called him Senior Shen Lang.

But why was her Favorability only a measly 7 points? It was even lower than the Landlady's!

"It is indeed 7 points. Please keep up the good work, Host."

"But... she called me Senior, and she even took the initiative to add me on WeChat. How could her Favorability be so low?"

Thinking back on Su Lexuan's sweet smile, then comparing it to that pitiful Favorability score, Shen Lang could not help feeling a little discouraged.

He felt that if her Favorability was only this high, Su Lexuan would not have taken the initiative to add him on WeChat.

Could she be a player? Otherwise, how could she add him on WeChat with such low Favorability?

"Host, she called you Senior out of politeness. During your earlier conversation, you chose answers that were both correct and suited her preferences."

The all-powerful system comforted and explained, "Girls her age tend to like funny, humorous boys, which is why she added you on WeChat."

Only after the system explained did Shen Lang snap out of his inexplicable disappointment.

Wasn't this one of the Three Great Illusions of Life?

I can turn this around!

Her phone's ringing—it must be me!

She likes you!

Actually, it was perfectly normal. Shen Lang was withdrawn by nature and had not interacted with many girls.

The first girl he met was this beautiful, sunny, cheerful, and polite. When she asked for his WeChat, he naturally assumed she liked him.

Taking ten thousand steps back, if she had become head over heels for him after chatting for barely ten minutes...

Shen Lang would have found her far too casual instead. She definitely would not have been his type.

Besides, Su Lexuan's Favorability toward him had still increased by quite a bit.

That was better than those simps who chased goddesses for years, even decades, yet barely got to say a few words to them, wasn't it?

When a guy pursued a girl, wasn't his biggest fear giving everything he had only for her to remain unmoved as a rock?

Thinking that way, Shen Lang quickly got over it.

Chasing girls was actually like fighting a BOSS in a game. As long as you followed the guide, nothing could go wrong.

Besides, Shen Lang was a player using cheats. Naturally, he had nothing to fear.

Shen Lang took out his phone, found Su Lexuan's WeChat, and sent a message: "Have you made it back to school yet?"

After waiting for a moment, the WeChat notification sound rang.

But it was not from Su Lexuan. It was from the Landlady he had added that afternoon.

Flower Blooms in Four Seasons: "Little Shen, have you eaten yet? Want to come over to my place for dinner? I cooked it myself. [sly smile]"

The message came with a screenshot showing several home-cooked dishes. They looked pretty good.

There was also a little girl with pigtails in the screenshot. She held her chopsticks high in both hands and sat smiling across from the table, looking incredibly adorable.

1: Thanks, Sister Xia. Those dishes look really appetizing, but I've already eaten. Maybe next time.

2: Landlady, please have some self-respect. We've known each other for less than half a day, and you're already inviting me over. I'm an innocent young man!

3: The dishes look great, really appetizing. Is this little girl your daughter, Sister Xia? She's so cute!

After ruling out option 2, Shen Lang considered options 1 and 3. Both answers seemed fairly reasonable.

Just as Shen Lang was about to choose 1, he suddenly remembered a short video he had watched earlier.

The video said that if you wanted to raise the interest of divorced women or widows, you had to be especially nice to their children.

Shen Lang did not know what Xia Shuyi's family situation was like.

But since she dared to openly invite a guy to her home for dinner, she was probably divorced, or her husband was not home.

Besides, the little girl really was adorable, and Shen Lang genuinely wanted to compliment her.

So Shen Lang typed out option three, added a thumbs-up sticker, and sent it.

Almost instantly, the system notification sounded by Shen Lang's ear.

Ding! Xia Shuyi's Favorability toward the host has increased by 5 points. Current Favorability: 15 points. Please keep up the good work!

"Holy shit, it went up 5 points from one sentence? That short video really wasn't lying!"

While Shen Lang was rejoicing, Xia Shuyi sent another message: "She's just a little too naughty. She makes a fuss all day long, like a tomboy. [laughing tears] [laughing tears]"

Though she spoke modestly, the message still came with another screenshot of the little girl. It seemed she truly cared deeply about her daughter.

Come to think of it, what parent in the world did not love their child?

Especially a possibly divorced single woman like Xia Shuyi. She must value her child even more than ordinary families did.

"Haha, girls are a little more mischievous when they're young. My little sister was the same way."

Thus, Shen Lang began focusing his conversation on Xia Shuyi's daughter.

It was as if Xia Shuyi's floodgates had opened as well. Her replies gradually changed from text messages into voice messages.

After chatting for about ten minutes, Shen Lang finally declined politely. "Well, Sister Xia, I've just finished eating over here. I'll come mooch a meal at your place next time."

Flower Blooms in Four Seasons: "Mm. [cute]"

Seeing the sticker after her message, Shen Lang could not help laughing out loud.

When an older woman acted cute, it was impossible to resist.

Ding! Xia Shuyi's Favorability toward the host has increased by 9 points. Current Favorability: 24 points. Please keep up the good work!

"This is way too fast..."

Shen Lang swallowed, not quite understanding but feeling impressed nonetheless.

Before this, he had been somewhat skeptical of those scumbags exposed online.

The news said they could sweet-talk a girl they had just met into bed within one day, swindle away all her assets within two days, and leave her penniless and defiled within three.

Shen Lang had thought girls nowadays were all sharp as monkeys. How could they be that easy to fool?

Now, it seemed those stories had not been exaggerated.

Shen Lang even felt that if the conversation went well, he might not even need a whole day to turn a girl into a woman...

Conversation skills were truly outrageous. They grasped people's hearts far too precisely!

Thinking about all those tabloid stories online and looking at Xia Shuyi's cute sticker of her acting adorable,

Shen Lang could not help thinking of the Landlady's mature, alluring figure.

If Xia Shuyi's Favorability toward me reaches the maximum, could I play some grown-up games with this older woman?