Second Time's the Charm: A Bloody Case

Gu Yue's forgiveness that morning made the weight in Tang Wulin's heart come crashing down. He had been so happy he had nearly jumped for joy, and he behaved himself all day.

But that evening, he couldn't hold himself back again. Without thinking, he strode over, bent down, slipped his arms beneath her knees and back, and steadily lifted her off the sofa in a princess carry.

"Gu Yue, I..."

Before he could finish, a crisp crack rang out, sharp enough to pierce the ears.

Both of them froze at the same time.

Gu Yue's phone, covered in a starry rhinestone screen protector, lay face-up on the marble floor. A vicious spiderweb had split across the center of the screen, with several cracks stabbing toward the edges like black lightning.

Time seemed to freeze.

The next second, Gu Yue abruptly looked up. Her eyes, usually as still as cold pools, now seemed to have magma churning beneath them.

She stared fixedly at the phone on the floor, then whipped her gaze toward Tang Wulin. Her chest heaved violently.

"Pay for it! Pay for my phone!" Her voice was no longer its usual cool calmness, but a storm-laden roar that instantly tore apart the silence in the living room.

Tang Wulin's mind buzzed. Before he could process the sudden accusation, the person in his arms began struggling like mad.

She flailed with both hands and feet, her fists pounding his shoulders, her knees driving toward his abdomen. She was like an enraged panther. "Let me go! Tang Wulin! You idiot!"

"Wait! Gu Yue! Listen to me! I didn't mean—"

His explanation was drowned out by her struggle. Gu Yue twisted harder and harder, and Tang Wulin's arms around her gradually loosened from the shaking. Suddenly, a massive force came from below. He stumbled, and his balance completely gave out.

"Ah!"

A short, startled cry.

Gu Yue crashed solidly onto the floor like a heavy sack of sand.

Tang Wulin himself staggered back two steps and nearly fell.

Silence.

Only the sound of Gu Yue sucking in a cold breath remained, along with the fury blazing in her eyes as she pushed herself up from the floor—rage enough to freeze the air.

"Tang Wulin! Just you wait!"

She practically scrambled to her feet on all fours. The space around her began to distort, and violent elemental power surged and howled around her like a boiling tsunami. The air ionized with crackling snaps, tiny arcs of electricity dancing at her fingertips as the temperature soared.

Tang Wulin's brain finally rebooted from its crash. Looking at the scene before him, which resembled the aftermath of a miniature nuclear explosion, his scalp went numb.

"Gu Yue! Calm down! Please, calm down!" He backed away while rapidly explaining, "I really didn't do it on purpose! I was just too happy! I acted on impulse! I'll pay for it! I'll buy you ten right away! No, twenty of the newest model! I'd sell myself to pay you back if I had to!"

"Shut up!" Gu Yue's roar cut off all his pleading. A blazing fireball had already condensed out of thin air, its core a dazzling platinum-white. The heat it gave off instantly curled the hairs at Tang Wulin's temples.

"Run! Run now!" Survival instinct overwhelmed everything. Tang Wulin spun around and, moving faster than he ever had in his life, shot toward the front door like a cannonball leaving the barrel.

Bang!

He rammed the door open with his shoulder. Without even bothering to change his shoes, he dashed outside and slammed the door shut behind him with a click.

The door blocked most of the heatwave, but the roar from inside, filled with towering rage, still pierced through the door. Every word echoed clearly through the hallway, shaking dust from the walls.

"Tang Wulin! Get your ass back here!!"

Tang Wulin leaned against the cold security door, his heart still pounding like a drum in his chest. He let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The clothes on his back were soaked through. What girlfriend? She was practically a walking natural disaster!

What now? Go home? That would be walking straight into a trap. Go back to the dorm? Xie Xie... Xie Xie's ever-present goofy grin flashed through his mind, along with how absentminded he had been these past few days, occasionally giggling stupidly at his phone. There was no need to ask. That guy had definitely gone to Yuanen Yehui's place to ingratiate himself again. Counting on him to come back and warn him or plead on his behalf was less realistic than expecting the elders of Sea God's Pavilion to collectively perform a hula dance.

"Tsk, Xie Xie, you useless teammate." Tang Wulin irritatedly scratched his head.

He looked around. The residential complex was silent, with only a few streetlamps casting dim yellow halos.

He needed somewhere to hide, a place that could temporarily shield him from Gu Yue's fury. Better yet... somewhere with a strategist who could offer him advice.

A name surfaced in his mind again.

Le Zhengyu.

The guy who had helped him that morning, who was loaded with money and had plenty of experience dealing with all sorts of "complicated interpersonal relationships" and "compensation negotiations."

More importantly, he should be home alone right now.

There was no time to waste. Tang Wulin took off running toward the exit of the complex. Before Gu Yue's anger subsided—or before Gu Yue found him—he had to find a safe house.

Le Zhengyu's home was located in an upscale suburban residential area: a detached house with its own private garden. When Tang Wulin climbed over the wall, he deliberately avoided the surveillance cameras at the entrance. Familiar with the place, he circled around to the backyard, where an old locust tree with lush branches stood. Its thick trunk was perfect for climbing up to the second-floor terrace.

He had barely pushed open the terrace's glass door on tiptoe when a lazy voice came from the lounge chair nearby. "Well, if it isn't our boss, Tang Wulin. What, taking the unconventional route today? Practicing lightness skills now?"

Le Zhengyu wore silk pajamas and held a glass of red wine, sitting with one leg crossed over the other as he leisurely watched him. Behind him, an enormous LCD television was broadcasting the evening news, its glow reflecting off his face and making him look especially relaxed.

Tang Wulin jumped, then walked over with a bitter smile. He dropped into the chair opposite him and vividly embellished the tragic tale he had just lived through. Naturally, he described in particular detail how his princess carry had led to the phone disaster—especially Gu Yue's cry when she fell and his own sorry escape through the door. Le Zhengyu listened in astonishment at first, then his shoulders began shaking uncontrollably. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, he burst out laughing, splashing a few drops of wine onto his pajamas.

"Hahahaha... Oh my god, Boss, you... you're really something!" Le Zhengyu laughed until tears nearly came out. "Someone as calm as Gu Yue actually got this mad because of you? It was only a cracked phone screen. Was that really necessary? Oh, no, wait, was that really necessary for you? Hahahaha..."

"And you're still laughing!" Tang Wulin punched him irritably. "I nearly got burned to ash by her! Come up with something already! I can't actually sell myself to compensate her, can I?"

Le Zhengyu finally managed to stop laughing. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and his expression turned serious. He swirled his wineglass, the red liquid leaving a beautiful arc along its sides.

"Let's analyze the current situation." He cleared his throat and put on the air of a strategist. "The enemy commander, Gu Yue, is in an extreme state of fury. Her combat capability is rated SSS-class, and her danger level is off the charts. Her demand is clear and singular: compensation for the loss. Your advantage is that she doesn't truly want to kill you. This is more resentment caused by a 'massive loss of property.' Your disadvantage is that you have just inflicted both 'physical harm'—dropping her on the floor—and 'emotional humiliation'—breaking her phone. A double blow."

Tang Wulin was left dumbfounded. "Huh? There's a strategic analysis too?"

"Of course!" Le Zhengyu said solemnly. "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Our core objective now is to calm Gu Yue's anger, minimize the losses, and ensure your personal safety."

He set down his glass and raised three fingers. "I have three plans for you to choose from."

"First, the head-on approach." Le Zhengyu lowered his voice. "While she's used up too much energy and hasn't recovered yet, take the initiative. Use your 'heartfelt apology' and 'absolute sincerity' to move her. Remember, there must be tears and sobbing. You must beat your chest and stamp your feet. Make her feel that it wasn't you who broke her phone, but your foolish heart, beating for the future you two share, yet blinded by jealousy.

This plan carries extremely high risk. Its success rate depends on the other party's rationality and your acting skills. If it goes badly, you'll get to experience what an 'elemental storm reality show' feels like."

Tang Wulin shuddered. "Forget it, forget it. With my acting, Xie Xie mocked me for having asymmetrical leaves when I played a tree at the last party. Pass!"

"Second, the economic suppression plan." Le Zhengyu's eyes lit up. "Since she wants compensation, give her the best!

The newest limited-edition phone is only the foundation. We need to raise the stakes! A matching top-tier Bluetooth headset, a custom diamond-studded phone case, a year of VIP cloud service, plus a candlelit dinner prepared by a seven-star chef. Use the power of money to make her feel your 'determination to invest' in this relationship. Make her feel that the value of that screen far exceeds its actual price.

This plan costs more, but it works quickly and can effectively shift the focus of the conflict. Still, you have to make sure your wallet can take it."

Tang Wulin touched his flat wallet, on the verge of tears. "Brother, everything I own combined probably isn't enough to buy even a scrap from the edge of that diamond-studded phone case... Pass!"

Le Zhengyu sympathetically patted his shoulder, then raised his third finger. A sly smile appeared on his face. "Third, the root-cause solution. And it's the one I recommend most."

"What plan?"

"Solve the problem at its source." Le Zhengyu leaned closer and said mysteriously, "Buy an identical new phone, then find a highly skilled craftsman to completely restore the screen you broke, along with the starry rhinestone protector on it, perfectly and without the slightest difference. Remember, the key is 'restoration,' not 'replacement.' Tell her that what matters to you isn't the phone's value, but the 'memories' carried behind that screen—the photos from the first time you watched the stars together, the messages you exchanged during your first joint battle, even a random complaint she wrote about how terrible the cafeteria food was. What you broke was only an object, but you hope to restore it with your own hands, along with all those moments."

Tang Wulin froze and stared blankly at Le Zhengyu.

Le Zhengyu smugly lifted his chin. "What do you call that? 'Emotional leverage'! Use your shared memories to offset the current loss. Compared to a cold new device, an old item with a story is more likely to touch someone's heart. Especially someone like Gu Yue, who values emotions and bonds. Of course, the prerequisite is that the restoration work has to be good enough—at the very least, it needs to look flawless on the surface."

The room fell quiet, with only the faint sound of air flowing from the air conditioner. Tang Wulin absorbed Le Zhengyu's words, and Gu Yue's occasional, barely noticeable smile as she looked down at her phone appeared in his mind. Those trivial everyday moments, those casual instants, really did carry more weight than any expensive gift.

Maybe... this could work?

He stood up, his gaze becoming firm once more. "Thanks, Le Zhengyu. That idea... has something to it."

"No need to be polite." Le Zhengyu waved a hand and poured himself another glass of wine. "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, not to mention that I'm saving our brother's happiness. Go on, before Gu Yue's anger spreads all the way here."

Tang Wulin nodded and turned toward the terrace. As he pushed open the door, he looked back at Le Zhengyu and grinned. "When I return victorious, I'll treat you to hotpot!"

"Remember to order two extra plates of fatty beef!" Le Zhengyu called after him.

Tang Wulin climbed down from the terrace, and his figure quickly vanished into the night. He needed to act at once—find a craftsman, find a way to repair it. This disaster caused by a princess carry might truly be mended again by a tiny screen.

But what he didn't know was that Gu Yue had already mobilized all her connections at the academy. At the other end of the city, she was searching house by house.

Her rage had not subsided. After its brief eruption, it had merely transformed into a more stubborn, more unreasonable search.