Tsk, what a scumbag

When Shen Hui saw Jiang Nian's lips twitch speechlessly, and his three friends cover their eyes and turn away as if they couldn't bear to watch, he wanted to slap himself.

"Just kidding. My name's Shen Hui."

He gave a light cough, tucked his shoulder-length hair behind his ear, and introduced himself again.

Looking at Shen Hui, the notorious playboy from the original novel, standing before her with a wicked smirk, Jiang Nian gave him a knowing look tinged with pity.

Wait, pity?

The look in Jiang Nian's eyes left Shen Hui baffled.

What on earth had he done in the future to make Jiang Nian look at him with such pity?!

She hadn't looked at the other three like that!

[Sure enough, this is Shen Hui, the ultimate sucker.]

Jiang Nian smiled at Shen Hui and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Jiang Nian."

Shen Hui felt that her gaze was brimming with tender affection. In short-motherly love.

Motherly love was one thing...

But keep talking! How did I end up becoming the ultimate sucker? Playing favorites, are you?!

Ignoring Shen Hui, who was inwardly losing his mind, everyone finally turned their attention to Fu Zhenzhen, who had been neglected for quite some time.

Fu Zhenzhen's eyes were lifeless.

Whatever. She was a little tired, too.

Watching the four male leads eagerly gather around Jiang Nian to introduce themselves, Fu Zhenzhen nearly ground her back teeth to pieces.

She was supposed to be the center of attention. Why had everyone flocked to Jiang Nian instead?!

Not only had Jiang Nian failed to fly into a rage as she had expected, she had even fallen into the pond and drawn everyone's attention. That was supposed to be her script!

Fu Zhenzhen felt a surge of displeasure and panic at how things had turned out.

How was she supposed to explain what she'd said? From the looks of it, Jiang Nian was even better at crying than she was. Those tears, especially-they had come pouring down in an instant!

By now, the others had finished introducing themselves and were all looking her way.

She instinctively took a step back and clutched the necklace at her chest. When she saw Song Jici's cold gaze, her body trembled.

In that case, she would see whether he believed Jiang Nian or her, the person who had saved his life.

Song Jici could only be hers! Hers, Fu Zhenzhen's!

Having made up her mind, she spoke hesitantly to Song Jici.

"Ji Ci... I never said those things, and I didn't push her on purpose. I really didn't..."

As she spoke, tears began falling again, her bright eyes fixed intently on Song Jici.

"How can you not believe me..."

Song Jici was utterly confused by this girl who had tried to frame Jiang Nian, addressed him so affectionately, and now looked wronged as she demanded that he believe her.

Setting aside whether the earlier accusations were true, this girl kept addressing him as Ji Ci's brother, as if they were extremely close, yet he had clearly never met her before.

"Excuse me, have we met somewhere?"

The moment he finished speaking, Song Jici saw the other person's face turn pale and a hurt expression appear on it, leaving him even more confused.

It wasn't until the girl lowered the hands she had been clasping against her chest, revealing the necklace she had been clutching, that he sensed something was off.

The girl's name tag read Fu Zhenzhen.

And the ring on that necklace...

"...Zhenzhen?"

He remembered. This was the ring he had given Zhenzhen when he was escaping all those years ago!

Seeing that Song Jici had recognized her, Fu Zhenzhen spoke excitedly.

"It's me, Jici."

"I finally found you."

Song Jici was just about to step forward in delighted surprise when he heard Jiang Nian's thoughts again.

[The male lead finally recognized the person who saved his life. What a shame...]

Seeing Song Jici's calm gaze give way to surging emotion, as though he couldn't wait to rush forward, Jiang Nian knew how excited he was.

What a shame. She sighed and cast a pitying glance at the delighted Song Jici.

[If Song Jici knew that Fu Zhenzhen was the reason he suffered so much torture, would he still be this happy?]

After all, Song Jici had already escaped his kidnappers back then. It was Fu Zhenzhen who had told those human traffickers where he was.

The principal's speech echoed through the spacious auditorium as Song Jici sat lost in thought amid the impassioned words.

Today, he had suddenly reunited with two people from his past.

Before he could even catch up with one of them, he had inexplicably heard her thoughts and learned of what seemed to be the tragic futures awaiting him and his friends.

Before he could even rejoice at his long-awaited reunion with the other, he had learned that he would become one of the men she strung along, and that even his past suffering might have something to do with her.

Everything that had happened today felt utterly unreal.

The morning's argument had ultimately ended with Fu Zhenzhen apologizing to Jiang Nian, though he had no idea how sincere that apology had been.

Pressed for time, he could only accompany Jiang Nian while she changed out of her soaked uniform, then hurry to the auditorium with her for the opening ceremony.

He hadn't even had much of a chance to speak with either of the two people from his past.

Only after taking his seat did he finally have time to sort through his tangled thoughts.

"Bzz~ Bzz~"

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw new messages in the four-person group chat he shared with Tan Xuguang and the others.

[Tan Xuguang]: Did you all hear what Jiang Nian said today? I wasn't hearing things, was I?

[Wen Jincheng]: I heard it.

[Shen Hui]: So did I.

[Shen Hui]: Wait, no. I didn't hear how I end up!

[Shen Hui]: Why?! Did you see the way she looked at me? Anyone who didn't know better would think I was dying!

[Shen Hui]: Breathing oxygen.jpg

"Pfft."

Song Jici laughed and joined the conversation.

[Song Jici]: I heard it too. You weren't hearing things.

[Song Jici]: But it seems like only the four of us could hear her. Could it be because we're the main characters she mentioned?

Song Jici thought carefully about how the people around them had reacted at the time. It seemed no one else had heard her, and Jiang Nian had another label for each of them:

The male lead, the second male lead, the third male lead, and the ultimate sucker (Shen Hui: ?).

Besides them, there was the female lead.

[Wen Jincheng]: Fu Zhenzhen, the girl who saved your life, is the female lead Jiang Nian mentioned, right?

[Wen Jincheng]: She called us the male lead, the female lead, and the supporting male characters. Going by that, are we the main characters in a story?

[Tan Xuguang]: But I watched Fu Zhenzhen, and she didn't seem to be able to hear Jiang Nian's thoughts. Why? Isn't she the female lead?

[Wen Jincheng]: Also, Jici, you're the male lead, yet you ended up as a backup option?

[Tan Xuguang]: Being a backup option is one thing, but you're a backup option for the girl who saved your life?

[Shen Hui]: Being your savior's backup option is one thing, but you even sent Jiang Nian to prison for her?

[Wen Jincheng]: Tsk, what a scumbag.

[Tan Xuguang]: Tsk, what a scumbag.

[Shen Hui]: Tsk, what a scumbag.

Song Jici: ...

[System message]: Song Jici disbanded the group chat.