Heart-Throb Score Strategy

The next day, when Shen Qingling woke up, Lin Qingdai's Heart-Throb Score for him had risen by 20.

Shen Qingling:?

What had happened?

Strange. It hadn't risen yesterday, yet it suddenly went up by 20 overnight.

Shen Qingling opened the progress bar and took a look. Lin Qingdai's Heart-Throb Score for him was already at 50.

Shen Qingling said, "Qiqi, what's going on? I didn't hear you announce her score going up yesterday."

077 said, "Host, she naturally started with 30 Heart-Throb Score points. I don't know why. You can investigate it properly."

Shen Qingling said, "Heart-Throb Scores can come preloaded?"

077 said, "It means she already held a certain degree of affection for you before meeting you."

Shen Qingling frowned as he thought about the relationship between Shen Qingling and Lin Qingdai in the Original Work.

In the Original Work, Lin Qingdai mostly felt curiosity and pity toward Shen Qingling. The two barely interacted.

Following the original development, Shen Qingling returned to the Gu Family with his reputation in tatters, and basically no one in the family liked him.

Only Wen Sulan protected him, but her status in the Gu Family was low, and she could not change anything.

Lin Qingdai was the quietest person in the household. She always silently observed everything and rarely spoke.

She discovered that Shen Qingling was not like what everyone said. In all kinds of minor details, he had more warmth than the rest of the family. He was kind and gentle, yet silence had become his defining color because of the "stain" that could never be washed from him.

Later, many things happened, and Lin Qingdai witnessed Shen Qingling fall into the abyss step by step.

She pitied him and understood him, but she could not help him.

The two of them were both at the very bottom of this family. She could barely protect herself, so how could she save anyone else?

She had once tried to tell Shen Qingling to escape from this place.

Shen Qingling said, "The world has already abandoned me, but she hasn't, so I can't abandon her and leave alone."

The person Shen Qingling meant was Wen Sulan.

Lin Qingdai understood everything and did not try to persuade him again.

After that, she too fell into the abyss.

The difference was that no matter how difficult things became, she had to climb out of the abyss. She only had herself, and she still had a chance to leave, but Shen Qingling and Wen Sulan were forever trapped at its bottom.

Shen Qingling did not know how their story ended.

He was truly curious now about what the ending of this book actually was.

What did Wen Sulan and Shen Qingling go through afterward?

Did Lin Qingdai obtain the freedom she wanted?

Did Gu Yijin really obtain everything in the Gu Family?

What kind of entanglement did the characters he needed to win over have with all of this?

Shen Qingling's mind suddenly became a mess before returning to the original question.

Was Lin Qingdai's natural fondness for him because she knew something?

Had she known his identity long ago? Did she also know he would return to the Gu Family?

And her attitude toward Gu Yijin was also very subtle. According to the Original Work, she could not possibly hold such hostility toward Gu Yijin. The only explanation was that she knew the truth.

Could it be... Lin Qingdai had been reborn?

Shen Qingling temporarily pushed down that thought. He would test her when he found an opportunity.

If she had truly been reborn, then she should know about what happened afterward as well. Perhaps he could learn the answers he wanted from her.

Shen Qingling glanced at the time on his phone. It was only seven in the morning.

A disciplined male god needed to sleep early, wake early, and exercise.

After getting up and folding his blanket, he started washing up. While brushing his teeth, he checked WeChat.

Almost all the messages were from Ruan Mingyi, mixed in with two messages from Lin Xingmian and Sheng Mo.

Ruan Mingyi: Qingling, I didn't mean to make you angry. I drank too much then, so I talked nonsense.

Ruan Mingyi: What is your relationship with the Gu Family? Are you relatives, or something else?

Ruan Mingyi: Don't ignore me. I know I was wrong.

Ruan Mingyi: Shen Qingling, the best Shen Qingling in the world, the most handsome Shen Qingling, the most outstanding and perfect Shen Qingling, can you reply to me? There's still a simp here waiting for your message.

Ruan Mingyi: Are you asleep? Good night. I'll go to Jiang University to find you tomorrow.

Ruan Mingyi hugged her phone and waited all night for a message.

The woman who said she would never become a simp had still fallen into Shen Qingling's trap of love.

Shen Qingling did not reply to her.

Ruan Mingyi's Heart-Throb Score had already reached 80. She liked him, but it had not yet become love. It was time to leave her hanging for a while.

Shen Qingling would decide his approach and attitude toward them based on their level of attraction.

A Heart-Throb Score of 10 to 30 mostly meant they liked his face and talent.

A Heart-Throb Score of 40 to 50 meant that, on top of that, they liked his inner personality.

A Heart-Throb Score of 50 to 60 meant they were very interested in him. From the outside in, they wanted to explore him more and get closer to him.

A Heart-Throb Score of 70 meant that, on top of having a favorable impression of him, they liked him a little and wanted to date him.

Only above 80 could it be called genuine liking.

Only above 90 could it be considered love.

As for 100, there was no need to say more. They would even be willing to die for him.

At first, Heart-Throb Scores were easy to raise, but the further along they went, the harder they became, especially after 80.

If he encountered innocent girls who did not understand love, they might not even understand what their feelings were. Their hearts loved him, but their actions might be the opposite, like Ruan Mingyi.

She already liked Shen Qingling and cared about him terribly, yet she had not realized it. She kept saying she would never truly fall in love with him because she did not want to admit she could really like a man.

Shen Qingling could see the Heart-Throb Scores, so he could see through all their disguises, their words that contradicted their hearts, and their insincerity. Yet they could not distinguish how deep their own feelings were.

The hardest part of Heart-Throb Scores was the transition from 80 to 90—the transition from liking to love.

Of course, Song Zhining was an exception. Her love was different from that of other women. It was not the kind of love that would make her die for Shen Qingling. It was the kind that hoped everything would go well for him, the kind that wished for his happiness.

So Shen Qingling's strategy could only be used on some women. Not everyone would develop according to the strategy he had imagined.

He could only make rough guesses based on the Heart-Throb Scores. He did not completely agree with those numerical readings.

In his view, human love could not be fully judged by numbers.

There were many kinds of love, and romantic love also came in many forms. Different people loved in different ways.

The complete opposite of Song Zhining's love was the love of a possessive obsessive.

It was twisted possessiveness, love that disregarded his wishes.

The deeper a possessive obsessive's love, the more terrifying it became.

Shen Qingling probably would not want to experience that kind of love, because it would suffocate him.

Shen Qingling scrolled down and found Lin Xingmian's messages.

Lin Xingmian: Teacher Shen, I saw you playing the piano on my phone. It sounded so nice.

Lin Xingmian: Would my messages disturb Teacher Shen?

Lin Xingmian: Sorry, Teacher Shen. Good night.

Shen Qingling seemed to see the girl's expression in those three WeChat messages.

The first sentence was her wanting to praise him, nervous and happy.

The second was her being cautious, afraid of disturbing him, conflicted and uneasy.

The third was her receiving no reply, anxious and saddened.

Shen Qingling had simply been too tired yesterday. After showering, he had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. His phone had been charging and only turned on in the morning.

He quickly replied to Lin Xingmian's messages.

Shen Qingling: Sorry, Mianmian. I was too tired yesterday, and my phone ran out of battery, so I didn't reply.

Shen Qingling: Mianmian didn't disturb me. When I don't reply, it means I haven't seen the message. It's not because I don't want to talk to you.

Shen Qingling: Next time we meet, we can play the piano together too.

At this hour, Lin Xingmian had not gotten up yet. She had watched Shen Qingling play the piano over and over last night, waiting for his reply until she fell asleep.

Before sleeping, she had kept thinking about Shen Qingling.

She had only just learned that Teacher Shen could play the piano, and that he was so amazing at it.

He had seemed to glow onstage, completely unlike her dull and drab self.

So many people had been watching below the stage, yet he had not been nervous at all. As though no one else existed, he focused only on the keys before him.

Even through the screen, she could feel that charm. So many people applauded and cheered for him.

The little girl could not help thinking, Teacher Shen is so amazing. When would she be able to stand on a stage like Teacher Shen and perform bravely just once?

The thought of that scene made her nervous.

But when she thought again about Teacher Shen being beside her, she somehow no longer felt afraid.

Why hadn't Teacher Shen replied to her?

Did he dislike her?

Was she being a little too clingy?

Always acting like a child seemed a little annoying. Next time, she had to be a brave adult.

So sleepy...

Zz...