“What’s wrong?” Wen Yuanting felt a little uneasy under Mu Yue’s gaze. It was as if, besides the ten repeated car accidents, there was some other tragedy he knew nothing about.
And it really was tragic. The novel didn’t say much about his younger sister, because she was merely an Nth-tier female character beside the male lead. Aside from her pretty face, what attracted the male lead’s attention was her resilience. Starting from the accident that left her brother incapacitated, her parents would also suffer accidents one after another, leaving her to barely hold the entire family together.
By the time the male lead met his sister, several years had already passed. He had long since acquired all the power and wealth he could want, so the female lead didn’t need to come from any distinguished background. Someone like his sister was perfect for touching his desire to play the savior. His arrival meant she no longer had to struggle on alone—he became her entire world.
Because of him, her family’s situation gradually improved. Seeing everything he did for her, she became utterly devoted to him. She didn’t even mind sharing him with more than a dozen other women. Later, after she gave birth to his child, her brother miraculously woke up as well.
It could be said that, to the male lead, the entire Wen family was nothing more than decoration.
That bastard womanizer really deserved to die. And so did his ridiculous protagonist group.
Naturally, Mu Yue didn’t tell Wen Yuanting about the novel. She only said that the robbers were probably the key, and urged him to think carefully about whether he had any relevant information. If they could determine the identities of those people, things would become much easier.
“If we can put them behind bars before New Year’s, your accident might not happen.” Mu Yue only said this to Wen Yuanting for the time being. She didn’t think prison alone would be enough. What if some gang took a liking to the male lead’s underling’s lock-picking skills and broke him out?
Her preferred insurance policy was to cripple the lock-picker’s hands. Without those hands, he would be nothing more than an ordinary thief, not worth anyone’s attention.
She couldn’t touch the male lead’s eyes for now, but couldn’t she cripple one of his underlings before he joined the protagonist group?
Besides, taking down members of the protagonist group earned her points. It was simply a matter of weakening the male lead’s forces while she was at it.
“Thank you.” Wen Yuanting’s voice was slightly hoarse. Even though Mu Yue hadn’t intended to help him, merely listening to everything he had to say was enough to make him grateful. No one had believed him all this time. The suffocating frustration of having no one willing to listen was no less painful than the car accidents themselves.
Wen Yuanting had sharp brows and bright eyes, the ruggedly handsome type. At that moment, he had his head slightly lowered. Combined with what he was wearing, he reminded Mu Yue in an instant of a black panther—not one preparing to pounce on its prey, but one waiting for someone to pat its head.
Mu Yue shifted her gaze away from him and took a sip of coffee. “If you’re going to do this, then take it seriously. When you get back, make a spreadsheet listing the city and exact location of every accident, the time, the weather, the model of the car that hit you—in short, everything you can remember—and send it to me.”
Wen Yuanting nodded repeatedly, but still couldn’t help asking, “What’s the purpose of all that?”
Mu Yue glanced at him and slowly explained, “The city and exact location can be used with maps to determine which bank or jewelry store the robbers were targeting. We can even simulate the condition of the streets around New Year’s. Then, based on the vehicle model, we can estimate the car’s size and horsepower and calculate the escape route and speed of the people inside. If you happen to remember the license plate number, even better. Certain channels can be used to look up the owner.”
Wen Yuanting: “…”
He accepted the dessert from the server and respectfully held it out to Mu Yue with both hands. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”
Mu Yue burst out laughing. She took a bite of the mousse and said, “That’s all for now.”
In truth, Mu Yue was still wondering why New Year’s was so important. The harem novel hadn’t specified a season, but the white moonlight had returned to the country in winter. It had even snowed, to emphasize the female lead’s loneliness.
Perhaps that was the reason the bug had appeared. The white moonlight storyline needed an accident to delay the female lead on her way home, making her return late. Shivering from the cold, she rushed to prepare an entire table of dishes. But she had to spend New Year’s Eve alone, and by the time the food had gone cold, it was already midnight. Only then did the female lead learn from the news that the male lead had gone to pick up the white moonlight.
Coincidentally, Wen Yuanting, Gu Zhiyou’s vegetative older brother, had an accident of his own. The two scenes had overlapped.
In the white moonlight’s storyline, Wen Yuanting was merely part of the background. His main purpose was to delay the female lead’s return home, and that part would be easy enough for Mu Yue to deal with. Over the past month, although she hadn’t gotten to taste Wen Xue’s cooking, the two of them had already become online friends and got along remarkably well.
Wen Xue seemed to have developed some kind of “hero saves beauty” complex. Her level of trust in Mu Yue, whom she had only met once, was almost absurdly high. She complained to Mu Yue every day, forcing Mu Yue to consume mountains of gossip about celebrities in the entertainment industry. However, being cautious as a female celebrity, Wen Xue never once mentioned Mu Yue’s name in their chat history, and Mu Yue had never called her by name either. One called the other Babe, and the other called her Baby.
It gave Mu Yue the strange feeling of getting along with one of her old friends. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought her friend had transmigrated too.
Delaying Wen Xue for a while on the day the white moonlight returned would not be difficult for Mu Yue. The main problem she needed to solve was still the male lead’s underling.
Now that her target was clear, she could begin drawing up and carrying out her plan.
Mu Yue finished her cake and prepared to leave.
Wen Yuanting hurriedly stood up to see her off, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Junior, thank you. Really. I honestly don’t know how to repay you. If you ever need anything, I’ll do everything in my power to help.”
Seeing his ashamed expression and the way he desperately wanted to repay her, Mu Yue suddenly said, “You look pretty good in that outfit today.”
With a bang, Wen Yuanting’s face exploded into a brilliant red.
Mu Yue picked up her bag. Her little prank had succeeded, and a pleased smile curved her lips as she waved and walked away.
When Wen Yuanting returned to the dormitory, his three roommates all turned their eyes toward him in unison. Seeing him looking like a wandering soul, they began communicating silently:
[Well, brothers? What do you think?]
[Can’t really tell. Did he fail, or did he succeed?]
[Tsk. Junior Mu Yue has pretty high standards, doesn’t she…?]
[What a shame. Brother Wen’s physical assets are seriously impressive, but he can’t exactly show them off just anywhere!]
[How vulgar! What do you take our Tingzi for?]
While the three of them exchanged meaningful looks, Wen Yuanting finally came back to himself in his chair. He lowered his head and glanced at the shirt he was wearing underneath. Then he suddenly stood up and cleared his throat. “Zhao Yang, come out with me.”
Zhao Yang studied his expression and cautiously asked, “Going out for a drink?”
Wen Yuanting looked baffled. “No. Why would we drink in broad daylight? Besides, you know I don’t drink.”
“Then what are we going out for?”
Wen Yuanting cleared his throat again, this time more awkwardly. His voice was quieter, but with three pairs of eyes watching him and three pairs of ears listening, it was still perfectly clear.
“…Come clothes shopping with me.”
“OHHHHH!”
“Oh, come on, who was it that said yesterday, ‘It’s not what you think’~?”
“Not to lecture you, bro, but you should be more honest. What are you even trying so hard to hide?”
Wen Yuanting was about to insist that it really wasn’t what they thought, but even he was beginning to doubt himself. In the end, he simply stopped explaining and dragged Zhao Yang out the door.
He truly had no idea how he could repay Mu Yue. Since she thought he looked good in nice clothes, then no matter what, he had to make an effort to look presentable whenever he was around her in the future. At the very least, he couldn’t make her eyes suffer.
After leaving the café, Mu Yue didn’t go straight home. Instead, she browsed the nearby shopping mall. Whenever she saw something she liked, she bought it. Thinking of Lin Xiaoxiao, she picked out a Mid-Autumn Festival gift for her as well. Then she thought of her current roommates and simply bought something for each of them too.
This year, National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival happened to fall together, giving everyone ten days off. Mu Yue had no intention of returning to H City. She didn’t feel any particular attachment to the place; after all, she wasn’t from H City to begin with.
After buying everything, Mu Yue was tired from shopping. She went home and asked Qianqian to take Lin Xiaoxiao’s gift back to her. She had given Qianqian the holiday off as well. Qianqian hadn’t received a gift, but she had gotten a holiday bonus and round-trip airfare.
Qianqian’s cheeks were flushed with excitement. She quickly packed up the gifts and announced that she could go to A University right away to deliver the young lady’s presents.
Mu Yue checked the time and wasn’t sure whether her roommates had already left campus, so she asked in their group chat. Fortunately, none of them had left yet. Xiaoya’s train was that evening, Jiajia’s was at six the next morning, and Fang Baiwei had no plans to go home.
Once everything was confirmed, Mu Yue told the three of them that Qianqian would bring their gifts over shortly. The group chat immediately filled with witty replies.
Now that they were familiar with one another, they were no longer as nervous and uneasy as they had been when they first received gifts from Mu Yue. They were even less concerned about outsiders. Ever since they had started sharing a dorm with Mu Yue, they had heard more than enough sour remarks from other people.
At first, they had felt that they didn’t deserve to be friends with her. But now? Whenever anyone made a jealous comment, they simply replied, “Jealous? Then keep being jealous. Nyah-nyah-nyah!”
Xiaoya and Jiajia happily packed the gifts Qianqian brought into their suitcases. When they saw that Fang Baiwei had no plans to return home, neither of them said anything. They knew, to some extent, that Fang Baiwei’s relationship with her family was far from good.
In fact, Fang Baiwei had already received countless messages and phone calls from the Fang family. Every time she opened one, her mood would immediately plummet. In her past life and in this one, they had never changed.
It was Mu Yue who had taught her what to do—block them.
She blocked every number and account connected to the Fang family. As for the living expenses and tuition Fang Baiwei would need from then on, Mu Yue told her not to waste her precious time worrying about them. She would cover everything.
Fang Baiwei truly didn’t know what to say to Mu Yue. Even “thank you” felt far too inadequate.
Before the National Day holiday began, she had actually considered finding a part-time job. She was very good at her studies, and after being accepted into A University, she could tutor high school students. She had heard from upperclassmen that tutoring jobs paid quite well.
But Mu Yue noticed and stopped her.
At the time, Mu Yue had been busy organizing the student volunteer association’s campus carnival. She only remembered this plot point when she returned to the dorm and saw Fang Baiwei searching for tutoring jobs.
University classes were difficult problems for Xiaoya and Jiajia, but to Fang Baiwei, they were a sea of joy. She got excited solving problems and felt happy working them out. She was simply born to study.
Fang Baiwei had already been so unhappy in her past life. Why shouldn’t she be allowed to do something enjoyable in this one?
As for the tutoring job, tuition, and living expenses, Fang Baiwei’s first thought after breaking away from the Fang family was naturally to rely on her own hands.
But how could the author who tormented the female lead ever let her live in peace? In the original story, after enrolling at A University, she also found a tutoring job.
Unfortunately, the student she tutored was a rebellious high school boy. He demanded that Fang Baiwei let him touch her before he would study properly. Fang Baiwei naturally refused and informed his parents, but they didn’t believe her. Instead, they accused her of seducing their son.
Having learned her lesson, Fang Baiwei quickly found another tutoring job. This time, the student was a girl who was obedient and listened well. She enjoyed a peaceful stretch of time.
But would the false heiress really let her remain at peace? Of course not.
The false heiress tracked down the previous family and joined forces with them to smear the female lead, making the scandal known across the entire university. Although the female lead later reported the matter to the police, proved her innocence, and made the boy’s family apologize and pay compensation, her reputation at A University was still damaged to some extent.
After that, she could no longer find any tutoring jobs.
Mu Yue didn’t think the female lead needed to go through all those awful things a second time.
Money was a trivial matter to Mu Yue—and it would be a trivial matter to Fang Baiwei in the future as well. Mu Yue had money. By investing in Fang Baiwei, she could spare her a whole mountain of trouble. Besides, Mu Yue firmly believed that this investment would pay off.
Fang Baiwei put away the gift Mu Yue had given her separately and saw the message Mu Yue had sent:
[Happy National Day, happy Mid-Autumn Festival, and happy studying.]
Fang Baiwei tightened her grip on her phone. It was true that she had nothing to give Mu Yue in return right now, but she would work hard at her studies. One day, she hoped she would become strong enough to shield Mu Yue from at least some of the wind and rain.
