The time was 2:30 PM, and the location was beneath the teaching building.
After wandering around with Qi Qiansao for two hours, Fang Wei still hadn’t obtained any more useful information.
Fortunately, Qi Qiansao had club activities in the afternoon.
After escorting her downstairs, she reluctantly waved goodbye, turning back every few steps like a war widow watching her husband head to the front lines.
The girl’s silhouette disappeared completely around the staircase corner, leaving Fang Wei feeling a little dazed.
Making a landmine girlfriend on the second day of university—how could he have such a dream?
But no matter how hard he tried, Fang Wei couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Qi Qiansao.
This girl seemed happy to share her life with him, yet the reason for her episodes was completely shrouded in secrecy.
She acted as if self-harm, medication, and sudden illness were normal, and she yearned so desperately for love, so the triggers that made her this way could almost be rationalized?
It seemed he couldn’t get the answers he wanted from Qi Qiansao, so Fang Wei could only proceed with his original plan, trying to investigate through group chats, the campus forum, and the campus wall.
Excluding fans and haters, he actually found some useful clues.
From more than half a year ago, shortly after Qi Qiansao entered university, an account with a Pikachu avatar had been lurking in forums related to her.
Unlike other frenzied or ooc fans, this Pikachu, with the nickname [Zeng Huolong], only appeared during flame wars.
On a post from half a year ago cursing Qi Qiansao as a green tea, [Zeng Huolong] even argued with the original poster for three hundred comments, the battle raging intensely, and later opened a dedicated thread for further sparring.
With a skeptical attitude, Fang Wei also found this user on the campus wall.
[Wall wall, leave a message]
[Shen Yuan Yuan from the Second-Year Arts Department, don’t think I won’t recognize you just because you put on a mask]
[You’re the one spreading rumors about our Xiaocao, even when canvassing votes you can’t beat her, what does an eternal second place dog even bark for]
Attached was a picture—a school flower poll organized by bored, enthusiastic netizens.
[Can’t win an argument so you look for someone to open my box?]
[Your dad Zhuge Yu surfs the net under his real name. If you have guts, call over your boyfriend who rides a 28-inch bike, and I’ll take off your rear wheel for you]
Attached was another image—a small, fair hand making an international gesture of friendship.
Below this campus wall post was a chaotic battlefield, with the real Zhuge Yu—[Zeng Huolong]—and another person engaging in a passionate flame war.
Fang Wei felt like he had wandered into an ancient battleground, his eyes spinning.
He clicked into Zhuge Yu’s account homepage and discovered that this fervent knight order member was actually female.
And they had a mutual friend.
His account only had three friends: Boss Lao Chen, Xia Yuanhua, and Qi Qiansao, who he had added not long ago.
Staring at it, Fang Wei guessed that this Zhuge Yu was someone Qi Qiansao knew—maybe even her best friend.
No need to overthink—better to add as a friend first.
As the request was sent, almost at the same time, Qi Qiansao sent a message.
[Boyfriend sir, let’s meet again tomorrow.]
A photo followed.
The girl bent forward, making a V sign with her right hand and smiling sweetly.
Behind her, the blackboard and a large poster were faintly visible.
When exchanging contact info, Qi Qiansao had said she was a member of the Literature Club.
A beautiful girl paired with literature—does it have potential?
Definitely—especially if the beautiful girl doesn’t explode.
Fang Wei replied with an “Okay,” and looked longer at the photo of the youthful, lively girl—so pure it felt dreamlike.
But the moment he thought of the scars under her sleeves, all desire faded away.
Qi Qiansao’s minefield was harder to explore than Xia Yuanhua’s—at least in terms of behavior logic, Fang Wei found her impossible to understand.
It seemed extracting benefits from the system wouldn’t be easy, but it was still the quickest path to a good life.
Whether in his previous life or after his rebirth, Fang Wei’s goal remained unchanged—to obtain happiness.
First, he needed money.
Joining the [Kaxiu] organization ten years ago was for money.
Perhaps because of this, the [Hypnosis app] had chosen him.
Ten years later, he still chased the ultimate dream of life.
But before that, to get his life back on track, he needed to pull these derailed women off the rails.
……
Unfortunately, [Miss Zeng Huolong] did not accept his friend request.
He could only persistently try again.
With this lead stalled, Fang Wei, now operating in dual-track mode, turned his attention to Xia Yuanhua.
The older sister had two classes in the afternoon, so Fang Wei had to deliberately stake out outside the classroom to intercept her.
His conversations with Xia Yuanhua over the past two days had been very restrained, because his last experience made him realize she wasn’t someone who indulged in the internet.
Otherwise, during the time they were online friends, why hadn’t her degeneration value changed at all?
However, after meeting in person and eating barbecue that day, Fang Wei could clearly sense her warmth.
The older sister used to complain about work and her boss, always vague and hiding things.
Now, she was finally willing to explain—her harsh boss was her own father.
With such a dad, of course you could write “My Secretary Father” in your essay, but don’t forget, enjoying the benefits also means feeling pressure from your father.
Considering Xia Yuanhua lived in such a remote place and hated her job so much, the problem clearly stemmed from her family.
That made things tricky.
If you have issues with your original family, as an adult you can cut off contact, but if your family member is also your boss, then all conflicts become unavoidable.
He pondered countermeasures.
Ten minutes later, students began to file out of the classroom.
Many white degeneration values floated through his vision, overlapping, but one red degeneration value stood out.
Today, Xia Yuanhua wore jeans and a black shirt, her hair tied in a neat high ponytail, walking alongside another female teacher.
She held a crumpled manuscript, looking exhausted, with puffy eye bags and no makeup.
Her steps were unsteady and her eyes lifeless.
With her head down, she suddenly stopped as a figure blocked her path.
Only then did she see the familiar boy and looked surprised.
At the same time, the red [Degeneration Value: 74%] above her head flickered, then turned white.
As joy flashed in her eyes, the degeneration value dropped to 65%.
It was a good sign for it to drop so much at once, but after only two days apart, how had her degeneration value increased so much?
And in red, signifying danger.
Whether the danger came from Xia Yuanhua or Fang Wei was unclear.
For the first time, Fang Wei felt his system was a songstress, dragging him recklessly toward self-destruction—any day, he might stumble into a minefield and get blown to pieces.
Still, he squeezed out a simple, respectful smile at Xia Yuanhua and the other teacher, bowing deeply.
“Hello, sister! Hello, teacher!”