Chapter 16: The Slanting Sunlight  

What’s the answer? Of course, there is no answer.  

Things you shouldn’t do—that is the ultimate answer. Just like how many people know their ex-boyfriend treats them poorly, and everyone around them advises them to break up. Is that something you should or shouldn’t do? Without a doubt, it’s something you shouldn’t do.  

So, should you still stay with your ex-boyfriend? I wouldn’t recommend it.  

A week—neither fast nor slow, neither long nor short.  

Time is like sand slipping stealthily through your fingers, asking the passing traveler, “Where has my time gone?”  

Over this past week, Zhang Modu had asked Lin Yu out many times, but Lin Yu seemed incredibly busy—either at school or at work.  

Did they ever meet up? Of course, they did.  

Even Zhang Modu couldn’t help but ask the black, mist-like “system” with a conflicted and reluctant expression, carefully choosing his words after a long pause:  

“Do I really have to win him over?”  

Occasionally, he muttered to himself, “This isn’t good for Lin Yu…”  

But clearly, the black mist system wasn’t the patient type. It never minced words. “If you successfully win over the Child of the World, I can take his Aura of Destiny. You’ll not only survive but also receive generous rewards.”  

“So many people beg for this kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, yet they never get it! Mortal, learn to appreciate what you have.”  

Zhang Modu lowered his head, clenching his fists tightly before slowly relaxing them as if resigned. Leaning against the wall, he took deep, heavy breaths.  

No rush, no rush… his plan had only just begun.  

He lifted his head, the timidity in his eyes replaced by sharp determination. Thick black mist seemed to envelop his pupils, swirling around his gaze. His entire demeanor shifted as he waved for his driver and strode out the door.  

……  

“Ding-ding-ding—”  

The sound of the university’s class dismissal bell gradually spread through the teaching building. The professor’s lecture faded into the noise of chattering students, the clamor spilling from the classrooms into the hallways and beyond.  

Lin Yu sat at his desk, idly spinning a pen, only relaxing when the bell rang. He picked up his textbook, lazily tossed it into his bag, zipped it up from bottom to top, then nodded at Chen Shuhua, who had been waiting for him. Side by side, they stepped out of the classroom.  

In the original host’s memories, there were instances of skipping class—but they felt “far too distant.”  

Not without reason—such experiences usually only happened at the start of each semester. He was simply too well-known. Not only did professors remember him after just one glance, but even among his peers—  

Lin Yu took out his phone, unlocked it, and swiftly logged into Lu Yixing’s account, opening the group chat that “exposed” his whereabouts.  

Sure enough, it had already updated with the class he’d just attended.  

[qqa: Lin Yu just finished Linear Algebra! OMG, he was sitting right next to me!!!]  

He resignedly locked the screen.  

Lin Yu granted 001 full access in his mind as he followed Chen Shuhua’s leisurely pace outside, asking, “Have you found out who the Group Owner is yet?”

001 whimpered with grievance, tears welling up. “Wuwu, no way! I already said the technology in this world can’t track it yet.”

“Wuwuwu, Host, my salary got docked…” A large, glistening tear dropped from 001’s virtual screen in a flickering animation, accompanied by a “plop” sound effect.

“You made several world-important figures meet simultaneously in the school cafeteria before, triggering a Battle Royale of Admirers and erupting major conflicts that affected the storyline trajectories. My salary got docked!”

Lin Yu lowered his gaze in deep thought as they walked to the outer playground. Willow branches stretched freely with their long tendrils, leaves of varying lengths swaying gently in the breeze. The faint chirping of cicadas seemed to linger among the willows, elongating his strides.

—”Crack.”

He accidentally stepped on a willow branch, the tan-brown twig snapping loudly beneath his foot, interrupting his thoughts. Lin Yu simply stopped.

He paused beneath the willow’s shade. The midday sun cast scattered dappled shadows on their clothes, fragmented light catching the tips of his hair and softening his features.

Chen Shuhua halted immediately, turning with concern as worry surfaced in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Lin Lin?”

Lin Yu relaxed his furrowed brow, looking at Chen Shuhua with an almost serene gaze. Slowly, he said, “Tell me—that day in the cafeteria.”

His eyes were unreadable, as if discussing something trivial, yet his words sent chills down the spine. “How did they all know where I was?”

A breeze brushed past their faces, lifting part of Lin Yu’s bangs. The black strands lightly traced his profile. “Even in that group chat that exposed my whereabouts, there wasn’t a single mention of the cafeteria.”

“Tell me—how did they know?”

Chen Shuhua’s mind was a tempest of panic. He struggled to suppress his emotions, forcing an expression of shock as he met Lin Yu’s gaze with feigned concern, eyes brimming with anxiety:

“What group chat? One that exposes your location?!”

He was gambling—betting that while Lin Yu had heard of the group chat, he didn’t know its contents. Betting that he could still salvage his “good impression” in Lin Yu’s eyes. After years of being Lin Yu’s dutiful roommate, how could he let it all crumble now?

—Time seemed to freeze.

Lin Yu showed no reaction, not even a flicker of expression. He continued staring at Chen Shuhua with that same detached calm, as if nothing could stir his emotions.

A single sentence plunged Chen Shuhua into an icy abyss.

Chen Shuhua felt his blood run cold, his hair standing on end. Though City A was nearing summer, temperatures rising steadily, he shivered as if in deep winter.

“Aren’t you the Group Owner?”

He hurried forward, trying to grab Lin Yu’s arm, only for Lin Yu to evade him. Stuttering, his words fragmented:

“H-how could I be? You’re joking, right, Lin Lin?” His pleading eyes were desperate, panic and helplessness consuming him.  

“The Group Owner can’t be me, I don’t even know… A-and I only joined by accident… A friend added me…”

Lin Yu remained silent, but his gaze was calm and profound, like an unbreakable mirror or an ancient well without a ripple, steadily fixed on him.

“I, I…” Chen Shuhua hesitated, struggling to speak.

“Long time no see, Senior Lin.”

Before he could finish, his words were interrupted by a bright, cheerful male voice. The newcomer, with a half-smile, dribbled a basketball and squeezed in front of Chen Shuhua, startling him into quickly stepping aside.

Lin Yu turned slightly and nodded at the newcomer.

“And this is?” Lu Yixing glanced at Chen Shuhua with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I was too focused on greeting him.”

Chen Shuhua forced a strained smile, the corners of his lips twitching. “Lin Yu’s roommate. I’m Chen Shuhua.” He answered dismissively, not wanting to get hit by a basketball again.

“Oh~ So you’re Senior Chen Shuhua!” Lu Yixing exclaimed, as if suddenly enlightened, leaving Chen Shuhua baffled.

“You know me?” Chen Shuhua tried his best to sound polite.

Lu Yixing buzzed around them like an enthusiastic, curious bee, his round eyes darting between the two. “Of course! Just the other day, I checked out that restaurant you visited.”

“What restaurant?”

Lin Yu’s voice cut in abruptly, cold and sharp, startling both of them. They turned to look at him.

Lin Yu’s lips were pressed into a tight line, his eyes now sharp and stern, reflecting their figures as his gaze locked onto them. His tone was grave as he demanded, “Which restaurant?”

Chen Shuhua wanted to reach out and shake his shoulder reassuringly but held back, swallowing hard. “Lin Lin, don’t worry. Whatever you need, I’ll help you.” As he spoke, he pulled out his phone.

The dappled shadows of the willow tree fell across half of Lin Yu’s face, the shifting light obscuring his expression.

Chen Shuhua raised his phone, displaying his recent activity—the very restaurant he and Lin Yu had visited not long ago.

Lu Yixing also opened his phone, awkwardly showing them a photo while scratching his head sheepishly. “Ah, my friend insisted we go there, saying it was… well, the restaurant the campus heartthrob visited.”

Lin Yu studied the image intently, his brow furrowed in thought.

[Image: A photo of restaurant food, two people flashing peace signs at their table, with a waiter smiling near the cash register in the background.]

“Did this waiter offer you a discount for checking in and taking photos?” Lin Yu pointed at the figure in the photo.

Lu Yixing was taken aback. “N-no? There’s such a promotion?”

Chen Shuhua watched Lin Yu’s troubled expression with a pang of sympathy. Unable to hold back any longer, he tentatively wrapped an arm around Lin Yu’s, his eyes filled with concern as he leaned in closer, softening his voice. “Lin Lin…”

Gazing at Lin Yu’s pensive face, his breath hitched. He tightened his grip on Lin Yu’s arm, inching even closer, his voice gentle. “Can I help you…?”

In an instant, he felt himself being lifted—his body suddenly suspended in midair.

—He had been hoisted up with one hand!

He was startled out of his wits, trembling as he turned to see Lu Yixing’s previously radiant smile replaced by a dark scowl. Dangling in the air, his legs shook uncontrollably before being unceremoniously dropped to the ground.  

Chen Shuhua staggered, barely able to keep his balance before collapsing onto the floor, his face a mask of terror as he stared up at the figure looming over him.  

“Was it really necessary to harass someone, senior?” Lu Yixing crossed his arms, looking down at him with undisguised menace in his tone.  

“W-what nonsense are you spouting?” This was the second time Chen Shuhua had felt the sting of a threat. His voice wavered, tears welling up alongside his indignation.  

“Are you straight, buddy? Since when is this okay?” Lu Yixing shot back without hesitation.  

“I might not know if I’m talking nonsense, but I’m damn sure about what you were up to.”  

“Lin Yu, Lin Yu—help me up,” Chen Shuhua pleaded, casting a desperate glance toward Lin Yu, who was still lost in thought.  

“Hey, you’re really something,” Lu Yixing chuckled, giving up the argument. He bent down, grabbed Chen Shuhua’s collar with a sharp tug, and hauled him upright, even dusting off his clothes with exaggerated care.  

Lin Yu’s thoughts drifted far beyond the two, his gaze fixed on the dappled shadows in the distance as he conversed with 001 in his mind.  

“That waiter deliberately led Chen Shuhua to post it.”  

“A quick investigation shows his family is struggling financially, and he’s always looking for freebies. Getting him to take that check-in photo wouldn’t have been hard.”  

“But,” Lin Yu’s reasoning remained methodical,  

“if the goal was just to drive traffic to his restaurant for sales, why take such a roundabout approach?”  

“001, access the restaurant’s surveillance. Check if the same was done to Li Yide and the others.”  

For 001, tapping into the restaurant’s cameras—well within this world’s technological limits—was child’s play. In under two seconds, the results appeared on Lin Yu’s mental display: enlarged images, crystal clear.  

Alongside them, footage of that very waiter lurking near the Battle Royale of Admirers in the cafeteria that day!  

The surveillance plainly showed him hunched over his phone, occasionally glancing up to steal furtive looks at Chen Shuhua and the others as they ate.  

“That waiter went to add Li Yide and the others as contacts?” Lin Yu paused, tapping a finger rhythmically against his thigh.  

“Trying to expose my whereabouts? Deliberately gathering them together?”  

“Manufacturing a Battle Royale of Admirers? Why?”  

Lin Yu lifted his head, squinting against the sparse sunlight filtering through the leaves, watching the distant birds stretching their wings freely in the midday glow.  

“But if the goal was just to reveal my location, wouldn’t a single message in that group chat have sufficed? Was that so hard?”  

He narrowed his eyes, raising a hand overhead. Sunlight spilled through his fingers, casting shifting patterns across his face, as if pulling at his skin.  

They say darkness cannot hide in the light—but what about this time?  

“Unless… he isn’t a student here at all.”