Chapter 3: Heartbreaking, Bro

It was evening. The servants were all present, and the sight of Miss Tang clinging to the young master’s leg left them frozen in shock.

This pose… 999999…

Under the stares of the servants, Yue Yuze’s expression grew colder. He bent down and pried the woman’s hands off his leg.

“Oh no! I’m not letting go!” Tang Xin shamelessly pressed her face against his leg and wrapped her arms around it even tighter.

Since she was already doing this and had offended him anyway, she was determined to hold on for the full 10 seconds!

Yue Yuze laughed in anger, his thin lips curling coldly. “Tang Xin, are you an idiot?”

Did this woman even know what shame was?

She might not care about her dignity, but he couldn’t afford to lose his.

“Let go… I’ll agree to it!” he ground out through clenched teeth.

Tang Xin mentally counted and, feeling confident that 10 seconds had passed, slowly released her grip. She stood up with a bright smile, backing away step by step.

The male lead’s face was so dark and cold it seemed like he wanted to break her into pieces.

So scary, boohoo~~

She retreated all the way to the sofa, plopped down, blinked her wide, round eyes, and picked up her phone to continue playing Plant Defense.

As long as she didn’t speak, she wouldn’t get beaten.

Sure enough, probably because she suddenly behaved and stayed far away, Yue Yuze just shot her a cold, piercing glare for a while before turning and heading up the stairs.

Phew…

Tang Xin let out a silent sigh of relief.

At that moment, a voice echoed in her mind: Ding… Random task complete. You’ve earned a reward pack. Would you like to open it now?

She replied mentally, Open it.

Ding—Reward pack opened. Congratulations, you’ve gained the ability to detect the male lead’s favorability level. Current favorability: 5.

Tang Xin couldn’t help but comment, “System, favorability of 5 points… What does that even mean?”

The system patiently explained, “Falling in love typically requires a favorability level of 100. You can gauge accordingly.”

Oh.

Tang Xin had a rough idea now.

“So… what was his favorability toward me before?” Wasn’t 5 points too little?

The system responded, “Before today, the male lead’s favorability toward you was -10 points!”

Minus 10 points…

Tang Xin: …

Heartbreaking, bro!

“Wait… Before today?” From -10 to 5?

Did she do something to earn a 15-point swing in favorability?

Could it be… because she just hugged his leg?

But he had seemed so furious earlier!

Tang Xin was utterly baffled. She scratched her head, trying to figure it out, but got nowhere.

While she was still puzzling over the matter, Yue Yuze had already taken action on his promise, ordering someone to remove the obstacles in her path.

Yang Sisi’s manager, who had already bought a trending topic and was preparing to release a short video of Tang Xin slapping Yang Sisi, received a call from their company.

It wasn’t just any call—it was from the president himself!

Though Yang Sisi and Tang Xin belonged to different entertainment companies, the president of Yang Sisi’s company instructed her manager, Lin Ye, not to exploit the slapping incident, especially not to target Tang Xin.

Lin Ye was puzzled.

Naturally, she asked why.

The boss replied bluntly, “All I can say is, the person backing her is someone I can’t afford to cross. Just follow orders.”

“President, who exactly is backing Tang Xin? Can you at least give me a hint?”

After a pause, the boss finally offered a clue: “Tang Xin is related to the Yue family… The person who called me was Fan Bei. You should be able to figure it out.”

Lin Ye was stunned.

Fan Bei!

Yue Yuze’s personal assistant!

So Tang Xin wasn’t just someone connected to the Yue family—she must have a close relationship with Yue Yuze himself!

“I never would’ve thought this newbie had such powerful connections,” Lin Ye muttered, wiping sweat from her forehead as she hurried to withdraw the video and cancel the planned posts.

When Yue Yuze emerged from his shower, Fan Bei informed him that the matter had been resolved.

At 9 p.m., Yue Yuze sat in his room, working on some company business on his computer. But by 10 p.m., that woman still hadn’t shown up.

He hadn’t even closed his door—just left it ajar.

If she came…

Suddenly, Yue Yuze froze.

Damn it! What was he thinking?!

Was he actually… expecting her to come?

Why?

Was he hoping she’d try to seduce him again?

Thud!

He slammed a document onto the table, an inexplicable frustration churning within him.

Unbidden, his mind replayed the scene from the set earlier. That woman had been slapped, stunned for a moment, then quickly slapped back. Afterward, she looked pitiful and timid as the director scolded her—a perfect mix of a cowardly yet endearing little lamb.

She seemed like someone who’d be easy to push around, yet in the end, she refused to suffer any loss.

In the three months they’d been married, this was the first time he had seen such an endearing side of her…

Maybe he had judged her too harshly, too prematurely.

Maybe she wasn’t as bad as he thought.

But… if she wasn’t greedy, then why did she marry him?

She had leveraged her favor to force him into marriage. Although it was just a one-year contract marriage, where both of them had their own needs fulfilled, she had repeatedly asked him for resources. Furthermore, the contract explicitly stated that she would receive a divorce settlement of 100 million before their separation.

A hundred million was nothing to him, as insignificant as a drop in the ocean. But for ordinary people, it was an astronomical sum.

For a woman like her, claiming she wasn’t greedy seemed utterly unreasonable.

Moreover, after their marriage, she had repeatedly attempted to seduce him, clearly aiming to gain even more from him.

Lost in thought, another half hour slipped by before Yue Yuze realized he couldn’t sit still any longer. He left his room.

As soon as he stepped out, he spotted her in the corridor near another room, back turned to him, holding her phone and talking to someone.

“…If offending people means I can’t stay in the entertainment industry, then so be it. We can always do other work, can’t we? Ashu, didn’t you say your hometown has plenty of mountains?”

Yue Yuze raised his brows slightly.

Qi Shu?

At that moment, he heard her voice again, filled with excitement and brimming with anticipation.

“Ashu, here’s the plan. When I’m done with the entertainment industry, you should quit too. In a few months, I’ll divorce Yue Yuze. Oh, let me tell you, I’ll have 100 million in alimony by then! Once I get the settlement, we can go back to your hometown and start a tea plantation together. I’ll be the big boss, and you’ll be the second boss!”

Yue Yuze: …

What kind of psychological trauma does one suffer from overhearing one’s own wife eagerly planning to use his money to grow tea with another man after their divorce?

Yue Yuze’s mouth twitched violently as his expression turned ashen. He stormed back into his room and slammed the door shut with force.

Bang!

Hearing the noise, Tang Xin instinctively turned her head.

Huh, it’s Yue Yuze… Wait, did he hear that?

But… she hadn’t said anything offensive to him, had she?

Their contract marriage was for a year, and there were only a few months left. That was true.

The 100 million alimony had been agreed upon from the start.

That was true, too.

On the other end of the call, Qi Shu asked, “Tang Tang, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just someone irrelevant. Ashu, let’s continue our conversation.”

Standing behind the door, Mr. Irrelevant Yue Yuze: …