"Ling'er, you..."
Before Mu An could finish his sentence, the other party suddenly grabbed his collar, causing him to instinctively lower his head slightly.
Then, he was directly pushed against the wall... wall-dong!
Mu An: ???
'All day long hunting wild geese, but I was pecked in the eye by a goose. This time, I actually got taken advantage of by someone else?!'
This was the thought that unconsciously popped into his mind.
As he breathed again, the girl's face was already flushed with embarrassment, and the corners of her lips curled into a stiff, mischievous smile.
She spoke as if reading from a script, stumbling over her words.
"Heh, man, you... you are playing with fire!"
"Don't... don't let me see you involved with other women again. You are destined to be... my man! You can't escape!"
The other party clearly said this because she had just seen what happened.
Mu An: ???
A rare look of confusion flashed in the man's eyes. Because...
'Everything she said are my words!'
But soon, Mu An understood the situation.
[Due to making such a bold move for the first time, Shen Pan'er was so embarrassed that her toes curled up. Emotional fluctuation +25, congratulations, you have received the reward [Random God-level Novel from Parallel World *5]!]
[I don't know if you will hate her. The girl felt a bit anxious inside, emotional fluctuation +26, congratulations, you have received the reward [Proficiency +6000]!]
So, the girl in front of him who looked just like Shen Ling'er was her twin sister?
Hearing the series of emotional reward notifications, Mu An already had the answer in his heart.
Clearly, she had just bravely made such a move, but now, Shen Pan'er completely dared not meet the man's gaze.
And those two lines she had practiced in front of the mirror countless times ended up being said in a stuttering manner.
One could only say... it was a bit embarrassing!
"You..."
Mu An was about to speak, but the other party spoke first.
"I have something to do, so I... I'll leave first!"
Saying this, the girl covered her burning face and quickly fled, leaving behind a faint scent of gardenia.
[Extreme shyness from the girl, emotional fluctuation +30, congratulations, you have received the reward [Cultivation Years +4], [Book: About How I Did Such an Embarrassing and Bold Thing to My Life-Saving Benefactor]!]
"..."
Watching the girl leave, Mu An wanted to call her back but could only freeze in mid-air.
He shook his head and couldn't help but murmur to himself.
"Taking advantage is fine, but next time remember to pay more (emotional rewards)!"
However... around the next corner, a sudden fist swung out.
Mu An took a few steps back, as if foreseeing it, and directly neutralized the sneak attack without a trace. After all, this time it wasn't the heroine, and there were no emotional rewards to farm, so why should he dodge?
'A professional villain naturally learns to choose options that are beneficial to himself!'
The other party might have swung their fist too hard, or perhaps they didn't have much experience in fighting.
Inadvertently, the empty punch slammed hard against the wall beside him, causing its owner to wear a mask of pain.
"Ah—"
Wang Mingxuan squatted on the ground, enduring the pain, and couldn't help but curse inwardly.
'So painful! It must be scraped! Damn! My fist must be scraped!'
If it weren't for the fact that someone might pass by at any moment, he might have already cried out in pain without caring about his image.
Wang Mingxuan held back the tears in his eyes and glared fiercely at Mu An.
"I warn you to stay away from Shen Pan'er! She is the woman I have my eyes on!"
"Otherwise, be careful I find someone to take you out! I'm not some ordinary university student you can mess with!"
Mu An found it amusing.
This scene was like what?
It was like a mantis confidently standing in front of a train saying, 'I'm going to take you down.' Little did it know what kind of terrifying existence it was about to face!
The man also intended to tease this ignorant 'mantis.'
"Who are you threatening?"
"Threatening you!"
Wang Mingxuan's eyes remained fierce.
But a guy who looked like a pretty boy was just so weak and fragile!
"Who are you?"
Mu An smiled.
"I am... you don't even know who I am?"
"Sorry, I generally don't recognize cats and dogs on the street!"
Wang Mingxuan was stunned, unable to help but widen his eyes.
An unconscious thought appeared in his mind.
'He even apologized to me, and he's quite polite!'
But after realizing it, he felt an overwhelming anger.
This man in front of him completely looked down on him, every word was mocking him like a fool!
As for who the fool was? Naturally, it was referring to himself!
"You young man, the world is very deep, not something a university student like you can grasp!"
Wang Mingxuan's expression grew darker, subtly threatening.
He thought that dealing with this 'naive and ignorant' young man would only take a few words to scare him off.
But reality was slapping him in the face!
"If there's a problem here (pointing to his head), go see a doctor."
"Modern medicine is very advanced, keep it up, and don't give up on treatment."
Mu An chuckled lightly.
Then he bypassed the other party and left directly.
He perfectly embodied the phrase 'disregarding others.'
Along the way, he 'kindly' handed over a [Bad Luck Card] as a meeting gift!
"Damn it!"
How could Wang Mingxuan let the other party leave so arrogantly?
He first looked around and, seeing that there was no one nearby, decisively kicked his leg, preparing to kick the man from behind.
'Anyway, there's no one around, why be timid?'
'If it really escalates, what I say as a top celebrity will be more persuasive than what a regular university student says, right?'
'Just mobilizing my crazy fans could make him doubt his life with online harassment!'
With this thought in mind, Wang Mingxuan steeled his heart and suddenly extended his leg to launch an attack on the man's back.
He wore a smug expression, as if he could already see the scene of the man being kicked down to the ground by him!
However...
At that moment, Wang Mingxuan did not notice that there was a puddle right under his feet.
He just so happened to step on it, and his foot just so happened to slip.
Without any preparation, he fell awkwardly, landing flat on his back.
To make matters worse, his head unfortunately hit a nearby potted plant, giving him a double whammy of stars in his eyes.
If he hadn't thought that stopping to mock the other person at this moment was too lowbrow, Mu An might have added a line.
'Even giving you a chance is useless!'
As he watched the man gradually walk away, Wang Mingxuan, still lying on the ground, was filled with rage.
He held his dizzy head and roared as loudly as he could.
"Damn it! I will kill you sooner or later..."
But before he could finish his sentence, the vase he had bumped into earlier wobbled and then... precisely smashed onto his head.
This critical hit made Wang Mingxuan kick out his legs, roll his eyes back, and he promptly passed out.
It could be said that he was truly having the worst luck!
…..
Room 307.
"This time it should be the real one, right?"
Mu An couldn't help laughing as he watched the girl carefully push the door open.
"Huh?"
Shen Ling'er looked completely confused.
Mu An briefly explained what just happened, but left out the part where he got kabedon'd—too embarrassing.
In truth, for Mu An, as long as there were enough emotional rewards, whether it was embarrassing or not really didn't really matter.
"Um… there's something I want to say. Don't get too nervous when you hear it, okay?"
"What is it? Go ahead. I'm a professional. I'm usually not nervous."
Mu An kept a straight face, acting extremely serious.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Ling'er still voiced her 'guess.'
"It's just… well… my little sister might like you!"
'Not 'might.' It's basically… definitely.'
She silently added that part in her heart.
Mu An naturally already knew.
After all, no normal person would kabedon a 'stranger' they'd only met a few times.
Of course, lovebrains didn't count.
But he didn't answer directly. Instead, he tossed a new question back.
"Then do you want me to accept her, or reject her?"
"I… I don't know."
Facing the question head-on, Shen Ling'er's heart fell into chaos. She looked at him with a lost, helpless gaze.
She imagined it—if she saw Mu An and Shen Pan'er standing together sweetly… a strange pain rose in her chest.
Like someone had grabbed her fragile heart in their hand, squeezing until she couldn't breathe.
That feeling…
Even when she'd been seriously ill and unable to play her beloved piano, even when she'd failed to catch fleeting inspiration and couldn't write a song she loved… she'd never felt anything like this.
Maybe, at some point, the inner world that had only ever held music had been invaded by the shadow of a man—one she could no longer forget.
[From the girl's pain and sadness emotional fluctuation +30, congratulations you received [Fortune +30]!]
"I understand," Mu An nodded.
Setting aside the system prompts, sometimes silence itself was already an answer.
...
On the other side.
After Wang Mingxuan was found unconscious, he was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
After waking up, he immediately posted a sympathy-bait video, successfully stirring up another wave of online discussion.
- [Waaah, my brother is working so hard! He collapsed in the hospital from rehearsal and even got injured—this is heartbreaking!]
- [Strongly condemning the organizers! Is this how you protect my brother's safety? Trash event! Sisters, later go to the livestream and report them together!]
- [I'm shaking with anger! If anything happens to my brother, I'll go offline and fight your production team with my life!]
When the effect was about right, Wang Mingxuan came out 'kindly' telling fans not to get too worked up, building his 'good-hearted' persona.
Then he deliberately announced that he would still perform later despite the hardship, and that he would dedicate a song to someone very important!
Once again, he pushed the hype to a new peak.
Fans immediately started guessing who that 'important person' was.
It could be said: he'd long since mastered this kind of public-opinion manipulation.
Those brain-dead fans, in his eyes, were nothing more than dogs he could drive at will.
Whoever he wanted them to bite, they would charge at without thinking.
...
After that little hiccup, the highly anticipated Qingchuan University freshman welcome gala finally began.
A fiery girl-group opening instantly ignited the atmosphere.
Then a famous star's classic performance raised the hype to yet another level.
After that came the student performances selected through multiple brutal rounds of internal competition.
The performances were spectacular one after another, drawing nonstop cheers from the audience, and the "sea of stars" formed by countless glow sticks was truly breathtaking to behold.
At this moment, a gorgeously dressed male and female host stepped onto the stage.
"Birds long for the sky, just as people long for freedom."
"In reality, there are shackles everywhere binding us, but at least in this moment, please enjoy this rare freedom to the fullest!"
"Next, please enjoy an original instrumental piece brought to you by two students— 'Song of the Bird'!"
In the audience, people immediately started murmuring.
Many had already seen the official program list for tonight.
They knew perfectly well that there was no performance called "Song of the Bird" in the original lineup.
So, what was this sudden new addition?
Especially those performers who had fought through harsh selection rounds—resentment rose even more.
Why did we earn our chance with blood and sweat, while others could get a slot so easily through 'connections'?
That's not fair!
- [Was this on the program list? I don't remember seeing it!]
- [Black box! It has to be black box! Even a gala this huge is openly rigged—are they insulting our intelligence? And it's unfair to those contestants who prepared forever and poured in endless sweat!]
- [Don't say that. Maybe it's a 'surprise' prepared by the organizers. It's not like there's no precedent—like quietly inviting some big industry figure and shocking everyone.]
- [But the hosts said it's just two students? How can they compare to big industry pros?]
Online, some public accounts even began steering the narrative, and a topic like "Qingchuan University Welcome Gala—Black Box" shot up the trending list at lightning speed.
At the same time, the stage lights dimmed.
"Ling'er, are you nervous?"
Mu An held his violin and chuckled.
The girl, wearing a half-mask with pearl-like embellishments, took a deep breath, then slowly said a couple words.
"Not nervous."
Not only because they had already rehearsed this piece together many times and she had confidence in herself, but also because… 'you're by my side.'
"Ding—"
When the first piano note rang out, the last trace of tension in Shen Ling'er's eyes completely vanished.