Ye Qianqian's smile froze. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as if she had misheard.
"What did you say?" she asked again.
Song Qian knew the moment he blurted it out that he had made a mistake. But the impact of what he had just seen was too strong—he couldn't hold back.
All this time, Qianqian had seemed so pure and delicate to him… yet just now, in that instant, he realized her face looked like a dog's head!
He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nope. Still the same. Ye Qianqian, with a forced smile on her face, really did look like a dog with a forced smile.
"It's nothing," Song Qian mumbled guiltily, looking away.
An Ting, smiling faintly, kindly reminded him: "He just said you look like a dog's head."
"Listen!" Song Qian stretched out his long arms and grabbed her sleeve, pulling her in front of him. His smile was fake as hell, and he spat through gritted teeth, "Can't you just see it without calling me out?"
An Ting pulled back her sleeve and returned the same fake smile. "A simp will end up with nothing."
"You…."
Before Song Qian could finish, Ye Qianqian, seeing the two about to flirt shamelessly, could no longer hold back. Her eyes reddened as she stared blankly at Song Qian:
"So… that's how you've always seen me? You think I'm… a dog?"
"That's not—no, it's not like that!" Song Qian panicked. He turned to her, trying to salvage the situation with some kind words. But all he could see… was a dog's head with red eyes.
He looked up at the sky, hoping to change the subject: "Qianqian, you said you went out to buy medicine… are you sick?"
Ye Qianqian lowered her head, uneasy. "Just a little cold. Not serious, really."
"It's alright… hehe, it's alright," Song Qian laughed dryly, afraid to say the wrong thing, missing entirely the subtext in her voice.
"I just remembered my dad needs to talk to me, so I'll head off. Remember to rest when you get back to your dorm." Song Qian didn't look at Ye Qianqian, instead giving An Ting a wink.
He had asked An Ting to remember to transfer 28 cents to him. Ye Qianqian misread the gesture and felt a knot tighten in her chest.
Ever since Sun Yiling's attitude toward her changed last time, Ye Qianqian had checked her "Affection Buff," asking why it had suddenly stopped working.
The system had crashed for several days. She only told Ye Qianqian yesterday that it was a pirated version of some software—errors could occur. Sun Yiling's sudden lack of affection was likely the software's fault. Ye Qianqian had to bear the risk.
She was furious all night, but there was nothing she could do. Fortunately, it had only happened once, and the system had worked normally ever since. That gave her peace of mind.
Yet Song Qian's weird attitude earlier made her wonder: did the admiration buff malfunction again? But the admiration in his eyes was still there. So… where was the problem?
Her gaze fell on An Ting. Could it be that Song Qian's feelings for An Ting were so deep, even the admiration buff couldn't fully take effect?
An Ting watched as Song Qian drove away, practically sprinting out of there with a sassy turn.
Then she felt a sharp, venomous gaze on her.
She met Ye Qianqian's glare and smiled softly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ye Qianqian sneered. "You and Song Qian are so close. Even after breaking up, he still takes you back to school."
"If you're jealous, why not accept his advances? Isn't he chasing you lately?" An Ting tilted her head and brushed past. "You don't have to string him along, worrying about which girl ends up in his car."
Ye Qianqian's expression shifted. Her previous innocent, delicate demeanor vanished instantly. She gritted her teeth. "Don't be so smug!"
What's there for An Ting to be proud of? She's suddenly a penniless student… oh, wait, now she just got five million!
Since Song Qian ran out of money, Ye Qianqian hadn't received anything from him—except, perhaps, the dog head she placed on his face. That filter hadn't disappeared. Song Qian still saw her as innocent and admired her, just diminished a bit because she looked like a dog.
With that lingering admiration, Ye Qianqian would eventually benefit from Song Qian. An Ting, however, could only use basic Photoshop. The last time she removed Sun Yiling's affection, it was a simple filter. Song Qian's filter, though? Too complex. No paint bucket could fix it.
An Ting could only slap the simplest dog head on his face. Useless.
Returning to her dorm, An Ting found it empty except for herself.
She'd just sat down when the curtain on the opposite bed whipped open. Wang Shiran, skipping class, glared at her with red eyes.
"Why aren't you in class?" An Ting asked, startled.
"You're lying!" Wang Shiran threw a pillow. "Song Qian doesn't like pretentious girls at all. I got kicked out of their circle because of you!"
"What lie?" An Ting frowned, dodging. "Everyone saw Song Qian pursuing Ye Qianqian. How could I lie to you? If anyone, it's your fake innocence—it can't compete with Ye Qianqian's."
Wang Shiran froze. "Impossible… how am I inferior to that bitch?"
An Ting watched her spiral without a hint of pity. Wang Shiran brought this on herself. Back then, Song Qian's girlfriend had been quiet and trouble-free, easy to bully. Now, with Ye Qianqian's innocence, she wasn't so easy.
Half a minute later, the dorm door slammed. An Ting didn't care where Wang Shiran went. Instead, she sent a video to Sun Yiling.
It was a casual short film she had shot earlier. No plot—just beautiful shots. She'd put effort into costumes and makeup to show Sun Yiling her progress. Her goal? Participate in the school's promotional video. Sun Yiling was the director. If he agreed, she could join the filming.
Although PS kept nagging her to prevent the Admiration Buff from leveling up, she had little room to maneuver. If Ye Qianqian used it on more men, leveling it up, it would get harder for An Ting.
In the original book, after participating in the promotional video, Ye Qianqian used her "Admiration Buff" to gain the lead photographer's favor—his family was an industry giant. After the video released, she became an online sensation and signed a lucrative contract. Her cheat ability had reached a new level.
PS snorted: "Good thing you understand. This was the purpose I brought you into this world for."
Sun Yiling had just left the school TV station when he bumped into Ye Qianqian. She worried the buff had expired, so she immediately gave him another. Seeing adoration in his eyes, she sighed in relief.
"Qianqian, did you just get out of class?"
Ye Qianqian shook her head. "I borrowed a few books from the library to read in my dorm."
Sun Yiling's eyes sparkled. "You're really hardworking. Even with so much to do, you find time to read."
"Otherwise, there's nothing else to do," Ye Qianqian said with a bright smile. "By the way, Director, how's the promotional video coming along?"
"It's outsourced to a professional studio. We handle casting and assistance. Once they're ready, we can start." Sun Yiling looked at her smile, his heart stirred.
He'd considered cutting some of her scenes—her image hadn't been great last time—but after seeing her today, he realized he'd worried unnecessarily.
Ye Qianqian was beautiful, hardworking, ambitious—the perfect promotional image. He wished he could give her more screen time.
Tears of joy sparkled in Ye Qianqian's eyes as she grabbed his hand: "Director, thank you!"
Sun Yiling's heart raced, ears slightly red. "It's nothing. Really."
The power of admiration. Even Song Qian, still harboring feelings for An Ting, would eventually fall for her completely—just like Sun Yiling.
Ye Qianqian lowered her head, hiding the smug ambition in her eyes.
Both were so caught up in their joy that they didn't notice someone across the street raising a phone.