Song Fu’s reason for ending the call wasn’t entirely an excuse; she really did have something to do. That was glancing over the lesson plans for her tutoring gig. Although the male lead had sent her money and said she didn’t need to go anymore, she would have to pay that money back later. If she spent it now, there would be no way to wrap things up afterward.
It was worth mentioning that in the later plot where the main couple met offline at a gathering, the female supporting character—who was also present—spent a four-figure sum on a skirt that didn’t even fit her well, just to save face. She ended up getting mocked by the others.
Yeah, money spent embarrassing herself was money she’d have to earn back the hard way. That was pretty heartbreaking.
…
“Little Yuan, didn’t the teacher just go over a similar problem?”
For the who-knows-how-manyth time, Song Fu sat down beside the little kid and gently reminded him. Her fingertip tapped the notebook. “Think back carefully. Isn’t it the same logic? If you really can’t remember, the teacher will explain it again, okay?”
The kid hung his head, gnawing on his pen cap, his brows furrowed like he was staring at his father’s murderer. Then he deflated. “I can’t remember.”
So Song Fu planned to go over that previous problem again, but she’d barely started when the kid suddenly had a realization. “Oh, it’s this one! I get it now!” He buried his head again and scribbled away.
It finally took over forty minutes to finish the homework.
During the break, the kid didn’t play on his phone or run around outside. Instead, he sat obediently in place and spoke in an admiring tone about his brother. “My brother is super awesome. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
Song Fu gave the standard response. “Then you need to learn well from your brother and work hard to become as awesome as him.”
The kid probably thought it was too hard and nodded hesitantly. He fidgeted. “Um, is my brother’s leg getting better? Sister, have you gone to see him?”
How was there unexpected plot like this? Song Fu knew nothing about it, so she stayed silent.
The kid didn’t find it odd. He just hung his head even lower. “I know my brother doesn’t like me, so he never stays home.” The kid sniffed. “I didn’t mean to annoy him.”
Song Fu patted the kid’s head but didn’t say anything.
This wasn’t the first time the kid had brought up his brother. Through their chats, Song Fu could piece together an image of her fake boyfriend. First, his looks were perfect from every angle. Then, his brain was incredibly sharp—in the kid’s words, “A problem this simple, my brother could solve it without thinking.” His grades were always top of the class. Finally, his personality was cool and badass… In short, he was perfect in every way.
Song Fu doubted the authenticity of the kid’s words. The idol filter seemed pretty thick.
Only today did she learn that this brother and the kid didn’t have a great relationship. No wonder she still hadn’t met him.
“The teacher doesn’t know what your brother thinks, but the teacher guesses he probably doesn’t hate you.”
Little Yuan looked up. “Really?”
Song Fu’s smile softened. “In general, no one hates someone who likes them.”
She didn’t dare say it too definitively. After the tutoring session ended, she just mentioned to the aunt that the kid was concerned about it.
The aunt sighed and spat out four words: “Same mother, different fathers.” Song Fu didn’t pry further, and the aunt didn’t elaborate. Telling too much to a tutor who might not come back was just loose lips.
When tutoring the kid, Song Fu came off as authoritative, constantly preaching about studying hard and paying attention in class. But when she switched back to her own student role, she was still skipping class to play games.
“Fu Fu, you’re really not going to class?” Her roommate slung on her bag and stood at the dorm door, confirming one last time. “If you skip advanced math, with how little it weighs in the usual score, you’ll definitely fail at the end.”
Song Fu had never skipped class without reason from childhood to now. This was her first time experiencing it in this small world. She shook her head firmly. “I’m really not going.”
Seeing she couldn’t be persuaded, the roommate finally prepared to leave but didn’t forget to remind her. “Keep an eye on your phone. This class does gesture check-ins. I’ll notify you when it’s time.”
Song Fu was so touched her eyes welled up. She clasped her hands together. “Thank you, thank you! I’ll fetch water for you later.”
Song Fu had two reasons for skipping class.
One was to maintain her original persona, and two was that she really couldn’t step away from the in-game event.
She and Tiantian were grinding dungeons everywhere. The game had just launched a new event, and she had to catch it on the first day or they’d fall behind the main group from the start.
She entered the YY voice channel, where a few people were already hanging out, chattering about quests and gossip. From someone on the leaderboard who took out loans to whale, to a guy flirting with girls in-game who was actually married with two kids in real life. “The internet is full of truths and lies. Everyone’s a better actor than the last.”
Song Fu cleared her throat lightly to announce her presence. “The event starts at 2 PM, right?”
The group, who had been chatting animatedly, all went quiet at once. Only Tiantian responded. “Yeah, yeah. This event drops gear and hairstyles. That white hair is so pretty; it matches the new outfit set perfectly.”
“Is it?” Song Fu skimmed the official game post and gave her take. “It does suit you. Very cute. But it doesn’t fit my character model’s face at all.” She whined affectedly. “Why doesn’t this game know how to make money? All the outfits are the same style. It kills any desire to spend.”
Someone in voice snorted with laughter. “Revenue’s been high lately. I kinda want to spend.”
An inexplicable tension spread. Tiantian defused it. “Okay, okay. The event’s about to start. I’ll pull everyone into the party.”
Song Fu rested her chin in her hand and accepted the in-game invite. She didn’t make another sound in voice and readjusted her gear.
Most people wouldn’t like someone full of lies who always hyped themselves up. At first, everyone humored her ramblings, but once they caught on, they went cold.
No desire to spend and simply having no money were totally different. Having no money wasn’t a crime, but pretending to be rich when broke just made you a joke.
And Song Fu bullshitted a lot.
The event started, and the group entered the dungeon. They hadn’t planned to clear it on the first try, but getting stuck right at the start was unexpected. Their squad wasn’t bad—Tiantian and her Romance had been on the leaderboard at launch, though they’d slipped since…
Tiantian had an account that posted dungeon guides and was the first to analyze the issue. “We’re at eight people now. This event is best with ten. Ququ, you gotta tank the pressure.”
Ququ acknowledged it but couldn’t help muttering. “If the healer’s skill was any higher, I wouldn’t have to.”
There were three healers in the party, Song Fu included. The comment was a bit pointed. “It was your last sweep you didn’t dodge. My pull was on cooldown.”
“You make it sound easy. Try dodging it yourself?” Ququ’s tone was sarcastic. “You’re so great, why not call over that rank-one Romance of yours? We’re short a person anyway. No need to complain about me being trash here.”
Song Fu huffed. “I never said you were trash.”
“Okay, okay.” Tiantian spoke up. “Let’s just play properly from now on. I’ll recruit two more and try again.”
…Whether it was bad luck or they just weren’t good enough, the next few recruits either had poor comprehension or dropped the ball at key moments. The squad’s morale got ground down, and even Tiantian couldn’t hold back a sigh. She vented in frustration. “God, how the hell do we clear this?!”
Over a few hours, Song Fu’s operation had no major issues and she wasn’t particularly irritated. She zoned out staring at the public chat scrolling by.
“Seriously, no joke this time. Luo Luo, can you really call over Big Shot Yan to help?”
Not used to the nickname Luo Luo, Song Fu didn’t react at first. Then she heard Ququ mock again—
“If she could really call him, great. But we’ve partied before. Have you ever seen Yan play with her?”
“You!” Song Fu slammed her mouse.
“You what.” Ququ didn’t care. “If you can, call him over then.”
Calling was impossible. This was the moment for the female supporting character to lose face. Song Fu went defiant. “It’s not that he doesn’t want to play with me, it’s…”
“It’s that there’s no challenge if he comes.” Ququ finished for her. “Same line every time. My ears are callused.”
“I’m out!” Song Fu, cornered, left the party and closed the voice software.
She cleared her game’s notifications, claimed her stuff, and reviewed her performance with the System. ‘Did it come off as lashing out in embarrassment?’
[Perfect, perfect! Host, your performance was flawless!]
…
She left, but the others kept going. Tiantian told Ququ to apologize, but he flat-out refused.
In his words, not only would he not apologize—he’d post about Song Fu on the forums for everyone to appreciate the weirdo together. True to his word, he did it.
818 Our Server’s Rank-One Romance#
OP: Hot shard server. Any insiders wanna spill on how that fgl became the big shot’s Romance?
Total poser who looks down on this and that, complains about having no money to spend, that event outfit she’s got is worn out and she hasn’t changed it, mistakes car brands for shoes—I bet she can’t even afford instant noodles in real life.
Thick-skinned too. Says she doesn’t want to play with the big shot blablabla, but I’ve never seen them play together. I bet the big shot ignores her. Does the big shot even know she’s using him to prop up her image?
1L: Decode plz.
2L: Bro, this is way too on-the-nose, isn’t it?