The first round of verbal sparring between Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan unfolded without a trace of smoke and ended in silence. The entire process was pure technique, devoid of any emotion.
Surrounding onlookers could not hear what they were saying; they only saw the two appearing very intimate, chatting and laughing cheerfully from start to finish.
Instantly, the murmur of discussion grew louder.
"Good grief, could they actually be hooking up..."
"Judging by the look of it, it really seems so."
"God Luo is a legend. Can't win over the campus belle, so he goes for her roommate instead?"
"《How I Woke Up From Being a Simp and Confessed to the Goddess's Roommate Right in Front of the Goddess》"
"《Submissive in Front of the Aloof Campus Belle, Heavy-Hitting Warrior in Front of the NTR!》"
"My goodness, which bookstore sells your two authors' masterpieces? What? They don't have it in bookstores? I'm going to smash the bookstore right now!"
"..."
The surrounding chatter grew louder and louder. Every student's gaze was fixed on Qin Luo and Yao Yanyan. While guessing the content of their conversation, they did not forget to pull out their phones and snap pictures wildly.
After all, Qin Luo was a well-known figure around campus. Although his reputation hadn't been great before, after yesterday's good show, more and more people no longer used the moniker "God Luo" to mock him; instead, whenever they mentioned the nickname, their tone was full of admiration.
As for Yao Yanyan—well, even bad publicity is publicity.
Two people who should have had nothing to do with each other were now walking together so openly, and they did so just the day after Qin Luo gave up on Xu Ke and confessed to Yao Yanyan.
Put news like this on the forum, and would anyone worry about a lack of views?
In this entertainment-to-the-death era, people's lives were always monotonous and drab. They needed something stimulating to bring a splash of different color to their black-and-white world, and Qin Luo was now the one holding the paintbrush, stirring up their emotions with just a couple of casual strokes.
Qin Luo turned a deaf ear to the surrounding discussions and was also playing on his phone at the moment, but out of the corner of his eye, he was secretly glancing at Yao Yanyan.
Judging solely by that last round of sparring, Qin Luo completely failed to figure out what was going on inside Yao Yanyan's mind.
Logically speaking, she was Xu Ke's roommate, and what he did yesterday should have angered Xu Ke. As Xu Ke's good friend, it would be normal for her to reproach or question him.
Yet what did she do instead?
She completely avoided mentioning yesterday's events and naturally sat together with Qin Luo, chatting and laughing.
Faced with those intentionally suggestive remarks spoken by Qin Luo, she didn't show any major reaction after hearing them. Instead, she took the easy way out and answered questions with questions, and a couple of her lines even tried to analyze why Qin Luo had come to find her in the first place.
It seemed as though she had answered everything, but in reality, she hadn't answered a single thing.Is this the true power of a master NTR god and high-tier heartbreak queen? Terrifying indeed... Qin Luo sighed inwardly, then gave up trying to probe further.
In this world, human hearts are the hardest things to fathom, and harder still are the hearts of women.
So Qin Luo decisively gave up. Instead of trying to guess what Yao Yanyan was really thinking, he chose to use a cheat.
With a flick of his hand, a small, exquisite, minimalist in-ear headphone appeared in his palm.
Heart-Listening Earphones—one of the items currently in Qin Luo's possession. Its effect was the ability to hear a person's current inner thoughts. It could be used on different targets, but for a maximum of five times total, after which it would become an ordinary pair of headphones.
He held the earphones in his hand. The material felt quite ordinary, giving him the impression that a hard squeeze would crush it.
Qin Luo didn't mind. After toying with it for a moment, he put it into his ear and targeted Yao Yanyan.
The next second, Yao Yanyan's voice rang directly in his mind.
"Scumbag, don't think I don't know what you're up to. The way you used to grovel after Xu Ke was utterly shameless—and now you've suddenly stopped pursuing her? Who's going to believe that!"
"And you expect me to believe you like me? You're just using me as a pawn, trying to use me as a breakthrough to change your situation and make Xu Ke care more about you, aren't you?""Now you even make a special trip to come over and get close to me. Isn't it just to let Xu Ke see it on purpose and provoke him? I have to say, this scumbag still has some moves, but it's a pity he ran into me."
"Oh wow! And you sneak a glance at me from time to time. What for? Do you really want to make me think you've fallen for me? Hilarious. Is this lady really that easy to fool?"
"Trivial tricks. You're still a bit too green to pull this kind of stuff on me. Wanting to use me as a gun? Not that easy. Just watch how I make a fool of you in a minute..."
Qin Luo: "..."
Young lady, can your inner drama be just as sparse as your pure love factor?
He couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth, a trace of complexity showing in the gaze he directed at Yao Yanyan, simply never expecting that beneath her seemingly calm exterior, Yao Yanyan actually concealed such a rich inner monologue.
Yao Yanyan, standing to the side, sensed his gaze fixed on her. She turned her head to look and couldn't help asking, "What kind of look is that?"
Qin Luo thought for a moment and said, "I think if you went to be an actress, you'd definitely become a star."
Hearing this, Yao Yanyan froze for a moment, an expression of pleasant surprise immediately blooming on her face: "Are you serious? Why do you say that? Do I really look like I have the potential to be an actress?"
Her reaction caught Qin Luo somewhat off guard. After all, he had just made a teasing remark, yet Yao Yanyan seemed to love hearing it.
Could it be... that being an actress was her dream?"Yes, very likely. After all, she's a music major. Maybe she's planning to break into the entertainment industry by singing."
Still, he couldn't let his guard down. Right from their initial conversation, Qin Lu had concluded that this woman was a high-tier player. Her expressions, reactions, and words could all be a facade; there was no telling what she was really thinking.
If he went along with her now, saying things to flatter and affirm her, she would probably seize the opportunity and, just as she was scheming, come up with a way to mess with him and make a fool of him...
Heh, woman. Your tricks are indeed impressive, but unfortunately, I have a cheat code.
Qin Lu smiled without a word and did not take up Yao Yanyan's remark.
This left Yao Yanyan feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Just as she was about to say something else, the class bell rang, and a male music teacher in his forties sauntered in.
Judging by his flowing hair and healthy hairline, he was undoubtedly the object of envy for countless math teachers.
He walked up to the podium and swept his gaze across the students. Spotting Qin Lu, he suddenly paused and blurted out, "You... don't seem to be a student in our class, do you?"
Qin Lu was slightly surprised and couldn't help muttering internally, "Teacher, it's not just your hair volume that's enviable; your memory is too."
The teacher smiled and said pointedly, "If it were anyone else, I probably wouldn't recognize them, but you... you're much more famous around campus than any teacher or dean."
Coming from the teacher, even with Qin Lu's thick skin, he couldn't help turning red.
The surrounding students burst into uncontrollable laughter... Qin Lu had become known to countless people over the past few months for his relentless pursuit of Xu Ke, and then shot to fame yesterday with his outrageous stunt outside the girls' dormitory. The teacher saying he was more famous than the dean was really not an exaggeration at all.
After this pleasant little interlude, the teacher began the regular lesson, covering some music-related knowledge.
The students were divided into three groups. One group consisted of the diligent and studious, who were sitting up straight, staring straight ahead at the teacher on the podium without a stray glance. Then there were those who had no interest in studying; they were slumped over their desks, fast asleep.
As for the final group, they were, of course, the joyful spectators. Their little gazes darted back and forth between Qin Lu and Yao Yanyan every second, as if watching them closely would reveal some juicy gossip.
Qin Lu turned a blind eye to all of this and began to listen to the lecture attentively.
At first, he had only come because of Yao Yanyan, but now, listening to the music teacher's lecture, he found it quite interesting.
This was thanks to the [Music Mastery] reward he had obtained yesterday.
Originally, he had little interest in music, boasting at most a KTV-level proficiency. It was just that his voice had a magnetic quality and he didn't go off-key, so he sounded decent when singing, but he certainly couldn't compare to a professional singer, and he knew nothing about musical theory.
Yet after acquiring [Music Mastery], he now found anything related to music effortless.
Whether it was piano performance, guitar playing and singing, bass mixing, or hitting high notes, it was entirely without difficulty.
Because of this, when the music teacher brought up some professional knowledge, Qin Lu couldn't help but nod along.
With that serious and focused expression of his, anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was some veteran professor sitting in to evaluate the class.
Nearby, Yao Yanyan maintained the appearance of someone attentively reading and listening to the lecture, but in reality, she kept secretly observing Qin Lu.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken to her again after class started, Yao Yanyan wasn't in a hurry. She guessed that Qin Lu would definitely look for another chance to approach her, trying to close the distance and then use her to provoke Xu Ke.
Yao Yanyan didn't mind playing along with Qin Lu, because she didn't have much fondness for Xu Ke either, and sometimes even found Xu Ke's aloof demeanor rather irritating.
Especially Xu Ke's behavior yesterday—it had genuinely angered her. So she was actually quite willing to cooperate with Qin Lu to provoke Xu Ke a little.
Even so, she still felt resentful that Qin Lu had arbitrarily used her as a pawn, which was why she kept pondering how she might find a way to teach Qin Lu a small lesson.
And now, seeing Qin Lu's deeply focused posture during the lecture, she couldn't help a cold sneer inward.
"Acting the part quite well, aren't you? Wanting to put on an air of studious and profound knowledge just to catch my attention? Heh, man, your middle name is childish..."
As Yao Yanyan was thinking this, the teacher on the podium suddenly picked up a guitar and said, "You've all been studying music for a while now, and quite a few of you have picked up the piano or guitar. Is anyone willing to come up and play and sing a song for everyone on the spot? Good or bad, as long as you come up and sing, I'll give you an extra credit point."
At these words, the classroom instantly became restless. Even the students who had been sleeping straightened up involuntarily, their eyes revealing a deep yearning for that single credit point.
Pity that very few people dared to try; everyone seemed to feel that performing in front of so many classmates was embarrassing, so no one moved for a moment.
Only Yao Yanyan reacted somewhat differently...