Youshen simply used various pretexts to get Yan to interact with other girls as much as possible.
Naturally, this caused Yan's attention to scatter.
In this world where Martial Souls reigned supreme, coupled with Hu Liena's exceptional looks—even though her personality and emotional intelligence left a lot to be desired—she was undeniably the most outstanding female peer available to Yan.
That fact would not change, nor was there any need to change it.
Given the relationship between Youshen and Yan at the time, Youshen was not about to waste too much energy on him.
If Yan remained stubbornly obsessed, Youshen wouldn't bother trying hard to drag him out of the quagmire.
He wasn't Yan's parent; he had no such responsibility or obligation.
His only goal was to distract Yan's attention away from Hu Liena and force him to divide the time he usually spent on her among other girls.
Even if it was just making ordinary friends, given Yan's brainpower, he had to rack his brains to manage it.Regardless of whether he could graduate from being a simp in one go, at least he wouldn't sink any deeper and make things worse.
After that, Youshen didn't pay attention to Yan's romantic developments for quite a while.
He only had a vague sense that Yan seemed to be a lot more popular in class than before.
Two months passed just like that.
The kid came looking for him once more.
"Teacher, another girl confessed her feelings to me..."
Youshen once again sighed inwardly at how precocious people were in this world; damn it, this bunch of little runts were only eight years old!
"And? How do you feel about her?"
Actually, there was no need to ask; looking at Yan's expression, Youshen could already guess the answer, but he asked anyway.
"She... she's pretty cute, and quite outstanding too. Her personality is great as well, she's very gentle with me, and she brings me breakfast every day."Naturally, while Yan was completely insignificant in Hu Liena's eyes, to other girls—even with his rather ordinary appearance—he was absolute prime material.
This wasn't about any kind of materialism, but rather a deeply rooted instinct of the human race: the admiration of strength.
Human beings, regardless of gender, are creatures that admire strength. Possessing arguably the highest innate talent among the Golden Generation trio, Yan was naturally seen as a strong figure by his peers.
Therefore, virtually no girl would feel any aversion to Yan's proactive friendliness and attempts to get closer. This was something Youshen had anticipated long ago.
And anyone bold enough to launch an advance against such a strong individual was at least someone who believed they had the qualification to catch up and lacked any sense of inferiority.
For such a person to be rated as outstanding by Yan was only logical.
However...
"But I still like Nana, so I turned her down."
A perfectly reasonable answer.
How could a creature like a simp stop simping so easily? Youshen didn't feel any exasperation or anger at this. If anything, the current Yan had only just reached the second step of the "trial" Youshen had set for him.
Hearing Yan's answer, Youshen began his interrogation.
For Yan, who was seeking comfort and a strategy to pursue Hu Liena, Youshen's questioning naturally felt abrupt and startling.
Yet, perhaps due to a mix of the dignity and closeness of a teacher and elder, alongside his recognition of Youshen's wisdom, Yan accepted the questioning. "Yan, you say you still like Hu Liena. Then let me ask you, what specifically is it about Hu Liena that you like?"
"Ah, well..."Seeing Youshen looking at him with no trace of teasing in his eyes, Yan hesitated and thought for a few seconds before answering, "Na, Nana is very cute and pretty to begin with! Then, although her personality isn't the best—she can be a bit willful—I think that's also part of what makes Nana cute. And then there's her talent! Nana's talent is the only one in the class that's comparable to mine, and she has always worked so hard! Finally... I guess it's the time we've spent together? Ever since I can remember, Nana, Xie Yue, and I have always played together. I've always felt that the three of us should just keep going on like this..."
Youshen did not interrupt Yan, simply listening as he spoke in fits and starts, and only spoke after Yan finished.
"Mm, that's pretty much the answer I expected. Appearance, personality, ability, and shared history. The reasons why a person falls in love with another generally boil down to these four things."
Hearing Youshen's approval, Yan rubbed his slightly flushed face and broke into an honest, goofy smile.
Yet Youshen's tone suddenly shifted, turning stern. "However. Hu Liena undoubtedly does not like you. She doesn't like your appearance, she doesn't like your personality, she doesn't care about your abilities, and she cares nothing for the time you've spent together!"
Yan's breath hitched. Stubbornly raising his head, he clenched his fists and said, "Teacher, are you trying to tell me how difficult this path is? But... no matter how hard it is, I'll keep going until I make Nana turn around and look at me!"
With that "I'm all fired up" expression, he could easily play a named supporting character in a shonen manga—it fit the temperament of Yan's Martial Soul to a T.
Yet Youshen couldn't appreciate this sort of reckless "bravery" in the slightest.
"Mm, your affection is definitely not something fake. Perhaps many adults couldn't even match your steadfastness."
Seeing the shy smile of approval return to Yan's face, Youshen swiftly delivered a follow-up blow: "But that's meant in a derogatory sense."
"Huh?" Yan stared in utter bewilderment.
"Was I not clear enough? Hu Liena doesn't like you not because you haven't worked hard enough, but because there is not a single thing about you that appeals to her. You are simply not her type! Turn it around—if Hu Liena were homely, would you still like her?"
"I would!"
"..." This simp is truly something else.
"Fine, fine, let's just assume that's true! Then you say you like the cuteness hidden within her imperiousness. If the roles were reversed and she treated you as gently as the girl who confessed to you today, would you still like her?"
Yan rubbed the back of his head and drifted off into fantasy. "Hehe, Nana... a gentle Nana."
"..." No, wait, I didn't say that so you could daydream!
Even with Youshen's deep composure, his blood pressure spiked a little. He immediately shattered Yan's daydreaming session, saying, "Didn't you just say you liked Hu Liena's personality? How come her personality changes, and you still like her?"
"This... uh, teacher, I dunno."
"You don't know, but I do! This proves you don't actually like Hu Liena's personality at all; it's just that your fondness for her in other areas completely overrides your aversion to her personality!"
"No, how could that be? No matter what kind of Nana she is, I love her!"
"Very well. Then between a gently-treating Hu Liena and a willful, imperious Hu Liena, if you could only choose one, which would you pick?"
"The gentle one!" Instant reply!
"You're quite honest, aren't you? But now you understand, right? Isn't it obvious that you actually prefer someone with a gentle personality?"
"Eh? Come to think of it, I guess so?"
"Next question. I remember the name of the girl who confessed to you today. Purely in terms of appearance, she is indeed a bit inferior to Hu Liena, and her talent is also lacking compared to Hu Liena's. The time you've spent together is much shorter, too—only her personality has the upper hand. So here is the question: if—and I mean *if*—you put yourself in the scenario I'm about to give you and think it through: What if this girl took Hu Liena's place, growing up with you as childhood sweethearts, while Hu Liena was just a new classmate you met in the past two years? Which one do you think you would love more?"