"Heh, men." Nangong Ye curved the corners of his lips into a faint, superficial smile that was three parts cold, three parts mocking, and four parts nonchalant, and said imperiously, "If you're trying to get my attention this way, then congratulations, you've succeeded."
"..."
Looking at the man before him—whose looks were on par with his own, yet who spoke with the cringe-inducing second-chuunibyou severity of an elementary schooler—Liu Muye fell straight into silence.
Within a single exchange, Liu Muye was already cringing so hard he could claw out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
He muttered under his breath, "Are the lines from overbearing CEO novels really this cringe-worthy in real life? Artistic creation truly cannot be detached from reality."
"Man, what are you muttering about?" Nangong Ye arched his brows slightly, sneering, "Just what kind of person are you, why are you getting close to me, and what do you want from me? You... mm-mm-mm..."
Before Nangong Ye could finish, Liu Muye simply raised his hand and clamped it over his mouth.
Looking thoroughly ashamed, Liu Muye said, "You'd better save those cringe-worthy CEO lines for the female lead; I'm hardly blessed enough to enjoy them."
Seeing the two of them in this posture, the infatuated girls surrounding them instantly shrieked.
"Oh my god, who is this gorgeous hunk who's one hundred and eighty-five centimeters tall and just as handsome as Nangong Ye?"
"How dare he use his hands to touch young master Nangong's perfect face! He's violated young master Nangong's taboo—he's a dead man!"
"Even though this handsome guy is three centimeters shorter than young master Nangong, he's still so handsome. It'll be such a waste if he dies..."
Listening to the extras around him, Liu Muye felt black lines cover his forehead. Even though he knew they were praising him, he was still so mortified he wished he could crawl into a hole right then and there.
He roared inwardly in his mind, "What on earth was wrong with my brain back then? How could I write such a cringe-inducing Mary Sue novel! No wonder my advisor told me upon graduation to never tell anyone I majored in Chinese language and literature."
"You dare touch my face?" Nangong Ye slapped Liu Muye's hand away and pointed at him, saying, "Man, you're playing with fire. Do you have any idea what the consequences are of angering me? Believe me, I'll make your whole family pay with their lives!"
Before meeting Nangong Ye, Liu Muye had actually held a fair bit of anticipation, because Nangong Ye was practically his own flesh and blood—after all, when writing Nangong Ye's physique and appearance, he had modeled him after his own handsome visage.
[What! Don't you guys know Liu Muye is a major hottie just as handsome as the readers?]
Yet after merely conversing with Nangong Ye for a few moments, Liu Muye completely lost any desire to acknowledge this "son" of his. Even though this guy was tall and handsome just like him, he was like a rebellious son going through a second-chuunibyou adolescent phase. Talking to him was simply too embarrassing.
"You're out of your mind. Go play by yourself."
Muttering curses, Liu Muye grabbed his registration materials from the table and turned on his heel to leave.
Glancing at Liu Muye's retreating back, and then down at the freshman records at the registration desk—Liu Muye.
Nangong Ye pulled out his phone and dialed a call: "Liu Muye, I want a complete background check on this man within three minutes!"
...
"Wow, is this girl a freshman too?"
"Goodness, she's practically as pretty as a fairy descending to the mortal realm."
"The phrase 'aloof from worldly affairs' has finally been made tangible in her."
"With that kind of temperament, she must be a young lady from one of the major aristocratic families in Shangjing City, right?"
Just as Liu Muye had walked a short distance away from the freshman registration area, a few gasps reached his ears.
Following the direction of the voices, Liu Muye looked over and saw a cold, ethereal beauty with ordinary clothing yet breathtaking looks walking toward the freshman registration area. At just a single glance, Liu Muye confirmed who she was—Shangguan Yurou.
Just like the male lead, who caused a frenzy wherever he went, the female lead in the book was a universally adored, wildly popular beauty praised everywhere she went.
If Liu Muye remembered correctly, the first chapter of "Young Master Nangong's Pampered Pet" was about the male and female leads meeting at the freshman registration desk.
After learning they had been betrothed by their parents from birth, the male lead refused to meet this unseen fiancée and chose instead to accept a mission from his grandfather to [attend Silia Academy]. The female lead likewise had no desire to marry a man she didn't like, so she secretly ran away from home and [attended Silia Academy] under a hidden identity.
The ensuing story was entirely cliché: the male and female leads accidentally met at the freshman registration desk, grew to hate each other as bickering enemies, and then gradually developed hidden feelings for one another through various coincidental twists of fate driven by divine assists.
Later on, the two confessed their feelings to each other, revealed their true identities, and resolved to rebel against their families together, only to discover in the end that it had all been a comical misunderstanding—they were already the betrothed fiancé and fiancée they were meant to be...
This made up the content of the first two volumes of the novel.
According to the development in the book, Han Juyou's appearance was scheduled more than a dozen chapters later, and her complete descent into darkness only occurred in the third volume—because during that period, Liu Muye genuinely ran out of plot points and had to rely on various schemes and traps set by female supporting characters to drag out the plot and pad the word count to meet his minimum attendance quota.
Thinking back on it now, Liu Muye wanted nothing more than to travel back in time and slap himself a few times. Why did he have to pad the word count for no reason? Look where it got him now.
At this moment, Shangguan Yurou was walking along wearing a completely unremarkable outfit in order to hide her identity, yet her exquisite facial features and elegant temperament still struck people as otherworldly. The discussions buzzing around her arose wave after wave.
Shangguan Yurou's beauty had a distinct contrast to Han Juyou's inherent allure.
Her beauty was cold and arrogant, resembling a fairy in white descending from the heavenly realm into the mortal world, carrying an otherworldly elegance aloof from earthly affairs.
Liu Muye still remembered the original text from the novel when he described Shangguan Yurou's appearance:
A pair of phoenix eyes brimming with classical charm, revealing a dignified temperament. Her nose was petite and straight, as if meticulously carved from fine jade. Her lips resembled delicate petals blooming in a classical scroll painting. Her oval face further set off her extraordinary elegance and transcendent temperament, her entire being radiating a rich, oriental classical beauty.
Now seeing her in the flesh, he felt even more strongly the elegant and dignified beauty radiating from every gesture of this female lead.
[However, no matter how one describes Shangguan Yurou's beauty, she is certainly not as gorgeous as the female readers sitting right here (do female readers actually read this book, though).]
The moment he saw Shangguan Yurou, Liu Muye suddenly abandoned his plan to leave. He wanted to stay behind and watch the drama unfold; the scene where the male and female leads met would definitely be quite interesting.
According to the original plot, Shangguan Yurou and Nangong Ye were supposed to crash right into each other around a corner, after which Nangong Ye would use his overbearing CEO quotes to strike up a grudge with Shangguan Yurou.
Yet things did not seem to be unfolding according to the predetermined design, because Nangong Ye was standing by the entrance making a phone call to have someone investigate Liu Muye's background, rather than walking around. The male and female leads, who were supposed to form a grudge, simply brushed past each other this time.
Nothing happened.
"!?!"
Standing not far away, Liu Muye watched this scene, completely frozen.
Until Shangguan Yurou finished her registration, took her registration materials, and turned to leave, the two of them had no intersection whatsoever.
Once the female lead had departed, Nangong Ye also finished his phone call and began his own registration process.
"Damn!" Liu Muye scratched his head and blurted out, "This, this, this plot... wait, that's not right!?"
...
"When a butterfly flaps its wings one extra time, the entire story must be torn down and rebuilt—Liu Muye's Notes"
...