"Manman, please take this plate of oysters to your classmate."

Mother Tang used iron tongs to place the grilled oysters one by one onto the iron plate. She then placed the plate onto a table nearby, instructing without turning her head, then continued focusing on the other barbecues on the grill.

After grilling another batch of pork, Mother Tang placed the pork on a tray to the side. Just as she was about to ask her daughter to serve this portion of pork skewers, she unexpectedly noticed that the plate of oysters was still in its original position.

Subconsciously, Mother Tang turned her head to look behind her, only to find her precious daughter lying on the table, her shoulders occasionally shaking slightly.

"Manman?"

Mother Tang, not understanding the situation, softly called out.

At Mother Tang's call, Tang Manman slowly sat up, revealing her red, tear-soaked eyes and her delicate face streaked with tears.

"Manman, what's wrong?"

Seeing her daughter crying like this, Mother Tang panicked, even forgetting about the meat on the grill. She quickly walked to Tang Manman's side, squatted down, and asked with concern.

"Mom, I'm not feeling well."

Tang Manman sobbed. She raised her arm to wipe the tears off her face and choked out:

"I... I want to go home."

"Silly girl, why didn't you say you were feeling unwell earlier?"

Mother Tang pressed her forehead against Tang Manman's to check her temperature. Finding that it wasn't particularly hot, she let out a small sigh of relief and said:

"If you're not feeling well, go back and rest."

"I can handle things here by myself."

Tang Manman sobbed and nodded. She stood up, wiped the tears off her face again, and walked towards home.

But before she had taken a few steps, she stopped, turned her head, and looked at the customers sitting in front of the barbecue stand.

Seeing Lin Yu affectionately feeding the young girl, a pang of pain flashed in her eyes. She pursed her lips tightly, turned around decisively, and left...

...

"Brother, I really can't eat anymore."

"If I eat these pork kidneys, will you eat the chives?"

"I really can't stand the taste of chives!"

Cheng Ya pleaded with a pained expression on her face.

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"No way!"

"You hurry up and eat!"

Lin Yu said, picking up a skewer of chives and stuffing it towards Cheng Ya's mouth.

"This is work, do you understand?"

"You're even picky about food now!"

Just as Lin Yu was about to stuff the skewer of chives into Cheng Ya's mouth, he caught a glimpse of Tang Manman carrying a plate of oysters towards them from the corner of his eye. Swiftly, Lin Yu grabbed Cheng Ya's head and pulled it into his chest.

Cheng Ya, truly dedicated to her role, immediately switched to a coquettish demeanor, nestling in Lin Yu's arms and saying in a cutesy voice, "You're so annoying~"

"Classmate, here are your oysters."

A soft, warm voice sounded, making Lin Yu frown.

Something was off.

Why had Tang Manman's voice suddenly become so soft? It was as if she had suddenly aged.

Curiosity piqued, Lin Yu turned to look, only to find that the person bringing the oysters was not Tang Manman, but her mother who bore a striking resemblance to her.

"Thank you, auntie."

Lin Yu nodded at Mother Tang and then looked around curiously, scanning the area but not finding Tang Manman.

Had she left?

After confirming that Tang Manman had left, Lin Yu no longer forced Cheng Ya to eat chives. They quickly finished the skewers and oysters, returned two untouched bottles of beer, and left after paying the bill.

Lin Yu dropped Cheng Ya off at her apartment building and transferred the agreed-upon 500 yuan to her. After some thought, Lin Yu did not delete her contact information. Having this fake boyfriend-girlfriend relationship might come in handy when he needed to cover up a lie in the future.

Watching Cheng Ya's figure disappear into the building, Lin Yu didn't immediately leave on his motorcycle. Instead, he lit a cigarette and sat on his bike, taking puff after puff.

With this, the matter with Tang Manman was thoroughly resolved.

She wasn't the type of girl to persistently bother him. Given Cheng Ya's obvious hostility towards her, Tang Manman, even if she cared about him, wouldn't take the initiative to approach him again.

Having resolved the matter with Tang Manman, Lin Yu didn't feel particularly relieved.

Instead, a sense of melancholy prevailed.

"I wonder if I'll ever meet such a beautiful girl who's also fond of me in the future."

He sighed softly.

After taking a final deep drag on his cigarette, Lin Yu exhaled the smoke along with his troubled thoughts, started his motorcycle, and rode away...

...

The following days were uneventful, so much so that Lin Yu was finding it hard to adjust.

Firstly, there was Tang Manman. From that day onwards, she really hadn't come to find him again. On the rare occasions when they bumped into each other, she would just give him a polite smile and then continue doing what she was supposed to do.

Then, there was Xia Muzhu.

Just thinking about Xia Muzhu gave Lin Yu a headache.

A whole month!

An entire month!

He had been eating and drinking at her house for a whole month now!

Even now, the so-called second male lead in the erotic plot hadn't shown even a hint of his existence.

This made Lin Yu start to doubt his memory. He wondered whether he had confused the plot of some other book with this one.

As for the little boy in his memory who had been peeking at the erotic scenes from behind the door, Lin Yu had indeed seen him.

He was a child from Xia Muzhu's neighbor's family. He had just started middle school this year, looked obedient and sensible, and really liked Xia Muzhu, the gentle big sister.

However, Xia Muzhu didn't have any particular feelings for him. She just treated him as a cute little neighbor brother.

Compared to that little brat, Xia Muzhu's feelings for him seemed to have deepened.

Lin Yu rubbed his temples.

He felt that if things continued like this, it wouldn't be good!

Next, there was the third female lead, whose name he still didn't know, but who looked very cool and arrogant.

Ever since he was scolded by her a month ago, and had a mouthful of car exhaust, Lin Yu had never seen her again.

She was just like the male lead in the second erotic plot, without a trace, as if she didn't exist at all.

It was really headache-inducing!

With a soft sigh, Lin Yu was just about to focus on the food in front of him to avoid it getting cold and losing its taste, when his phone in his trouser pocket vibrated briefly.

Lin Yu took out his phone in confusion, only to see a message from Xia Yue Shan on the screen.

It read: "Target spotted!"