Chapter 182: Hourly Barbeque

Tsk, tsk, tsk… as expected.

Inside the neighboring monitoring room, dim electronic-blue light washed over Manager Qian’s chubby face, which was plastered with an expression that read “just as I thought.”

Watching Lin Yu on the screen—completely giving up and letting everything spill—Manager Qian shook his head helplessly. He casually tossed aside the cigar he had just finished cutting and spread his hands.

“I knew it. A rookie like Xiao Lin could never withstand police-style interrogation. Sure enough… in the end, she still exposed her identity.”

He swiveled his chair around, turning to look behind him, his tone carrying a hint of joking complaint.

“I’m telling you, Director Bai—aren’t we being a bit too unethical here? Pushing this kid to this point… this is basically a public execution.”

Behind him stood a tall, elegant figure.

It was a man around thirty years old.

He wore a meticulously tailored black bespoke suit, his posture straight as a pine tree.
In the dim room, he seemed almost fused with the shadows.

Only the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose bridge occasionally reflected the cold light from the screens.

“Unethical? No, Manager Qian. This is called necessary catalysis.”

Director Bai clasped his hands behind his back, calmly watching the blushing girl on the monitor. His voice was low and magnetic.

“Compared to meaningless back-and-forth and probing, this achieves the optimal solution—full cooperation from Luo Shaotian—at the lowest possible time cost.”

“And besides…”

He paused slightly, the corner of his lips slowly curling into an elegant, subtle smile.

“Don’t you think? A vessel with the 【Void】 constitution, and a chosen one who once bore the 【Fear】 imprint… two people who both walk along the edge of the rules. If they’re bound together—even in such a twisted way—”

“—should bring the company a surprise far beyond expectations, don’t you think?”

“Surprise? More like a scare.”

Manager Qian smacked his lips, lamenting the twisted tastes of evil capitalists. Then, as if remembering something, his eyes rolled.

“Well then… Director Bai, how about a bet?”

He held up a pudgy finger.

“Ten thousand. I bet that once Luo Shaotian learns the truth, he’ll explode on the spot—maybe even flip the table and walk out.”

“SF Light Novel”

“Twenty thousand.”

Director Bai’s expression didn’t change.

“I bet… he won’t.”

“Oh? Director Bai, that confident?”

Manager Qian laughed.

“Don’t forget how messed up Xiao Lin’s stunt was. She really screwed him over hard—made him feel both guilty and fall for her. And then in the end, pants off, only to find out it was actually his longtime bro’s cross-dressing alt account?”

Manager Qian slapped his thigh.

“That kind of psychological whiplash—any normal man would already be reaching for a gun!”

“You’re right, Manager Qian.”

Director Bai gently adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his smile unchanged.

“If he were a normal person, he really would go insane.”

“But precisely because of that… I’ll win.”

……

Luo Shaotian covered his forehead tightly with one hand. His entire upper body slumped forward, as if an invisible boulder had crushed his spine in half.

Really…

It actually…

It really was like this.

Lin Yu was Lulu.
Lulu was Lin Yu.

The magical girl who haunted his dreams…
The good brother who weighed so heavily on his conscience…

They were the same person?

What kind of joke was this?

At the moment the truth was finally confirmed from Lin Yu’s own mouth, Luo Shaotian did feel a flash of regret.

Maybe… he shouldn’t have come here today?

Maybe… he shouldn’t have pierced that last layer of paper?

If he could’ve kept playing dumb, kept burying his head in the sand like an ostrich…

Could he have continued sinking into that beautiful illusion?

Could he have kept pretending that a girl named Lulu still lived somewhere in this world, pure and flawless?

Heh…

Luo Shaotian let out an extremely bitter, self-mocking laugh.

Impossible.

Stop lying to yourself.

Wasn’t it precisely because he couldn’t suppress his hunger for the truth—
that he’d gone mad enough to sign that metaphorical s*ave contract,
to sit here and force the person in front of him into a corner?

You bastard… you’ve had your illusion shattered now, haven’t you?

Lin Yu’s somewhat self-destructive voice came from across the table.

At this moment, Lin Yu looked even more dejected than Luo Shaotian.

She was slumped on the cushion, her once carefully groomed long hair now clawed into a bird’s nest by her own hands. Her pretty face was plastered with “I want to die” and “just kill me already” levels of despair.

“…A little,”

Luo Shaotian didn’t lift his head. His voice was muffled.

“A little my ass! That expression of yours is totally ‘I want to smash my head into tofu,’ okay?!”

Lin Yu gritted her teeth, as if she’d finally found an outlet, and started rambling uncontrollably.

“Ugh… this is so damn annoying! I didn’t even want to lie to you in the first place!
It’s your fault for sticking to me like duct tape!”

The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. It was as if only by raising her voice could she drown out the shame that was about to overflow.

“I admit it! After transforming… pretending to be a runaway girl just so I could get close to you—that was my fault…”

Halfway through, she suddenly seemed to remember something and shook her head hard.

“No—wait! How can this all be my fault?! This crappy idea was clearly my unlucky little sister’s! I was forced into business!”

“And besides… I was doing it to treat you! Who told you to be such a stubborn idiot and refuse to take your medicine properly?!”

“We’ve been friends for so many years… do you really think I could just stand by and watch you get contaminated into a monster?!
Do you think I, Lin Yu, am that kind of disloyal person?!”

The more she talked, the more justified she felt, unconsciously straightening her back a little.

“Yeah! If you think about it carefully, this really isn’t my fault at all!”

“Fine, I admit it—at the beginning it was about drugging you, and yeah, my methods were a bit… uh… kind of borderline.”

“I admit I’m trash! Shameless! No morals! Happy now?!”

She pointed at Luo Shaotian’s nose and started turning the tables.

“But do you really have no fault at all?! Huh?!”

“I already tried everything to make you give up! I even pulled out the ultimate move—saying I had a boyfriend!”

“And what about you? Did you listen? Did a single word get through to you?!”

“You actually… actually wanted to spend three million to NTR me?!
To steal your good brother’s girlfriend?! Do you have any idea how much money that is?!”

At the mention of the vanished three million, Lin Yu’s heart clenched violently again. Her voice even carried a genuine sob.

“So anyway! I think you’re not some good guy either! You’re also a scumbag! A pervert!”

“Of course… I’m a scumbag too! That makes us even! Big brother, don’t laugh at second brother—neither of us has a clean ass! Fifty-fifty! Call it even!”

After yelling all that, Lin Yu’s chest heaved violently. She looked like a puffed-up little beast, waiting for the other side’s counterattack.

“……”

Luo Shaotian fell silent.

He subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to retort—but found his throat clogged with cotton. Not a single word would come out.

“Yeah… what is there even left to argue?”

Should he pat his chest and claim he was some pure-hearted Liu Xiahui, unmoved by temptation?

Forget it.

Even he didn’t believe that kind of nonsense. It was too hypocritical.

Thinking it through carefully, harsh as her words were, there was one thing she wasn’t wrong about.

For the sake of unspeakable private desires, he had betrayed his best friend—
even nearly used money to defile that bond…

Heh.

Luo Shaotian let out a bitter laugh and irritably raked his fingers through his messy hair.

Whatever.

At this point, his underwear had already been stripped off. Face, dignity—everything was gone. How much worse could things get?

Sigh…

He let out a long breath, preparing to draw an end—undignified, perhaps, but final—to this absurd farce.

Something like “Fine, you’re right,” or “In that case, let’s part ways forever,” some suitably harsh conclusion.

However—

When he lifted his head again and refocused his gaze on the person across from him,

the words at his lips were suddenly glued in place, stuck firmly in his throat.

Reflected deep in his pupils was the girl’s current, utterly disheveled state.

Because of her emotional outburst, her hair was soaked with sweat, messily plastered against both sides of her cheeks.

That once fair and delicate face was now flushed bright red, like a freshly steamed rice dumpling.

That tempting crimson spread from behind her ears, down her long neck, and even disappeared beneath the sailor uniform’s collar, where her collarbones faintly showed.

She panted, her chest rising and falling.

Her eyes were still rimmed with tears, yet filled with stubborn defiance.

He knew perfectly well this was Lin Yu.
He knew perfectly well this was the good brother who used to drink and eat skewers with him.
He knew perfectly well that she had deceived him—deceived him badly.

But…

But why…

Why did this bastard still look so…?

Damn it…

Luo Shaotian felt something was seriously wrong with him.

Because the words of farewell he’d prepared somehow, against all reason, turned into—

“Um… after talking so much, I’m kind of hungry.”

“Huh?”

“How about… we go get some barbecue?”

Lin Yu: “……Huh?”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

We Got Married

BLBoys LoveOmegaverse

Read Now →
Not interested