TMLSG -Chapter 21 Schemes

But…

What does this mission have to do with being spoiled and willful?

【Mission 10: Have a small argument with the male lead in front of everyone and give the puppy a kick.】

Tang Zhen, confused, asked directly, “Who’s the puppy?”

000 replied, 【Xiao Zhen, it’s the companion robot they’ve just started developing.】

“Why do I have to kick it?” It’s so cute!

【Because that’s how the supporting female character is—so willful that she just does whatever she wants.】

Tang Zhen felt her head ache a little. “Then why do I have to argue with the male lead?”

【Because the male lead is about to get busy again. This companion robot can accompany autistic children, or lonely elderly people. In short, he’ll spend a lot of time and effort on it.】

【If he’s spending time with the puppy, he won’t have time for the supporting female character.】

【Naturally, the supporting female character will be dissatisfied and throw a fit.】

【So this mission makes perfect sense.】

In the original storyline, the supporting female character didn’t spend much time with the male lead anyway, because he was too busy. He had ambitions and ideals, and most of his time was devoted to his studies and career.

By contrast, the supporting female character had plenty of free time.

During college, she didn’t care much about grades. Besides classes, her days were spent watching dramas or shopping. All her free time could be devoted to romance.

But the male lead had no time.

From a time management perspective, they just weren’t compatible.

One was so free that she was always daydreaming, the other so busy he barely touched the ground. Even if the supporting female character had no personality flaws, it was natural for them to drift apart.

In the original story, the supporting female character was dissatisfied for this reason.

This was also the spark that gradually weakened the feelings between the male lead and her.

Tang Zhen resisted this mission—not because she feared it would affect her relationship with the male lead, but because she had never argued with anyone before. She didn’t like arguments.

She felt arguing solved nothing.

Perhaps noticing her hesitation, the system tempted her: 【Xiao Zhen, completing this mission also gives you 2 life points.】

Tang Zhen was slightly taken aback. “Wasn’t it always just one life point per mission?”

【It used to be, but as missions get harder, the rewards also increase. Later on, there will even be other bonus points. In short, completing more missions is always a good idea!】

Tang Zhen glanced at Ren Yanjing, then at the puppy, feeling a tug-of-war in her heart.

The system reassured her: 【Xiao Zhen, don’t worry. After you break up with the male lead, you won’t have to deal with them again.】

【So just focus on completing the mission boldly! No need to fight with your life points.】

Everyone present at this moment was a limited appearance—they would be gone after this scene.

The puppy was a robotic dog. A gentle kick wouldn’t hurt it at all.

Tang Zhen was persuaded.

Just then, Ren Yanjing and Zhang Mian finished their conversation and walked over to her side.

Tang Zhen summoned her courage to argue with the male lead, but the anger faded almost immediately, like a balloon with a pinhole that couldn’t inflate again.

She really wasn’t good at arguing!

Could she actually complete this mission?

000 kept cheering her on: 【Xiao Zhen, just opening your mouth is a victory! You don’t have to have a big fight—just a small argument, a small argument!】

A small argument could be quiet, right?

“Ren Yanjing.”

Tang Zhen finally spoke.

“Hmm.” If Ren Yanjing hadn’t been paying close attention to her, he might have missed this soft call.

“Puppy… will you be spending all your time on it?”

Ren Yanjing leaned closer. “Worried I won’t have time for you?”

Tang Zhen complained, “Yes! Before, you were so busy that we didn’t even talk for days. You were so busy that you forgot about me.”

Ren Yanjing cleared his throat lightly. “That time was an accident.”

Tang Zhen didn’t look at him, focusing on completing the mission instead. “And in the future? You’ll be even busier, right?”

That’s how it was in the original story. The male lead’s great success was inseparable from his hard work and struggle. How much time could he spend with her?

Ren Yanjing said, “Busy, yes—but not so busy that I can’t spend any time with you.”

Tang Zhen was slightly stunned.

Was this the right response?

【Xiao Zhen, keep going! You can do it!】

Tang Zhen bit her lip. “Then… how much time can you spend with me each day?”

Ren Yanjing looked down at Tang Zhen. She kept her eyes on her toes, not daring to look up at him—even her hair whorl looked cute.

Her voice was soft and sweet, and every time he heard it, it sounded like she was teasing him.

This time Ren Yanjing leaned a little closer. “Then… how long do you want me to spend with you every day?”

Tang Zhen kept repeating in her mind: Argue, argue.

Since it was supposed to be an argument, she had to propose a duration the male lead absolutely couldn’t fulfill. If he couldn’t, then the argument could happen.

So she didn’t hesitate: “Five hours!”

Five hours?

So clingy…

Ren Yanjing didn’t want to, but the corner of his mouth betrayed him. “Five hours… might be a little difficult…”

A little difficult meant he couldn’t manage it.

Finally, she could argue.

Tang Zhen’s words came out fast: “Ren Yanjing, you’re not sincere at all! Other couples stick together every day, and you can’t even spend five hours a day with me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

【Kick the puppy! Kick it!】

Tang Zhen gritted her teeth and quickly moved away from Ren Yanjing. Passing by the puppy, she stretched out her foot to kick it.

The puppy was still in development and couldn’t interact perfectly yet, but it could manage a little interaction.

Seeing Tang Zhen approach, it stretched out its front paw, wanting to greet her. She stretched her foot, the puppy stretched its mechanical paw, and the result was—

She tripped over the puppy’s mechanical paw.

Good news: She technically kicked the puppy, so the mission could be completed.

Bad news: The puppy was fine, but she wasn’t.

Tang Zhen fell flat on the ground.

Ren Yanjing quickly stepped over and scooped her up. The other teammates immediately rushed over in a flurry.

“Sister-in-law, are you okay?”

“Are you alright, sister-in-law?”

“Jingshen, put her on the chair.”

Ren Yanjing placed Tang Zhen on a chair, squatting down to look up at her.

She had just fallen and probably hurt herself. Her eyes were red, her nose red, her gaze watery, and tiny droplets clung to her eyelashes. That fair little face looked both pitiful and adorable, making people want to pinch and kiss her.

She looked so clumsy.

She couldn’t even walk properly and had fallen in the lab.

Ren Yanjing gently pinched her fingers. “Did you hurt anywhere?”

Tang Zhen looked pitiful. The mission was hard, she couldn’t do it well, and now her hand was injured.

She held out her hand. “My palm hurts.”

Tang Zhen’s skin was pale and delicate, her hands small. Now her palm was bright red with several scrapes.

Zhang Mian immediately said, “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

When the kit arrived, Ren Yanjing first blew on her palm, disinfected it, and applied a bandage. Tang Zhen gritted her teeth and endured the pain without a sound.

After disinfecting, Ren Yanjing kissed her fingertips, not missing a single finger—from thumb to pinky, and then back from pinky to thumb.

“Does it still hurt?”

Tang Zhen bit her lip and shook her head.

Why was the male lead’s reaction so different from what she expected?

They had just argued!

And she had kicked the puppy, showing all the scheming traits of a supporting female character. Someone should have noticed that, right?

Zhang Mian bent down to look at the puppy, speaking seriously: “Puppy, what’s wrong? Why did you trip sister-in-law just now?”

The puppy’s expression was blank.

Helpless puppy, weak puppy, pitiful puppy.

Robert cheered from the side, using a mechanical voice: “Puppy, you should apologize to her.”

Zhang Mian nodded firmly. “Right. Puppy, you need to apologize to sister-in-law. She got tripped by you and hurt her hand—it must hurt a lot. What should you do now?”

The puppy still couldn’t speak or interact vocally. It could only bark three times at Tang Zhen—its version of an apology.

Tang Zhen: ???

She had gone to kick the puppy, ended up tripping herself, and in the end, it was the puppy apologizing to her.

Was this… fair?!