TMLSG -Chapter 95 Almost Breakup

Finally, evening self-study was over, and Tang Zhen couldn’t wait to return to the dorm.

She had been doing problems until she was half-asleep and now just wanted to lie down and rest.

But she still remembered her mission.

Hoping to see a banana peel on the road was a low-probability event, so she didn’t cling to that idea. A small stone would suffice.

Just a short distance outside the classroom, Tang Zhen spotted a stone.

111: 【Time to be scheming, Zhen! The male lead is right on your right side. Lean right, but not too much—he won’t catch you. You have to stabilize yourself!】

The female lead’s previous failure was a warning.

Perhaps the male lead had been too gentlemanly before, so when the female lead tried to crash into him, he didn’t support her. Maybe he thought there were plenty of other girls nearby who would catch her.

Now, Tang Zhen had several classmates nearby as well.

Under these circumstances, even without the male lead, Tang Zhen wouldn’t easily fall.

She pretended to step on the stone casually, then subtly leaned to the right.

She remembered 111’s warning, so her lean was minimal.

The result—

Unexpectedly, she fell into a pair of arms.

“Junior, watch out.”

Tang Zhen looked up in confusion.

Ren Yanjing had caught her by the shoulders and reminded her, “Watch the road.”

He glanced at the inconspicuous stone on the ground.

The junior had finally found what she was looking for.

His effort to toss the stone here hadn’t been in vain.

Tang Zhen blinked, puzzled—this wasn’t exactly what 111 had instructed.

111 immediately praised her: 【Zhen, the female lead’s scheming was crude, so she failed. But you’re a master schemer! A master schemer is when the male lead knows it’s scheming but still can’t avoid it! You’ve improved!】

“R… really?”

【Yes, Zhen, the male lead definitely noticed you were doing it on purpose.】

Yet he still caught her.

There was no reason for it except that he couldn’t avoid it.

After all, even the female lead never had that kind of treatment!

Once Tang Zhen was stable, Ren Yanjing immediately let go.

She whispered her thanks: “Thank you, senior.”

When Ren Yanjing woke up, the regret of “you don’t belong to me” still lingered in his heart.

That “thank you, senior” was polite but distant, freezing the relationship at that level.

But once reality sank in, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Tang Zhen in the dream was just a junior he had briefly met.

But the real Tang Zhen—

Was his girlfriend.

He turned over carefully, pulling Tang Zhen into his arms.

The thick winter blanket was like a river separating them.

Luckily, the new three-piece bedding set would arrive today.

Still, dreaming of his high school Tang Zhen two nights in a row, with the dreams connected like a drama series—was that normal?

When Tang Zhen got up, she noticed her progress had jumped from 6% to 10%.

But 111 had said that unless it reached 100%, the number had no significance.

111: 【The senior said that if it reaches 100%, you could also avoid a plot kill—but no one has ever done it.】

Tang Zhen knew she couldn’t do what no one else had done.

After all, she wasn’t any smarter than other mission participants.

Having not contacted her family for a long time, Tang Zhen received a rare message from her mother this morning.

“Winter break has started, right? Why haven’t you come home yet?”

Tang Zhen touched her nose.

Her cohabitation with Ren Yanjing was a secret from her mother. After living together for so long, her mother had no idea. If she found out, she probably would have come to grab Tang Zhen by now.

Tang Zhen pursed her lips: “I’ll go home in a few days.”

Tang Zhen’s mother didn’t press her, but asked about other matters. “Have you seen your older brother recently?”

Tang Zhen was puzzled. “No, why?”

“Your brother suddenly asked about your high school, and where you studied back then.”

Why was Zhou Xusi suddenly interested in her high school?

Tang Zhen replied, “Mom… then what?”

“Then I said you studied at the bilingual experimental school, and he didn’t say much. But speaking of high school, we were cleaning the house recently, and I found one of your old school uniforms. You were so well-behaved back then, always obedient. Now, you’re disobedient in every way.”

Tang Zhen lowered her eyes slightly and didn’t argue.

Although she felt sorry for her mother, she was naturally not the same as the original Tang Zhen.

Just as she was about to get up and wash, she received another message from Zhou Xusi:
“Do you have time this winter break to visit my company? There are several graduates from the China Academy of Art there.”

Tang Zhen was slightly taken aback.

She knew her stepbrother was outstanding, but she hadn’t realized he was so skilled at recruiting talent.

But she had more important matters at hand. Once the breakup mission was complete, she would have a new identity, and then Zhou Xusi would have nothing to do with her.

Since they would eventually be strangers, why create extra entanglements?

So she politely declined Zhou Xusi’s invitation.

Zhou Xusi replied, “Alright, if you’re free, you’re always welcome to come by.”

Ren Yanjing happened to see this message when he came over.

He leaned close to Tang Zhen, hands near her ears, and asked, “Baby, where did he invite you to go?”

Tang Zhen blinked and answered, “To his company. He said there are many senior students who graduated from the China Academy of Art.”

Ren Yanjing said, “Oh?” and added immediately, “Actually, I know some old friends who work in gaming, and his company also has many graduates from the China Academy of Art. I’ll take you there sometime.”

Tang Zhen replied, “…Okay.”

Although Tang Zhen had refused Zhou Xusi’s invitation, several of her roommates were very interested in the internship positions his company offered.

Come on, that’s Feng Xu!

It wasn’t until she saw the discussion in the dorm group chat that Tang Zhen realized Feng Xu was focused on media and arts, offering a number of winter internships, including art positions.

Tiantian and the others were praising Zhou Xusi for giving them the opportunity.

Given Zhou Xusi’s capabilities and Feng Xu’s current standing, even recruiting current 92 students would be effortless.

Most of Feng Xu’s current employees were well-educated, mostly master’s graduates from the class of ’92.

Tiantian: “Zhen, your brother—he’s really our brother! He’s so nice!”

Zhuzi: “Zhen, I feel like your brother offered us the internship just because of you.”

Yezi: “Zhen, let me hug your thigh, thanks!”

111 didn’t even know what to say: 【In the original storyline, the brother and the female lead were already close, but now… they don’t even know each other well.】

111 felt like the plot had collapsed catastrophically—but it must be an illusion!

Thinking of the latest completed mission reassured it.

In the dream, Ren Yanjing had so cooperatively said, “I hate you.” Everything was under control!

Since she still hadn’t successfully broken up with the male lead, the beach trip was back on the schedule.

Coincidentally, Zhang Mian and the others were free, so the group decided to go immediately, boarding a plane to the beach that afternoon.

Originally, Fang Feng was supposed to go with them, but he recently had a breakup and wasn’t in the mood, so he stayed behind.

When Shen Quanli and the others heard about Fang Feng’s breakup, they started discussing it.

“Wasn’t he in a stable relationship? How did it suddenly end?”

“Who knows?”

“Who broke up with whom?”

“Seems like his girlfriend did.”

“What was the reason?”

“Not sure, Fang Feng didn’t say.”

As Shen Quanli and the others got more animated in their discussion, a calm voice suddenly cut in: “Shut up.”

Shen Quanli instinctively looked at the speaker.

Ren Yanjing had an impatient expression, signaling them to quiet down.

Shen Quanli: ?

Fang Feng was the one heartbroken—what did the team captain have to do with it?

Why did the captain look so grim?

Could it be… he almost got broken up with too?