Chapter 196

Ye Ziyue said, “Wu Meiniang, this is the first time I’ve heard such a domineering name. What’s your strength?”

“First rank, just entered first rank. But I feel like I’m a bit older than all of you. Talking to me like this feels a bit disrespectful.”

“First come, first served, got it? So, what if you’re thirty? You’re still a newcomer, understand?”

Ghost Face silently sent a skull emoji and continued lurking. She was very withdrawn but happy because she was now second-to-last, not dead last.

Wu Meiniang said, “I feel … like you guys are all planning to bully me.”

Zhu Yeqing said, “Don’t mind these people. They’re just trying to boost their egos at your expense. You just need to focus on protecting the young master.”

“Mm, my orders are indeed to protect the young master, but … the young master seems really strong. I can’t beat him. I feel like I can’t do anything. I’ve trained in external martial arts my whole life, and it seems useless.”

“I’m also first rank. We can spar sometime and improve together.”

Wu Meiniang instantly perked up, saying, “Really? That’s awesome! How about we start now? Who are you, Zhu Yeqing? Where are you? I’ll come find you. I’m right across from you.”

Confirmed—this girl wasn’t lacking in intelligence; her character was just set to be naive.

She was the epitome of “great wisdom appearing foolish.” Naive, and completely at odds with her appearance, like a girl from another world.

Liu Feifei cheered excitedly, “Hahahaha, finally, someone dumber than me! Hahahaha, I’m so happy! You guys can’t call me dumb anymore!”

Great, this girl managed to get a laugh out of it.

Ye Zimei said, “You’re Wu Meiniang … Doesn’t that mean … Are you planning to defeat Di Junsi?”

“Uh … how did you know? My master told me this secret can’t be shared.”

Ye Zimei sighed and said, “Then it all makes sense. Everything is logical now.”

“What’s logical?”

To Wu Meiniang, these women’s thoughts were completely incomprehensible. Her own thoughts were so simple. When she saw the diary, she just found it fascinating—words updated every day. Reading the diary’s contents made her a bit curious. The person writing it seemed kind of silly. So foolish—why would someone do things they didn’t like?

She couldn’t do that. She believed if she liked something, she liked it; if she didn’t, she didn’t. And seeing the stories of those girls in the diary, she felt they were so pitiful, being liked by that guy named Ye Aotian. It was really … ugh.

She didn’t investigate people and didn’t know how to. She just followed her instincts. In fact, she was even closer to a blank slate than Liu Feifei, with a completely vague understanding of the world. Her world revolved around two things: kill Di Junsi and protect Chen Fan.

But when she saw that Chen Fan would die in the end, she felt it wasn’t good. She thought if her mission was to protect Chen Fan and he still died, she’d be such a failure. So, she decided to meet Chen Fan and secretly kidnap him. That way, her mission would be safe.

But she couldn’t beat Chen Fan. Sob sob sob, his punches were so heavy.

“Extra, extra! Are you guys watching the show or not?” Liu Feifei shouted in the group.

“What’s going on?”

“Soon, Ye Aotian’s about to fight someone! Hahahaha, I did it. How’s that? Am I awesome?”

Cao Zijin said, “What did you do?”

“Nothing much. Just now, someone was talking to me, and I casually replied a couple of times. Then Ye Aotian came to hit on me and chat, so I started crying.”

Are you … a devil?

Aren’t you just stirring up trouble?

Cao Zijin said, “And then?”

“Then I didn’t say anything. Didn’t you teach me? Sometimes a girl just needs to cry, and the guy will imagine a whole drama on his own. Haha, I learned pretty fast, right?”

You’re a genius, aren’t you?

Jin Lan said, “Mm … I acknowledge your role. You’re definitely suited for this identity.”

Since the second female lead couldn’t be used, they had to call it this identity.

Ye Ziyue said, “Who was it? Who was the person talking to you?”

“No idea. Just a fat guy. What’s up?”

“A fat guy? Qian Daode? No way. Wait, someone from the Qian family. Was his name Qian Wuyue?”

Liu Feifei said, “No clue. Just know he’s fat. Oh, and this guy really loves stroking his beard. He seems pretty young, so why’s he always touching his beard?”

Ye Ziyue said, “Then that’s him—Qian Wuyue. This guy … I feel like Ye Aotian’s in trouble. This time, he’s probably in for a rough one.”

“What’s his strength?”

“Peak fifth rank, about to enter fourth rank. Ye Aotian’s only at sixth rank—not nearly enough.”

“Plus, the Qian family’s techniques are very solid.”

Liu Feifei said, “Who cares? Just enjoy the show. He’s Ye Aotian—can he really die?”

That’s true.

Meanwhile, Chen Fan, who was there to watch the drama, had already shown up, found an apple, and started munching on it happily.

Tsk tsk tsk. He hadn’t expected the plot to change, but it didn’t matter. At this point, the protagonist was invincible.

He needed to show off, to beat people up. Here, even if you were the world’s number one, you still had to be defeated by the protagonist.

…

“You … hello … Do you teach, Meilan?”

Looking at the stuttering teenager in front of her, Meilan said, “Hello, judging by your question style, you’re a child of the Qian family, right?”

“Uh … yes, my name is Qian Daode.”

“Qian Daode, nice to meet you.”

“Um … can I have your contact information?”

Meilan gave a helpless smile and said, “You … I’ve heard about you, and you really are something. I’m already married, and my child is about your age.”

“I … I just want your contact information. I know your husband is Dijun Si, I understand. I don’t … have any other intentions, and I wouldn’t dare to.”

Meilan said helplessly, “Alright, I’ll give you my contact information, but you’d better run fast—my son will be back soon.”

After getting her contact information, Qian Daode took off running at full speed. This scene unfolded subtly, unnoticed by others, as everyone’s attention was focused on Ye Aotian in the center of the scene.

At that moment, Ye Aotian and Qian Wuyue stood face to face. Qian Wuyue was very fat, but he was also very tall.

The Qian family’s cultivation technique revolved around eating—the more one ate, and the more precious the food, the stronger their power would become. And how to obtain such vast resources? That naturally depended on one’s personal strength.

Among the ten great families, if you said the strongest was the Di family, no one would object, because Dijun Si was simply too powerful, one of the few who had touched that level. Of course, the reason Meilan gave Qian Daode her contact information also had to do with the author’s setting.

The author never portrayed Meilan as a chaste woman, or rather, she was crafted to be more grounded in reality. This was one of the most interesting aspects of the book. Unlike most novels, this point felt more authentic and had garnered quite a few fans.

Most authors, when designing the protagonist’s mother, rarely set her up this way, and even fewer would delve into the love stories of the parents’ generation. But this book not only did so, it devoted significant attention to it.

Meilan was very realistic, very close to real people. Meilan of the Mei family had been disowned, yet it was precisely this woman who stayed by the side of Ye Aotian’s father, enabling him to become the most powerful figure of that era.