The Simp Value Soars and Disaster Strikes

“Logically speaking, that earth-shattering performance last night shouldn’t have failed.”

This truly made no sense. Lin Yating had clearly been scared to tears, so Chen Hao’s simp value should have plummeted!

Why was the small lump still there?

Was all his effort for nothing?

“Could it be that Lin Yating was merely feigning compliance and never actually confronted Chen Hao?”

“Or is Chen Hao just incredibly stubborn, still clinging on?”

No, he had to get to the bottom of this.

“Xiao Qi! Tell me, what exactly happened?!”

[Ding dong~ Good morning, dear player! According to the latest monitoring data, Miss Lin asked Chen Hao out at eight o’clock this morning.]

“Then why is this small lump still on me?” Zhou Yi interrupted the system’s real-time broadcast irritably. That wasn’t the point at all! He had completed his task, so why was the punishment still active?

[Well… Student Chen Hao seems to have developed an astonishing misunderstanding regarding Miss Lin’s confession,]

“A misunderstanding?” A very ominous premonition suddenly seized Zhou Yi.

[Yes~ Miss Lin Yating did go to Chen Hao and followed the confession process you anticipated. However, what she said was… that she had misappropriated her living expenses to help him through his difficulties, and even added, “Let’s not contact each other for now; I need time to figure out my feelings.”]

Zhou Yi: “…”

Her green tea tactics were absolutely masterful!

She had managed to retreat as a means to advance, turning the tables and even portraying herself as a tragic heroine who silently sacrificed and painfully departed!

[Student Chen Hao… he completely believed it! He thinks the reason Miss Lin suddenly approached him with those words was entirely because she felt sorry for him, so she pretended to be heartless to force him away. In his eyes, Miss Lin is practically an angel descended to earth, painstakingly thoughtful!]

Zhou Yi’s vision suddenly went dark. “So, so?”

[So… after a brief fluctuation, Chen Hao’s simp index didn’t drop; instead, it surged in the opposite direction, skyrocketing past its historical peak to 99%!]

What???

Upon hearing this devastating number, Zhou Yi slowly lay flat, pulled up his blanket, and calmly folded his hands across his chest. “Xiao Qi, let’s just kick the bucket together, right here, right now!”

[Detecting player’s negative emotions. Warning! Life is precious, please do not easily kick the bucket!]

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes like a dead fish. “You kick the bucket. My sorrow is greater than a dead heart.”

[Friendly reminder: There are 3 days, 9 hours, and 14 minutes left until the final mission deadline, dear~]

Zhou Yi stared at the ceiling with hollow eyes. “Haozi, I truly believe no one your family hires will be of any use anymore.”

However, only three days remained.

If Chen Hao continued to wallow in such self-pity, these attachments on his chest might genuinely follow him into his coffin.

Haozi, you’ve ruined me!!!

He truly had no strength left to struggle. Perhaps it was the medication taking effect, or perhaps the blow was simply too great, but he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a heavy sleep.

****

After an unknown amount of time, the system’s piercing alert suddenly rang in his ears.

[Urgent notification! Urgent notification!]

[Player, wake up! Something big has happened! The Chen Hao campus loan incident has somehow been fully exposed on the campus forum! The post has already exploded!]

[Warning: Chen Hao himself has been urgently summoned to the office by the Counselor!]

Zhou Yi shot up, nearly having a heart attack. “???!”

His mind buzzed. “No way? How long have I been lying down? How could something have happened already?!”

Ignoring his lingering fever, he fumbled for his phone under the pillow and opened the forum. The screen full of explosive post titles nearly blinded him.

[Confirmed: Business School student surnamed Chen deeply involved in online loans! Original IOU exposed!]

[Latest: Urgently summoned by the Counselor! May face expulsion!]

Beneath the post, the comments section was skyrocketing like a rocket:

“Holy crap! Really? Where are the pictures? The pictures?”

“(Attached image) IOU + transfer screenshot.jpg”

“Someone really blocked a girl at the school gate! Video confirmed!”

“The security office was deployed!”

“I just saw it! He really was called to the Student Affairs building!”

The further Zhou Yi scrolled, the colder his heart grew. Sure enough, the forum had gone wild. Not only were there screenshots of IOUs, but someone had also uploaded a blurry video from the school gate: several burly men in black dragging a girl, shouting, “Pay up! Pay up!”

Fortunately, the security office and patrolling teachers arrived promptly to de-escalate the situation, but the video had still been recorded.

“Holy crap… wasn’t this the exact scenario I used to scare Lin Yating yesterday? How did it come true so quickly?!”

At that moment, Xiao Qi’s alert sounded promptly.

[Ding dong~ After Xiao Qi’s urgent investigation, the source of the post has been located! It is confirmed that the loan shark posted it using an anonymous account, intending to create public pressure to accelerate the collection process!]

The loan sharks did it!

Zhou Yi’s heart sank. This was even worse than the worst-case scenario he had anticipated!

It truly never rains but it pours!

Despite his persistent high fever and weak, aching limbs, Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and struggled to climb out of bed.

He casually threw on a jacket, dragging his still-recovering body, and leaned against the wall all the way to the Counselor’s office. Just as he reached the door, he heard angry shouts from inside.

“Chen Hao! Look at what you’ve done! Owing money is one thing, but now that commotion at the school gate, recorded and uploaded to the forum, has blown up the entire school! How is the school supposed to handle this?! If it truly escalates, forget staying enrolled—you could even be expelled!”

The word “expulsion” struck like a heavy hammer. Chen Hao trembled violently, his lips moving but no sound escaping.

The Counselor seemed to be in a fit of rage, slamming his hand heavily on the desk after speaking.

Many students were already peeking in curiously to watch at the doorway, and whispers filled the corridor: “Really? Expulsion?” “Oh my, this is going to be a huge mess, isn’t it?”

Hearing the Counselor shout the words “expulsion” from inside, Zhou Yi could no longer hesitate. He pushed open the ajar door and stumbled inside.

“Teacher!” he croaked, standing before the Counselor. “This matter… we can’t just conclude Chen Hao is at fault based on a few pictures online, can we? At least we need to investigate thoroughly.”

Chen Hao looked up in shock, unable to believe that Zhou Yi would step forward at such a moment.

The Counselor’s face darkened as he reprimanded, “Zhou Yi? What are you doing in here? This isn’t the time for you to interrupt, get out first!”

Zhou Yi, forcing strength into his trembling legs, defended Chen Hao. “Teacher! Haozi might have done something wrong, but for something as serious as expulsion, you can’t just listen to one side of the story. Haozi… he might also be a victim…”

The Counselor let out a sarcastic laugh, pointing at the forum post on the computer screen. “A victim would borrow that kind of illegal loan? A victim would have a scene made at the school gate for everyone to see? Zhou Yi, I know you have a good relationship with him, but this isn’t the time to talk about loyalty! Do you even understand the situation? Yet you’re here speaking up for him?”

“I…” Zhou Yi was momentarily speechless.