Jiang Zhe’s Observations and Encounter

Jiang Zhe was in a good mood, admiring Su Lianlian’s shifting facial expressions, when suddenly a thought crossed his mind. His dark eyes grew deep and inscrutable. Looking at Su Lianlian again, a question arose in his mind.

According to the original game plot, the female lead, Su Lianlian, learns about the Rose Festival through Lin Moshu. She bravely signs up and secures a spot. She endures the challenges, outshines the competition, and becomes the Rose Queen. Along the way, she humiliates the antagonist, Ning Ran, provoking her to act out, which leads to her being confined by the Ning family.

After the festival, besides becoming the Rose Queen, Su Lianlian gains the favor of a foreign prince. They become friends, communicating via email, where he offers her advice and material support. While the prince is an excellent match, he remains a secondary character as the male leads of the dating game are focused domestically.

In summary, the female lead wins rewards and a supportive side character, her relationship with Lin Moshu progresses rapidly, and she humiliates the antagonist. However, Jiang Zhe couldn’t find any trace of himself in this storyline. In the game, Jiang Zhe doesn’t participate in the Rose Festival; he’s still the brooding schoolboy, unaware of it. He only knows that the main couple disappears for a few days, and upon their return, the school atmosphere changes. Perhaps with newfound confidence, Lin Moshu and Su Lianlian no longer fear Ning Ran and start to show their true colors, testing her and the Ning family.

Jiang Zhe had always suspected that the male leads in the game aren’t fully devoted to the female lead but rather have ulterior motives. He viewed this development as a plot where Lin Moshu used Su Lianlian to confront Ning Ran. The reason for targeting Ning Ran was complex. The most obvious was that their arranged marriage represented shared interests, binding them to the same path. However, they could control their partner to ensure their own invincibility and progress further.

These were just Jiang Zhe’s speculations and might not be true. He was more curious about why the female lead personally invited him, as the game’s plot didn’t follow this course. Without intervention, this was unusual. The female lead seemed strange.

Jiang Zhe temporarily set aside his doubts, deciding to observe Su Lianlian more closely over time. Eventually, she’d reveal something. For now, he had no extra time to spare with Su Lianlian. “Since everything is said and done, goodbye,” Jiang Zhe said to Su Lianlian, intending to leave.

However, Su Lianlian suddenly sped up, standing in his path with her arms outstretched. Her eyes were wide, teeth biting her lip, her gaze panicked and disbelieving. She hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing Jiang Zhe leave. Her body reacted before her mind, blocking his path. Under Jiang Zhe’s cool gaze, she finally came to her senses.

She thought, ‘I must act before it’s too late.’ Su Lianlian, realizing that Ning Ran had invited Jiang Zhe first, was furious. Jiang Zhe, whom she had her eyes on, was being taken by Ning Ran! As a seasoned player of the dating game, knowing all the plots, she was certain that Jiang Zhe was one of the five male leads, meaning he was hers. The antagonist was trying to steal a male lead. Impossible!

She needed to calm down. Why were the game characters deviating from the script? What went wrong? First, Jiang Zhe, then Ning Ran. Had the game storyline changed? Did she enter a fan fiction? Her thoughts raced, and her expressions changed rapidly. Initially, her arms were outstretched, but she pulled them back, composure returning. Under Jiang Zhe’s watchful eye, she organized her thoughts and spoke.

“Although we can’t travel together, I’ll also be going to Rose Island. Can I invite you to join me then?” Su Lianlian looked at Jiang Zhe with pleading eyes, her expression dependent. Like a little bird, she was charming, and most men would be unable to resist.

However, this was not the case with Jiang Zhe, a connoisseur of beauty and occasional tea master. Jiang Zhe couldn’t help but smile, his gaze filled with amusement. “You know I’m poor, and my travel expenses are covered by Ning Ran, so any invitations should go to her,” he replied with a shrug, bluntly stating that Ning Ran was his sponsor.

He wasn’t wealthy, so why pretend to be? It also served as a shield against Su Lianlian, preventing her from bothering him unnecessarily. Was being a proud miss not enough? Or was earning money not attractive? Why become a vast grassland?

Without waiting for Su Lianlian’s response, Jiang Zhe knew her intentions. He bypassed her and left, hurrying back to his dorm to research. The Rose Festival was in two days, and he wasn’t sure if his knowledge of foreign languages would be sufficient. Meanwhile, Su Lianlian, left behind, stomped her foot in frustration, her eyes dark with anger, her expression terrifying enough to scare nearby children, far from the pure and kind female lead of the game.

Fortunately, the programming team of the dating game didn’t plan to introduce multiple languages, perfectly mirroring reality. Jiang Zhe reviewed his knowledge, finding that while some less common languages were rusty, the commonly used ones were fluent. To be thorough, he planned to study other languages as well.

Initially, Jiang Zhe was the troublemaker of troublemakers, causing chaos wherever he went. His family, desperate to keep him in check, devised various physical and artistic training regimens to exhaust his energy and curb his rebellious spirit. However, “Experience is the best teacher” proved true as Jiang Zhe demonstrated that his talent differed from ordinary people.

Like leveling up in a game, he mastered anything he learned with speed and perfection. Thus, his family could only turn a blind eye, letting him pursue his interests, as long as he remembered to take over the family business and serve in the military for honor. Of course, Jiang Dad’s wishes weren’t fulfilled.

Thinking back, Jiang Zhe shook his head. In his youth, he was sharp and unguarded. Though he wouldn’t change the past, he missed the freedom of those days. Now, he headed to the library to study, avoiding any embarrassment.

Looking at the time, he still had plenty left, so he closed the door and went downstairs, heading to the library to prepare, aiming to finish today and plan for tomorrow. Being poor was tough, limiting his options. Savings were a person’s confidence, after all.

“Sorry, this book is mine.”

“No, I got it first.”

As he pushed open the library door, Jiang Zhe saw a heated argument ahead. He raised an eyebrow, curious about the drama. And he recognized someone familiar. Who had Lin Moshu gotten into a dispute with?