Zhao Youyue was a perceptive girl who was very good at reading the mood. Her IQ was fairly average, but her EQ was quite high. That said, she could still miss certain details at times, especially since she had just been in a state of sheer panic, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She completely chalked up her narrow escape this time to pure luck. As for Han Leng, she could only sigh inwardly at how unlucky he was. He probably saw Lao Qiu leave and thought he could finally lie down and get a good sleep, only to be caught red-handed by the sudden counter-patrol.
There was nothing to be done. Lao Qiu was just too devious. Pulling a sudden return like that caught countless students off guard. Everyone should really be thanking Han Leng for stepping on the landmine. At the moment he stood up, many half-asleep classmates instantly woke up, their eyes snapping open in terror. The sound of reading in the classroom exploded all at once, a chaotic roar of voices desperate to prove their diligence.
At this point, Zhao Youyue no longer dared take out her phone. She also stopped reciting altogether. After all, she already knew the texts inside out from her intense periods of studying in the Dimension Gate. She casually pulled out a Chinese study guide titled Wang Houxiong's Complete Textbook Analysis and flipped through the essays as if she were reading short stories to kill time. The paper felt slightly gritty under her fingertips, smelling faintly of cheap ink and wood pulp. Even if Lao Qiu came back again, seeing her read a guidebook like this, he wouldn't say anything.
She truly had an eye-watering number of study guides. They were all bought by her mother. As long as a guidebook had any reputation on the market, her mother would buy a full set. That naturally included the extremely famous Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations. Her mother had done the same thing back in middle school. In the end, the books still looked almost brand-new, at least eighty percent new, with spines that had never been fully cracked.
Her mother's name was Wang Hua. She had been a beautiful top student since childhood, talented in many areas. Her own father had been a well-known calligrapher in the region, so she came from a scholarly family and had grown up well-off. Unfortunately, Zhao Youyue's maternal grandfather passed away when she was eight.
From early on, Wang Hua wanted to educate Zhao Youyue strictly and mold her into a refined young lady who was just as versatile as herself. She enrolled her daughter in who knew how many specialty classes—piano, painting, calligraphy. Unfortunately, Zhao Youyue couldn't stick with them, largely because her father, Zhao Jiayi, spoiled her terribly. As soon as his daughter acted cute or cried, he would immediately say she didn't have to go anymore. In his view, the most important thing for a child was having a happy childhood.
Zhao Youyue's childhood really was wild. She had an extremely playful nature. To this day, she still fondly remembered living at her ancestral home in the countryside, catching crabs in the cool, murky creek water, fishing with bamboo poles, and the sharp pinch of crayfish on her fingers. She remembered the little companions who had been with her back then, their faces tanned by the sun.
That was when Wang Hua would argue with Zhao Jiayi, her voice rising in frustration as she said he had spoiled their child rotten, just like himself when he was young. He had been a total slacker in school, and the only reason he managed to become a hospital director was thanks to his family background. She would claim she really didn't know how she had gone blind and chosen him.
Zhao Jiayi would grin, leaning back with a relaxed air, and say his medical skills were still top-notch, and that his wife's taste was impeccable. Wang Hua would sneer and say he went to the hospital and never did anything serious, only flirting with the nurses. Zhao Jiayi would hurriedly deny it, insisting there was only his wife and daughter in his heart.
After a few days of cold war, they would always make up in the end, openly showing affection and showering everyone with a sickening sweetness. It left Zhao Youyue with deep psychological trauma toward couples. Without realizing it, she became a veteran member of the FFF group. She felt that being alone was pretty great, doing what she liked while remaining carefree and worry-free.
In any case, Zhao Jiayi and Wang Hua only had this one daughter.
Later on, Wang Hua also came to terms with the reality. Being ordinary was fine. At least her daughter was cute, healthy, and on the surface quite obedient. As long as the mother raised her voice even slightly, her daughter would tremble like a quail. That sight was so amusing that she fell in love with teasing her daughter like this. No, that wasn't right. She was educating her daughter, urging her to study hard and make progress every day.
Every birthday, she would package an entire basket of study guides into an exquisitely decorated gift box and present it to her daughter, smiling as she watched her open it.
Zhao Youyue thought, mom, what the hell.
While Zhao Youyue was living her everyday school life and had already decided to stir things up in Pure Love, making both Su Li and the readers feel her wrath, that very creator, Su Li, was handing in the draft of the new chapter to her responsible editor, Wei Suo.
Wei Suo was very short and already bald, his scalp reflecting the fluorescent lights of the office. Standing next to a beautiful manga artist like Su Li, the contrast was stark and jarring. Still, he examined Su Li's draft very carefully, his eyes darting across the panels. By the time he reached the end, he wore an extremely lewd smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't help praising her.
Wei Suo was a veteran editor at Wind Manga, especially skilled with harem series. Under his guidance, Su Li's proficiency with harem manga had improved quite a bit. Unfortunately, it wasn't an improvement in character building or plot structure. It was an improvement in selling fanservice. Wei Suo rarely gave story advice. He only wanted Su Li to guarantee fanservice every chapter. As long as that was maintained, the manga's popularity wouldn't drop too badly.
Hearing Wei Suo's praise, Su Li merely smiled faintly and casually acknowledged it. After all, she was a big name in the doujin scene. Her imagination when it came to abusing female characters was quite outstanding. In reality, she was already holding herself back.
Wei Suo then added, "Actually, with the character-shaping level you have shown with Xu Jing, there might be no need to draw this kind of formulaic harem manga for your next work. You could try something more light and fresh, like a romance series, or even an action series. Those genres might be easier to adapt into animation. When that happens, you would also get paired with an even better editor."
When Su Li heard this, she quickly replied, "Editor Wei, I have always been grateful for your help."
Wei Suo waved his hand and left Su Li's studio with the heavy manuscript bag tucked under his arm. The last thing he said nearly made her jump with joy. Apparently, an animation company had already taken notice of her manga and felt that the recent Xu Jing arc was very interesting. They had a preliminary intention to adapt Pure Love into an animation. Naturally, the animated version would further expand Xu Jing's storyline, since she was currently the character receiving the most attention from readers.
That weekend, the newest issue of Wind Manga finally hit the shelves.