[Observation Room—September 16, 04:20 PM]
The monitors showed empty tables.
Long Tian had left the café with both women—Su Qingxue on one arm, Zhang Yuting on the other. Three silhouettes disappearing down the street, perfectly synchronized. The show was over. Mission complete.
But Lin Feng couldn't relax.
He still had both arms around Lin Weiwei and Xiao Yue, the same position he'd been holding since he'd deflected their "seven minutes" accusation. Neither woman had relaxed against him. Neither woman had said a word since. The observation room hummed with the soft whir of equipment, but the silence between them stretched tight.
Mission's done. Long Tian played his hand.
Now I need to get Tingting somewhere safe and—
And deal with whatever's about to happen with these two.
Lin Weiwei's shoulder was rigid under his arm. Xiao Yue hadn't moved a single muscle in minutes.
"We should go," he said, keeping his voice calm. Professional. "There's nothing more to see here."
Silence.
Lin Weiwei didn't respond. Xiao Yue didn't even blink.
Lin Feng stood, breaking contact with both women. They followed—mechanical, automatic—but neither looked at him. Neither looked at each other.
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Zhang Tingting pulled out her cracked phone as they prepared to leave.
The spider-web fractures across the screen caught the light from the monitors, and she scrolled back through the messages with trembling fingers. The ones she'd deliberately ignored. The ones that had seemed annoying at the time—two friends being weirdly insistent about coffee plans.
Now she understood why.
[Su Qingxue: "Tingting! Come meet us for coffee at 2:00 PM today! I want you to meet my soulmate, Long Tian! You HAVE to come!"] Received: 8:17 AM
[Zhang Yuting: "Cousin! There's someone I want to introduce you to! His name is Long Tian. I bet you'll definitely like him!"] Received: 11:40 PM
Hours apart.
Both messages sent while she was hiding from them in a motel room.
But that wasn't all.
She remembered the phone call from this morning. Her mother's voice, bright and eager in a way Zhang Tingting had never heard before—the kind of voice her mother reserved for talking about lottery winners or distant relatives who'd married well.
"Yuting called us last night. She found someone wonderful. A young man. Very impressive, very handsome. She thinks you two would be perfect together."
A pause. Then, with emphasis:
"His name is Long Tian."
Zhang Tingting's thumb hovered over the screen. Both friends had invited her to meet him. Zhang Yuting had even spoken to her parents. Her own mother had tried to set her up with him—something that had never happened in eighteen years of her life.
"Lin Feng..."
She stopped walking. The cracked screen blurred in her vision, and her grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles went white.
"They called my parents." Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "Yuting… my cousin… she spoke to my parents to set me up with him."
Lin Feng turned back. "What?"
"This morning." She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself. "My mother tried to convince me to meet Long Tian. Because Yuting told her to."
She stared down at the cracked screen, at the messages she'd almost opened, almost responded to.
"They've never done that before. Never." Her hands trembled so badly the phone nearly slipped from her grip. "In eighteen years, my parents have never tried to set me up with anyone. And now suddenly..."
The words trailed off, but the thought kept going.
If I had listened to Mom.
If I had said yes to Qingxue's invitation.
If I had trusted Yuting like I always have.
If I had not trusted Lin Feng…
That could have been me on those screens. The third girl, sitting between them, smiling that empty smile.
Her chest went tight. It wasn't just the near-miss—it was the realization that she had no idea how close she'd come. That if she hadn't been suspicious, if she hadn't chosen Lin Feng over her own family—
She looked up at him. Really looked at him.
"Thank you," she whispered.
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The four of them walked out into the hallway.
Late afternoon light slanted through tall windows, casting long shadows across the polished floor. Lin family operatives stood along the walls at regular intervals, silent and watchful.
Lin Feng led. Lin Weiwei and Xiao Yue flanked him—but neither was touching him anymore. A gap had opened between them, small but significant. Zhang Tingting trailed behind, uncertain where she fit in this strange hierarchy.
Tingting can't go home. Zhang Yuting will surely pay her a visit soon. Probably even tonight.
And she can't go to the dorms either. She shares the same dorm room with Qingxue.
Both of them will try to bring her to Long Tian face-to-face. That's how the recruitment works—personal connection, emotional pressure, the full-court press.
She needs protection tonight. Somewhere they can't reach her.
He stopped walking and turned to face Zhang Tingting.
"You can't go home tonight."
Her face paled. "What?"
"Zhang Yuting is your cousin. She'll definitely come looking for you soon." His voice was matter-of-fact. "Your dorm is out too—you share a room with Qingxue, after all."
Zhang Tingting's lips parted, and her hand drifted to the cracked phone in her pocket.
"They'll both try to bring me to him?"
"Yes." Lin Feng didn't hesitate. "So tonight and from now on, you will stay at my place. We have security. You'll be safe there."
The footsteps behind him stopped.
Lin Feng turned to find both Lin Weiwei and Xiao Yue staring at him. Not at Zhang Tingting. At him.
A glance passed between the two women—brief, loaded. For once, perhaps for the first time ever, they were thinking the exact same thing.
Xiao Yue's jaw tightened and her eyes went cold. She had spent five years watching from across the street. Five years of morning runs past that gate, hoping for a glimpse. She had never once stepped inside Lin Feng's.
Not once had she been invited.
And now this girl—his former matchmaker—gets to follow him home from now on? And he has the audacity to say that to this whore in front of me?
Her hands stayed at her sides, but her fingers curled slightly.
Lin Weiwei's hands, by contrast, curled into fists. Openly. Visibly. She wasn't even trying to hide it.
But she said nothing. Not yet.
Zhang Tingting, standing behind all three of them, managed a nervous smile.
"Thank you for helping me, Lin Feng."
Neither Lin Weiwei nor Xiao Yue looked at her. Their eyes stayed fixed on Lin Feng, and the silence in the hallway pressed against the walls.
---------------------
"What about that Su Qingxue then?"
Lin Weiwei was the first to speak.
"Long Tian gave her a mission," he said, keeping his voice even. "She'll try to stay close to me, act like nothing changed, and report everything back to him."
He let that sit for a moment before continuing.
"So I'll let her."
Lin Weiwei's expression didn't change. Xiao Yue's did.
"You want to take her back."
Xiao Yue said it softly. Almost gently. The way someone repeats something they're sure they misheard.
"After everything we just watched on those screens." She took a slow step toward him. "After she bled you dry for four years." Another step. "After she sat in his lap and called him her soulmate."
She stopped, close enough now that Lin Feng could see the tremor she was fighting to keep out of her hands.
"Is that what you're telling us right now?"
Before Lin Feng could answer, Lin Weiwei pushed past Xiao Yue. She was done waiting her turn.
"Are you being serious Big Brother?" The composure was gone. Her voice came out raw, cracked at the edges. "That woman just spent two hours pressed against that weirdo. That woman let herself be kissed after knowing him for less than a day?"
She jabbed a finger toward the observation room they'd just left. "And your plan is to let her waltz back in like nothing happened?"
Lin Feng held up a hand. "I'm just using her as—"
"You're not." Lin Weiwei didn't blink.
"I'm not actually interested to—"
"Oh really?" Xiao Yue's voice came from behind Lin Weiwei now, the two of them shoulder to shoulder without even realizing it. "Or is it because that weirdo is touching her in places where you haven't?"
"No, that's not it! This is pure strat—"
"WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"
Lin Weiwei and Xiao Yue, both of them, exclaimed at the same time, the sound rang off the polished floors and high windows until it filled the entire hallway.
Lin Feng stopped, his eyes watching the two women carefully.
---------------------
Beside Xiao Yue, Lin Weiwei turned away from Lin Feng and fixed her gaze on Zhang Tingting instead.
"You know what, Tingting?"
Her voice had changed. The warmth was gone, and what was left underneath was something Zhang Tingting had never heard directed at her before.
"Maybe you SHOULD have gone to that date this afternoon. Maybe you should have met Long Tian like they wanted."
Xiao Yue moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lin Weiwei, and the two of them faced Zhang Tingting together like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Long Tian seems very accommodating. The more women, the merrier, right?" Xiao Yue's lips curled, joining in with Lin Weiwei. "Isn't that exactly what he told them today?"
Lin Weiwei let out a short, bitter laugh.
"I've watched Su Qingxue for YEARS. Watched her manipulate him. Use him. Bleed him dry while we stood there unable to do anything about it."
She took a step toward Zhang Tingting.
"I am not going through that again. I have no plans to watch some other woman worm her way in."
"I'm done being nice about this," Xiao Yue added quietly. "I'm done pretending it doesn't matter."
Zhang Tingting backed into the wall. Her shoulders pressed flat against the plaster, and there was nowhere left to go.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Her voice barely held together. "I just want to ask for some help!"
Her eyes stung, and she blinked hard, fighting it.
"Please don't treat me like the enemy… I have no feelings for Lin Feng. I SWEAR!"
Lin Feng stepped between them, putting himself in front of Zhang Tingting and facing the other two.
"Both of you need to stop this. Now."
Behind him, Zhang Tingting's hands found the back of his shirt before she even realized she'd reached for him. Both hands, fingers curling into the fabric, holding on.
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"Tingting is not interested in Long Tian. And I'm sure she also has no feelings for me." Lin Feng kept his voice steady, trying to de-escalate. "She's not here for me romantically. So let's all just—"
"That's really easy for YOU to say!"
Lin Weiwei stepped toward him instead of away, and her whole body was shaking now — not from fear, but from the effort of holding something back.
"You don't understand what this feels like!"
"This whole situation is completely UNFAIR!" Xiao Yue's voice came right behind Lin Weiwei's, the two of them closing in on Lin Feng together.
Then Lin Weiwei's voice cracked, and what came out next wasn't anger anymore.
"You accepted BOTH of us at the SAME TIME!"
Lin Feng's breath caught.
"You accepted our feelings on the SAME DAY! Less than twelve hours between us!"
She stepped closer, and Lin Feng could see the tears building behind her lashes. Her pride was the only thing keeping them from falling.
"Yesterday you accepted her feelings. Last night you were with me in bed." Her voice broke on the last word. "Did you think I wouldn't know, Big Brother? Did you think I wouldn't FIND OUT WHAT YOU DID WITH HER YESTERDAY AFTERNOON?"
Lin Weiwei pointed her finger at Xiao Yue, her hand slightly trembling.
"What does that make me in your eyes Lin Feng?"
Xiao Yue spoke next, and her voice was steady, but her fingers had gone white at her sides.
"Because… to tell you frankly…"
"You are making us feel CHEAP."
The word hung in the hallway.
"You make us feel like we're not special to you. Like our love doesn't actually matter. Like we're just... options. Interchangeable. Like I am some collectible that you can just collect!"
Neither of them moved. Neither of them looked away from him.
Then Lin Weiwei let out a long breath, and when she spoke again, the anger had bled out of her voice completely.
"Just choose, Big Brother."
She swallowed hard before continuing.
"That's all you have to do. Choose one of us, and this will be all over."
Xiao Yue nodded slowly beside her.
"She's right. Pick one. Commit to one." Her voice was barely above a whisper now. "We'll accept the result. I will accept whatever your choice is if that makes you happy."
"I agree Big Brother," Lin Weiwei said, and her lips trembled around the word. "Just say a name. Say you want her, and I'll step back and I will just be your stepsister. Say you want me, and I believe she will understand too."
Xiao Yue's eyes never left his face.
"Lin Feng, listen… We're not asking you to solve world hunger. We're not even asking you to do some great task. All we want, all we are asking you is to make a decision. One name. That's all."
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Lin Feng said nothing. He stood there watching them, his face completely unreadable.
Cheap.
She said cheap.
The late afternoon light had shifted while they stood there, and the shadows from the tall windows had crept halfway across the hallway floor. Both women stared at him, waiting for a name, waiting for a choice, waiting for something that would make this make sense.
Okay Lin Feng. Calm down and think. Just think.
If I pick Weiwei — Xiao Yue says she'll accept it. She says she'll understand.
If I pick Xiao Yue — Weiwei says she will return to becoming just the stepsister.
But…
Will they?
Lin Feng's jaw worked. His mouth opened, then closed.
Words are cheap. People say a lot of things when they're hurting. "I'll accept the result." "I'll step back." "I'll just be your stepsister."
These two aren't idiots. They're too smart to be operating on emotions alone. This is a play. A calculated ultimatum dressed up as vulnerability.
"Just pick one, and this is over."
No it won't. It won't be over. That's the lie.
He looked at them. Both of them. Shoulder to shoulder. Eyes wet but jaws set.
The one I don't choose isn't going to bow out gracefully. She's going to smile, say she understands, and then spend every waking moment trying to sabotage the other one.
Behind him, Zhang Tingting's fingers tightened on his shirt. He could feel her knuckles pressing into his spine.
And then there's Long Tian.
None of them fell to him in the original story. But I've already changed too much. The original plot doesn't protect anyone anymore.
That bastard will be right there waiting the moment one of them breaks.
His stomach turned.
Not from guilt.
But something from his previous life.
I won't hand any of them to that bastard. Not Weiwei. Not Yue. Not Tingting. I didn't get transmigrated here just to watch them turn into Long Tian's sex dolls.
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Lin Weiwei's eyes glistened, and her voice came out thin. "You can't even—"
"Are you done?"
The words came out of Lin Feng's mouth before he'd fully decided what to say to them, and before either woman could react, he stepped forward and closed the distance in a single stride. His arms came up over both their shoulders and he pulled them into his chest.
Lin Weiwei's fist came up to hit him, but it landed on his back instead, and her fingers uncurled against his shirt before her nails dug into him through the fabric like an anchor.
She pushed herself against him even harder until his heartbeat drummed against her ear through his shirt — fast, faster than she'd ever felt it. Her own pulse hammered back, racing to catch up, and she couldn't tell anymore where his ended and hers began.
"Get OFF me, Big Brother—"
Lin Weiwei protested, but her other arm wrapped around him even tighter, her nails digging deeper into his skin, and her voice came out shaking in a way that had nothing to do with anger.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yue's hand pressed flat against his chest, trying to push him away, but her other hand had found his back and was pulling him closer — and she didn't seem to notice she was doing both at the same time.
The three of them were pressed so tight together that every breath one of them took pushed against the other two, and Xiao Yue could feel Lin Weiwei's shoulder digging into hers as they both fought for space against him that neither of them was willing to give up.
Her body was trembling against him, a fine vibration she couldn't control, and when she spoke her breath was warm and uneven against his collarbone.
"You haven't answered the question, Lin Feng." Her voice cracked on his name. "You can't just—"
"What if I want the two of you?"
He said it quietly, his chin resting between their heads, close enough that they could feel his voice in his chest as much as they heard it.
"Not because I'm greedy. Not because I can't decide."
His arms tightened around them.
"Because I need both of you. For what I'm trying to build. For what I want to achieve."
Lin Weiwei's nails dug harder into his back, and Xiao Yue's hand against his chest finally stopped pushing. Her other hand, the one on his back, pulled him closer.
"You're not interchangeable. You're not replaceable. You're both essential to me."
Xiao Yue's eyes searched his face from inches away, looking for the lie, the deflection, the trick. Anything that would let her dismiss what he just said.
She didn't find it.
Neither of them pulled away.
Behind him, Zhang Tingting's fingers slowly loosened their grip on the back of his shirt, and her hands dropped to her sides. She took a small step back, giving the three of them space she suddenly felt she shouldn't be occupying.
He looks... really cool right now. Like… Like Lin Feng is some actor to a romantic drama…
But he also just told two girls he wants both of them at the same time.
What kind of person does that?
She watched Lin Weiwei's nails dig into his back, watched Xiao Yue's hand pull him closer, and something warm and unfamiliar stirred in her chest.
But, I wonder...
What does that even feel like? Being held like that. Holding someone back like that.
Having someone who'd hold on that tight even when you're hitting him and telling him to let go.
She blinked and looked away, her cheeks suddenly hot.
Stop it, Tingting. That's not why you're here.
But she didn't step back any further. And she didn't look away for long.
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[Zhang Tingting] ★☆☆☆☆☆☆ (1-Star Heroine)
├─ Previous: 29
└─ Current: 25 (-4)
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[End of Chapter 30]