On Friday morning at 8 o'clock, Hu Lai sat in a corner seat at the Starbucks near the back gate of H University, yawning, tired like a beautiful and lazy Ragdoll cat.

Getting up at six-thirty and leaving at seven-fifteen, the steaming hot beef and cheese croissant and the daily special coffee couldn't dispel her drowsiness. Only the sweet scent of osmanthus wafting in as customers pushed open the door brought her a little more alertness.

Kunlun Technology and the Psychology Department of H University had a collaborative project, with training sessions held every Friday at nine o'clock in the Psychology Building of H University, where Jiang Yuming turned out to be an unexpected gain from the training.

A graduate student who mistakenly walked into the wrong classroom, clean-cut in hair, clothes, and appearance, managed to get Hu Lai's WeChat through this incident.

On the next training day, he appeared outside the classroom and said, "I didn't mean to walk in the wrong place last time."

Whether it was intentional or not didn't matter, he was good-looking, and he could make excuses as he pleased. Thus, for the past two months, Fridays became a good day for Hu Lai to go on dates.

However, at this moment, Jiang Yuming sat across from her, looking troubled yet resolute.

Hu Lai felt that their pleasant days were about to come to an end.

"I feel bad for calling you out so early, so I'll just say it directly if you don't mind."

Hu Lai thought: — If you felt bad, why did you call me out so early? Do I mind? If I did, would you not say it? You're still going to say it anyway. Hypocrite.

"When I met you, you were a heroic and dashing elder sister. But these days, as we've spent time together, I feel like there's a little girl living inside you." Jiang Yuming said.

Despite Jiang Yuming's efforts to appear calm and composed, his nervous posture of leaning back occasionally betrayed his tension. He was afraid that Hu Lai might pour the coffee on his head in a fit of anger. The coffee, which had just received five minutes ago, was still hot.

Hu Lai glanced at him, thinking: — Every woman has a little princess in their heart. What little girl? If you have mommy issues, go talk to your mom. Who doesn't love elder sisters these days? Ugh!

On the surface, she didn't even raise an eyebrow, tucking a strand of her drooping curly hair behind her ear, and remained silent.

Getting up early and going bare-faced didn't lessen her beautiful features, nor did Jiang Yuming's words.

Judging by her appearance alone, Hu Lai was indeed a heroic and dashing elder sister, as Jiang Yuming said. With her slightly curly long hair, bright eyes, shirt, and trousers, and her trench coat draped over the chair beside her, she had a faint sense of detachment and coldness when she wasn't smiling or speaking, embodying the current trend of the aloof beauty.

"Plus, you're working and I'm studying. We're in different environments, and we have many different viewpoints."

Hu Lai responded with a simple "Hmm." She didn't deny this point. Usually, she didn't bother arguing with Jiang Yuming because of his looks. In Hu Lai's dictionary, men were never ideal conversation partners, and young men were still men.

"The most important thing is—" Jiang Yuming's voice involuntarily rose, tinged with a hint of stubbornness and grievance, "During this time, I didn't feel that you liked me or loved me very much."

As a well-groomed and somewhat sought-after handsome man, Jiang Yuming had dated several girlfriends. Every time they broke up, his ex-girlfriends would cry and plead, unwilling to let go. But with Hu Lai, it was different. She didn't seem surprised, angry, or sad, she didn't seem to care about him at all!

Even if someone liked a cat, they would still feel a bit sad when the cat was leaving, right?

But Hu Lai didn't feel that way. She remained silent.

Usually, at a time like this, an ordinary girl would say a few soft words.

But Hu Lai didn't. She just silently looked at him.

Jiang Yuming felt like an idiot.

No matter how unhappy he was, he had to maintain his composure. His mom always said that boys should give way to girls.

Suppressing the frustration boiling inside him, Jiang Yuming said, "Anyway, the training project will end soon. Let's break up."

Only then did Hu Lai ask, "How much should I like you or love you in your opinion?"

She didn't understand.

It wasn't like Romeo and Juliet—destined lovers, fatal temptations, love under a spell, or a passionate encounter. They had only been together for two months. Due to work and study, they could meet at most twice a week, and most of the time they chatted on WeChat. How much could one really like someone? What was the standard? Was it because they hadn't even spent a night together yet?

But two months seemed too soon.

Jiang Yuming stood up, took a deep breath, and said, "At least I shouldn't feel like I'm dispensable. Feelings are hard to explain. You have training later, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

"Okay."

Hu LaI replied without stopping him.

She couldn't make sense of it.

Aren't men supposed to be dispensable? At most, they're just an embellishment—did they need to be considered a necessity in life?

Bags aren't even a necessity, let alone men.

"Tsk."

After Jiang Yuming left, Hu Lan's expression immediately darkened. She leaned back against the uncomfortable chair in Starbucks and took a hard bite of her beef and cheese croissant.

"Turtle bastard, how dare you dump me? Damn it, damn it! I, Hu LaI, actually got dumped by someone—did I step in shi.t or something?"

A disgrace.

Such a disgrace!

Fuming, she finished off a croissant, still seething inside. She had always been the one to break up with people, and now being dumped for the first time left her unsure of how to react.

What a waste.

She should have splashed him with coffee!

"Turtle bastard! Just wait and see, you son of a turtle!"

The man she broke up with was no better than a cockroach. Hu Lai had no intention of getting back together or trying to win him back, she was determined to make him regret it.

As she walked out of Starbucks, the scent of osmanthus wafted toward her. Hu Lai took a few deep breaths, exhaling the negativity.

Looking up, she saw the fluffy, relaxed clouds. Autumn in Shanghai was brief yet beautiful.

There was no need to let that turtle bastard ruin her mood. Men? She could have as many as she wanted, only Hu Lai didn't want them.

After composing herself, she walked on fallen leaves to the training classroom and sat in the left corner listlessly. She didn't pay attention to what the professor was saying.

How strange.

Considering her stunning beauty, fragrant aura, capable of being both a mature woman and a gentle girl, it was surprising that she had never had a relationship lasting more than six months. On average, she had a new one every two months. She had thought that Jiang Yuming would last longer than two months, but who would have guessed that this time he would be the one to bring it up first.

She had been behaving like a proper lady, for goodness' sake.

—Damn it.

During the break, Zhou Huaiyi sat down next to her and poked the lazy Hu Lai, saying, "I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Zhou Huaiyi was a colleague from the same project and a bit of a senior. After hearing Hu Lai curse someone once, they became friends.

Hu Lai's dad, Hu Yue, often said that it's not easy to make friends with like-minded people after starting work.

Hu Lai wholeheartedly agreed.

"I also have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" Hu Lai propped her head up, tilting it as she asked.

"Let's hear the bad news."

"I got dumped by that little brat Jiang Yuming. For the first time in my life, I got dumped! Do you think it's karma for me dumping others too many times?"

People who can poke fun at themselves are never too bad off, and Zhou Huaiyi didn't seem very surprised.

Hu Lai raised an eyebrow, "Is your news related to this?"

Zhou Huaiyi nodded and directly opened her phone, "Are you sure you want to see this?"

Hu Lai chuckled and pushed aside the hand blocking the screen. "Could it be a public display of affection? If it's really daring, I'll upload it to a po.rn site."

A short video played, just a few seconds long, featuring a man and a woman.

The male lead was Jiang Yuming, who had just broken up with Hu Lai that morning, and the female lead had a rather ordinary face but a refreshing charm.

They were walking closely, shoulders brushing, exchanging gentle, sweet smiles.

To anyone, it would seem like they were a perfect couple.

What a slap in the face—an outright, blatant slap in the face.

Breaking up was one thing, but he even dared to to cheat on her and play NTR. 

*NTR, or "Netorare," is a genre in anime, manga, and other forms of media that involves a character's romantic partner being seduced or taken away by another person.

—Jiang Yuming, you're really something else.

"Huaiyi, didn't you say before that my looks could appeal to both men and women?" Hu Lai tapped on the phone screen, already forming an idea.

Zhou Huaiyi always knew that Hu Lai was quick-witted, but she didn't expect her to be this quick. She cleared her throat, "You want to poach her? Do you know that girl?"

Hu Lai had a vague impression of the female lead.

Once, when Jiang Yuming was playing basketball with some people, Hu Lai, feeling bored, noticed that the girl was excitedly shouting and cheering.

She was a year younger than Jiang Yuming, a senior this year. Instead of thinking about taking exams or finding a job after graduation, she was busy looking for a boyfriend.

Was she planning to get married and have children right after graduating?

Such a negative review.

"If I go and loosen the soil a bit, how likely do you think the girl will take the bait?"

With a muttered prayer, Zhou Huaiyi looked at Hu Lai and then at the girl in the photo, shaking her head. "That girl looks straight as an arrow, and you..."

"And me?"

"You look like you're neither fully bent nor fully straight. There's no spark. You might as well try to win Jiang Yuming back and then dump him again."

"Pfft, a pair of worn-out shoes that someone else picked up isn't worth chasing after. He's dreaming if he thinks I would." Hu Lai sneered. "What's your good news?"

Zhou Huaiyi put her phone away and touched her nose, smiling sheepishly. "Jiang Yuming has no taste. That girl isn't as pretty or as bright as you. And you, what's your good news?"

"I'm single again, which gives you another chance. Isn't that good news?"

—Heh.

"Wake up, I have a family." Zhou Huaiyi proudly displayed her phone screen saver, which she must have shown off many times. "Look, my girlfriend and my daughter."

"Yes, yes, yes, a happy family of three. How toxic."

After a day of training, the frustration still lingered in Hu Lai's mind, and just thinking about that couple made her fume.

She considered several ways to deal with Jiang Yuming, but none could match her style and achieve revenge.

Revenge needed to be executed with grace.

She couldn't publicly humiliate herself by causing a scene.

Losing her composure over a man wasn't worth it.

Nor was it appropriate to find a substitute among Jiang Yuming's classmates, as he might think she had a grudge and was trying to provoke him.

Losing her principles over a man wasn't worth it.

She did have a grudge, not for others, but for her own pride.

So frustrating!

If she really wanted to flirt with that girl, even thinking about it felt forced.

It had nothing to do with gender.

Although Jiang Yuming was a jerk, at least he was good-looking. That girl had no special features, just a face, a nose, extremely boring. Maybe Jiang Yuming liked her because she made him stand out, and her eyes sparkled when she looked at him.

Men, once they're born and assigned that "role," they think they're special.

Revenge should target what the other person cares about most.

What does Jiang Yuming care about the most?

When she got home that night, Hu Lai searched online for ways to get back at her cheating ex-boyfriend. It takes collective brainstorming to come up with a plan.

Coincidentally, a colleague in the chat group shared a screenshot, containing explosive content that was highly relevant.

"The poster used to date a boyfriend she liked very much. Just when they reached their one-year anniversary, she found out he cheated on her. After calming down, she decided he needed to pay the price. She took action against his own mother because she knew he cherished no one more than his mom..."

If Hu Lai remembered correctly, Jiang Yuming's parents were divorced, and he lived with his mother, often mentioning her fondly.

His mother was a professor at the Psychology Department of H University, what was her name again?

Oh, Shen Zhengying.

Hu Lai's eyes lit up.

Perfect.

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