Little Pink Starfish

The boss lady might not have known who Hu Tiehua was, but that didn’t stop her from understanding what Yuan Yuanyuan meant.

Yuan Yuanyuan gave a general overview of Li Zi Jie’s valiant deeds. After listening, even the boss lady couldn’t help but shake her head and let go of Yuan Yuanyuan’s neck, saying, “So Li Zi Jie has that kind of temper.”

“You didn’t know? I thought she was quite famous,” Yuan Yuanyuan asked.

“I don’t really pay attention to the younger generation’s affairs,” the boss lady replied with a laugh. “But just judging by her face, she does look pretty delicate. Don’t you have any other thoughts?”

“No, no, no!” Yuan Yuanyuan immediately cleared herself of any association with Li Zi Jie. “That kind of girl… whoever wants her can have her. I can’t handle it.”

“So what do you plan to do about her? She clearly seems deeply infatuated with you,” the boss lady asked.

“Whatever, we probably won’t get the chance to see each other again anyway,” Yuan Yuanyuan said while tidying up.

“How can you say that? Come over here, let me tell you properly…” The boss lady cut her off and dragged her aside. Yuan Yuanyuan was left dumbfounded as she listened to the boss lady explain, “You have to coax a girl. You can’t just set her aside so simply…”

Yuan Yuanyuan stood there stunned by the boss lady’s sudden lecture. Wasn’t she just interrogating her about what was going on between her and Li Zi Jie? How did it turn into a lesson on how to win over the young lady?

Women are hard to understand. Yuan Yuanyuan sighed melodramatically and gradually figured out what the boss lady was really getting at.

If she had shown even a hint of interest in Li Zi Jie earlier, the boss lady wouldn’t have reacted like this. Maybe she realized now that the two of them really don’t get along, so she switched gears and decided to tease Yuan Yuanyuan instead. That made Yuan Yuanyuan start to question whether her earlier reaction had been so straight-up “man mode” that it actually made the boss lady drop her guard.

Even though the boss lady had eased up, rumors were still swirling outside. What puzzled people most from beginning to end was how Yuan and Li Zi Jie had even met in the first place—especially given how bad things were between Yuan and Li Wangzhu.

Judging by the outfit, it probably wasn’t recent. It must’ve been right after Yuan climbed out of the well.

But why would Yuan think to find Li Zi Jie then? Was he originally planning to go confront Li Wangzhu?

Yuan Yuanyuan thought, “I was just wandering the streets and bumped into her by chance—would you believe that?”

Of course not. She sighed and looked at all the speculations online, rubbing her nose, feeling like people were definitely going to misunderstand.

In fact, she already was being misunderstood.

【Do you think Yuan went to find Li Wangzhu because he wanted an explanation?】

【Seems likely… I mean, it was Li Wangzhu who pushed him down the well.】

【When he came out, everything around him had changed. Of course he’d want to confront Li Wangzhu—the last thing he remembered was being shoved down by him.】

【But how did he end up meeting Li Zi Jie instead?】

【Why do you care? Maybe he went to find Li Wangzhu first and met her on the way back.】

Some even offered a pretty convincing theory: 【Maybe Yuan was pissed at how Li Wangzhu treated his sister, so he took it out on his daughter…】

When this conclusion surfaced, not only were the readers shocked—even Yuan Yuanyuan went, “Huh,” and thought it oddly plausible. She did seem like the type to go after someone just to stir trouble.

【Then why didn’t he make a move later?】

【Maybe he thought the kid was annoying or just too immature to take seriously. It wasn’t worth it.】

…Really? Yuan Yuanyuan gave a dead-fish stare. Framed like this, it made Yuan look quite noble, like he had a strong moral code—“Don’t hurt women and children” kind of thing.

But heaven knew, earth knew—at the time, she didn’t even know who the girl was, let alone that she was related to Li Wangzhu. She hadn’t even thought about revenge. Though now? If she had known, she might’ve done something just out of pettiness.

Being mistakenly praised by readers felt very strange. But, as mentioned before, the vibe in the manga fandom was completely different from that in the real world, and this whole thing barely got mentioned in real life.

It was another weird feeling. Scrolling through online comments and seeing how readers tried to put a positive spin on even the worst situations made her think maybe people were just desperate for a happy ending.

Meanwhile, Gao Ling had also been reading the manga, especially the part about Yuan and Li Zi Jie. She couldn’t stop re-reading it.

【Use this. Follow the artery. Find where it pulses hardest, and do it quick.】

Holy crap, that line was epic.

She’d read it so many times she could now imagine exactly how Yuan would say it—his tone, his rhythm.

Every time she read it again… well, lately she’d been a little brainwashed by the crossdressing protagonist. So dashing.

Gao Ling thought Yuan in the manga was incredibly punchable. But still, even knowing he might’ve gotten cheated on by Li Zi Jie, she couldn’t bring herself to care. He was just that charismatic.

Now it looked like Li Zi Jie might still have feelings for him. Gao Ling wondered how her father, Li Wangzhu, would react. But then again, she’d noticed the manga world and reality were on different tracks. If this were a manga-only logic, Li Wangzhu should be beating her up by now.

But… nothing.

It was all calm, like nothing had ever happened. Everyone acted like they hadn’t even read that part of the manga. Ask them about it, and they’d recite every other plotline except this one.

Guess everyone knew, but nobody dared to say anything. Such a scandal—who’d want to provoke the Li family patriarch? Especially when the Li family was thriving. After the wedding, more and more demons rallied behind Li Wangzhu, and the estate was bustling.

It was impressive, in its way. Gao Ling figured her own relaxed attitude must be a rare gift. Most people stuck between the human and demon worlds would be losing their minds. Maybe she was just used to it all by now.

Others even called her a boss.

Recently, Gao Ling had noticed something odd—the red-clothed woman in the manga had started getting a lot more screen time. No one knew why. She’d always had a decent presence, but now she was popping up more than ever.

Readers were thrilled. They thought it meant her health was improving and that she’d play a role in the final battle. But Gao Ling wasn’t so sure.

The woman was still only shown lying down or half-reclined. Never standing. That didn’t scream “recovery” to her.

Gao Ling studied the dialogue. Even the background lines felt significant. There was one brief exchange where a stunning woman—always by the red-robed one’s side—asked, “Do you have a plan?”

“Later. No rush,” the woman replied.

She lay there, seemingly too weak to sit up, but her voice was calm, as if everything was already decided. Like a mountain—unshakable.

…Don’t ask how Gao Ling could pull all that from just one page. She felt like she and the author were on the same wavelength by now. The small details revealed everything.

And after hearing that line, the other beautiful woman—possibly someone with shady ties to Yuan—visibly relaxed.

Even without seeing the red-robed woman’s face, the illustrator had drawn the other woman vividly.

Gao Ling thought maybe she was overthinking things, so she checked the comments section. But barely anyone was talking about it. Most readers were focused on the dialogue between Yuan and Li Zi Jie.

No one noticed what Gao Ling thought was the truly important detail.

Later in the chapter, there were a few panels showing Yuan seemingly organizing something. She wasn’t sure what, but he was clearly preparing.

At this point, Gao Ling really wanted to see Yuan’s tactics firsthand. He was famously cunning, after all.

Just what was Yuan planning? she wondered. Was he already a few steps ahead?

She didn’t know then… but later, when she looked back on these thoughts, her feelings would be completely different.