Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth

“Ring ring ring~”

The moment she heard the bell signaling the end of class, Su Li silently lifted her head to glance at the time. She hadn’t expected that simply prepping a lesson would make time pass so quickly.

It was already the end of the workday. Tonight, she wasn’t scheduled for duty—which meant she could enjoy playing her game to her heart’s content.

In times like this, when nothing else seemed to bring comfort, games were the only thing that gave her warmth. Besides, thanks to her memories, she could even make a decent side income from gaming.

To think, a dignified reincarnator, reduced to making money through gaming. How disgraceful.

Su Li felt she was bringing shame to the entire reincarnator community.

But there was no helping it. Never mind plagiarizing literature—assuming she could even manage that—the main issue was that this world had far too many seasoned reincarnators. Even if things hadn’t started getting strange just yet, still… this was only her third day since crossing over!

She guessed that before long, this world would begin to change and diverge from how it originally was.

But maybe that was a good thing. If things were going to change anyway, then she could make a few “unusual” moves without drawing too much attention. Honestly, that’s just the butterfly effect at work.

As Su Li indulged in her own daydreams, a hand suddenly appeared above her head and gently began to ruffle her hair.

The hand, of course, belonged to Li Yitong.

Feeling the softness beneath her fingers, Li Yitong thought it felt just like petting a cat. And if she were to compare Su Li to a little feline from another planet, well… it actually suited her pretty well.

Su Li turned her head slightly and gave Li Yitong a puffed-up glare. “I told you not to touch my head! I’m still growing, and now thanks to your rubbing, I won’t get any taller!”

“I think Su Li’s current height is just perfect,” Li Yitong replied without the slightest intention of stopping—clearly addicted to the sensation.

Only after a good while did she finally let go. By then, Su Li’s previously smooth hair had turned into a complete mess under Li Yitong’s ministrations. But even so, she still gave off an irresistibly cute vibe.

“All right, let me fix your hair.”

As she spoke, Li Yitong quietly helped Su Li tidy up her hair. Su Li didn’t show any particular expression outwardly, but inside she was already questioning: What exactly is Li Yitong up to?

The whole day had gone by, and she hadn’t tested her even once. Had she given up?

No… that couldn’t be right. Li Yitong’s personality was definitely not the kind to give up so easily. Then why was she acting this way?

While Su Li was puzzling over it, Li Yitong had already finished fixing her hair—and even tied it into twin tails.

The twin-tail hairstyle was common enough in anime, but relatively rare in real life. Mostly because not many people could pull it off. Su Li happened to be one of the rare exceptions.

On her, twin tails looked natural, not the least bit awkward. In fact, they made her look even younger—like an adorable middle school girl.

Su Li casually glanced at the mirror on her desk. Sure, she looked cute, but the thought that the person in the mirror was herself left her feeling utterly despondent.

“What do you think? Pretty cute, right? I have to say, twin tails really suit you~”

“Feels… not bad, I guess~”

Su Li gave a soft, cute smile, then began packing up. Twin tails it was. She had already given up on trying to fight it. No matter what she did, she still looked like an underage girl anyway.

“Heading home already?”

Su Li gave a gentle nod and yawned. “I had insomnia last night. Gonna head back early and catch up on sleep.”

“I see. Well, you go ahead. I’m about to get some dinner myself.”

After leaving the office and walking out the school gate, Su Li found her little tail, Shen Qingxia, tagging along again. There wasn’t much she could do about it. After all, they lived in the same direction. Fine, so she was being followed.

Being followed by a cute girl was still better than being tailed by some macho guy.

When they finally reached the bottom of her apartment building and Su Li felt Shen Qingxia’s intense gaze disappear, she quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Back home, Su Li casually tossed her bag to the side and immediately booted up her computer. The game had already finished downloading at noon, and now was the perfect time to play—just needed to order some takeout.

Just as she was about to start, the doorbell suddenly rang. Su Li closed her laptop and walked to the door. When she peeked through the peephole, she was surprised to see Ling Luo standing there.

Wait a second—didn’t she have a standard nine-to-five job? Why was she home so early today? No, hang on… it was already past six. Did she really get back this fast?

When Su Li opened the door, Ling Luo smiled warmly and said, “Good evening! Have you had dinner yet?”

“Not yet. I was just about to order takeout.”

“No need for takeout. I have a suggestion—why not just hand over your meal budget to me, and I’ll take care of your dinners from now on. How about it?”

Su Li blinked. Rationally speaking, that was a pretty great offer. She clearly remembered that before her rebirth, it had taken over half a year of knowing Ling Luo before she’d ever said something like that.

But now, it had only been three days!

Still, since she’d offered, Su Li put on just the right amount of hesitation. If she accepted too readily, it would definitely raise suspicion.

They were neighbors, but they had only known each other for three days.

After a brief pause, Su Li nodded slightly. “I don’t really mind… but are you sure it won’t be too much trouble?”

“Don’t worry about it. Cooking’s not that hard.”

After chatting for a bit more, Ling Luo turned and went back to her own place. Once inside, she let out a long sigh. She had realized that maybe she was being a bit too eager.

That kind of impatience wasn’t like her at all. But whenever she saw Su Li, she felt an overwhelming urge to fast-track the whole “capture strategy.” Reincarnator or not, it didn’t matter.

She couldn’t keep rushing things like this. Otherwise, if she raised Su Li’s guard, the strategy would stall.

Besides… it seemed she needed to climb the corporate ladder a bit faster—at least to the point where she could leave work early. That way, she could “accidentally” run into Su Li after work more often.

Sometimes, those little “accidents” were absolutely essential.

That, after all, was something she’d once learned from Su Li herself. It was through those many “coincidences” that she had once been won over.

Maybe this really was: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

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