After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Lin Ye leaned back on the sofa when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

They are WeChat messages, continuous and frequent.

He took it out and saw that the messages on the screen were still popping up.

"Lin Ye, you bastard!"

"Do you have any conscience at all?"

"Zhang Qian is such a good girl, and you just broke up with her like that?"

"You even brought seven women to show off in front of her? Are you even human?"

Lin Ye stared at the screen for three seconds, then smiled.

Sun Bao.

For four years of university plus one year after graduation, this bastard was Zhang Qian's ultimate simp for a full five years.

So this must be because Zhang Qian came to him crying and complaining.

Bai Xiaojing was leaning against him scrolling through short videos when she heard a series of message notifications, so she leaned closer.

She had just finished showering, her blond hair was still wet, and the scent of strawberry shampoo wafted over Lin Ye's face.

"Bro, who is it? They're insulting you like it's rap."

Lin Ye showed her his phone screen: "Sun Bao, college classmate, Zhang Qian's ultimate simp."

"Zhang Qian must have gone to complain to him."

Bai Xiaojing raised an eyebrow: "The ultimate simp?"

The man with the tattooed arm was sitting cross-legged at the other end of the sofa, filing his nails with nail clippers. Hearing those four words, he stopped clipping his nails: "What the hell? The ultimate simp?"

"He's the kind of guy who's treated like a backup plan, an ATM, or an emotional dumping ground by women, and he still thinks it's because he hasn't tried hard enough."

Lin Ye put his phone on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa.

Flower Legs rolled over on the yoga mat: "There are people like this?"

What does it look like?

"He was quite chubby. Back in college, he would buy snacks and deliver them to the girls' dormitory every day, while he ate steamed buns by himself."

The tattooed man slammed the nail clippers on the coffee table and jumped up: "Let's go! Let's take a look!"

Flower Legs picked up the nail clippers and put them away, then clapped his hands: "I'll go too, I've never seen a live simp before."

Shen Qing hesitated for a moment, folded the old bed sheet and placed it in the corner, then whispered, "I want to go too."

Lin Ye stood up, put his phone back in his pocket, and the seven girls had already stood up from the sofa and yoga mat.

"Let's go, we absolutely have to go!"

Sun Bao has arrived.

He stood under a sycamore tree, wearing a white T-shirt with a frayed collar from washing, and the logo of a campus event was printed on it, with half of the letters missing.

He wore dark gray sweatpants with frayed hems that dragged on the ground, and sneakers whose original color was no longer discernible on his feet.

He was wiping his sweat with a tissue.

Sweat streamed down his forehead and cheeks, leaving a dark stain on the neckline of his T-shirt.

In his other hand, he was clutching a bottle of mineral water, which was already deformed from being squeezed.

He kept looking down at his phone and then looking up at the world around him.

Then he saw the forest.

He first noticed Bai Xiaojing's striking blonde hair.

Seven brightly colored girls walked straight toward him.

Lin Ye walked in the very middle.

He was wearing a loose-fitting white T-shirt, slippers, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

His right hand was in the pocket of his athletic shorts, and his left arm was being held by Bai Xiaojing.

The tattooed man walked to the right of the woods. Seeing him with a cigarette in his mouth, he took out a lighter from his pocket, lit it, and went over to him.

Lin Ye tilted his head to take the fire and inhaled.

The tattooed man put the lighter back in his pocket, casually said something to the tattooed man next to him, and the tattooed man burst out laughing.

Sun Bao's eyes widened.

His mouth opened, closed, and opened again.

He gripped the mineral water bottle so tightly that it made a cracking sound, leaving several dents in the bottle.

Sweat was still dripping down his face, but he forgot to wipe it away.

Then his gaze fell on Lin Ye, scanning him from head to toe, noting his slippers, shorts, and the way he was holding a cigarette while being linked arm-in-arm with a girl.

Seven.

Seven in total.

Lin Ye stopped in front of Sun Bao.

"Grandson, have you taken the wrong medicine? Why are you sending so many messages?"

Sun Bao's face flushed red: "You, you!"

He pointed at Lin Ye, his finger trembling.

Bai Xiaojing, holding Lin Ye's arm, tilted her head and looked Sun Bao up and down.

With a tattooed arm and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he stood with his arms crossed on the right side of the woods.

The woman with the floral leg stood next to the woman with the floral arm.

Green Hair and Pink Hair stood on either side of the line, with Qi Liu holding Wangcai at the back, and Shen Qing standing on the far side.

Seven people stood in a row.

Sun Bao swallowed.

His lips moved for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, his voice cracking: "How can you do this to Zhang Qian?"

Sun Bao's finger was still suspended in mid-air, trembling as it pointed at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked off the ash.

Bai Xiaojing moved.

She released Lin Ye's arm, took half a step to the side, then hugged him again, pressing her whole body against him.

She wrapped her arms around Lin Ye's left arm and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

Sun Bao was dumbfounded.

Lin Ye took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled it through his nose.

He pointed his cigarette-holding finger at Sun Bao: "You little brat, why did you do that?"

"Why, why bother?"

"Why give up the whole forest for one tree?"

As Lin Ye said this, he gestured with his right hand, including all seven girls around him.

The tattooed arm pushed the sunglasses up to his forehead.

Green Hair and Pink Hair stood side by side, glanced at Sun Bao, and then laughed out loud at the same time.

Qi Liuhai quietly hugged Wangcai, and Wangcai meowed.

Shen Qing tilted her head slightly to look at Sun Bao.

Sun Bao opened his mouth, but only a muffled gurgling sound came out of his throat.

Bai Xiaojing lifted her face from his shoulder, rested her chin on his collarbone, and tilted her head, saying, "Fatty, what era is this? You still rely on ordering takeout for girls to woo them?"

That's so outdated.

What woman would like someone like you?

Sun Bao's lips began to tremble.

He gripped the mineral water bottle so tightly that his knuckles turned white, the cap popped off, and water splashed out, soaking his pants.

Lin Ye threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, then patted Sun Bao on the shoulder: "Alright, you'd better watch yourself."

Bai Xiaojing grabbed his arm and pulled him outside: "That's right, that's right, stop talking nonsense!"

"Brother, look how nice the weather is today! Let's go hang up the wall!"

Sun Bao repeated blankly, "Hanging jade?"

With a tattooed arm and a cigarette dangling from his lips, he grinned at Sun Bao: "A young master like you who orders takeout for people every day would never understand."

Hua Tui started walking forward: "Let's go, let's go, the milk tea shop we went to last time had the best signal."

"Those are seats in a bubble tea shop. How can you sit there if you don't buy bubble tea?" Green Hair chased after him.

"Don't we have two dollars?" Pinky shouted from behind.

What kind of milk tea can you buy with two yuan?

"Then let's use the signal at the entrance; it's not bad there."

Lin Ye was pulled forward by Bai Xiaojing. After a few steps, he turned back to take one last look at Sun Bao.

Sun Bao was still standing under the sycamore tree, clutching a deformed mineral water bottle in his hand, his pants soaked.

His lips moved twice.

Then Lin Ye turned around and walked away surrounded by seven girls.

Sun Bao watched the group of figures disappear around the corner.

He looked down at the deformed water bottle in his hand, then at the message Zhang Qian had just sent him on his phone: "You have to help me scold him! He went too far!"

He stared at that message for a long time.

Finally, he put his phone back in his pocket, unscrewed the bottle cap, and poured the remaining half-bottle of water over his head.

Bai Xiaojing bit the straw and left three teeth marks.

She tucked the cigarette behind her ear, held her phone sideways, and watched the game loading screen spin incessantly.

The tattooed man cursed, "It's lagging again," and Zhang Jingjing said, "Try using my hotspot."

The green-haired and pink-haired people squeezed together and shared a cracked phone.

Qi Liuhai squatted on the ground and placed Wangcai in the crook of his legs.

Shen Qing sat on the steps.

Bai Xiaojing leaned close to Lin Ye, holding the cigarette in her mouth without lighting it, and swirled it around a couple of times.

She squatted on the steps, her Lolita dress bunched up at her feet: "Big brother, how is it?"

"Isn't this a nice place?"

When they said "not bad," they meant the area in front of the milk tea shop.

At the busiest intersection of the commercial street, a milk tea shop is located on the corner, with a sycamore tree in front of it.

The cold air in the store was leaking out through the gaps in the glass door.

The shop assistants at the entrance would occasionally peek out from behind the counter, but would shrink back when they saw the arm covered in koi fish stripes.

Lin Ye leaned against the trunk of a sycamore tree: "It's really nice."

The mini fan with the tattooed arm is out of power, so I'm using it as a hand fan.

But in front of them was a glass of lemonade with eight straws stuck in the rim.

When I asked the shop assistant for the arm tattoo, I spoke confidently. The shop assistant was taken aback for a moment, and then silently pulled out eight individually wrapped straws from under the counter.

Eight straws were squeezed into a glass of lemonade.

The tattooed woman said this was the best lemonade she had ever tasted.

Lin Ye said you haven't drunk it yet.

She said it looked delicious, then lowered her head, took a sip, squinted her eyes, and said it was fucking delicious.

This is what they call "hanging on the wall," where eight people share a cup of lemonade and squat down to play games.

Bai Xiaojing pushed the lemonade towards Lin Ye: "Brother, you should drink some too."

"I'm not thirsty."

"You haven't had any water all afternoon."

"I'm not thirsty."

Bai Xiaojing tilted her head and looked at him for two seconds, then pushed the cup half an inch further: "That won't do either. One sip each, no one can escape."

This is the rule.

"Who made these rules?"

"I made the order."

Lin Ye lowered his head and put his straw in his mouth.

When he let go of the straw, Bai Xiaojing was still staring at him, making sure he had swallowed before turning back to keep the straw in her mouth.

Lin Ye quietly got up and pushed open the door of the milk tea shop.

The wind chimes tinkled once, and the shop assistant reflexively called out, "Welcome!"

"Three more large glasses of lemonade, please."

He took out his phone and opened the payment code.

Bai Xiaojing immediately cried out, "Brother, don't buy anymore! If you keep buying, we'll really have no choice but to repay you with our bodies!"

The others laughed along.

Lin Ye eventually gave up.

Later, while playing games, Zhang Jingjing said, "I wish every day could be like this," her tone light and airy, half of which was drowned out by the game's sound effects, but Lin Ye heard it.

He said, "It will happen."

Zhang Jingjing didn't look up, but traced her thumb across the shattered screen and softly hummed in agreement.

Just then, the electronic speaker went off.

[Ding! A small-amount transaction matching the hidden rules has been detected, triggering the "Slow and Steady Flow" task.]

[Task Description: A small purchase, but one that carries immense gratitude.]

[10x bonus triggered, 35 yuan has been credited to your account.]

Lin Ye glanced down at his phone.

A bank notification popped up: 35 yuan.

He put his phone back in his pocket and leaned against the sycamore tree trunk again.

The tattooed man is being chased in the game.

Zhang Jingjing was supporting her, healing her while saying, "Can you please stop feeding?"

The green-haired and pink-haired people squeezed together to look at the same screen.

Qi Liuhai is squatting on the far side, holding Wangcai (a cat-shaped ornament), and drawing a cat portrait on the back of a coupon with a ballpoint pen.

Shen Qing sat on the bottom step.

Bai Xiaojing leaned against the steps.

She turned her head and looked up at Lin Ye, the cigarette that had never been lit still dangling from her lips.

"Brother, you know what? I understand now what you said to Shen Qing before."

Zhang Jingjing didn't even look up, her fingers still swiping on the screen, but she interrupted, "What did you say?"

"You said we'd talk about Zao Fu later."

Bai Xiaojing took the cigarette out of her mouth.

"This might be the first time in our lives that we've been treated like human beings."