Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

2.16 - Matthew Effect

In the mountains and forests east of Ella Village, the village chief Woodell was trying hard to look for someone, while Wei'er, who was following behind him, was wandering in a restless state of mind.

Wei'er felt regretful because she missed the opportunity to work with Banning because of her little temper.

(Actually… there’s no special relationship between him and me… It’s normal for him not to tell me…)

(I'm just an ordinary villager. Even if he told me about the bandits... I can't help...)

(Maybe he didn't tell me for my own good...?)

Perhaps thanks to the cool mountain breeze, Wei'er gradually calmed down, and then she began to get angry with herself. She scolded herself, saying that Banning had risked his life to save the village, but she didn't know how to repay him, and instead was being so petty and calculating...

(I really am... so stupid... boohoo...)

(If my sister were still here, she would definitely call me stupid... Ugh... If only my sister were still here...)

Wei'er was so angry that she wanted to cry, but she didn't want the village chief to see it, so she turned her grief and anger into strength, and began to shout the villagers' names and find everyone back.

(Tomorrow…tomorrow I must muster up the courage to apologize to Benning…yeah!)

·

On the other side, also in the forest, Jiang Ran was leisurely looking for someone.

Jiang Ran wasn't slacking off intentionally; it was just that his stamina had reached its lowest point, and his body felt equally exhausted. Since sneaking into the forest last night to secretly observe the village chief hunting, he hadn't had a proper rest in over thirty hours.

(Jiang Ran: Why don’t you continue cursing, stupid girl?)

The stupid loli in his head suddenly quieted down, but Jiang Ran was a little uncomfortable with it.

(Benny: No scolding, no scolding.)

(Jiang Ran: Oh…?)

(Benny: ...Hmm.)

(Jiang Ran: Then who is the biggest fool?)

(Benny: I... I'm a big fool.)

(Jiang Ran: Why is Prigok Nissen a big fool?)

(Benny: Can you please not call me by my correct name at times like this?)

(Jiang Ran: No. Prigok Nissen, please tell me why Prigok Nissen is such a fool?)

(Benny: Damn it… I jumped to conclusions without even seeing what was going on in Wei’er’s mind, and I forgot all about the “Theory of Intermittent Reinforcement” I learned earlier…)

(Jiang Ran: Failed.)

(Benny: Eh? That's not right? Then why not?)

(Jiang Ran: You've got one thing wrong. My goal isn't to get Wei'er to be with me, but to get her to confess to me. So your whole way of thinking is wrong... Also, the theory I'm applying here isn't 'intermittent reinforcement,' but the 'Matthew Effect.' Don't you understand how the Matthew Effect applies to love?)

(Benny: MA…MA TAI effect, of course I understand!)

In the silly loli's understanding of the Earth world, when it comes to the pronunciation of MA TAI, it seems like there is a Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand tourism or something, but this is obviously unrelated to what Jiang Ran said, so she immediately used her power today and applied to the "Omniscient Wisdom Library" to inquire about the knowledge of the "Earth World" called "MA TAI Effect".

Unfortunately, after reading this, Silly Loli had no idea what Jiang Ran was up to tonight.

In reality, Jiang Ran's logic wasn't complex; it was just that the silly little girl lacked experience and didn't know how to adapt. Jiang Ran, knowing full well what Wei'er was thinking, deliberately didn't explain or show any kindness, and even seemed a bit cold when they parted. This was all the result of careful consideration.

Jiang Ran believes that in a romantic relationship, the pursuer is often the weak one, and the pursued is the strong one. The core theory of the Matthew effect, "the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker," also applies to love.

In most cases, the more a pursuer invests in his or her beloved, the less likely he or she will cherish him or her, and he or she will end up being a bootlicker. This is the case when the weak become weaker. On the other hand, the pursued will basically invest resources (time, energy, wealth and material) in themselves, and become more and more popular. This is the case when the strong become stronger.

For example, when Xiao Sun brings breakfast to Xiao Mei for the first time, Xiao Mei may be a little touched. But after Xiao Sun brings breakfast to Xiao Mei every day for three consecutive months, Xiao Mei has become accustomed to it. If Xiao Sun suddenly stops bringing breakfast, Xiao Mei will even be angry with him.

Some people might think Xiao Sun's behavior is a form of "dependency cultivation," that as long as Xiao Mei has dependence, she'll eventually fall in love. But Jiang Ran disagrees. "Dependency cultivation" should be the kind of thing where Xiao Mei can't survive without Xiao Sun. Something as trivial as breakfast is completely insignificant to Xiao Mei. It's just Xiao Sun's self-admiration.

Let's get back to the point. Although Jiang Ran is indeed "pursuing" Wei'er at the moment, he is very skillful in deliberately not letting Wei'er notice. If he had followed the stupid loli's advice to "try harder", it would have only completely wasted Jiang Ran's previous plans. Once Wei'er felt that Jiang Ran was pursuing her, it would have been countless times more difficult for Jiang Ran to get Wei'er to confess to him.

Under no circumstances should you "take the initiative to pursue girls", this is an absolute taboo in Jiang Ran's love theory.

Based on his own theory, Jiang Ran gave Wei Er, who had a little temper, the "cold treatment" tonight. After this treatment, Wei Er would feel lost and unwilling to accept it, and would want to confirm whether Jiang Ran really liked her (the rumors of a secret crush he had spread before were still playing a role), and this way, she would care about Jiang Ran even more.

Caring is the beginning of liking.

The more you care, the weaker you become, and then the weaker you become.

·

The next morning, the villagers of Ella Village slept until noon before getting up one after another. What happened last night really exhausted them. Some of them were not even found and only tiptoed back to the village after dawn.

After returning to their safe daily lives, the villagers were immediately buzzing with gossip. In a village where even the smallest details could be spread dozens of times, Banning's feat of repelling the Scarlet Cloud Bandits was a viral sensation.

Jiang Ran didn't wake up naturally, he was woken up by the noise outside the house.

(Jiang Ran: Stupid, didn’t I tell you to wake me up immediately if anything unusual happens?)

(Benny: (sourly) Nothing unusual, just the villagers gathered outside to thank you for being a hero.)

Jiang Ran didn't know that the villagers had questioned him last night, but he was not interested in their gratitude.

Today is the third day since he came to this parallel world. Including today, in the remaining four days, he must make Wei'er confess to him.

As soon as Jiang Ran walked out of the door, the villagers immediately surrounded him. Jiang Ran skillfully put on the mask of "modest and good boy" to maintain his "personality" and gently communicated with the villagers. At this time, a charming and graceful young woman squeezed past the people around and walked towards Jiang Ran.

(Benni: Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang Yan is in danger! My bad guy radar is ringing!!)

Jiang Ran knew that the visitor was not a good person without the stupid loli reminding him. He deliberately did not look at the young woman, but the young woman still took the initiative to hook her arm around Jiang Ran's shoulder.

2.17 - Getting Better (Update)

"Handsome boy, my sister has prepared a sumptuous meal for lunch. You, the great benefactor of Ella Village, must come and sit down for a while~"

"Haha, you're so polite, Sister Mary."

It was Mary who had set off the bad girl radar on the stupid loli. Jiang Ran wouldn't have mistaken her even without his identification ability. However, Jiang Ran didn't dislike Mary, because if it weren't for this woman, he wouldn't have had the chance to dismantle the Scarlet Cloud Mountain Bandits from within.

However, not hating someone is not the same as liking him. Jiang Ran has no interest in Mary. Even though she pretends to rub her curvy body against Jiang Ran intentionally or unintentionally from time to time, and occasionally goes a step further and rubs a soft part of her body back and forth on Jiang Ran's back, Jiang Ran still does not change his opinion of her.

(Benni: Wow, Jiang Yan, you look like you're impotent. How can you not react at all even in this state?)

(Jiang Ran: If you don’t need your brain, you can donate it to someone in need.)

Although Jiang Ran was unmoved, it was still quite annoying to be pestered like this for a long time. Just when Jiang Ran was about to find an excuse to slip away, he found that Wei'er was standing behind the crowd, looking at him from a distance, as if hesitating whether to squeeze in.

"Weier~! Can you help me mend my clothes? They got a lot of holes from fighting the bandits yesterday!"

Jiang Ran suddenly shouted loudly and waved his hand in Wei'er's direction. The villagers immediately looked at Wei'er, leaving her with nowhere to hide.

"Eh?"

Wei'er was caught off guard and suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention. She froze and it took her a few seconds before she answered Jiang Ran's question in a daze.

"Uh... well, yeah... sure."

In this situation, Wei'er, who often helped everyone mend clothes, had no reason to refuse. Jiang Ran took the opportunity to get rid of Mary's entanglement, strode out of the crowd and came to Wei'er.

"Huh? What did you say? Oh, you need to go home to get some needle and thread, right? Then let's go!"

Without waiting for Wei'er to speak, Jiang Ran loudly directed and acted out a conversation, then took Wei'er's hand and started jogging. The two of them kept running until they were out of the sight of the villagers, and then Jiang Ran gradually stopped.

"Thank you, Wei'er. I was surrounded by everyone and didn't know how to get away. Luckily you passed by."

"No...it's nothing...it's just...a small matter...that's all."

After the run, Jiang Ran's breathing was stable, but Wei'er, who lacked exercise, couldn't bear to run such a long distance. She bent over and gasped for breath, and her speech was intermittent.

Then, after her breathing had recovered a little, Wei'er realized belatedly that Banning was actually holding her hand, and it seemed that he had been holding her hand for a long time! Although it was just holding her wrist, this kind of skin contact still made her face immediately red.

"Th-that hand..."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

As soon as Wei'er finished speaking, Benning let go of her hand as if he had been electrocuted. He let go too quickly, which made Wei'er feel unexpectedly lost.

"No...it's okay, no need to apologize...or anything."

Wei'er looked down at the ground. She found that whenever she was with Benning, she spent nine out of ten minutes looking at the ground.

"Weier, I was in a hurry and didn't think too much about it. I hope you can forgive me."

"Hmm... well, it's not as exaggerated as asking for forgiveness."

After Banning apologized, silence fell between the two again.

Although Wei'er was still looking at the ground, she was extremely anxious... She had clearly been sleepless all night thinking about apologizing to Banning for what happened last night and introducing herself to Banning, but now that she finally had the chance to be alone, Wei'er had completely forgotten what she wanted to say.

Wei'er is so regretful now, regretting that she didn't write down what she wanted to say on a small piece of paper and carry it with her.

"Anyway, thank you, Wei'er. I won't take up any more of your time. If there's anything I can help with, please feel free to come and see me."

After just a short moment of silence, Banning was already saying goodbye. When Wei'er heard this, she immediately panicked and tried to keep him.

"Wait, wait a minute, you... you... you... that thing... Oh right! Don't you need to mend your clothes?"

In a hurry, Wei'er thought quickly and remembered what Banning said when he called her. Isn't this a good reason for the two of them to continue to be alone!

Banning looked down at his clothes and saw that they were indeed in tatters.

"Haha, yes, do you have time to help me deal with it?"

Banning smiled, and the awkward atmosphere between the two of them had quietly melted away, like ice and snow meeting the warmth of early spring.

"Yeah, if...if I have time, can you wait for me to go home and get some needle and thread?"

Wei'er was secretly happy that they could continue to spend time together. At this moment, Banning's unexpected words made her heart beat suddenly faster.

"I'll go with you, so you don't have to go back and forth."

"Eh?"

Wei'er was terrified. Banning was actually coming to her house! She was all alone at home! A single man and a single woman... What if something happened between her and Banning? What would she do? Wei'er had no experience at all...!!!

"What's wrong, Wei'er?"

Banning's voice pulled Wei'er's thoughts back from outer space. She looked at Banning in front of her, her mind a mess, and she just gave it a go.

"No...nothing, then, come with me."

Wei'er turned around so suddenly that her little head almost flew off. In order to prevent Banning from seeing her red face, she ran quickly in front with small steps, while Banning followed easily behind.

(Benni: Wow Jiang Yan, aren’t you being a bit too radical?)

(Jiang Ran: Do you think being in a relationship means being a hostess entertaining VIPs?)

(Benni: Uh, what do you mean?)

(Jiang Ran: You can't always be polite and courteous. You need to create a "heart-pounding situation" to make the other person fall in love.)

(Benni: Ah, Teacher Jiang, I get it! This is a transformational application of the "Suspension Bridge Effect"!)

This time, Silly Lolita finally showed some results from her studies.

Jiang Ran is now following one of the core concepts of his theory of love: treating each other with respect is something that happens after marriage, while falling in love requires your heart to beat faster!

·

After a while, Jiang Ran followed Wei'er to her little house. The house was very unique in appearance, with some decorations hung appropriately, which was very girly in style.

"Please...please come in."

"The house hasn't been cleaned up recently, so it's a bit messy..."

Wei'er opened the door somewhat embarrassedly and let Jiang Ran in.

Generally speaking, the answer in this situation is nothing more than "No, it's very clean and tidy" or "I should be the one to be sorry. I came to your house without your permission and disturbed you." However, such answers all make the mistake of being "overly polite" as Jiang Ran just mentioned.

Jiang Ran stood at the door and glanced inside the house. The house was actually very tidy and not as bad as Wei'er said. However, his answer to Wei'er was...

"Haha, it's really messy."

2.18 - Repairing Clothing

"Eh?"

Wei'er thought she had misheard and looked at Banning blankly.