Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chen Lingyun was a person who craved amusement.

Ever since she was born into this world, her senses had been naturally sharper than the average person, which made her crave happiness more than anyone else.

But her memory and thinking abilities were also extremely strong, so much so that she often quickly mastered new content and subsequently lost all interest in it—just like a crossword puzzle that had been completely solved, a Rubik's Cube completely restored, there was no fun left in it anymore.

The same was true for her interpersonal relationships.

Throughout her life, all the people she knew—exactly 526 individuals—she could effortlessly remember their names, personalities, interests, and thought patterns in a very short time, eventually constructing detailed "personality portraits" and storing them in her brain's "memory database."

After that, these people became to her like math problems with all the answers filled in. She could predict how they would respond to any statement and how they would react to any situation; everything was within her expectations.

Like chewed-up sugarcane pulp, utterly tasteless.

"So, Yan Yu,"

"If you really are my future husband, then you shouldn't let me get bored too quickly, right?"

In the rented room on the other side.

Yan Yu lay on his bed, somewhat bored, while his phone screen lit up with Chen Lingyun relentlessly sending him a dozen messages.

This damn woman... I don't recall her being so troublesome in my past life.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: What exactly do you want?

[Chen Lingyun]: I want to know why you broke up with me in this life. Is it because I bullied you in the past life?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Bullied? Do you think you could manage that? In the past life, it was you who were bullied and played with until you cried and begged for mercy, and there was nothing you could do about me!

[Chen Lingyun]: Heh.

This damn woman! In an instant, Yan Yu's fists clenched.

[Chen Lingyun]: So, choosing to break up with me this time is due to feelings of guilt?

Yan Yu tossed his phone aside, deciding to leave her hanging for a bit.

[Chen Lingyun]: Hey, why aren't you talking?

[Chen Lingyun poked you]

[Chen Lingyun]: If you don't speak up, I'm going to come find you at your house, you know?

[Chen Lingyun]: You seem to be a high school student who commutes from home, right? If that's the case, then you must be renting a place near the school. Jiangnan high school requires commuting students to register their home address, and I guess you wouldn't falsify that. So, if I just ask the head teacher, I could find out Yan Yu's address.

As he watched the phone screen on the desk constantly pop up with new messages, Yan Yu's eyes twitched slightly. Begging the head teacher... I wouldn't trust anyone else, but this damn woman really has the ability to weave a perfect lie to deceive adults.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: I'm asking you one more time, what do you really want to do?

[Chen Lingyun]: Things that interest me, I must figure out.

[Chen Lingyun]: Yan Yu, I have many, many questions, and I would like to humbly learn from you~

[Chen Lingyun]: If you're free now, why don't you come out for a walk with me?

[Chen Lingyun has sent you a location]

Yan Yu immediately felt a shudder because the location she sent was just outside the residential community, barely 700 meters away in a straight line from him.

No, no, no, no, no, the complex I'm renting in is full of resettlement housing, which is particularly cheap, so there are naturally many tenants. She must just be guessing based on that... She wouldn't really go to the head teacher and get my address, would she?

...Maybe I should move out.

Yan Yu glanced again at Zhao Yuanzhen, who was wrapped up in the blankets, thinking that if this Demonic Sect Enchantress was found by that damn woman, then there really would be great amusement.

Forget it, I'll go out and deal with it for now.

After advising the blanket-wrapped enchantress not to leave, Yan Yu changed his clothes and went downstairs, silently planning how to handle her.

At the entrance of a milk tea shop just outside the community, he saw Chen Lingyun standing among other customers waiting for their orders, her beauty standing out as if she were a crane among chickens.

She wore a grey pleated skirt and canvas shoes on her lower half, and a simple white shirt on her upper half. The collar and cuffs were embellished with delicate lace, and she had tied a simple bow with a ribbon beneath the collar—just as he remembered, that damn woman always liked little and exquisite things like lace, bows, and brooches.

Her hair was tied in a refreshingly simple ponytail at the back of her head, and she had the sweet, adorable features unique to young girls. Paired with her practiced standard smile, she seemed like the quintessential "first love" heroine straight out of a campus romance drama. But only Yan Yu knew that beneath her pretty-girl exterior lay a soul as murky, scheming, and filthy as a small demon.

"Hi!" Chen Lingyun quickly spotted Yan Yu's arrival, greeting him with a beaming smile and a wave of her hand, "Been waiting for you for ages!"

In that instant, and perhaps it was just an illusion, Yan Yu felt a secretive wave of hatred from the surrounding male customers, almost as if they were saying, "Dare to possess such a treasure of this world? Kid, you better off yourself!"

"What's up?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"A bit bored." Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "Came to find you for some fun."

Did you come "to find me for some fun," or "to make fun of me"? Did you think I wouldn't know?

Yan Yu asked impassively:

"Today's Saturday, how do you have time to hang out? Is your Olympiad class that chill?"

Chen Lingyun maintained her graceful smile; although she did not answer, one could almost see a polite question mark floating above her head.

"What did you order?" Yan Yu asked as he glanced at the milk tea shop's signboard, changing the subject.

"Guess," Chen Lingyun said playfully, "As my fiancé, you should be able to guess my favorite flavor, right?"

The jealousy and murderous intent around them seemed to grow thicker, and from somewhere came a "tch" sound, but when Yan Yu looked carefully, he couldn't locate the source of the noise.

"Heh," Yan Yu laughed coldly, "I bet you didn't order anything at all."

"Oh?" Chen Lingyun's eyes widened as she asked, "Why?"

"Because you like to stand on invincible ground," Yan Yu said disdainfully. "What you hate most is losing, even just a mere bet."

"Hmm~" Chen Lingyun's smile grew even more pleasant as she responded with curved eyebrows and eyes, "You're wrong there. It's not that I hate losing; I'm just used to putting in all my effort to strive for victory."

"Heh," Yan Yu disdainfully snorted. What's your real character? Do you think I have no clue?

You might fool your dad, but you can't fool me!

"What would you like to drink?" Chen Lingyun tucked her hair behind her ear, "My treat."

"Then I'll have a Mango Pomelo Sago," Yan Yu replied unceremoniously and swiftly.

"Oh, so you dislike surprises." Chen Lingyun nodded in acknowledgment.

Yan Yu of course understood what she meant. There's a dizzying variety of milk tea shop brands across the country, each with its signature beverages and unique flavors, but the taste of one particular drink was constant.

That would be Mango Pomelo Sago.

If you try unfamiliar drinks that you've never had before, they could be a delightful surprise or a disastrous letdown. But Mango Pomelo Sago always has that same unchanging taste, identical no matter where you order it from, so it's perfect for customers who dislike unpleasant surprises with their drinks.

"There's also a chance," Yan Yu said earnestly, "that I simply don't want you to know about my dietary preferences."

"Nice, I like mystery," Chen Lingyun said as she gazed at him with a grin, "even if it's a mystery intentionally maintained."

She turned her head to the clerk and ordered:

"Two Mango Pomelo Sagos, please."

"Speaking of disliking uncertainty, it's really you who has that trait," Yan Yu couldn't help but retort, "You like to have everything clear and accounted for, despising any uncontrollable factors that fall outside of your plans."

"I didn't say I wasn't," Chen Lingyun laughed cheerfully, "And it's precisely because of that, we're such a good match, aren't we?"

Suddenly, a "bang" came from nearby, and a male customer's milk tea had inexplicably burst in his hand.

He disposed of the milk tea into the trash can beside him emotionlessly, then began to wipe his right hand with a napkin with the precision of an assassin cleaning his weapon.

Yan Yu: ......

There was a pervasive feeling that staying here any longer might actually result in getting beaten up. Are men these days so easily beguiled by beauty? What about the ever-declining marriage rates?

Chen Lingyun, having received her Mango Pomelo Sago from the clerk, handed one to Yan Yu with composure, suggesting:

"Shall we take a walk in the nearby wetland park?"