Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Something’s a Little Off with These Two Today

Zhuo Peipei and He Zhiyu walked side-by-side behind Shen Yuan and Li Zhi, whispering to each other as if plotting something.

"You’d better act more normal. I feel like those two are already starting to suspect you," Zhuo Peipei said to He Zhiyu with a serious expression.

Hearing this, He Zhiyu’s eyes instantly widened like saucers, her face filled with disbelief.

"N-No way, right?" Her voice trembled, clearly frightened by Zhuo Peipei’s words.

Seeing this, Zhuo Peipei couldn’t help but tsk softly, her expression one of exasperated disappointment.

"Why wouldn’t they? Have you forgotten what you’ve been writing lately?" she said, lowering her voice. "Look at you! You write about whatever they talk about. You have no main plot of your own!"

As the head of the Kissing Association, Zhuo Peipei knew the ropes. She began earnestly imparting her experience:

"We’re manufacturing industrial saccharine here, get it? What does industrial saccharine mean? It means you have to make stuff up yourself! You can’t just keep copying their daily lives. If you keep this up, they’ll find out sooner or later!"

"But... but didn’t they say they weren’t reading it?" He Zhiyu, still not giving up, tried to defend herself.

Zhuo Peipei shook her head helplessly and sighed. "Do you think the person ranked third in our grade is an idiot?"

Hearing this, He Zhiyu flinched and shrank back.

’She knew perfectly well that there was no way Li Zhi was an idiot. That left only one possibility—she was the idiot.’

Zhuo Peipei’s frustration was mounting. She felt like she was about to lose control and hit someone.

’She was the great head of the Kissing Association! She had legions of capable members under her command. How could someone so dense exist in her ranks?’

And yet, what made her feel even more helpless was that *Defend and Steal* was now incredibly popular on the campus confession wall!

’This really made Zhuo Peipei start to wonder. Could it be that only simple-minded people could write true Sugar Text?’

’Were people like her, whose brains had been corroded by industrial saccharine since their first year of high school, destined to be made obsolete?’

Just as Zhuo Peipei was lost in thought, He Zhiyu suddenly spoke up from beside her. "Peipei, are you saying they said that on purpose?"

Hearing this, Zhuo Peipei felt a wave of powerlessness wash over her. Her eyes widened as she looked at He Zhiyu and retorted irritably, "Girl, how in the world did you score a 660 on the monthly exam?"

Taken aback by Zhuo Peipei’s question, He Zhiyu was a bit bewildered. She blinked and stammered, "I... I just did?"

After hearing He Zhiyu’s answer, Zhuo Peipei’s feeling of helplessness intensified, as if all the strength had been drained from her body.

She couldn’t help but sigh and say, "He Zhiyu, you really are a huge idiot!"

He Zhiyu clutched her head. "Stop scolding me, stop scolding me! Peipei, hurry up and tell me, what am I supposed to do?"

Looking at He Zhiyu’s state, Zhuo Peipei let out a long breath and chanted to herself.

’She’s one of ours, she’s one of ours, she’s one of ours. I brought this on myself, I brought this on myself, I brought this on myself...’

After this quick mental chant, Zhuo Peipei looked at He Zhiyu with a serious expression. Once she had calmed herself, she finally said, "This is actually simple. Stop copying their daily life all the time!"

Hearing this, He Zhiyu looked a bit wronged and hurriedly explained, "I didn’t completely copy it! I made modifications."

However, Zhuo Peipei clearly wasn’t buying it. She continued, "Of course I know you made modifications. The problem is, you can’t keep writing about things that happened to them this week within the very same week!"

"Think about it! What’s the content of your story? You’ve basically done everything but use their real names!"

Zhuo Peipei took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and then continued:

"How about this, Zhiyu. I don’t think you need to send me the manuscript every Sunday anymore. You can just send it to me whenever you’ve written 10,000 words."

Seeing He Zhiyu’s blank look, Zhuo Peipei patiently explained.

"The reason I’m saying this is because I think you need time to let things settle. The deadline I set for you before might have been too short, and it’s not really suited to your way of writing Sugar Text."

"According to my plan, if you keep writing like this, sooner or later, you’ll become just like us."

Zhuo Peipei let out a long sigh, seemingly helpless about this outcome, and continued, "At that point, you’ll become just another unoriginal manufacturer on the industrial saccharine assembly line, churning out cookie-cutter works."

In that moment, Zhuo Peipei’s thoughts surged like a tidal wave.

She couldn’t help but reflect. Since when had the sweet love stories serialized on the campus confession wall become so formulaic and unoriginal?

Thinking back, Zhuo Peipei’s standards for reviewing Sugar Text used to be quite high.

Take *Love in the Era of Lecterns*, for example. The emotions depicted in it were far beyond what simple industrial saccharine could compare to.

What Zhuo Peipei had always pursued were not stories that were sweet for the sake of being sweet, but love stories that could genuinely touch people’s hearts and resonate with them.

And it was for this very reason that Zhuo Peipei was able to stand out from the many members of the Kissing Association and earn the position of president.