My System Forces Me to Live off Women-Chapter 175 - 165: Turning the Tables

Can’t keep contacting those eight "blind date prospects" from Yandu University and Finance University, or it’s bound to lead to big trouble sooner or later!

At noon? Noon won’t work either, trouble in the morning, execution at noon!

As time passed, Li Peifeng felt increasingly alarmed, so while getting ready, he made up his mind to quit playing this dangerous game of pulling along multiple girls, and during breakfast he kept thinking about how to perfectly solve the problem without raising Li Xin’s suspicions...

"Who has time this afternoon to check out the studio?"

At the dining table, Wu Wenyue was full of energy: "It’s been a week, I’ve posted seven videos on my account, spent five thousand on operating costs, gained eighty thousand followers. I glanced at it this morning, the total number of followers just broke a hundred thousand, people have started to approach me for collaborations. I’m planning a meeting this afternoon for the next stage, you’re welcome to come and give guidance."

Xu Manning shook her head and said, "I can’t, I have to go to the production workshop, the first series of True Self’s ready-to-wear is being made, I must keep a close watch. Yueyue, you’ll have to work hard yourself. Once you become famous, don’t forget you promised to be my model."

"Okay, Xiaofeng, what about you?"

Li Peifeng came to his senses, lifted his head from the bowl, and replied "I have a group meeting in the morning, I’ll come over at noon to mooch food."

"Alright, I’ll order an extra meal."

Xu Manning suddenly said, "Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

"October 30th." Wu Wenyue held back a smile and glanced at Li Peifeng.

Li Peifeng acted confused and ignorant, "What day is tomorrow? Tuesday, right? Yueyue can accompany me for an injection, is there anything special? Or is it... Manning wants to switch shifts?"

"Shut up!" Xu Manning burst into anger, slammed her chopsticks down, and turned her head to sulk.

"Why can’t you keep a secret?"

Wu Wenyue patted her small head to comfort her, "The birthday gift is ready, I wanted to surprise you, but now that you asked, it’s ruined."

"I thought you all forgot!" Xu Manning’s face cleared and she even started looking forward to it, "The surprise doesn’t matter, what did you all prepare for gifts? How are we celebrating?"

"Are you sure you want to know now? That would really take away all the suspense!" Li Peifeng said with a smile, sharing a knowing look with Wu Wenyue. Clearly, the two of them already had a complete plan.

Xu Manning became even more expectant and waved her hand, "... Forget it, don’t tell me yet!"

"Hurry up and eat, you have class later, don’t you?"

"Yeah."

The WeChat notification suddenly sounded in Li Peifeng’s pants pocket.

"Ding~"

Once.

He continued eating as if nothing happened, not bothering to check.

"Ding~"

The second time.

Wu Wenyue raised her eyebrows, "Aren’t you going to check who’s looking for you?"

"Hand over the phone."

Xu Manning put down her bowl and directly poked Li Peifeng’s arm, with a playful expression, "Let me check for you. I’ve noticed your phone’s been dinging non-stop recently, you seem pretty popular."

He forgot to set it to silent at home!

"My phone’s ringing? I thought it was yours."

Li Peifeng feigned nonchalance and regret, but with no hesitation, he pulled out his phone, checked it, and silently felt relieved, then showed it to the two girls.

"My advisor is looking for me, it’s about the research group meeting. Forgot to tell you, recently we started a big new project, so I’ve been quite busy."

Li Peifeng opened the research topic group ’International Communication Network Literature Research’ on WeChat, and explained, "Look at these messages, still discussing at midnight."

The two girls eased their expressions a bit, and Wu Wenyue even advised, "Since you’re not planning to pursue a PhD, why tire yourself out like this? Learn from me, open up and talk candidly with Director Zhao, then leisurely live like a slacker."

Xu Manning chimed in, "Exactly, although my advisor is incompetent, he fully supports my work, couldn’t care less if he doesn’t see me for a month..."

"Stop talking."

Li Peifeng said sternly, "I’ve realized your mindset now is quite problematic! Not only do you not urge me to study hard, you actually entice me to slack off? You haven’t read a single one of those books I gave you, have you?!"

Wu Wenyue burst into laughter, "Do you still dare mention those books?!"

Xu Manning’s chopsticks paused slightly, "You seriously assigned us homework, huh?"

Li Peifeng softened his tone and said calmly, "In the book ’Intimate Relationships’ I gave you, it mentions that an ideal, perfect partner is not the source of your love and happiness, nor is it their duty to fulfill your physical desires or ease your emotions and make you happy. They should play three important roles in your life, especially when dealing with emotional maturity and discovering True Self."

"Then, the ideal partner, as needed, will choose to play these three roles accordingly."

"First, a mirror, to help you see your own weaknesses and trigger discomfort; second, a teacher, to inspire and motivate you in your journey of self-discovery; third, a playmate, to initiate and accompany you on a journey of life."

"..."

Li Peifeng sighed, "Is such an approach definitely correct? Not necessarily, but I think it makes some sense. Can all three of us play these roles for each other? I think not really, we probably only achieve one role for each other, which is a playmate."

"In some rare instances, I might be a mirror, reflecting for you, or a teacher, inspiring you. Although it makes you uncomfortable, I believe if we’re to develop a long-term intimate relationship, we should act like that, but you mostly can’t reflect on me."

Meanwhile, Li Peifeng quietly put his phone on silent mode under the table.

Using sweet words to say a bunch of nonsense, he just wanted to gloss over this, so Wu Wenyue and Xu Manning wouldn’t cling to what happened earlier and want to check his phone again.

The two girls didn’t realize his evil intentions, they just thought Li Peifeng made a lot of sense, but instinctively retorted...

"Shut up, Xiaofeng, what brand of plastic bag are you that you can hold so much? And I advise you not to overthink it, we are not partners, we’re just cohabitors now. To live with you we have to train and pass your assessment?"

Xu Manning impatiently said, "Do we need to sign a contract with you? And pay a penalty? Li Peifeng, do you really think Yueyue and I can’t live without you, so you’re banking on us? Dream on!"

"Not eating anymore! Let him wash the dishes by himself." Wu Wenyue’s eyes flashed fiercely as she stood up and left the table.

"You go to school by yourself today, we’re leaving first!"

Xu Manning threatened, "When I come back, if I see you haven’t cleaned the dishes properly, I’ll kick you out as your landlord!"

Li Peifeng discreetly tucked his phone into his pocket, "Go on, go on, and think more about what I’ve said."

"People’s problem is in their love to teach others. Speak when you’re cured."

"If you’re really that idle, clean the toilet before you leave!!"

The two girls didn’t spare him verbally as they stepped into the bedroom to dress up and get ready for school...

"Are you ready? Shall we go?"

"Wait a minute." Wu Wenyue, all dressed, stood in front of the bookshelf, examining something closely.

Xu Manning peeked, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing, you go out and put on your shoes first."

The glass bookcase took up an entire wall, extending to the ceiling, filled with the books the two girls studied and used, almost covering the entire shelf, varied in thickness, as Wu Wenyue scanned through them one by one...

Xu Manning sat on the bed waiting for a while, seeing Wu Wenyue hadn’t found anything, she simply opened her wardrobe, pulled out five books, tossed them on the bed, and chuckled, "Are you looking for these?"

"I..."

Wu Wenyue instinctively turned her head, seeing the book titles, her face turned a little embarrassed, then wary, "When did you hide these?!"

The books on the bed were "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State," "The Art of Loving," "The Five Love Languages," "Intimate Relationships," "The Meaning of Marriage."

The very five books Li Peifeng gave them before.

"What do you mean ’hide’?"

Xu Manning casually replied, "There was no room on the shelf, so I put them in the closet... wait, you can’t take this one!"

Wu Wenyue held "Intimate Relationships," about to pick it up but was grabbed by the other, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Why?"

"I want to read it too!" Xu Manning’s eyes were tense, one hand holding Wu Wenyue’s wrist, the other gripping "Intimate Relationships," refusing to let go.

"I picked it up first, let go."

Xu Manning protested, "If you say so, it was me who put these books in the closet first!" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"You’re so cunning, even craftier than a monkey!" Wu Wenyue let go with a grumpy face, picked up "The Art of Loving," and put it in her backpack, finally saying, "Hurry up, after you finish reading it, give it to me."

"Yueyue’s the best!" Xu Manning beamed, hugging Wu Wenyue and giving a quick peck.

The latter simply embraced her back warmly...

"What’s the matter?"

Xu Manning’s face turned slightly red, a little flustered.

Wu Wenyue sighed softly, "The jerk is suppressing us, didn’t you hear that?"

"Of course I did, but doesn’t he make some points too?"

Xu Manning frowned, "Reading more won’t hurt anyway, so next time he spouts nonsense, we can counter with solid arguments."

"Right."

Wu Wenyue nodded in agreement, "That’s what I think too, let’s go along with the flow, fight fire with fire!"

...

Twenty minutes later, in Zhao Qingge’s office at Beihua Normal University of Arts and Sciences.

"You want to find a girlfriend?" Zhao Qingge sat in the chair, her expression calm, "Go ahead, why tell me?"

Li Peifeng spoke earnestly, "It’s not that I want to find a girlfriend, it’s Auntie asking me to. She sees I’m single and keeps recommending girls, even arranging dates for me. The worst is she’s constantly messaging me on WeChat, asking for updates. It’s more urgent than you pushing me to write papers!"

"If I stay single any longer, she’ll suspect there’s something going on between us. So, I can only use this desperate method, pretend to have a girlfriend, and fool Auntie!"

Zhao Qingge looked at the computer screen, unfazed, "Oh."

"By then, I’ll post a photo with a ’girlfriend’ on my Moments, visible only to Auntie Li Xin. You could also tell her I’ve stopped being single, then it’s over. What do you think?"

Zhao Qingge shifted her gaze from the screen to Li Peifeng, maintaining silence, seemingly pondering the feasibility.

Li Peifeng assured, "Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t let this pretend relationship become real, it’s just going with the flow, and turning the tables!!"