Chapter 3: What the Hell Are You Talking About?

Su Chen had considered that since those 1,000 "negative emotion points" came so easily, the prize he received probably wouldn't be anything special. But he never expected it to be this bad—it was nothing but a pile of utter trash!

Setting aside the actual text—which, frankly, who knows what it even is—just looking at the novel's title was enough to induce a sense of self-inflicted mental retardation. In the story, the female lead, Yali, is a spineless doormat suffering from lung cancer who remains completely submissive to the male lead, Shen Ping. She even marries him just so she can leave him her inheritance. Yet, Shen Ping treats her like dirt, showing her not an ounce of care. Consequently, the female lead becomes a pawn in the games played by her husband and his "platonic" best friend. She struggles in an abyss of misery while simultaneously wallowing in a self-righteous, deluded sense of sacrifice.

To Su Chen, not a single person in this novel—from the leads to the supporting cast, even the background characters—possessed a functioning brain. What irritated him most was that whenever the male lead hurt her, the female lead could always find an excuse to defend him, even going so far as to say, "But he doesn't know I'm dying."

Su Chen was left with a face full of confusion. If you are treated like this while you're alive, do you really think they’ll feel remorse or grief when you’re dead? Is this even a plot a carbon-based life form could come up with? After typing out the 80,000-word manuscript on his computer, Su Chen felt a deep sense of irritation. What kind of karmic debt was he paying that he had to suffer through this?

Just as Su Chen was feeling overwhelmed, a knock sounded at his door.

"Sorry, no services here!" Su Chen didn't even look up as he shouted toward the door. Because of his striking appearance, many of the "seductive vixens" at the Wangfu Apartments coveted him, hoping to engage in some "import-export trade." Su Chen’s policy was firm: he would absolutely resist such temptations, unless... unless the person was as beautiful and fit as Zhou Yujie, in which case, he might struggle.

[Negative emotion points received from Zhou Yujie: +99]

Su Chen: "?? What the hell? I didn't do anything!"

"Su Chen, you jerk! 'No services'? Who do you think you are!" Zhou Yujie’s annoyed voice came from the doorway. "It’s me, Zhou Yujie. I bought some fruit and came to share some with you!"

"Oh! Coming!" Su Chen got up, opened the door, and said with a smile, "Why are you being so polite?"

Zhou Yujie shot him a coquettish eye-roll and huffed, "You treated me to chicken, didn't you? It’s only fair to return the favor!"

"Well, thank you then. Want to come in and sit for a while?" Su Chen stepped aside and asked with a grin. Zhou Yujie didn't stand on ceremony; she entered, placed the fruit platter on the table, and pulled up a chair.

"Try it. This watermelon is very sweet."

Su Chen took the toothpick from her hand, speared a piece, took a bite, and nodded with a smile. "It is sweet, but you should buy whole melons in the future."

"Why?" Zhou Yujie asked, confused. She had always preferred buying pre-washed and pre-cut fruit for convenience.

"For one, fruit platters are expensive. And more importantly, some unscrupulous vendors use rotten or moldy fruit as the base for these platters to cut costs," Su Chen explained with a smile. "If you find it a hassle, just buy the fruit and I’ll wash and cut it for you!"

"Oh? I never would have guessed!" Zhou Yujie teased, looking him over. "Who knew you, Su Chen, were actually so thrifty and domestic?"

"Of course!" Su Chen tilted his head back slightly and chuckled, "I need to save up for my data plan, right?"

Zhou Yujie’s face turned bright red, and she snapped, "Data plan my foot! You’re just a big pervert!"

[Anger points received from Zhou Yujie: +199]

"Just kidding, just kidding!" Su Chen dodged her playful punches, laughing, "Ouch, that hurts, haha!"

Although Zhou Yujie was flustered and annoyed, it was clear their relationship had grown much closer. A famous person once said: when you first get to know a girl, don't be too improper; after you've become familiar, don't be too proper.

After joking around for a while, Zhou Yujie accidentally caught a glimpse of the document on Su Chen’s computer and asked curiously, "Hey, what are you writing?"

Su Chen hadn't intended to show her—even though he didn't write it, it was still a bit embarrassing. But then he thought, *Wait, why should I be the only one suffering?* He cleared his throat and said with a smile, "It's a novel I just finished, you shouldn't look at it..."

Zhou Yujie had only asked casually, but his hesitation piqued her interest. "Don't be like that. Isn't a novel meant to be read? Are we friends or not?"

Su Chen hesitated for a moment and then reluctantly agreed, "Alright, but you have to give me some feedback!"

"No problem!" Zhou Yujie sat down at the computer, full of excitement. But the moment she saw the title, her expression soured. "Are you sure this is a novel and not some bizarre news headline?"

[Negative anger points received from Zhou Yujie: +66]

Su Chen nodded earnestly, "Trust me, since I wrote it, it’s definitely a novel!"

"Fine..." Zhou Yujie scratched her head and braced herself to keep reading. She had expected it to be a poorly written, unreadable mess, but to her surprise, the prose was actually decent.

[......]

Even though this was the second time reading this passage, Su Chen still got goosebumps. It was just so pretentious. Your man is in a villa getting cozy with another woman, and you’re still striking a pose?

Go up there and deal with those two adulterers! You’re dying anyway! If you take one of them down, you break even; if you take them both, you’ve made a profit!

Just as Su Chen was silently ranting, he glanced over and saw that Zhou Yujie’s eyes were red and she looked deeply moved.

Su Chen: "..." What was this? Why was she crying?

"It’s... it’s so sad. Why did you make the female lead suffer like this?" Zhou Yujie looked up at Su Chen with teary eyes, full of resentment.

[Anger points received from Zhou Yujie: +16]

Su Chen: "..." *This works too? What a pleasant surprise!*

"Keep reading. Her cancer is going to relapse and she'll end up in the hospital, while the male lead is still off with someone else. It's miserable!" Su Chen hurriedly added.

Zhou Yujie: "..."

[Anger points received from Zhou Yujie: +66]

By the time Zhou Yujie finished the entire novel, Su Chen had accumulated over 600 anger points! It was clear just how deep her resentment ran.

"Why would you write such a sad story... it's so painful!" Zhou Yujie looked at him with an aggrieved expression.

Su Chen couldn't grasp her logic. How was this sad? It was clearly just brain-dead writing!

"Because I can empathize with it..." Su Chen sighed.

Zhou Yujie froze, then asked blankly, "You don't have cancer, do you?"

Su Chen couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that's it. Why don't we get married too? I'll leave my inheritance to you!"

"Go to hell." Seeing his unserious expression, Zhou Yujie couldn't help but laugh through her tears.

...

Inspired by Zhou Yujie, Su Chen had a new idea. Even though this novel was trash, even trash could be recycled! Whether people liked or hated the novel, as long as there were clicks, it would generate anger points. Wouldn't that mean he was going to get rich?