Chapter 458 - 215: A Good Omen

Chapter 458: Chapter 215: A Good Omen

The female protagonists of Sugar Texts and Li Zhi were two completely different things.

Even with *Defend and Steal*, Shen Yuan had absolutely no confidence he could use it as a reference.

"I must be going crazy..."

Shen Yuan buried his face in his hands.

’What the hell was I thinking, using a Sugar Text for confession advice?’

Shen Yuan lay on his back on the bed, his gaze slightly vacant.

After a moment, Shen Yuan picked up his phone and started searching for confession guides.

All in all, the advice boiled down to this:

Find the right time, find a private place, don’t be nervous, and relax.

Shen Yuan tossed his phone aside and stared at the ceiling.

’Given how things are between me and Li Zhi... it’ll work out, right?’

’That damn tsundere Li Zhi wouldn’t reject me, would she?’

Shen Yuan thought about all the little things in their lives, and about how this damn tsundere had really just been waiting silently in the system for so long.

’She’s kinda silly, huh.’

’If I confess now, she probably won’t reject me... right?’

’But if she really does reject me...’

The moment that thought occurred, a scene began to play out uncontrollably in Shen Yuan’s mind—

The moment the fireworks lit up the sky at midnight on New Year’s Eve, just after he’d summoned the courage to say the words, Li Zhi would take a sharp step back.

The blush on her cheeks would vanish in an instant. Her clear eyes would first fill with shock, then quickly freeze over, glaring at him coldly.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak...

"RRRIIING! RRRIIING!"

A shrill, urgent, and utterly unmusical electronic alarm, like an ice pick tearing through the air, violently shattered Shen Yuan’s dreadful daydream!

"Tsk!"

Shen Yuan let out a reflexive grunt, his heart hammering in his chest from the shock.

He fumbled for his phone out of reflex.

Staring at the phone in his hand, Shen Yuan froze for a second.

The two little kittens curled up asleep at the foot of the bed were startled by the noise. When they saw Shen Yuan wasn’t turning it off, they quickly buried their heads, shifted their positions, and went back to sleep.

Shen Yuan hit the dismiss button.

The room was suddenly plunged back into dead silence.

Clutching the now-silent phone, Shen Yuan panted slightly, as if he had just broken free from a nightmare.

As he looked at the silent alarm, the heavy, suffocating feeling from his imagined rejection seemed to have mostly dissipated along with the jarring ring.

He blinked, and a thought suddenly struck him.

"Heh... that alarm came at just the right time."

Looking at his silent phone, the gloom from his dark thoughts was instantly replaced by a peculiar sense of relief.

"This is a good thing! It’s definitely a good omen!"

He whispered to the empty air, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small, self-satisfied smirk.

"Doesn’t this just prove my brain was full of crap? Even fate couldn’t stand it and sent an alarm to snap me out of it!"

Shen Yuan decided this must be fate’s way of telling him to stop overthinking and just focus on preparing for the confession.

With that, Shen Yuan’s lingering fear of rejection was completely squashed, replaced by a lighthearted feeling of ’the heavens are on my side’.

He even found himself fondly recalling that earth-shattering alarm.

’Tsk, this stupid alarm really has some kick to it...’

His mind still chewing on the "good omen" idea, Shen Yuan began to plan the specific details for New Year’s Eve.

And so, clutching the phone that had just performed such a "great service," Shen Yuan’s mind began to wander, his thoughts drifting further and further away.

He was completely lost in his self-assuring "good omen," totally forgetting his daily mission: calling Li Zhi to wake her up.

By the time he remembered, five minutes had already passed.

"HOLY SHIT!!!"

Shen Yuan shot up in bed as if he’d been jabbed with a needle, his pupils instantly dilating.

’I’m so screwed!’

’I forgot to wake up Li Bao!!!’

Seeing the time on his phone screen—long past their usual call time—a huge wave of panic washed over him.

"I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!"

Shen Yuan fumbled, frantically tapping at the screen.

His hand was practically trembling as he pressed the green call button, his heart THUMP-THUMP-THUMPING against his ribs a hundred times more furiously than when he thought about his impending confession.

The phone had barely let out a single "BEEP—" before it was answered.

Clearly, Li Zhi’s phone had been right beside her pillow or in her hand.

Before Shen Yuan could even press the phone to his ear, Li Zhi’s voice came through—slightly raspy from sleep, yet unnaturally clear and cool:

"Hello?"

Just from that one word, Shen Yuan knew it was over. Li Bao was already awake.

"Li Bao! You’re awake already?"

Shen Yuan’s voice was a high-speed jumble of panic and remorse.

"Uh... I, I think my alarm didn’t go off?"

"Heh."

Li Zhi said coldly, "Get up. Now. Meet at the entrance, usual time!"

"Roger!"

The line went dead with a BEEP BEEP. Shen Yuan remained frozen in his call posture for a few seconds before lowering the phone from his ear in disbelief.

’She’s not mad?’

’Did Li Zhi just hang up on me that decisively?’

’She didn’t call me an idiot? Didn’t chew me out for failing my duty? Not even a single threat like "you’re dead"?’

’This isn’t normal!’

He clutched the phone, which seemed to still echo with her cool voice, his heart thumping even faster than it had when he’d realized he’d forgotten the call.

’Li Bao didn’t take the chance to be all passive-aggressive with me today?’

But whatever. Not getting yelled at was a good thing!

Shen Yuan threw off his covers, jumped out of bed, got dressed, quickly washed up, then threw on a thick coat and got ready to leave.

Before leaving, Shen Yuan looked at San Geng and Er Nao. "Bye-bye, little kittens! Daddy and Mommy are off to school!"