Chapter 372: Female Lead of a Romance Plot, Gu Yurou

When Wang Haoran asked the question, Yu Fei sounded a little surprised.

“Young Master Wang, you know this Gu Yurou?”

His brow twitched slightly. So it really was her.

From the earlier system notification, Wang Haoran already knew Gu Yurou was a female lead, specifically, one from the romance category.

So when the female villain Yu Fei happened to call him, he had casually taken a shot in the dark, guessing her identity. He hadn’t expected to be right.

“I don’t know her,” Wang Haoran replied calmly, then followed up, “What do you know about her background?”

Yu Fei said, “I faked some friendliness and casually asked her just now. She said she’s a sophomore studying literature at Qingling University. Judging by her clothes, she didn’t seem like someone with a special background. I’m guessing she’s just a regular student.”

Wang Haoran mentally jotted that down. “Anything else?”

“I didn’t press her too much. Didn’t want her to get suspicious,” Yu Fei said, then, as if remembering something, quickly added, “Oh, right, she ran out of the Beige Media building just now like someone was chasing her. Looked totally flustered. We only spoke briefly before she rushed off.”

“Beige Media… that’s Lu Beige’s company, isn’t it?” Wang Haoran asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Yeah,” Yu Fei confirmed.

Wang Haoran quietly pieced the clues together. It didn’t take long before he had a fairly clear picture of what probably happened.

There’s a certain infamous trope in female-oriented web novels.

A female lead, often due to some past grudge or contrived accident, gets forced into a dark encounter by a male character. Even though she’s clearly the victim, she never reports it. Instead, she ends up getting entangled with the very same man. Somehow, by the end of it, they fall in love and ride off into the sunset.

If his guess was right, Lu Beige had been slotted into that cliché as the would-be male lead aggressor. Gu Yurou, without a doubt, was the targeted female lead.

But something had gone wrong with the script.

Lu Beige had lost his manhood.

Gu Yurou escaped. The forced encounter never happened, and the entire storyline was now completely derailed.

With everything sorted out in his mind, Wang Haoran ended the call with Yu Fei. He made a mental note to swing by Qingling University the next day. He needed to observe Gu Yurou more closely before deciding on his next move.

When he returned to Yu Shiqing’s side to resume their walk, he suddenly spotted a few familiar silhouettes further down the path: Qin Yunhan, Xu Muyan, Mu Zhaozhao, and Wen Jing.

He let out a quiet sigh and quickly turned to Yu Shiqing. “It’s getting late. Let’s head back.”

Yu Shiqing pouted subtly, clearly not ready to go. She wanted to spend more time with him. But out of pride, she didn’t say anything and only nodded. “Okay.”

Hand in hand, they turned around and headed back toward the barbecue restaurant. But just as they arrived at the door, Yu Shiqing quickly let go of his hand, nervous that her parents might see.

Wang Haoran instantly understood and whispered gently, “If you’re worried about your parents finding out, then let’s keep our relationship a secret for now. You can take your time getting used to it.”

Yu Shiqing blinked, a little stunned by his sensitivity, then nodded with a warm smile. “You’re really sweet. I’ll adjust soon.”

“No rush. Take your time.”

Wang Haoran replied gently, but inwardly, he was already sighing. If she got too comfortable too fast, she’d probably cling to his arm the whole time—then his life would really get complicated.

—

The next afternoon.

Wang Haoran pulled up in front of Qingling University in his Lamborghini Aventador.

Compared to the Art Academy, the girls here were much plainer on average. Even when a flashy supercar pulled up, the reactions were far more subdued. It wasn’t that they weren’t interested, just that they felt they didn’t stand a chance. All they could do was sneak glances and secretly daydream. None dared to be too obvious.

Wang Haoran was perfectly fine with the peace and quiet. After all, he wasn’t here to collect fans.

He stopped a passing girl and politely asked where the literature building was.

Once he got his directions, he walked straight toward it.

This time, he planned to follow the same method he used when getting close to Lu Yan, which was to drop in and audit a class or two, observe Gu Yurou up close.

It was nearly class time, and students were beginning to arrive from all directions.

Wang Haoran didn’t know which class Gu Yurou belonged to, so he prepared to ask around.

But just then, a girl entered his line of sight, and his heart skipped a beat.

She was gorgeous. Even compared to Lu Yan, she wasn’t lacking in the slightest.

He paused for a second, then shelved the idea of asking for directions. Instead, he adjusted his pace and position. As the beautiful girl approached, he took a subtle step to the side and lightly bumped into her.

The books in her arms slipped out and scattered across the pavement.

Startled, the girl let out a soft cry, but she didn’t lash out. Instead, she dropped to her knees and quickly began gathering her things.

Wang Haoran crouched down to help.

The two of them worked silently until only one book remained. They both reached for it at the same time. Their hands brushed. Their fingers landed on the exact same spot.

They both froze, then looked up in unison.

Their eyes met.

“Sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention,” Wang Haoran said with a light smile.

“It’s fine,” Gu Yurou replied calmly. Her voice was gentle, and she didn’t seem offended in the least. But when she noticed his hand still resting on hers, her face turned a shade pinker. “Let me take that.”

He let go, letting her pick up the final book.

They both stood.

Wang Haoran handed over the rest of the books.

“Thank you,” Gu Yurou said sincerely.

He smiled in return, but inwardly he felt something odd.

Wasn’t this kind of encounter straight out of a pure romance drama?

How was it happening to him—a male villain?

And Gu Yurou, the girl standing before him, had shown him nothing but friendliness. It felt… too smooth.

Curious, Wang Haoran silently activated the system scan on her.

【Female Lead: Gu Yurou】

【Combat Power: 21】

【Charm Value: 232】

【Protagonist Halo: 5888】

【Skill (Golden Finger):】

【Super Luck Halo – When subjected to harm (excluding special cases), always escapes danger and reflects misfortune onto the perpetrator based on degree of malice.】

【Fatal Bonding Halo – If forcibly claimed by a male character (villains and antagonists included), that male character’s favorability toward her will immediately max out. Furthermore, he will develop disgust toward all other female characters and will be automatically promoted to the status of Male Lead.】