Aren't we friends? Why are you rushing at me?

Time passed slowly, and Lin Shi suddenly woke up from his coma, with a little sweat on his forehead.

Looking at the gloomy sky and the dimly lit room, I had a bad feeling.

This wasn't the first time Lin Shi had received a skill-based reward. He had previously received a cooking skill (advanced), which only left him feeling a little dizzy.

But this time, the feeling was that an overwhelming amount of knowledge, like a raging tide, completely disregarded his thoughts and rushed directly into his brain.

Lin Shi's brain was powerless to resist, just like the sleeping husband in the famous movie, which directly caused him to fall into a coma.

Shaking his slightly groggy head, he ignored the various driving information that kept flashing through his mind, such as car type, horsepower, and driving style. He picked up his phone and turned on the screen.

The screen's light was somewhat glaring in the dim room, and the displayed time filled Lin Shi with despair: 6:36. Adding the travel time, it was clear Lin Shi was already late for the welcome banquet.

Taking a deep breath, without thinking too much, I rushed into the dressing room and quickly found a neatly ironed white suit to put on.

Although he preferred more casual attire, tonight was, after all, a welcome banquet specially hosted by Liu Ruyan for that "white moonlight," and as a friend, it was better to take it seriously. Besides, a proper outfit could save him a lot of trouble from being looked down upon.

After getting dressed, Lin Shi took the elevator to the underground parking garage, ready to drive to the hotel for the dinner.

As soon as I started the car, my mind raced with ideas on how to better control this beast. For example, how much to press down on the accelerator, the optimal turning line, and how to control the drift angle.

He slammed his fist into his eyes to calm his racing thoughts, then slammed on the gas pedal. The sports car roared to life, sending his heart pounding.

He started to get excited, because every young man has a dream of becoming a race car driver.

Shift gears, grip the steering wheel firmly with both hands, and step on the gas.

The sports car is like a streak of light, weaving through the city. The main source of the streak of light is the reflection of streetlights, not the excessive speed of the car.

Even its speed was a bit slower compared to other vehicles.

Lin Shih has his own understanding of this:

The maximum speed limit in urban areas is 60 kilometers per hour. As an ordinary supporting male character, I don't have much ability; it would be incredibly embarrassing to get caught like this.

Moreover, stopping at red lights and going at green lights is an obligation that every law-abiding citizen should fulfill.

Thirty minutes later, the dazzling silhouette of the Caesars Hotel came into view. Since he was already confirmed to be late, Lin Shi now seemed rather calm and composed.

He parked the sports car at the hotel's main entrance and got out of the car sideways.

As one of the largest hotels in the city, Caesars Hotel has very thorough welcoming training. The moment Lin Shi got out of the car, the chauffeur took over the right to use the vehicle from him.

The hostess jogged over to greet them and inquired about the situation.

"Sir, do you have an appointment?"

"Cloud Realm".

This was the private room that Liu Ruyan had told him about in advance.

The hostess nodded slightly, stepped aside to lead the way, and said softly, "Sir, this way please."

The two walked through the marble-floored lobby and took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a winding corridor covered with a thick carpet. Directly opposite the elevator entrance was a small statue that looked extremely expensive.

The hostess continued to lead Lin Shi to a heavy solid wood door.

The entire corridor was incredibly quiet. Lin Shi thought to himself, without any sense of superiority, "No wonder it's a good hotel; the soundproofing is excellent."

Standing in front of the door, I took a deep breath, straightened my clothes, and thought about how to start the conversation and explain why I was late.

After all, it's to improve one's image, and since it was one's own mistake, apologizing isn't shameful.

I knocked lightly on the door, being a basic courtesy, and waited a moment before pushing the door open and entering.

The bright lights and cool air instantly enveloped him.

Inside, there was a huge round table that could seat 20 people, where more than a dozen stylishly dressed young people, who looked to be wealthy and influential, were sitting.

As one of the female protagonists in the novel, Liu Ruyan attended prestigious private schools from a young age, and her classmates all came from prominent families.

Lin Shi scanned the crowd, intending to find the protagonist of the evening:

Liu Ruyan, dressed in a red dress, sat gracefully in the main seat, next to a man in a well-tailored black suit. It must be her beloved Fang Hao.

There was some distance between them, and Liu Ruyan's complexion was not good.

Fang Hao stood there, holding two wine glasses, one of which he handed to Liu Ruyan.

The young people nearby, always eager for excitement and not afraid of things getting out of hand, kept shouting:

"Crossing the cup, crossing the cup, crossing the cup."

Lin Shi's heart tightened. Was this scene... already a boisterous "cross-cupped wine" ceremony?

This kind of thing should be done by a lackey like him, and then Liu Ruyan would half-heartedly drink with Fang Hao to fulfill her wish, while also increasing his favorability because he was the one who stirred things up the most.

My mind raced, trying to figure out how to pin the blame for the current situation on myself.

On the contrary, Fang Hao, seeing that Liu Ruyan had no reaction, stopped what he was doing first and gently placed the two glasses of red wine on the table.

Looking around, I tried to find a way to save face.

Suddenly, she saw Lin Shi's face, a face she had never seen before, and paused for a moment.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he flashed a "friendly" smile, walked towards Lin Shi, extended his hand, and said in a friendly manner:

"You must be Lu Han. My name is Fang Hao. I'm Liu Ruyan's... good friend."

He deliberately drew out the connection between Liu Ruyan and his best friend, hoping to further misunderstand his relationship with Liu Ruyan.

Lin Shi looked confused. Lu Han? Isn't that Liu Ruyan's nominal boyfriend? How come he's on me?

Looking down at Fang Hao's outstretched hand and then at the extremely fake smile on his face, she instantly understood what had happened.

Got it, got it, classic trope: due to an accident, the white moonlight meets the current boyfriend at the welcome banquet, the female lead sides with the white moonlight and breaks the current boyfriend's heart, creating a stark contrast with the final scene of her chasing after her husband.

From this perspective, it's not a tragic story about falling in love with your white moonlight again, but rather a satisfying story about chasing after your husband.

Lin Shi thought about it for a moment, then rejected the idea:

But that doesn't make sense either. As far as he knows, Liu Ruyan and Lu Han barely interact. Especially Lu Han, he's just doing things for money, traveling all year round. It would be abrupt for him to be pursuing her.

Could it be that the two of them have been in contact privately, but their relationship hasn't progressed enough for him to receive any news?

As Lin Shi fell into thought, the entire room fell silent, and everyone's attention turned to Lin Shi and Fang Hao.

Especially the handsome young man in a white suit at the door, with his lips tightly pursed, looked quite pitiful.

Seeing Fang Hao's somewhat disdainful expression, Fang Hao thought, "Everyone in the country knows that Liu Ruyan has a boyfriend in name only. It's normal for you to be jealous, but he hasn't done anything wrong. Everyone is happily giving Liu Ruyan face to welcome you, so why are you acting like this?"

Liu Ruyan's expression changed, and she hurriedly stood up, her eyes almost overflowing with worry. Just as she was about to speak, a girl sitting in the corner suddenly stood up, pointed at Fang Hao's nose, and cursed:

"Fuck you, Fang Hao. Everyone here isn't stupid. There's no way you would invite him to your welcome banquet. Did you send someone to deliver the message? How disgusting are you?"

As she spoke, she walked over to Lin Shi, grabbed his arm, and forcibly dragged him out of the room.

With a "bang," the room door slammed shut.

Lin Shi looked down the corridor, and his thoughts, which he had just sorted out, became chaotic again.

Looking at the trendy-dressed, slightly rebellious girl in front of him, who was pulling his arm and pushing him forward, he really wanted to ask, "Who are you?"

[Natsuno's favorability towards you has increased by 10 points. Current favorability is 10 points. Please continue your efforts, host.]

The crisp system voice rang out, and the doubt on Lin Shi's face instantly disappeared. He became incredibly docile and obedient, even adjusting his pace to keep up with the girl's dragging.

It doesn't matter who I am. They wouldn't know who I'm mistaken for.

As the saying goes, if the code can run, don't touch it.

If you can increase someone's favorability, then they're a good person!

Anyway, the system rewards won't be taken back. As long as my favorability increases, I'm Lu Han today.

Just as the two figures disappeared around the corner of the corridor, the door to the Cloud Realm Hall was suddenly pushed open again.

Liu Ruyan hurried after her, clutching a small velvet jewelry box tightly in her right hand. Seeing the empty corridor, she felt extremely frustrated, and the jewelry box slipped from her hand.

"Ruyan!" Fang Hao also came out, a hint of schadenfreude on his face:

"I really didn't send anyone to inform Lu Han, and I never expected it to turn out like this."

His words abruptly stopped as his gaze fell upon the jewelry box on the ground, and the schadenfreude on his face was instantly replaced by ecstatic joy.

Liu Ruyan looked at Fang Hao with the same eyes she would give a dead man.

Thinking back to how I first met Fang Hao:

She simply enjoyed making friends, chatted with him a couple of times, and developed a slight rapport. She doesn't know which jerk spread the word and made him her ideal woman.

At first, when she explained, the people around her said they knew. But when she really didn't want to deal with her family's pressure to get married, she casually arranged a boyfriend for her, whom she had barely even met.

They started spreading the story again, claiming she had a "white moonlight" (a term for a devoted but unattainable love interest). Because the "white moonlight" went abroad, the script for her nominal boyfriend was so dramatic that everyone started spreading her story, and even forced explanations were useless.

In the end, everyone assumed that she had a white moonlight (her unrequited love) who had gone abroad, and that she still loved that white moonlight.

This situation led Liu Ruyan to know that she liked Lin Shi, but she didn't dare to confess to him, fearing that he would misunderstand that she was being used as a substitute.

Fang Hao finally had a chance to return to China, hoping to use this opportunity to completely sever ties and formally confess his feelings.

I never expected this!

Liu Ruyan bent down slightly, picked up the jewelry box, her fingertips turning slightly white from the force.

Two bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses suddenly appeared from the shadows and pinned Fang Hao down.

Before Fang Hao could figure out what was going on, he was already pinned to the ground, struggling to lift his head to look at Liu Ruyan.

"Ruyan, what's wrong? What are you going to do?"

Looking at Fang Hao's hypocritical face, Liu Ruyan became even angrier. She was about to stomp on his face when she suddenly became afraid that he would stick out his tongue.

He glanced up and gestured to his two bodyguards.

One of the bodyguards looked somewhat embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, took off his shoe, and pressed his size 44 foot against Fang Hao's face.

Fang Hao was instantly nauseated by the smell on his face.

Suppressing her anger, Liu Ruyan slowly spoke:

"You think I don't know the scum you've been doing abroad? You already have a child, what are you doing back here? Is it because the family is about to go bankrupt and you heard I'm riding high lately and want to get involved?"

Fang Hao struggled, but to no avail, and could only make muffled noises.

Seeing this, Liu Ruyan didn't want to say anything more and said to the bodyguard:

"He loves traveling abroad, so let's send him to Thailand, then Myanmar and Cambodia. Let him experience the local culture."