128. Theory remains unproven, practical experience is zero.

Chen Sheng looked at her.
Yu Youxin was looking at Chen Sheng as well.
They stared at each other, eyes locked.
On her exquisitely sculpted, jade-like face, her small mouth was slightly agape, as if Chen Sheng’s apology had left her bewildered and surprised.
Chen Sheng started to speak but stopped himself. Was it true that he had been overthinking things?
Truly, concern leads to confusion.
This young girl’s temperament was impeccable; at the very least, he had never seen her lose her temper.
Chen Sheng fell silent, momentarily unsure of what to say.
Yu Youxin blinked, her small face filled with astonishment as she gazed at him, seemingly waiting for an answer.
But what could Chen Sheng say?
He tilted his head back, his body arching on the sofa. As his gaze drifted, it fell upon her delicate, jade-like nose, which seemed to glow like fine treasure under the sunlight.
Like a lotus rising from the water, naturally beautiful without any artifice.
Chen Sheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The so-called love born of long acquaintance or love at first sight—when stripped to its core—was really just being moved by desire.
Chen Sheng admitted this.
But he could control it.
The ripples in his heart, stirred for a brief moment, settled instantly into a mirror-like calm, capable of reflecting images but refusing to harbor any further waves.
To borrow a Buddhist expression: the heart itself is the Buddha.
Chen Sheng looked at Yu Youxin and uttered a very cliché line: "Last night, I was wrong."
He offered no further explanation, simply apologizing again.
"But, Old Chen, you didn't do anything wrong!" Yu Youxin replied with an equally cliché response. She looked at him, her delicate face wearing a very earnest expression, though beneath that earnestness lay a hint of something incredibly subtle and strange.
Chen Sheng: "..."
Why did this feel somewhat off?
And he had a nagging feeling he had encountered this exact exchange somewhere before.
Chen Sheng fell silent again.
The young girl followed suit, remaining quiet.
For a moment, the scene reached a stalemate, and Chen Sheng even felt a touch of awkwardness. While it wasn't enough to make him want to curl his toes in embarrassment, it did make his gaze drift involuntarily.
Fortunately, the ringing of a phone broke the standoff. Chen Sheng hurriedly answered it.
He decided that no matter who was calling—even if it were a scammer—he would engage them in a deep conversation about exactly how many immortality pills Qin Shi Huang had supposedly refined back in the day.
"Brother!"
A crisp, incredibly familiar voice emanated from the phone.
Chen Sheng recognized it immediately.
It was his younger sister, Chen Youyou.
Thus, Chen Sheng pretended to chat with her while casually walking deeper into the house. Although basking in the sun gave him a pleasant sensation of growing stronger, missing a little bit of it here and there wouldn't hurt.
Watching Chen Sheng’s back as he practically fled, the young girl still out in the sun immediately made a funny face at him.
It was very childish.
But it was also clear that her "bewilderment" had been an act.
She knew exactly what Chen Sheng was talking about.
"Hmph!"
The girl: ╭(╯^╰)╮
...
Chen Sheng ducked into the bathroom. He continued to chat idly with his sister, but once the door was closed, he quickly asked, "Tell me, if a girl with a great temperament who never gets angry were to suddenly get angry, what would it be like?"
"Brother, have you been single for so long that you’ve gone soft in the head? Is there even such a girl? That’s a false premise!" Chen Youyou’s boisterous voice came through the phone.
"What if there were?" Chen Sheng raised an eyebrow.
"Then it must be an act!"
"Talk properly."
"I am talking properly! How could any girl have a temper that good? Even the softest girls get angry, you know? It’s just that soft girls only know how to cry when they’re upset."
"And what about the ones who aren't soft?" Chen Sheng asked curiously.
"Aren't they everywhere on the street? Why don't you go take a look, brother?"
"You’re dodging the question... just answer what I asked, stop beating around the bush," Chen Sheng said, annoyed.
"Then it’s definitely an act!"
Chen Sheng: "..."
"Any other answers?" he asked.
"Other answers? Maybe she’s not human? Perhaps she’s a painted skin demon!"
Chen Sheng could tell the girl was doing this on purpose.
He gave up on the idea of seeking advice from her and asked, "Why did you call? Are you in trouble, or is it your friends?"
"No, hehe, brother, I want to buy a game skin..."
"I'll transfer two hundred to you in a bit," Chen Sheng agreed without hesitation. "Anything else?"
"Yes."
"Speak."
"Brother, you finally know you need to find a girlfriend. If you don't find one soon, those gossips are going to think there’s something wrong with you physically, or that you prefer men..."
Chen Sheng was silent for a moment before saying, "Next time you hear someone saying that, write down who they are and tell me."
"Brother, what are you going to do?"
"When I’m old, I’ll go and nag their children and grandchildren one by one," Chen Sheng said flatly, masking his true intentions. He planned to dress up as a ghost in the middle of the night and scare them all!
"Brother, if you don't become a game designer, it’s truly a waste of talent!" Chen Youyou couldn't help but exclaim.
"What do you mean?"
"Your talent for not acting like a human is maxed out! How could you come up with such a wicked idea? Can you tell your invincible, adorable sister how you thought of that?"
Chen Sheng hung up the phone directly.
With a dark expression, he made a mental note of this. When Chen Youyou eventually graduated from university without a boyfriend, he would repeat these words to her every single day.
Did she really think he was as magnanimous as he usually pretended to be?
"I must be a fool to seek advice from someone who hasn't even formed a theory, let alone gained any practical experience," Chen Sheng muttered to himself, almost turning into a complaining widow, before opening the door and walking out.
Since the girl had said it that way, he might as well treat it as the truth.
That afternoon, Chen Sheng discovered that the young girl was constantly sabotaging him.
Whenever he went into the kitchen, she would immediately follow, and predictably, she played the part of the "useless teammate" once again, wrecking the last of the household’s bowls and chopsticks.
Chen Sheng had no choice but to go out and buy more.
Naturally, the girl followed, trailing behind him like a little tail.
But unlike before, when people usually didn't pay them much mind, this time, it was as if everyone was discovering Yu Youxin’s beauty for the first time! While Chen Sheng received a wave of envious stares, he also watched as people repeatedly blocked their path, using various lines to strike up a conversation, their primary goal being to get Yu Youxin’s contact information.
Seeing this, Chen Sheng’s gaze turned hostile.
Yet, he couldn't do anything.
They weren't a couple; they hadn't even held hands. He had no standing to intervene!
Besides, this was the real world, not a game world.
Chen Sheng couldn't just do whatever he pleased.
So, he calmly and quietly noted down the contact information of those people.
After all, it wasn't right to beat people up in the street.