After the empress transmigrated, she became the judge of the entertainment industry.

Chapter 258 Why is it that every human-looking man is a potential romance target?

Ye Hongsheng specially ordered lunch from a restaurant in town that day.

Normally, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, people would just eat the leftovers from the New Year's Eve dinner, but he dared not give Mr. Ye any leftovers.

After lunch, Ye Kening suggested playing mahjong and called Shao Yuxuan over.

Ye Sanqing didn't know how to fight, so he planned to go back to his room first.

“I’ll go with you,” Ye Yifan suddenly said.

The others weren't too surprised; after all, it's quite normal for an older sister to go along and check on a girl's room.

Ye Sanqing had already planned to go back and see if there were any clues he hadn't noticed, so he naturally agreed upon hearing this.

The two went up to the second floor, and Ye Sanqing walked to the left door based on his memory.

The key was in the door; it opened with a simple turn.

The second floor here is also simple in structure, similar to the layout of most houses in this area. There is a small space at the top of the stairs, which can be used as a small living room. Then, on the left is Ye Sanqing's room, and on the right is Ye Kening's room.

The room is quite deep and has a simple structure. At the far end is a large bed, next to the door is a row of wardrobes, then there is a desk, bookshelves, and a dressing table.

Because the whole house has an air conditioning system, the room is not cold. Ye Sanqing walked over, patted the bed, and sat down.

It seems that because we've been cleaning, or perhaps we did a thorough cleaning for the Lunar New Year, the room doesn't smell of dust; instead, it feels quite clean.

"Actually... I haven't lived in this room much since I started university. I rent a place outside after I started working, and I only come back for the Spring Festival."

Ye Sanqing recalled, then added, "I mean before I came here... anyway, you know."

"I understand, so you actually haven't lived here at all..."

Ye Yifan looked around, pulled up a chair from the desk opposite her, sat down, and lowered his voice slightly.

"Is there any clue here?"

"Have you been here before?" Ye Sanqing asked instead of answering.

“I think I came here once or twice, but that was when Ye Wanyin went home. It’s rare for that to happen, so I remember it very clearly.”

Ye Yifan rummaged through his jumbled memories and said, "But I've never been in your room, or even if I had, it wouldn't have been like this. Your aunt and uncle respected your privacy. When you weren't coming back, they packed your things away or sent them to you back then."

"That's it..."

Based on Ye Sanqing's impression of the two, this was not surprising.

Rather, just because the real daughter is home doesn't mean she can rummage through the adopted daughter's room. It would be strange if parents allowed this to happen.

"Alright, begin the search." Ye Sanqing stood up, clapped his hands, and said.

"Have you been playing some kind of crime-solving game lately?" Ye Yifan asked with a smile, and got up to help.

After searching for a while, the two confirmed that there was nothing special in the wardrobe; it was mostly old clothes from Ye Sanqing's middle school days.

"I don't think I was very tall back then."

Ye Sanqing picked up the old school uniform, held it up against his body, and said.

"It's alright, look at the group photo."

Ye Yifan held up a laminated photo and said she was looking at the desk.

Ye Sanqing leaned closer and said, "Oh, I'm actually standing in the position of the taller people, haha."

"Neighbor's brother?" Ye Yifan said, pointing to the two rows of boys behind Ye Sanqing, then flipped the photo over to look at the names on the back.

"Yeah, he was in the same class as me. Sigh, you know, these things aren't real memories for me, they're just 'game settings'... so it's hard for me to express them in the way of recollection."

“He’s also a target.” Ye Yifan looked for a while, then suddenly said as if she remembered something. Then she saw a rather horrified expression on Ye Sanqing’s face.

"Seriously? He seems like a normal person. What's with that expression?"

"I'm not targeting him... I mean, what kind of lousy game is this? How come every human-looking guy is a romanceable character? What route is he on? The childhood sweetheart route?" Ye Sanqing sighed, "Even I know that childhood sweethearts are no match for a sudden, unexpected love."

"Hey, wait a minute... now that you mention it... generally speaking, childhood friend routes in games aren't very popular because they lack appeal. Who doesn't have a childhood neighbor or classmate these days? Unless it's not a single-player route, but a harem ending where someone like him becomes the main heroine."

Ye Yifan looked at Ye Sanqing and said, "What I mean is, from a game design perspective, there must be some secret or shared memory that is closely related to the protagonist's childhood. This is what motivates players to pursue the character and gives them a reason to occupy a more important position later on."

"So you're reasoning from this angle..." Ye Sanqing crossed his arms and thought for a moment, "But I can't actually go and try to win him over. The problem is, although this world operates in the form of a game, it is ultimately a superposition between the game and the real world. I'm not sure what consequences this will cause."

“I know that if you successfully romance the designated character and the game reaches its ending, it will be the same as the previous 99 times, and the world will start over as a new game. You are worried about this possibility, right?”

Although Ye Yifan felt that her tone when talking about "targets" was more like that of a gamer than someone who was about to start a relationship, he could still understand what Ye Sanqing meant.

They had agreed beforehand that since the world was in an uncertain state, every action they took should ideally be geared towards the "real world." Only by accumulating countless small actions could the state of the world eventually be determined to be "real."

“Yes, but I can get closer to him and see if there’s any way to get information without a strategy,” Ye Sanqing said with a smile.

"Isn't there a bit of risk? What if it inexplicably counts as a successful strategy for you?" Ye Yifan pondered for a moment before saying. "How about we send your brother?"

"Huh?" Ye Sanqing felt the suggestion was absurd at first. "You want my second brother to win him over? What can my second brother do? He's not a two-dimensional character."

"No... I mean, isn't he their idol? It could help them build a better relationship... Sigh." Ye Yifan sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I wouldn't be that outrageous, would I? Even though it's a risky move, this is way too risky..."

"It's not entirely impossible, but how do I explain it to him?"

Ye Sanqing thought about it and felt that this plan actually seemed to have some feasibility.

"I'll give it a try, and if it doesn't work, I'll see. Oh, right, I think there's another one in the desk."

Ye Yifan pointed to the notebook inside the opened drawer.

It looked like a diary, but unlike the popular ones of that time, it wasn't covered in colorful stickers; instead, it was a very simple black leather-bound password book.

"This..." Ye Sanqing picked it up and looked at it, saying, "I don't remember it, but the password should be my birthday."

She turned the lock casually, and it actually opened.