Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 91 - 88 The Secret of Counter-Targeting

Yan Yan, who no longer needed to hide herself in the crowd, now possessed an aura that captivated and held people’s gaze.

It was normal for someone like Yan Yan to have gone through another relationship in the past four years.

Yet Qi Yi couldn’t put his mind at ease. The news Yan Yan had just mentioned felt too sudden for him; he wasn’t prepared at all.

"He? He... might not be doing so well right now," Yan Yan hesitated in her response.

"Was it because you chose to break up with him?" Qi Yi was unsure whether to feel happy or disappointed.

"Possibly, but the main reason is probably that he’s jealous of himself. I think he’s getting old and his memory isn’t what it used to be; he completely forgot about our one-year relationship back in high school." Yan Yan purposefully used the pronoun "he."

If Qi Yi didn’t get the hint after what Yan Yan said, his IQ would fall below the average line of normal people and could be considered zero.

"Waiwai, you deliberately said it that way just now, didn’t you?" Qi Yi realized he had overreacted previously.

"Not at all; I was just speaking off the cuff. Who knew you’d react so strongly? But seeing your panic, I actually found it quite amusing," Yan Yan said with a triumphant smile.

"To encounter someone who can make your IQ drop to zero is indeed a great happiness," Qi Yi said with a smile, countering Yan Yan’s jab.

Qi Yi was relieved that his earlier thoughts were due to his IQ being offline; if they had been true, then he would have been really upset.

Usually, people are sensitive about having their shortcomings pointed out but don’t mind as much when someone targets their strengths.

The matter of his urgency in IQ wasn’t something Qi Yi worried about; no matter how many times Yan Yan mentioned it, he wouldn’t care.

"Ah, suddenly it doesn’t seem so fun anymore. Why do you make it look like you’re being targeted all day long?" Yan Yan rolled her eyes and pulled a cheeky face.

"Being targeted?" Qi Yi decided to embrace his desperate-for-IQ act.

"Yep, I was always targeted before, wasn’t I? At first, I hid in a corner, too scared to speak. But then I discovered a secret way to counter being targeted," Yan Yan declared, ready to share her "treasure."

"What’s the secret? Do tell," Qi Yi played along, genuinely curious about Yan Yan’s method.

"It’s just like what you did just now, admitting it first.

When people target you, they mainly want to see you upset or wait for you to argue so they can hit you harder.

If the targeted person is in a good state of mind and admits it upfront,

Those who aim to target someone are left speechless, unsure of how to continue their rant.

It’s like punching into cotton—it must be pretty frustrating.

Over time, they lose the fun and drive to continue targeting.

For example, if someone says ’Are you crazy or what?’, simply reply ’Yes, you’re totally right, I am crazy.’

Or if someone comments ’Your clothes are so ugly,’ just say ’Yes, you’re absolutely correct, my clothes are hideously ugly.’

And then if someone suggests ’Qi Yi must be out of his mind to be with you,’ just answer ’Yes, you’re right, he’s lost his mind.’" Yan Yan seriously taught her anti-targeting technique.

"Why, when you’re the one being targeted, is it me who is out of his mind? And is this really a secret?" Qi Yi questioned Yan Yan’s reasoning.

"Of course, it is. It seems simple to you now because we’ve grown up.

Adults can figure this logic out without much thought.

But back when I was alone searching for this ’secret manual,’ I had just started elementary school.

At that age, to find such a method was definitely ahead of my peers.

Before discovering the secret, it was when I was most horribly targeted.

Starting in elementary school, my classmates would laugh at me for being a country bumpkin.

I desperately tried to explain, but the more I did, the more they looked down on me.

After a year of effort, I made no progress.

Then, I gave in to despair and started responding with ’Thank you, I indeed am a country bumpkin’ whenever I was called one.

Gradually, they lost interest in teasing me about it.

By second grade, they switched tactics, saying ’You’re so ugly.’

To admit ’I am really ugly’ as a girl under ten who was just starting to care about her looks—doesn’t that take courage?" Yan Yan countered.

"You always talk about being targeted, but when I met you in high school, I never saw anyone do that to you," Qi Yi was always puzzled why anyone would target the infinitely wonderful Yan Yan in his eyes.

"That’s because I had you to cover for me in high school~" Yan Yan’s tone was both coy and proud.

"How is that related to me? Even if I were to cover for you, that would have been sophomores’ business. We hardly spoke in freshman year, and I didn’t notice anyone targeting you then." Qi Yi felt his question still remained unanswered.

"Who does that, giving you a bit of gold to stick on your face, and then you just tear it all off yourself?

If I have to tell the truth, during high school, classmates mostly focused on their studies.

Who would have all this extra time to target me?

People generally only target others when they have too much time on their hands and nothing better to do.

With the hectic study schedule in high school, our class didn’t have anyone who was constantly idle.

Plus, by then, I was already very adept at ’reading people’s expressions,’ and I had hidden all my sharp edges.

So you never got to see when I was targeted.

Once we got to university, and my classmates had more free time, I was unfortunately targeted again," Yan Yan revealed the genuine reason.

"I see, so it seems like you really can’t manage without me," Qi Yi drew a strange conclusion.

It was clearly the "gold" that Yan Yan had just applied that he had wiped away himself.

"I just love this shameless side of you," Yan Yan said, turning to look at Qi Yi with a smile brimming her face.

"As long as you like it, we should thoroughly implement our master’s policy that ’a face can’t be eaten as food,’" Qi Yi gazed into Yan Yan’s eyes.

Qi Yi loved the look in Yan Yan’s clear eyes when she looked at him.

Because he was so fond of it, he hardly realized that he had been staring at Yan Yan with the same expression for quite a while.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Yan Yan was a bit surprised by Qi Yi’s intense gaze.

"There seems to be something different about your face today," Qi Yi said, pondering.