Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The villa, which originally served as the base for the team, now had Zhou Hongyu living in it as Lin Ning still cultivated at Wudang Mountain.

The atmosphere among the people quickly became awkward.

Zhao Yuanzhen and Xie Ruoxi had a close relationship. The former had a severe conflict with Zhou Hongyu, so the latter naturally wouldn't and didn't dare to approach her for a conversation.

Su Yunjin originally got along well with Lin Ning, but Ningning's personality was vastly different from Zhou Hongyu's, making Yun Jin instinctively keep her distance, hence getting closer to Chen Lingyun instead.

Without any explicit organization or collusion, an atmosphere of collectively isolating Zhou Hongyu among the girls originally from the Zhenhai Team had already formed.

Zhou Hongyu didn't care.

She was the type of big sister who ate soft food but not hard food. If you recognized her as the boss like Tang Xiaolian did and needed her protection, she would take care of you wholeheartedly. Aside from that, there were hardly any other ways to get on her good side.

Yan Yu initially provoked her in various ways, making her lose face, but Zhou Hongyu never showed any sign of submission. Later, in Tang Xiaolian's family hotel, she mellowed her attitude and politely asked Zhou Hongyu to make some tea, turning her favorable impression from negative to positive.

From this point of view, Zhou Hongyu was least afraid of being collectively isolated. If everyone enthusiastically pulled her into the group, showering her with all kinds of flattery and favor, she would instead feel overwhelmed and at a loss on how to react.

Behind a wooden door with the sign "Zhou," Zhou Hongyu was on the phone with Tang Xiaolian. As her sister and strategist, the latter was frantically giving her advice:

"...Sis, I'm telling you, you're not there to play best friend games with them. Regardless of how they treat you, just focus on getting Yan Yu. The more they exclude and isolate you, the easier it will be to play the victim card with Yan Yu. As long as he starts to sympathize with you, you can take advantage and boost your favorability!"

"I see," Zhou Hongyu mused, "so, how do I play the victim?"

"It's simple," thought Tang Xiaolian, drawing on her extensive reading of palace intrigue novels. "First, find someone dumb...like Zhao Yuanzhen. You had a conflict with her before, right? Wait until Yan Yu is around, then deliberately try to make amends with her."

"As I expect, she will seize the opportunity to mock and belittle you. In Yan Yu's eyes, Zhao Yuanzhen will appear overbearing and unreasonable, while you'll be the innocent, pitiful victim."

"Hmm," Zhou Hongyu pondered for a moment, "I'm not sure I can humble myself like that."

"Sis!" Tang Xiaolian was exasperated, "This is love! The battlefield of emotions! Does dignity matter that much if you want to win? Or do you want to watch them unite to snatch Yan Yu away and push us out?"

Zhou Hongyu hesitated. Her personality made it impossible for her to humble herself, but if she viewed it as a deceitful tactic to win...

"Alright, I'll give it a try," she finally decided, willing to abandon her domineering ways and try a more underhanded approach.

"That's the spirit!" Tang Xiaolian was invigorated. "Let me tell you, there are three key points to this tactic: expression, language, and response!"

"First, your expression. It has to be pitiful, to evoke maximum sympathy and compassion from a man!"

"Huh?" Zhou Hongyu tried to understand, "What kind of expression is 'pitiful'?"

"Let me give you an example," Tang Xiaolian said. "Imagine there's an enemy you can't defeat, and you don't have the strength to resist him. So, you pretend to be weak to make him lower his guard...Think about how you would act then."

"Got it," Zhou Hongyu said seriously, "Continue."

"Second," Tang Xiaolian continued, "is the language. It has to be full of subtle provocations. On the surface, it should seem inoffensive but should subtly provoke Zhao Yuanzhen's anger to the maximum. For example, you can say, 'I'm sorry I was too harsh on you last time in the Southern Border. You weren't hurt, were you?' When she loses her temper, you go to Yan Yu and cry, saying you just wanted to make peace, but she looks down on you."

"Not bad," Zhou Hongyu smiled, "With her temperament, she will undoubtedly fly into a rage upon hearing that."

"Exactly," Tang Xiaolian said. "Finally, it's about the response, the ability to adapt to the situation. What if Zhao Yuanzhen doesn't lose her temper and ignores you? Or what if she agrees to your olive branch?"

"I'll stick close to Yan Yu," Zhou Hongyu replied.

"Uh, yeah," Tang Xiaolian thought for a moment with her not-so-developed emotional intelligence, "Even if she doesn't get angry, seeing you run to Yan Yu will surely make her jealous. Then you can explain to Yan Yu that she still harbors a grudge about what happened last time and you feel very pitiful and helpless..."

The phone call was cut off because Zhou Hongyu had already hung up.

She calmly stood up and walked out.

Such a simple strategy, I have fully understood!

Meanwhile, Zhao Yuanzhen and a few other girls were chatting in Su Yunjin's room while having snacks.

Though their personalities didn't fully align, they had known each other long enough to have formed deep friendships... at least Yun Jin thought so.

It was clear that Zhou Hongyu was destined to join their family. Just as they had all become familiar from being strangers, it should be the same with Hongyu. There was no reason to exclude and isolate her just because she hadn't been part of the Zhenhai Team.

Without expressing jealousy or outbursts, Yun Jin was probably the kindest and gentlest among them—definitely not what the other three would think.

"It's not like we're deliberately excluding her. She never made any effort to get along with us," Zhao Yuanzhen defended herself, not wanting to appear unsympathetic to her sisters, "Even if she had said a few kind words back then and apologized, I wouldn't have picked a fight... I'm not an unreasonable and jealous woman!"

"That's true," Xie Ruoxi corroborated. "Yun Jin, look, even Tang Xiaolian is around, just talking politely, and our Sister Zhao hasn't targeted her. It's not that Zhou Hongyu is overly domineering; you should work on her attitude, not us. You've got the wrong people here!"

Su Yunjin thought for a moment and smiled:

"So, I misunderstood. In other words, you guys don't have any prejudice against Zhou Hongyu and won't purposefully give her the cold shoulder, right?"

"Of course." "As long as she doesn't provoke me," Xie Ruoxi and Zhao Yuanzhen nodded immediately.

"And you, Lingyun?" Su Yunjin turned to ask.

"I'm good with whatever," Chen Lingyun smiled sweetly, holding her chin with the back of her hand, "Whether it's arguing, fighting, or reconciling, it's all about bonding. You see, Yan Yu has no problem, and I'm fine either way."

Su Yunjin sighed gently and said warmly:

"Alright, as long as everyone doesn't antagonize each other, it's fine, so as not to make things difficult for the leader."

"Leader?" Chen Lingyun asked in surprise, "Which team leader?"

"Ling Yun, don't get hung up on the details," Su Yunjin said helplessly, "I believe no one will ever forget the Zhenhai Team, right?"

Everyone resumed chatting and laughing, with the atmosphere becoming increasingly warm and harmonious.

Clearly, Su Yunjin wasn't siding with Zhou Hongyu; she simply thought "the current atmosphere wasn't great." Zhao Yuanzhen didn't get angry about it. As for agreeing with her, it was merely giving her face.

After all, Zhao Yuanzhen didn't believe Zhou Hongyu was the type to endure silently. She probably was holding back, waiting to cause trouble! When the time comes for her to make things difficult, it would be justified, and Yun Jin couldn't find any fault with that.

After their tea party ended, everyone returned to the first-floor living room.

Since chef Ningning was still preparing to cross tribulation, dinner was temporarily handled by Yun Jin, who had some culinary skills.

Compared to Ningning's exquisite skills, Yun Jin's cooking wasn't much worse. Criticisms might only be "bland," "low in salt and oil," "high in vegetable content," "mostly stewed and steamed," but as fasting cultivators, food was more about ceremony, so no one said much.

Xie Ruoxi exchanged a look with Zhao Yuanzhen, which meant "Come to my room for extra snacks tonight."

Zhao Yuanzhen smiled slightly, feeling settled, and scooped herself a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup.

Yan Yu ate his meal slowly, sensing a strange atmosphere. Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Hongyu said:

"Zhao Yuanzhen, I..."

Wait, what was the example Xiaolian gave back then?

For a moment, Zhou Hongyu couldn't recall, but seeing Zhao Yuanzhen looking at her confusedly, she couldn't just pretend nothing had happened. So, she improvised:

"I'm really sorry for the conflict we had before. I shouldn't have."

This b*tch has suddenly changed her attitude? Zhao Yuanzhen was surprised, feeling that this didn't sound like something Zhou Hongyu would say.

Then she had an epiphany: Oh, she's finally realized who manages the Yan Family house and has started to flatter the person she should have flattered all along!

Zhao Yuanzhen wasn't known for being forgiving, as the Book of Hatred was the best proof. Normally, she would have used this opportunity to ridicule Zhou Hongyu a bit, making her completely submit beneath her feet from utter humiliation.

But given her earlier promise to Su Yunjin, it was hard to go back on her word now, so she generously waved her hand and said:

"It's okay, sis forgives you."

Zhou Hongyu was dumbstruck; this response wasn't what she expected!

"I'm glad we've cleared the air," Yan Yu put down his chopsticks and said approvingly. "You're all the most outstanding Golden Core True Men of Lu Country. There's no need to bicker over small disagreements. Otherwise, outsiders might think we only know how to fight amongst ourselves."

Zhou Hongyu finally remembered that she was supposed to say something subtly provocative earlier to intentionally anger Zhao Yuanzhen, instead of straightforwardly apologizing.

But the words were already out; she couldn't just take them back, so she decided to proceed with the second plan:

Stick close to Yan Yu.