As expected, it was windy and chilly when we stepped out into the open.
"I wonder if Aunt w.a.n.g"s food stall is open today? It"d better be, or we"ll have to eat fast food at KFC. I hate KFC…" He Yi said worriedly.
"It should be."
I replied confidently, "Thirteen and I went there for a drink before. Aunt w.a.n.g and her husband were laid-off workers, but they have a son studying in high school and another in university. I"m sure you don"t need me to tell you how much education costs. For the sake of their sons" future, I"m sure they"ll open their stall even if it"s New Year"s Day."
Beiming Xue blinked. "But when I was chatting with Li Chengfeng and the others in the guild channel, they told me that it"s pointless to study in a university. They said that even if you graduate you"ll still be working for others, and sometimes not even that."
I replied with a bitter smile, "True, but this is the only out us poverty babies have."
He Yi chuckled. "Yeah. How can a poverty baby compete against a trust fund baby if they couldn"t even complete the National College Entrance Examination?"
I sighed dramatically and said, "Can we talk about something else, please? My heart hurts…"
Murong Mingyue stared at me. "Your little sister is hurting too…"
I immediately wrapped an arm around Beiming Xue"s shoulders and said, "She"s insulting you, little sister! Quick, 1v1 her and teach her a lesson! Don"t worry, I"ll cheer for you and provide you with emotional support!"
Murong Mingyue rolled up her sleeves menacingly, "Hoho? You dare challenge me to a fight? I may not be able to beat Lil Beiming in the game, but I"m a martial arts expert in real life!"
Lian Xin asked, "Martial arts expert? What style are you?"
He Yi snickered. "Oh yeah, didn"t you boast to me about being an expert in bed, Mingyue? Is that your style?"
Murong Mingyue: "..."
……
The carefree conversation continued a bit longer until we reached the street corner. Just as expected, the small food stall wrapped in tarpaulin was still open. It was very late in the night, and our friendly neighborhood bylaw enforcement officers had all returned home already. This was also the only time hard workers like Aunt w.a.n.g could show themselves and conduct some small business to survive in this ruthless world.
I parted the curtains and entered the small but warm stall and saw Aunt w.a.n.g"s familiar face. She smiled at me and said, "Ah, it"s you four."
"Hi, auntie. Can you serve us some side dishes and one Erguotou for me? It"s cold today..."
"Sure!"
After we took a seat, Beiming Xue asked me, "You"re drinking at this time, big bro?"
I replied, "It"s easier to sleep this way. Don"t worry, it"s only a sip or two."
"In that case, we"d like to have a drink too," He Yi and Murong Mingyue said in unison.
He Yi chuckled. "Silly girl, I can drink an entire bottle of Erguotou and not even feel it. Your boss has been doing this for a long time, you know."
At the side, Aunt w.a.n.g"s husband was wielding his ladle and frying pan above the roaring flames with great proficiency. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that cooking was a deep technical skill. He used vegetable oil to cook his food, and we the customers had a full view of the cooking process from start until the end. Aunt w.a.n.g"s business might be small, but it was one with a conscience and a heart.
Some time later, a good number of delicious dishes were served on the table. Aunt w.a.n.g knew that we were rich, and it was practically impossible to mistake He Yi and Murong Mingyue for a poor person. Their attire alone put them at the level of gold collars who weren"t lacking in money at all. In fact, the only reason they even showed up here was completely because of silly ol" me.
I fed myself a piece of green pepper fried pig heart and took a sip of Erguotou. Ah, nighttime moments like these are always so enjoyable...
The girls ate heartily, and He Yi and Murong Mingyue shared some of the liquor I had ordered.
A few minutes later, a new group of people pushed away the curtains and walked in. They were dressed like students, and it was clear that they were quite young and innocent. At the very least, they could call me, a young man who already had several years of ups and downs in society like me, old, and it wouldn"t feel out of place in the slightest.
……
The five students sat down at a table not far away from us. However, they paid us no attention because the lighting was dim, and the girls were donning thick down-filled garments and facing toward them with their backs.
"f.u.c.k, I almost slipped and pierced my b.u.t.thole on the pointy rails when climbing the gate…" said a student with a crew cut.
Another student wearing a leather jacket laughed. "Why didn"t you? That would"ve made for a good show! Anyway, I wonder who"s the f.u.c.ker in the WEL committee who thought that holding a full-day preliminaries was a good idea. This would"ve sucked if we didn"t manage to squeeze our way into the Top 256. One of you, take a screenshot of our line-up and post it on our school"s forums later, okay? Gotta boast that nice-looking achievement!"
Crewcut dude replied, "It is a boast-worthy achievement. We got taken out by none other than Stranger of Three Lifetimes" team! I can"t wait to return the hot air those idiots from the engineering faculty kept blowing at us already, pooh…"
However, another student with dyed yellow hair shot down his revenge fantasy mercilessly. "Boast-worthy? Didn"t you see the forums? The moment I logged off, I saw someone from the engineering faculty posting a thread and claiming that one of their third-year teams managed to enter the Top 128 before they were defeated by the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess, Wind Fantasy"s team. Now that"s a boast-worthy achievement. Our result is nothing compared to that."
"Wind Fantasy"s team? Really? f.u.c.k…"
Leather jacket dude said sadly, "I heard that Fruit Knife G.o.ddess is a student at Suzhou University of Science and Technology. I wonder if it"s true? I could die happy if I could catch a glimpse of her even once in real life…"
"You pathetic man!"
Crewcut dude roasted his mate mercilessly before saying, "Well, a friend of mine who studied there did confirm that the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess is a super beauty, but it"s better for all our hearts if we just forget about it. The Fruit Knife G.o.ddess"s dad is no ordinary person, and her bodyguards occasionally show their faces in the university. If it wasn"t for them, she would"ve been swooped away by some thirty-year-old guy a long time ago…"
……
Beiming Xue b.u.mped my arm when she heard this and teased me, "You hear that, big bro? Someone"s aiming for your quasi-girlfriend! Don"t you have anything to say about this?"
I took another sip of liquor and grumbled, "The falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on…"
Murong Mingyue nearly spat out her liquor. "You shameless b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare you say "the heartless brook ripples on" when you"ve already kissed Beauty Lin! Not only that, our Eve is your victim as well! You"re the only guy in the entire world who"s lucky enough to get both of them!"
Beiming Xue looked up from her food and asked me, "Is that true, big bro? And should I count myself among them? You did kiss me as well, didn"t you?"
A blus.h.i.+ng He Yi immediately glared at me. "You even kissed Beiming? Just how many girls have you kissed already?"
It was like someone had poked a hole in my soul and dragged out all my dirty secrets. How I wished to run out of the stall and jump down a storm drain right now!
Lian Xin burst into a giggle and raised her hand playfully. "I hereby declare that big brother Lu Chen hasn"t kissed me yet…"
"Ohh!" Murong Mingyue raised her gla.s.s merrily. "What a coincidence! This b.a.s.t.a.r.d hasn"t kissed me either!"
Surprised by the outburst, He Yi shot Murong Mingyue a wary look and asked her in an exasperated tone, "Not you too? You want to be kissed by Lu Chen as well?"
"No way!" Murong Mingyue puffed up her chest before replying, "If a kiss is going to happen, it"ll be me who"s the initiator! Sorry not sorry, Eve, it"s your fault your Lu Chen is so cute…"
He Yi: "..."
Murong Mingyue let out a soft chuckle before asking me, "Why don"t we play a game, Lu Chen?"
"What game?"
"I have this game coin that I picked up from somewhere. It has a s.h.i.+eld on one side and a sword on the other. Since you could never decide who you want to pick between Eve and Beauty Lin, why don"t we let the coin decide it for you? The sword is Beauty Lin, and the s.h.i.+eld is Eve. All you need to do is to flip the coin and decide whoever came out on top will be your girlfriend. Let this be the end of all your struggles. What do you say?"
I blurted in shock, "Uh, I…"
He Yi giggled at the side. "That is a good idea. Either way, I could be free of this humongous pressure on my shoulders once and for all. You have no idea how irritating it is having to deal with a mother who wouldn"t stop pus.h.i.+ng you on arranged dates…"
Beiming Xue blinked once before asking, "Big bro, can you tell us the truth? Who do you like more, Sister Eve or Sister Lin Yixin?"
I sucked in a deep breath before replying, "I don"t know yet…"
"Toss the coin! Toss the coin! Toss the coin!" Lian Xin chanted as if she couldn"t wait for the s.h.i.+tshow that was going to ensue.
"Fine…"
I took the coin from Murong Mingyue and flipped it into the air. After she caught it, she looked at us and said with a smile, "The answer"s about to be revealed…"
Everyone was holding their breaths for the moment Murong Mingyue revealed the truth.
The palm covering the coin moved away inch by inch. Finally, we saw the result and felt our jaws. .h.i.tting the floor without a resounding thunk—
The face of the coin… turned out to be a blooming chrysanthemum! The f.u.c.k? It"s just a normal coin!
"You!"
If looks could kill, Murong Mingyue would be dead under He Yi and my death glare already.
The embarra.s.sed woman said placatingly, "Aiyo, I"m so sorry, but it looks like I got the wrong coin! Seriously though, do you really want to decide something as important as your lifetime partner with a coin? I"m doing this for your own good, you brat. Anyway, what I"m trying to say is that both Beauty Lin and Eve are romantic beauties who"ll never let go once they"ve found their love, so it makes no sense to miss out on either one of them. So claim them all, Lu Chen! I will get you your 3P if it"s the last thing I do!"
I didn"t react. I was practically a statue at this point.
Beiming Xue pointed at Murong Mingyue and complained, "You just won"t quit, Sister Mingyue! It"s always teasing big bro or teasing him some more!"
Murong Mingyue let out a cheeky laugh like what you would expect from a s.a.d.i.s.tic queen. However, she was a little too loud and successfully drew the attention of the students behind us. They squinted through the dim lighting until they saw Beiming Xue clearly, and in that moment their eyes widened into saucers, and their bodies froze like statues—
"Third, am I seeing right? That beautiful girl… looks so familiar for some reason…"
"Oh yes, she is. It"s almost like she"s that dark archer from Eternal Moon Corporation promotional poster, Beiming Xue. You see that small dimple at her cheeks when she smiles? It"s practically identical…"
"Now that you mention it, that guy sitting next to Beiming Xue looks quite familiar as well. Is he…"
"He"s Lu Chen! He"s got to be Lu Chen! I remember that look as clear as yesterday!"
……
The situation was rapidly devolving, so I asked the girls immediately, "You girls done eating?"
"Mn!"
"Bill please, auntie!"
I footed the bill and ran away from the stall with the girls as quickly as humanly possible. Thankfully, when we stopped beneath a street lamp and looked behind us, we saw no one chasing out of the food stall. There was nothing more awkward than being recognized in public.
……
We returned to the workshop and went to bed early. Rest was necessary as the WEL play-offs of the China region would begin tomorrow!
The next day, I woke up to a bright and sunny day. Beiming Xue in her mini skirt opened the door to my room and said, "Big bro, it"s 11 am already! Come eat!"