Chapter 20: Meet

“Eh…”

Lin Xinyuan looked at the message sent by the other party, a bit surprised, and turned her head to look over.

Sure enough, Qin Nan Feng was walking over slowly, his steps steady.

He wore a simple black shirt and low-waisted long pants, yet somehow managed to look like a model.

He walked up to Lin Xinyuan, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Wind blowing through your shorts making your balls cold?”

“That’s me…” Lin Xinyuan was also speechless at that username, but it was hard to explain, so she could only admit it.

Qin Nan Feng nodded and sat across from her at the table, a mysterious smile on his face:

“I really didn’t expect you to be a girl, hmm…”

As he spoke, his gaze was piercing, carefully sizing up the girl.

Lin Xinyuan felt a bit uncomfortable under his stare.

She clenched her skirt tightly, her scalp tingling, forcing a smile:

“Is there something wrong with me? You can even guess my gender?”

“Just a hunch.” Qin Nan Feng answered bluntly, his expression unchanged. “I just think your personality is a lot like a guy’s. Of course, you can take that as a compliment…”

What the heck?

This guy comes over and immediately starts saying weird things… What’s his problem…

“Hey… Is it really okay for you to say that to a girl?”

“But you aren’t angry, are you? So it’s not that bad.”

Lin Xinyuan really wasn’t angry. On the contrary, she was quite happy.

This meant that even if she became a girl, she was still a guy psychologically.

Since her usual behavior made it impossible to pretend to be some proper young lady, then she might as well change things up—a new persona wouldn’t hurt, and maybe things would progress faster…

But this guy is really good at chatting, huh…

No wonder he’s the Tianbei Sea King, the ultimate playboy.

But… in the end, who will end up outsmarting whom is still up in the air…

Thinking this, Lin Xinyuan gave a “shy” smile. “Whatever you say…”

With that, she lowered her little head, picked up her coffee, and took another small sip.

Qin Nan Feng chuckled at this, then reached out a hand.

“We haven’t introduced ourselves yet. My real name is Qin Nan Feng.”

“I’m Lin Xinyuan.”

Lin Xinyuan slowly lifted her head and said, but the words had barely left her mouth when she regretted it.

Qin Nan Feng rubbed his chin, enunciating each word: “Lin… Xin… Yuan?”

“Yes, Lin Xinyuan…” What’s done was done. Lin Xinyuan could only brace herself and go along, trying not to show anything amiss.

Qin Nan Feng stared at her face with a strange look, as if trying to find something.

Lin Xinyuan stammered, “Is there… something wrong?”

Sure enough, her personality still wasn’t suited for socializing, even with a new identity.

“It’s nothing… ‘Xin’ as in ‘heart’, and ‘Yuan’ is the same as your nickname online, right?”

“Mm…” Lin Xinyuan couldn’t help but lower her head again, letting out a long breath of relief inside.

This time, she really had to thank that blond guy’s wild imagination.

“Give me your hand.”

“What?” Lin Xinyuan looked up in confusion, only to see a large hand waving in front of her.

“Handshake. Or are you not planning to get to know me?”

Qin Nan Feng smiled, his handsome features radiating a charm most girls couldn’t resist.

Unfortunately, that had no effect on Lin Xinyuan, who was a man at heart.

“Oh, sure.” Lin Xinyuan didn’t mind at all.

After all, they’re both guys, so what’s the big deal?

She put her small hand in Qin Nan Feng’s palm.

As soon as she did, his big hand gave hers a firm shake, then let go.

“Great, now we’ve officially met. We’re friends now.”

“Friends?” Lin Xinyuan was puzzled.

That’s all it took to be friends?

That simple?

“That’s right, there are all kinds of friends. For us right now, I guess we’re just a bit closer than regular friends.” Qin Nan Feng explained.

“I see…” Lin Xinyuan didn’t know what to say.

This was the first time someone had called her a friend.

Her feelings were complicated, something unexplainable welling up inside her, but it quickly faded.

“Qin Nan Feng, you…”

Lin Xinyuan had just worked up the courage to say something and try to get closer, when she saw a server approaching with coffee, so she had to stop for now.

“Hello, your coffee. Please enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to let us know. We’ll help however we can.”

Before the waitress had fully walked over, Qin Nan Feng gave her a look, signaling that he didn’t want his identity as the owner of this place revealed, so she treated him like any regular customer.

“Thank you.” Qin Nan Feng smiled politely.

Once the server had walked a bit away, he turned back, looking at the girl’s gentle face:

“Just call me Nan Feng. Using my full name sounds too distant. I’ll call you Xinyuan, then.”

Lin Xinyuan hesitated when she heard this.

It felt so cheesy, reminding her of how Li Xue used to call her by this name.

She figured all those seven-day girlfriends in the past must have called him this way too, and suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine.

Suppressing the feeling, Lin Xinyuan still spoke, her tone awkward and stuttering, “Nan… Nan… Feng.”

“Xinyuan.”

As soon as he said it, Lin Xinyuan felt her toes curling in embarrassment, it was so awkward and cringeworthy…

But Qin Nan Feng didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable, acting completely at ease.

Watching this, Lin Xinyuan couldn’t help but grit her teeth inside.

Isn’t this guy a bit too shameless?

Who calls someone by their first name like this right after meeting, and even insists they do the same?

Even if you get along great online, it’s different in real life!

Although Lin Xinyuan was speechless inside, she also realized that getting closer this quickly did save her a lot of effort, so she decided to just endure it.

After that, the two chatted about various topics.

Although the atmosphere wasn’t as lively as online, it was still harmonious.

Lin Xinyuan figured there would be plenty of opportunities to build rapport in the future—this was already pretty good for a first meeting.

It was around half past twelve when they finally left the café.

Lin Xinyuan had originally planned to pay the bill herself, and even cover Qin Nan Feng’s share, since he was going to treat her to lunch later.

But before she could do so, Qin Nan Feng stopped her.

“I’ve already paid. No need for you to pay.”

“Already? When? I didn’t see it. Was it when we first arrived?” Lin Xinyuan hadn’t noticed, so she could only guess.

Qin Nan Feng’s expression didn’t change.

“Yeah, and I come here a lot, know the owner. Even if I didn’t pay, they’d just put it on my tab.”

“Alright then…”

Lin Xinyuan didn’t say anything else.

Since things were already like this, there was nothing she could do.

Saving a bit of money wasn’t so bad anyway.

Sure enough, when they left, none of the staff tried to stop them.

The hostess who had greeted her earlier even waved and said some polite words about coming again next time.

For some reason, Lin Xinyuan felt that, unlike at the start, the hostess’s gaze seemed to hold something extra when she looked at her.

But, she figured she was just overthinking it, and followed Qin Nan Feng out.

The cool air turned to stifling heat.

Even though there was only a glass door between them, it felt like two different worlds.

This was the progress technology had brought to people’s lives—truly something to marvel at.

It wasn’t even the hottest part of the day yet, but the blazing sun was already blinding, scorching and oppressive, as if you could fry an egg on the ground.

“Where are we going to eat?”

The girl held her phone, hands behind her back, standing in the shade where a gentle, cool breeze blew.

Her white clothes fluttered softly, graceful and delicate, drawing glances from passersby—like a beautiful girl straight out of an anime.

Qin Nan Feng pushed his bicycle out from the parking area and came up beside her, smiling.

“So, what do you want to eat?”

Hearing this, the girl’s eyes lit up.

She didn’t try to act cute on purpose, but her natural expression was just adorable.

“Hmm… How about barbecue?”

After saying that, she felt a bit embarrassed, since he was treating her, so she quickly added, “Never mind, never mind, I’m fine with anything… You can decide where to go… Since you’re the one treating…”

Looking at the petite girl in front of him, with her shy expression, Qin Nan Feng couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity…

He pushed the thought away and smiled:

“Come on, get on the bike!”

“Eh?”