No matter what he was thinking inside, he still had to keep smiling on the surface.
That’s called manners.
But Shen Xiyan didn’t seem to understand his “well-intentioned efforts.” Instead, he grew even more enthusiastic.
Patting his chest, he said, “If there’s a chance in the future, you and your sister can join me. I’ll call Qin Sheng out, and we’ll have a meal together.”
Su Hao couldn’t help himself and almost laughed, thinking: What’s with this act, pretending to be so high and mighty?
“You really have that kind of pull?!”
Su Hao put on a look of “surprise”: “Isn’t she always cold to everyone?”
“I have some small influence… otherwise, would she feed me popcorn?”
Su Hao scrutinized Shen Xiyan carefully. He didn’t seem to be lying—no one could be so shameless as to tell such an obvious lie, especially since he already had a girlfriend.
But Qin Sheng didn’t seem like someone who would feed him popcorn either.
After thinking it over, Su Hao got the picture.
It was probably just Qin Sheng not finishing her popcorn and tossing it his way. He saw it as a sign of kindness.
At this age, a bit of blind confidence is normal.
He had it too, but he and Shen Xiyan were fundamentally different.
That was one spring—a spring, after all, is mating season for animals, and with plenty of pocket money at hand, he and his first love had checked into a dodgy motel to experience the adult world.
They were young—boys only knew how to go at it, girls only knew how to moan and hum.
Boys like Shen Xiyan, who were clearly virgins at a glance, always had the habit of exaggerating.
“Heh, maybe. But my sister said she never talks to boys. Are you messing with me?”
Shen Xiyan chuckled, “Everyone has their favorites!”
Favorites?
Who?
You?
Su Hao just smiled, seeing Shen Xiyan still boasting, and lost the urge to respond.
Shen Xiyan didn’t explain either.
To first lower expectations before raising them high—if you don’t lay the groundwork, how can you disgust someone even more later?
It’d be easy to keep him away from Qin Sheng: just confess he was Qin Sheng’s boyfriend, make him keep his eyes to himself… Well, actually, he wasn’t.
But that wouldn’t be fashionable at all.
The ultimate strategic goal was to make this guy so traumatized by the thought of him that even coming to school to look for Su Jin, he’d be afraid of running into him and end up psychologically scarred.
“Sometimes I wonder—if I hadn’t started dating, would I have had a chance with Qin Sheng…”
“Heh!”
This time, Su Hao was truly speechless.
According to “the ways of the adult world,” he should play along and compliment Shen Xiyan, but why did it feel so disgusting?
That Lin Ci girl looked pretty decent—too bad she was blind.
This guy clearly had no social skills. His clothes were faded from washing, and he talked empty, like the kind of nerd who wouldn’t fight back even if he got punched.
And yet someone actually liked him?
Shen Xiyan stared at Qin Sheng’s back and continued to comment, “Today, Qin Sheng is pretty average—you haven’t seen how she looks all dressed up… Tsk tsk! Absolutely stunning!”
When Qin Sheng cosplays, she’s a master of transformation; she can handle any style—whether it’s the cool and alluring female teacher, the lively high school girl, the gentle nurse, or the wild catwoman.
You’d never see Qin Sheng sitting cross-legged on the carpet, biting an ice pop, shivering from the cold, mashing buttons on the controller, and after losing, pouncing on Shen Xiyan and bawling that she won’t admit defeat.
You’d never see Qin Sheng in her underwear, lying on her side on the bed, elbow propped up, palm cupping her ear, striking a lazy beauty pose, her curves rolling like mountain ranges, then suddenly flashing a seductive smile and sweetly calling out “husband.”
And you’d never see her sticking her butt out, acting all cutesy and spoiled, rolling around and playing up to him.
That’s not boyfriend privilege. That’s Shen Xiyan’s privilege.
Up ahead, Su Jin turned back now and then, seeing Shen Xiyan and Su Hao “chatting happily,” and turned to Qin Sheng, asking, “How do you think Shen Xiyan is going to gross him out?”
“Like I care.”
Qin Sheng took a big bite of the ice cream Wen Wen bought: “First, you explain what ‘experienced’ means? You’re all keeping something from me!”
Su Jin told her the whole story.
Qin Sheng was stunned at first, then burst out laughing, holding her stomach: “As expected of the man I picked, ruthless! He dared to spit in Xiyan’s mouth, I must have taught him a lesson back then! Bratty kids need a beating! And that mother of his is no good either.”
“That’s why I feel better letting him be the bad guy. Otherwise, he’d always ask me about you. If I’m unwilling, it’s out of character; if I’m willing…”
Qin Sheng sneered, “He can try! With the way your brother looks at people, if it were me in a bad mood, he’d be dead ten thousand times over!”
“Then all the guys and girls on the street are dead meat.”
Qin Sheng was beautiful and had a great figure—even Su Jin couldn’t resist giving her a squeeze.
She had everything except a chest.
She’d eaten plenty of soybeans, royal jelly, peanuts, milk, pork tendon, sea cucumber, papaya, but none of it helped. Surgery wasn’t necessary.
Her last resort now was to find a boyfriend, generate hormones, and get her chest kneaded to stimulate a second round of growth.
“But did you have a fight with Shen Xiyan? Just now you two didn’t seem that close.”
“No!” Qin Sheng kept eating her ice cream.
Maybe those words “had a fight” rattled her a bit—she took too big a bite, and the cold stabbed her gums, so she puffed her cheeks out and bore it.
Her soft cheeks looked like a water-filled balloon. Su Jin couldn’t help but poke at them, exclaiming at how good it felt.
“Your face is written all over with ‘saying one thing and meaning another.’”
“As if!”
Qin Sheng glared at her, rubbed her face, and then her gaze was drawn to a row of claw machines—or more precisely, to the Psyduck inside one of them.
“Wen Wen, wanna play?”
Wen Wen glanced at it, shook her head without hesitation: “Can’t catch it.”
Just give it a try—it’s only a yuan anyway.
Qin Sheng was eager to try. Her eyes sparkled as she scanned the code and grabbed the joystick in one smooth motion.
Shen Xiyan hurried over to Lin Ci’s side, watched for a moment: “Standing around is boring anyway, you should try too.”
“Waste of money.”
“It’s fine, the bear at home is almost torn to shreds from your hugging. Switch to a smaller one—try a few times. If you can’t get it, I’ll take over. You can’t lose.”
Wen Wen waved her delicate, snow-white wrist: “Then I want one too!”
“Didn’t you just tell Qin Sheng you didn’t want one?”
Wen Wen explained cheerfully: “Feels like a waste to use my own money, feels awkward to use Qin Sheng’s, but using yours is different…”
“You really are a biological sister!” Shen Xiyan gave her a flick on the forehead and silently scanned the code.
Then, his gaze unconsciously drifted to Qin Sheng—watching her expressions was way more fun than the battle inside the claw machine.
Every time before dropping the claw, she was full of confidence, holding her breath as the claw fell, not even blinking.
But repeated failures wore down her patience, and she vented by smacking the joystick a few times—so cute it was ridiculous.
“Finally,” Qin Sheng understood something.
The ones really running society are women; men are just puppets on strings.
If there’s a problem, find the police… scratch that, find Xiyan. Why was she working so hard at this herself?
So she turned, her gaze asking Shen Xiyan for help.
That look was too familiar to Shen Xiyan. He’d seen it for ten years and, almost instinctively, moved to help.
But just then, his wrist was seized by Lin Ci, who acted spoiled: “Xiyan~~ I want this one, can you get it for me?”
Qin Sheng: (-“-)
Lin Ci did that on purpose, didn’t she?
She’d better have done it on purpose! Qin Sheng was going to show her why flowers are so red.