This answer obviously caused Su Ziling’s brain to completely crash.
She couldn’t immediately process what he meant. She glanced at her phone, then at her little sister beside her.
“Wh-which one do you want to play with?”
Even though she knew this guy might cross paths with her in the future, she hadn’t expected such a direct approach.
Wasn’t this a bit too out of character for a shut-in otaku like him?
She stood frozen, not knowing where to put her hands or feet.
Beside her, Su Xiaomeng was stealthily shifting sideways at a visibly noticeable speed, as if she were about to turn into a bystander and happily watch the drama unfold.
“The one in your hand.”
Lin Yizhou, still confused, kept his gaze locked on that magic wand.
“Huh… this one?”
Su Ziling finally understood—he hadn’t meant what she’d initially thought. The embarrassment was overwhelming.
Especially when she recalled the messy images that had popped into her head just moments ago. Her face turned as red as an apple.
“Here… h-here you go.”
She shoved the magic wand into Lin Yizhou’s hand and immediately turned to leave. Her walking speed was almost as fast as running. Seeing this, Su Xiaomeng laughed heartily and hurried after her.
This scene made Lin Yizhou realize that his words might have been misleading.
“Wait, that’s not what I meant!”
But by then Su Ziling had already run off, and Lin Yizhou couldn’t catch up.
He looked at the magic wand in his hand, then at the distant figure. He was a bit flustered.
“Yo, boss, you’re on a roll.”
At that moment, a hand draped itself over Lin Yizhou’s shoulder.
“A ten-thousand-year iron tree finally blooming? Who knew you had a thing for short-haired girls?”
“Scram!” Lin Yizhou shook off the hand on his shoulder in annoyance and tried to explain. “I just wanted to look at that limited-edition Meiluke magic wand!”
Lin Yizhou turned around to see his buddy and subordinate, a guy named Fan Zhicheng.
“Ohhh~” Fan Zhicheng drew out the word, wearing an “I get it” expression. “So that’s how it is! I thought our boss had finally fallen in love for the first time! But…”
His tone shifted, and he lowered his voice. “I gotta warn you, that short-haired girl just now… is a guy. Oh right, you guys in the anime world have that ‘Nanliang’ culture, don’t you? Into that kind of thing?”
He winked and smirked.
“No, I’m not interested in Nanliang.”
Liking Nanliang was just something he said online.
What people really wanted was a girl who could get along with you and hang out like a bro.
Characters like Asuka Minato or Hideyoshi were just drawn as girls but labeled as guys. If you replaced all of them with a boss-like figure, people would shut up.
“Tch, too bad,” Fan Zhicheng clicked his tongue. “That face was pretty delicate and cute… why did it have to have a dick? But the skipping schoolgirl next to her, full of energy, probably an otaku like you—she seems like a good match…”
Lin Yizhou’s mind flashed an image comparing Su Xiaomeng and Su Ziling, his gaze lingering on a certain dimension for a split second before he spat out two words flatly.
“Too big.”
“…” Fan Zhicheng’s mouth twitched wildly. After a long pause, he managed to say, “…Still claiming you don’t like Nanliang? You’re even complaining about that? Any smaller and it’d be an airport runway!”
The two of them walked into the teaching building, still tossing banter back and forth.
Class was still a while away. Lin Yizhou habitually pulled a cup of braised beef noodles from his bag and headed for the hot water room.
He planned to eat quickly and then go to the rooftop to nap—he’d been grinding the daily quests in the game until three in the morning last night, and now he was dead tired.
Just as he reached the water dispenser, he keenly felt someone staring. He looked up and met Su Ziling’s gaze from not far away.
The air froze for a moment.
Seeing the bare cup of instant noodles in Lin Yizhou’s hand, and thinking about how this guy might have to “take care” of someone in the future, Su Ziling’s hidden “mother hen” instincts couldn’t help but kick in.
“You’re eating that for breakfast?”
From the looks of it, Lin Yizhou couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone anyone else.
Eating instant noodles for breakfast—could a normal person even stomach that?
Lin Yizhou hadn’t expected her to speak to him. He was stunned for a second, then answered instinctively, “It’s convenient and hassle-free. No dishes to wash after eating. Isn’t that good?”
“Buying a steamed bun is pretty much the same, isn’t it…”
“You have to wake up early to buy a bun.”
With that, he remembered the “sacred relic” in his hand and quickly handed it over.
“Oh, right, here, this is yours.”
“No need. My little sister said to give it to you as a welcome gift.”
Su Ziling sighed. She didn’t understand what her mischievous sister was thinking—calling it precious, then handing it over without a second thought. Truly baffling.
“Really? Is this okay?”
Lin Yizhou never imagined he would get this limited-edition merchandise like this. He was a bit excited.
But Su Ziling’s gaze fell back on the lonely cup of noodles. Her frown deepened.
Looking at the opened but still un-watered cup of noodles in Lin Yizhou’s hand, her sense of discipline couldn’t comprehend this kind of “self-torture” breakfast.
She sighed, as if resigning herself to fate, and pulled two plump, white meat buns from her bag. Without giving him a chance to refuse, she shoved them into Lin Yizhou’s empty hand.
“Eat less greasy stuff in the morning.”
Lin Yizhou was stunned by Su Ziling’s sudden kindness. Before he could react, she had already walked into the classroom. He looked at the opened cup of noodles in his left hand, then at the two meat buns in his right.
After mulling it over for a long time, he finally shook his head.
‘What am I thinking.’
One of the three great illusions in life was thinking that someone might like you.
He had enough self-awareness about that.
Carrying the noodles and buns, Lin Yizhou went up to the rooftop.
Strangely, even though they were just ordinary meat buns, they tasted exceptionally delicious.
Maybe that was the joy of getting something for free?
Thinking back to Su Ziling’s face, it really was hard to tell their real gender.
If she was a girl, why did Su Xiaomeng keep calling her “Big Brother”?
And also…
Two buns just weren’t enough to stave off hunger.
Lin Yizhou looked at the cup noodles in his hand.
‘Since I already opened it, I might as well eat it quickly.’
Just as he was about to go get hot water, his phone rang again.
It was a message from Fan Zhicheng.
“Boss! Critical situation! 999!”
Seeing the message and the location Fan sent, Lin Yizhou’s heart skipped a beat.
Usually, sending something like that meant he was in serious trouble.
Could Fan Zhicheng have been caught by a magical girl?
With that thought, Lin Yizhou didn’t hesitate and rushed toward the location.
When he arrived, however, he fell completely silent.
Looking at the hand reaching out from the gap under the bathroom stall, he was speechless.
“Boss… lend me some toilet paper.”
Lin Yizhou patted his pockets. Empty.
Then he looked at the fork for eating noodles in his hand.
“Here you go.”
He shoved the fork into the outstretched hand.