Chapter 12: As Powerless As Ip Man Fighting WWII Barehanded

“I really don’t get it. These guys with ulterior motives always follow the same routine—eat, then go for milk tea. Don’t they worry about getting diabetes from all that sugar?”

Gou Yu noticed that Zhu Niao swallowed a mouthful of saliva as she said this.

“Why do I feel like you’re the one who wants the milk tea?”

“Don’t slander me. I’m just pointing out what these shady guys are up to. Next, it’s drinking milk tea, then watching a movie, and then booking a hotel room.”

Zhu Niao pointed toward Yang Shuli and Xu Nian standing in front of the milk tea shop.

“Didn’t they say the plan for tonight was an all-nighter at the internet café?” Gou Yu asked, sipping from one of the drinks he had snuck out from the buffet in his mouth.

And it wasn’t just one bottle.

The little suitcase Zhu Niao had originally packed with clothes had been repurposed by the two of them to smuggle drinks.

So, when these two went to a buffet, it was impossible for them to walk out at a loss—even if Zhu Niao had a smaller appetite now due to becoming a girl.

“You don’t exactly have a shortage of ‘internet café’ videos in your browsing history.”

“I think you’re being a little too pessimistic about people. What if that guy’s really just having a regular meal with your dorm leader like they used to?”

“Old Dog…” Zhu Niao narrowed her eyes at her best bro suspiciously.

“Why are you suddenly taking his side?”

“Uh…” Gou Yu scratched the back of his head and didn’t say another word.

He just kept looking at the guy currently one-on-one with the dorm leader, feeling an odd sense of brotherhood.

But his words had stirred something in Zhu Niao.

“Second, do you guys know who the dorm leader’s romantic mission target is?”

Liu Xie paused and asked back, “Are you saying… you suspect that guy is the dorm leader’s mission target?”

She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment.

“I don’t think that’s likely. We don’t know each other’s targets. That goddess made all her calls privately, so we couldn’t hear anyone else’s instructions. But I really don’t think it’s that guy.”

“Why not?” Zhu Niao raised a brow at how certain Liu Xie sounded.

“Because if someone was chosen as a romantic mission target, wouldn’t they at least remember what the dorm leader looked like before she became a girl?”

Liu Xie pointed at the two not far away.

“Look at him. Does he look like someone who remembers what the dorm leader used to look like?”

Zhu Niao nodded.

That was true.

If he did remember the dorm leader’s previous appearance, there’s no way he’d invite her out like this with such ease—and more importantly, there should’ve been some sign of awkwardness or hesitation by now.

She didn’t know what kind of fake memories that unreliable rookie goddess had implanted in that guy’s head, but so far, the whole interaction seemed to just be two food-obsessed goofballs hanging out.

And even now, he hadn’t made any physical contact with the dorm leader.

Could it be… they had misjudged him?

Maybe his relationship with the dorm leader was really just about eating together?

That had to be it. Otherwise, hiding knowledge of the past while approaching the dorm leader like he was clueless would be far too…

Zhu Niao frowned and glanced at Liu Xie and Ye Qingchang.

Clearly, the grave expressions on their faces meant they were thinking the same thing.

At last, her gaze turned toward Gou Yu.

Why did it feel like… something was missing?

“What were you guys talking about just now? Some kind of ‘mission’?”

Gou Yu reacted quickly—before Zhu Niao even looked his way, he realized this was something he shouldn’t know about.

Zhu Niao raised a finger to her pink lips and whispered, “There are some things that, once known, could bring disaster.”

That only made Gou Yu more determined not to reveal that he knew anything about the so-called love mission.

“For now, nothing’s certain yet. Don’t forget there’s still the internet café overnight session—we can’t let our guard down.”

The group’s eyes once again turned in unison toward the milk tea shop entrance across the street.

*****

“So, what’s the plan for later?” Yang Shuli asked while they waited for the drinks.

Of course, her gaze wasn’t even on Xu Nian—instead, it was locked onto the milk tea shop’s menu, imagining the taste of each new flavor.

“Aren’t we going to the internet café?”

“Uh… do we have to?” Yang Shuli shrank back a little.

Xu Nian’s fingers paused on his phone screen.

“Not necessarily. If you’re busy, we can leave it for next time—but you’re paying then.”

Yang Shuli let out a quiet sigh of relief.

To her, pulling an all-nighter at an internet café was something only very, very close friends would do together.

Like the Xu Nian from before she turned into a girl.

Like her current dorm mates.

But the current Xu Nian wasn’t the same—he only knew the version of her created by the rookie goddess’s implanted memories, not her as she truly was.

She didn’t know why she was getting caught up in such a tiny, illogical detail… but it just made her feel weirdly uncomfortable.

If it’s this version of Xu Nian, then maybe… she needed some time to get to know him again.

Soon, the two of them picked up their milk teas.

“Wait, we ordered five—take the other three too,” Xu Nian stopped Yang Shuli just as she was about to leave.

“Then I’ll be going to the bathroom all night.”

“They’re for your dormmates.”

Xu Nian smiled, slightly exasperated.

“Those girls? You think they know how to savor milk tea?”

Yang Shuli pouted, but still obediently stood in place waiting for the other three drinks to be ready.

The two of them said nothing during the wait, silently sharing a kind of tacit stillness.

Then, a short video Yang Shuli was watching gave her a serious expression.

Without thinking, she forwarded it to Xu Nian.

[“If you make me move poop again during the apocalypse, I’ll be the first one to strangle you.”]

Xu Nian sighed and grabbed the remaining three drinks, stuffing them all into Yang Shuli’s hands.

“So heavy…”

“Someone will help you carry them.”

With that, Xu Nian took a step back.

“See you next time.”

“Oh—oh, goodbye.”

Yang Shuli turned around in a daze, walking step by step away from the shop entrance where they had just stood together.

Xu Nian also turned, lowering his head to unlock his phone screen.

He lingered on the chat window with Yang Shuli.

“So cute.”

Compared to his old foodie bro from before…

Of course he remembered—he remembered it all, clearly.

*****

Elsewhere, Yang Shuli soon realized that Xu Nian had been right—she hadn’t walked far before her dormmates somehow appeared from who-knows-where to help her with the load she was struggling to carry.

They even very naturally split the drinks—one cup each.

“Second Bro,” Zhu Niao said, sipping her milk tea, “I think that guy’s fine.”

“I think so too,” Ye Qingchang added, her previously furrowed brow finally relaxing now that Yang Shuli had returned safely.

As far as they could tell, the fake memories planted by that unreliable goddess meant the dorm leader and that guy really were just… two foodies, nothing more.

“Hmm…” Liu Xie gave their tiny dorm leader a pat on the head.

“Approved. You can play with that boy however you like now.”

“What the hell is wrong with you people?”

Yang Shuli looked completely baffled.

Only now did she notice—she’d brought back five drinks.

She’d accidentally taken Xu Nian’s milk tea too.

“No problem. Just consider it a gift for your father-in-law,” Zhu Niao said as she casually snatched the extra cup and shoved it into Gou Yu’s hands—then gave a cheeky wink.

Just then, Zhu Niao’s phone rang.

“Hold on.” She passed the half-finished milk tea to Gou Yu and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[‘Little Zhu, dear—two days of skipping work without even a heads-up? I thought something happened to you!’]

The voice on the line was familiar—both Zhu Niao and Gou Yu recognized it.

Gou Yu frowned.

That girl?

No, impossible—she was still in school, wasn’t she?

Zhu Niao, meanwhile, suddenly remembered what she’d forgotten.

“Holy crap! I passed that interview!”

“What interview?” Ye Qingchang asked, holding Yang Shuli back with one hand as she tried to snatch a cup of milk tea.

“The cashier job I interviewed for before all this weird stuff happened—I totally forgot! What if the manager fires me?”

“Just tell her you got hit by a car two days ago and spent these two days resurrecting,” Liu Xie suggested helpfully.

“That’s only slightly more believable than saying I went off to fight in WWII.”