“Oh~ Just as I expected! You actually managed to land a Rich Woman!”
Chen Tang looked at the RTX 5090 sitting at home, her eyes lighting up. “Did the Rich Woman just buy you a whole setup?”
Liu Yan felt rather speechless. “That would really make me a kept man.”
“Man up! What’s wrong with being a kept man? Others want to be one—ask them if they have the qualifications! Bai Mengling isn’t the type to accept just anyone’s confession. You’re being a little too smug, you know!”
Chen Tang immediately moved to unbox it. “I’m going to install this on my computer right now.”
“Bastard!”
Liu Yan snatched it away. “This is a gift for me!”
“Ooh~ ‘A gift for me’~ Oh, how sweet~ So, tell me, if it weren’t for your bro’s suggestion, could you have gone on a date with a beauty of that caliber? Old Liu! Don’t you think you owe your bro something?”
She made a hand-rubbing gesture. “Doesn’t this mean you gotta take your bro out for a nice meal?”
“Fine. Let’s have some barbecue, how about that?”
“Barbecue sounds great!”
Chen Tang wasn’t about to feel sorry for Liu Yan when it came to this kind of thing.
So the two of them got on their bikes and headed out together.
On the way, Liu Yan said, “I’m thinking about buying an electric scooter. A bicycle doesn’t seem as convenient.”
“Oh~ an electric scooter? Just buy one, then. You can give me a ride too.”
“Yeah, it’d make getting around easier. And there’s more space for groceries and stuff.”
“Tomorrow’s Sunday anyway, so we can go take a look together.” This was all small stuff.
They soon arrived at the barbecue place.
Barbecue was actually pretty expensive—at least for college students. If you calculated the per-person cost, it was definitely a bit pricier than hotpot or the like.
Of course, they weren’t drinking, so that saved some money.
Not that either of them was exactly poor.
For something like buying an electric scooter, their families would give them the money as long as they asked.
“Honestly, Chen Tang, I can’t quite wrap my head around it. I don’t get why Bai Mengling accepted my confession. She did explain—she said it was because I have you around, and because I’m Xia You’s ex-boyfriend, which in the girls’ circle counts as high-quality material… but I don’t really buy that reasoning.”
Chen Tang wanted to say it was obviously the “Hand of Fate.”
But if she said that, Liu Yan wouldn’t take it seriously—he’d just think she was joking. There was no point in bringing it up.
“Ah, why worry about stuff like that? You don’t have anything worth Miss Bai coveting. Just be happy you’re dating her! Either way, you’re winning. As they say, ‘The barefoot aren’t afraid of the shod.’ Are you scared she’s going to eat you alive?”
Liu Yan thought it over and found some sense in that. “You’re right. I just feel a bit guilty about it.”
“What, you think you’re not good enough?”
“…Maybe a little.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘not good enough.’ To put it bluntly, is the Bai Clan’s existence even legitimate? They only rose up in the last twenty or thirty years—maybe in a few more decades, the whole family will be taken out and shot. Who knows when their tower will rise or when it will fall? They’re nothing special.”
Chen Tang looked utterly unimpressed by the Bai Clan. “If you ask me, just enjoy your relationship. If she gives you perks, take them. If she gives you money, take it. When she gets tired of you, she’ll tell you to get lost. Since you think you’re not good enough, why feel too invested? It’s not like you’re aiming for marriage. Miss Bai chose you—you don’t have to take any responsibility.”
That was typical Chen Tang thinking.
Liu Yan wanted to argue, but as Chen Tang said, in this relationship with Bai Mengling, maybe her mindset was the correct one.
“Speaking of which, Bai Mengling said there’s a debate competition next Saturday. She invited me to come watch and cheer her on. Do you want to come? She said it’s open to the public and anyone can watch, but a lot of people aren’t interested in debates, so there won’t be a big crowd—”
“Hell yeah!”
Chen Tang was already aware of this. She was curious to see what Liu Yan would do this time. “Don’t you know I love watching people argue? Debates are the essence of arguing!”
“…Alright. We’ll go together then.”
Chen Tang grinned wickedly. “If I go watch with you, Miss Bai won’t get jealous, will she?”
“Probably not. She mentioned you today, and she didn’t seem jealous about us. After all, our relationship isn’t a romantic one.”
Chen Tang munched on a skewer. “Good, as long as she doesn’t get jealous.”
“I heard the prize for this debate is two thousand, and Bai Mengling plans to privately sponsor another ten thousand. If they win, it’ll go toward the Student Union’s activity fund—that way she avoids just handing money directly to the union. She said business is business, and personal is personal.”
“Tsk tsk, what else would you expect from a young lady? She really knows how to handle things.”
Chen Tang suddenly remembered something. “I went out shopping today and happened to run into Xia You and her new boyfriend. Some guy tried to hit on her, and her new boyfriend got into a fight with him. Xia You took the guy to the hospital.”
She looked at Liu Yan with curiosity. “When you were dating Xia You, did stuff like that happen too? How did you handle it?”
“I kind of agree with what her new boyfriend did,” Liu Yan admitted honestly. “A lot of people online always say never fight back—that fighting back counts as mutual assault and you’ll both get locked up for ten days. They say the safest, most proper way is to handle it rationally. Logically speaking, that’s true. But humans aren’t that rational. Besides, so what if you get locked up? It’s not like your whole life is ruined. If someone did that to me, I wouldn’t hold back. Even if I couldn’t win, I’d still throw a punch first.”
“Man~”
Chen Tang gave him a thumbs-up. “So if someone hits on me—like you know, I’m a pretty girl now, but I’m not your girlfriend—if someone hits on me, what would you do?”
As she spoke, she glanced to the side.
Two men were walking toward their table.
Clearly, she had noticed them earlier.
She brought up the topic because she could tell they intended to hit on them.
“Don’t you think it’s ridiculous, Chen Tang? Here we are, two people eating together—even though we’re not in a relationship, normally anyone would assume I’m with you and you’re taken. Yet they still come over to hit on you. Isn’t that a bit disrespectful to me?”
“Isn’t that just male pride? I think Bai Mengling had the same idea when she agreed to date you.”
Round and round, Chen Tang answered Liu Yan’s original question.
“I see. When you put it that way, I kind of understand why Bai Mengling accepted my confession. That competitive spirit…”
He stood up and grabbed the glass bottle of soda in his hand.
The two men had just stopped in front of their table.
Liu Yan slammed the bottle against the table’s edge.
Glass shards flew everywhere.
Chen Tang had already dodged out of the way, and the two men quickly stepped back.
Liu Yan held the broken bottle with its jagged edges and stared at them.
“Is there something you need?”
“…No.”
What freshmen were these?
Anyone with street experience knew that students were the most troublesome—they had no sense of restraint and could get carried away with adrenaline, potentially killing someone. Seasoned thugs, even when stabbing someone, would hold the blade with their hand over the back, leaving only a centimeter or two exposed, so even after dozens of stabs, the victim wouldn’t die.
But young hotheads? If their blood was up, they’d take a knife several dozen centimeters long and try to stab you clean through!
And this guy immediately pulled a weapon… Better not mess with a rookie!
The two men backed off.
Only then did Liu Yan look at the shop owner. “Sorry, boss. My hand slipped and I broke the bottle. Could you clean it up?”
The owner came over to tidy up.
“Wow~ Brother Liu Yan, that was so cool~”
Chen Tang said in a syrupy voice. “You were so domineering just now! Were you really ready to fight them?”
Liu Yan spread his hands. “How could I? If it came to that, I would’ve grabbed you and run. You already moved to where you could escape, right? I was risking a conflict for you.”
“Ah~ If I hadn’t become this, I would’ve fought alongside you, bro! But now I’m just a delicate pretty girl. You expect me to throw a drunk’s flailing punch? That’d just be giving them a freebie!”
“…You kind of have a point.”
They sat back down.
Of course, they drew some strange looks.
But neither of them cared much.
“Anyway, it looks like Xia You is getting along well with her new boyfriend. Did stuff like this ever happen when you were dating her?”
“Things like that are pretty rare. And even if someone hits on you, nowadays people generally don’t get too pushy—you know, in this day and age, if you report them for sexual harassment, they can’t handle the consequences.”
“Then why did you react so violently just now?”
“…Maybe I haven’t completely let go yet. I just felt angry.”
Sigh!
Chen Tang patted Liu Yan on the shoulder. But the fact that he was willing to say it was a good sign—it proved he was indeed moving on from Xia You, and those feelings were starting to flow through him.
Liu Yan had thought he didn’t care about Xia You at all, but hearing that she was getting close to her new boyfriend made a bitter feeling rise up inside him.
“Isn’t this a little selfish of me?”
“See, that’s the wrong way to think. I get you. We’re both men—what’s there to understand? Say I had an ex-girlfriend, and she dumped me. The only thing I’d hope for is to check her Moments every day and see how she’s doing. If she’s doing badly, I’m satisfied. On the other hand, if she finds someone good for her and tells her new boyfriend how great things are, doesn’t that just prove I was the one who messed up and got dumped? How could anyone accept that? Of course you’d feel bitter. That’s completely normal. Breaking up doesn’t mean it never happened.”
“You’re right!”
Liu Yan clutched his head. “If she’s happy, that makes me miserable! But thinking like that feels so dark! Normally, shouldn’t we wish each other a better and happier life?”
“My suggestion is that you go to Sichuan Province right now. There’s a big Buddha statue there. Have it get up so you can sit down. You’re a turtle ranking behind a dog.”
“Your aggression is a little strong, don’t you think?”
Chen Tang sneered.
“Isn’t that what you asked for? Who’s the one who dated for a whole semester and only held hands? My god! You don’t think that’s a big deal, do you? Didn’t even kiss, didn’t do anything else… If you’re not a turtle, what are you?”
She grabbed Liu Yan’s hand directly. “Look at me now—I’m a pretty girl. Holding hands with me—what’s so special about that? Do you think this is a big step?”
“…Not really.”
Chen Tang changed the grip, interlocking their fingers. “What about this? Do you think this is a big step?”
Liu Yan’s face started to redden.
“—I can’t believe you! God! It’s me you’re holding hands with! Isn’t interlocking fingers just that? What’s so heart-pounding about this?”
Chen Tang was shocked. “Unbelievable?”
Liu Yan said awkwardly, “No, I know it’s you. But do you realize how small and delicate your hands are now? How soft your skin is?”
“…Huh?”
As he spoke, she finally focused on the feeling of their clasped hands.
Wow, his hand is so big!
Totally different from before!
This guy’s hand has this much strength? I’m the one holding him… but it feels impossible to break free. And his hand is rougher than I thought… No, it’s that my hand is too delicate now. I can feel every line on his palm…
Her own face flushed slightly.
“See? That’s what I mean.”
Chen Tang pulled her hand back.
“Fine, I admit it. Interlocking fingers is way more suggestive than I thought. Yeah, that’s a pretty big step.”
She acknowledged Liu Yan’s point. “But regardless, you didn’t get any, right?”
“…Correct.”
“Then you’re a pure turtle! You should get up and ride! Ride it until it breaks, then kick it aside and swap for another one!” Chen Tang gave a rather shameless suggestion. “Ride until she becomes your shape. Do you think she’d abandon you over some so-called ‘Destiny’s Child’? You’re too polite and too nice to her—that’s why she keeps pushing! Why she doesn’t take you seriously! And besides…
When it comes down to it, she does care. If she really didn’t care, she wouldn’t have come to find you that day.
Like I said just now, there’s competition between girls. You chose Bai Mengling, so of course she’s not satisfied.
Even though she dumped you, in her imagination, you should be lost and anguished, writhing in pain, even trying to win her back—but you went and found another woman who’s better than her in every way. Isn’t that basically telling her she was just a substitute?
Her pride can’t take that. I dare say she’ll still come looking for you, even if she’s on good terms with her current boyfriend.”