As everyone knows, for an introverted person, being the focus of so many eyes is far from pleasant.
Beep~
After the notification sound confirmed a successful friend request on Tengxin,
although the table was laid out with nearly ten lavish dishes—trophies that Lin Xue had won by shutting down Li Jian—the sight was enough to make anyone salivate, and it was undeniably satisfying.
But considering the occasional stinging glances aimed in his direction from the cafeteria, and the fact that Lin Xue, the third-year campus belle, kept mischievously teasing him with some playful, intimate gestures,
“I’m full.”
Having eaten only half a bowl of rice and wrapped up all matters, Su Qi stood up from his seat, gathered the dishes neatly for the cleaning staff, and quickly left the cafeteria.
Lin Xue watched Su Qi scurry away like a frightened little white rabbit facing its natural enemy.
Without taking a single bite of the food, she rose slowly, her steps light and graceful as she moved to the cafeteria door. Elegantly, she pulled a black parasol from her bag.
She gently opened it and held it above her head, shielding herself from the blazing sunlight outside.
Staring at Su Qi’s hasty retreating figure, Lin Xue’s lips curved into a pleased smile.
Her pink tongue unconsciously licked the corner of her mouth like a hunter spotting prey, while her apricot-colored eyes gleamed with anticipation as she muttered to herself,
“Tomorrow… I’m really looking forward to it!”
Unaware of Lin Xue’s little antics after he left, Su Qi was only aware that on his way back to class, more people than usual were paying attention to him.
He couldn’t help but sigh and think, as the old saying goes, beauty truly is a curse.
He’d only had a meal with campus belle Lin Xue, and yet it had sparked an extraordinary amount of attention.
If they ever became a couple…
The mere thought sent a chill down the spine of Su Qi, usually a background figure in the class.
He had a strong feeling that he’d be resented by countless guys then.
At the same time, a mental image involuntarily surfaced in Su Qi’s mind.
As a boy, he was being cornered against the wall in a “kabedon” by Lin Xue’s long leg.
She was strong…
No, wait… what was he thinking?
There was no way he could be so close to Lin Xue.
They were just partners.
Clearly, now that he’d been caught with this leverage, the pressure was getting to him, making his thoughts stray.
And why was he the one getting bullied!!!
He must not have slept well last night. He needed to rest properly today.
Lost in these strange fantasies, Su Qi unknowingly arrived back at Class 28, Senior High Year Two—the very last in the ranking.
No sooner had he entered the classroom than several classmates, mostly unfamiliar to him, crowded around.
“Su Qi, you’re neighbors with campus belle Lin Xue? Where exactly do you live?”
“What kind of favor did you help Lin Xue with? Can you share?”
“Hey, I had a bad feeling about that Li Jian guy this morning.”
…
Hearing all these questions, some from classmates who had just eaten with Li Jian in the cafeteria, Su Qi didn’t know how to respond.
In fact, until last night, he and Lin Xue had been nothing more than senior and junior classmates.
Laughing awkwardly, he fended off the inquiries of a few unfamiliar classmates.
Just as he was about to return to his seat, he sensed a resentful gaze upon him.
Ding (•_•)~~~~
Following the feeling, Su Qi soon spotted the source of the glare—none other than his good buddy, Mo Yu.
Mo Yu was dressed in the black-and-white school uniform.
At this moment, he was lying face-down on his desk, yet his delicate, almost feminine face showed no trace of drowsiness.
His cheeks puffed up like an angry cat’s, and his bright eyes stared wide open with an unmistakable air of grievance.
Seeing Mo Yu like this, Su Qi inexplicably felt as if he were caught sneaking off to see another woman behind his wife’s back.
Before Su Qi could think of a way to explain or come up with an excuse to clarify Lin Xue’s status as an idol to his good friend,
he heard a sulky, slightly childish nasal voice whisper,
“A’Qi, you said you were busy at noon, but was it really a date with campus belle Lin Xue? That’s why you didn’t bring me along.”
As Mo Yu spoke, he didn’t even look at Su Qi but instead turned his head to stare out the window.
It was the kind of childish sulk that said, “If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation today, I won’t talk to you.”
Logically, such sulking from a boy is a bit nauseating.
But seeing it coming from Mo Yu, through Su Qi’s eyes, it was surprisingly reasonable and even somewhat… cute?
Something was off—he was off!
Although Mo Yu was a boy with a delicate appearance, feelings like “heartthrob” were… what was he thinking?
Tonight, he had to sleep well.
Shaking his head, Su Qi banished the strange thoughts again.
Considering he’d already told Mo Yu a lie about writing a novel, perhaps because of past experience, this time, Su Qi felt less awkward.
He quickly fabricated a second lie—that he and Lin Xue were neighbors.
What surprised Su Qi was that Mo Yu, who idolized Lin Xue, seemed less passionate than expected about the information.
Instead of focusing on Lin Xue, Mo Yu worried more about whether Su Qi had been bullied in the cafeteria at noon.
Good friends are truly good friends.
After patting Mo Yu’s soft shoulder,
Su Qi, feeling a bit guilty and emotionally overwhelmed due to last night’s poor sleep and today’s unusual events, laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes.
But he didn’t fall asleep immediately.
Instead, he looked at his current ability interface.
Su Qi’s Su Wife Ability was at LV1, with only three skills: Su Wife’s Sweetness, Su Wife’s Bento, and Su Wife’s Battle Attire.
The middle skill, Su Wife’s Bento, was straightforward and didn’t warrant much attention for now.
His main focus was on the first and third skills.
During his conversation with Lin Xue earlier in the cafeteria, Su Qi learned that the Saint Ruins Exploration Group was fraught with dangers, and the team wouldn’t tolerate dead weight—everyone had to have a role.
Carefully reviewing the skills, Su Qi realized that while making the Su Wife’s Bento was useful for logistics, exploration demanded other abilities.
To officially join the well-known Cangyou Wildcat Team, he needed two characteristics:
First, something that provided a positive effect during Saint Ruins exploration.
For this, Su Wife’s Sweetness might have a special effect.
Su Wife’s Sweetness (Passive): As a Su Wife, upon successfully transforming by donning female attire, your charm and appearance increase significantly. Both outwardly and inwardly, you emit a subtle, pleasant fragrance. (Notably, this skill may trigger certain special events.)
The parentheses were clear on this point.
Moreover, when selling bento every Sunday to earn money, Su Qi noticed that after transforming into Su Wife, not only did his increased appearance attract humans, but even stray cats and dogs would become affectionate toward him, raising their favorability.
If small animals reacted like this, might he also attract some of the spiritual beasts born of aura?
The second ability required for Saint Ruins exploration was self-defense.
Because, in some ways, the Saint Ruins resembled a dungeon in a game.
Though the team would have scouts, sudden situations often arose—attacks from aura-born animals or spiritual beast monsters camouflaged as trees.
In such moments, quick reflexes and self-protection were essential.
Thinking about this, Su Qi frowned slightly with his eyes closed.
Not because he lacked options.
In fact, the Su Wife’s Battle Attire skill allowed him to enhance his abilities by changing clothes.
However, Su Qi’s headache was that ever since activating his ability, he had only secretly worn a single outfit—his sister’s, taken before she fell unconscious.
To make matters worse, that outfit didn’t boost “strength, agility, or constitution.”
Now, if he was to explore the Saint Ruins tomorrow, that meant he had to prepare fully tonight.
One crucial task was to find a set of clothes that could significantly enhance his attributes.
Undoubtedly, that meant trying on various female outfits to find the one that suited him best.
Just thinking about wearing all kinds of girlish clothes filled Su Qi’s heart with an indescribable sense of shame…
Ugh…
He felt as if something was slowly slipping away…
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