Bai Li was in a fantastic mood — better than if he'd made tens of thousands of yuan.
"Not bad, you three. Sharp tongues on all of you." Bai Li smiled at the three girls and gave them a thumbs-up.
"Obviously!" Chen Tingting lifted her chin proudly and went on:
"Trying to show off in front of my brother — does she even know who Chen Tingting is in Ping County? That old hag's face was twisted with rage! Hahaha!"
Li Jiaxin curled her lip, her expression dripping with disdain:
"That foundation of hers was slathered on as thick as plaster. She didn't even dare laugh too loud — afraid it'd crack and crumble."
"Brother, looks like you never had good taste back then."
That remark made Bai Li instinctively rub his nose.
Back then he'd still been in school — young and naive. Who could've known that woman would turn out like that?
"Brother must have put up with a lot when he was with her, right?" Lin Xiaoshuang puffed up her cheeks indignantly and continued:
"Good thing you broke up. A woman like that doesn't deserve you."
Listening to them defend him, Bai Li felt a warm glow spread through his chest.
This was what wild girls were all about — clear-cut in their loves and hates. Once they decided you were one of their own, they'd have your back unconditionally, no questions asked.
Before, Bai Li had only seen them as tools for generating cashback, NPCs for farming money.
But after spending these past few days with them, he'd seen their genuine, unguarded side.
Watching them charge forward like fierce little tigers to defend him, Bai Li's perspective shifted.
He wanted to make money, sure — but he was still human, and the human heart is made of flesh.
"Alright, let's not talk about them anymore. Bad vibes." Bai Li glanced at his phone and did a double take:
"Whoa, it's already past two in the afternoon? We haven't had lunch yet — aren't you hungry?"
From morning until now, they'd had nothing but a bowl of tofu pudding, a few bites of fried dough sticks, and then it was shopping, bubble tea, and trading insults — not exactly a light day on the body.
To his surprise, all three girls shook their heads in unison.
"Not really." Chen Tingting patted her stomach. "Didn't we have tofu pudding this morning? That bowl was plenty filling."
"Same here — I had a whole cup of bubble tea too, packed with tapioca pearls. I'm stuffed." Lin Xiaoshuang chimed in.
Bai Li looked at their slender waists and thin arms, and a feeling he couldn't quite name welled up inside him.
He'd always wondered why these wild girls were all skinny as bamboo poles.
Now he understood. They'd been starved into it.
When you're broke, a bowl of noodles worth a few yuan can carry you through the whole day. When you're thirsty, you buy a cup of cheap lemon-flavored drink mix. And you walk tens of thousands of steps every day just wandering the streets — of course you'd be thin.
Their so-called "ability to go without food" was nothing more than a survival skill beaten into them by years of poverty.
"Stop arguing. I said we're eating, so we're eating." Bai Li stood up, his tone brooking no disagreement. "Come on, I'm taking you somewhere good."
Today's cashback quota was already used up, but he was happy to treat them out of his own pocket.
They were practically his crew at this point — what else was there to say?
"Huh? Eating again?" Chen Tingting hesitated. "Brother, let's not waste money. A couple of flatbreads would do just fine..."
"Quiet. Follow me."
Bai Li flagged down a taxi and bundled them all inside.
Twenty minutes later, the four of them were seated at an open-air barbecue stall.
Not many people came for lunch at this hour, and the owner was leisurely skewering meat in the lull.
"Grab whatever you want." Bai Li gestured toward the display cooler.
The three girls shuffled over hesitantly. Chen Tingting picked up a skewer of chives, Li Jiaxin grabbed a few potato slices, and Lin Xiaoshuang took two fish tofu skewers.
All vegetables. Together they probably didn't add up to twenty yuan.
Bai Li's brow furrowed.
He walked over, took the basket from their hands, and waved grandly:
"Boss! Thirty lamb skewers! Thirty beef skewers! Two dozen grilled oysters! Two chicken wings each! And this, and that — throw it all on the grill!"
"And two pitchers of draft beer!"
"Brother! That's way too much! We can't finish all that!" Lin Xiaoshuang tugged frantically at his sleeve.
"Whatever we can't finish, we box up. Who told you to be so stingy?" Bai Li shot her a look and pushed her back into her seat.
Soon, the fragrant smoke of charcoal drifted through the air, mingling with the sizzling sound of meat on the grill.
When a heaping plate of lamb skewers, still glistening with fat, was set on the table, all three girls swallowed at exactly the same moment.
"Eat up!" Bai Li grabbed a skewer and pressed it into Chen Tingting's hand, then passed some to the other two.
One bite in — savory, juicy, the fat melting across their tongues.
The three girls' eyes lit up instantly. Any pretense of restraint vanished as they dug in with gusto.
A few cups of beer later, the atmosphere grew even livelier.
Wild girls were bold by nature, and alcohol only loosened them up further.
Chen Tingting propped one foot up on the stool and challenged Bai Li to a finger-guessing game, downing her cup without hesitation every time she lost.
"Brother! I'm telling you, you're my real big brother from now on!" Chen Tingting's cheeks were flushed red, her words a little slurred:
"From now on, in Ping County — anyone who messes with you, I'll chop them up!"
"Me too!" Lin Xiaoshuang was a little dizzy from the drink, and had draped herself over Bai Li like a koala, her soft body pressed against his arm. "Brother… you smell really nice…"
Li Jiaxin said nothing, but quietly and steadily peeled shrimp for Bai Li, her gaze so gentle it could melt.
The meal stretched all the way to dusk. Four empty beer pitchers and a table full of bamboo skewers bore witness to their collective appetite.
When the bill came, Bai Li paid over four hundred yuan. No System cashback notification — but he felt every cent was worth it.
Back at the inn, the three girls were stumbling all over the place from the drink.
The room was filled with a faint haze of alcohol and the soft scent of the girls.
"Hot… so hot…" Chen Tingting peeled off her hoodie, leaving only a thin spaghetti-strap top, her fair skin almost dazzling.
Half-dazed, she burrowed toward Bai Li's chest, murmuring softly to herself.
Lin Xiaoshuang was even more direct — she wrapped her arms around Bai Li's leg and used it as a body pillow, nuzzling against it and mumbling:
"Brother… I want to sleep with you…"
Bai Li felt like the monk Tang Sanzang stumbling into the Spider Demon's cave. The energy the System's rewards had built up inside him was running riot, leaving his mouth dry and his throat tight.
It took every ounce of willpower he had to finally get these three troublemakers settled into bed and tucked under their blankets.
Looking at their unguarded, sleeping faces, Bai Li let out a long sigh.
"Just you wait… once your Affection Value hits 60, I'm absolutely giving you a lesson!"