What Jiang Nian had said was completely different from the precise and logical conversations Lu Zhiheng usually encountered.
“Depends on my mood” was the sort of answer whose outcome was impossible to predict.
After hearing it, Lu Zhiheng silently prepared himself for the fact that today’s outing probably wouldn’t count as a date at all.
He had already started thinking about which time slots in this week’s schedule he could free up for future meetings.
While Lu Zhiheng was deep in thought, Jiang Nian suddenly waved a plush doll in front of him.
“Lu Zhiheng, do you think this one is cute?”
Ever since graduating kindergarten, Lu Zhiheng had never touched plush toys again, so naturally he had no real opinion on them.
Still, he followed along with her question.
“…Cute.”
Immediately, Jiang Nian revealed a triumphant smile.
“Alright then, I guess I can only painfully share one with you!”
Before parting ways with Lu Zhiheng today, Jiang Nian had already decided that she needed to make things a little more difficult for the Male Lead and earn herself more disgust points.
The Male Lead clearly looked like the type who resisted cute things like these. Hmph!
Jiang Nian held the hugging plush dolls beside Lu Zhiheng’s face, one on the left and one on the right, while carefully observing him.
Lu Zhiheng’s expressionless appearance resembled the silly little dog plush, but the cat plush on the left had eyes that looked surprisingly similar to his.
—What a difficult decision!
Jiang Nian puffed up her cheeks as though she had fallen into deep contemplation.
The sunlight coated her light brown hair with a soft golden fuzz, and the little stray strand sticking up atop her head became even more obvious.
Suddenly, the man before her raised a hand and took the white cat plush from her grasp.
“I’ll take this one.”
Jiang Nian froze.
She had not even gotten the chance to forcibly stuff the plush into Lu Zhiheng’s hands yet, so why had he taken it himself?
And why did he leave the little dog for her? Was it because she looked like a dog?!
【Male Lead Lu Zhiheng’s disgust value +2. Current total disgust value: 4.】
While Jiang Nian was still confused, System 999’s notification suddenly rang out in her mind.
Someone like the Male Lead, who pursued efficiency, probably hated indecisive people like her. No wonder he had rushed her so quickly—he must have been afraid she would waste his time.
Still, Jiang Nian genuinely liked the little dog plush as well, so she quickly accepted Lu Zhiheng’s “arrangement.”
“Fine, then the kitty belongs to you. Lu Zhiheng, you have to take good care of it. You’re not allowed to throw it away, and you’re not allowed to neglect it!”
Jiang Nian deliberately emphasized fiercely, “Me and, um… Cookie… will be watching you the whole time!”
Naming plush dolls felt like the kind of thing only children would do.
But seriousness shone through Jiang Nian’s gaze, so Lu Zhiheng simply nodded in response.
Jiang Nian casually hung the little dog plush from her handbag, planning to take photos with it once all the desserts arrived.
She could barely remember how long it had been since she last ate sweets.
No matter what happened with the mission, she intended to enjoy these three months to the fullest.
Soon, beautifully presented cakes and drinks filled the table. Jiang Nian could not help humming a little tune as she took out her phone to snap photos.
She stretched out fingers decorated with nude-colored nail polish and made a peace sign beside the cake. Across from her, Lu Zhiheng’s distinct fingers happened to be wrapped around a cup of coffee, while the cat plush rested beside his hand.
At a glance, it was obvious that the cat plush and the little dog plush hanging from Jiang Nian’s pink bag were a matching pair.
Jiang Nian felt very satisfied with her composition and was just about to show Lu Zhiheng the picture when his phone rang.
Lu Zhiheng apologized to Jiang Nian before answering the call. The person on the other end seemed to have something urgent to discuss with him.
Jiang Nian did not listen carefully. She only heard Lu Zhiheng say after hanging up, “Sorry, Jiang Nian, on my side—”
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Nian interrupted him.
“It’s okay. Go handle your business.”
For some reason, Lu Zhiheng suddenly felt that Jiang Nian had become unexpectedly understanding this time they met.
After apologizing once more, he hurriedly left with the plush doll in hand.
The moment Lu Zhiheng turned away, System 999 cried out in Jiang Nian’s mind.
【Niannian, why did you just let the Male Lead leave like that?! That was such a good chance to increase his disgust value!】
Jiang Nian took a bite of cake and lowered her eyes as she replied inwardly:
【What exactly is my current identity? I’m just a shield against admirers who has only met the Male Lead twice. A girlfriend in name only. The Male Lead may need me, but do you really think that even if I stopped him from leaving, he would abandon important matters just to listen to me make a fuss here?】
System 999 hesitated.
【Seems… like he really wouldn’t.】
Jiang Nian shrugged.
【Exactly. So instead of speaking up at a moment like this, I’d rather—】
System 999 waited eagerly for its host’s grand strategy.
Then Jiang Nian chuckled mischievously.
【Beautifully enjoy my cake all by myself!】
After leaving the shop, Lu Zhiheng headed back toward Qing University. The iced Americano in his hand still carried a refreshing chill.
Originally, he had estimated that meeting Jiang Nian would take at most ten minutes.
Yet nearly an hour had already passed.
For some inexplicable reason, he felt slightly guilty.
This contract relationship had been proposed by Jiang Nian in the first place.
According to her, she had an extremely troublesome ex-boyfriend as well as numerous suitors. She did not want to date anyone, but she still needed someone convincing enough to scare those people away.
During this first week of their arrangement, Jiang Nian had not mentioned any progress on her side.
However, he himself had already used the phrase “I have a girlfriend” to reject several people, and it had proven far more effective than all the excuses he previously racked his brain to come up with.
As though possessed, Lu Zhiheng suddenly turned around for another glance.
Jiang Nian was still sitting by the window, lowering her head as she ate her cake. Somehow, her figure seemed tinged with loneliness.
—Probably just an illusion.
This was merely a transaction in which neither of them would invest real feelings.
After adjusting his mindset, Lu Zhiheng headed toward the club activity room.
…
Inside the Computer Club activity room—
Three boys sat around a computer howling in despair.
“What the hell, why did the program bug out again?! Lao Cheng, can you even do this or not? Senior Sister Ran only took one week off, and you still can’t hold things together?”
“Relax! I already called Brother Lu. He said he’ll be here soon!”
“Wait, didn’t Brother Lu say he had plans this afternoon? He finished that fast?”
While Zhuang Yu was still puzzled, the room door suddenly swung open.
After seeing who entered, the tall Li Tianxing standing beside the desk spoke first.
“Brother Lu, did you teleport here or something?!”
The instant Cheng Ze heard that his Brother Lu had arrived, he practically leapt out of his chair.
Then, with exceptionally sharp eyes, he noticed that besides the coffee in Lu Zhiheng’s hand, a cat plush was dangling from the fingers of his other hand, spinning in circles.
“Brother Lu, where’d that cat plush come from?” Cheng Ze asked curiously.
Before Lu Zhiheng could answer, Cheng Ze suddenly seemed to remember something. Excitedly grabbing the shoulders of the two brothers beside him, he shook them wildly while shouting:
“Holy crap! It’s real! Brother Lu really has a girlfriend! This must’ve been given by Brother Lu’s girlfriend!”
Zhuang Yu and Li Tianxing exchanged shocked glances.
The plush definitely did not fit Lu Zhiheng’s style. One look was enough to tell it did not belong to him.
Last week, Lu Zhiheng had casually mentioned something similar. At the time, Cheng Ze had complained about a junior female student pestering him for Brother Lu’s contact information, and Lu Zhiheng had simply told him to say that he already had a girlfriend and that giving out his contact would be inconvenient.
A man as detached from worldly desires as Brother Lu suddenly having a girlfriend?
None of them had believed it. They assumed it was merely an excuse.
After all, besides classes and the library, Lu Zhiheng practically spent all his time with them working on the Guangyin project. None of them had ever seen him grow close to any girl, much less produce any romantic pink bubbles.
Originally, Lu Zhiheng had intended to minimize how often Jiang Nian appeared in his life. Otherwise, this transaction could easily become troublesome for both of them.
But he never expected that after an entire week, none of them actually believed he had a girlfriend.
At that moment, the cat plush dangling from his fingers suddenly felt like a lifesaving straw.
Lu Zhiheng fell silent for two seconds before naturally admitting,
“Mm. She gave it to me.”