“Call the waiter over and order another portion yourself,” Chu Lingyu said slowly after a two-second pause.
Wen Qian fell into thought.
Even if another dish was brought over, she couldn’t eat it, couldn’t even pick it up into her own bowl—she still had to rely on Chu Lingyu.
“If I order another one, can you help me put it into my bowl?” She extended her index finger and gently tapped her noodle bowl.
Chu Lingyu’s eyelid twitched. No matter what, she wanted him to use the chopsticks?
He looked up at Wen Qian. The girl was resting her arm on the table, as if boneless, supporting her face with her wrist, staring intently at the steak before him. Her expression was somewhat pitiful.
A strange feeling suddenly arose in Chu Lingyu’s heart. He tilted his head and pushed the plate toward her.
“Here.”
When it came to pushing boundaries, Wen Qian was a natural.
She didn’t move, still staring at Chu Lingyu.
His eyes flickered, and he deliberately looked away without a word. His kindness only went so far.
Chu Lingyu, who thought his attitude was firm, and patient little Wen Qian fell into a stalemate. An awkward silence drifted in the small space.
The difference was that Wen Qian had quietly reached out and grabbed the wrist of the boy sitting at the table, while Chu Lingyu, still tilting his head, was completely unaware.
There was no movement on the table. Chu Lingyu’s eyes twitched, wanting to look again but deliberately stopped himself.
The cool touch on his wrist made his muscles tense instantly. Forgetting his small stubbornness, he looked up.
“What are you doing!” His tone was cold and forceful, but no one took it seriously.
Wen Qian nodded solemnly: “Don’t worry, I’ll be quick, I won’t trouble you long.”
With the seriousness of controlling a puppet, she tried to use Chu Lingyu’s hand to put some beef into her bowl.
Chu Lingyu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, “Let go, I’ll do it myself.”
Although she didn’t use much force, he felt a tingling in his wrist and subconsciously tried to distract himself.
The boy wore a displeased face but carefully cut the steak into bite-sized pieces.
When he lifted the fork, he hesitated slightly and nonchalantly placed the beef into her bowl.
“All done. You eat the rest yourself!”
Seeing the noodle bowl’s status change instantly from locked to unlocked, Wen Qian’s eyes lit up. She quickly grabbed the bowl.
Only the boy remained, holding the next piece of steak on his fork, frozen in place.
Seeing Wen Qian’s full attention on the bowl without another glance at him, and then looking at the steak he had cut, Chu Lingyu’s fingers gripping the knife and fork tightened.
His throat moved as he looked at Wen Qian with a murderous gaze: “…Are you messing with me?”
Wen Qian, still chewing: “Hmm?”
Why did he suddenly get angry again?
Looking at the displeased boy, she lowered her head and thoughtfully pushed her noodle bowl forward.
“Then I’ll share a bite with you… just one bite!”
Chu Lingyu: …
He almost laughed in anger.
Jiang Zhi glanced at the mechanical watch on his wrist, casually looked up, and entered a street-side restaurant.
The owner of the noodle shop still hadn’t opened the door; it seemed only the first time he went there was business as usual. Other times, the owner just didn’t open.
Prepared to use that decent noodle shop as his canteen, Jiang Zhi had no choice but to find another place for lunch.
Walking into the restaurant, a smiling waiter approached, and Jiang Zhi followed behind with a calm expression.
The restaurant was simply decorated, not many customers seated, and the hall felt somewhat empty.
The familiar silhouette in the corner made him pause and frown.
Why was Chu Lingyu here?
Jiang Zhi’s brow furrowed. If he ran into him, this meal wouldn’t be peaceful.
He stopped and didn’t go further inside, choosing a secluded booth with a limited view.
He picked a few dishes from the menu and unconsciously fiddled with the metal ring on his finger while waiting for the food.
When his gaze fell on the girl sitting opposite Chu Lingyu, his eyes flickered.
Was it her?
The scene from the noodle shop had left a deep impression, but since then, the shop only opened at night, and he hadn’t seen her again.
Did she know Chu Lingyu?
The girl grabbed Chu Lingyu’s wrist, and Jiang Zhi saw him cutting steak for her.
He withdrew his gaze nonchalantly, snickering, realizing she was Chu Lingyu’s girlfriend.
Wen Qian felt her relationship with Chu Lingyu had gone beyond ordinary; such a helpful NPC who had done so much for her was rare.
She couldn’t let this go!
“Would you like to be friends with me?” The player earnestly asked, trying to add him to her friend list.
Chu Lingyu, unexpectedly caught off guard by the question before parting ways, instinctively thought of the love letter she had given him when they first met.
“Want to start as friends?” He stood lazily at the store entrance. “Don’t get your hopes up—I won’t agree.”
[Your friend request has been rejected.]
Wen Qian’s face immediately fell. Ignoring others, she circled around Chu Lingyu twice.
“Strange, could it still be a problem with affection level?”
She propped her chin on her hand, looking thoughtfully at him. “I thought we were doing well. What exactly is this affection level about?”
Chu Lingyu’s stance stiffened. He looked down at Wen Qian circling him and suddenly standing close, trying hard not to avoid her gaze.
Getting this close, did she have no sense of personal space?
“I got it. I’ll send you a gift tomorrow—no, next week!” Wen Qian suddenly realized she could use items to boost affection!
Then she’d send him two iris flowers and see if he’d still dare to reject her friend request.
As for why next week… she only had a few iris flowers now and felt reluctant to give them away. She’d wait until she had more.
Chu Lingyu was stunned. “You know my birthday?”
He frowned. “Who told you?”
Only a few people knew his real birthday. The widely spread date at school was not his real one.
Where did she learn this? His gaze toward Wen Qian darkened, and his expression turned unpleasant.
If she, like the others, was sent here by someone…
“What? Next week is your birthday!”
The person in front of him looked even more surprised than he did.
Chu Lingyu’s expression froze. She didn’t know—then what was that about giving gifts?
So what was this—he had accidentally let it slip himself?
Wen Qian seemed even more excited than the birthday boy himself, tightly holding onto his arm.
“That’s great! You have to prepare well for it—I’m really looking forward to it!”
Chu Lingyu suddenly felt a little awkward. “You’re happy about that?”
“Of course!” Wen Qian nodded firmly. “I’ll be looking forward to that day starting from today!”
As everyone knows, when an important NPC has a birthday in the game, players receive gifts.
Yes, no argument here—that’s just how the game works!
Wen Qian looked at Chu Lingyu as if he were a big gift package with a countdown of a week.
She wondered what kind of rewards this package would unlock. She was really excited!
Perfect—no need to send the iris flowers she had prepared early; she could save them for his birthday, which would also count as the birthday gift.
Little Wen made full use of her characteristic careful planning.
Chu Lingyu felt uncomfortable—perhaps because he had never been so directly faced with someone else’s enthusiasm.
This sudden enthusiasm did not seem fake. The way she looked at him was sincere and passionate, as if his birthday was a very important day to her.
“Birthdays are important; you must prepare well,” Wen Qian earnestly reminded him. “I’ll prepare a gift for you too.”
One iris flower should be enough, right? If not, then maybe two.
Maybe the gift would raise the affection level enough so that the friend request would be accepted!
Double happiness!
“This is my birthday—do I really need you to remind me so much?” Chu Lingyu raised an eyebrow. “…Alright, stop looking at me like that. Got it.”
He pressed on Wen Qian’s shoulder, forcibly making her turn away.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”
“Huh? I thought you weren’t going back to school?”
“I’m afraid some people might be stupid enough to get themselves stuck on the railing again.” He snorted. “I don’t want to see you hanging there all night when I leave tomorrow.”
The process of climbing over the wall went smoothly—so smoothly that Wen Qian couldn’t understand how she had gotten stuck there before.
She kept walking toward the teaching building. Approaching the classroom, she attracted many strange and surprised glances.
It seemed like everyone was wondering why she was still at school.
“Throw away that backpack of hers—this cheap thing hurts my eyes when I see it in the classroom.” A somewhat sharp voice sounded.
Laughter followed, and a male classmate, in a sarcastic tone, echoed the girl’s words, “Why talk so much but nobody moves?”
He walked over to an empty desk, grabbed the backpack inside, and swung it by the window.
“Let the cleaning staff have a headache instead.”
Then he opened the window, ready to throw the backpack outside.
But faster than him, a crushed soda can flew from the classroom door.
The twisted can hit the boy’s back of the head at high speed. His vision blurred; he dropped the backpack he was holding. Just before it hit the ground, a slender hand caught it.
The laughter in the classroom stopped abruptly, and all eyes focused on the unexpected visitor.
Wen Qian picked up the soda can that was dented again, ignoring others’ gazes, only curiously looking at the person who had taken her backpack.
After a moment of thought, she said seriously, “So… there are thieves even in the classroom!”
Indeed, special events like this sometimes trigger in the game. Catching a thief can lead to calling the police NPC for rewards, just like the barbecue stall incident before.
But she hadn’t expected such a special scenario to happen at school.
Good heavens, she had been leaving her backpack in such a dangerous environment all along!
Players who never expected the game to have such tricks were greatly shocked.
“She didn’t get expelled?”
“What is she doing? Crazy, right?”
The whispers did not catch Wen Qian’s attention. She looked carefully around and sadly found no thief alarm device like the one at the stall in the classroom.
“Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
The highly capable player climbed onto the desk, tore down the curtain, and earnestly tried to use it as a rope to catch and trap the thief.
“Do you know who I am?!” The boy, coming to his senses, glared fiercely at Wen Qian.
Wen Qian didn’t care. Thieves always said these clichés. The one who stole her grilled fish had even claimed it appeared in his hands on its own.
Who listens to a thief’s excuses?
Wrapped up like a mummy, Wen Qian looked at her handiwork and nodded with satisfaction.
A work of art!
“Anyone willing to help call the police?” The player looked around at her now silent classmates.
Her tone carried a bit of reluctance: “If you help call the police, I’ll share the reward—no, just give you a little bit.”
When Lin Huai entered the classroom, he saw the chaotic scene and frowned, looking at Wen Qian.
“Wen Qian, you came to school?” He hurried over to her, and when he saw the cocoon beside her, his expression froze for a moment. “What’s this?”
“This is the reward.” Wen Qian reached out her hand toward Lin Huai. “Did you bring your phone? Lend it to me for a bit.”
Lin Huai felt something was off but still took out his phone.
“What reward? What are you all doing here?” he asked confused.
Wen Qian quickly dialed the police, and the familiar voice of the police NPC came from the other end.
“Hello, it’s me again.” Her tone showed respect for the reward. “There’s a thief. Please come quickly. Thanks.”
She hung up and turned to the classmates who looked at her like a ghost.
Hmm?
The NPCs these days have poor psychological endurance—just one thief and they’re scared like this?
The player shook her head slowly, braver than those barbecue customers.