Murong Shanshan pulled me over to sit beside her as she spoke, leaving Xu Xing all alone.
The dishes had already started to arrive; everything except the whole roasted lamb was on the table. Xu Xing's face regained a bit of color. Looking at the brand-name clothes this kid was wearing, he was clearly a rich young master, but he probably couldn't handle the sudden expense of 10,000 yuan. With each dish that arrived, I saw his face twitch.
Poor kid, he seems to have fallen for Murong Shanshan, that spendthrift girl.
"Shanshan, is he pursuing you?" I asked in a low voice.
Murong Shanshan acted as if she hadn't heard me, then suddenly grabbed my pocket and exclaimed, "Oh, Lin Fan, whose letter is this?"
I was stunned. What was this girl up to?!
Murong Shanshan, while speaking dramatically, took the letter she had put in my pocket and placed it on the table. Xu Xing opposite us widened his eyes and looked over, appearing very interested.
"Wow, it's a love letter! Who did you write it to? Lin Fan, your handwriting isn't bad at all~"
This letter was probably written by her, and she shamelessly praised herself like that.
"Ah~!"
The moment Murong Shanshan pulled out the letter, her expression changed, then she glanced at me, looking shy.
I simply crossed my arms, watching to see what trick this girl was playing. She had already unfolded the letter and began to read:
"To my dream Shanshan: The first time I saw you, I fell for you, truly!"
I tried my best to hold back my laughter, while Xu Xing opposite us looked indignant. Murong Shanshan continued to read nonchalantly:
"Today, I finally mustered the courage to write you this letter, hoping you can understand my heart. Do you remember that day we met? The weather was terribly hot, and your stunning figure instantly captivated me. How can I describe the impression you left on me? Perhaps like a plucked swan~!"
"Pfft~!" I spat out a mouthful of tea. This silly girl couldn't even copy a love letter properly… Murong Shanshan widened her beautiful eyes, looked at me innocently, and continued reading the love letter: "Shanshan, after reading my letter, aren't you especially moved? Don't you think I'm incredibly talented? I guess so too. The first day I saw you, I fell madly in love with you. For you, I quit smoking and drinking; I heard these affect certain functions. I also stopped peeking into the girls' dorm across the way, although it has something to do with them drawing their curtains, but it's mainly because of you, because I found out you don't live in that building. See how deeply I love you…"
"Stop, stop~!" I finally couldn't hold back and said resentfully, "Did I really write this letter? Why is it so creepy?"
Murong Shanshan chided, "If not you, then who?"
Seeing the goddess in his heart acting coy, Xu Xing was heartbroken and looked at Murong Shanshan, asking, "Shanshan, did you agree to him?"
"Of course! Look, he's practically overflowing with sincerity!"
Like all abandoned young boys, Xu Xing looked sad, ordered a bottle of baijiu, and started drinking by himself.
Murong Shanshan gave me a look, then started scavenging on the table, no longer showing any of her previous composure.
I was there to eat, and following Murong Shanshan, I quickly devoured the delicacies on the table like a whirlwind.
Xu Xing was in a bad mood, even ignoring my attempts at conversation. I saved myself the trouble of nagging and simply ignored him completely, finishing my meal early.
"Xu Xing, I'm full, I'm heading back first. You take your time eating, and remember to pay the bill~"
Murong Shanshan wiped her mouth, pulled me, and heartlessly walked out the door.
Walking on the sun-drenched street, I couldn't help but scold, "Shanshan, I don't even know what you're doing. Isn't that a bit too unfair to Xu Xing, that sucker who just treated us?"
Murong Shanshan's delicate brows furrowed slightly: "What, do you pity him?"
"No, it's just, isn't this going a bit too far?"
"Hmph, you don't know how awful he used to be. He actually dared to threaten me using his father's relationship with my dad!" Murong Shanshan said indignantly.
"He, dared to threaten you?" I couldn't understand how Xu Xing, with his scholarly appearance, could possibly have the nerve to threaten a tomboy like Murong Shanshan.
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you. His father is my dad's direct superior. That kid thought his father's single word could ruin my dad. Hmph, he's treating his father as childish as himself!"
I shook my head. I didn't want to get involved in these students' affairs. Right now, all I wanted was to farm items and sell them for money!
"Shanshan, where are we going? Aren't you going back to level up this afternoon?"
Murong Shanshan smiled and said, "The school has a power outage this afternoon; power won't be back until six, so…"
"So you found a sucker to treat you to a meal, and then you're going shopping together?"
"Exactly!" Murong Shanshan snapped her fingers triumphantly.
"Um, Shanshan, I think you misunderstood…" I stopped walking and said seriously, "I'm a professional gamer. Time is money. If there's no compensation, I won't spend time doing meaningless things."
Murong Shanshan bit her silver teeth and said angrily, "You, can't you live without money? Do you think even spending an afternoon with me is that difficult?"
I paused, then smiled and said, "How about this: you treat me to an ice cream cone as payment, and I'll accompany you for the afternoon. That's not too much, right?"
Murong Shanshan immediately smiled and said, "No problem, let's go~!"
…I rarely went shopping with girls. Back when I was with Xiaoyu, I was too immersed in WAR3 to have time. In the past six months, however, there simply hasn't been a girl who made me want to be with her. Murong Shanshan should be an exception. From the first time I saw her, I felt that there were some things about her that were very similar to Xiaoyu back then: equally pure, equally beautiful, making one want to cherish her. The only difference was that she had more of a ruffian streak than Xiaoyu, for example, quietly cursing "dog couples" at embracing couples on the street… Murong Shanshan was very beautiful, even more beautiful than Xiaoyu. When we were together, she was always the one who attracted attention.
Young couples filled Guanqian Street, and we quickly blended into our respective roles, drooling together at the roasted ducks in the oven, staring intently at the butts of girls in miniskirts and then fantasizing together, and even going into KFC just to buy one ice cream cone and sitting face to face—just to listen to a song called "Cowboy Is Busy"…
We walked along Guanqian Street, eating ice cream and chatting about everything under the sun.