Inviting Your Sworn Enemy to Square Dance

Dusk deepened, and inside Xin Rong Ji, the afterglow cast its light against the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lu Xiaoxiao sat in an eighth-floor viewing seat, lifting her gaze as pinkish-orange evening glow spread from the distant mountains all the way to the city's skyline, looking as though she could reach out and touch it.

Shao Enci seated himself opposite her with a calm expression, his profile outlined in soft lines by the sunset glow outside the window.

Seeing that the dishes had yet to be fully served, he took the initiative to pull out his phone, his brow lifting slightly with a lazy smile in his voice: "Do you want me to take a few photos of you?"

Remembering the eight unflattering consecutive shots he had taken last time, Lu Xiaoxiao decisively shook her head, mercilessly roasting him: "I could take better pictures with my foot than you can."

"How do you know I haven't practiced properly since then?" Shao Enci raised his phone, pointing the lens at her, lifted his eyelids, and let his words fall at a leisurely pace: "To make you look good in photos, I specifically went online to study photography techniques for three hours."

Hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao slightly adjusted her sitting posture in the lens, the corners of her lips carrying the arc of a smile she could not quite hide: "I'll give you one last chance. If you don't take good pictures, you can prepare to live a single life for the rest of your days."

Shao Enci held the phone steadily with his fingertips, earnestly adjusting the angle and lighting, the corners of his lips curving slightly as his gaze rested on the girl in the lens: "Then what if they turn out good? Can you consider officially giving me a title?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao immediately sat up straight, pulled her shoulders back, tucked her chin in slightly, and assumed an expression as proper as if she were sitting for an ID photo.

Shao Enci: "?"

He froze for a moment, then let out a breath of amusement. The tip of his tongue gently pressed against the inside of his cheek, but he still continued to focus on taking three photos of her.

"All set." He handed the phone over to her. "How is it?"

Lu Xiaoxiao lowered her eyelids to take the phone, carefully zooming in to look for a moment.

The girl in the photos had dark hair draped over her shoulders, clear eyes, and cheeks carrying a trace of a smile she had yet to retract. Her bridge of nose was high and straight, her lips cherry-red, and the sky full of sunset glow behind her made her entire person look as though she were glowing.

Clearly without makeup or retouching, she had been captured by Shao Enci in a side of herself she had never seen before—radiant and vibrant like spring.

"Big Miss, are you satisfied?" Seeing her lost in thought, Shao Enci already felt confident. "Do you want me to forward them to you?"

Lu Xiaoxiao handed the phone back to him, resting her chin in her hands and curving the corners of her eyes: "Keep them yourself. Whenever you miss me at night, you can take them out and look at them anytime."

"Lu Xiaoxiao, I've noticed your skin is getting thicker and thicker." Shao Enci laughed in a low voice, teasing with a leisurely posture: "I haven't seen your IQ grow much, but your skin has gotten thicker by more than one layer."

Lu Xiaoxiao put her hands down, gently patted the table, and cast her clear-cut, black-and-white starry eyes directly at him, her tone carrying a bit of willful earnestness: "Calling me thick-skinned, deduct ten points! You're still not qualified to be my boyfriend."

Shao Enci was out of options, a curve welling up at the corners of his mouth as his phoenix eyes stared straight at her, his voice low: "Lu Xiaoxiao, you're ruthless."

The dishes were finally all served.

Lu Xiaoxiao picked up her chopsticks, unable to wait to begin tasting.

With a Peking University crown prince like Shao Enci, she wanted to see what kind of worldly delicacies could have nurtured that mouth of his to be so poisonous.

Set across the table were all signature dishes of Xin Rong Ji: amber wine-marinated soft-boiled rich prawns, home-style braised wild East China Sea large yellow croaker paired with Taizhou hand-beaten rice cakes, Rong Ji fish maw and yellow croaker soup, Sichuan peppercorn-stewed sea snails...

Every single dish was as exquisite as a work of art.

The meal was eaten with comfort and full satisfaction.

After finishing the meal, there were still 26 minutes left before the countdown for the task.

Lu Xiaoxiao and Shao Enci walked side by side out of the restaurant, standing in the evening breeze by the street.

She turned her head to look at him: "How much did this meal cost? And also the gifts you gave me last night—spending money on such a grand scale, I feel quite uneasy about it."

Shao Enci kept one hand in his pocket, looking down at her with a lazy posture: "Isn't it a bit excessive for you to talk to me about money?"

"I am not a materialist woman." Unable to bear his overly scorching gaze, Lu Xiaoxiao quickly turned her head away and let out a light huff: "Even though I'm not as wealthy as you, this young master of fortune, I do understand reciprocity."

As her voice fell, she reached out directly to grab his wrist, beginning to search all around for the figures of square-dancing aunties: "I'll treat you to a dance in a moment, and then we'll be even."

Shao Enci gave a slight start, revealing a trace of surprise.

He had expected her to dance banquet jazz or a waltz, and his cold, aloof, handsome face unusually displayed a few hints of bewilderment: "You know how to dance? When did you learn?"

Having known her for almost four years, he unexpectedly had no idea she had secretly studied dance.

Lu Xiaoxiao did not explain, merely following the sound of the music for about eight minutes before arriving at a bustling public square.

The square was brightly lit, and a group of grandpas and grandmas were pairing up to dance square dances to cheerful music.

"Found it." A bright light shone in the depths of Lu Xiaoxiao's eyes as she turned to look at the bewildered Shao Enci, her smile radiant: "Let's go, let's go square dancing together."

"???"

Shao Enci froze completely in place, his eyes filled with disbelief, even suspecting he had heard wrong.

"Lu Xiaoxiao, are you sure?"

Disregarding his gloomy expression, Lu Xiaoxiao took his hands in hers and pulled him to join the middle-aged and elderly group.

The music started up—Phoenix Legend's "The Most Dazzling Ethnic Style".

Following the movements of the grandmas and grandpas beside her, Lu Xiaoxiao began clumsily dancing along with the beat.

Shao Enci stood beside her, feeling as though his whole person were being roasted over a fire.

He raised his head to survey his surroundings, discovering that many passersby were looking in their direction.

Shao Enci had thin skin and truly could not endure the embarrassment of being the center of attention, so he spoke in a low voice: "You dance, I'll just stand by the side and watch you."

He turned as if to slip away, but unexpectedly, Lu Xiaoxiao wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, her voice soft and sweet with a touch of spoiled playfulness: "No, I want you to accompany me and dance together."

The grandpas and grandmas watching the fun nearby instantly began to chime in, smiling good-naturedly as they bantered: "Young man, keep your girlfriend company and dance! Square dancing is best for exercising the body, young people should move around more."

With the assist from the elders, Lu Xiaoxiao nodded hard, tilting her small face up to look at him: "As long as you dance with me through the end tonight, I'll agree to one condition of yours."

"Any condition?"

A trace of cunning flashed through the depths of Shao Enci's eyes as he turned sideways, lowering his gaze to look at her.

"Anything except a title."

Lu Xiaoxiao answered decisively.

Knowing he would not make an excessive request, she agreed so readily.

"Deal."

As if tempted by this condition, Shao Enci suddenly felt that square dancing might not be such a shameful thing after all.

The music played on a loop while Lu Xiaoxiao and Shao Enci clumsily danced.

Watching Shao Enci's uncoordinated limbs, she suppressed her laughter until her shoulders shook: "Who would have thought that one day Peking University's most popular campus hunk Shao would be here square dancing with me?"

Shao Enci twitched the corners of his mouth, smiling with hidden meaning as his gaze darkened: "Lu Xiaoxiao, I am a person who never takes a loss."

The smile on Lu Xiaoxiao's face instantly disappeared. "I can actually go back on my promise about the condition I agreed to."

"Then you can try going back on it."

Taking advantage of the surrounding people not paying attention, Shao Enci reached out and lightly pinched her waist.

Lu Xiaoxiao's most sensitive spot was her waistline, and touched by him, her entire person shrank back before she smilingly began to counter-attack, tickling his armpit.

The two of them secretly playfully scuffled in the crowd, and she failed to even notice 037's system prompt tone.

[Congratulations to Xiaoxiao for completing task 26.]

Only Shao Enci's voice remained by her ear. Bending down slightly, his thin lips pressed against her earlobe, his voice carrying a prolonged, ambiguous tone: "Later in the car, I want to properly enjoy the condition I traded for this time."