"How have you been lately?"
It was rare for Lin Shuguang to ask her that. Pei Xi couldn't help smiling. "Not bad. What about you? Found a girlfriend?"
Lin Shuguang shook his head.
Pei Xi prodded, eager for gossip. "Seriously? Don't tell me you like men?"
Lin Shuguang said, "..."
Pei Xi clicked her tongue in wonder. "The Demon Capital is a big city, with plenty of pretty girls. You're so strong, and you don't look half bad..."
"What do you mean, 'don't look half bad'? If you know how to give a compliment, keep them coming!" Lin Shuguang interrupted.
Pei Xi made a face. "You really are full of yourself."
Lin Shuguang said seriously, "Another correction: this isn't narcissism. It's confidence."
Pei Xi said, "...Wow, your skin really does get thicker by the day."
Lin Shuguang raised an eyebrow, looking as though he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Pei Xi gritted her teeth at the sight, sorely tempted to stomp on his foot.
Just then, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Standing at the edge of the third floor, Lin Shuguang and Pei Xi looked down together and saw a filthy man in a tattered green overcoat stumble in at the second-floor elevator entrance, his hair disheveled and his face grimy.
He staggered along, knocking over quite a few books. His left hand remained hidden inside his coat, while his right, shriveled like a dead branch, kept clawing through the books. Whenever anyone approached, he let out a beastlike growl.
Anyone who saw him would have thought a madman had barged into the bookstore.
Two security guards from the first floor rushed over with batons in hand. "Sir, please watch what you're doing. Don't damage the books."
The two guards closed in, trying to