Chapter 88

But she didn't have a powerful peanut launcher or a 40-meter-long cleaver for peeling fruit, and with her current weak physique, she obviously couldn't skip paying. "Beep." Hua Xin obediently paid the bill, then, with tears of poverty glistening in her eyes, she carried the food to the microwave. "No money left?..." "I'm going to starve." "Why did I ever spend so much money?" The girl drooled and silently wept as she watched the braised beef brisket rice spin in the microwave, waiting for it to finish heating up. "Um..." "This is the leftover oden from today... You can have it if you don't mind..." "I'll just throw it away during the day anyway." The clerk from before, holding a cardboard box, awkwardly approached the girl and said with evasive eyes. He wasn't particularly handsome or outstanding, just an ordinary person like many others, ordinary in most situations, but extraordinary in certain times or fields. Hua Xin looked around, confirming that the boy, who seemed to be about her age, was talking to her. She pointed at herself and hesitated, saying, "Me...?" The girl looked at the steaming radish in the box, her initial wariness gradually turning into... "Uh, I didn't mean to hit on her. It's just that it's late and it's a shame to throw these things away..." The shop assistant, somewhat flustered, fumbled with his clothes behind his back, his eyes filled with regret as if questioning himself for doing that... "Thank you! You're such a kind person!" She suddenly offered him a card with unusual sincerity, her sparkling eyes making the shop assistant feel a little guilty and unable to look directly at her. Okay, he admitted he wanted to hit on her. But he seemed... unworthy of such a beautiful girl. The shop assistant silently returned to the cashier, put on his Bluetooth headset, and opened NetEase Cloud Music. Hua Xin happily took out the braised beef brisket rice from the microwave, along with the warm oden in the box, and carried it to the small table in the distance. This was... a moment of bliss for Hua Xin! The oden and braised beef brisket rice were both steaming hot, their aromas constantly tantalizing her taste buds. Her stomach rumbled incessantly, urging her to hurry up and satisfy him. She scooped up a large spoonful of rice and chewed it down... The sadness of spending money and the joy of eating overlapped, and tears inexplicably welled up in her eyes. Hua Xin then swallowed gently, her voice trembling with satisfaction and tears in her eyes: ———————— "Delicious?!!" [One hour ago ↓.] Xia Yan swallowed the lamb kidney in one gulp. The rich fat and the completely non-gamey, meaty aroma made him sigh inwardly. After quickly removing the kidney from the skewer, Xia Yan's gaze fell on the freshly grilled oysters and roasted chives on the table. He then unabashedly took a plate of oysters and his own Lao Xia dipping sauce. As three foods possessing some kind of mysterious power, they were always coveted by men when they appeared on the table. "Late to the party, early to the party, huh?..." Xia Yan, in a good mood, carefully scooped out the oysters still in their shells one by one, dipped them in the special sauce, and then "slurp" them into his mouth, chewing gently before swallowing them... So delicious! "Let's go, Brother Yan (crying voice)." Xiang Guan covered his face with one hand, slightly raising his head to hold up his beer glass, barely managing to keep his tears from falling. As long as he held his head up, the tears wouldn't fall. "There are plenty of fish in the sea..." Xia Yan sighed softly, then picked up his full glass of beer, gently touched it to the rim of Xiang Guan's glass, and then drank it all in one gulp. "Too bad there are plenty of simps..." Mu Feng's mouth was greasy, and the meat skewers in front of him were more than Xiang Guan and Xia Yan combined. Although he was being sarcastic towards Xiang Guan, he still picked up his glass and drank it all in one gulp. Who says you can only drink iced tea in the 2D??? "Why did it turn out like this..." "How is that pretty boy better than me?" "He's as weak as a skeleton, I could have given him a comminuted fracture with just two punches..." "Waaaaah, Xiao Ling... Waaaaah..." "Glug glug glug glug..." Xiang Guan put the large beer mug on the table and started chugging the beer from the bottle. "Alright, alright... if you get passed out, no one will help you back." Mu Feng disgustedly wiped the grease from his hands on Xiang Guan's already soaked short-sleeved shirt. He also gave up on drinking wheat juice from a cup and started drinking directly from the beer bottle with Xiang Guan. After chugging down a bunch of Honkai: Star Rail, he finally quit the mobile app and said with a hint of exasperation, "Didn't you realize she's been stringing you along for a while?" "First it was her classmates, then it was you, that senior Lu, and now that pretty boy who successfully stole the tower." Xiang Guan wiped away his tears and then said in silence, "I know." "You know that and you still jumped into the industry?" "You idiot!" Mu Feng opened another bottle of beer and placed it in front of Xiang Guan. Despite his cursing, he still chug along with Xiang Guan. "I like her, I like her, I like her... "I want to be with her, I want to marry her..."Xia Yan slowly finished the oysters on his plate and then devoured a handful of spicy barbecue. He wiped his mouth and said softly, "But she's already changed into someone else's shape."Xiang Guan:?????? Mu Feng: " Brother Yan, don't say it, I'm afraid of his purple clay?"Xia Yan also chugged down a bottle of beer, then said with unusual seriousness, "You lost from the moment you started infiltrating Lin Qingyu's camp, just to have a meal alone with Xiao Ling." "Love isn't about others' charity or matchmaking, but about your own efforts and strength." "You keep lowering yourself just to gain her pity, but that will only make her look down on you more and more..." Looking at the empty bottle in his hand, Xia Yan's eyes showed a sense of loss. This morning, Xiao Ling publicly announced her boyfriend on her WeChat Moments. But the person wasn't Xiang Guan. Xiang Guan, who had given his soul, dignity, and Xiang Guan for Xiao Ling all along, collapsed without hesitation. He cried in his dorm room all afternoon, and for the first time, he hardened his heart and deleted Xiao Ling's WeChat. But after a few seconds, he regretted it, and then didn't know what reason to use to add her back. In short... it's over. Xiang Guan's first attempt at a love that he was willing to risk everything for a girl ended before it even began. Xia Yan, who was working on a computer assembly project, also stopped his work after Mu Feng told him the news and chose to go out with them late at night to vent his emotions. The bitter taste of beer lingered in his mouth, so he ate a bite of barbecue. Xia Yan wasn't just Xiang Guan; he was also talking about himself. Lately, for some reason, although on the surface things were still the same as before—chatting, playing games, talking on voice—something was off. He keenly sensed his Cat Wife's subconscious distancing and resistance, but he didn't know what he had done wrong. His Cat Wife used to be greedy, no longer accepted his money, saying she wasn't short of cash, but he still felt terrible inside, yet he didn't know why. "I'm sorry, Brother Yan, I was out of my mind, I'm really sorry... but what should I do?"