Kushida Kikyo's Genuine Invitation to Dinner.

Long Aotian received the photos from Ike and Yamauchi but did not rush to transfer the points. After all, since they were currently at a party, there was no guarantee these two wouldn't leak the information on the spot.

To his surprise, Kushida Kikyo was also in the photos attending the gathering.

A meaningful smile curled the corners of Long Aotian's mouth, his eyes glinting with calculation. He shook his head slightly, as if talking to himself: "I'll transfer the points later. I'll send over a few more tasks as well. Since Kushida Kikyo is there, I'll send her some points too, as a reward."

[Points: Currently 49.03 million (50,000 in dummy account not included) (Will not display later, too lazy to calculate)]

"Aotian, what are you doing?" Sakura noticed the villainous, wicked smile on Long Aotian's face again. She raised an eyebrow, asking with a face full of curiosity.

"Oh, nothing. Do you want to hear something interesting?" Long Aotian quickly retracted his smile, turned his head slightly, and said with a hint of gentleness in his eyes.

"I do!"

Not long after, the party where Kushida Kikyo was located finally drew its lively curtain, like the setting sun sinking below the horizon, leaving behind a gentle afterglow.

Ike and Yamauchi left with satisfied smiles after bidding the others farewell, disappearing outside the door and leaving Kushida Kikyo alone, standing quietly in the center of the slightly messy party venue.

She sighed softly, her gaze wandering around the room. A look of guilt appeared on Kushida Kikyo's face; she knew this gathering had truly caused Ayanokoji a lot of trouble.

Without hesitation, she rolled up her sleeves, deciding to clean the room for Ayanokoji herself to express her apologies.

Before long, a finished Kushida Kikyo looked around with satisfaction, confirming that everything had been restored to a neat and orderly state.

Kushida Kikyo turned to look at him, a slightly shy, apologetic smile on her face: "Ayanokoji-kun, I'm really sorry. We borrowed your dorm for this party and made such a mess. I've already cleaned it up for you; I hope you can forgive our intrusion."

"It's fine, Kushida-san. Thank you for your help in cleaning this place up so well."

Ayanokoji lowered his eyelids slightly, his expression as calm as water, without a single ripple. His voice was faint, like a spring breeze brushing over a lake, devoid of any warmth.

Seeing this, ripples stirred in Kushida Kikyo's heart, and a complex emotion flashed through her eyes. She bit her lip gently, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, she only smiled slightly and nodded: "You're welcome, Ayanokoji-kun. It was the least I could do."

"Well... Ayanokoji-kun, I won't disturb your rest anymore."

Once she finished speaking, she waved playfully, a smile as bright as spring flowers blooming on her face, before turning away lightly and walking out of the room with a relaxed air.

After stepping out of the dormitory and walking only a short distance, Kushida Kikyo's phone vibrated gently.

She stopped, her right hand instinctively reaching into her pocket. Her fingertips touched the cool screen, and as she swiped to unlock it, a message from Long Aotian jumped into view.

Note: Actually, Kushida Kikyo has quite a lot of friends, given her good interpersonal skills and love for socializing, so she receives many messages. The reason only Long Aotian's text caused a vibration is that she pinned his contact due to their collaboration.

She furrowed her delicate brows slightly, her eyes focusing on the message notification jumping on the screen, muttering to herself: How could Long Aotian be sending a message at this time? We clearly just saw each other not long ago.

Long Aotian had just pressed the send button. He put his phone away and turned to Sakura: "Let's go, Sakura. Time to eat; someone is being generous enough to treat us."

"Mm, okay." Sakura didn't probe into who was picking up the tab, simply nodding slightly with a faint smile on her face.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of a restaurant. The exterior was simple and elegant; through the gaps in the doors, one could vaguely see the soft lighting and exquisite decorations inside.

Just then, they spotted a familiar figure: Kushida Kikyo was standing at the entrance, her hands folded over her chest, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"Kushida-san, oh my, I am so sorry for making you wait so long." Long Aotian looked at her and spoke first with a grin.

Kushida Kikyo furrowed her brows slightly, seemingly harboring some anger, but she immediately realized the people coming and going around them. She lifted the corners of her mouth, sketching out a smile that was both appropriate and a bit playful and cute.

Her bright eyes looked toward Long Aotian, sparkling with curiosity and anticipation. She asked softly: "Long-kun, did you invite me here specifically for some special arrangement or something you wanted to share?"

Witnessing this, Long Aotian shook his head inwardly, thinking: This is what they call a veteran actor.

"Nothing much, just called you here to treat us to a meal."

Long Aotian waved his hand, saying it casually.

Kushida Kikyo's mouth twitched slightly, as if she were desperately suppressing some emotion, muttering to herself: "You called me here just for this little thing? Don't you have points?"

Kushida Kikyo sighed softly, a flash of helplessness in her eyes, as if she were both angry and resigned to Long Aotian's behavior.

"Fine, let's go in then. Let's eat first."

She lowered her eyes slightly, then lifted them again, forcing a smile as she spoke, and took the lead, walking toward the restaurant.

Long Aotian turned to Sakura beside him and patted her shoulder: "Don't be shy, eat as much as you want. This is your second home."

"Okay~" Sakura responded softly, two red clouds quietly rising on her cheeks, her eyes filled with shyness.

Long Aotian's gaze fell involuntarily on Sakura's delicate little hands. He had wanted to hold them, but Sakura still felt a bit shy with so many people around.

Afterward, the two entered the restaurant, their eyes scanning the scattered seating until they locked onto Kushida Kikyo's figure.

She was sitting at a table by the window, head bowed, focusing on checking off items on the menu, seemingly full of anticipation for the upcoming meal.

When they reached her, the two pulled out chairs and sat down slowly.

"Look at you, still planning to eat? Didn't you just finish a party?"

"Actually, I really didn't eat much at the party earlier." As she spoke while looking down at the menu, she slowly raised her head to look at Long Aotian and added: "Those snacks, you know, they're just little things to satisfy a craving; how could I be full? Besides, they can't really be treated as a proper meal, can they?"

"Wait, how did you know I just came back from a party?"

Having realized this, her words carried a hint of confusion, her voice mixed with a bit of surprise and inquiry.

Long Aotian did not respond to her question directly, pointing instead to the menu in her hand: "Are you done ordering? If you are, give it to me."

"Hey," Kushida Kikyo called out softly, her voice tinged with gentleness as she held out the menu in her hands.

Long Aotian took the menu, but immediately passed it to Sakura, saying, "You order first. Order plenty—I'm not worried about not finishing it, I'm worried about not having enough."

Long Aotian reached out to take the menu from Kushida Kikyo, but in almost the same instant, he fluidly turned and handed it to Sakura.

"You order. Order plenty—I'm not worried about not finishing it, I'm worried about not having enough."

Sakura gave a soft "Mm" and took the menu, pondering which dishes to check off.

"..." Kushida Kikyo watched this scene in silence, suddenly feeling that the food to come wouldn't taste quite as good.

Not long after the order was placed, the waiter quickly brought plate after plate of steaming delicacies to the table.

Unable to wait, they picked up their chopsticks, reached for a fragrant dish, and lifted a piece of mouth-watering food into their mouths.

The two ate while commenting on the flavors, occasionally bursting into joyful laughter, enjoying this wonderful dining time.

Kushida Kikyo ate in silence, occasionally glancing up at the lively and chatty Long Aotian and Sakura, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

She felt like an outsider here—no, to put it bluntly, she felt like she was a bit redundant.

"When did you two get together?"

To keep herself from appearing so unnecessary, she found a topic and asked with feigned curiosity.

Long Aotian, who was in the middle of a heated conversation, paused slightly at this question, thought for a moment, and said, "About half a month after school started, I suppose."

"That fast?!" Kushida Kikyo couldn't help but raise her voice, her face full of surprise.

She looked at Sakura in disbelief, muttering to herself: With Sakura's socially anxious personality, she was conquered in just half a month?

Upon hearing this, Sakura's cheeks instantly flushed crimson; she lowered her eyes in embarrassment and hung her head shyly.

"Yeah, I made the first move. After all, Sakura is both cute and pretty, and I quite like her."

Long Aotian glanced at Sakura and continued.

In truth, Long Aotian was telling a little white lie here. Recalling the past, it was actually during a study session in the dorms when their feelings gradually warmed up. One day, while Long Aotian was busy explaining a problem, Sakura had inexplicably pulled a move that "plugged his mouth," which had left Long Aotian feeling quite bewildered at the time.

Kushida Kikyo heard this and complained internally: Am I not cute? Or perhaps not pretty? Is this how you threaten me?

"Wow, that sounds like there must be a remarkably romantic story behind it! And you two really are a match made in heaven, a perfect couple."

Kushida Kikyo curled her lips into a sweet smile, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. Even though she didn't fully agree in her heart, she still offered insincere praise.

"Hahaha, not at all, not at all."

Long Aotian wore a happy smile. Although he knew perfectly well that Kushida Kikyo might be complaining about him in her heart, he didn't take it to heart and remained indifferent.

Sakura, head bowed, secretly reached out her small hand under the table and gently held Long Aotian's hand.

"Keep eating, don't stop, Kushida-san. You're the one paying later, after all."

Long Aotian noticed the small movement under the table, but only smiled slightly without paying it too much mind, instead gently rubbing her small hand before speaking softly.

"..." Kushida Kikyo's mood sank instantly. She muttered to herself: You really don't know how to hold a conversation, do you!

The atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment, but Long Aotian didn't care. He naturally picked up his chopsticks and gently placed some food from the plate into Sakura's bowl.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, this pleasant meal was drawing to a close.

The three walked slowly toward the restaurant entrance. Long Aotian naturally reached out and patted Sakura's head (rest assured, he had washed his hands and they were clean), while Sakura lowered her head slightly, her face glowing with a happy blush.

Kushida Kikyo walked beside them, having been fed a mouthful of dog food all day.

"That's it for today, we're getting ready to head back." Long Aotian glanced at her, then added as if in thought, "When you get back later, keep an eye on your points—there's a surprise."

"Huh?" Kushida Kikyo's face was full of confusion, as if she didn't quite understand the meaning behind his words.

"We're off, bye."

Long Aotian waved his hand and left with Sakura. He still had to go back and transfer points to those two idiots, and by the way, release another task; then he could wrap things up.