The Enemy Came Bearing Money

Su Ke lowered his head, his mind racing. The situation was so mortifying he wanted the ground to swallow him up. He'd invited someone out to eat, but hadn't brought any money. If word got out, heh, wouldn't everyone curse him to death?

He hurried into the Flower Picking System's space, but the electronic screen showed that the task wasn't complete. That made sense, he supposed. He'd invited Liu Qingqing to dinner, but the food hadn't even been served yet, so it probably didn't count. What should he do?

He had to find help, and the first person who came to mind was the shameless Wang Xiaogang, who was always acting like a rascal. But although he had Wang Xiaogang's phone number, where could he call from now? Was he supposed to leave the three girls here and go outside to find a pay phone?

"Brother Su Ke, you didn't bring any money, did you?"

Wang Huan, sitting across from him, noticed something was off. Her voice was full of disbelief, and her eyes widened. At her words, even Liu Qingqing, sitting to the side, noticed. She couldn't help edging away a little, as if she wanted to turn toward Su Ke.

"Haha! Wang Huan, you really are clever. You guessed right, but there's no prize!" Su Ke awkwardly raised his head. Facing the three girls, he decided he might as well brazen it out. He couldn't let himself lose face and his nerve at the same time. He shrugged and forced out a smile.

"Oh, my God!" Wang Huan slapped her forehead, speechless.

"Hehe, Brother Su Ke, I was supposed to treat you!" To his surprise, Liu Qingqing wasn't the least bit annoyed that Su Ke hadn't brought money. Instead, she picked up her little purse.

That only made Su Ke feel more awkward. Liu Qingqing was handling it really well, but if this had happened with anyone else, going out to eat with a guy only to find he'd forgotten his money would have made her rise in a fury and storm off, glaring at him and cursing him under her breath.

But if Liu Qingqing paid for this meal, he'd lose far too much face. He had been the one to invite her in the first place, and she was also the first girl to confess her feelings to him. There was no way he could let her pay.

Su Ke forced himself to relax. The more critical the moment, the more important it was to stay calm. He gave the waiter, who was still standing nearby waiting to settle the bill, an embarrassed smile. "Just a moment!"

The waiter was decent enough. At least he didn't say anything rude; he simply nodded at Su Ke, then turned and headed toward the entrance to greet other customers.

"Brother Su Ke, don't take it the wrong way. I..." Liu Qingqing hadn't expected this to happen either, and she looked just as awkward as Su Ke. She pulled a hundred-yuan note from her purse and tried to hand it to him.

Just then, Su Ke's eyes lit up. His gaze fell on the glass door as it swung open.

"It's fine!" Su Ke smiled reassuringly at Liu Qingqing and gave her a look to put her at ease. Then he quickly turned and waved at the three people who had just come in.

"Li Daxing, come here!"

The three newcomers were none other than Li Daxing, Li Lei, and the kid called Brother Cat, whom Su Ke had taught a lesson in the cafeteria a couple of days earlier.

Li Daxing heard someone call his name. He froze for a moment, then immediately looked in the direction of the voice.

When he saw that it was Su Ke waving at him, his face, still marked with a few bruises, changed dramatically. Without a word, he turned and tried to leave.

"Hey! I'm telling you to come over!" Su Ke's voice rose slightly, his tone turning cold.

"What is it?" Li Daxing took a deep breath, clenched his fists tight, then let them go. After repeating this several times, he finally calmed down and reluctantly walked over to Su Ke.

"Li Daxing?" Wang Huan and Li Yan frowned when they saw him approaching. Su Ke could see their disgust, along with a little apprehension. He hadn't expected that even girls like them, with a bit of a rebellious streak, would be afraid of Li Daxing.

Liu Qingqing merely glanced up at him, then looked away as if he didn't exist. She discreetly kept the hundred-yuan note clenched in her hand.

As he walked toward Su Ke, Li Daxing cursed him furiously in his mind. His injuries hadn't completely healed, and he'd been afraid of looking pathetic if he went to eat in the cafeteria, so he'd brought Li Lei and Old Cat here instead. Who could have guessed he'd run into his nemesis, Su Ke?

For the past couple of days, Li Daxing had kept turning over the same thought: if he hadn't been drinking that day, could he have beaten Su Ke? At the very least, he wouldn't have lost so badly, right? But every time the thought crossed his mind, he saw Su Ke in the principal's office.

Especially the way Su Ke had said, "Believe me or not, I'll beat you every time I see you?" Whenever Li Daxing remembered it, he also remembered the faint smile at the corner of Su Ke's mouth. A chill ran through him, and it was why he'd turned to leave as soon as he saw Su Ke.

Su Ke lifted his head slightly and looked at Li Daxing. It was obvious the kid's gaze was uneasy and evasive, though he was still putting on an impatient front, trying to act like the son of the director of discipline.

"Are your injuries feeling better?" Su Ke's face broke into a smile. Sunlight streamed in, warming his handsome face, but when Li Daxing saw that smile, his heart clenched. It was that smile—the same one that had been haunting him for days.

The tension he'd been holding in suddenly drained away like air from a punctured tire. To tell the truth, he stammered, "Uh, they're, they're a lot better!"

"That's good." Su Ke nodded, then continued, "Can I borrow some money? Hehe, I left in a bit of a hurry."

"Sure!" Almost instinctively, Li Daxing quickly pulled a handful of bills from his pocket and was about to hand them to Su Ke. He looked much more relaxed.

Su Ke took a hundred-yuan note from his hand, his face full of gratitude. "This is more than enough!"

Seeing Su Ke accept the hundred yuan, Li Daxing watched him nervously and asked in a quiet voice, "So, can I go now?"

"Why not stay and eat with us?" Su Ke gestured toward his table, looking as if he meant it.

"N-no, we've got things to do!" Li Daxing waved his hands and shook his head, adamant. After speaking, he even nodded at Wang Huan and Li Yan.

"We're leaving!"

"I won't see you out!" Su Ke waved. He watched Li Daxing leave without looking back, with Li Lei and Old Cat following behind him, silent as they had been the whole time.

"Waiter!" Su Ke waved to the waiter nearby and handed over the money. He got twenty-nine yuan in change.

"Brother Su Ke, does that count as extortion?" Wang Huan asked after watching the three of them flee in disarray.

"I don't think so!" The little episode with Li Daxing had actually put Su Ke at ease. He rubbed his chin. "I told him I was borrowing the money, didn't I?"

"Are you going to pay him back, then?" Li Yan joined the questioning, looking eager to know.

"Well, I don't think I will." Su Ke furrowed his brow and thought it over for a while before answering seriously. "Shouldn't this be called lending a hand in a crisis? No! It should be robbing the rich to help the poor!"

"Pfft!" Wang Huan and Li Yan burst out laughing, and even Liu Qingqing beamed. The three of them actually sang together: "No money on hand! No money on hand! Our enemy came to pay in our stead!"