At around seven that evening, Shen Lang took the two sisters out, planning to have Haidilao.
On the surface, Shen Lang seemed to find the sisters incredibly annoying, but they were still his biological younger sisters. He cared deeply about both of them.
They hardly got to see each other, and Shen Lang couldn't bear to just send them back to school so soon.
After ordering at Haidilao, the sisters chattered away about school, complaining about bizarre roommates and other trivial girl stuff.
Shen Lang sat quietly beside them and listened, feeling oddly gratified, as though the little girls next door had suddenly grown up.
Time really did fly.
Both of his sisters were now in the bloom of youth, but their lively, adorable childhood selves remained impossible to erase from Shen Lang's mind.
"If only they weren't so annoying."
Shen Lang silently sighed to himself.
Just then, Su Lexuan sent him a message.
Don't Want Early Morning Class's Le: "I'm so bored. What are you doing?"
Shen Lang thought for a moment before typing back, "Eating out. What about you? Watching horror movies again?"
"No, I'm just spacing out in the dorm. I don't even know what to eat for dinner. I really don't want to eat cafeteria food!"
Don't Want Early Morning Class's Le: "Tomorrow's Saturday. I thought college life would be so fun, but it's actually this boring. I'm so jealous of you, Senior. You got out of that miserable college life so early~"
Su Lexuan's message also came with a video a few seconds long.
In the video, some of her roommates were playing on their phones, while others were watching shows. Ye Xinxin beside them was also leisurely playing a game.
The final few seconds were a selfie of Su Lexuan. Her pouty, gloomy expression was kind of cute.
1: If you're bored, why did you even go to college? Don't you think it's hard for your parents to support your education?
2: Your bed looks pretty secluded. None of your classmates should notice you. If you're bored, just get off!
3: Want to go out tomorrow? I'll treat you to roast duck. There's a famous roast duck place near where we met last time!
He decisively ruled out options one and two. Shen Lang knew option three was more normal, but he still felt inexplicably nervous.
If he sent that message, it would be the same as asking Su Lexuan out.
Shen Lang didn't know why he was nervous. Maybe being a shut-in for too long had made him withdrawn, and he was afraid Su Lexuan would reject him?
"Fuck, why am I being such a coward?"
Thinking about how he had nearly missed his chance with Su Lexuan last time, Shen Lang typed with both anticipation and inexplicable nervousness, "Want to go out tomorrow? I'll treat you to roast duck. There's a famous roast duck place near where we met last time!"
After watching the message send, Shen Lang's heart began pounding wildly.
This was his first time actively asking a girl out for a meal, and he had no idea whether she would agree.
Once he calmed down, Shen Lang felt that the odds of Su Lexuan accepting were actually quite high.
Her roommates were right beside her, so Su Lexuan could have talked to them.
Yet she had taken out her phone to chat with Shen Lang on WeChat, even recording a video to share her daily life with him.
Shen Lang felt that was a very obvious sign.
It was a sign that a girl wanted to chat and socialize with you.
She had mentioned how boring Saturday would be, hinting that she really wanted to go out.
And since she had proactively sent Shen Lang that signal, she was obviously hoping he would take her out.
Several minutes passed, but Su Lexuan still hadn't replied. Shen Lang couldn't help feeling disappointed. "Maybe she went to the bathroom? Or went to pick up a delivery?"
That was how most emotionally fragile, withdrawn people comforted themselves.
Even when the other person hadn't answered, they had already prepared for the worst in their minds and even come up with excuses for Su Lexuan to reject them, using them to soothe their sensitive, fragile hearts.
After waiting a few more minutes without a reply, Shen Lang couldn't help opening his chat with Su Lexuan. Then he noticed something quite interesting.
At the top of the chat window, every few seconds or dozen seconds, the words would appear: The other party is typing...
Shen Lang froze for a moment before suddenly understanding.
He felt that Su Lexuan hadn't gone off to do anything else. She had been holding her phone the entire time.
The reason "The other party is typing..." kept appearing was probably because Su Lexuan was thinking about whether to accept his invitation.
Thinking about it carefully, that was perfectly normal.
Shen Lang had known her for less than two days and was already asking her out. Naturally, it would be difficult for her to decide.
She wasn't that casual of a girl. After such a short time together, it was already hard for a guy to ask a normal girl out.
Not to mention a girl like Su Lexuan, who was pretty and relatively reserved.
"Looks like I was a little too hasty."
After reviewing the situation, Shen Lang smiled in relief and prepared himself to be rejected.
As long as he paid a little more attention in the future and didn't rush things with girls, he would have plenty of chances to ask her out.
Besides, if Su Lexuan had agreed to go out right away, Shen Lang would have felt a little unsatisfied instead.
It was like fighting a BOSS in a game. If a player one-shot a world-ending BOSS with a single move, there would be no sense of accomplishment at all.
"Chasing girls really is a field of study."
Staring at the words "The other party is typing..." in the chat window, Shen Lang muttered with deep feeling.
Just then, the WeChat notification finally sounded, and Su Lexuan finally replied.
Don't Want Early Morning Class's Le: "Sure, but you don't need to treat me. Let's split the bill. We just met, so I'd feel bad spending your money."
Sleep Till Dawn: "All right. Tomorrow at six in the afternoon, I'll wait for you at the bus stop where we met last time."
Don't Want Early Morning Class's Le sent a Yuumi sticker: "Mm-hmm!"
"Sometimes, one-shotting the BOSS isn't such a bad thing."
Shen Lang excitedly put away his phone, already looking forward to tomorrow's date!
"Bro, who are you having an online romance with this time?"
The moment he slipped his phone into his pocket, Shen Lang saw Shen Ranran looking at him with a sweet smile. "Didn't you get scammed badly enough last time?"
Shen Lang's first love had been someone he met online.
When they met in person, the girl had him buy this and that after dinner, spending nearly twenty thousand yuan in total. Shen Lang hadn't even gotten to hold her hand.
When he got home, the girl blocked him.
Shen Lang had been depressed over it for nearly half a year and had even posted an extremely sad caption on his Moments: If I ever trust women again in this life, I'm a dog!
Shen Lang didn't answer. He merely said with a grin, "Don't worry about me. Eat, eat."
"What a lecherous smile!"
Shen Linlin shot him an even more disdainful look. "Instead of wasting money simping, you might as well spend it on me."
"I'm begging you two, hurry up and find boyfriends to be lovey-dovey with. Can you stop clinging to me all day?"
The smile vanished from Shen Lang's face as he pleaded with his two sharp-tongued sisters. "When can we fast-forward to the part where you say, 'Bro, you don't understand him?'"
Before you continue