No Story Without Taking the Initiative?

Shen Lang suddenly turned around. The girl who had just bought chestnuts was walking behind him with a bag of steaming hot chestnuts, chatting and laughing.

She seemed to be messaging her roommate.

"Oh no, I forgot I'm dieting lately! What do I do? I bought sweet chestnuts!"

"Huh? You're not eating them either? I can't just throw them away, can I? They cost twenty yuan. Forget it, I'll start dieting again next week!"

"Talk later, there's a guy staring at me..."

While Su Lexuan was chatting away with her roommate, she happened to notice a tall boy looking at her and awkwardly put her phone away.

Her eyes carried a clear, foolish innocence as she looked at Shen Lang like a curious child, then glanced behind herself.

When she found no one behind her, Su Lexuan finally realized Shen Lang was looking at her. She lowered her head cautiously, intending to hurry around him.

Now that the girl had noticed him, Shen Lang began to feel nervous. His mind was a mess, and he had no idea what to say as an opening.

Just then, the system presented its options!

1: He could jokingly say with a fierce expression, "This road was built by me, this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass through here, hand over the chestnuts. Hahaha, just kidding. Can I add you on WeChat?"

2: He could ask with a smile, "Excuse me, did you buy chestnuts from that uncle too? What flavor did you get?"

3: He could strike up a friendly conversation: "Hey, beautiful, you're pretty cute. Can I add you on WeChat?"

"Excuse me, did you buy chestnuts from that uncle too?"

Just as the girl was about to pass by him, Shen Lang smiled and started a conversation. "What flavor did you get?"

When he rejected option three, Shen Lang had almost chosen the seemingly humorous first answer.

But then he thought about how they did not know each other. Making such a crude joke would definitely scare her, and there would be no chance of getting her WeChat afterward.

"Sweet... sweet ones. Why?"

Su Lexuan stopped and looked Shen Lang over warily.

As Zhuhai University's campus belle, the White Moonlight countless boys dreamed of, Su Lexuan had an aura of first love about her. Boys often approached her to ask for her WeChat.

University had only started a few weeks ago, yet she had already lost count of how many boys she had turned down. Some people had even started wondering whether she liked girls.

Su Lexuan instinctively assumed that this bespectacled guy was here to ask for her contact information too, and she was already thinking about how to turn him down politely.

Shen Lang was not surprised. When a complete stranger of the opposite sex came up to start a conversation, any girl would be guarded.

The system presented more options!

1: He could pretend to be profound and advise, "Be careful eating so many sweets, or you'll get cavities. And as a girl, don't you care about your weight?"

2: He could joke with a smile, "That owner didn't hear me properly. I said I wanted sweet and salty ones, but he packed me plain ones instead. I like sweet ones. How about I trade you my salty and plain ones?"

3: He could offer a friendly reminder: "Little sister, you shouldn't play on your phone while walking by the road!"

"That owner didn't hear me properly. I said I wanted sweet and salty ones, but he packed me plain ones instead."

Shen Lang decisively rejected the cringe-worthy first option. Smiling, he hefted the chestnuts in his hand. "I like sweet ones. How about I trade you my salty and plain ones?"

"Oh, I see..."

Su Lexuan relaxed slightly. She had thought he was another guy here for her WeChat. Smiling brightly, she nodded. "Sure. I'm supposed to be dieting lately anyway."

Shen Lang held the two bags of chestnuts out to her. "Then do you want the salty ones or the plain ones?"

"I'll take the salty ones. The plain ones don't sound very tasty."

Su Lexuan looked seriously at the two steaming bags in front of her for a moment. Then she took the bag of salty chestnuts and handed Shen Lang the sweet ones. "Here, your sweet chestnuts."

"Thanks."

Shen Lang took the chestnuts in relief.

He had not expected it to be so easy to strike up a conversation with the Female Elf. Their topic had unfolded so naturally through the exchange of chestnuts.

The two of them continued walking in silence, though they kept a fair distance apart.

Only then did Shen Lang notice that the girl was wearing Zhuhai University's uniform.

Shen Lang had graduated from Zhuhai University half a year ago, so they were alumni.

The system presented more options.

1: He could ask in surprise, "Hm? You're from Zhuhai University too? I just graduated in the first half of the year. We're alumni!"

2: He could ask with a lecherous grin, "Judging by that uniform, you're from Zhuhai University, right? I heard the female students there are easy. Can you introduce a few to me?"

3: He could raise his brows and smile. "Beautiful, here's a question for you. What's your WeChat ID?"

After reading the second and third options, Shen Lang nearly choked.

If he really asked something like that, she would be lucky not to call the police and report him for harassment!

Shen Lang pretended to be surprised. "Eh? I just noticed—you're from Zhuhai University too?"

Su Lexuan turned around in surprise. "Hm? You are too?"

Shen Lang smiled warmly. "I graduated in the first half of the year. I never thought we'd be alumni."

"I see. I didn't expect to run into an alumnus outside campus either."

Su Lexuan gave him a sweet smile, and Shen Lang's heart nearly melted. He wished he could move the Civil Affairs Bureau right here and get their marriage certificate immediately!

The options appeared.

1: He could start eating chestnuts, suspect the flavor was off, and ask her to try one too. Physical interaction would bring them closer and improve the atmosphere!

2: He could sternly scold her, "Then why aren't you calling me Senior? You have no manners at all!"

3: He could pull her into his arms and gently warn her to watch out for cars.

"Haha, I didn't expect it either."

Shen Lang smiled in reply. Then he opened the bag of sweet chestnuts and started eating. Afterward, he frowned and complained, "Hiss, why do your chestnuts taste kind of strange? They seem like they've gone bad."

"Huh? Really?"

Su Lexuan looked surprised, so Shen Lang held the bag of chestnuts out to her. "Try one."

Without thinking much of it, Su Lexuan took a few small steps closer to Shen Lang. She reached in, took out a chestnut, and ate it. After savoring it for a while, she smiled. "I think it tastes fine. Maybe the one you ate just now was bad."

"Yeah, that's possible."

Shen Lang nodded thoughtfully.

"Yours isn't even that bad."

Su Lexuan complained with a smile, "You know, last time I bought a bag of chestnuts at Wanda Plaza, half of them were bad. I was so mad."

Shen Lang laughed along with her. "Haha, then you were really unlucky. Didn't you go back and ask the owner for a refund?"

"That owner was covered in dragon and tiger tattoos. I didn't dare..."

"Haha, then there really was nothing you could do."

It was such an insignificant topic, yet somehow it made the atmosphere between them grow more harmonious without either of them realizing it.

Along the way, Shen Lang followed the system's prompts in talking with Su Lexuan. The system provided topics or points of reference that Su Lexuan was interested in.

Whenever they touched on something she cared about, Su Lexuan would talk at length about her own views.

In just over ten minutes, they went from complete strangers to friends who could chat enthusiastically.

Su Lexuan was surprised too. She had actually become so engrossed in conversation with a boy she had just met.

They were only talking about trivial things, but Su Lexuan did not know why she liked this feeling of chatting.

This boy always seemed able to steer the conversation toward things she was interested in.