"Damn It, I'm Not Being a Goblin Anymore!"

The two of them chatted and laughed as they reached an intersection with a red light, and the smile never left Su Lexuan's face.

She hadn't expected the boy in front of her to be so funny. He was far more interesting than those guys at school who only knew how to act cool, flaunt their wealth, and ask for WeChat.

When Su Lexuan noticed the fork in the road ahead, she felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment. She needed to cross the street and catch a bus back to school.

Zhuhai University wasn't far from this snack street. It was only two bus stops away.

On ordinary days, plenty of students couldn't stand the cafeteria food and would take the bus here to look for something to eat.

I wonder if he's headed the same way...

Su Lexuan was already somewhat addicted to talking with this boy, even though they had known each other for less than half an hour.

Even Su Lexuan was surprised that she would have such thoughts.

"I need to catch a bus across the street."

When they reached the traffic light at the intersection, Su Lexuan smiled and pointed toward the bus stop across the road. Then she asked tentatively, "Which way are you going?"

Shen Lang was briefly at a loss for words. The community where he lived wasn't on the same route as Su Lexuan's.

But after chatting for so long, Shen Lang still hadn't asked for her WeChat.

If they parted like this, would they ever have another chance to meet? Would she still come to this snack street to buy roasted chestnuts?

Just as Shen Lang was racking his brains, the system options appeared again.

1: Raise an eyebrow and invite her. "I live in Fulung Community. My bed is big and soft. Want to come take a look?"

2: Say mysteriously, "My cat can breathe fire, do backflips, and talk like a human. I'll only tell you this secret. Want to come to my place and see?"

3: Smile warmly. "We're not going the same way, but I know this area well. Want to add each other on WeChat? Next time you come by, I can show you around."

After rejecting option one, Shen Lang wavered between options two and three. Both answers seemed fairly reasonable.

Still, Shen Lang leaned toward option three. He wanted Su Lexuan's contact information.

But when the words reached his lips, he still couldn't bring himself to say them.

It was his first time asking a girl for WeChat, and she was such a beautiful girl at that.

More and more pedestrians gathered around them, waiting for the light to change.

With nothing better to do, quite a few of them secretly sized up the beautiful girl standing in front of Shen Lang.

Under so many watchful eyes, Shen Lang, who was already socially anxious, found it even harder to speak.

He smiled awkwardly, didn't choose any of the system's suggested responses, and pointed toward his community. He forced out a few words, "I—I live over there."

"I see..."

The smile on Su Lexuan's face visibly dimmed.

The light happened to turn green at that moment, and the pedestrians began crossing the street.

Su Lexuan gave him a friendly smile, then looked up at Shen Lang. There was a hint of testing in her voice. "Then... I'll go catch my bus?"

"Ah, okay..."

Shen Lang regretted it immensely, but he still wore a stiff smile as he watched Su Lexuan follow the crowd across the street.

"Damn it, what was there to be scared of?!"

After Su Lexuan disappeared into the crowd, Shen Lang mocked himself bitterly. "Was it really that hard to just ask for WeChat? It's not like she'd eat you alive. Why care what other people think?"

During their ten-plus minutes of conversation, Shen Lang had been so absorbed in talking with Su Lexuan that he hadn't noticed how much her Favorability toward him had increased.

But throughout their interaction, the smile had never left Su Lexuan's face.

Shen Lang felt certain that if he had asked for her WeChat just now, she would have agreed!

Unfortunately, Shen Lang was too socially anxious to ask a girl for WeChat in front of so many people.

"Ha..."

Shen Lang let out a melancholy sigh. Carrying the chestnuts that had already gone cold, he staggered toward his community like a walking corpse, barely dragging himself along beneath the bleak evening sun.

A few minutes later, a familiar female voice called out from behind him. "Wait!!"

Shen Lang's eyes widened. Still carrying the chestnuts, he abruptly turned around.

Beneath the brilliant golden glow of the setting sun, Su Lexuan, dressed in her school uniform and carrying her chestnuts, ran quickly toward Shen Lang.

As she ran, her long black hair was dyed gold by the sunset, flying brilliantly around her shoulders like a lively Golden Elf.

Su Lexuan soon reached Shen Lang. She bent over, panting with both hands braced on her knees. It seemed she wasn't very good at exercise.

"W-what is it?"

Shen Lang asked, pleasantly surprised.

He hadn't expected the Female Elf who was about to vanish into the forest to actually turn back on her own.

Su Lexuan took several deep breaths before recovering. Then she asked somewhat bashfully, "You said just now that you live around here?"

"Yeah, in the community not far ahead."

Shen Lang answered truthfully, nervous as he anxiously and expectantly guessed why Su Lexuan had run back to find him.

"Well, um, I just started school, and the food in the cafeteria is terrible. This is the only street nearby that has anything to eat."

Su Lexuan took out her phone with a Pikachu case. Somewhat embarrassed, she held it in front of her face, revealing only her slightly shy eyes as she looked at Shen Lang. "So, could we add each other on WeChat? Next time I come here, could you show me a few good places to eat?"

Shen Lang stared in disbelief at the shy girl before him. He never could have imagined that Su Lexuan had run back here out of breath just to take the initiative and add his WeChat!

"O-of course! I know this area really well. I've lived here for two or three years!"

Shen Lang snapped back to his senses, fumbled out his phone, and immediately added Su Lexuan as a WeChat friend.

Don't Want Early Morning Class's Le was her WeChat ID.

After adding Shen Lang on WeChat, Su Lexuan smiled happily. "Then I'll head back first. I promised my roommates we'd eat chestnuts and watch horror movies tonight."

Shen Lang nodded excitedly. "Okay, be careful on the way. Just send me a message before you come next time."

"Mm-hmm. I'll head back now. Bye-bye, Senior Shen. See you next time!"

Under the magnificent golden sunset, Su Lexuan gave him a sweet smile and waved at Shen Lang.

That sweet smile, bright as the stars, unexpectedly reminded Shen Lang of a simp comment he had often seen under beautiful influencers' posts.

Mom, I'm in love!

"Mm, bye, b-bye..."

Shen Lang foolishly waved from behind as he watched Su Lexuan gradually disappear into the distance.

Only after Su Lexuan crossed the street and got on the bus did Shen Lang snap out of it and take out his phone to open WeChat.

Looking at the WeChat contact he had just added, Shen Lang's lips slowly curled upward.

As the sun set and the last rays of dusk shone around him, Shen Lang couldn't help raising his arms and shouting, "Damn it, I'm not being a Goblin anymore!"