If It's Just Going Along with It, Then It Has No Meaning

At eighteen, Lin Tian was at the peak of puberty—well, men were boys until the day they died.

Once a boy sensed affection from a pretty girl, it was easy for his imagination to run wild.

Sometimes, he did not even need affection.

One glance was enough.

Enough to make a teenage boy grin foolishly for an entire day.

Of course, there was one exception—

When the girl worked at a foot bath parlor.

After Gan Yan Yu started acting out of character, it was hard for Lin Tian not to let his thoughts wander.

But he quickly dismissed the thought that had flashed through his mind.

How could a girl preoccupied with arranging her own funeral possibly have the mind for that?

It could not be that she was thinking about where they would be buried together, right?

If anything, imagining things about someone who was about to die made him seem kind of disgusting.

"I'm going to change first. Let's eat somewhere on this street later."

"Mm." Gan Yan Yu nodded.

Once they stepped onto the main street, the commercial district was packed. It was past eight, the peak time for people to stroll after dinner.

As Lin Tian walked, he scanned the restaurants lining the street.

Hotpot, barbecue, pickled cabbage fish, home-style cooking.

Sometimes, Lin Tian felt that the whole world was one giant commercial street.

No matter the city, the street, or the shopping district.

Over and over, it was always just the same few things.

As Lin Tian walked, he soon realized that the person beside him had disappeared.

When he turned around, Gan Yan Yu was already four or five meters behind him.

She walked so slowly.

Lin Tian stopped and waited until Gan Yan Yu caught up. She tilted her head and looked at him with confusion.

"What do you want to eat?" Lin Tian asked.

"What do you like to eat?"

"Me? Anything is fine."

Lin Tian was not picky.

Besides, he had eaten another two mung bean cakes on the way out, so he truly was not very hungry.

In fact, he had only agreed to let Gan Yan Yu treat him to dinner because he wanted to stall for time.

"I asked what you 'like to eat,' not what you 'want to eat.' Do you like eating everything?"

When Lin Tian said that, Gan Yan Yu suddenly spoke with a hint of seriousness.

She had even used a rhetorical question for the first time.

That question made Lin Tian feel like he had no choice but to take things seriously too.

What was going on?

Was she the type of girl who hated hearing people say "anything"?

That was pretty impressive awareness for a girl. Usually, the victims of "anything" were guys!

Just then, Lin Tian spotted the shopping mall ahead.

"How about we take a look inside?"

The two rode the escalator upward from the first floor.

When they passed the third floor, Lin Tian suddenly reached out and patted Gan Yan Yu on the shoulder.

He pointed at an arcade ahead.

"Want to play for a bit?"

Gan Yan Yu followed the direction of his finger. Looking at the brightly lit, colorful arcade, she seemed slightly dazed.

"You like playing this?"

She turned to look at Lin Tian.

"I'm not really hungry yet. It'd just be something to pass the time."

"You can buy a voucher for this place on Meituan. Nineteen ninety-nine gets you fifty tokens, so it's really cheap. If you want to go, I can buy it now."

Lin Tian's thinking was simple.

Since he needed to stall for time anyway, taking Gan Yan Yu somewhere like an arcade would be a pretty good choice.

Maybe it could awaken her inner child?

They could do something fun and think about all the good things in life, or something like that.

"It's fine. We can sit in a restaurant and eat slowly."

Gan Yan Yu's single sentence killed the idea outright.

"Fine."

Lin Tian had nothing to say.

What a boring woman!

But why did Gan Yan Yu ask whether he liked something every time he suggested something?

Why did it matter whether I liked it? Damn it, I was asking about you!

A feeling suddenly came over Lin Tian.

Gan Yan Yu was like a playmate-for-hire he had booked, while he was the customer.

During the booking, everything revolved around him.

If he had known, Lin Tian would have been more forceful earlier!

They arrived at the restaurant area on the fourth and fifth floors.

Lin Tian began carefully narrowing down the options, intending to choose somewhere they could eat for a long time.

Home-style cooking? Immediately ruled out. After finishing in a few bites, they could not just sit there awkwardly.

A buffet? No. Most buffets had a two-hour time limit.

Hotpot did not seem ideal either. Once they finished the food, they could not exactly sit there drinking soup, could they?

After filtering them like that, the two wandered around the two floors twice more.

Until Gan Yan Yu finally could not help speaking.

"Lin Tian, what exactly are we eating?"

"How about... you choose?"

After saying that, Lin Tian explained seriously, "I really am fine with anything."

"Lin Tian."

At that moment, the girl stopped walking.

She said softly,

"Did you only come out to eat to keep me company?"

"Huh?"

Lin Tian froze.

Before he could react,

"If that's the case, then we should go back."

A somewhat sad yet serious expression suddenly appeared on Gan Yan Yu's face.

"Mm?"

Lin Tian was even more confused.

"What's wrong? No, why would you think that?"

Her change of expression caught Lin Tian so off guard that it felt like he had been elbowed out of nowhere.

"Tonight's meal is my way of thanking you for hosting me last night, right?"

Gan Yan Yu took a deep breath and spoke word by word.

"Right."

Lin Tian nodded repeatedly with a serious expression.

"But why do I feel like you've been accommodating me this whole time? You wouldn't answer when I asked what you wanted to eat, and you even wanted to spend more money to take me somewhere else. If you aren't happy with the meal, then I haven't repaid you at all."

The girl stared directly at Lin Tian, her eyes full of grievance.

She could not understand what Lin Tian was thinking anymore.

She had originally wanted to cook a meal for Lin Tian herself, but because he had to work, she changed it to treating him to dinner outside.

No matter where they ate, all she wanted was to properly repay Lin Tian for what had happened last night.

This was not about money. It was about what this meal meant.

After that, they would owe each other nothing.

Gan Yan Yu could then leave this world without worries.

But Lin Tian tonight looked as if he did not care about this meal at all.

Ever since leaving the restaurant where he worked, he had kept talking about strange, inexplicable things.

It was as though he were telling Gan Yan Yu:

This meal doesn't mean much. It doesn't matter. I want to find something else to do now, even if it's just wandering around and taking a walk.

But when the girl asked Lin Tian, "Is this something you like doing?"

His answer had been that it was merely "to pass the time."

Then eating with me is the same—just something to "deal with."

Then what meaning does my repayment even have?

Lin Tian stared blankly at Gan Yan Yu.

He seemed to understand what she meant, yet also seemed not to understand.

His goal was simple: find a way to keep Gan Yan Yu by his side and stall through tonight if he could.

"Um."

Lin Tian raised a hand and explained honestly,

"I just ate three of your mung bean cakes, so I'm not very hungry. That's why I'm not in a hurry."

"But I'm treating you to dinner, and you..."

For a moment, Gan Yan Yu did not even know how to describe it.

How was she supposed to put this?

Could this meal satisfy him? Did it count as repaying last night's favor?

This was so complicated!

The girl's head was starting to feel dizzy too.

"Honestly, it doesn't really matter whether we eat or not," Lin Tian said.

The girl's pupils widened in an instant.

She looked up.

But Lin Tian continued,

"Actually, as long as you stay with me tonight, it doesn't matter what we do."