"What do you mean?" Zhou Yang clenched both fists.
Chi Li put on a troubled look. "You don't like my gift either?"
Zhou Yang said, "You call that a gift?! Isn't that just outright provocation?"
"If you know, why ask?" As though a light had suddenly gone out, Chi Li's entire expression turned cold. "Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"You... I..." Zhou Yang was so angry he couldn't speak.
"Exactly. Stop asking." Holding back his laughter, Gao Yuan stepped forward to smooth things over. "He kindly gave you a gift, and throwing it on the floor wasn't enough for you? You had to pull a face and interrogate him too... That's a little unkind."
Zhou Yang: "..."
Fuck, so now this was his fault?
"Don't be angry, junior brother." Xie Weishui tugged at his sleeve. "You two know each other. Maybe Chi Li just wanted to put on a bit of a show?"
"Fine..." Zhou Yang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "A bit of a show."
"Aw, you really do understand me." Chi Li gave Xie Weishui a touched look. "The next gift is yours."
"Thank you... I believe everyone who came here must have come hoping for peace..."
Before he could finish, a large bag of green tea held up in front of him cut him off.
"A big green tea." Chi Li briefly introduced the gift. "A perfect match for you."
The smile on Xie Weishui's face slowly cooled.
Despite already knowing what these gifts meant, Shen Xunye was still watching with keen interest. He played along and asked, "What does this one mean?"
"Nothing much." Chi Li tossed the green tea over. "I'm implying he's a green tea."
["Implying" (×) "Insulting outright" (√)]
[He came purely to wreck the place, hahahaha. I love it.]
[Ever since he gave out that green hat, the live viewer count has been going crazy... People really do love watching a bitch fight.]
[Heard the news and came running, +1. I've had enough of Xie Weishui running things like one big happy family.]
[It's gone up by almost a hundred thousand. What are you people even trying to do...]
"H-how could you do that?" Jiang Lele immediately stood up for his bestie.
Chi Li glanced at him and said lightly, "I haven't given you your gift yet, have I?"
At the mention of gifts, Jiang Lele's newly puffed-out chest shrank back again. He stammered, "D-don't think you can buy me off with a gift."
He'd already provoked the three most popular people in the Raising House. Surely he wouldn't also provoke a small fry like him, scraping by in the cracks?
"Here, this is yours." Chi Li tossed the small bag of green tea from his suitcase into Jiang Lele's arms. "A little green tea."
Jiang Lele looked miserable. "..."
Why did he have to get provoked too... Gao Yuan's gift had been perfectly normal.
Perhaps because they had suffered the same fate, the four gift recipients actually felt a subtle sense of balance...
This time, they didn't even have the energy to ask.
...Asking would only invite humiliation anyway.
If he dared to give them things like these, Chi Li had never intended to get along peacefully.
"All right." Chi Li closed his suitcase and dusted off his hands. "I'm done handing out gifts. Let's start the welcoming ceremony."
"Wait... don't I get a gift?" Wei Xuan, who had been quiet for a long time, couldn't help speaking up.
To make sure he received his gift without a hitch, he hadn't even spoken up to help when Xie Weishui was being mocked.
"Oh, you." A cheerful smile spread across Chi Li's face, as though he'd known he would ask. "There's a saying. I wonder if you've heard it."
"What?" Wei Xuan asked.
"A simp who keeps simping ends up with nothing." Chi Li spread his empty hands. "If you don't mind, these two handfuls of air are yours."
Zhou Yang, who had somehow already adjusted his mindset, spoke up. "...Why are you going out of your way to get insulted?"
He'd seen what happened to the others and still wouldn't give up, still insisted on jumping into the trap. What was he after?
...Did he really think he was that special?
Wei Xuan: "..."
Great. He hadn't even managed to get a small bag of green tea.
"What are you talking about? I didn't insult him." Chi Li feigned displeasure. "But since you've put in a request for him, I'll give him another one."
Wei Xuan was a little dizzy.
Another one? Was that good or bad?
Should he look forward to it or turn it down?
Before he could decide, the gift was already in front of him-
A long, slender middle finger.
"Now that's an insult," Chi Li said.
[What an elegant gesture.]
[Did this gift strike you right in the heart, Wei Xuan?]
[Friendly reminder: don't let the newcomer's personality distract you from his beauty!!]
[A wicked beauty, huh... I'm drooling...]
[He started slaughtering the moment he arrived. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧]
"Ahem." Having accidentally screwed Wei Xuan over, Zhou Yang actually felt a little secretly pleased. "All right... let's all let it go."
Gao Yuan gave him a thumbs-up. "How magnanimous."
The one who'd been insulted the worst was the quickest to forgive? Interesting.
"I'm not letting it go." Shen Xunye raised his right hand and drawled, "I want a gift too."
"You're a newcomer. Why are you getting involved?" Afraid Chi Li might insult him in passing too, Gao Yuan hurriedly tried to dissuade him in a low voice. "Can't you tell? He's not someone you want to mess with."
Ignoring his advice, Shen Xunye insisted, "I want a gift too."
"You, well, I don't know you, so it's hard to target you..." Chi Li rested his chin in his hand, looking thoughtful. "But I like your face. How about this? I'll give you the most precious thing I have."
"What is it?" Shen Xunye looked expectant.
Pressing both hands over his heart, Chi Li said sincerely, "My true heart."
Gao Yuan couldn't help exclaiming, "...Holy shit."
First a middle finger, then his true heart. What a jarring shift.
"Your true heart, really?" Shen Xunye stared steadily at Chi Li. "You're not just sweet-talking me?"
Asking for a gift had been a spur-of-the-moment whim, not part of their plan.
He hadn't expected this extra gain.
"We just met. Why would I sweet-talk you?" Chi Li picked up a mandarin from the coffee table and sat down beside Shen Xunye. "I genuinely want to be friends with you. Don't you want to build a sparkling friendship with me?"
Shen Xunye lowered his eyes and watched Chi Li leisurely peel the mandarin. "...I do."
[Why do I hear a hint of disappointment?]
[Just friendship? I'm disappointed too.]
[I have to say, seeing these two sitting together is a real treat for my eyes.]
[Congratulations on receiving one of only two good gifts.]
[Everyone... is this ship worth boarding?]
[Too little interaction so far. I'd suggest waiting and seeing.]
[Fucking hell, he gave him his true heart the moment they met and you're still not shipping them? I'm shipping them first!]
"All this talk about true hearts... so cheesy." Zhou Yang just found this inexplicably harmonious scene far too much of an eyesore.
"Everyone's seated now." Gao Yuan stood up and stretched. "Let's get on with the welcome, or we won't have time to make dinner."
"Gao Yuan's right." Xie Weishui forced a smile onto his face. "Let's begin."