Chapter 126 : Stand♂Still♂Like♂a♂Good♂Boy
After listening to Li Si's story, Ling Ning suddenly felt a heavy weight on her heart. She had been planning to go downstairs and buy some groceries afterward, but now, she had completely lost the desire to cook. Food made without a proper state of mind could never taste good.
"Sit down. I'll put some makeup on you, and we can go out to eat."
Before Li Si could even respond, Ling Ning grabbed her and pushed her onto the chair in front of the vanity. Then she began to work on Li Si's face. Thanks to Qin Qing's teachings and some tips from Xiao Liu, Ling Ning had become quite proficient at makeup.
"I really need to thank you for last time. Without you, I probably wouldn't be here right now," Ling Ning said softly as she applied makeup to Li Si's face.
"It was... it was nothing. I just happened to be there," Li Si mumbled, a bit awkwardly.
"Anyway, if you ever need anything, just let me know. Whatever I can do to help, I'll do it for you," Ling Ning declared with the air of someone ready to take on the world.
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Truth be told, Li Si didn't really need makeup. But since the restaurant was near their school, Li Si needed to maintain her identity as "Li Four" while attending classes. It wouldn't be good if anyone recognized her.
After Ling Ning finished applying the makeup, Li Si looked in the mirror, almost not recognizing herself.
Once Ling Ning completed Li Si's disguise, they headed downstairs to a nearby restaurant. Being a Sunday, and with the restaurant serving delicious and affordable food, it was quite busy. Fortunately, they arrived just early enough to avoid having to wait in line.
As they sat in the restaurant, Li Si noticed several people staring at her. Most of their gazes were directed at her chest or face, which made Li Si, who usually preferred to keep a low profile, feel quite uncomfortable.
Ling Ning, on the other hand, was already used to the attention. She didn't care at all about the glances directed at her.
Just as Ling Ning was about to order, she suddenly heard Xu Qing's voice. She looked up, scanning the room, and then spotted Xu Qing approaching their table.
"Hey, Xu Qing, what's with that unhappy face?" Ling Ning called out as Xu Qing drew near.
The moment Xu Qing approached, Ling Ning could tell that something was wrong from her expression. So she asked.
"Don't even get me started. Just thinking about it gets me annoyed. That Sun Jie—either he's got something wrong in his head, or he got his brains jammed in a door when he left home. Can you believe he tried to hit on me?"
Xu Qing had originally gone out to buy some study materials, but unexpectedly ran into Sun Jie. She initially thought he was there to ambush her, and was ready to pull out her phone to call the police, only to have him confess his feelings to her.
Without even thinking, Xu Qing had flat-out rejected him. However, Sun Jie was persistent, following her around like a piece of sticky gum that she couldn’t shake off. It had taken her until noon to finally lose him. Planning to have a meal in peace, running into Ling Ning here was an unexpected surprise.
"Sun Jie?"
Hearing the name, Ling Ning felt it was vaguely familiar, though she couldn't quite place it. Poor Sun Jie had been trying to get Ling Ning's attention for a long time, but she never even bothered to remember his name.
"And who’s this?" Xu Qing only now noticed the short-haired beauty sitting beside Ling Ning.
"This is Li Si—Li as in wood, Si as in Tianxin, Li Si. She's a good friend of mine," Ling Ning introduced her.
Xu Qing nodded and smiled slightly before turning to Li Si. "Hi, I'm Xu Qing—Xu as in Xu Chu, Qing as in sunny day."
"He... hello," Li Si stammered a bit. Seeing that Xu Qing wasn't someone from her class, she breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been a classmate, things could have gotten very complicated for her.
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Sun Jie wandered down the street, sighing in frustration. Why, he wondered, why did things have to turn out like this? He had tried so hard to stay close, yet Xu Qing had still managed to escape from him. Recently, luck just didn't seem to be on his side. Where was that protagonist glow he was supposed to have? In the past, whenever he tried to flirt with a girl, it always worked, but now...
"Sigh~"
Sun Jie sighed again, glancing around. With the bustling crowd, finding Xu Qing now was almost impossible. He decided to get lunch first and worry about the rest later.
There weren't any restaurants on this particular street, so Sun Jie decided to take a shortcut to another street where he knew he could find a meal.
The alleyway was deserted, narrow, and filthy—clearly not a common path for pedestrians. Today, however, Sun Jie was too tired to care and decided to take this shortcut.
As he walked, Sun Jie suddenly noticed a figure standing in front of him—a muscular man who was staring at him with an unsettling gaze. Sun Jie instinctively tried to step back, but when he turned, he found another muscular figure blocking his way.
"Can I help you guys with something?" Sun Jie asked nervously, feeling trapped.
"Nothing much. It's just that my brother and I are a bit strapped for cash lately," the man in front responded, letting out a leering chuckle.
"Huh?!"
Sun Jie couldn't believe it—was he actually about to get mugged?
"Stand♂Still♂Like♂a♂Good♂Boy," the man behind him said as he approached, giving Sun Jie a predatory look—particularly aimed at his backside.
A shiver ran down Sun Jie's spine under that gaze. He was suddenly filled with an ominous feeling—today, it wasn't just his wallet that was at risk, but possibly something much more personal.
"Big bro, enough talking, I can't wait any longer."
"I know, let's do this together."
As the two men closed in, Sun Jie squeezed his eyes shut in despair.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Just as all hope seemed lost, a clear voice rang out. Sun Jie opened his eyes to see a beautiful girl entering the alleyway. Besides her flat chest, there seemed to be no flaw in her appearance. But what difference would a beautiful girl make now? There were two of them after all.
The two men turned to see who had spoken. Seeing it was just a girl, they lost interest. "Little girl, you’d better leave now. This doesn’t concern you."
"Oh~? And what if I say no?"
The flat-chested beauty raised an eyebrow. Lately, she hadn't been in the best mood, and seeing these guys attempting a mugging gave her the perfect outlet for her frustrations.
To Sun Jie's utter amazement, the girl made short work of the two men, taking them down with just a few moves.
That's right—the 'beautiful girl' who knew martial arts was none other than Chu Feng. And why was Chu Feng dressed in women's clothes? It was because she had to accompany her mom shopping, so reluctantly, she put on the outfit.
As for why she was here, while shopping, she'd noticed Zhao Dezhu sneaking around. She came up with a quick excuse to leave her mom and followed Zhao Dezhu, only to stumble upon this situation. Beating up those two men really helped lift her spirits.
"Are you alright?"
"I... I'm fine," Sun Jie replied, staring blankly at Chu Feng.
"Good. If you're okay, then I'm leaving." With that, Chu Feng turned and left—she dreaded running into Zhao Dezhu again, as that would just be a headache.
Sun Jie watched Chu Feng's departing figure, dumbfounded. Suddenly, he thought maybe he'd been wrong all along. Perhaps Ling Ning, Xu Qing, and Xia You weren't right for him. The girl(?) who had just saved him was the one.
Thinking back to Chu Feng's valiant figure, Sun Jie realized he had seen her before. After thinking for a moment, it clicked—she was one of the waitresses at the coffee shop, the one with the impressively flat chest.
As Chu Feng walked away, a sudden chill made her shiver. She couldn't shake off a bad feeling deep in her gut.
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Author's Note:
Here comes the harem king, Chu Feng! (Haha)
Anyway, I've got some serious boss fights to get to—time to light the bonfire and show those barbarians what the wrath of a salted fish feels like!