Chapter 107: Chapter 100: "Good night, San Geng’s Mom", "Good night, Naonao’s Dad

In the dark of night, the glowing Shen Yuan was undoubtedly the most dazzling pretty boy on campus.

Along the way, countless students exclaimed in surprise at the Exclamation Mark Lamp on Shen Yuan’s head.

If not for the fact that they didn’t know Shen Yuan, they would have definitely run over to accept a quest.

Li Zhi looked at the Exclamation Mark Lamp on Shen Yuan’s head, and the thought that she too would have to wear this thing tomorrow night filled her with ever-growing resistance.

"Hey, can we talk about something?"

Shen Yuan turned to Li Zhi with a cheeky grin. "Not wearing it isn’t an option."

The pretty girl’s cheeks instantly puffed out like two small steamed buns, and Li Zhi once again felt the urge to hit Shen Yuan.

Just then, Shen Yuan continued, "Think about it! By wearing this headband, won’t we be better able to spread suffering? Won’t we be better able to fulfill our duties for the Painful Sacrifice? Have you already forgotten that scene from before? They were so eager to accept the suffering!"

Shen Yuan’s voice was full of infectious enthusiasm, but to Li Zhi, it was all just a load of crap.

The pretty girl put her palms together and gave Shen Yuan a slight bow.

"I’m begging you, please don’t drag me into your little fantasy world. Thank you."

Just as Li Zhi finished speaking, she saw Shen Yuan shove the Exclamation Mark Lamp into her hands.

Shen Yuan spoke with a dead-serious expression, "Hold this and say that to me. Then I’ll accept this quest from you."

Li Zhi’s right hand clenched into a tight fist. "Then just pretend I never said anything."

"In that case, remember to wear the headband tomorrow."

Li Zhi didn’t answer.

She was furious.

’Why did I have to feel sorry for him this morning?!’

"Seriously, I think I’ve lost the ability to love."

Li Zhi stared down at the pavement. "If I hadn’t felt sorry for you this morning, I wouldn’t have walked into this trap. If I hadn’t walked into this trap, I wouldn’t have accepted this shameful demand. And if I hadn’t accepted this shameful demand, I would still be able to love the world."

"So?" Shen Yuan leaned in and asked tentatively, the Exclamation Mark Lamp on his head bobbing and making the light flash in Li Zhi’s eyes.

"So..."

Li Zhi gave Shen Yuan a dark look. "You idiot Shen Yuan, I’m going to end you!!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Sis, sis, fighting is one thing, but at least let me breathe!"

Shen Yuan repeatedly slapped at Li Zhi’s hands.

"Not a chance, you bastard! AHH!!"

The moment the words left Li Zhi’s lips, she felt a ticklish sensation on her waist.

The sudden tickle sent a shiver through her entire body. Her coiled anger instantly dissolved, and she hunched over, hastily taking two steps back.

Li Zhi glared furiously at Shen Yuan, her hands clamped tightly over the spot he had touched.

"Selaan!"

"Hey! Don’t shout. What I did is called self-defense," Shen Yuan said with a straight face.

"Li Zhi attempted to physically eliminate Shen Yuan via suffocation, thereby threatening Shen Yuan’s life. In order to protect his own life and property, Shen Yuan took an unavoidable, reflexive, swift, and minimally harmful measure of self-defense."

Li Zhi shot Shen Yuan a glare. "When did I try to eliminate you?!"

"Sis, you did."

Meeting Shen Yuan’s gaze, Li Zhi stubbornly stiffened her neck, then stomped her foot, gave a cold snort, and turned to walk away.

A classic three-part combo of indignation, that was.

"Hey, hey, hey, what’s the rush? You shouldn’t do strenuous exercise before a meal!"

"Maybe I want to get my appendix removed, is that a problem?!"

"You have to do that after the meal."

Li Zhi’s breath hitched. Then she chose the course of action least likely to give her stress nodules.

SMACK!

"Ow!"

If they were in a classroom right now, he’d probably already be moonwalking.

"Old Yang, do you have any tofu skins left?"

Shen Yuan asked, standing in front of the small oden stall.

He’d left school a bit late today because he was giving out quests, and since he ate a lot, he was afraid they would be sold out.

"Yep, yep, got some. Got fish balls too." Old Yang nodded from his stool without getting up.

Old Yang, the owner of the oden stall, was over sixty. He had a small tricycle, a simmering stand, a few seasonings, disposable bowls, and some thermoses hidden under the stand.

That was the entirety of his late-night snack stall.

Usually, Old Yang just sat on a plastic stool, scrolling through videos on his phone.

Don’t be fooled by Old Yang being over sixty; his ’favorites’ list was pretty wild.

This was something Shen Yuan had discovered while previously exchanging notes with Old Yang.

Of course, his ’favorites’ list was one thing.

Old Yang himself was a pretty good guy, and his business model was built on trusting students.

If you wanted to eat something, you just grabbed a plastic bowl and took what you wanted. Once you were done, you’d find Old Yang to pay.

As for students, well, in any large group you’ll get all sorts, but most of them were still decent.

They might talk tough, throwing around ’your mom’s dead,’ but in person, they’ll just say, ’Ma’am, you look so young.’

After picking out what he wanted to eat, Shen Yuan, as always, had it slathered with sweet bean sauce and chili sauce. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

It was a pretty nostalgic way of eating.

When Shen Yuan was a kid and went to the local market, he often ate like this.

Back then it wasn’t called oden, but even now, Shen Yuan didn’t know what its actual name was.

He’d buy four or five slices of tofu skin, one side with sweet bean sauce, the other with chili sauce, smearing the inside of the plastic bag red and black.

Now it was just in a bowl instead.

Of course, this was also because Old Yang happened to have these two sauces.

Li Zhi, on the other hand, just liked the simple broth.

After the pretty girl chose her ingredients, she placed them in front of Old Yang.

At this point, Old Yang would put down his phone and take the meatballs off the skewers for Li Zhi.

And he’d tell her the price while he was at it.

Sometimes if her portion of an ingredient looked a little small, he’d add a bit more.

That was pretty much all Old Yang did while running his stall.

After all, everyone used QR code payments now anyway.

Shen Yuan walked beside Li Zhi, taking big bites of his tofu skin.

Tofu skins soak up a lot of broth, so it’s easy to make a slurping sound while eating them, but Shen Yuan didn’t.