Chapter 9: A Natural Date
Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A Natural Date
Based on his years of experience scrutinizing images online, Zhang Yan was certain that the photo Chi Xinyue had sent him was unedited.
But he still claimed otherwise on purpose.
Sure enough, Chi Xinyue quickly replied:
[Angry Kitten.gif]
[Incoming Video Call...]
Zhang Yan quickly tidied his appearance. He glanced over his shoulder to ensure there was nothing inappropriate in the background of his apartment before answering the call.
"Zhang Yan! You actually accused me of photoshopping!" Chi Xinyue said. "Open your eyes and look closely! Tell me if this is photoshopped!"
In the slightly laggy video, Chi Xinyue’s beautiful but puffed-up, angry face appeared first. The background seemed to be her own bedroom, looking quite neat and tidy.
The camera then angled downwards, stopping once again at her waist. With her free hand, she pulled her shirt tight and deliberately swayed her slender waist.
The sway was so alluring that the temperature in Zhang Yan’s room seemed to rise a few degrees.
Furthermore, the situation was slightly different this time. Perhaps because she was back in her own room and feeling relaxed, Chi Xinyue was only wearing a pair of extremely short hot pants on her lower half. The dazzling flash of her fair legs nearly blinded Zhang Yan.
"It does look pretty authentic," Zhang Yan said. "But I’ve heard that video calls nowadays come with Spatial Magic."
"Ahhh! I’m so mad!" Chi Xinyue exclaimed. "I absolutely have to clear the name of my Small Waist! Zhang Yan, what will it take for you to believe me?"
"Unless you let me touch it!" Zhang Yan thought.
Of course, Zhang Yan didn’t say his inner thoughts out loud. "Next time we meet, I’ll inspect it in person."
Chi Xinyue’s face remained puffed up with indignation as she immediately replied, "Fine! Then let’s meet at the Heytea in the Rixin Building. You set the time! If you lose, you have to buy me a cup of milk tea as an apology!"
The Rixin Building was a very unique structure at the Provincial University. Integrating dining, shopping, and entertainment, it could be called the central business district of the campus.
"Tomorrow it is, then. I’ll text you the exact time," Zhang Yan said.
On the other end of the screen, Chi Xinyue looked brimming with confidence. "Then it’s a deal! I am definitely drinking that milk tea of yours!"
The two chatted for a little while longer before Chi Xinyue finally hung up the video call. By this point, Zhang Yan could confirm that she genuinely had a very favorable impression of him.
"Has my identity as the richest man in Meng City been exposed?" Zhang Yan wondered.
He mocked himself inwardly. However, the current Zhang Yan possessed limitless confidence. As long as she wasn’t seeking some exclusive, pure romance from him, he was confident he could satisfy all of her desires.
Zhang Yan added another set of Kegel exercises to his routine. He then took a thorough shower, washing away all the lingering smells of barbecue before finally going to sleep.
"Health truly is the greatest asset!"
[Task: Return to Health. Progress increased by 1%.]
[Current Task Progress: 26%.]
Early in the morning, Elder Chen came visiting, and Zhang Yan leaped out of bed with a kip-up to start a brand new day.
"The stuff at that barbecue place was really authentic," Zhang Yan muttered. "It gave me way too much internal heat after eating. I can’t just go eating there casually in the future if I don’t have a girl by my side."
He had gotten up several times in the middle of the night. When certain things were relatively firm, the urge to pee became exceptionally severe. Even though not much had accumulated, the discomfort still made him want to get up and use the bathroom.
Zhang Yan’s blood sugar levels were very healthy, so he first did a set of Kegel exercises, followed by a five-thousand-meter morning run, before returning to eat breakfast.
[Current Task Progress: 34%.]
"After all, as graduation approached, my physical activity decreased a lot," Zhang Yan thought. "Now that I’ve adjusted over the past couple of days, my stamina is recovering. I feel like I can try pushing for ten thousand meters tomorrow."
The task issued by Brother Tongzi to the thirty-eight-year-old version of Zhang Yan was indeed somewhat difficult, requiring considerable willpower and time just to meet the basic standards. But for the current Zhang Yan, who had just graduated, this was nothing more than the level of a daily workout.
After breakfast, Zhang Yan opened Chi Xinyue’s chat window. "Let me see, who is still sleeping in?"
It was still summer vacation. Generally speaking, girls had a habit of sleeping in, so Zhang Yan had patiently waited until half-past nine to send the message.
After quite a while, a voice message arrived with a DING. Clicking play, a girl’s voice, thick with grogginess and a sweet, sticky tone, came through.
"Zhang Yan, what time is it? Why are you waking me up? I stayed up a bit late binge-watching a show yesterday. I’m not even fully awake yet."
Zhang Yan smiled. The fact that he was able to wake her up also proved that she hadn’t muted his notifications, which once again confirmed his previous assessment.
"It’s almost ten o’clock! Hurry up and get out of bed. I might need to ask for your help with something today. Once it’s done, I’ll treat you to a big meal. You can pick the place."
The response was faster this time; it seemed Chi Xinyue had sobered up quite a bit. "Ah! Are you a devil? I just indulged myself once yesterday! If I eat a big meal now, the Small Waist I worked so hard to train will gain another inch!"
"If you don’t want a big meal, forget it. You’re saving me money anyway."
"No way! You’ve already said it, so you can’t go back on your word! Wait for me, I’m getting up right now!"
A girl’s "right now" was something one should only take with a grain of salt. Zhang Yan scrolled through his phone for a while first.
His mom and dad had climbed Changbai Mountain bright and early today. Their luck was good; there were no clouds, and the Heavenly Lake was clearly visible. His mom had posted a nine-photo collage, featuring both couple shots of the two elders and individual portraits. The photography skills were quite good—at a glance, it definitely wasn’t the handiwork of his parents. It seemed the tour team was very responsible, constantly providing close, attentive care for them.
Seeing his mom’s beaming smile and his dad’s pretentious poses, Zhang Yan gave a knowing smile. The money truly hadn’t been spent in vain.
He scrolled through short videos for a bit longer. There was still no activity from Chi Xinyue’s end, so Zhang Yan threw on a rather casual outfit—a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers—and headed to the university first. After all, with thirty to forty thousand students at the Central Campus, just wandering around offered the chance of running into new junior girls.
Meanwhile, Chi Xinyue was still sitting in front of her mirror doing her makeup.
She was applying a "no-makeup" makeup look. In order to make the final result appear natural and cosmetic-free, it required even more meticulous techniques and product matching. Overall, it was much more troublesome than a standard makeup routine.
"Yanyan, come quick and help me check if there are any flaws."
"Yuyu, you haven’t actually fallen for that Zhang Yan, have you? You two just met, right?"
"It hasn’t been that fast! You don’t actually believe in love at first sight, do you? It’s all because I went out with you guys completely bare-faced yesterday. I have to win back the points I lost today."
Xiaoyan chatted as she helped her best friend inspect her face. "Your performance today is very stable. It’s perfect! You’ll definitely captivate him to death!"
"Hehe, of course! Yanyan, I see you’re dressed to the nines too. Are you heading out in a bit?"
"Oh, I made plans with a few classmates to go practice dancing today."
"Practice dancing? Do you need to dress up like a giant butterfly in mating season just to practice dancing?"
"Who are you calling a giant butterfly?!"
"TEE-HEE!" The two girls horseplayed for a while before Xiaoyan slowly explained the real reason.
"The editor-in-chief of a magazine is going to be observing today. If I can win them over, I’ll have a steady source of extra income."
Watching her roommate carefully pack away all the cosmetics, Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment before finally voicing the question that had been weighing on her mind for the past few days.
"Yuyu, you haven’t really bought any new makeup lately, and you’re skimping on the old ones. You usually go out bare-faced now. Plus, you mentioned that you might have to move back into the school’s old, run-down dorms next month. Tell me the truth, have you run into some financial trouble?"
Chi Xinyue’s smile seemed to falter for a second, but she immediately replied as if everything was perfectly fine, "Thanks for your concern, Sister Yanyan! But don’t worry, I can handle it. I just need to be a bit more frugal. I gotta go now, bye."
Hearing her best friend’s answer, Xiaoyan also breathed a sigh of relief.
However, whether she was glad because she didn’t have to lend out money, or because her best friend hadn’t encountered any major crisis, even she herself probably couldn’t say for sure.