Chapter 16: Favorability at 80, Drawing Skills from the Realm of Daily Life

At the table, the group chatted and boasted, their lively banter filling the air. Beer paired with crayfish, and the more they drank, the more exhilarated they became.

“I have to say, this flavor is simply divine. No wonder they can make millions in a single summer.”

“The thirteen-spice and garlic ones are delicious, but the spicy one is a bit much for me.”

Both Liu Hanyue and Wang Churuo were eating with their mouths glistening with oil.

Cheng Yao looked at Liu Hanyue and asked, “You don’t eat spicy food?”

“This one’s too spicy—loaded with Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies. I can’t handle it. If I have too much, I might break out. I can only accept mildly spicy things,” Liu Hanyue replied, shaking her head, her twin ponytails swaying.

“I can handle spicier food,” Wang Churuo said, holding up a crayfish.

“Wipe your nose…” Cheng Yao looked at her a few times and nodded with a smile.

This scene caught Lu Mengyao’s eye, and a pang of jealousy surged in her chest, feeling as though the two were secretly exchanging glances.

She was peeling a crayfish, intending to pass it to Cheng Yao, but after glancing at the others, she popped it into her own mouth and turned to chat with her roommates, deciding it was best not to dwell on what she couldn’t see.

Their conversation drifted to college matters—classes at the College of Arts, and the like. They weren’t that familiar with each other, so there wasn’t much to talk about. The atmosphere wasn’t awkward, at least, and everyone focused on eating. The girls, intent on maintaining their image, ate daintily.

Cheng Yao, on the other hand, grabbed the crayfish directly and slurped away noisily, utterly unconcerned.

“This broth is really fresh,” he commented.

“Let me try…” Hanyue slurped, then again and again, “Not bad…”

Noticing the others’ looks, Liu Hanyue lowered her head, falling silent. She felt that Cheng Yao was somehow contagious; his lack of decorum was rubbing off on her.

Cheng Yao stared at her in silence, trying to imagine himself as the crayfish, but couldn’t quite relate.

Who would have thought Liu Hanyue was so good at slurping?

Cheng Yao peeled off his gloves, his hands slick with red oil, and glanced at Lu Mengyao. “I’m going to wash my hands. You guys keep eating.”

No sooner had Cheng Yao left than Lu Mengyao stood as well.

“I’m going to the restroom. Save me half a spicy crab, the part with the roe, please. Thanks, darling…”

“No problem, but hurry, or I’ll finish it!” someone replied.

Cheng Yao stood at the sink in the restroom, scrubbing his hands, glancing at Lu Mengyao.

She looked at him with a complicated gaze, washing her own hands. “So…”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not doing anything, don’t worry. I haven’t told my roommates about us, and I never will. You don’t have to worry.” Lu Mengyao, afraid he’d be angry, lowered her head and explained quietly. This gave Cheng Yao a taste of what “domestic status” meant, but he hadn’t expected her to restrain herself from showing off in front of her roommates.

In fact, he’d thought that Chen Qian and the others might have already known, since the girls at the table had been giving him odd looks.

Lu Mengyao muttered softly, “They thought I was here because of Wang Wenbo. But that’s fine; I’ll go along with it.”

Cheng Yao nodded, thinking that Lu Mengyao was indeed smart. If she couldn’t keep quiet, there’d be no future between them—he’d hinted at this before. As expected, Lu Mengyao, the master of tea art, really understood men.

Still, Lu Mengyao was a little nervous inside.

Cheng Yao checked her affection level—it had already surpassed seventy. Was this the result of long-term effort?

“Not bad. Once military training ends, go get your driver’s license. When you’ve passed, I’ll get you a car.”

“Really… really?” Lu Mengyao’s eyes widened, adrenaline surging. “What kind of car?”

With a smack, Cheng Yao slapped her on the backside, squeezing firmly. “BMW, Mercedes, whichever you like. It depends on your performance. If I have enough money, I’ll get you something nice.”

“I know a driving school offering discounts right now,” she replied eagerly.

“Wait—you’re not still getting referral bonuses from the driving school, are you?” Cheng Yao shot back.

She shook her head. “Of course not. It’s just that several of my high school classmates signed up there, and I advertised it in my friend group…”

“Alright, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll head back first. Remember, don’t let anything slip.”

“I know…” Lu Mengyao quickly rose on tiptoes and kissed Cheng Yao on the cheek, bashful and coy.

Cheng Yao gave her another smack. “You’re such a tease.”

She whimpered softly.

Cheng Yao hurried away, silently admitting the feel was surprisingly good.

After he left, a faint, foolish smile appeared on Lu Mengyao’s face as she began pondering which car to buy. Mercedes had striking looks and interiors; Audi didn’t seem to suit her, though its headlights were famous; BMWs didn’t seem as good-looking as Mercedes…

Cheng Yao rejoined the group, nonchalantly pulling on his gloves again. “The crayfish is really plump and tender…”

“These spicy snails are delicious too. Try one,” someone suggested.

He obliged. “Let me try. Not bad—I used to dig for snails in the river as a kid and stir-fry them at home.”

Soon, Lu Mengyao returned as well.

[Congratulations, your cultivated girlfriend “Lu Mengyao” has reached an affection level of 80. You may now extract one life or specialty skill from her.]

As the prompt sounded, Cheng Yao’s eyes lit up.

Chen Qian frowned. “So slow—the spicy crab is almost gone. I saved you half.”

“Thanks.”

“Cheng Yao wasn’t bothering you, was he?” Chen Qian leaned over and whispered in a voice only they could hear. She knew Cheng Yao had his eye on Lu Mengyao.

Lu Mengyao’s eyes flickered. “He left first. Besides, Liu Hanyue is so pretty—prettier than me—and she’s always nearby. I think he’s just got a short attention span. Nothing will happen.”

“Oh, and you and Wang Wenbo…”

“Impossible!” Lu Mengyao cut her off coldly.

Chen Qian muttered, “Then why did you come for crayfish with us?”

“Well, didn’t you all come too?”

“I…”

The crayfish feast wound to a close; it was nearly eight o’clock.

“My goodness, it’s almost eight already. We need to hurry back and do laundry,” said Liu Hanyue.

“We should get going, too. Handsome, let’s meet up again sometime.”

“Bye-bye.” Lu Mengyao waved at Cheng Yao and the others, then left with her roommates.

Zhang Lei and Zhu Huiyang looked at Wang Wenbo. “You really didn’t pay?”

“Consider this crayfish my appearance fee,” Wang Wenbo replied. He was a bit puzzled himself. While chatting with Lu Mengyao, he’d clearly felt her keeping her distance, and yet she’d still come to Nancai this time.

He’d just wanted to see what would happen—who knew what was going on? He could tell, though, that Lu Mengyao was at a pretty high level.

Wang Churuo asked, “You mean that really pure-looking girl?”

“She’s pretty, right?”

“Yeah, and easy to talk to, much more approachable than her roommates.”

Liu Hanyue thought of Lu Mengyao—indeed, she was attractive and seemed quite quiet, too.

Cheng Yao said, “You think you can tell what kind of person she is after just two hours together?”

“True. Let’s get going. Don’t you have laundry to do?”

“Will you do mine?” Cheng Yao teased Wang Churuo with a half-smile.

She glared at him and said, “Why not ask Hanyue to do it for you? She can thank you for carrying her to the clinic.”

Cheng Yao looked at Liu Hanyue.

Without turning around, she said, “Let’s go, let’s go. We have military training tomorrow—I’m exhausted.”

…