Right after getting dumped, He suddenly learned that his best buddy was the legendary cold-as-ice school beauty. - Chapter 49

“Full?” Lu Yibei asked.

“Yes, full.”

“Was it good?”

“Delicious.”

Ji Qingqian patted her slightly round belly, seemingly lost in thought.

Lu Yibei had a bad feeling. “Heroine, don’t—”

But Ji Qingqian had already spoken.

“You made my stomach bigger.”

Lu Yibei: …

“Eh? You thought of that too? You really know your stuff.”

“I really wish your understanding applied to Calculus class instead,” Lu Yibei said helplessly. “Stop making dirty jokes.”

“Oh.” Ji Qingqian looked utterly unconcerned.

Who said she was aloof?

She was about to challenge him!

“It’s been ages since I had hotpot. Tastes even better than I remembered,” Lu Yibei said.

Ji Qingqian let out a soft laugh. “This is the best hotpot I’ve ever had.”

“That’s nothing. Wait till you try the real deal,” Lu Yibei said. Haidilao was famous, sure, but just decent—not extraordinary. “If you want truly good hotpot, you’ve got to go to Chaozhou or Chongqing.”

“Then you’ll take me next time,” Ji Qingqian said casually.

“Heroine, just two sentences and you’ve sent me two thousand kilometers away,” Lu Yibei said.

“Not happy?” she asked, feigning indignation. “Tempt me but won’t act on it, scumbag.”

“Go on,” Lu Yibei said. “When we have time, we’ll go.”

“Mhm. Plenty of time ahead. We’ll get to it eventually,” Ji Qingqian said.

Time was long, and she’d grown fond of that phrase.

She looked at Lu Yibei.

They’d be together for a long, long time. They could go anywhere.

After finishing some complimentary fruit, they rested for a bit. Then Lu Yibei called a waiter to pay the bill.

But Ji Qingqian ended up paying. Previously, when he bought her shoes, he’d taken a hundred yuan from her as a symbolic gesture.

She guessed the Anta shoes weren’t actually that cheap, but didn’t argue.

So if Lu Yibei tried to pay this time, she’d probably glare at him.

Chewing mint candies, they stepped out of Haidilao.

Ji Qingqian casually unbound her ponytail.

Earlier, Lu Yibei thought she looked best with it tied—sharp, heroic.

Now, with her hair loose, she was breathtaking in a serene, unmatched way.

“Hold this for me,” she said, handing him the hair tie.

Half aqua blue, half white, it was quite pretty.

“Hold it?” Lu Yibei asked.

“Just wrap it around your wrist,” Ji Qingqian said.

Lu Yibei blinked, then nodded, slipping the tie onto his right wrist.

Ji Qingqian pursed her lips, her arched brows hinting at a small, quiet delight.

“It suits you.”

Lu Yibei smiled, raising his wrist. “Indeed.”

Haidilao was on the fifth floor of i77 Yintai Mall.

After eating, Lu Yibei had intended to take Ji Qingqian downstairs. But glancing down and at his phone, he said:

“I was going to take you to stroll around West Lake too.”

“‘Was’?” Ji Qingqian frowned. “Why not now?”

“It’s raining. Look—people downstairs have umbrellas.”

Sure, the saying went, “West Lake in rain is better than West Lake in sun,” but only during the day.

At night, rainy West Lake was pitch-dark and slippery.

“The weather forecast says rain too.”

Lu Yibei showed her his phone.

Ji Qingqian pouted, a hint of annoyance flashing across her face.

“Damn it—”

“Next time,” Lu Yibei said.

“Mm.”

Ji Qingqian frowned. “So we’re going back?”

“Let’s just wander the mall a bit. Not much to see here, malls are all the same…” Lu Yibei said.

Ji Qingqian raised an eyebrow, regaining her mood.

“It’s fine~”

Wherever you are, it’s special.

Or rather, you are what makes it special…

Her heart softened. Then she tilted her head, thinking:

“Right. You’re particularly… shameless.”

Lu Yibei: ??

What? Heroine? I wasn’t even looking!

They wandered through several stores, both digesting and passing the time.

Finally, they stopped in front of a row of capsule toy machines.

Rationally, Lu Yibei knew these machines were a terrible deal.

The charms inside weren’t guaranteed, and even if they got what they wanted, twenty-nine yuan could be bought online easily.

But emotionally?

Twist the capsule! A little gamble for fun!

Humans had zero resistance to gacha and unboxing.

It was all about the experience.

“Agreed: one each, no greed,” Lu Yibei told her beforehand.

“Okay,” Ji Qingqian nodded.

He scanned 58 yuan in the QR code.

Two tries in total.

Lu Yibei went first.

Ji Qingqian followed.

Twisting their “Pokéball-like” spheres, they finally glimpsed the prizes inside.

Ji Qingqian’s was a plush charm—a sun. On closer inspection, the sun’s face was Winnie the Pooh’s goofy expression.

Lu Yibei got a metal pendant.

A wolf head, like Geralt’s mark in The Witcher 3.

“Winnie and a White Wolf… from the same machine? Totally unrelated things,” Lu Yibei muttered.

“I’ll take this.”

Ji Qingqian grabbed the metal pendant, her voice cool and crisp:

“I’m a lone wolf in the wind. This suits me. And… this is for you.”

She hung the Winnie sun on Lu Yibei’s single-shoulder canvas bag.

Looking into his eyes, she said softly, but seriously:

“Yibei, you are the sun.”

Her usual cool gaze blazed warmly with that sentence.

It felt as if he truly illuminated her life. She looked at him earnestly, full of sincerity.

Lu Yibei was speechless. He averted his gaze, unsure how to meet her eyes.

Her throat moved as she spoke sincerely:

“…So, can you stop the rain?”

“Impossible!”

“Tch, useless sun…”

“Nighttime sun isn’t much use anyway, right?”

Ji Qingqian pouted. “Then I’ll just call a taxi?”

It was past nine. Not late, but nightlife in Zhejiang was sparse, and i77 Yintai closed at ten.

“Mm,” Lu Yibei said.

He rummaged in his shoulder bag.

Ji Qingqian finally saw what was inside.

A foldable umbrella and a long-sleeved shirt.

“I checked the temperature. It’s cooled down outside. Put this on first,” Lu Yibei said with a smile.

Ji Qingqian looked at the shirt, then at him, a little displeased.

“…A plaid shirt?”

“Heroine, don’t forget—we’re Computer Science majors. Plaid shirts are basically our uniform as future programmers!”