97. Inside the Coffee Shop
“Are you serious? I’m totally in!”
“Sister-brother romance~ Teacher-student romance~ Breaking through societal obstacles!”
“How sweet~”
Yan Xinya’s eyes sparkled; after hearing Ning Chu spill the tea on Zhang Shaoqing, she perked up like a puppy with a bone: “I’ll be his hype girl! I’m a pro at this! Remember, I was the one who set you up with Wen Yang!”
“Are you crushing again?” Ning Chu shot a glare at the Wolf Girl, “Is that all that’s rattling around in your head?”
“Well, I’ve crammed a few hundred English words in there too~ So I’m a bit smarter than you!”
“……”
Ning Chu had no comeback, let out a dramatic sigh, feeling utterly defeated.
In the realm of English, she wasn’t even as sharp as a Husky!
“Hey cutie~ Here’s your latte and dirty bun.”
A cup of coffee and a pastry were placed on the table. Ning Chu looked up to see the Coffee Shop Boss Lady in a maid outfit, her lips twitching: “Sister, I’m definitely a girl!”
“Aren’t girls just the best?” the Boss Lady grinned, poking Ning Chu’s soft cheek, “Haven’t seen you in ages—you’re cuter than ever!”
So why did they land in a coffee shop for finals prep?
Ning Chu knew the Boss Lady meant no harm—she just loved teasing naive young boys.
But she was already a girl!
“Studying, right?”
With not many customers in the morning, the Boss Lady peeked at the textbooks on the table, smiling: “If you have any questions, just ask me! I am technically your senior~”
“No thanks, I have a genius here.”
On Saturday morning, Ning Chu had agreed to study with Yan Xinya and Lily, thinking they would hit the library or a study room. Instead, these two girls dragged her to a coffee shop.
Ning Chu looked at Yan Xinya who was drinking coffee like it was water and asked, “Aren’t dogs not supposed to drink coffee?”
“I’m a wolf! Not a dog!”
“Oh~”
Lily was leaned back against the wall, typing away on her phone, probably flirting online.
She studied hard, actually paid attention in class, and finals were a breeze for her.
“Hey, Ning Chu.” Yan Xinya bit her pen, “Isn’t Zhang Shaoqing super rich and decent looking? Why doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”
“With his attitude? As if!” Ning Chu scoffed, “He used to crush on his childhood friend, but before he could confess, she was snatched away by someone else right at the start of school.”
“Now he’s crushing on a teacher… I’m not too hopeful—he might already have a girlfriend.”
“Don’t worry!” Yan Xinya thumped her soft chest confidently, “I’m a pro at playing wingwoman! Just give me his WeChat! I’ll chat him up!”
“You are pretty good at shipping couples…”
Ning Chu murmured as she sent Zhang Shaoqing’s contact info over.
In the set-up of the Little Emperor Wen, Catgirl Qian Qian had no boyfriend but already had a crush on a certain guy.
Then, the antagonist snapped a photo of her, threatening to expose it unless they developed her character further.
Frustrated, she lowered her head and continued to cram vocabulary, distractedly copying down English phrases.
So cool—how did I even write this stuff back then!
If she were to do it now… she’d be writing some spicy fanfics about the Little Emperor!
But what if she got transported again, becoming the leading lady of some spicy tale… now that would be a totally unmanageable situation!
Today’s bill was evenly split. If she hadn’t been unprepared and dragged to the coffee shop, she wouldn’t dare spend over twenty bucks on a coffee and pastry for breakfast.
Taking a sip of her warm coffee, she turned to Lily and asked, “Did you ever work things out with that guy who confessed?”
“Nope.”
“Is he still chasing you?”
Lily nodded with a look of despair.
“Then why are you still flirting with guys online?”
Ning Chu suddenly leaned over to glance at Lily’s phone screen. In just one look, she saw the Succubus throwing terms like “wife” and “cutie” around in a novel fan group.
Lily instinctively hugged her phone to her chest, shooting Ning Chu a glare.
“You’re going to crash and burn at this rate~”
“It’s just online.”
Ning Chu was pretty bold online too, but not to the extent Lily was.
Offline she was a cool, reserved little lamb; online she was a desperate, old liaison.
“Ning Chu~ What a coincidence!”
The coffee shop door swung open suddenly, and in peeked a little vampire.
“Nana~” Ning Chu waved her hand to acknowledge her.
Nana thought about coming over, but seeing the unfamiliar girls beside Ning Chu, she hesitated before finding a quiet corner to sit alone.
Ever since the hypnosis spray cured her fear of men, Nana’s shyness remained, always looking timid around others.
Ning Chu expected Nana, as a side character in the Little Emperor’s story, to instantly snag a boyfriend just to experience it.
“Come join us!”
As soon as she heard the invitation, Nana sprang up and trotted over.
“Weren’t you the one who tried to steal Ning Chu’s guy?” Yan Xinya rested her chin in her hand, sipping her coffee through a straw, “You two are having such a good time now, huh?”
“We occasionally go to school together, and my rental place is close to hers.”
“Oh~”
The Wolf Girl eyed the shy, head-down-playing-with-her-fingers Nana curiously: “Do vampires really have to drink bl**d every day?”
Ning Chu and Lily both turned their gazes to Nana, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“A little bit is enough,” Nana spoke so softly it was hardly audible, showing a hint of her sharp little fangs while saying, “I enjoy duck bl**d vermicelli soup.”
“Duck bl**d, huh?”
Well, this is modern society—it makes perfect sense…
But Ning Chu couldn’t help but burst into laughter: “Duck bl**d hot pot is great too!”
“Mhm! And bl**d sausage!” Talking about food, Nana perked up quite a bit.
“Hey, wanna play mahjong later?” Yan Xinya suddenly suggested, “There are exactly four of us! How about we go to my dorm for a mahjong game?”
“Wait a minute…” Ning Chu looked confused, “I don’t know how to play; I’ve never learned.”
“You don’t know mahjong? Then I’ll teach you!”
She turned to Lily and Nana: “Do you both know how to play?”
Seeing the two girls nodding, Ning Chu was totally clueless, mumbling, “Do all girls know how to play mahjong?”
“I play with Lily and Lin Li all the time on weekends~ Too bad it’s always three of us missing one.”
Though mahjong culture was indeed popular locally, Ning Chu only knew Japanese mahjong, and even then she had to play online with hints.
If she had to play a hand of mahjong by herself, it’d probably end with her scattering the tiles around!
Frowning deeply, she wasn’t keen on learning: “You know what? I think I’ll pass. I don’t know anything about it.”
Playing mahjong was less appealing than heading back to her rental to write.
“I bought an induction cooker for my rental, I need to go back and make lunch to save money.”
“No worries! Come to my dorm! Lily cooks on weekends too! She makes the best food and can even teach you some cooking skills!”
Ning Chu’s heart started to flutter at the thought.
While most girls her age couldn’t cook, she was quite eager to learn.
Learning a couple of dishes that Wen Yang loves? Now that would be worth it!
