Chapter 96 - 90: Monster in the Mirror

Chapter 96: Chapter 90: Monster in the Mirror

Gu Qing smiled. "Come on, let’s go get some Haidilao."

"Let’s go, go, go! We’re off!"

Xia Shuran was instantly full of energy, her eyes sparkling with joy.

...

「6:28 PM.」

After hailing a Didi at the school gate, the two of them finally arrived at the large shopping mall closest to campus and headed straight for the Haidilao inside.

After choosing a table, they went to the sauce bar to mix their dipping sauces.

"Senior, you’re putting in a lot of cilantro. Don’t you think it tastes weird?"

Seeing Gu Qing pile a heap of chopped cilantro into his small dish, Xia Shuran couldn’t help but ask.

Gu Qing smiled gently. "I think it’s fine. It smells pretty good to me."

Xia Shuran shook her head, her pretty, delicate brows furrowing. "I can’t stand the taste of cilantro. I’ve never eaten it, not once in my life."

Gu Qing looked at her and asked with a smile, "There’s something I don’t eat, too. Want to guess what it is?"

"Luosifen?"

Xia Shuran guessed after a moment of thought.

She wasn’t sure if it was just anecdotal evidence, but she’d noticed that among the people she knew, it seemed like only girls enjoyed luosifen; she’d rarely seen any guys who liked it.

SNAP!

Gu Qing snapped his fingers. "Congratulations, you’re wrong."

"Yay!"

Xia Shuran’s face lit up. "I knew you wouldn’t eat it, Senior... huh?"

Halfway through her celebration, she suddenly realized Gu Qing had said she was wrong. She’d been tricked by his "Congratulations."

"Senior, you’re so sneaky! You said ’Congratulations’ on purpose just to trick me."

Xia Shuran pouted, then asked, "So, what is it that you don’t eat, Senior?"

Gu Qing quoted a popular internet meme. "I don’t eat beef."

"Huh?"

Xia Shuran was completely surprised. "You don’t eat beef, Senior?"

Clearly, she didn’t get the reference and thought he was serious about not eating beef.

Seeing she didn’t get it, Gu Qing could only chuckle. "Just kidding. I don’t think I have any dietary restrictions. I can eat anything."

After mixing their sauces, they also grabbed two plates and got some cut fruit.

Then they returned to their table to wait for the server to bring their food.

Before long, a server came over with a cart to deliver their order.

Six plates of meat.

One plate of vegetables.

The two immediately started cooking.

They chatted as they ate.

During the meal, Xia Shuran was especially proactive, constantly scooping cooked meat out of the pot for Gu Qing.

Every so often, she would also pick up a piece of fresh fruit and offer it to him to cleanse his palate.

"Senior, the sauce I mixed is super delicious. Quick, try some."

Xia Shuran picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks, dipped it in her own sauce, and placed it in Gu Qing’s bowl.

She had originally wanted to feed it to him directly.

’But if I do that,’ she thought, ’isn’t that moving too fast? It might make me seem frivolous and lower his opinion of me.’

’After all, Senior is a traditional guy who is very proper when interacting with the opposite sex.’

With that in mind, she simply placed the sauce-covered beef into Gu Qing’s bowl, maintaining a proper distance from the handsome senior she liked.

Yes, Gu Qing was indeed traditional—so traditional he’d claim not to eat beef before happily taking three wives and four concubines.

After Gu Qing finished eating the slice of beef, Xia Shuran looked curiously at his sauce bowl, blinked, and asked, "Senior, your sauce looks really good, too. Can I try some?"

Gu Qing was a little surprised. "You can, but I added a lot of chopped cilantro to my sauce. Don’t you dislike cilantro?"

Xia Shuran was eager to try. "It’s fine! Maybe I’ll like the cilantro you added?"

"Then give it a try."

Gu Qing picked up a slice of beef with his chopsticks, coated it thoroughly in his own sauce, and reached over to place it in Xia Shuran’s bowl.

Xia Shuran picked up the cilantro-flecked beef from her bowl, hesitated for a moment, but still put it in her mouth and began to chew carefully.

The moment she tasted it, her pretty brows instantly knitted together.

"Such a weird taste."

"It’s so gross."

"I’m never eating cilantro again."

Xia Shuran complained while forcing herself to endure the unpleasant taste of cilantro, chewing the beef relentlessly until she finally managed to swallow it down.

Gu Qing was amused by her stubborn little expression and found her all the more adorable.

...

「7:18 PM.」

Full and satisfied, the two of them left Haidilao and went for a stroll outside the mall.

"Senior, I just ate so much meat. My mouth feels so greasy now."

As Xia Shuran spoke, she pointed to a Mixue Ice City up ahead and suggested, "Why don’t we go over there and get some lemonade to cut through the richness?"

Gu Qing smiled. "Let’s go, then. I was just thinking I’d like something to drink, too."

Soon, the two of them walked up to the Mixue Ice City.

"Senior, I want mine with 30% sugar. It’s not good if it’s too sweet; a little sour is perfect."

"Okay, no problem."

With that, Gu Qing went into the shop by himself to order the lemonade.

Xia Shuran waited obediently outside.

She stood there for a moment and noticed that the storefront of the adjacent shop was made of glass and could be used as a mirror.

So she walked over, wanting to use the shop’s glass facade to check if her makeup had smudged.

After all, the steam from the hot pot earlier could easily ruin one’s makeup.

’Good, my makeup isn’t smudged. It would be terrible if I looked ugly in front of Senior.’

’These colored contacts are a little uncomfortable. Maybe I should just take them out.’

’But how do you even take these out?’

’This is my first time wearing colored contacts.’

’I have no experience...’

Xia Shuran muttered to herself as she examined her reflection in the glass.

As she spoke, she took a step forward until her face was almost pressed against the glass. Using her middle finger, she gently pulled her upper and lower eyelids apart, trying to remove the colored contacts from her eyes.

Hmm?

Xia Shuran furrowed her brow slightly and paused what she was doing.