After much persuasion, Yuhua finally managed to shake off the clingy Anpelin.
By now, it was almost dusk. Yuhua got some food at the cafeteria window and sat alone at an empty spot.
Before he could even get a couple of bites in, a familiar figure appeared beside his table.
“Senpai, you’re eating at the cafeteria too?”
Anpelin set her folded parasol aside and sat down across from Yuhua.
Yuhua looked down at his outfit, wondering if he’d been knocked silly and forgotten to change back.
But after confirming he was Yuhua and not the magical girl Shui Hua, he felt even more panicked.
Now that things had come to this, he could only brace himself and play dumb.
“Hello, junior. Are you sure you’re not mistaking me for someone else?”
Instead of backing off, Anpelin leaned forward slightly, crossing the centerline of the table, and drew closer to Yuhua, speaking in a whisper only the two could hear:
“Shui Hua-senpai, don’t pretend anymore. I’ve already recognized you.”
After that, she sat up straight again, her innocent smile still on her face.
“So, what should I call you, senpai?”
“Just call me Yuhua.”
“Yuhua-senpai, the contact I added last time was your Official Work Account, right? Can I add your personal contact this time?”
Yuhua thought, Lately my cover’s been blown way too often…
But considering she was just a junior he’d only met for the first time and the original self didn’t seem to care much anyway, he decided to just admit it.
Yuhua took out his phone and handed his QR code to her.
“Fine, fine… But I really am curious, how did you recognize me at a glance? Why is it that lately, one after another, everyone just seems to see through me right away?”
Anpelin also took out her phone to scan Yuhua’s QR code.
After the friend request went through, she beamed with satisfaction.
“It’s because my Vampire Meme is mixed with a bit of Psionic Setting, so I can sense the presence of souls. No matter if you’re Shui Hua or Yuhua, your Soul Spectrum is easy for me to recognize… But I really don’t know how the others figured it out.”
“All right, all right…”
Yuhua massaged his forehead.
“But please, you must keep this a secret for me.”
“But senpai, you know people have weaknesses. If you don’t give me a little benefit, I can’t guarantee I won’t let it slip~”
Somehow, Yuhua found Anpelin’s phrasing a bit familiar…
He remembered that he’d used a similar threat on Lin Ling before.
“What do you want?”
Yuhua looked at her warily, throwing in a warning first.
“Let me make this clear, I have my limits. If you push me too hard, I’ll just quit and let everything go to hell. Nobody’s getting out of this unscathed.”
“What do you take me for, senpai?”
Anpelin pouted.
“You’re my idol, how could I do anything excessive?”
She clasped her hands to her chest, leaned in a little, and a faint blush rose on her cheeks.
“What I want is… Yuhua-senpai, will you be my boyfriend? Just for a month.”
Worried Yuhua would think he was getting the short end of the stick, she hurried to add, “Since senpai only has a female model version, you’ve probably been single since birth, right? With me making the first move, it’s not like you’re losing out, is it?”
She nodded forcefully at the end, as if confirming her own analysis.
Yuhua was so stunned by her direct approach that he instinctively wanted to solve the issue with money:
“Uh… let’s forget it. How about I give you four hundred and ninety thousand? Treat it as hush money.”
Anpelin looked like the sky had collapsed upon hearing that, her voice on the verge of tears.
“S-Senpai… Am I really that unbearable? You’d rather give me four hundred and ninety thousand than be my boyfriend?”
She quickly took out her phone, turned on the front camera, and carefully scrutinized her reflection.
Fumbling with her hands, she tried to smooth down her long hair, which had been mussed up by the orange tabby earlier, trying to restore its shine and order.
Once she was satisfied, she pressed her face close to the screen, looking left and right before turning to Yuhua:
“Senpai, look, what about now? Don’t I look better like this? And this is me without makeup. If I dress up a little, I’ll look even better! Senpai, are you really… really not going to reconsider?”
By conventional standards, Anpelin was unquestionably a beautiful girl: delicate features, elegant white hair, and lively red eyes.
Even surrounded by others like Xing Li, Fei Xing, or Liu Jin—magical girls each with their own unique charms—Yuhua had to admit that Anpelin’s looks were among the very best.
“That’s not the issue…”
The reason he offered hush money was, on one hand, he felt dating her would make it seem like she owed him, which didn’t warrant such a big favor in return.
On the other hand:
“The main thing is, I really don’t have the time for a relationship. Because of my Hero work, my mornings are packed with classes, I have to work in the afternoons, and even Saturdays I need to make up work hours… Today is the only day I get off, and then something unexpected like this happens. I barely have any time to rest, let alone start a relationship.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m easy to take care of. Even if senpai just leaves me on auto-play, I can still have plenty of fun by myself.”
Anpelin’s tone was as pitiful as a small animal waiting to be adopted.
“Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider that four hundred and ninety thousand?”
Yuhua asked one last time.
“No, no, I don’t want your hush money, senpai, I just want your…”
Anpelin suddenly paused, her mind going blank as she realized how embarrassing her next words were, but she still forced herself to say it, her cheeks flushed red.
“I just want your… your love.”
“All right, all right, you’ve put it that way, what else can I say?”
Yuhua didn’t want her to think he was playing hard to get, so he made his signature self-deprecating remark, “But don’t think I’m at a disadvantage here. Good words can’t persuade a stubborn ghost. I’d be more than happy for a girl to chase after me.”
“Then nobody’s losing out.”
Anpelin’s expression instantly brightened, her smile blooming.
“A relationship is a mutual thing—so long as we’re both happy.”
Satisfied, she lowered her head, eating small spoonfuls of rice, occasionally glancing up to sneak loving, gentle looks at him.
Looking at the joyful girl before him, even Yuhua couldn’t help but feel a ripple in his heart.
Though he often prided himself on being a master of emotions, analyzing relationships like an academic, now that he was truly experiencing love with such a passionate girl, Yuhua tossed those theories aside and simply enjoyed the feeling of opening his heart.
***
Unknowingly, the two found themselves sitting side by side on a campus bench by the lake.
The night was gentle, and the streetlights cast dappled reflections on the water.
Their hands found each other naturally.
“Senpai, let’s call it a night for now. If you’re willing to spend time with me again tomorrow, I’m always on call.”
Anpelin checked the time.
Though reluctant, she stood up and said goodbye to Yuhua.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
Yuhua waved to her, watching as she walked away toward the girls’ dormitory in the distance.
Back at the dorm, Yuhua felt a bit lightheaded.
It wasn’t as if he’d never dated before, but those times always had some ulterior motive—either to keep up his image as a “normie” or for work.
Being treated with such sincerity by a girl, of course, made Yuhua feel elated.
“Guys, your bro is off the market.”
“Who?”
Wang Zeqi looked up from his game screen and asked casually.
“A junior, a first-year. We really hit it off, so we started dating.”
Yuhua tried to keep it simple.
“Oh.”
Liu Shixing and Wang Zeqi reacted calmly.
In their eyes, Yuhua was already recognized as a love expert; whether he dated or not was entirely up to his mood, so him finding a girlfriend was nothing surprising.
“Huh? What did I miss today?”
Lin Ling’s reaction was a bit stronger than the other two’s, but he didn’t say much—just turned his head, his smile tinged with a hint of bitterness.
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