Jiang Yi didn't treat Yue Ran to a western or Japanese restaurant but to a private classic Chinese restaurant that was rated five stars by food experts. This is something that Yue Ran didn't really expect. She thought that Jiang Yi would just treat her to something of average taste.
It looks like the male protagonist has good taste buds.
After the two were settled in a private room, a waiter handed over the menu, and it was Jiang Yi who spoke first. "The food here is really delicious, so I'll bring you here to try it." He held up his menu and gestured to hers. "What would you like to eat?"
Yue Ran didn't refuse and looked down at the list of foods on the menu. The original body had never eaten here before, so she had Ruan Ruan search the net to seek fine dining.
Looking at the pretty good decoration of the restaurant and its five-star rating of the food, Yue Ran expects that the food must really taste good, hence she selected a few dishes at random.
The dishes here taste really good, but Yue Ran and Jiang Yi finished eating after a while while maintaining their elegant postures from start to finish.
After the two of them wiped their mouths with tissues, it was Jiang Yi who broke the silence first. "Thank you."
Yue Ran smiled knowingly but still wanted to play a little trick on the male protagonist for fun because, well, why not?
"What are you thanking me for?" She raised her eyebrows in question. "I don't remember doing anything for you to thank me."
Jiang Yi hesitated for a while. Was his guess wrong? He shook off those unnecessary thoughts before saying, "Well, I already know that you helped me enter Tian Qin."
Yue Ran ran her hands over the soft material of her dress. "Hmm, I did, so what if you know?" She glanced out the glass window of the private room. "Do you plan to repay me?"
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yi really thought about her words and opened his lips. "I currently don't have the ability to repay you, so can I do you a favor in exchange? This job is very important to me, so I do have to repay you."
Of course, Yue Ran knows that this job is not only related to Jiang Yi's dream but also related to the food and clothing of his family. Jiang Yi's adoptive father died many years ago, and her adoptive mother has been hospitalized all year due to premature labor.
After adopting Jiang Yi, his adoptive mother gave birth to another boy, who is ten years younger than him and is still in elementary school. Thus, the burden of the family is on Jiang Yi, but he does not care about how much of a burden his adoptive mother and younger brother are. He wasn't afraid that they would drag him down. There were no complaints at all, as he silently paid off his debts for them.
Thinking about it, Yue Ran still did not change her opinion on the male protagonist. Jiang Yi was not a bad person, but he was cruel to the original body. She had to pay an eye for an eye. Moreover, there are still tasks she needs to do.
The corner of Yue Ran's mouth curled up into a wicked smile, and an evil glint flashed in her eyes. "It's so troublesome to owe me a favor; why not just promise me your body instead?" She propped up her chin with a hand. "It's simple and easy, isn't it?"
Jiang Yi was immediately angered, and Yue Ran's smirk was reflected in his eyes. "Yue Ran!" His voice was raised. "I'm talking to you seriously here!"
Yue Ran couldn't help but burst out in laughter; her phoenix eyes were bent into beautiful crescents. She had such a beautiful smile.
"Jiang Yi's favorability +5"
"Jiang Yi's current favorability is 30"
"Okay, okay, I'm just joking with you." She blinked playfully. "You're just like a lump of ice that has no expression on its face; you're really boring!"
Jiang Yi was at a loss for words; his face was flushed with anger. He couldn't be as thick-skinned as Yue Ran, so he just left a sentence behind before speed-walking out of the room in obvious panic. "Then I'll go first."
"Jiang Yi's favorability +5"
"Jiang Yi's current favorability is 35"
☼︎ ✵ ☼︎
Regardless of her reluctance, Yue Ran still had to go back to school for her last class in the afternoon. When it was over, Jin Yao actually managed to find Yue Ran when her class was over, faster than she had originally thought, and they were sitting across from each other at opposite ends of a long table.
Jin Yao looked at Yue Ran in front of him and found out that she was not as domineering and unreasonable as the rumors said her to be. She doesn't look down her nose at people, nor does she act superiorly and treat everyone with disrespect. She was just sitting there calmly and quietly.
At this time, Yue Ran curved her brows and eyes. When her gleaming orbs caught Jin Yao's, two red clouds floated over her white and tender cheeks. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again in hesitation.
Jin Yao originally wanted to ask Yue Ran how to solve the matter of his face exposure video, but after thinking about it, it might be useless by now since everyone would sooner or later know his real appearance from the university forum.
He had already given up on solving it, but it was uncomfortable to be stared at by Yue Ran for so long. When Jin Yao finally couldn't bear it anymore, he said, "Fellow student Yue, do you have anything to say?"
Yue Ran blinked her big, bright eyes, smiled softly, and tucked a strand of glossy jet-black hair behind her ear. "Jin Yao—I mean, fellow student Jin, actually, I uh, um, actually I... I actually have nothing to say."
Yue Ran's performance was twitchy, like a young girl in love; her voice was as sweet as honey, and just listening to it seemed like the listeners had received a great gift from heaven.
Jin Yao just wanted to ask: Do you think I want to receive this kind of blessing?
Yue Ran internally cringed at her acting, which she just copied from how the original body talked to Jiang Yi when she was in love with him. She herself felt stupid and even a little disgusted, but to even receive Ruan Ruan's teasing and buzzing inside her mind was just too much!
The shy expression on Yue Ran's face was almost uncontrollable because of it. "Ruan Ruan, please keep your mouth shut while I'm performing, okay?"
No matter how dull Jin Yao was, he could tell that this fellow student Yue was interested in him. But he just wasn't sure if she was just putting on an act or if it was really for real.
Jin Yao's expressionless face seemed to twitch slightly. "Fellow student Yue, I have long heard of your original deeds, but you don't have to act like this just because you're afraid to anger me."
After a little thought, Yue Ran knew what he was talking about—wasn't it the original body's previous pursuit of Jiang Yi?
Yue Ran restrained herself a little; the blush on her face did not dissipate, but her voice did return to normal. "Fellow student Jin, no matter what I did before, I have now finally come to my senses, and I'll solemnly say that I, Yue Ran, will pursue you starting from today!"
Jin Yao: ??
He didn't know what went wrong. He was clearly here to find fault with Yue Ran, so why did this noble young lady end up becoming interested in him instead?
Then again, what if Yue Ran really did like him? What does it have to do with him? Why should it matter to him at all?
Thinking of this, Jin Yao composed himself and returned to his usual attitude of not having strangers get close to him. "Fellow student Yue, I'm not interested in you at all, nor am I interested in the idea of dating."
Yue Ran pouted unhappily. "Hmph, whatever you say." She huffed. "Liking you is my business, so I'm going to chase you until you accept to date me. Just you wait!"
Since then, the students at the university have discovered one thing, and that is: Yue Ran is pursuing Jin Yao!
Their discussions were especially heated in the school forum.
"Wait, what's going on?"
"Doesn't Yue Ran like Jiang Yi before?!"
"What else can happen, isn't it that Jiang Yi had left and so the noble young lady was forced to change her target of pursuit!"
"Doesn't this mean that Yue Ran is just a half-hearted person?"
"Of course, Yue Ran is simply a half-hearted, flirtatious person!"
"Don't say that; maybe she just got rejected by Senior Jiang Yi and decided to give up and then wants to start a new relationship, hehehe!"
"And it's normal since Jin Yao is so handsome! Yue Ran just has to move on from her old love."
"Upstairs, who are you to say that? Jin Yao's face is only so-so; it's clearly Senior Jiang Yi who is more handsome, okay?!"
"Senior Jin Yao is more handsome than Senior Jiang Yi!"
☼︎ ✵ ☼︎
And what was Yue Ran currently doing at this time?
Well, she was placing the breakfast she brought for Jin Yao on his desk and also cleaning out the large stack of love letters on his usual desk in one go. She's a naturally possessive person, and her targets aren't allowed to be distracted by another person when with her unless it's included in her plans.
However, while throwing the love letters in the trash, Yue Ran was indignant and couldn't help complaining to Ruan Ruan. "Seriously, why did Jin Yao receive more love letters than I did?"
Ruan Ruan:...
What else can he say?
"Um, Master, it's just that people's eyes were blinded for a while."
He could only support his master.