"How many desserts have you had this week, President?"
Seeing Ji Qingyi put her phone away, Su Cheng had no choice but to change the subject.
Ji Qingyi picked up her teacup, glanced at him, and replied, "Once."
"Then..."
Su Cheng looked around, then took a box from his system space. Inside the box were some mochi, which he had prepared for Li Guanqi last time but had confiscated since she needed to control her sugar intake.
So, Su Cheng handed the box to Ji Qingyi, sincerely saying, "Please don't dislike these; they are the same mochi as last time."
Seeing this, Ji Qingyi's eyes flickered slightly.
"Mm."
Ji Qingyi nodded, then gently touched the box with her fair, slender fingers, accepting it, and calmly replied, "I won't be picky about it."
"Please enjoy."
Su Cheng relaxed at her words.
"Not yet."
Ji Qingyi nodded slightly, then poured herself a cup of hot tea from the teapot on the table, took a sip, and relaxed her brow. Only then did she slowly say, "Remember to eat your sugarcane. Food is meant to be savored."
After saying that, she took another sip of tea, her eyes glancing at Su Cheng out of the corner of her eye.
“Actually, at first, I really couldn’t bear to eat it. Ever since the President handed me the sugarcane, I've been very happy all day, and my joy is beyond words.”
Su Cheng shook his head, his face full of contentment.
"Oh~"
Ji Qingyi raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling on his face, "It seems you still have it?"
"No, I've already tasted it. My attitude towards food is the same as President's. It's just that I can't help but want to share this joy..."
At this point, Su Cheng looked up at Ji Qingyi, his expression serious: "If I enjoy it alone, my joy has no outlet, so I choose to share it with others. And in my opinion, food is only complete when shared as its final seasoning."
Ji Qingyi pondered for a moment, then said, "Your view is quite novel."
"So..."
Su Cheng handed a skewer of sugarcane with six pieces to Ji Qingyi, a sincere smile on his face, "President, if you don't mind, please give it a try."
"......"
Ji Qingyi looked at the skewer of sugarcane in silence, not moving, just calmly staring at Su Cheng.
Staring——
This made the smile on Su Cheng's face gradually stiffen, but he could guess what Ji Qingyi was worrying about.
Because today, Li Guanqi had eaten the sugarcane and spit out the pit behind his back.
She also only ate one, even though she liked sweets.
So, Ji Qingyi was probably afraid she wouldn't be able to maintain her image while spitting out the pit.
Realizing this, he lowered his eyes slightly, then slowly said, "President, I'm going to the restroom."
After saying that, he stuck the sugarcane in the middle of the tea set and stood up, walking towards the restroom.
Once at the sink, he splashed cold water on his face, hoping to disperse the heat from earlier.
Meanwhile
Seeing Su Cheng's direction, Ji Qingyi tapped her fingers on the teacup, her eyes deep and unfathomable.
Soon, a servant appeared. Ji Qingyi said something, and the servant immediately ran towards the school mall.
Then, she reached out and picked up the skewer of sugarcane, licked it, and finally took a bite, her eyes narrowing as if in thought.
"It's better than before..."
After a moment
Ji Qingyi continued to eat the remaining half of the sugarcane, closing her eyes to enjoy the sour and sweet taste, a touch of contentment on her face.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside. She immediately opened her eyes and quickly stuck the skewer of sugarcane back in its original place, even the position perfectly matching before.
However, the person who came wasn't Su Cheng but the stewardess she had sent to buy sugarcane. The stewardess walked up to Ji Qingyi holding a skewer of sugarcane, respectfully saying, "Miss, your candied fruit."
"Mm."
Ji Qingyi nodded, put on gloves, took a piece of sugarcane, and placed it on top of the skewer, then took off the gloves and handed the newly bought sugarcane to the stewardess before waving her hand.
"Yes, Miss."
The stewardess bowed and then disappeared.
"I can't let you have your way."
Ji Qingyi murmured softly, then licked her lips with the tip of her tongue before continuing to drink tea.
A few minutes later, Su Cheng came out of the restroom, feeling he needed to give Ji Qingyi some time.
Hearing the footsteps, Ji Qingyi cast her gaze towards him, and Su Cheng also noticed that the sugarcane on the table hadn't changed, which made him a bit hurt and feel he had been overly self-conscious, imagining things.
Feeling so disheartened he even considered working in Gotham tomorrow!
Su Cheng sighed inwardly, then also sat down in the chair beside Ji Qingyi.
Just as he sat down, Ji Qingyi moved the box of mochi in front of him.
Su Cheng was taken aback and looked at Ji Qingyi, surprised, "President... what is this...?"
"The final seasoning."
Ji Qingyi replied with her usual emotionless tone.
……………………………………………………
At five o'clock
Su Cheng rode his beloved bicycle through the streets.
His mood wasn't bad.
He and President split the box of mochi equally. Although he felt that President might have seen his disappointment and pitied him, he was still content.
However, just as he was lost in thought,
Suddenly, a flyer flew towards him, which he dodged by stopping and caught in his hand, then he was attracted by the words on the flyer.
He opened it and found it was an advertisement for a new product at a shopping mall's claw machine, with a panda plush at the center, labeled "Limited Edition."
Su Cheng stared at the big words for a moment, then looked around with a weird expression, making sure there was no familiar figure around, before muttering softly, "I really can't help but suspect that Gu Ruoxue, the riddle-maker, threw this at my face!"
After all, what were the odds?
Gu Ruoxue liked panda plushies, and the flyer had hit his face just right, plus she had a club meeting with him on Friday.
"Ah..."
In the end, Su Cheng sighed and decided to go to that store.
Whether it was or wasn't, he had to go.
If it wasn't, he could still give the plushie to her when he visited, and maybe she'd be happy and reveal more information.
If it was, then it was even more necessary to go. If he didn't go, she might not tell him on Friday and instead continue to tease him.
So, he had to go.
Besides, he had earned some pocket money today and totally had the budget for it!
Having figured it out, Su Cheng changed direction and rode towards the address on the flyer.
Since it wasn't a holiday, the mall wasn't very crowded, but because Su Cheng was wearing a school uniform, he drew many glances. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so he wasn't recognized.
Arriving at the claw machine area, he exchanged for a pile of coins and asked the clerk, "Excuse me, where is this panda plush located?"
"Sir, this is today's new product, in machine number one."
The girl said politely, pointing towards the first machine.
"Thank you."
Su Cheng turned and walked towards the first machine, only to find someone already using it, so he had to queue.
The waiting process was always long, especially since the person playing was a robust lady who was also acting sassy, making the experience even more unbearable.
In short, the lady stomped her feet and spoke in a sugary tone that made Su Cheng feel his scalp tingle.
And she was doing it on purpose, initially playing quietly, but once she noticed Su Cheng, especially seeing his school uniform, her eyes lit up as if she had set her sights on him.
However, Su Cheng was busy with his phone and paid no attention. After quite some time, it was finally his turn. He quickly stepped forward, ready to place the coins in the machine's slot.
Suddenly——
The lady beside him, who possessed the "finish-line beauty," deliberately displayed her plumpness and wildly shook her body while speaking in a cooing voice to Su Cheng, "Little brother, could you help me pick up this plush toy?"
"Can you move away? Don't interrupt my chance to grab the toy!"
Su Cheng directly issued a removal order. However, upon hearing this, the girl immediately changed her tactic, "Aw, don't be so cold. Helping me won't kill you, will it? Just help me out, please?"
"If you don't leave, I'll call security to escort you back to the pigsty!"
Su Cheng was getting impatient with the girl's persistence after he had already requested she leave. Being the gentlemanly person he was, he usually spoke in refined language.
Besides, he rarely criticized others' appearances unless their appearance was the first to offend him!
So, today, even if the King of Heaven himself came, Su Cheng would claim justifiable self-defense!
The girl, enraged, stood up and shouted, "Who are you calling a pig? You're the pig! Your whole family are pigs!"
“I was actually praising you. At our school, calling someone a pig is a compliment, because the body fat percentage of domestic pigs is fifteen percent, and models have seventeen percent. So, you're in even better shape than a model!”
Su Cheng explained.
“Is that so?”
Hearing this, the girl looked somewhat skeptical but then glanced at Su Cheng's school badge with a hopeful expression, "Really?"
“You actually believe that?”
Su Cheng let out a "tch" upon hearing this.
"Believing or not is my right. If you dare insult me..."
The girl threatened, then glanced at two security guards in the distance, "...I'll call the police!"
Seeing this, Su Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "I just want to quietly play the claw machine here. Please stop launching 'stand-in attacks' at me and kindly move away, thank you."
"What stand-in? What are you talking about?! I'm just standing here! How am I bothering you?"
Ultimately, Su Cheng's patience ran out. He turned and walked towards the men's restroom, leaving the woman to glare angrily at his retreating back before leaving.
A few minutes later, relieved that the woman was gone, Su Cheng sighed, feeling quite repulsed by being entangled with such a person.
He then returned to the claw machine to resume his coin-feeding journey.
One coin, two coins, ten coins, thirty coins.
He couldn't manage to grab the panda plushie.
When he inserted the fifty-fifth coin, he finally succeeded.
Holding his breath as he guided the plushie to the exit, everything seemed to be going smoothly!
But then, there was an unexpected mishap. The plushie fell beside the exit and didn’t drop in.
However, next time, a gentle nudge with the claw should make it fall.
"Ah."
He sighed, preparing to exchange more coins, but upon turning around, he noticed two more customers waiting to play the claw machine, one of whom was dressed more extravagantly than he was.
It was a woman, wearing a baseball cap, mask, and sunglasses…
Her face was completely concealed…
But her figure seemed somehow familiar…
He had a sense that he knew her.
Seeing Su Cheng turn around, the male customer asked, "Hey, handsome, are you done playing?"
"No, I've just run out of coins. I'm going to exchange some more.”
Su Cheng quickly explained.
"Then you go ahead."
The man nodded, his movements indicating that he was poised to start feeding coins and grab the plushie as soon as Su Cheng left.
This put Su Cheng in a difficult position.
Should he just give up?
But if he did, all the money spent before would be wasted, right?
The problem was that he had no more coins…
After hesitating for a while, Su Cheng finally pulled out a bill: "How about I give you one note for ten coins?"
"No, I can’t take advantage of you. Just go exchange them yourself."
The man shook his head, refusing to take advantage, as the plushie was a limited edition, its value far exceeding its price.
"Then let me check if I have any left in my pocket."
Su Cheng chuckled awkwardly, fishing through his pocket, but found only a few small change coins left over from previous purchases.
Earlier, he had exchanged fifty coins at the counter.
Five were from his own pocket.
"Sigh."
Ultimately, Su Cheng sighed, ready to give up his spot to the man. But just then, the woman wrapped in concealing clothes reached out a slender, fair hand to tug at Su Cheng's sleeve, then opened her palm to reveal seven or eight coins.
Su Cheng was surprised but accepted them, repeatedly saying, "Thank you!"
The woman said nothing, her gaze fixed on the panda plushie in the claw machine. The man beside them frowned with dissatisfaction.
Then, Su Cheng continued feeding coins…
It was strange, though. No matter how he tried swinging the claw or nudging, the plushie wouldn't drop.
He grew suspicious.
Could it be that the shop owner refused to play fair?
In the end, Su Cheng had no choice but to give up his spot.
The man cheerfully stepped up to the claw machine console and began operating it. Su Cheng and the mysterious girl watched from the side.
A few minutes later, the man's smile disappeared, replaced by a grim expression.
"There's something wrong. I’m sure of it. I suspect there's a magnet inside."
The man stated firmly.
Then, he turned to Su Cheng with a proposal, "Brother, give me a hand. If we slightly tilt the machine at this angle, it will definitely fall. If not, then absolutely something’s rigged!"
"Great minds think alike."
Su Cheng narrowed his eyes, and the two men tried to lift the claw machine together. However, despite using all their strength, they couldn't budge it at all.
This shocked Su Cheng immensely.
He had a decent amount of strength, rated at 6!
“Damn it, this machine is bolted to the wall.”
The man pounded his chest in frustration, while the girl silently watched the scene unfold.
Just the next second, she reached out one hand, grasped a corner of the claw machine, and lightly lifted.
Instantly, the previously stable claw machine tilted at a full one hundred and twenty degrees!
With a "thud," the plushie fell…
Su Cheng and the man's jaws almost hit the floor, both filled with disbelief.
What on earth…just happened?
"What the hell?!"
“Was that Archimedes or something?”
They exclaimed simultaneously, utterly subverting the man's understanding of strength.
Su Cheng calmed down after the initial shock, having already figured out who the girl was.
The girl bent down to pick up the plushie and handed it to Su Cheng without a word, then turned and left gracefully.
"Who on earth is this girl?”
“Gulp～” (swallowing sound)
"She’s probably…my ex-girlfriend?"
“Ex-girlfriend?! How did you dare break up with her?"