Chen Shuo wandered around the shops near the school. He was alone, just strolling and looking around each shop, seemingly searching for something. However, he came up empty-handed.
Disappointment was evident on Chen Shuo's face.
What on earth was this guy trying to buy?
Su Xiyan had been secretly following Chen Shuo. Finally, Chen Shuo arrived at a small commodities wholesale market located on the border between Su City and a neighboring city, tens of kilometers away from Nanli University.
Chen Shuo had taken buses and subways to get there, giving Su Xiyan quite a headache trailing him.
She never expected that after going to all this trouble, Chen Shuo had come to this old, rundown small commodities wholesale market.
Su Xiyan followed him inside. At a corner, two manual forklifts hauling goods came by. The narrow, outdated hallway forced Su Xiyan to squeeze to the side to let the loaded forklifts pass.
After the forklifts left, Su Xiyan glanced around only to discover that Chen Shuo had disappeared!
"Miss, want to buy some jewelry? I'll give you our wholesale price," a shop owner with a sharp eye called out, judging from Su Xiyan's outfit that she was a rich customer.
Su Xiyan didn't even look their way. She politely waved her hand to signal a firm refusal: "No need, thanks."
After that, she walked on, continuing to look for any trace of Chen Shuo.
Why did he come to this place?
The facilities here were outdated, and everything seemed to be stuck in the last century.
She wondered how these merchants managed to stay in business. But judging from the steady flow of deliverymen and goods-laden carts and forklifts, business here didn't seem too bad.
Do people really like these things that look so retro?
Su Xiyan didn't think too much about it. She was annoyed that she had actually lost Chen Shuo.
For a demon hunter, this was a bit shameful!
After wandering around the small commodities market for a while without finding Chen Shuo, Su Xiyan decided to just head back first, lest Chen Shuo discover her.
If Chen Shuo knew she had been tailing him, he would definitely get suspicious.
Reluctantly, Su Xiyan decided to take a taxi back first.
But as soon as she turned around, she bumped right into a familiar wall of flesh.
Chen Shuo was standing next to her, looking at Su Xiyan with a smile.
"I knew it! I kept feeling someone was following me, and it turned out to be you!"
Su Xiyan knew she was in the wrong, but still straightened her back defiantly: "Chen Shuo, didn't you say you were at basketball practice? Why did you run over here alone?"
"Come on, confess, what secrets are you hiding?"
Chen Shuo took out a backpack from behind him and opened it: "I came to buy these things."
The backpack was filled with Lego parts.
Chen Shuo went on, "I borrowed some Legos from a classmate, but found that several parts were missing. His Legos were a really old model that you can't buy anymore, so I came to the small commodities market to try my luck."
"Fortune favors the prepared, and I managed to find them."
After saying this, Chen Shuo heaved a long sigh of relief, looking as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
So he had come all this way just to buy these things?
Su Xiyan felt bad for Chen Shuo having to travel so far alone, taking buses and subways. It would have been much easier if he had driven here.
"Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped look too."
Chen Shuo rolled his eyes. "Some things between guys, you women shouldn't get involved in."
Su Xiyan: "......"
"Let's go home!"
Chen Shuo walked ahead with his backpack while Su Xiyan followed behind. The two took a taxi from the small commodities market entrance back to Haiyi Apartment.
After getting home, Chen Shuo immediately shut himself in his room.
Su Xiyan called out twice from outside: "Chen Shuo! You haven't made dinner yet!"
Chen Shuo slammed his door shut and yelled from inside: "There's still food in the fridge, just heat some up to eat."
Su Xiyan asked: "What about you?"
Chen Shuo: "I'm not eating, not hungry."
After that, Chen Shuo didn't make another sound, and started tinkering with his things in his room.
Inside the large backpack were just a few small Legos on the surface.
Chen Shuo took out the Legos and tossed them aside, then took out several shockproof packaged parts from inside.
These were the real reason Chen Shuo had gone to the small commodities market.
Su Xiyan's tracking skills were indeed formidable. Chen Shuo had no idea someone was following him.
If not for the system malfunctioning, Chen Shuo wouldn't have known Su Xiyan was tailing him.
As the saying goes, no matter how strong Su Xiyan was, she was no match for Chen Shuo who had a cheat system on his side.
Now that Su Xiyan was already suspicious and had followed him here, according to her personality, Chen Shuo should come up with a reasonable excuse to throw her off.
Borrowing Legos from a classmate was just a cover story.
What Chen Shuo really wanted to buy was Su Xiyan's birthday present.
In his phone's calendar, he had marked Su Xiyan's birthday in red.
A near-perfect girl like Su Xiyan already had everything she needed. It was so difficult to find a gift that could really touch her heart. Fortunately, Chen Shuo was attentive to detail and could grasp the things she wanted.
And so, Su Xiyan's present was already being prepared assiduously!
Chen Shuo took out a screwdriver and circuit boards, and even soldering wire, turning on all the lights in his bedroom as he buckled down to work.
The next two days, Chen Shuo remained mysterious, seemingly very busy every day.
When they got back from a walk, Su Xiyan asked Chen Shuo, "Do you have any packages to pick up?"
Chen Shuo nodded. "Yeah!"
Su Xiyan said, "I have several at the Cainiao Express Station too. Let's go pick up our packages together!"
Chen Shuo wanted to decline, but didn't want Su Xiyan to get suspicious.
So the two headed to the express station at Haiyi Apartment together.
When Chen Shuo got his package, he hugged it tightly as if he had obtained some treasure, afraid that Su Xiyan would look at it too much.
These past few days, Chen Shuo had been like this, and Su Xiyan was already used to it.