Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1206: Check, check and check?

"Excuse me!" A woman came walking with slow steps, lighting her way with a torch in her hand. "Are you okay over there?"

Lin adjusted his eyes to the light and said, "Yes, we are fine."

"That’s great. I’m from the plaza’s managing team. We are distributing some battery lights for you all. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

She handed over a small, portable battery-powered light. Coming closer, her eyes automatically widened upon seeing Lin.

"You...I remember you!"

The two blinked at her, puzzled. Lin asked, "Me?"

She nodded enthusiastically and Shui guessed that she might have been the cafe’s customer.

She was wrong.

"I had seen your boxing match with that other burly guy that day."

That underground ring? Shui hadn’t expected to meet that kind of a customer.

"Oh," Lin nodded. "Yes, it was me."

She brightened. "I knew it! Thanks to you, I won a heavy chunk of cash. I had betted on you, you know?"

"Thank you."

"Will you be doing more matches? I didn’t see you after that."

"Work kept me busy."

"What do you do?"

"I run a cafe with my brother," he paused at that point and took out a small card from his wallet. He offered it to her. "Please come visit if you like."

The woman took the card and slightly gasped. "I remember you once again. You had made that coffee for the plaza staff that day, right?"

It was the day when Shui had fallen asleep in the plaza and Lin had prepared some hot mocha for her, and for the entire staff.

Lin nodded.

"Oh, wonderful! We had all liked it a lot. I’ll definitely come visit your cafe!" She sheepishly grinned.

"Thank you."

"By the way, the arcade area is relatively crowded. Do you two want to head over there?"

Lin glanced at Shui and she scratched her chin. "I don’t know..It feels nice and quiet here."

He agreed and looked back. "We will stay here."

"Cool. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"Got it. If you do or need to ask anything, there is a bell over at that counter’s side. Just ring it and I will be here."

When silence returned, Lin switched on the battery light and placed it at the center of the table in front of them. The yellow light faintly illuminated their faces that let him observe the dissatisfaction across Shui’s features.

He blinked. "Is something the matter? You look..." he didn’t know what to call it, "weird."

Her gaze darkened. "What do you mean weird? I look just fine."

"No, you don’t," he took a moment’s pause and said, "You are talking weird too."

She scoffed. "I am not talking weird. You are being insulting today. Is it because you won the game?" She glared.

"I am not being insulting."

She snorted.

"I win the games every time so there’s nothing particularly different today."

"..."

Shui gritted her teeth, her loss being rubbed in her face as if pouring salt over an injury.

"Well then, why are you spending your time with a loser? How about you go to that woman who is completely smitten by you?"

"Who is smitten by whom?" He didn’t understand.

Her brow twitched. "That woman who just handed us the electric lights."

"Oh. Why is she smitten by me?" He frowned.

Shui was speechless. "Didn’t you see the stars in her eyes? She has seen you fighting at the underground ring and also won the match."

"So?"

"...Those kinds of things help...in developing a crush, you know?"

His eyes widened. "Really?"

Seeing his cluelessness, her bubbling annoyance quietened down out of sheer helplessness.

"You have no experience with crushes, do you?"

His brows furrowed. "I don’t really understand. Does she like me only because I won the boxing match?"

"Of course not. Your fighting skills are just one part of the package."

"Then?"

"You also-"

Her eyes widened and she stopped herself just in time.

"I also what?"

She acted calm, though the inside of her chest was beating crazily in a whole nother dimension altogether.

It’s okay. There is nothing embarrassing to say.

"I mean you fight well and...you also look good."

He blinked twice. "I look normal."

"No you don’t," she wished she could pull her hair out. "Do you really want me to spell everything out for you? You have a handsome face and then you have a go-..." she cleared her throat, "good, well-toned body too. You are handsome and you are physically capable and you run a decent business too. Those are the kinds of green ticks against a woman’s crush checklist."

"Oh."

She snorted. "That’s why she asked if we wanted to join the other people over that side. Because she would have gotten frequent chances to eye you while passing her way. The bowling lane is on the other side, and she won’t have the reason to come here so often. Which is also why she probably really wants you to ring the bell to get an excuse to come here."

Shui breathed out and slightly fanned her face while watching Lin in deep thought.

Ah, I feel tired already.

"Then do you also find me handsome and physically capable?"

Shui turned to him, very slowly. "...Huh?"

"You said that those kinds of things make the checkboxes of a woman’s crush checklist," he stared and held her blank gaze. "So do I fill those checkboxes for you too?"

Shui stared at him in complete silence. The question had short-circuited her thought process. It felt like the neurons in her brain had come to a complete halt. Nothing was transmitted or received.

"...Why do you ask that?" Her voice was so barely audible that she wondered if it even managed to stir the air around her lips.

"I think I want to know if it’s a general checklist or if it’s unique to every woman."

Silence.

"And...if it’s unique?"

"Then I think I would like to know what’s in your checklist."

At this point, Shui truly felt her inability to process anything. She swallowed her saliva a couple of times, yet she couldn’t think of a proper response. Now, she lamented her choice of not joining the crowd at the arcade side. At least, she could have invented a chance to escape.

With them being the only ones at the bowling lane, the chances of magically disappearing were slim to none.

"Why...do you want to know my checklist?" She asked after a long, long pause, her breath caught in her throat.

Lin didn’t wait that long to answer.

"Because I think I want you to have a crush on me."