Chen Tingting’s heart pounded. ’She just admitted it like that? She even repeated it twice?’

’Xue Rui can hear her!’

She turned to look at Xue Rui, and her heart suddenly sank.

Xue Rui hadn’t immediately refuted it. ’Doesn’t that mean he’s admitting it?’

’In other words, Lin Ruoxi is already Xue Rui’s girlfriend?’

"You two..." Chen Tingting’s eyes glazed over.

’Was she too late, after all?’

But she wasn’t as sad or hurt as she had imagined. It was as if she had long expected this day would come.

’But I won’t give up.’

Lin Ruoxi said earnestly, "I... I’m still pursuing him. I’m trying really hard."

The young woman knew Chen Tingting was also pursuing Xue Rui, so this seemed like a declaration of her own resolve.

Chen Tingting’s eyes widened. For a moment, she didn’t understand what Lin Ruoxi meant.

She thought it over carefully. ’Xue Rui hasn’t agreed to be with Lin Ruoxi yet?’

’Well, good men are hard to get.’

That’s what her mom always said.

Xue Rui held back his laughter. ’These two together are just too funny.’

"What do you want to eat?" Lin Ruoxi asked.

"Doesn’t that make us love rivals?"

Chen Tingting frowned. Who invites their love rival out to eat?

"Love rivals?" Lin Ruoxi was taken aback.

It took her a moment to process it. She knew what "love rivals" meant.

’Are she and Chen Tingting enemies?’

’But she didn’t see it that way at all...’

Xue Rui spoke up. "There’s a KFC nearby. Let’s eat there."

He saw them both as kids, and kids love things like burgers and fries.

More importantly, Lin Ruoxi cooked at home most of the time, so she probably hadn’t eaten this kind of food before.

So, it would be a novel experience for her.

The restaurant wasn’t too far, so Xue Rui chose to walk.

Chen Tingting walked up beside Xue Rui and held her sun umbrella over his head.

However, her umbrella was too small. Combined with her being much shorter than Xue Rui and their strides not matching, it was very awkward to walk together.

Xue Rui dodged out from under the umbrella. Walking like that with Chen Tingting was uncomfortable for him too.

Lin Ruoxi took a folded sun umbrella from her backpack and gently raised it over Xue Rui.

The canopy was wide enough to easily cover Xue Rui. Plus, she was only a little shorter than him, and their strides were surprisingly in sync.

Guys using sun umbrellas in the summer was quite common in southern cities, but in the north, it seemed to get you labeled a "sissy."

Xue Rui nodded in satisfaction. This was the benefit of being with a girl—he could use a sun umbrella openly and without shame.

Chen Tingting clutched her small umbrella and hurried to keep up behind them.

Lin Ruoxi felt that Xue Rui was walking a little faster than usual today. She glanced back at Chen Tingting, who already had a sheen of sweat on her forehead from trying to keep pace.

"Can we slow down a little? She can’t keep up," Lin Ruoxi whispered.

When Chen Tingting heard this, a competitive streak flared up. She called out, "No need! I can keep up."

Xue Rui nodded. "She means we should walk even faster."

"Is that what she meant?" Lin Ruoxi blinked. ’That’s not what I heard?’

"You’re too dense. That’s exactly what she meant," Xue Rui said seriously.

"Mm, but you said I was smart before," Lin Ruoxi mumbled.

"You can be dense and smart at the same time. It’s not a contradiction," Xue Rui said.

"Mhm..." Lin Ruoxi nodded obediently.

’Whatever Xue Rui says, goes. I don’t want to argue with him.’

After that, Lin Ruoxi quickened her pace to match Xue Rui’s.

Xue Rui was 183 cm tall, and the young woman had long legs as well. The two of them walking quickly looked like they were in a race walking competition.

Chen Tingting had to jog behind them with her little umbrella just to keep from being left too far behind.

Once they reached the KFC, Xue Rui went to the front to order while Lin Ruoxi and Chen Tingting found a table in the back.

Chen Tingting panted, trying to cool down. Her freshly styled hair was stuck to her forehead.

Lin Ruoxi took a napkin from her backpack and handed it to her. "Here, wipe your face."

Chen Tingting glanced at Lin Ruoxi, then felt for her own bag, realizing she hadn’t brought any...

"Thanks," Chen Tingting said, taking the tissue.

Back then, KFC was still considered something of a luxury in smaller cities. It was mostly parents bringing their children or young couples on a date.

Xue Rui stared at the flashy combo meals, unsure what to choose. He’d occasionally eat this stuff on business trips before. The breakfasts at KFC and McDonald’s were decent, but the rest was just average.

As he was looking at the menu, a girl in uniform kept staring at him.

"Boss Xue? What would you like to eat?" the girl asked.

Xue Rui looked up. It was a somewhat familiar-looking girl. He couldn’t say where he’d seen her, but he had a feeling he’d seen her many times.

Especially seeing her standing in this particular spot felt incredibly familiar.

"You are...?" Xue Rui asked, puzzled.

The girl in front of him was plain-looking, with dull, lackluster skin.

"It’s Liu Li. Xiaoli. We met at the club last night," Liu Li said in a low voice. ’He didn’t recognize me without makeup?’

Xue Rui’s brow twitched. ’No, that’s not right,’ he thought. The impression he had wasn’t from the club, but from seeing her often at university.

"What would you like to eat?" Liu Li asked.

"Just recommend something for us. Anything not too heavy is fine. There are three of us," Xue Rui said.

"Where do you go to university?" Xue Rui asked casually.

Liu Li paused for a second. "Chang’an Post and Telecommunications."

Now Xue Rui was sure. He really had seen her around often before.

This girl was one of the lunch ladies from his university cafeteria...

So, Liu Li normally worked at the school cafeteria, and during summer break, she worked at KFC by day and the club by night...

A true time management master.

After paying, he waited by the side for their number to be called. Since it wasn’t busy, he chatted with Liu Li for a bit, asking about things at the university.

Xue Rui wasn’t interested in the girl’s family situation. A girl who squeezed every moment of her time to work couldn’t possibly be well-off financially.

He was thinking that when he started his own business in the future, he might be able to make use of this overachiever.

After all, there weren’t many university students who were as down-to-earth and capable. This girl would make a good employee, and besides, they were both from the same area, making them fellow townspeople once they graduated.

...

As Chen Tingting sat with Lin Ruoxi, she felt like she was a head shorter than her in every way.

"How are you pursuing Xue Rui?" Chen Tingting asked, wanting to scout out her rival.

"Um..." Lin Ruoxi paused. "I cook for him, do his laundry, give him..."

Chen Tingting frowned. On the outside, Lin Ruoxi looked like a cold, aloof goddess, but in reality, she was doing all the work of a virtuous wife and mother.

It put a lot of pressure on her.

She whispered, "What if he wants to kiss you?"

She was trying to probe how far the two of them had gone.

Lin Ruoxi said meekly, "I’d let him..."

Chen Tingting was completely shocked.

Gu Muxue was clearly the tsundere type; Xue Rui would get hit if he so much as touched her. Although Chen Tingting was wary of Gu Muxue, she believed she still had an advantage.

After all, her mom said men were like beasts—they had times when they were in heat and times when they were wounded.

As long as she was there for him at those times, that would be her advantage.

But Lin Ruoxi was even easier to "obtain" than she was.

’This was supposed to be my secret weapon! How could someone else be walking the same path?’

She thought for a moment, trying to figure out what advantages she still had.

Other parents were conservative, terrified of their daughters dating too early and guarding them closely. But she was different; her parents were very open-minded.

"Do your parents approve?" Chen Tingting asked.

Lin Ruoxi nodded without hesitation. "My grandma told me to follow Xue Rui."

"Huh?" Chen Tingting swallowed hard. Why did that sound like they were already discussing marriage?

It seemed Lin Ruoxi was better than her in every way, even her academics were top-notch...

She looked at Lin Ruoxi, who was gazing affectionately at Xue Rui in the distance.

Then she looked at the World Cup match playing on the TV and suddenly had an idea.

Chen Tingting smiled, satisfied. Boys didn’t necessarily like girls who were too beautiful or too perfect; being too outstanding could make a guy feel like she was out of his league.

But as long as she had more common interests with Xue Rui, she could still win him over.

Boys their age liked watching sports and playing games.

She didn’t know what games Xue Rui liked, but she had been watching the recent soccer matches. She could talk to him about that later.

Xue Rui returned with a tray of food.

Before he even reached the table, Lin Ruoxi quickly stood up to take the tray from him.

"I can get it," Lin Ruoxi said.

She had wanted to go order herself, but Xue Rui hadn’t let her today.

"Xue Rui, do you like watching ball?" Chen Tingting asked with a smile.

Xue Rui nodded. "I do."

’Isn’t she stating the obvious?’ he thought. ’What man doesn’t like watching ball?’

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the young woman’s prominent chest.

The young woman was dressed simply in a white t-shirt tucked into her jeans, a style that left her figure on full display and drew eyes wherever she went.

Even now, many men in the restaurant were stealing glances at Lin Ruoxi’s figure out of the corners of their eyes.

"Yesterday’s Spain match was so unexpected. I can’t believe they lost..." Chen Tingting’s voice trailed off as she spoke.

Her expression went blank. The "watching ball" Xue Rui was talking about was clearly not the same as what she meant.

"Lost to..." Chen Tingting glanced down at her own chest, then over at Lin Ruoxi’s.

"Lost to who?" Xue Rui’s eyes deliberately wandered between the two of them.

Lin Ruoxi was clueless. She looked down at her own chest.

"Ohh, the internet says boys like looking at chests," Lin Ruoxi said, finally understanding.

’The netizens were right.’

At her words, quite a few people turned to look at Lin Ruoxi in surprise.

’Wow, this beautiful girl is so down-to-earth...’ they thought.

Xue Rui quickly covered Lin Ruoxi’s mouth. "You don’t just say what you’re thinking out loud."

A wave of sorrow washed over Chen Tingting. She picked up her burger and took a vicious bite.

She’d lost...

Lost completely...

"Eat up. Eat more so you can grow," Xue Rui said with a laugh.

He had deliberately put Lin Ruoxi and Chen Tingting together to make Chen Tingting realize it was a lost cause and back off.

"Have you ever been in a relationship before?" Xue Rui asked.

"No," Chen Tingting shook her head.

"Then how do you know what it means to like someone?"

To be honest, he didn’t think Chen Tingting truly liked him, at least not in a romantic way.

Chen Tingting was very timid around her peers, but she was exceptionally lively and cute in front of older people.

Perhaps Chen Tingting just liked hanging out with mature men. Older people were more emotionally stable and would dote on her no matter what she did.

And as it happened, he possessed a soul that didn’t belong to his age.

"Anyway, I won’t give up," Chen Tingting said, tears welling up in her eyes.

She was used to being rejected, but today’s blow was different from all the others...

"You can do it," Lin Ruoxi said, picking up a napkin to wipe away Chen Tingting’s tears, then dabbing the salad dressing from the corner of her mouth.

Xue Rui’s eyebrow twitched. ’Does this girl even know what she’s saying?’

"Are you telling her to ’go for it’ and keep pursuing me?" Xue Rui asked.

"No..." Lin Ruoxi shook her head repeatedly, pointing to her own impressive chest. "I meant, ’go for it’ and eat more, then you’ll grow bigger."

"I used to not eat much either, but Xue Rui made me eat more, and then I grew bigger..."

She was sharing her secret with Chen Tingting.