CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 44: MASTERING NEW SKILLS

To be cautious, Xi Luting asked another question, "Are you crazy? Why don’t you find a boy?"

Han Lie, "I don’t have any male friends on WeChat! I can’t just ask for help in the class group, can I? It would be the death of me! (Sobbing)"

Oh snap! I’ve really got him now!

Xi Luting was extremely happy, smiling until her eyes curved into crescents, but she still pretended to resist.

"Well, I can’t help you either! I’m a girl, how can I help you?"

Han Lie, "You just go to the entrance of the public restroom and say a few nice words to the gatekeeper. It’s very simple!"

Hahaha!

Simple, huh? No, no, no, it’s not simple at all, okay?

Xi Luting was dancing with joy, all ten of her toes tapping away, ecstatic.

"Little Han, when asking for a favor, you must have the right attitude... (Picking nose)"

Han Lie, "Sis! What kind of attitude do you want? (Pitiful) (Pitiful) (Pitiful)"

Xi Luting, "Think again, does calling me ’sis’ sound right? (Smirking)"

Han Lie, "Huh?!"

Han Lie, "..."

Han Lie, "Mom?!"

PFFT!

COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH...

Xi Luting spat out a mouthful of water, choking and coughing.

Han Lie, are you nuts?!

She really hadn’t expected the usually sharp Han Lie to be so dense.

Couldn’t he just call her "my beloved, number one beauty in the world" or "the invincible, kind, and adorable little fairy"? Wasn’t that enough? ’Mom,’ what kind of moronic name is that?!

Xi Luting was both angry and amused, her mood fluctuating like a roller coaster.

Xi Luting, "!!!!!"

Xi Luting, "Are you seriously ill?!"

Xi Luting, "Start over!"

Han Lie, "(Sweating) (Sweating) (Sweating)"

Han Lie, "(Tearful) My... My dear?!"

Xi Luting, "(Frustrated) (Frustrated) (Frustrated) (Frustrated)"

Xi Luting, "Aaaaahhh!"

Xi Luting, "Your paper’s gone! It fell into the water! Fed to the penguins!"

Xi Luting was about to explode with rage.

She had planned to tease Han Lie until he cried, but instead, the jerk was fine, and she was the one close to tears.

How could this happen?! So outrageous...

Grinning mischievously, Han Lie got up and looked for the map.

You little rascal, you’re at the penguin exhibit, huh? Do I look like a simple and adorable penguin to you?

While searching for the penguin exhibit, he kept on typing and flirting.

Han Lie, "(Crying) Then what on earth do you want from me?"

Xi Luting, "(Facepalm) Can’t you say something nice? Don’t you know how to sweet-talk a girl?!"

Han Lie, "(Sweating) Erm, I’m honest... like what?"

Xi Luting, "(Agitated) For example... wait a minute! Who’s asking whom for a favor?!"

Han Lie, "(Smiling) (Goodbye) Forget it, forget it. I’ll go find Fei Fei or Yun Yun. You’re too high-maintenance!"

Damn!

(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

Xi Luting completely lost her cool.

You jerk, were you sent by the heavens to mess with me?! If I ever talk to you again, I’m a dog!

Xi Luting snapped her phone shut with a click, not wanting to reply to Han Lie anymore.

For a full ten minutes, all she could think about was hanging Han Lie up and whipping him until he cried and begged for mercy.

While it didn’t alleviate her frustration much, Han Lie’s image became even clearer in her mind.

From a psychological perspective, love-hate relationships tend to be more stable because of emotional fluctuations.

The ancients said: "When looking at mountains, monotony is not pleasing." A flat narrative that fails to fully engage emotions is not good writing. Similarly, a love that is too careful and fails to fully engage emotions is not good love.

Jerks often appear attractive because they’re exceptionally good at creating contrast, always leading you on to disappointment, dejection, or anger, and then suddenly surprising you with something wonderful.

Straight guys, huh?

"Tomorrow’s your birthday, what gift do you want?"

"Can you not mess around when I’m gaming?"

"Christmas is just a foreign holiday, packed with crowds everywhere. What’s so good about celebrating it?"

"What anniversary? Our 100-days-together anniversary? Are you nuts?"

Brothers who’ve done any of these four things, if the shoe fits, wear it. You’re classic straight guys, no doubt.

There’s nothing wrong with being a straight guy who marries a suitable girl and lives a stable life—it’s going to be quite worry-free. The trouble is, this "suitable girl" is really hard to come across.

Consequently, most straight guys have a pretty bad time during the dating phase, with very few actually making it to a successful relationship. This is often because they haven’t mastered the right ways to enhance feelings or keep the novelty alive.

So, why are bootlickers more miserable than straight guys? Straight guys might not know how to stir emotions, but they have time to learn and a chance to change. Bootlickers, on the other hand, don’t even qualify to stir someone’s emotions, having taken the wrong path from the start.

That’s why straight guys may eventually win, but bootlickers are doomed to a bad end.

Take Han Lie, for example. He’s a staunch straight guy and a longtime single. But once he acquired Level 3 Psychology, he even learned how to "fly a kite."

He’s got a lot of potential.

「...」

Xi Luting was brooding when suddenly a vanilla ice cream appeared in front of her.

Before she could look up, Han Lie sat down beside her with a plop.

"Here, take it. I bought it from a stall where lots of people were queuing; it’s especially tasty!"

Pah! Does this missy need your ice cream?

Xi Luting didn’t move an inch, not bothering to lift her eyelids.

"Hurry up!" Han Lie urged impatiently. "I just bought the paper; I need to get back soon!"

(⊙v⊙)

Xi Luting was momentarily stunned, then finally caught on and couldn’t hold back any longer.

SNORT!

She covered her mouth, laughing so hard she doubled over, tears squeezing out of her eyes.

"You... how can you be so... so disgusting?"

Han Lie, feeling smug, raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.

He had long realized that Xi Luting’s aloofness was genuine; she rarely cracked a smile no matter how much everyone joked around. In reality, though, she had an extremely high tolerance for bathroom humor and risqué jokes, the kind with a sense of humor different from normal people’s—a weirdo, in other words. This move, it’s called catering to her preferences and hitting the nail on the head.

Xi Luting was laughing so hard she went limp, unable to stop for a long while.

Han Lie, growing impatient, pressed the ice cream to her lips, threatening, "If you don’t take it now, I’m going to stuff it in your mouth."

Xi Luting was forced to take the cone, muttering a complaint, "Did you wash your hands?"

Brother Lie defended with righteous indignation, "Wash for what? It’s not like I wiped..."

PFFT!

Xi Luting clutched her stomach and slumped back in her chair, erupting into uncontrollable, cackling laughter.

She was practically dying of laughter.

She knew it was all fake, but Han Lie acted as if it was real; it was just too good at messing with one’s head.

After laughing so much, she pressed her forehead against Han Lie’s arm, gasping for breath with hitched sobs.

A sense of closeness spontaneously arose.

This damn guy was too much fun...

To say she really liked Han Lie? Well, not really. Her standards were high, and her goals lofty. Right now, Han Lie only met all the criteria, but it hadn’t touched on real emotions yet. But to say she had no feelings for Han Lie at all... She couldn’t lie to herself.

Including all the freshmen of the six departments of the School of Humanities, Han Lie’s overall quality was still top-notch. Only two students from the International Exchange College, who were rumored to be something special, dared to say they outclassed Han Lie. The rest of those kids were just little brothers in front of Brother Lie.

Moreover, the fact that two beauties from her dorm were vying for his attention made her feelings for Han Lie even more complicated.

Just as she finally managed to stop her laughter, an impulse suddenly surfaced in her heart—

Why not... give this damn guy a chance?

Thinking this, she abruptly sat up straight and silently started eating the ice cream.

Giving a chance means allowing you to chase me, not me doing something proactively. Get it, little Lie?

Xi Luting’s newly adopted demure act completely baffled Han Lie.

But he didn’t have time to guess what was going on.

All his attention was drawn away by a system notification.

[Congratulations to the Host for your tireless efforts. A new skill has been mastered.]