Chapter 19: The Ordinary Chu Yourong!

After finishing a late-night snack.

Both of them had bloated bellies and spent most of the evening by the river; Zhang Xian was truly hungry, so he ate more.

As a girl group member, Chu Yourong naturally had strict weight management, so since becoming a trainee, she had been deprived of the right to eat her fill.

Don't be fooled by how glamorous female idols look on camera—only they know how much suffering they endure behind the scenes, especially those with easily fattening body types who dare not even eat an extra bite of cake.

Chu Yourong actually had a slightly easily fattening constitution; before, when she needed to appear on camera or perform on stage, she had to grit her teeth and suppress her appetite, but recently her company had shelved her, and after publicly revealing her relationship, she had no work for the foreseeable future, so she decided to let loose.

Tonight's barbecue, she didn't hold back at all—she alone devoured over twenty skewers of lamb, leaving Zhang Xian stunned.

You're a female idol, and you don't need to manage your diet at all?

"Zhang Xian, today I even scolded someone for you!"

At the entrance of the seafood grill stall, Chu Yourong stroked her slightly rounded belly with one hand, smiling sweetly.

It was clear she had enjoyed tonight's meal, though her hand on her belly struck outsiders as oddly "pregnant."

"You drank alcohol—you should just take a taxi home yourself!"

Zhang Xian shook his head regretfully.

"You drank?"

"Did you drink?"

Chu Yourong blinked her beautiful almond-shaped eyes; she clearly remembered they had ordered fruit-juice drinks.

"I drank—I asked for a bottle of beer later!"

Zhang Xian shrugged: "Don't drink and drive, don't ambush someone far away—that's common sense!"

"You..."

"You did that on purpose!"

Hearing Zhang Xian's reminder, Chu Yourong suddenly remembered—just as they were nearly finished eating, Zhang Xian had voluntarily asked the server for a bottle of beer.

Back then, she had wondered why he suddenly wanted beer when they were almost done eating.

So he had already been "setting up" during dinner.

He just didn't want to walk me home, so he came up with this lame excuse.

"You're not driving—you're on an electric scooter!"

Chu Yourong stomped her foot angrily.

"Come on, repeat after me."

Zhang Xian pointed to the words printed on the rear fender of the scooter: "Green Source Electric Bike!"

"See? Electric bike!"

"An electric bike is still a vehicle, okay!"

Zhang Xian helplessly spread his hands: "It's not that I don't want to take you home—we're Chinese citizens, we have to obey traffic laws, right? Besides, it's for both our sakes!"

"Fine, fine, don't bother then!"

Chu Yourong pouted and strode purposefully toward a taxi waiting by the roadside for passengers.

Zhang Xian rode his electric scooter after her; when Chu Yourong got in, he leaned through the lowered window and feigned concern: "Be safe—text me when you get home!"

Chu Yourong rolled her eyes at Zhang Xian, then immediately rolled up the window: "Driver, Yujing Garden!"

"Got it."

The driver responded, starting the car with a chuckle: "So, had a fight with your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Don't say that in anger—your boyfriend probably knows he's wrong; look, he's even chasing after the car!"

The driver pointed to the rearview mirror.

Chasing the car?

Chu Yourong turned around in shock; she thought Zhang Xian would never do something like that.

But when she turned back, she saw Zhang Xian was indeed riding his electric scooter behind them.

"Should I stop?"

The driver asked cheerfully—he was a man in his forties, envious of young couples like Chu Yourong and Zhang Xian, still full of energy to fall in love at their early twenties.

By his age, he had long lost the ability to romance—above him were aging parents, below him were children, every morning he woke up to mortgage payments, car loans, living expenses, tutoring fees...

Love?

Could that stuff feed you?

Though life had worn down his edges, he still believed good things existed.

Like the fluttering rush of hormones in youth.

"While you're still young enough to act out, fall in love properly—don't regret it later!"

The driver added earnestly again.

Chu Yourong glanced back at Zhang Xian again; the words "stop the car" were almost on her lips—when suddenly, Zhang Xian's electric scooter turned a corner and vanished into a hutong.

【Dongliutiao Hutong】

Chu Yourong glanced at the roadside sign and angrily turned back around.

What chasing the car?!

He was just going home the same way!

The driver, who had intended to mediate, had also seen Zhang Xian's maneuver—his smile froze at the corner of his mouth.

"Cough, cough—when it comes to love, you still need to find the right person."

The driver muttered softly, then fell silent and focused on driving.

On the other side.

Having shaken off Chu Yourong, that "burden," Zhang Xian hummed a little tune in high spirits.

Yesterday he was willing to see Chu Yourong home because the Japanese restaurant where they'd eaten wasn't far from where she lived, but today was different — from the seafood barbecue stall to Chu Yourong's home was a full 12 kilometers.

On top of that, an e-bike couldn't go fast in the city, so one round trip would take at least an hour, maybe even longer.

She wasn't his real girlfriend — no touching, no sleeping — Zhang Xian wasn't about to suffer that!

"Brother Xian, wait up!"

Passing the supermarket at the alley entrance, Liu Dongxu's voice rang out from behind.

Zhang Xian stopped his little e-mule, and Liu Dongxu, clutching a shopping bag, jogged over to catch up: "Brother Xian, give me a lift."

"Hop on."

This small favor Zhang Xian wouldn't refuse — he casually pointed at the back seat.

"Brother Xian, you went on a date with Chu Yourong? Only getting back this late?"

Once on board, Liu Dongxu's nosy gossiping kicked in.

"Mm, just finished eating."

"Brother Xian, you're a real legend — even Chu Yourong you can land!"

"The goddess of so many men!" Liu Dongxu sighed, his face full of envy.

"You guys think she's a goddess because of the celebrity filter — actually she's just so-so, an ordinary girl!" Zhang Xian started humble-bragging.

Chu Yourong, oh so ordinary!

Spoken like a human?

The corner of Liu Dongxu's mouth twitched violently; he half regretted bringing up the topic — wasn't this just giving Zhang Xian a chance to show off?

Still, there was one thing he was very curious about. After a moment's silence, he couldn't help asking again: "Brother Xian, did you sleep with Chu Yourong?"

"Did you sleep with Wang Jiajia?"

Zhang Xian countered.

"That one's a must!"

Mentioning this, Liu Dongxu instantly perked up: "Brother Xian, let me tell you — I'm Jiajia's first man."

"So these past two days I've been teaching Jiajia some things she's never been exposed to. Don't let her quiet, gentle look fool you — she's actually got real talent in that area, tsk tsk..."

"Comprehension's really high, feels amazing!"

Liu Dongxu said with a face full of reminiscence, the corner of his mouth raised so high even an AK couldn't suppress it.