Chapter 43: Kite

"Sweet potato pot-pot, sweet potato pot-pot~"

"What are you doing?"

"Sister just took one more breath than me."

Dou Dou pointed at Yin Xingyue, pouting with great dissatisfaction.

Yin Xingyue felt a bit embarrassed by Dou Dou's action.

Shen Siyuan, however, looked utterly flustered; he hadn't expected Dou Dou to argue with her good friend and good sister over such a trivial matter.

The specific situation was that Shen Siyuan was too lazy to go downstairs for a meal, so he cooked a bowl of instant noodles for himself.

Although instant noodles lack nutrition, they smell delicious and hold huge appeal for a child like Dou Dou.

Ghosts cannot eat food, but they can consume Qi, so Shen Siyuan let them "eat" first.

He didn't expect Dou Dou to complain because her sister took one more breath than her; Shen Siyuan was left laughing and crying.

In the end, Shen Siyuan could only turn on the computer and show her an animation to get her to leave.

After Dou Dou said that, Yin Xingyue felt she couldn't stay by Shen Siyuan's side anymore and ran over to watch TV with Dou Dou.

Just as Shen Siyuan was eating his noodles, he received a text message from Jiang Tingyu.

"Have you returned to Binhai?"

Seeing this message, Shen Siyuan couldn't help but smile.

Her sending this message meant she had hesitated repeatedly and was beginning to lower her persistence and bottom line.

Moreover, she didn't really want to ask if Shen Siyuan had returned to Binhai; she wanted to ask how his blind date went.

But she was too embarrassed to ask directly, so she chose an indirect strategy.

Since she didn't ask, Shen Siyuan also chose to play dumb, replying directly: "Just got back."

"Then do you want to come out for dinner together? I'm alone and quite bored."

Just as Shen Siyuan sent his message, Jiang Tingyu's reply came back immediately.

Shen Siyuan took a photo of his instant noodles and sent it over.

"You're eating this? Come out, and I'll treat you to a big meal."

"Forget it, I'm almost finished."

"Oh, I see. Then let's talk about it next time," Jiang Tingyu said.

Shen Siyuan replied with an OK emoji.

Seeing a response, Jiang Tingyu immediately said again: "You're so good; you can go home whenever you want. If I want to go home, taking a bus won't work; I must take a plane, and the ticket prices are ridiculously expensive, I can't afford to go back."

"Distance creates beauty; I go home often and get scolded by my parents," Shen Siyuan said.

"Ah, is that so? I forgot to ask you, how was the blind date? Did you find anyone you liked?" Jiang Tingyu asked as if it were casual.

Shen Siyuan couldn't bring himself to expose her; was she really forgetting? Wasn't her contacting him actively just to ask this question?

"It was okay."

Shen Siyuan deliberately gave an ambiguous answer.

"Your answer is so perfunctory. (Grievance. jpg)"

"Do you feel I'm annoying?" Jiang Tingyu added.

"No, the person was okay, but not suitable for me, which is why my mom scolded me and I got kicked back," Shen Siyuan said, no longer playing hard to get with her.

Jiang Tingyu immediately sent a laughing emoji.

Then she pressed on: "Was your blind date partner pretty?"

She wasn't really asking if Shen Siyuan's blind date partner was pretty; she was asking if she was prettier than her. Women are like that; they like to compare everything.

Sure enough, when Shen Siyuan said, "She was quite pretty."

She immediately asked if she was prettier than her.

Actually, the fact that she could ask such a question meant she had already started caring about Shen Siyuan's opinion.

So Shen Siyuan said, "Not as pretty as you."

When a woman asks you who is prettier, her or someone else, never say things like "different styles, each has its own beauty"; simply saying she is beautiful is the correct answer.

Sure enough, Jiang Tingyu immediately sent a happy emoji pounding the ground.

Then she sent Shen Siyuan a selfie taken in front of a mirror; she wore a tight wetsuit on top, her wet hair was tied up high, revealing a slender neck and narrow yet rounded shoulders, like a lotus emerging from water, very beautiful and very pretty.

"I just got off work."

While Shen Siyuan zoomed in on the photo to examine it carefully, she sent another message.

"You still have to work on Sunday?"

"Yes, our days off are when we are busiest; weekdays are actually more relaxed, so we take shifts."

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan understood; she worked at an aquarium, and days off are when there are the most people.

"Did you have a performance today?" Shen Siyuan asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, I invited you, but you didn't come. (Sad. jpg)"

"Next time for sure."

"Then next week, and I'll treat you to a big meal then," Jiang Tingyu said.

Shen Siyuan thought for a moment and said, "I should have time next week."

He said this to leave himself a little room for retreat; if he really couldn't go, he could say something urgent came up.

He didn't refuse directly because they had just met, the sunk cost was still very low, and consecutive rejections would make Jiang Tingyu give up immediately.

However, in Jiang Tingyu's view, such an answer meant Shen Siyuan had agreed.

She immediately sent an OK emoji and added: "Then I'll wait for you."

"Mm, go eat; my noodles are getting soggy," Shen Siyuan said, actively ending the topic.

When pursuing a girl, never rush to fawn over her—especially a girl who already has some interest in you, you absolutely must not appear overly enthusiastic.

A girl is like a kite in the sky: pull the string too tight and it snaps; pull it too loose and it falls.

In short, you need to keep it just right—only then can you keep her feeling fresh about you, wanting to take the initiative to learn more.

Although Watching Dou Dou was watching a cartoon, she had been keeping an eye on Shen Siyuan the whole time. Seeing him finish the noodles in a few bites, she let out a heavy sigh.

Yin Xingyue heard her voice and asked, a little curious, "Dou Dou, what's wrong?"

"Sweet-potato Brother is so happy, eating so much instant noodles in one go." Watching Dou Dou's tone was full of envy.

Yin Xingyue didn't quite understand Watching Dou Dou's way of thinking—what was there to envy about eating instant noodles? Back when she was alive, she ate instant noodles all the time; sometimes all three meals a day were that.

"My mommy says instant noodles aren't healthy and won't let me eat them, but they smell so good—how could they be something bad?" Watching Dou Dou said, a little puzzled.

Yin Xingyue felt a bit amused by her.

"Something that smells good isn't necessarily a good thing—just like a person who looks pretty isn't necessarily a good person…"

The more Yin Xingyue spoke, the quieter her voice became, because all of this came from her own experience.

At this moment, Shen Siyuan finished tidying up the bowls and chopsticks and walked over, calling out, "Stop watching the cartoon, both of you come here."

Hearing this, Watching Dou Dou was the first to run over to Shen Siyuan, craning her neck and asking him, "Sweet-potato Brother, are you going to eat more instant noodles?"

"What instant noodles? I'm going to teach you something."

Shen Siyuan glanced at the wavering blue flame on her head and took out 【Embrace the Wind to Sleep】.

【Embrace the Wind to Sleep】 has the effect of calming the spirit and settling the Qi; it should be of some use to them.

"Follow my movements and do them together." Shen Siyuan struck a posture of embracing heaven and earth.

"Oh, so Sweet-potato Brother wants to play a game with us."

Watching Dou Dou happily hopped about and spun around in circles.

It seemed this 【Embrace the Wind to Sleep】, she probably wouldn't be able to learn—she was far too restless.