Chapter 177: [Side Story: The Fisherman] (1) First Meeting in a Past Life

Starting at 3:30 p. m., Li Luo accompanied Xu Youyu as they strolled along Houde Road, visiting one stall after another.

There was a calligraphy club booth; Xu Youyu picked up a brush and wrote a beautifully rendered "Li Luo" on rice paper, clearly skilled in calligraphy.

In comparison, Li Luo's "Xu Youyu" looked ordinary.

Of course, if he wanted to, he could have written stunning brush characters by frequently observing master calligraphers and using his soul-body possession ability.

But he had already used soul-body possession many times today; his head was tired, so he didn't bother expending more energy.

After that came the photography club, the anime club, and the dance club.

There was even a chess club, with several endgame puzzles set up on their booth—solve one, and you earned a stamp.

After wandering for about an hour, they finally made it from the northern end of Houde Road to the southern end, returning to the gym entrance.

At that moment, Xu Youyu stopped walking and suddenly looked toward the shade beside a tree, then crouched down over there.

"Senior, what's wrong?"

Li Luo walked over curiously and found it was a stray cat.

"Hello, Mimi~" Xu Youyu crouched on the ground, greeting the tabby cat warmly.

But she didn't dare reach out to touch it—she only called the cat's name affectionately, assuming, of course, that its real name was Mimi.

"I've seen this cat many times before," Xu Youyu said. "It was already around campus last semester, but this semester, this is the first time I've seen it."

"A stray cat?"

"The answer is obvious," Xu Youyu said, standing up and patting her backside after watching the tabby dart into the grass and vanish. "I heard it was chased away by security before summer vacation—never expected it to sneak back in this semester."

"You must really like cats, right?" Li Luo remembered clearly: in his past life, Xu Youyu had owned two cats—one tabby, one Ragdoll.

When Xu Youyu fell ill and lay in bed, it was Li Luo who came to her place to refill her cat food.

"I do like them," Xu Youyu said with a helpless smile, then clenched her fist. "But my parents don't like them. Still, once I start earning money, I'll live alone—then I can keep cats."

"You don't have to wait," Li Luo said, pointing at himself. "Your landlord is right here."

"You like cats too?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"I'm okay with them. At least I don't dislike them."

"Then forget it," Xu Youyu shook her head. "Cats are a hassle—we still have school. Let's talk about this later."

"I thought you'd happily agree," Li Luo said, surprised.

"What do you take me for?" Xu Youyu gave him a look. "Do I seem that irresponsible?"

"For someone who barged into my room early in the morning and tried to strip right in front of me, you certainly seem to lack restraint." Li Luo said, expressionless.

"Hmph, you clearly wanted to see," Xu Youyu glanced sideways at him. "When we were playing basketball earlier, your eyes never left."

"Don't make things up!" Li Luo protested indignantly. "I only glanced twice, then focused on the game."

"See? You admitted it," Xu Youyu grinned triumphantly. "You did look."

Li Luo: "... Senior is really cunning."

Not nearly as easy to fool as Ying Chanxi or Yan Zhusheng—she talks in full, polished arguments.

After watching the cat at the gym entrance and finishing their idle chatter, the two returned inside the gym.

Li Luo had originally planned to look for Yan Zhusheng along the way, but didn't see her.

Instead, Qian Siliang from Gao Er had come to take over, replacing Xie Shuchen as the keyboard instructor, so Xie Shuchen now taught guitar.

Yan Zhusheng was nowhere to be found.

"President, where's Yan Zhusheng?" Li Luo asked Niu Qingling, who stood before the drum kit.

"One of your classmates invited her to go out," Niu Qingling said. "Didn't you run into her?"

"No," Li Luo shook his head, then took his leave and walked with Xu Youyu toward the playground. "Let's go over there."

He remembered he'd promised Ying Chanxi he'd meet her at the picnic spot after finishing his errands; since Yan Zhusheng had been dragged off by classmates, Li Luo decided to bring Xu Youyu to join Ying Chanxi.

When they reached the southwest corner of the playground, they easily spotted Ying Chanxi, who had laid out a picnic blanket beside the stands.

Besides Qiao Xinyan, Yan Zhusheng and Xu Yinghuan were there too.

The four of them sat in a circle, playing cards.

Their serious expressions suggested the game was tense.

Li Luo walked over to the picnic blanket, crouched behind Ying Chanxi, glanced at her cards, and reached out to ask: "Can't you play this one?"

"Ah!"

Ying Chanxi jumped at the sudden hand, nearly dropping her cards.

Turning around and seeing it was Li Luo, she scowled, her expression darkening. "Do you want to die? You show up and don't even say hello."

"Didn't I just say something?"

"Is suddenly reaching out from behind me what you call saying hello?"

"I'm sorry. Keep playing."

"Hmph." Ying Chanxi turned back, thought for a long while, then finally played the card Li Luo had just suggested.

"So you still followed my advice..."

"Shut up." Ying Chanxi glared at him; her mood clearly wasn't good.

Meanwhile, Xu Yinghuan, still playing cards, asked curiously: "Monitor, what did you do this afternoon? I went to the rock club looking for Zhusheng and didn't see you."

"He went with the president to watch a fight," Yan Zhusheng said, eyes fixed on her cards, answering for Li Luo.

"I was accompanying my lord to handle a fight," Li Luo said seriously.

"And then you never came back," Yan Zhusheng glanced at him, then immediately turned back to her cards.

"I was just..."

"He begged me to play basketball," Xu Youyu laughed. "We played for half an hour, then wandered the stalls, and came here after."

"Oh, so that's how it was," Ying Chanxi glanced at Li Luo, recalling what Qiao Xinyan had said earlier, and let out a light snort. "Someone certainly had a full New Year's Eve."

"Focus on playing your cards." Li Luo pointed at the A in her hand. "Play this one."

"This is my only big card!" Ying Chanxi frowned. "Don't give me random advice."

"Clearly you didn't memorize the cards." Li Luo gave her a skeptical look. "None of the other three have any 2s, and both jokers are already played—this A is your biggest single card. Just play it outright."

"What if someone still has a bomb?"

"The cards on the table can't form a bomb. Trust me."

Ying Chanxi glanced at him skeptically, but finally trusted him and played the A.

No one took it.

Thus, Ying Chanxi won the round smoothly.

"Hey hey hey! Class monitor, stop giving outside advice!" Xu Yinghuan cried out. "How can you help someone else instead of your own classmate?"

"Huanhuan, a loser accepts the consequence." Ying Chanxi smiled faintly, her mood suddenly lifting. "Hurry up."

"Umm…" Xu Yinghuan reluctantly squatted on the picnic blanket and barked: "Woof woof woof!"

Li Luo: "... So losers have to bark like dogs? Who came up with this?"

"It was Xi Xi's idea," Xu Yinghuan retorted.

Hearing this, Li Luo shot Ying Chanxi a strange look, smirking. "You're not trying to practice the feeling ahead of time, are you?"

"Don't talk nonsense here," Ying Chanxi averted her gaze guiltily and pinched Li Luo secretly, telling him to shut up.

Li Luo winced, hissed, and quickly grabbed her small hand, prying her fingers open.

Behind them, their two hands tangled together, wrestling.

Eventually, Ying Chanxi's small hand couldn't match Li Luo's larger one. She surrendered and pulled back.

"Do you two want to join?" Xu Yinghuan, now shuffling the cards, looked at the newcomers. "We can play Draw Turtle."

"The loser barks like a dog?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

"Cough… let's skip that," Ying Chanxi quickly rejected. "Let's pick something else."

"Let me think…" Xu Yinghuan pondered, then snapped her fingers. "How about the loser tells one embarrassing story from their past?"

Li Luo stared at Xu Yinghuan in disbelief. "You have such a morbid sense of humor."

"What's wrong with that? It's fun!" Xu Yinghuan chuckled. "Class monitor, are you scared?"

"Fine," Li Luo chuckled. "I won't lose anyway."

A few minutes later.

Only Li Luo and Ying Chanxi still had cards left.

Li Luo had one card; Ying Chanxi had two, including one joker.

Watching Ying Chanxi nervously clutch her last two cards, Li Luo reached out and pinched one, testing.

He immediately noticed a flash of delight in her eyes.

He chuckled and pulled the other card.

When he looked at it, his face darkened.

Ying Chanxi, opposite him, beamed with joy and hurriedly urged Li Luo to prepare.

Now it was Li Luo holding two cards, and Ying Chanxi's turn to draw.

Ying Chanxi didn't bother with testing like Li Luo—she simply drew at random, taking the last good card and leaving Li Luo with a twitching eyelid.

"I just remembered—I need to go practice with the rock club. We still have the evening performance to prepare for."

"You're not running away!" Ying Chanxi grabbed his arm to stop him.

Yan Zhusheng beside them said seriously, "We've already practiced the performance piece well. No need to rehearse today."

"So, what's an embarrassing thing you've done before?" Xu Youyu asked curiously. "You look like you don't want to say."

"Alright, alright," Li Luo raised his hands in surrender, speaking sincerely. "When I was four, I wet the bed. Is that enough?"

"What's that? Kids wetting the bed is normal."

"When I was in elementary school, I wore mismatched shoes to class—one on each foot."

"Hmm… that's acceptable, but not explosive enough."

"…You guys have high standards." Li Luo sighed, then gritted his teeth. "When I was in middle school, I accidentally walked into the girls' bathroom."

"Whoa~"

"Not bad."

"It barely passes."

"Actually, I have something more explosive," Ying Chanxi said, barely holding back her laughter. "When Li Luo was in elementary school, he wore…"

"Ying Chanxi, shut up!" Li Luo knew exactly what she was about to say and lunged to cover her mouth.

"Mmm! Mmmmmm!" Ying Chanxi struggled against his hand, then broke free. "Li Luo wore my little dress in elementary school, hahaha~"

"He said it was too hot in summer and envied girls wearing dresses, so he begged and begged to wear mine."

"His mom even took photos of him—still in his family album."

Li Luo: "... Ying Chanxi, you've earned your death warrant."

The girls nearby all stifled laughter.

Xu Youyu patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's kind of cute. Very childlike."

"Again!" Li Luo gathered the cards on the picnic blanket, his spirit soaring. "You're all gonna pay for this!"

"No more. It's getting late," Ying Chanxi stood up, brushing off her pants.

"Mm," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "I think we should rehearse again before the performance."

"Cough," Xu Youyu also stood, stretching. "I need to patrol again—see if anything else pops up."

"Are you scared?"

"Okay, okay, I give up!" Xu Yinghuan surrendered without hesitation, giggling as she hugged Yan Zhusheng's arm and waved at Li Luo before slipping away.

"Thank you." Qiao Xinyan took the deck of cards Li Luo had just tidied up, struggling to suppress her laughter as she tightened her face and said, "Don't worry—I won't say a word."

"Heh, heh... so I should thank you both, then?"