Chapter 920: Don

Xu Youyu couldn't grill well, always misjudging the heat, so after Li Luo brought out all the skewers, she returned to the motorhome's dining area and sat by the window.

She opened the car window, leaned out, and could directly see the barbecue grill placed perpendicular to the vehicle's side, with Li Luo standing before it, marinating some skewers.

"Boss, are you doing barbecue here? How much per skewer?" Xu Youyu turned her eyes toward Li Luo's profile and asked with a grin.

Li Luo heard this, paused slightly, then immediately understood Xu Youyu was in playful mood, and chuckled, "Yeah, barbecue. Want some, Miss? Very cheap."

"How cheap is cheap?"

"Depends on what you want to eat."

"I want lamb skewers and pork belly," Xu Youyu pointed at the nearby skewers.

"Lamb skewers and pork belly? Those are cheap—lamb skewer is two hugs, pork belly is one kiss."

"?" Xu Youyu blinked, stunned by the price, then smirked, immediately shifting to a shy, wounded expression. "Boss, you're mean! Bullying a girl like me—no one pays for barbecue like this."

"What? Isn't this fair? Don't you want a few skewers?" Li Luo turned to look at her, smiling. "They're delicious."

"Can't I just pay money?"

"You can pay if you want," Li Luo sighed. "Lamb skewer is ten yuan, pork belly is eight."

"Why so expensive?"

"Take it or leave it."

"Then give me five lamb skewers and five pork belly skewers," Xu Youyu said.

"Can you afford it?"

"Who are you looking down on?" Xu Youyu huffed, pulling out her phone. "Give me your payment code—I'll pay upfront, fine."

"Alright, scan here." Li Luo pulled out his phone and actually displayed the payment code.

But after scanning, Xu Youyu's face twisted in embarrassment. She muttered softly, "Boss, this is way too expensive—I only have forty yuan on me, I can't pay."

"Then what now?" Li Luo had already started grilling five lamb and five pork belly skewers. "I've already started cooking—you can't back out now."

"This—"

Xu Youyu's expression turned troubled.

Then she suddenly looked as if she'd just thought of something, and whispered, "Boss, is your earlier price still valid?"

"What price?"

"The one—uh—the lamb skewer, two—uh—two of those—"

"Of course it's valid," Li Luo chuckled. "So your ten skewers mean ten hugs and five kisses."

"No no no!" Xu Youyu shook her head vigorously. "Kisses are out! I'm still single, never had a boyfriend, my first kiss is still intact—I can't do kisses!"

"Then what?"

"C-can I just do hugs?" Xu Youyu ventured. "Ten hugs for lamb skewers, ten hugs for pork belly?"

"No. Kisses are kisses—they can't be changed."

"Then this." Xu Youyu bit her lip. "Pork belly at eight yuan per skewer—five skewers is forty yuan. I'll pay that with cash. Lamb skewers? I'll pay with hugs. Deal?"

"This—"

Li Luo's expression turned slightly disappointed.

But he nodded. "Alright, fine."

After agreeing on the price, Xu Youyu paid Li Luo forty yuan, then bit her lip, cheeks flushed, and asked shyly, "S-so… how do I pay the hugs?"

"Come here," Li Luo said. "Hugs aren't hard."

"But how exactly does one hug count?" Xu Youyu asked warily. "Don't you dare hug for ages and say it's just one."

"Five seconds each," Li Luo said. "Ten hugs is fifty seconds—but since you're already hugging, why not make it a full minute? I'll grill you two extra skewers."

"Hmm—alright, I guess."

Xu Youyu glanced longingly at the lamb skewers; they smelled delicious. Fifty seconds or a minute didn't matter much—she nodded in agreement.

After finalizing the rules, Xu Youyu finally stood up, stepped out of the motorhome, and approached Li Luo.

"Boss, h-how exactly do you want me to hug?" Xu Youyu whispered.

"I'm busy grilling, so just hug me from behind," Li Luo said.

"Okay." Hearing she didn't have to face him, Xu Youyu visibly relaxed, stepped behind him, and cautiously reached out, gently wrapping her arms around him.

"You're not even touching me," Li Luo felt only her hands resting on his waist, nothing else. He urged, "Hold tighter."

"You didn't say how to hug," Xu Youyu said stubbornly from behind him. "This counts as a hug. We agreed on one minute—fifteen seconds already passed."

"Is that so?" Li Luo suddenly spun around, yanked Xu Youyu into his arms, and squeezed her tightly.

"Ah!"

Xu Youyu's head was buried in Li Luo's chest, completely enveloped in his embrace, and she squirmed.

"Y-you—how did you suddenly—"

"You said it yourself—no rules on how to hug, right? So this is fine," Li Luo grinned, holding her close, his hands wandering up and down her back.

Xu Youyu immediately grabbed his hands.

Her cheeks burned red, her eyes welled up as if she might cry.

"Just hug, don't do this—wah—"

"Alright, alright, I'm not groping—just a normal hug. Don't cry," Li Luo said, turning her around to face the grill, picking up the freshly grilled pork belly skewer, and holding it to her lips. "Here, eat one. You'll stop crying."

"Time's up, right?" Xu Youyu sniffled, voice muffled against his chest. "Feels like a full minute already."

"Nope, only forty seconds," Li Luo said. "I'm timing it."

"Really? It's been a minute!"

"Don't rush," Li Luo held her close, offering the skewer. "Try it first—my grilling's pretty good."

"Mmm—"

Xu Youyu sniffed the aroma of five-spice pork, flaring her nostrils.

She'd planned to wait until the time was right to eat, but couldn't resist, so she opened her mouth and took a bite.

"Too hot! Too hot————"

Though she muttered it was hot, Xu Youyu still slurped down the entire skewer, feeling it was delicious beyond words.

"Still hot?" Li Luo reached out, pinching her chin as if concerned, leaning close—then suddenly smacked a kiss right onto her lips.

"Ah!" Xu Youyu jumped back, shoving him away hard, clutching her mouth and staring at him in shock, "Y-You did what?! Didn't we agree to just hug?!"

"Aw, you're just too beautiful—I couldn't help it," Li Luo grinned mischievously. "What's the harm in one kiss? I'll give you another skewer of five-spice pork if it bothers you."

"Is this just about one skewer of five-spice pork?!" Xu Youyu burst into wailing sobs, pounding his chest with tiny fists, "That was my first kiss! I've never even had a boyfriend!"

"Cough—how about a few more skewers then?"

"Is my first kiss worth only a few skewers of five-spice pork?"

"Then how about this—I'll waive the entire barbecue bill tonight. What else do you want grilled? I'll make it for you."

"No way!" Xu Youyu turned away angrily and stomped back into the Motorhome. "I'm calling the police—you're sexually harassing me!"

"There aren't any cameras around here," Li Luo scoffed. "Besides, you agreed to the hug. I just kissed you because the moment felt right—what's the big deal? Even if you report me, it won't help. Better off eating free barbecue."

With that, Li Luo plated the freshly grilled lamb skewers and five-spice pork, passing them through the window. "Here, try them—they're delicious. Tell me what else you want."

Xu Youyu put on an angry face, but the scent of the barbecue overwhelmed her. She couldn't resist—reached out, grabbed a lamb skewer, and bit into it fiercely.

"Tasty, right?" Li Luo leaned against the window, grinning as he watched her eat. "How's that? Was the kiss worth it?"

"How dare you say that!" Xu Youyu glared at him, then suddenly remembered something and pulled out her phone, flashing a payment code at him.

"What's this mean?" Li Luo blinked in surprise.

"Pay me back!" Xu Youyu huffed. "You said the barbecue was free—so give me back the forty yuan you just took."

"Still fussing over that?" Li Luo chuckled, pulled out his phone, and sent her forty-eight yuan.

"Why did you send eight extra?"

"One skewer of five-spice pork is eight yuan—or one kiss," Li Luo teased. "Since I kissed you just now, here's eight extra."

"You————"

Xu Youyu was furious, biting down hard on her lamb skewer.

Then she glanced at the skewers on the table outside and snapped, "Keep grilling! Grill everything on that table for me!"

"Got it," Li Luo replied, immediately getting busy—and still found time to call out, "Want some alcohol? I'll pour you some."

"What kind of alcohol?"

"Homemade cocktail."

"Then give me one to try."

"OK."

They ate until full, drank several cocktails.

The atmosphere inside the Motorhome grew hazy.

Xu Youyu's cheeks flushed red, as if drunk. Without realizing it, Li Luo had climbed into the vehicle and pulled her into his arms.

"Y-You're going to do what?"

"What's wrong?" Li Luo murmured into her ear, holding her close. "I only said the barbecue was free—I never said the drinks were. Now it's time to collect payment."

"————Huh?"

Xu Youyu seemed drunk, yet still half-aware.

"What do you mean—wasn't it free? Why do I have to pay for the alcohol?"

"I only said the barbecue was free."

"You————how much for the alcohol?"

"I'm afraid you can't afford it."

"I only had three drinks—how much could that possibly be?"

"Cocktails are expensive," Li Luo chuckled. "Twenty-five yuan per glass."

"Are you robbing me?!"

"That's not expensive. If you drank at a bar, it'd cost you way more."

"I don't have that much————"

Xu Youyu mumbled in his arms, "I'll pay for only two drinks."

"What about the third?"

"J-Just pay with hugs," Xu Youyu whispered. "Ten yuan for two hugs on the lamb skewers—so twenty-five yuan for the cocktail means five hugs."

"That's not how it works," Li Luo said. "The five-spice pork was one kiss per skewer."

"Then what do you want?!"

"One drink—five kisses."

"No way!"

"What's the difference?" Li Luo pulled her closer, whispering. "You already gave me your first kiss—what's a few more?" Before she could react, he stole another kiss.

"Ah! I didn't agree to that! How could you just kiss me?!"

"I was just demonstrating," Li Luo coaxed. "See? One kiss isn't a big deal. Just four more, and you're done."

"Mmm————"

Perhaps she was truly drunk—Xu Youyu thought his logic made sense, and nodded slightly.

"Then—then hurry up. I'm going to sleep."

"Alright. Here I come."

Saying this, Li Luo pinched Xu Youyu's cheek and leaned in to kiss her hard.

The kiss lasted several minutes, until Xu Youyu could no longer breathe and shoved him away, finally breaking their lips apart.

"Y-you kissed for so long!"

"You never said how long counts as one," Li Luo grinned mischievously. "That counted as one. Three left."

"N-no, not anymore————"

Xu Youyu moaned.

"At most I can only————"

"Mmm————"

Before Xu Youyu could finish, Li Luo kissed her again, sealing her lips shut.

After the three kisses ended, Li Luo spent over half an hour working, until Xu Youyu's body went limp and her mind grew hazy.

Xu Youyu didn't even know when she ended up lying face-down.

When she came to, everything had already happened.

"Mmm~"

"Good girl, don't move," Li Luo stroked Xu Youyu's head. "From now on, whenever you come to my place for barbecue, it's permanently free."

Long silence.

The Motorhome finally fell quiet.

Xu Youyu leaned back against Li Luo's chest, breathing heavily, her face flushed. "You're terrible, bullying an innocent girl."

"Didn't you start it?"

Li Luo laughed. "I thought you enjoyed it."

"Hmph~" Xu Youyu huffed, then giggled a few times, collapsing fully against Li Luo, savoring the scene they'd just played out. "Aren't you enjoying it too?"

"I was just going along with you."

"Sounds like only I'm having fun. If that's the case, I won't act anymore."

"That won't do," Li Luo immediately shook his head. "You still have to act."

"Then do you like it?"

"I do."

"That's more like it~" Xu Youyu nodded happily, then rolled her eyes. "So what'll we act out tonight?"

"Whatever the Birthday Person wants."

"Oh come on, let me think~"