Chapter 40: Straight Guy
Fengcheng County is pretty small, with a population of around 500,000, including the surrounding towns and villages. The actual number of people living in the town itself is just a few hundred thousand.
The Walmart here opened in the past few years. It’s considered the most upscale mall in town. So in recent years, aside from the night markets on the walking street, young people like to come here to shop and hang out.
So running into Yu Fan wasn’t anything unusual.
As he got closer, Yu Fan also noticed Li Mu and Ren Tianyou sitting inside by the window. His eyes lit up, and he turned to the girl next to him and said, “Wait for me a second, okay?”
“Huh?”
“I just saw a friend,” he said, pointing at Li Mu. “I’m gonna go say hi real quick.”
“Alright, but the movie’s about to start.”
“It’s fine. If we go now, we’ll just be watching ads anyway.” After giving her an apologetic smile, Yu Fan headed into the store.
Ren Tianyou spotted him first and teased Li Mu, “Look at that, he’s leaving his girlfriend just to come talk to you.”
Li Mu glanced coldly at Yu Fan, who had just walked through the door, then kept eating without replying.
Yu Fan has a girlfriend? Don’t make me laugh.
A moment later, Yu Fan jogged over to their table.
“Li Mu, can you do me a favor?”
“No.” Li Mu said without hesitation.
Yu Fan was a bit stunned, then quickly dropped his pride and begged, “It's really just a small favor, just help me get out of this situation.”
That got Li Mu a little curious. He looked up at the girl outside the window, then back at Yu Fan. “Get out of the situation?”
That girl wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was at least above average.
“Yeah. I’m in a rush to get home and play ranked with my squad, and this girl shows up out of nowhere and insists on dragging me to the movies. She’s nuts.”
“Who is she?”
Li Mu saw Yu Fan’s face turn bitter as he answered, “She’s my neighbor. We basically grew up together.”
“Ooh, childhood sweetheart, huh?” Ren Tianyou clicked his tongue, impressed. “What’s wrong with watching a movie with her? She’s kind of a little beauty, right?”
Yu Fan gave him a look that basically said “You know nothing,” then shook his head.
“You don’t get it. She was fine when we were kids, but once she got a bit older, she became super clingy. It’s so annoying. If I hadn’t gone to a vocational school while she went to a regular high school, I would’ve gone crazy.”
“She’ll call me when I’m playing games. If I don’t answer, she comes knocking on my door ready to beat me up. Every time there’s a break, she forces me to go shopping with her. It’s insane,” Yu Fan ranted, knowing the girl couldn’t hear him from outside. “Just a couple days ago, I was busy helping you, and she wouldn’t stop nagging me. She’s driving me nuts.”
Listening to his complaints, Li Mu imagined himself in that situation and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that does sound annoying.”
“But I’m not the type to hit girls. And if I talk to her a little harshly, she starts fake-crying. She acts like a queen or something.” Yu Fan kept going.
“Yeah, definitely can’t hit her…”
“Right? And she doesn’t even play games! When she sees me playing, she starts nagging me like I’m some kind of little kid. Anyone watching would think I’ve got a second mom!”
Watching the two of them go back and forth complaining about the girl outside, Ren Tianyou finally understood why Li Mu didn’t have a girlfriend.
Maybe… this is what people mean when they say straight guy behavior.
If he had a clingy childhood friend like that, he’d probably laugh out loud in his dreams, right?
After finishing his sob story, Yu Fan plopped down next to Li Mu with a big smile, trying to please him.
“Can you tell her later that you and I have something really urgent to do, so I can’t go to the movie with her?”
Although Li Mu did feel a little sorry for Yu Fan, he still shook his head. “No way.”
Yu Fan’s smile froze.
“But I actually do have something I want to talk to you about,” Li Mu added.
“Why do you always talk like you’re building suspense?” Yu Fan immediately lit up again, and put his hands on Li Mu’s shoulders like a buddy. Grinning, he said, “I knew it! With our friendship, you’d definitely help me with something this small!”
As he spoke, he even started giving Li Mu a shoulder massage to win him over.
Since when did Li Mu get chubby?
Last time when Li Mu dressed up as a girl, Yu Fan even got poked by his bony shoulder.
Li Mu brushed his hands off. The massage didn’t feel good, his shoulders actually hurt now. Then he looked up at the girl who had just walked into the store.
“Yu Fan! Are you trying to run away again?” The girl stormed over, eyebrows raised like an angry tiger, glaring at Yu Fan.
Yu Fan stayed calm and confidently said, “I really do have something to do this time. I’ll watch a movie with you next time, I promise.”
The girl was caught off guard and didn’t answer for a moment. She took a deep breath, then turned around angrily and walked off.
“This girl has a temper,” Ren Tianyou said, clicking his tongue. “Girls these days all have fiery tempers. It’s harder to find a gentle and sweet one than to fly to the moon.”
“Right? She’s so possessive. She wants me to report everything I do, like she’s my mom or something,” Yu Fan scratched his head, looking troubled. Then he turned to Li Mu. “You said you had something to talk about? Make it quick, I need to get home and play ranked.”
Li Mu looked around at the people nearby. Talking about strange stuff here would make them look crazy, so he nodded. “Come to my place this evening.”
But he still couldn't help asking, “Can’t you tell she likes you?”
Yu Fan was just about to leave when the question stopped him. He paused, then seriously replied, “I just see her as a little sister.”
Li Mu could understand that.
Back when he had an online relationship, he’d also thought, if the girl turned out to be someone who only looked good in filters and was plain in real life, he’d treat her like a sister.
After all, people do care about looks, even if everything’s the same with the lights off...
“Tch. If it were me, I wouldn’t care about any of that. I’d just go for it,” Ren Tianyou jumped in.
Both of them gave him a dirty look like he was a total player.
“I'm leaving first. The five-player ranked game I promised to join is going to be late,” Yu Fan waved and happily ran out the door.
Then Li Mu looked through the window and saw that just as Yu Fan stepped outside, the girl, who had been hiding just out of sight, grabbed him.
He watched Yu Fan explain helplessly, but she grabbed his arm and dragged him upstairs toward the movie theater.
Yep, that girl was definitely a strong one.
He couldn't help but let out a small laugh, finding a bit of amusement in Yu Fan's predicament.
“Hey! That laugh, it's actually really nice!” Ren Tianyou said like he’d discovered something amazing. “I never noticed before, but your smile is really good-looking. If you smiled more, girls would totally be all over you.”
“You know, you never smiled before!”
Li Mu quickly stopped smiling. A faint blush showed on his cheeks as he looked away coldly. “Done eating. Let’s pay.”
Ren Tianyou playfully pinched Li Mu’s cheek and stood up with a grin. “You seem more cheerful than before.”
“I’m not,” Li Mu replied, trying to keep his cool and aloof attitude.