Chapter 14: Beach Vacation (1)
Since it was already October, most southern cities had started to get a little cooler.
So the beach they chose was actually on an island farther south.
The island's temperature stayed around 27°C all year round, making it a perfect vacation destination.
Because of that, many tourists came to visit every year.
At a Maid Café by the Beach
At that moment, Li Nuo was wearing a silver-gray twin-tail wig and a black-and-white maid outfit.
He was carrying a tray and serving customers in the café.
"Hello, this is your seafood udon."
After placing the food on the table, Li Nuo held the tray with both hands, bowed politely, and turned around to leave.
"That maid is really cute."
"I wish she could be my girlfriend."
"Miss Maid, can I have your contact information?"
Although he heard the customers' comments, Li Nuo did not feel happy at all.
Walking awkwardly, he gritted his teeth.
"An Ran'er, just you wait..."
This maid café job had been introduced to him by An Ran'er.
If she had not repeatedly insisted that she had worked hard to ask a friend to find this part-time job for him, and if the pay had not actually been pretty good, he would never have agreed to do it.
While Li Nuo was still muttering complaints to himself, a woman walked over.
She had a sexy figure, tanned skin, charming eyes, and a cigarette hanging from her lips.
"Xiao Li, how's it going? Are you getting used to the job?"
"I-It's okay."
The woman's name was Yu Lin, the owner of the maid café.
Since she was friends with An Ran'er's older sister, she had agreed to An Ran'er's request to hire someone part-time.
What she had not expected was that the person coming to work was not An Ran'er herself, but a friend she brought along.
The moment Yu Lin first saw Li Nuo, she knew he would be perfect for the job.
So she hired him without hesitation.
After putting a silver-gray twin-tail wig on him, she became even more certain she had made the right choice.
And after he changed into the maid outfit, she had absolutely no doubts.
Since Li Nuo started working there, the café had been getting more customers than usual.
Unfortunately, that also meant he became much busier.
It was not until after the lunch rush, around two o'clock in the afternoon, that things finally started to calm down and he could take a short break.
But before he could sit down, three more customers arrived.
"Xiao Nuo, are you done with work yet?"
"Hi, Li Nuo-chan!"
The person calling him "Xiao Nuo" was naturally his best friend, Zhou Qikuan.
He was walking in front, shirtless and wearing only a pair of colorful beach shorts, occasionally looking back at the people behind him.
The one calling him "Li Nuo-chan" was a round-faced girl about 160 centimeters tall.
She had her hair tied into two buns and was wearing a Japanese school swimsuit.
Whenever she smiled, her two small canine teeth would show.
Her name was Ye Feilu.
She was the same girl who had cosplayed Sinon at the anime convention where they had met before.
This time, she had come with An Ran'er.
Walking behind them was An Ran'er herself.
She wore a one-piece skirt-style swimsuit, and her soft orange hair was tied up in a bun behind her head.
"So, how is the part-time job I found for you?"
An Ran'er looked at him with obvious amusement.
Li Nuo gritted his teeth.
This girl really knew how to bring up the one thing he did not want to talk about. Wearing the maid outfit, he spoke one word at a time.
"Thank. You. Very. Much. Classmate An."
"You're welcome, Classmate Li Nuo. It's the least I could do."
For some reason, An Ran'er really enjoyed seeing Li Nuo suffer in embarrassment.
At that moment, Ye Feilu, who had already sat down outside the café, shouted toward him.
"Li Nuo-chan! Please bring me a cup of the Orange Demon Drink filled with deadly particles that can make people explode!"
"Huh?"
Li Nuo stared blankly at her.
"It's orange soda."
An Ran'er quickly explained from the side.
"Oh... alright."
So she's one of those chuunibyou types...
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Li Nuo looked at the other two.
"What about you guys?"
"Strawberry juice."
"Th-Then I'll have orange soda too, Xiao Nuo."
"Two orange sodas and one strawberry juice. Got it."
After writing down their order in a small notebook, Li Nuo went to tell the kitchen staff.
A short while later, he carried the three drinks outside on a tray.
Zhou Qikuan, who was sitting closest to the door, was staring at Ye Feilu with a completely lovestruck expression.
Ye Feilu felt uncomfortable under his gaze. She could not help whispering to An Ran'er,
"Ran'er, is this idiot really your friend? Why does he keep staring at me like some creep?"
"You weren't saying that when you dragged him into photos at the anime convention."
"Th-That's different!"
Ye Feilu's face turned red.
"I only liked the Kirito costume he was wearing back then!"
Puffing her cheeks slightly, she looked annoyed.
"How would I know? Deal with it yourself."
An Ran'er rested her cheek on her hand and chuckled softly.
At that moment, Zhou Qikuan felt incredibly lucky that he had come on this vacation.
Because it allowed him to meet the girl of his dreams once again.
He gazed at her affectionately. Every movement she made tugged at his heart.
Whenever she accidentally showed her little fangs while smiling, his heart raced even faster.
His entire body felt hot.
Just then, Li Nuo arrived with the drinks.
Before Li Nuo could even put them on the table, Zhou Qikuan grabbed his orange soda and finished it in one gulp.
Afterward, he snorted loudly through his nose like a bull.
Then he immediately returned to staring intensely at Ye Feilu.
Ye Feilu shivered.
At this point, she had completely lost interest in drinking soda.
Grabbing An Ran'er's hand, she whispered nervously,
"Ran'er, maybe we should leave now. I'm afraid if we stay any longer, this stupid gorilla will go crazy and eat both of us."
"Uh... okay."
Seeing that Ye Feilu was genuinely scared, An Ran'er agreed.
"Xiao Lu isn't feeling well, so we're going back to the hotel first. You two can have the drinks."
"Oh, alright."
Li Nuo was surprised they were leaving so early.
But when he turned around and saw the lovestruck look on Zhou Qikuan's face, he immediately understood.
"See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Even after the two girls had disappeared from sight, Zhou Qikuan was still sitting there with the same foolish smile on his face.
Only after Li Nuo smacked him on the head a few times with the side of his hand did he finally come back to reality.
"Huh? Xiao Nuo, where... where did they go?!"
Realizing that the girl of his dreams was gone, he looked around frantically.
"They already left."
"Oh..."
"Do you know what you looked like just now?"
"What?"
"A gorilla in heat."
After saying that, Li Nuo turned around and walked back into the café, leaving Zhou Qikuan sitting there in complete confusion.
"A gorilla???"