What's more unacceptable than mooching off two women in two months?
Among these two women, one is your ex-girlfriend whom you broke up with twenty-four days ago and who hates you to death.
And mooching off the ex-girlfriend, compared to the other one, is actually considered simpler...
"I've felt a malice like never before!!"
Of course, searching online didn't yield any serious answers, and Li Peifeng sighed in frustration.
These past two days, not only has he not eaten well, but also hasn't slept well. The dual torture of body and mind has pushed him to the brink of collapse, especially the hunger!
It's well-known that in a state of hunger, a person has no willpower to speak of.
If it's extreme hunger, a person ceases to be a person.
Eating others' children, cooking with their bones.
This phrase vividly describes how, when driven to the extremes of hunger, a person will do anything to fill their belly.
Li Peifeng is no exception, especially since he doesn't need to resort to cannibalism; just mooching can fill him up, the cost being just setting aside some dignity.
After all, how much is dignity worth? What is money in the face of hunger?
Already sweating from hunger, Li Peifeng contemplated the fifty-thousand-plus in his bank account and thought of his dear parents and the beautiful world. He felt that starving to death like this would be a truly pathetic demise! A miserable life!
And so, with an excited heart and trembling hands, he picked up the phone to contact the ex-girlfriend who wished him dead...
Complete the other task first? Li Peifeng hadn't even considered it, because just as the system assessed, that one is much harder!
It's a creature more terrifying than the ex-girlfriend, let alone expecting her to spend or give thirty thousand yuan on him, he didn't even dare hope she'd buy him a meal.
Start slowly, from easy to hard...
"Ring~"
It's connected, the wait begins, and Li Peifeng took a sip of warm water, feeling a slight tinge of nervousness.
After all, this was their first contact after breaking up.
Although both attended Beihua University, they were in different departments, and in different grades. With bad luck, they might not even bump into each other on campus.
Recalling this relationship, Li Peifeng's memory was very clear, because not much time had passed since the breakup, and because this was his only officially acknowledged romantic relationship in college, publicly declared on Wechat Moments, albeit under pressure...
She, Xu Manning, was considered by many classmates on campus to be an arrogant, condescending, temperamental jerk.
Notable incidents include: One, being collectively ostracized by all her roommates for being overly pretentious within two weeks of the semester starting, leading her to become a commuter student. The conflict between the two groups never subsided, going from offline bickering to online head-butting, from department chat groups to campus forums. Xu Manning held her ground one against three, thus gaining fame.
Two, dating the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Department of Physical Education, Wu Wenyue. After they broke up, Wu Wenyue's friends were furious, exposing their relationship dynamics, posting multiple threads on the campus forum such as: "How Miss Xu turned a straight girl and then walked away" and "Miss Xu's collection of jerk quotes: Remember to like and save," and so on, which catapulted Xu Manning's notoriety and got her blacklisted in the campus's lesbian circles.
He, Li Peifeng, was called by many on campus as the "campus heartthrob," "green tea collector," "jerk stamp collector," "Beihua University's Casanova," "The most affectionate man of Dong Capital," "Pacific Ocean fish breeder," and other titles.
Notable incidents include: flirting with jerks, having fun with green teas, inseparable from women with bad reputations...
The root cause being that Li Peifeng was always busy with studies and writing, having no time nor inclination for a serious relationship. Moreover, with Beihua University having more girls than boys, there were too many girls throwing themselves at him, which confused him and left him blind to his own feelings.
After all, there was a saying from Beihua University: Do not let a virgin leave Beihua University!!
So Li Peifeng simply adhered to the attitude of not being proactive, not refusing, not acknowledging, flirting with many flowers, but not letting a single leaf stick to him.
Be friends? Sure.
Be lovers? No.
However, Li Peifeng did have his limits. He kept a clear distance from genuinely good women, never crossing the line. When it came to those with terrible personalities, notorious bad women, and manipulative "green tea" types, he never turned away and rose to the challenge.
With unique behaviors and outstanding looks, over time, Li Peifeng gained quite a reputation on campus, inviting more and more uniquely minded, highly individualistic female classmates to become curious, wanting to get to know him better and witness his demeanor.
Xu Manning was among them. Initially, because her girlfriend Wu Wenyue and Li Peifeng were friends, she met the latter at a dinner party, and they became friends as well, with the three of them having a harmonious relationship for a long time, until Xu Manning broke up with Wu Wenyue and then turned around to pursue Li Peifeng...
It was a mess!
Considering his close relationship with Wu Wenyue, Li Peifeng had concerns about Xu Manning's pursuit and hesitated, even rejecting her more than once. But Xu Manning was too forward, with endless tactics, eventually achieving her goal one night with alcohol, cooking the rice into porridge.
And while Li Peifeng was asleep, she used his phone to publicize their relationship on his Wechat Moments... even if it only stayed up for six days.
Aside from the complex emotional entanglement of the three, looking back at it, Li Peifeng thought the nature of this relationship was quite simple.
Both sides were driven by desire, ultimately probing deep into each other.
In six days, the two broke free from their cages; one saw the roots, the other reached the depths, each arrogantly thinking they understood the other, but returned disappointed.
The relationship came quickly and went just as fast.
It started with the thrill of novelty and ended with the same.
This is a very typical, fast-food style romance of contemporary repellent young people.
"Those scattered by the wind ~ say they don't love deeply ~ Those soaked by the rain ~ say they won't get cold..."
Just then, Li Peifeng, lost in thought, heard the phone connect, but the person on the other end didn't speak. Only after he realized the ringtone had ended for some time did he respond instinctively:
"Hello?"
"Speak."
The voice from the speaker was clear and crisp, sparing with words.
Li Peifeng summoned the scarce nutrients to his brain, hoping to create a better state, say the right thing, and enjoy a satisfying meal.
Forget about anything thirty thousand or not.
The most important thing right now is, eat!!
But after pondering for a while and combining the system's read on her psychological state, his countless thoughts condensed into three words...
"Have you eaten?"
Though simple, this greeting conveyed Dong's profound culture, reflecting the modest spirit of Dong people who regard food as heaven. It embodies great wisdom!!
"I..."
But Xu Manning clearly couldn't grasp the wisdom in it. She paused, seemingly wanting to say something rude; she suppressed her anger and said, "I'm still busy with work, if you have something, just say it."
"Nothing much."
Li Peifeng replied feebly: "I just wanted to have a meal with you, chat a bit."
The main focus is eating; there's nothing much to chat about really. What is there to chat about with an ex-girlfriend who wants to cremate him? If it weren't for this damned system forcing him, Li Peifeng would never want to have any contact with this woman again.
Clearly, her thoughts aligned with his...
"Ha ha."
The cold laugh from Xu Manning in the phone was quite piercing: "Sorry, may I ask who's calling? I can't recognize the voice, so I might not be that familiar with you, why eat with you?"
Refusal was expected, deliberately distant as if not recognizing him, which Li Peifeng had already anticipated, so he wasn't fazed.
After all, if Xu Manning truly didn't want to bother with him, she wouldn't have answered the call, nor would she have not hung up by now.
This trick, ah, this trick is called playing hard to get to make the other party take the initiative.
Li Peifeng felt nothing in his heart, even wanting to laugh a bit.
Alright, welcome to the Summoner's Canyon's Emotional Confrontation Road, where you can enjoy the art of extreme push and pull!
"Indeed we're not familiar, although we've had certain interactions, but common wisdom says, true acquaintance lies in heart connection. I believe we weren't truly connected in the past, and largely, that's my fault, I reflect."
To get that meal, Li Peifeng felt his face skin had visibly thickened by three centimeters, and he went straight for the big move—admitting fault.
That's pulling; but once the distance has narrowed a bit, showing a bit of desire, Li Peifeng started to push again, altering his tone to a deeper and smoother one.
"Of course, relationships are a two-person affair, time will never turn back. We were once like two sharp swords, concealed but attracted to each other, subconsciously making moves to test, shadowy sword waves clashing and intertwining, eagerly seeking victory, demanding an answer, yet forgetting victory is meaningless, while the lengthy process itself is the answer. A process hidden within the dullness and brightness, although so fleeting..."
Li Peifeng mused a bit, then said: "I'm not saying these to reconcile with you, just wanting to... meet today."
Silence came from the other end for several seconds, then Xu Manning said teasingly: "Wow, so moving, so romantic, the great talent speaks so well, but you're too verbose, allow me to simplify."
"School's on break, junior students went home, your recent market is bad, want some leftover grass?"
"..."
"Are you shamelessly indecent? You scum!"