Since she had never imagined the possibility of a romantic relationship between herself and He Rui, Hua Shu failed to grasp the true meaning of Liu Fengying’s words. More precisely, she assumed that Liu Fengying meant that He Rui had originally planned to meet another girl at this restaurant, but had canceled the date after spotting her.

  As a result, she began scanning her surroundings, searching for a girl who looked either deeply dejected or who was shooting resentful glances at their table. After all, if Liu Fengying had noticed her so quickly, there had to be someone who stood out.

  Naturally, all of this only intensified Hua Shu’s contempt for He Rui. In her mind, he was no longer just a hypocrite, but also a top-tier scumbag, so she could not help wondering whether he deserved for any girl to cry over him. She even thought that perhaps she should go over to the girl He Rui had abandoned and try to talk some sense into her, explaining that she ought to be grateful for having seen his true colors in time.

  Seeing Hua Shu’s reaction, it was not difficult for Liu Fengying to infer how her words had been interpreted.

  Liu Fengying’s first impulse was to snicker; the situation struck her as highly amusing, especially when she recalled how hard He Rui had tried to appear charming in front of Hua Shu, only for all his efforts to go completely unnoticed.

  However, remembering He Rui’s intentions, Liu Fengying could not help feeling irritated by Hua Shu’s complete lack of defensiveness toward him. If, after failing to win her over, he had decided to resort to extreme measures, wouldn’t she have been like a lamb led to the slaughter?

  It was not as though Liu Fengying was unaware of the reason behind this. From the conversation between the two, she had gathered that He Rui was something like a family friend. Still, Hua Shu was usually quite perceptive when it came to the dramas and schemes common among wealthy families, so how was it that she could be so oblivious when it came to her own family?

  “There’s no need to look elsewhere, because his original target is sitting right at our table…” Liu Fengying finally said. It had already become clear that no matter how much time she gave her, Hua Shu would never realize that she herself was the one being referred to.

  By coincidence, however, a waitress arrived at their table at that very moment with the cutlery. After hearing Liu Fengying’s words, instead of thinking of herself, Hua Shu shifted her attention to the waitress.

  Since high-end restaurants tended to be quite selective when it came to their staff’s appearance, the waitress was very attractive, with both a pretty face and a slender figure. Moreover, her manners were exceptionally refined—exactly the sort of thing Hua Shu suspected would appeal to a man like He Rui, for whom appearances meant everything.

  That being the case, it was hardly strange that Hua Shu now felt quite convinced that Liu Fengying had been referring to the waitress.

  The only thing that did not quite add up was the waitress’s pleasant smile; she did not look at all like someone suffering from heartbreak or jealousy. Still, Hua Shu reasoned that, as a professional in the service industry, she was undoubtedly skilled at concealing her emotions.

  ‘Let’s just hope she really can control them and isn’t a “smiling tiger”…’, Hua Shu thought, feeling a shiver of unease at the idea that the same waitress would likely be the one to bring their food as well. What if, seeking revenge, she decided to spit in their dishes?

  “...…”, seeing Hua Shu glance meaningfully at the waitress in search of confirmation, Liu Fengying felt the urge to smack her own forehead. Well, it wasn’t entirely Hua Shu’s fault for making yet another mistake; having been presented with such a plausible lead, it was almost as if the universe itself wanted her to remain ignorant.

  In any case, Liu Fengying concluded that it was necessary to spell things out for Hua Shu plainly and explicitly—that He Rui had come for her. Otherwise, judging by how things were going, Hua Shu might end up nominating the table decorations—such as the floral arrangement—as the object of He Rui’s interest before realizing that the person in question was herself.

  “Shushu, this might be hard for you to believe, but He Rui’s target was you. And I’m not using the word ‘target’ in the sense it has in assassin movies, where it refers to someone who needs to be eliminated, or in high school dramas, where it describes a bullying victim, but in the sense used in romantic films. No, let’s forget about movies altogether. What I mean is that He Rui came here intending to seduce you—most likely not only hoping to start a romantic relationship with you, but having already made plans for marriage as well…” Liu Fengying said, doing her best to be as clear as possible so as to leave no room for misinterpretation.

  “…...”, Hua Shu was left wearing an utterly perplexed expression after hearing Liu Fengying’s words; more precisely, she looked like someone who had just learned of the existence of something fundamentally incompatible with everything she knew about the world.

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  Seeing Hua Shu in such a state, Liu Fengying let out a sigh of relief. She was fairly certain that Hua Shu had finally understood the situation.

  “So… me? Are you sure?” Hua Shu asked after a few moments. Honestly, more than wanting to know how certain Liu Fengying was, Hua Shu needed to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating—or rather, that this wasn’t a nightmare. The idea that He Rui could harbor romantic intentions toward her seemed utterly absurd.

  “Well, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say one hundred percent. Seriously, didn’t you notice how obsequious he was toward you? If you ask me, it’s quite obvious that he did everything in his power to win your favor…” Liu Fengying replied in a firm tone. To ensure that Hua Shu would be as cautious as possible should He Rui cross her path again, she had no intention of leaving her with even the slightest doubt.

  Hua Shu let out a sigh after hearing Liu Fengying; it seemed she truly believed that He Rui had come for her.

  ‘If that’s really the case, then reality can indeed be more absurd than fiction…’ she complained inwardly. She would never have expected such a scene to unfold between herself and He Rui.

  However, when she reconsidered He Rui’s actions from the perspective described by Liu Fengying, Hua Shu had no choice but to admit that certain things made more sense—such as the way He Rui had frozen the moment he laid eyes on Liu Fengying. That really was an appropriate reaction for someone seeing her for the first time.

  “Let’s recap for a moment…” Hua Shu wanted to piece everything together. “So he originally came for me, but after seeing you, he forgot about me and decided to try his luck with you instead?”

  Liu Fengying was not surprised that Hua Shu had grasped the situation so quickly; after all, she was not only intelligent, but also highly intuitive. One could say that her earlier misunderstanding had only been possible because the correct answer had not been among the possibilities Hua Shu considered realistic—and because the situation involved variables with multiple meanings, things that could be interpreted differently depending on the context (something that could probably even be demonstrated mathematically, by writing an equation for it).

  “Yes, I think that’s the most plausible scenario. Though we can’t completely rule out the possibility that he was thinking of two-timing…” Liu Fengying agreed without hesitation, taking the opportunity to heap a bit more scorn on He Rui by mentioning one of the most despicable schemes he might have been plotting. After all, the worse Hua Shu thought of him, the better.

  But was it really necessary for Liu Fengying to keep badmouthing He Rui? Hua Shu was already thoroughly disgusted by him. After all, how did that make sense? The last time she had seen him, He Rui had been giving her advice like some kind of elder, and now he had come with the intention of courting her. To her, that seemed downright immoral.

  What was more, there was also the possibility that he had harbored such intentions from the very beginning. Didn’t that mean that, when he had been giving her advice, his goal was to ensure that his future wife had a character that suited his tastes? Hua Shu told herself that if such behavior couldn’t be classified as an attempt at grooming, then she didn’t know what could.

  Of course, even without this connection between herself and He Rui, she still wouldn’t have felt comfortable knowing that he wanted to pursue her; it would most likely have made her uneasy regardless.

  First of all, she had no interest whatsoever in entering a relationship with any man. Now that she was turning eighteen and could finally move out to escape her father’s daily nagging, was she supposed to be crazy enough to let someone else into her life with all sorts of demands? Honestly, the idea of remaining single for the rest of her life didn’t sound bad to Hua Shu at all.

  Secondly, she had absolutely no good opinion of He Rui; after all, everything negative she had said about him to Liu Fengying had come straight from the heart. On top of that, she had an allergy to being near teachers—how could she willingly spend the rest of her life with someone who had that exact profession?

  As for the fact that He Rui hadn’t even managed to stay faithful for two minutes, Hua Shu honestly saw it as a relief. Why should she be upset that she had escaped the attention of someone she couldn’t stand? The only problem was that his new target had been Liu Fengying, but fortunately, she had been able to chase him off quickly.

  Still, Hua Shu had one lingering question: how had He Rui even come to develop romantic intentions toward her in the first place? It wasn’t that she lacked self-confidence, but she simply couldn’t see how someone with her temperament could fit his standards for a partner.

  Thus, the only remaining possibilities were either that he was attracted by her physical appearance or that he was eyeing her family’s wealth. But did either of them hold up under closer scrutiny? Judging by how quickly he had forgotten about her upon seeing Liu Fengying—with her large breasts and long legs—it was fairly clear that he didn’t have a particular preference for her type. As for wealth, while her family was fairly well-off, it certainly couldn’t compare to the truly rich families in the city, those that owned businesses or an impressive number of properties.

  Unable to find an explanation on her own, Hua Shu decided to ask Liu Fengying for her opinion.

  “That’s actually what I wanted to tell you next, but first I’d like you to promise me that you’ll try to stay calm…” Liu Fengying attempted to prepare Hua Shu emotionally before revealing He Rui’s true objective. Up until then, she had limited herself to a few insults directed at He Rui, such as “a piece of trash dreaming too big” or “a toad wanting to eat swan meat,” but knowing Hua Shu as she did, it was entirely possible that she would explode upon learning that the only thing He Rui truly cared about was her father’s influence.

  “Well, he’s already gone, so there’s nothing I can do to him anymore, no matter how angry I get…” Hua Shu said, urging her on with a look. Surprisingly, she appeared quite calm, as if the gossip didn’t even concern her directly.

  “Alright…” Liu Fengying thought to herself that, in the end, Hua Shu had a point. At worst, Hua Shu might attract the attention of the other diners with a few curses; there was no chance she would do anything that might involve the police.