You said you hated men, why are your eyes now full of love?

Chapter 9 - Offend the School Bully and Still Want to Leave?

"Let's go, we should get back to class."

After chasing away the disposable antagonist, Ji Mu walked along the gravel path toward the classroom building.

The girl followed him and looked at his profile. After hesitating for a moment, she finally gathered the courage to speak.

"Just now... how did Classmate Ji Mu get here?"

"Me? I was just wandering around after class, got bored."

Ji Mu continued to walk at a steady pace.

Perhaps a potential crisis was averted in time, and he spoke with a hint of laziness in his voice.

"I didn't expect to meet you here. It's quite a stroke of fate."

Fate...

If it hadn't been for the young man's intervention, she might have unwittingly owed someone ten thousand.

At this thought, a feeling of gratitude arose in Ruan Qingqing's heart.

"About what just happened..."

She pinched her fingers, but before the words were out of her mouth, the young man beside her seemed to have anticipated it and glanced sideways.

"You're not going to thank me again, are you?"

"Uh..."

Her thoughts were easily read by someone else, and Ruan Qingqing bit her lip lightly, feeling her face flush.

Just when she was feeling a bit nervous, the young man's casual voice came from above.

"I mentioned this morning that when you receive help, you should offer appropriate compensation. A verbal thank you isn't enough."

"I, I understand."

She raised her eyes to meet the young man, and she probably understood the meaning of his words.

"Um..." she started to say, but before she could finish, he slowly raised a finger and said, 

"Just buy me a bottle of water this time."

"Huh?"

"Don't think you're getting the better end of the deal."

The young man stretched lazily, unintentionally giving off a carefree vibe.

"I want the most expensive one."

This pretentious attitude didn't scare her.

She was inexplicably tickled, and Ruan Qingqing chuckled lightly, dispelling much of the discomfort caused by the awkwardness.

"There are many expensive ones, which one do you want to drink?"

Ji Mu thought that any would do, as long as he could drink it.

After thinking for a few seconds, he casually mentioned a name, "How about oolong tea?"

The girl's eyelashes fluttered and her lips curved into a smile, "But... Oolong tea doesn't seem to be the most expensive drink."

"Then buy the big bottle."

Hearing his nonchalant tone, she couldn't help but smile.

"Alright."

It was strange.

In just the short span of today, she had become quite familiar with the young man, yet he gave her a strange feeling.

It was very relaxed and pleasant.

Quite different from the tiredness she felt when interacting with others.

It was as if she could shed all her pretenses for a moment and not have to hide.

This feeling... was really quite good.

__________

Time passed quickly, like an arrow, the fleeting moments slipping away.

Birds flew across the crimson sky, the sea reflecting the approaching twilight.

The clouds descended with an evening glow, the afterglow of the sunset bathing the entire school.

"Time to go home after school!"

Ji Mu, who had dozed off, came back to life.

With a single strap backpack, he walked out of the classroom with a large bottle of oolong tea in his hand.

Of course, it would be even better if tomorrow were Saturday.

He expressed his regret.

[Host, host, great news!]

The system appeared excitedly.

[The subsystem has just informed me that the Prajna Instrument has responded!]

"Prajna Instrument?"

Ji Mu took a sip of oolong tea and asked while swallowing, "What is that?"

[Well, simply put, it's a sympathy detector.]

The system briefly explained.

[But it has a drawback; it can only observe one aspect of the selected person's likability.]

So naturally, she decided to observe Ruan Qingqing's perception and feelings towards men.

On a scale of 100, her favorability had reached a frightening -68.

After listening to the system's explanation, Ji Mu pondered.

"-68? That's quite high."

[It's quite good, considering that Ruan Qingqing originally had a favorability of -75.]

"Oh?"

[But!]

The system paused, unable to hide its excitement.

[After just one day of interaction with the host, her negative favorability dropped by 7 points!]

What does this prove?

This proves that his "good friend" strategy was absolutely correct!

[I suggest that the host should soon become friends with Ruan Qingqing and gradually develop a mutual trust relationship.]

"Emmm..."

It's a valid point, but...

"Have you considered one thing?"

Ji Mu frowned, "What if she ends up liking me?"

[Huh?]

The system was stunned.

[Ruan Qingqing likes you?]

This is like Kennedy opening the convertible, quite an open-minded idea.

[Don't joke with me, host.]

The system laughed ungraciously.

[According to the standards of the Prajna Instrument, liking someone requires at least a basic positive feeling toward their sex.]

In other words, if you want a girl to like you, her favorability toward males must be at least 50 or higher.

"So..."

Ji Mu continued, "No matter what, Ruan Qingqing won't like me, right?"

[Not necessarily.]

The system smiled.

[Our job is just to bring her negative feelings down to zero. She's still 50 points away from liking men.]

As for how to gradually guide her into a relationship with a guy, that’s a matter for the Heavenly Dao to handle.

“I see.”

Ji Mu let out a sigh of relief after hearing this.

The burden he had been carrying finally eased.

All he wanted was to complete the task as soon as possible, collect the billion credits, and return to Blue Star. He had no intention of getting too entangled with the story’s characters.

[Exactly, Host. Just follow my advice. Treat her as well as you can. With that ‘man-hating’ buff in place, at most, she’ll see you as a close friend.]

The system crossed its arms and said seriously,

[Think about it, when you were in Blue Star, wasn't there a group called Phoenix Legend with strong relationships?]

[You must understand that there is such a thing as pure friendship between men and women.]

"I got it."

He gained some knowledge.

It's good to have an AI like you, you know a lot.

Ji Mu silently nodded in agreement.

"Oi!"

Suddenly, a sound from beside him interrupted the conversation between him and the system.

Ji Mu snapped back to reality and realized that he had unknowingly wandered into the small alley next to the school.

He looked ahead and saw a few people standing in his line of sight.

Each of them, with a fierce and threatening look, seemed intimidating.

The burly man at the front, who stood at 1.9 meters tall, cast a shadow and exuded a strong, oppressive presence.

He glanced at Ji Mu and spoke without hesitation.

"So you're Ji Mu, huh?"

[Host, these guys are probably someone you annoyed at school today, and they were called to block you.]

Seeing this arrangement, the system's tone became serious as it analyzed the situation.

[There are no cameras nearby. This is going to be difficult.]

Ji Mu wasn't worried at all.

He had anticipated such a situation and already had a countermeasure in mind.

He gave the system a reassuring look and stood confidently in front of the burly man, calm and composed.

"Ji Mu? Who's that? I don't recognize him."

"Kid, do you think you can fool me?"

The burly man asked menacingly, almost spitting in his face.

"Are you still denying it? Do you think I'm a three-year-old, easy to fool?"

"But I'm really not."

Ji Mu didn't flinch, "You keep saying I'm that person, but you need to provide some proof."

"Hmm?"

The burly man's eyes, like copper bells, stared intently, trying to find a flaw in the boy's face.

But after staring for a long time, he couldn't find anything unusual, and a few traces of doubt arose in his mind.

Damn it, could it really not be him?

"What is going on? Chu Yashi clearly said that he had light skin, was tall and thin, wore round glasses, and looked like someone who deserved a beating.

The burly man muttered to himself, repeating the original words, and a look of doubt appeared on his grim face.

"Isn't that what you said?"

Ji Mu raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring the almost comical expression of the system beside him, he feigned indifference and defended himself.

"It's quite fresh, don't you think? Are all those with round glasses called by that name?"

"Yes."

The burly man scratched his head.

"Then who are you?"

"Me?"

Ji Mu slowly lowered his head.

"I am... Xu Jun Da (sob)."

"???"

The burly man unconsciously took a few steps back.

What the hell.

"All right, boss, you almost made the kid cry."

One of the guys behind him, feeling sorry for the situation, patted his shoulder and said, "Since this guy isn't who we're looking for, let's just let him go. There's no point in keeping him here."

The burly man nodded, agreeing with the logic.

"So, Xu... Xu Jun Da, huh? Try not to wear round glasses from now on. I almost mistook you for someone else."

He waved his hand like he was swatting away a fly.

"You can go."

Ji Mu's eyes behind the glasses flashed with a cold light.

Leave or not, but insulting someone like this is a bit too much.

He clenched the bottle of oolong tea, his knuckles showing, as if he was about to stand up to the evil forces.

"You..."

"Still not leaving? Come on!"

"Alright, I'll go now."

Ji Mu turned around and left quickly without looking back.

We honest people don't cause trouble, but we also fear trouble.

He wiped away his sweat.

["..."]

The system was speechless for a moment, thinking that the boy was about to fight.

Had he really become angry in a fit of rage?