Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

Bai Li turned his head to the side and asked in a low voice:

"Are they all from the four major families in Yunshi?"

Xie Lingmo was staring blankly at the two clasped hands when she heard Bai Li's words, which jolted her back to reality.

"what……"

She blinked and quickly got to the point:

"The first person to speak was Wen Yiming, the only son of the Wen family. The second one is Tao Hua, from the Tao family."

Xie Lingmo paused, then added, "And Tao Hua's girlfriend, Wang Yiqing, the apple of the Wang family's eye."

Bai Li nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Xie Lingmo reached out and pushed open the slightly ajar door.

The private room was more casual than Bai Li had expected.

There was no pomp and circumstance of a banquet with a full table of drinks, nor the formal business attire of suits and ties.

Two young men sat side by side on a large sofa, each holding a mobile phone, their faces almost touching the screen.

Wen Yiming was fair-skinned and refined, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and with his hair meticulously styled.

He was frantically tapping the screen, his face full of anxiety.

Tao Hua slumped deeper into the sofa, half her face buried in the cushions, one hand listlessly scrolling through the skill buttons.

She was good-looking, with strong facial features, layered short hair, and an oversized sweatshirt.

There was a girl sitting across from me.

She has an oval face, delicate features, and above-average looks.

With her hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a light camel-colored cashmere cardigan, and holding an iced Americano, she watched two boys play video games with a bored expression.

As soon as the door was pushed open, Wang Yiqing was the first to look up.

"Lingmo, you're finally here!"

Wang Yiqing put down his coffee cup, waved to Xie Lingmo, his tone full of relief at being saved:

"Look at the two of them. I've been sitting here by myself for almost twenty minutes. I was so bored that I almost started counting the number of light bulbs on the ceiling."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted slightly to Xie Lingmo's side.

Then, Wang Yiqing stopped making mouth movements.

He was 1.87 meters tall, wore a crisp trench coat, and had features so exquisite they defied logic.

The key is those peach blossom eyes.

Even though I wasn't looking at her, when my gaze swept over her, I always felt like I was being watched gently.

Wang Yiqing snapped out of her daze, blinked hard twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and then slammed her hand on the table.

"Is this handsome guy your boyfriend?!"

Xie Lingmo's hand was still being held by Bai Li.

The steady, dry warmth emanating from her palm kept her brain on the verge of shutting down.

Upon hearing Wang Yiqing's question, she subconsciously leaned closer to Bai Li, her cheeks flushed with an uncontrollable blush.

"Yes." Xie Lingmo's voice was unsteady, and she felt dizzy. "His name is Bai Li."

Wen Yiming is in the middle of a team battle.

He was engrossed in his phone call when he heard the words "handsome guy" and "boyfriend," and he subconsciously looked up.

Just one glance.

Wen Yiming simply slammed his phone onto his lap; the screen was still on, and his teammate's distress signal was still flashing wildly.

"Holy crap."

Wen Yiming pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, sat up straight on the sofa, and stared at Bai Li's face for three seconds.

"Dude, you're so handsome!"

These words were spoken sincerely, without the slightest hint of politeness.

Wen Yiming, who comes from a family with a similar background, has seen many handsome men, but Bai Li's face is indeed beyond his aesthetic threshold.

Tao Hua, who was standing nearby, was also drawn by the commotion and exited the game.

He first looked at Bai Li.

He then turned to look at his girlfriend.

Wang Yiqing was resting her chin on her hand, her eyes sparkling as she scrutinized Bai Li, a smile on her lips like someone appreciating a work of art.

Tao Hua put her phone in her pocket, crossed her arms, and spoke in a tone so sour it could pickle vegetables.

"His looks... almost match mine."

Wang Yiqing didn't even turn his head before letting out a sound.

"vomit--"

Tao Hua's expression fell.

He reached out and pulled Wang Yiqing's arm, looking aggrieved: "Do you know that this will make me sad?"

Wang Yiqing slapped his hand away and then pinched Tao Hua's waist with considerable force.

"I've been with you since I was fifteen," Wang Yiqing said defiantly while pinching him. "What are you sad about? Can't I even glance at a handsome guy?"

Tao Hua clutched her waist and cried out, "Gently! Gently! The spot you pinched was just healed last week!"

"Serves you right." Wang Yiqing released his grip.

Wen Yiming watched the commotion from the sidelines for a while, then smiled and waved to Bai Li and Xie Lingmo.

"Brother, Xiao Xie, don't stand, come sit down!"

Bai Li released Xie Lingmo's hand, gesturing for her to sit down first.

Xie Lingmo sat down next to Wang Yiqing, while Bai Li sat to Xie Lingmo's left.

"Haha, bro, we only ordered three dishes." Tao Hua pointed to the deer antler mushroom on the table. "You guys order the rest."

Xie Lingmo flipped through two pages of the menu and casually ordered a matsutake chicken soup and a crab meat lion's head meatball.

After ordering, the waiter left and closed the door to the private room.

Wen Yiming picked up his teacup, took a sip, then put it down, propped his elbows on the table, and leaned his upper body toward Bai Li with a gossipy look on his face.

"Xiao Xie," Wen Yiming called out to Xie Lingmo, his eyes fixed on Bai Li, "you said you'd date, so just date..."

He adjusted his glasses, his tone earnest to the point of sincerity:

"They're eating so well?!"

Xie Lingmo pursed her lips and remained silent, her ears burning red.

Bai Li leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"You flatter me, Young Master Wen." He picked up the tea on the table and took a slow sip. "It's mainly because Ling Mo has good taste."

These words were spoken neither humbly nor arrogantly, praising Xie Lingmo without belittling himself.

After listening, Wen Yiming pondered for a moment and nodded: "Okay, you know how to talk."

Tao Hua interjected from the other side, "Then you have to know how to talk. How can you win over Xiao Xie if you can't talk?"

Wang Yiqing's ears had already perked up.

Unable to contain herself, she leaned closer to Xie Lingmo:

How did you two meet?

Wang Yiqing's eyes were brimming with gossip:

"And how did you get together? Lingmo, tell me from the beginning! Don't miss a single word!"

Xie Lingmo was stumped by the question.

She couldn't very well say that she met Bai Li because he verbally abused her while she was playing games.

Xie Lingmo's mind raced as she tried to come up with a respectable version.

"Um...we met while playing video games."

There's nothing wrong with that sentence.

Wang Yiqing pressed further, "And then? And then?"

Xie Lingmo's memories were pulled back to that night.

A leather whip, wax oil, an electric ox, and a big brother's fleshy condom—they verbally abused her until she broke down on the spot.

Then she didn't believe she was a girl, and even asked if Bumblebee watching the car wash's security camera counted as watching porn...

Later, I opened the White Separation Box and added friends, and as we chatted...

My thoughts drifted to this point, and my mouth moved before my brain could process them.

"After we became friends and met again, he told me that good friends should touch each other—"

"Ahem!"

Bai Li quickly interrupted Xie Lingmo when he heard her about to smear him:

"It was Lingmo who I pursued."