After deciding to give up, I became popular

"Okay, I understand." The little girl nodded, finally feeling a bit better, though her hesitant look piqued Xia Chuanzou's curiosity.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Big brother, are you a masochist? Why would you give me candy after I bumped into you? I appreciate it, but I won't bump into you again."

"..." Xia Chuanzou was speechless, thinking, 'Are kids these days all so precocious? She even knows the word 'masochist.'"

"I'm sorry for the trouble!"

At this moment, the young wife who was behind the little girl caught up, grabbing the little girl's hand and apologizing to them repeatedly.

Xia Chuanzou waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

After the wife left with the little girl, Ji Teng Hui spoke:

"Xia Chuanjun, do you like children very much?"

"I guess? Why do you ask?"

"I just feel like you're very tolerant towards children."

"Well, they're just kids. As long as they're not those super annoying brats, it doesn't hurt to be a little tolerant."

"I see..." Ji Teng Hui said thoughtfully.

"Xia Chuanjun, can you hold out your hand?"

"What is it?" Xia Chuanzou asked, though he did as she asked.

The next moment, he felt something in his palm.

Looking down, it was the candy he had just given to Ji Teng Hui.

"Eh, why..." Xia Chuanzou was about to ask why, but he saw Ji Teng Hui looking at him seriously.

"Xia Chuanjun, sometimes, you shouldn't ask girls so many questions."

"Uh... okay." Xia Chuanzou was helpless.

Just now, Ji Teng was still a friendly girl next door, but now she suddenly turned into a rebellious younger sister who disliked her older brother.

So, he really couldn't understand the minds of girls at this age.

020. The Angel Wants to Be Loved

Wash all the prepared ingredients, peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces, and store them in cold water to prevent discoloration.

After processing the carrots, put them in water together with the potatoes and simmer until they boil. Then, add the curry cubes to the pot, and add water in appropriate proportions to adjust to the appropriate consistency.

Finally, add the already processed beef, so that the flavor of the curry and beef mix together, and simmer slowly over medium heat.

Thicken the sauce, take it out of the pot, and plate it with rice.

In less than an hour, a beef curry rice that can make the children next door cry with greed is ready!

If you feel that the sense of ritual is not enough, you can also add some small decorations to the plate, sprinkle some pepper cumin, or put two plums on top of the rice, which is not only beautiful but also can be used to stimulate the appetite before meals, killing two birds with one stone.

"Ding-dong..."

A crisp doorbell rang, and Xia Chuanzou couldn't help but complain in his heart, 'Could it be that it really attracted the greedy child next door?'

Opening the door, the angel was standing outside, holding a steaming pot of miso soup in both hands.

The aroma was intoxicating, and the taste was naturally needless to say. With the angel's cooking skills, even without tasting it, he knew it would be very delicious.

"This is..."

"You must not have made soup again, right? It's not good for your health to always drink that coffee, so I, I just..."

As always, the same lecturing tone, but gradually, Shiina Mashiro's voice became smaller.

"Any, anyway, let me in quickly, it's tiring to hold it all the time."

"Ah, sorry, please come in..." Xia Chuanzou finally realized that he had been keeping the angel outside all along.

"Why so suddenly? What made you think of dropping by today?" Xia Chuanzou asked curiously.

After the love affair with Kaguya ended, he would no longer refuse to contact other girls in every possible way in order to show his sincerity.

Especially with girls like the angel, who he originally liked very much, he was willing to maintain closeness with them, even if only as friends.

It was just difficult for him to take the initiative to approach them again, not only because he was afraid of being misunderstood as having ulterior motives, but also because he was afraid of having extra thoughts due to similar situations.

"..." Shiina Mashiro opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

This afternoon, she actually saw Xia Chuanzou, but at that time, he was chatting and laughing with a girl, and he didn't notice that she was hiding somewhere behind them.

She was jealous.

Why could that girl chat with Zou so intimately? She wanted to do that too, she wanted Zou to accompany her to the supermarket, she wanted to go home from school with him, she wanted to hear him say happy things, she wanted to see him smile at her...

Clearly, these were things that were readily available in the past, but now she could never reach them.

Even if she didn't act, she would lose the person she wanted to cherish forever.

The days of losing Zou were so agonizing... So she understood, she had to face her heart honestly - she liked Zou.

She liked the fool who would smile at her foolishly, beg her, and act cool in front of her...

But just saying 'I like you' wasn't enough, she had to take action, she had to let Zou feel her love, feel her feelings, just like he did to her back then.

"I, I want to be with you, is, is that not okay..." The angel's face was flushed, her eyes were erratic, and her heart was full of anxiety.

She, she said it!

This was the first time she had expressed her inner thoughts to Zou so honestly, she didn't know what he would think...

Shiina Mashiro looked at Xia Chuanzou and found that he was stunned, but he quickly reacted and smiled at her gently.

"Then let's be together?"

"Yeah." Shiina Mashiro finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zou seemed to be in a good mood today, and he was willing to agree to her excessive request.

If she was rejected so ruthlessly like before, she would be sad for a long time and find it difficult to recover.

"What kind of food did you make today?"

"Beef curry, want to try my cooking?"

"Si, since you say so..." The angel looked calm on the surface, but her heart was already blooming.

One of the purposes of her coming to deliver miso soup was to have dinner with Zou, and she had deliberately emptied her stomach for this.

Although she would be embarrassed if she heard the "grumbling" sound, she could accept the small, small sacrifice if it could make Zou feel pity for her.

She knew that Zou was a disciplined person now, and he would definitely cook well and eat well, and she also wanted to taste Zou's cooking.

It would be best if it was delicious, but it didn't matter if it was not, she would eat it without wasting a bit.

To take a step back, even if Zou lied to her for some reason, and he didn't actually eat well, it didn't matter, because she would scold him while making food for him.

She didn't mind the trouble at all, and she was even willing to do this for him for the rest of her life.

"If it's not delicious, I'll scold you harshly."

"No problem, I welcome the master's appraisal."

"Master?"

"Yeah, because I stole the secret from you."

"Eh? But I don't remember teaching you how to do it..."

"I said I stole the secret, because I've been secretly observing you."

"Unbelievable, you learned it just by observing?" The angel exclaimed, covering her mouth.

"Of course not, I've also tried to do it many times myself. Naturally, I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning, but I gradually got the hang of it." Xia Chuanzou shook his head, telling the truth.

He was not a genius, not like Si Gong Huiye, who was all-talented and could learn everything quickly.

He was just constantly working hard with a heart that wanted to make the girl he liked feel his passionate love.

The tedious learning process was naturally very difficult, but the thought of the possible rewards would make him very motivated.

"Then I must appraise it carefully! If, if it doesn't pass, I won't let you graduate!" The angel said pretentiously.

The sudden discovery made her feel that her connection with Zou had deepened a little, and her heart was even more excited.

"Okay, Master." Xia Chuanzou nodded with a smile.

The angel was happy to role-play, and he was of course willing to accompany her. If it could alleviate her lonely mood, it would be great.

In Xia Chuanzou's view, Shiina Mashiro came to visit today because she felt lonely and wanted to get a trace of comfort from him, her only friend.

She was a person who lacked love, and Xia Chuanzou deeply understood this.

Shiina lacked love, so she yearned to be loved, but she was also afraid of being loved, and even more afraid of losing love after being loved.

She was a contradictory person, and that contradiction made Xia Chuanzou feel very distressed. Therefore, even if he knew that she regarded him as a remedy to soothe her soul, the kind that would be discarded after use, he didn't mind, as long as it could really help her.

After all, he existed for this purpose.

021. I Must Make a Change!

"Sorry, did you wait long?" Xia Chuanzou jogged all the way to Ji Teng Hui.

To fulfill yesterday's lunch appointment, Xia Chuanzou ran to the dean of teaching as soon as class was over at noon to borrow the key to the rooftop of the teaching building.

As a good student and student council president, he had too many "privileges." He only needed to use the reason "I want to check the school's rooftop, eliminate safety hazards, and prevent students from gathering privately" to easily get the key from the teacher.

Yesterday, he proposed to Ji Teng to have lunch together in the heat of the moment. Only after arriving at school today did he realize that the specific operation was not so easy.

Refusing the enthusiastic invitations of his classmates was one aspect, but the most critical thing was finding a suitable place.

Now, unlike in the past, his daily words and deeds were quite closely watched since he became the student council president. If he casually found a place to have lunch with Ji Teng, the nosy onlookers would definitely start spreading rumors about him and Ji Teng.

Ji Teng was a girl who liked peace and quiet. It would be bad if this matter caused her trouble.

Faced with Xia Chuanzou's apology, Ji Teng Hui naturally shook her head understandingly: "No, I just arrived too."

Xia Chuanzou nodded, then carefully observed the surroundings. After finding that no one was around, he took out the key and opened the rooftop door.

The azure sky suddenly appeared in front of him, as blue as a wash, and the clean and transparent painting made people feel suddenly comfortable.

Although the rooftop had been closed and not allowed to enter, it was actually cleaned regularly. The two found a relatively clean bench and sat side by side.

"I always feel that Xia Chuanjun looks guilty. Are you afraid of being seen sneaking onto the rooftop?" Ji Teng asked, noticing that Xia Chuanzou had been looking around.

"Or am I causing trouble for Xia Chuanjun..."

"No, of course not." Xia Chuanzou naturally shook his head.

He himself had issued the invitation, and he would feel very relaxed when getting along with Ji Teng. He was too happy to feel troubled.

"Although there is a suspicion of boasting, I am actually quite eye-catching. If others see me having lunch with Ji Teng, they will definitely be misunderstood."

"Misunderstanding..." Ji Teng Hui nodded, indicating that she could understand.

"It doesn't matter to me. Anyway, there are already many rumors about me. But what about you, Ji Teng? You would definitely mind being misunderstood, right?"

"I don't mind either..."

"Hmm?"

"After all, not many people know me. Even if they see me, they will forget about it the next second, right?"

"..." Xia Chuanzou was speechless and could not refute.

Indeed, Ji Teng's presence was too shallow. She could be standing in front of you and be ignored unconsciously, let alone remember who she was.

"Then let's change places next time?"

The sneaky appearance did give people a feeling of disrespect. He had considered too little.

"It's okay." Ji Teng shook her head, her shoulder-length hair fluttering in the wind, highlighting a strong sense of girlhood with the gentle words of the owner, "The scenery here is also very good."