Chapter 53: Four Perspectives

Lu Mingfei inwardly sighed that someone with a gentle personality like Liu Miaomiao still had a hard time coming out on top when clashing with a sharp-tongued girl like Su Xiaoqiang.

In truth, Lu Mingfei also found it rather strange. Even though the two of them had been at loggerheads in his past life, Liu Miaomiao would typically step back whenever Su Xiaoqiang opened fire, never engaging in a direct confrontation with her.

Back then, Lu Mingfei had even thought Liu Miaomiao was quite smart, knowing that her eloquence and assertiveness fell short of Su Xiaoqiang's, and thus wisely choosing to avoid her sharp edge.

How come Liu Miaomiao was acting like a reckless hothead this time, colliding head-on with Su Xiaoqiang?

Seeing that Liu Miaomiao was losing the upper hand yet still pouting with an unwilling-to-lose expression, Lu Mingfei knew he had to step in.

If things kept going like this, heaven knew how badly Su Xiaoqiang would end up bullying Liu Miaomiao.

"Since everyone's a classmate, don't just stand around. Come on inside and sit down for a bit."

As Lu Mingfei spoke, he wedged himself right between the two girls.

Refusing to look at Lu Mingfei, Liu Miaomiao tossed her head and let out a light huff.

Su Xiaoqiang stared at Lu Mingfei with a half-smile, eager to see how he intended to handle the situation, only to watch him reach out with absolute confidence and take Liu Miaomiao's hand.

Su Xiaoqiang froze. Had their relationship already reached this stage?

Before she could even react, she saw Lu Mingfei's other hand grab her own wrist, and with a stride, he pulled both her and Liu Miaomiao toward the inside of the shop.

Su Xiaoqiang was completely dumbfounded—not just acting silly, but the kind of utter shock where one's brain instantly crashes.

She had anticipated every possible move Lu Mingfei might make, such as apologizing to Liu Miaomiao, or pulling her aside with Liu Miaomiao to explain that everything moments ago had just been a misunderstanding.

The one thing she never expected was for Lu Mingfei to play such a domineering, direct offensive.

Feeling the texture and warmth transmitted through her wrist, the incident she had worked so hard to forget suddenly resurfaced in Su Xiaoqiang's mind:

Herself, letting out an "awooo" sound, taking a bite right out of the food Lu Mingfei had fed her.

Moreover, the perspective of the memory shifted from the original first-person to a third-person cinematic view.

Her fever-cooled earlobes began to burn hot once again.

This guy, he clearly didn't look like the type of boy who would do something like this at all!

And this was precisely why she hated boys with no sense of personal boundaries!

...

While Su Xiaoqiang's brain was crashing over there, Liu Miaomiao on this side was feeling even more dizzy.

She found herself acting rather strangely today.

Being a girl with strict upbringing, her parents kept a very tight leash on her when it came to early romance. Therefore, even though she liked Chu Zihang, she had never actually actively approached him.

The day of the heavy rain was one of the rare occasions when she mustered up her courage. Calling it courage was a stretch, as it was mostly because she happened to see that Chu Zihang hadn't left yet, prompting a sudden impulse to speak with him.

Of course, she herself didn't mind so-called early romance. She believed that liking someone was a natural progression of events, and if you truly liked them, you shouldn't deliberately avoid them.

However, physical contact was something that should only happen after a romantic relationship was officially established.

Precisely because she placed such high importance on physical contact between men and women, the moment her palm was touched by Lu Mingfei's fingers, Liu Miaomiao's hand had actually trembled instinctively.

In her memory, no boy had ever held her hand before.

Yet, after her hand trembled, she simply let Lu Mingfei hold it without any dodging or evasion.

Once her hand was grasped, she only gave a token resistance and a slight twist, before resigning herself to letting her little hand rest comfortably within Lu Mingfei's palm.

Why on earth did she let him hold her hand?

Furthermore, the sensation of her hand being held even brought an inexplicable sense of security, making her instinctively want to lean closer to Lu Mingfei.

It was the same earlier—clearly, she and Lu Mingfei were only ordinary friends, but seeing him feed another girl cake had filled her heart with stuffiness, anger, and sorrow.

The person she was supposed to like should be Chu Zihang.

What is wrong with me...?

Biting her lip, Liu Miaomiao wrestled with the answer to this question, while simultaneously harboring a slight reluctance to know what the answer actually was.

...

Over on Lu Mingfei's side, his train of thought was much simpler.

He knew Liu Miaomiao's personality and understood Su Xiaoqiang well enough to know that both were girls with good natures, just with incompatible personalities. Even in his past life, their quarrels had never bred any deep-seated hatred.

It was just like when he was studying high school in Japan, back in the Service Club where his good friend Hikigaya Hachiman and Yukinoshita Yukino frequently bickered.

In truth, they were merely accustomed to bantering; not only did those two not dislike each other, but they actually held mutual affection. It was simply due to their personalities that neither was willing to lower their head first.

Whenever that happened, Yuigahama Yui, a fellow club member, would step right in between them, taking both by the hands, and the argument would naturally come to a halt.

Liu Miaomiao appeared to be a quiet and gentle girl, but inwardly she possessed a proud spirit. After all, with her good looks, fine family background, and musical talent, anyone would develop a sense of pride.

Su Xiaoqiang went without saying—she had always been someone who refused to yield verbally.

Asking either of them to lower their pride first was completely unrealistic.

That was why Lu Mingfei had wedged himself between the two, shouldering the responsibility of being the "bridge" to smooth over their conflict.

As for holding hands?

He was used to holding Liu Miaomiao's hand from before, so he grabbed it out of sheer habit. As for Su Xiaoqiang, she was one of the bros—it was merely a wrist, so why couldn't he pull it?

...

Qiao Yiran was the fourth person, completely out of the loop.

She had originally accompanied her best friend, Liu Miaomiao, to confront the scumbag Lu Mingfei and demand an explanation.

As they talked, however, it transformed into a three-way Shura field among Liu Miaomiao, Lu Mingfei, and this unfamiliar, gorgeous girl.

Watching her best friend fall into a disadvantageous position, Qiao Yiran was just about to chime in when the scumbag Lu Mingfei suddenly leaped out, grabbing the hands of both girls left and right.

Then, amidst the trio that should have been at daggers drawn, a cluster of pink bubbles instantly bloomed. Both girls blushed furiously, letting Lu Mingfei lead them by the hand straight into the dessert shop.

This entire sequence of actions completely stunned Qiao Yiran.

What on earth was going on here?

Did a new love versus old flame Shura field just turn into an angel spreading its wings and soaring away?

Why are both of your faces turning red like a bubble teapot, team up together and deal with the scumbag Lu Mingfei alreadyyyyy!!!

Clenching her fists in indignation, Qiao Yiran threw a few punches at Lu Mingfei's retreating back before following the three of them into the dessert shop.

...

Inside the dessert shop, the space was actually quite small, roughly twenty square meters in size.

Aside from a circle of glass display cabinets, it could only accommodate a single table and four small stools.

This was quite normal, as the rent for every single square meter in such a high-end luxury mall was exceptionally exorbitant.

Moreover, not every brand qualified to enter; brands that managed to secure a spot here required not only fame and strength, but also a relatively high-end positioning. After all, this was a luxury mall.

Thus, for a dessert shop whose brand name she had never heard of to secure a storefront here was already quite impressive. It was most likely a private dessert branch of some Blue Velvet establishment that had leased the space, and one couldn't possibly demand a larger area.

As footsteps sounded, the clerk working part-time behind the counter looked up, intending to utter a welcoming greeting, only to be struck dumb by the scene before her.

A boy had entered the shop, holding a girl in each hand, left and right.

Although both girls were still quite young, looking at most like high school students, it was already evident that they were both top-tier beauties whose unadorned faces were striking enough to astonish anyone.

Either of these girls walking down the street would command a ninety-nine percent turnaround rate; anyone who didn't turn around to look would either have to be blind or severely nearsighted.

How could such two gorgeous girls be held by the hand simultaneously by a single boy?

Furthermore, trailing behind the three of them was another girl who was quietly clenching her fists in frustration, whose appearance was also undeniably at the level of a campus belle.

As for the boy, although his clothes and styling looked rather rustic, a closer inspection revealed cleanly defined facial features, and he was quite tall to boot.

Handsome men and beautiful women gathered together in one place—was her shop being used by some film crew to shoot a television drama? Yet there were no camera operators following behind them!

While the clerk was still in a daze, she saw the boy and the two girls halt in front of the glass display case showcasing cakes and desserts.

"Liu Miaomiao, whatever you want to eat, just pick it freely—Su Xiaoqiang is treating!"

Lu Mingfei patted his chest, projecting an air of "pick whatever you like, it's on us." His confident and triumphant demeanor made it look as though the items displayed in the glass cabinet weren't cakes, but diamond rings.