Chapter 297 - 269: Hitting on an Ex-Girlfriend
After they sat down, Lu Tianjiao casually went to order two servings of meatballs. Then, he ordered two snacks from another food stall right next to the meatball shop.
He grabbed two drinks from a nearby vending machine and returned to his seat, pushing one of them toward Li Qian. "Have a taste. This is cactus juice, a specialty of our Shazhou."
Li Qian glanced at the beautifully designed packaging but paused when he saw the murky green liquid inside.
’Cactus juice?’
’Can you even drink this stuff?’
Li Qian recalled that the fluid from some cacti was highly toxic.
Seeing Li Qian’s hesitation, Lu Tianjiao knew what he was worried about. He smiled and explained, "It’s from a fruit cactus, not like the regular ones. Just try it and you’ll see."
Hearing this, Li Qian didn’t hesitate any longer. He twisted open the cap and took a couple of big gulps.
As the drink went down, a cool sensation instantly spread through his stomach.
It actually tasted really good.
Plus, it didn’t have the cloying sweetness of most drinks. After just two sips, Li Qian was already a fan.
"Bro, check it out. What do you think of that girl over there?" While they waited for their food, Lu Tianjiao casually scanned the area. His eyes quickly landed on a girl with a curvy figure and long, auburn hair. He pointed at her back as he spoke to Li Qian.
Li Qian followed his gaze. The girl was indeed very attractive—at least from behind, she was definitely a knockout.
No wonder a guy like Lu Tianjiao had his eyes glued on her.
Li Qian didn’t respond overtly, just giving a slight nod to show he agreed.
"With my grades, I could’ve gone to Zhonghai Beast Taming University or Kyoto Beast Taming University. The main reason I chose to stay at Shazhou Beast Taming University is because I couldn’t bear to leave this beautiful scenery behind."
Lu Tianjiao said bluntly, "You won’t find this many gorgeous girls of all types anywhere else. In fact, you could call them one of Shazhou City’s local specialties."
’Comparing beautiful women to a local specialty... Li Qian had to admit, this guy was really something else.’
As the two of them watched—one shamelessly, the other discreetly—the girl from the Gaochang Race finally turned around.
Just as they’d hoped, the Gaochang girl wasn’t just someone who looked good from behind. Her face was beautiful, too—at least an eight out of ten.
"Not bad, not bad at all." Lu Tianjiao nodded in approval after seeing her face, as if he were appraising a work of art.
An idea came to Li Qian. He gestured with his chin and suggested, "Since you think she’s so great, why don’t you go over and say hi? You might even get her number."
"Great idea!" The words had barely left Li Qian’s mouth when Lu Tianjiao shot up from his seat and walked over. His swift reaction left Li Qian a little stunned.
Li Qian had just been kidding; he hadn’t seriously meant for him to go hit on her.
But seeing how utterly confident the guy looked, he didn’t say anything to dissuade him.
Lu Tianjiao strode over with complete confidence and approached the girl. Since they were some distance away and weren’t speaking very loudly, Li Qian couldn’t really make out what they were saying.
He couldn’t hear them clearly, but he had a perfect view of their interaction.
He watched as, after only a brief exchange, the Gaochang girl suddenly raised her hand and slapped him.
SLAP!
The sound of the slap was so crisp that Li Qian couldn’t help but feel his own cheek twitch.
The commotion instantly drew the attention of many students on the basement floor, all of whom cast curious glances toward the "scene of the incident."
After slapping Lu Tianjiao, the Gaochang girl spun around and stormed out of the basement level.
It seemed she hadn’t even deigned to look him in the eye the entire time.
Li Qian watched this unfold and couldn’t help but facepalm.
Just as Li Qian expected his new neighbor to be humiliated and furious, the guy walked back with a grin, acting as if nothing had happened.
"What was that all about?"
Seeing Lu Tianjiao stroll back with a smile, Li Qian was completely baffled and immediately asked the question.
He’d honestly never seen anything like it.
’It was just a failed attempt to pick someone up. Even if you’re not successful, you don’t usually end up with a handprint on your face.’ Li Qian thought this guy was beyond being called a "character."
"It’s nothing. I just wanted to leave a lasting impression on her!" Lu Tianjiao chuckled, rubbing his cheek nonchalantly.
As he stroked the red handprint on his face, it quickly began to fade.
In this Beast Taming World, Beast Masters could gain a certain degree of Extraordinary Power through contracts or evolutionary feedback.
So, he wasn’t surprised that this "prodigy" could casually erase the mark from his face.
"What on earth did you say to her to get a reaction like that?" Li Qian was still curious and pressed him for details.
"Nothing much. To be honest, I’m a bit baffled myself. I definitely left a strong impression, but I swear, I didn’t say anything out of line." A puzzled expression appeared on Lu Tianjiao’s face. "I just used my standard opening line: ’Hey, you look a lot like a friend of mine...’ That’s it!"
"That line is pretty normal. It’s a bit cliché and cheesy, sure, but it’s not bad enough to get you slapped, is it?" A question mark practically appeared over Li Qian’s head.
As they were talking, their snacks and meatballs arrived.
The snack was a type of pan-fried bun, something Li Qian had never seen before.
But he was sure it was made from some small animal, probably another specialty of the Western Province or Shazhou City.
As for the meatballs, they were just as good as Li Qian had expected.
Li Qian picked up his chopsticks, speared a meatball, and popped it into his mouth. "Are all the women in Shazhou City this fiery?" he asked as he chewed.
"Not all of them, but today’s was definitely... different." Lu Tianjiao shook his head, also chewing on a meatball. "Maybe..." he said, his voice muffled by the food.
Before he could finish, he suddenly slapped his forehead. "I remember now! I knew she seemed familiar! I think I actually know her. She’s... she’s my ex-girl... ex-friend!"
Although Lu Tianjiao cut himself off, he’d already said enough. It didn’t take a genius for Li Qian to figure out what he meant.
"You hit on your own ex-girlfriend? Your luck is really something else..." Li Qian didn’t get it at first, but once the words registered, his eyes went wide.
"You’re lucky all she did was slap you!"