The Most Random System

"Let me see," Bai Bufan said, taking the menu.

"These ones have pretty good reviews," Ding Sihan pointed in a general direction.

"Then I’ll have an iced shaken lemon strawberry," Bai Bufan decided, because what better to have in the dead of winter than an icy cold drink.

"How about you, Lin Li?" Ding Sihan turned to Lin Li.

"I’ll let my Ying Bao choose for me, I’m easy," Lin Li replied lazily and slowly.

"Ugh, gross." Ding Sihan scrunched up her face as if she got the chills, disgusted, "Fine, Ying Bao wants to try another one anyway, so it’s your lucky day."

"Why don’t I choose for Lin Li!" Bai Bufan perked up with anticipation, sitting up straight.

Ding Sihan ignored him, calling the waiter to place the order instead.

Bai Bufan suddenly felt a strong hand around his neck, pushing him back down.

"What the hell were you going to order for me?" Lin Li asked mercilessly.

"Of course something on the menu, why are you worried?" Bai Bufan said, sounding as aggrieved as an unjustly wronged wife.

"What was it then?" Lin Li sneered, not falling for it at all.

Seeing that Lin Li insisted on an answer, Bai Bufan sighed helplessly, "Alright, alright, I’ve got a bit of mischief in mind. I was thinking of ordering you a peasant drink, so you wouldn’t want to be in our group photo later when we toast."

Lin Li frowned.

Iced tea?

Not, not, not, not, not quite right.

Given Bai Bufan’s personality and his current expression, it couldn’t be that simple.

Iced tea would be too...human.

"Dingzi, let me see the menu."

With curiosity piqued, Lin Li took the menu from Ding Sihan.

Indeed, there was iced tea on the menu, but it was in the beverage section, not the drinks section.

However, upon checking both sections, nothing suspicious turned up, no strange concoctions, all fairly normal.

"...Heh,"

Lin Li chuckled lightly.

When his gaze wandered beyond those sections, he found the target quickly.

Pointing at an item, he looked at Bai Bufan and smiled, "Peasant drink, huh?"

Bai Bufan smiled and nodded.

Both of their gazes focused on Lin Li’s pointed finger.

Ox whip soup.

Lin Li calmly returned the menu to Ding Sihan, then—

"I’ll give you a peasant drink! I’ll give you a peasant drink!"

Honestly, Bai Bufan wasn’t wrong.

It was indeed a peasant drink. Moreover, if the "three men and a dog" were to take a photo raising their glasses, even if Lin Li had the guts to include his ox whip soup in it, the "three men" wanting a good photo would surely refuse Lin Li’s participation.

It’s hard to picture a photo of beautiful girls clinking glasses filled with colorful juices and teas, accompanied by a steaming bowl of soup with ox parts and other stuff.

To post such a picture would be like gender-swapped Lin Li.

Yikes, Bai Bufan is so bad!

"Hahaha, I need to use the restroom—"

Afraid he’d be sliced into the peasant soup, Bai Bufan ran off to the restaurant’s restroom with a laugh.

...

After relieving himself, Bai Bufan prepared to return to the "three men and a dog" table.

The restaurant was quite efficient; a few drinks had already been served, and the girls were sipping with straws.

However, his own wasn’t served yet, lousy service.

Bai Bufan’s brows suddenly furrowed slightly because his gaze caught a detail—across the room, Chen Yu Ying was mouthing something to Lin Li.

!

As his eyes shifted to Lin Li, Bai Bufan realized that his iced shaken lemon strawberry had been served but placed in front of Lin Li instead.

Worse, Lin Li held a small paper packet, from which white powder trickled into the drink and quickly dissolved in the red juice!

Bai Bufan: "?!"

Finally noticing the warning, Lin Li didn’t look back but calmly pocketed the small packet and pushed Bai Bufan’s drink back to his spot with his elbow.

Bai Bufan laughed in exasperation.

Striding up to the table, Bai Bufan pointed straight at Lin Li, unable to hold back, "Lin Li, what did you add to my drink just now?!"

Lin Li looked up with an innocent and confused expression:

"Huh? What? Nothing, I didn’t add anything, Bufan, you must have seen wrong.

Slandering is easy, debunking is hard, don’t say things that hinder unity."

"Still acting, are you? Come on, I saw it clear as day!"

"I really didn’t..."

"I saw that little paper packet in your pocket, white powder—it was plain as day, what was it?!"

Bai Bufan stepped closer, coming off as aggressive.

Seeing that denial was pointless, Lin Li’s face showed a hint of "you got me," followed by an exasperated look like "you’re blowing this out of proportion" with a sigh, annoyed like he was the victim, "Alright, fine, I’ll tell you, it’s white sugar."

"White sugar?" Bai Bufan squinted.

"Yeah," Lin Li spread his hands, as if it was the most obvious thing, "I thought the drink might not be sweet enough, so I added a bit of sugar to make it sweeter, wanted to surprise a brother, just being kind, and look at you..."

Bai Bufan: "..."

Hold on.

White sugar, was it.

Even now, memories from an earlier "struggle" flooded back.

Bai Bufan recalled a particularly "challenging experience."