Chapter 153: Not as Useless as Imagined
"Princess Ruoxin, let me get you some food." Shen Lan rose eagerly, doing her utmost to curry favor.
Unfortunately, the first dish she picked with her chopsticks was one Princess Ruoxin disliked.
"I don’t eat fatty meat. Take it away!" Princess Ruoxin rolled her eyes at Shen Lan. "Can’t you just sit there and eat quietly?!"
’She had thought this was going to be a private date with Brother Ze Xing. She was already annoyed that Shen Lan had tagged along.’
’On top of that, Shen Lan was like a mosquito, buzzing in her ear nonstop. It was so irritating.’
’I really want to get rid of her, but she seems to be on good terms with Brother Ze Xing.’
’Ugh, this is so frustrating.’
After being shot down, Shen Lan was thoroughly deflated. She stopped trying to fawn over the princess and sat down to eat meekly.
Shen Lu had a crystal-clear view of the group’s interaction from the front counter.
To make it easier to serve the three of them promptly, Shen Lu had specifically seated them at a table visible from the counter.
She had no extra tasks today and was feeling rather lazy, so she had a perfect view of the entire scene: Shen Lan fawning over Princess Ruoxin, only for the princess to not only reject the gesture but also bluntly shut her down.
’Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pitiful.’
Shen Lu rested her chin on her hand, tsking to herself.
’She couldn’t understand why Shen Lan was so desperate to suck up to Princess Ruoxin.’
’Was she hoping to befriend Princess Ruoxin to raise her own social standing?’
’That would make sense, I suppose.’
Li Zexing first took a sip of tea. Hmm, it was the same tea as last time. The moment it touched his lips, his Spiritual Sea began to feel soothed.
He was quite hungry after a busy morning. The food at Shen Lu’s shop might not be the most refined, but the aroma was incredibly enticing. The bowl of spicy soup, in particular, was perfectly suited to his palate.
Li Zexing loved spicy food, but Lin Xin preferred milder flavors. Li Long, who adored his wife, naturally catered to her tastes, so spicy dishes never appeared on the Li Family’s dinner table.
That was why Li Zexing always made it a point to order spicy dishes whenever he ate out, just to satisfy his craving.
The moment a piece of radish, thoroughly soaked in flavor, went down, Li Zexing’s eyes lit up.
’It was this delicious?’
’It wasn’t just delicious; like the tea, it had a soothing effect on his Spiritual Sea.’
In an instant, a flurry of thoughts went through Li Zexing’s mind.
’This must be the real reason Fu Cheng refused to go to the hospital.’
’But if Fu Cheng possessed something so important, why would he let Shen Lu sell it in a shop?’
’Does he need the money?’
’Or... is this an experiment?’
’Ah, I get it!’
’Fu Cheng must be collaborating with some underground laboratory.’
’Otherwise, how could someone diagnosed by the Military Hospital as a hopeless case, just waiting to die, still be alive after being abandoned by his family?’
’And he wasn’t just miserably clinging to life, either—his condition had even shown signs of improvement.’
He vaguely recalled hearing someone mention Fu Cheng’s condition before: comatose, his Spiritual Sea severely damaged, and his wounds infected with mutant beast bacteria.
’But now, Fu Cheng looked so much better. It must all be thanks to this food, right?’
Li Zexing fell into deep thought, his eating movements coming to a halt.
"Brother Ze Xing, is the food not good?" Princess Ruoxin asked with concern, her expression suggesting that if he was dissatisfied, she was ready to flip the table and storm out on his behalf at a moment’s notice.
’Even though she’d had a bite and found it quite delicious, it wasn’t the bait-and-switch she’d been expecting.’
’It was even better than most restaurants in the Upper City District.’
Shen Lan couldn’t stomach a single bite. The thought of eating food made by Shen Lu was disgusting, and she absolutely refused to touch it. Hearing Princess Ruoxin’s question, she stared over with desperate eyes, wishing she could possess Li Zexing’s body and answer for him that Shen Lu’s cooking was utterly revolting.
’If that happened, Princess Ruoxin would definitely cause a huge scene. She could take the opportunity to snap a few photos, hire some online trolls, and launch a vicious smear campaign to completely ruin Shen Lu’s restaurant.’
’Yes, that’s the plan!’
’Say it! Just say Shen Lu’s food is terrible!’
Under Shen Lan’s desperately expectant gaze, Li Zexing shook his head. "The food is excellent. I was just thinking about something else."
Shen Lan scowled.
After the three finished their meal and rested for a moment, they prepared to leave. Li Zexing looked at Shen Lan. "You go pay the bill."
Shen Lan’s eyes widened in shock. ’Huh? Why am I the one paying?’
Li Zexing frowned. "Weren’t you the one who asked me to set this up for you?"
’It was annoying enough just to arrange the meeting for her. Was he supposed to pay for her too?’
’Even if he didn’t care about such a small sum, he had no desire to spend it on Shen Lan.’
Princess Ruoxin, unconditionally siding with Li Zexing, urged impatiently, "Can you hurry it up? If you can’t afford it, then get out. Stop being an eyesore!"
"I-I’ll go pay right now." Shen Lan had no choice but to go and settle the bill.
"Hello, that will be 720 Star Coins in total. Let’s round it down and just call it 700 Star Coins," Shen Lu said with a beaming smile.
’To Shen Lan, Shen Lu’s smile looked incredibly punchable, dripping with mockery.’
She reluctantly paid the bill. This was adding insult to injury for her already dwindling personal funds.
Shen Lan’s heart ached with such bitterness it felt like it could be wrung out.
’This was all Shen Lu’s fault!’
’If it weren’t for Shen Lu, she would never have fallen into such a state.’
「On the way back」
Shen Lan mustered up her courage and, regardless of whether Princess Ruoxin was listening, insisted on delivering the speech she had long prepared.
"Princess Ruoxin, at the last birthday banquet, I wasn’t spouting nonsense because of a sudden mental breakdown. A mysterious force was controlling me."
Shen Lan clasped her hands tightly, her tone earnest. "Putting that aside, even if I had done those things, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to admit it in front of everyone. What good would that do me?"
’A mysterious force?’
Princess Ruoxin gave her a sidelong glance. "Are you talking about a superpower?"
Shen Lan nodded emphatically. "Exactly! It must have been Shen Lu. She must have hired a Superpower User to control me. Looking back at the whole incident, she was the biggest beneficiary. I can’t think of anyone else it could be."
"Oh." Princess Ruoxin nodded and pointed out the car window. "We’re at your house."
Shen Lan turned her head in a daze and looked. They really had arrived at the Shen Family residence.
But...
"Princess Ruoxin, I..." Shen Lan didn’t want to get out of the car. She still had so much more to say to the princess.
’Besides, the princess’s attitude was still unclear. She had gone to so much trouble to get this meeting, held her nose while eating at Shen Lu’s restaurant, and even paid the bill. Surely she couldn’t walk away with absolutely nothing to show for it?’
"Why haven’t you gotten out yet?" Princess Ruoxin glared. "Are you waiting for my guards to escort you out?"
Shen Lan could only get out of the car obediently.
As she watched Li Zexing’s car drive away, she turned to enter the main gate and ran into Shen Yi.
Shen Yi stroked his chin, looking at her thoughtfully. "Where were you today? That looked like Li Zexing’s car, didn’t it?"
Under his probing gaze, Shen Lan unconsciously straightened her back. She spoke with a mix of nonchalance and boastfulness, "Mhm, I had lunch with Princess Ruoxin and Li Zexing today."
Shen Yi was surprised. "Princess Ruoxin was there too? You all had lunch together?"
"Yes, is there a problem with that?"
"After that huge scene at the birthday banquet, Princess Ruoxin is still willing to eat with you?"
"I was framed!" Shen Lan said, walking past Shen Yi. "I’m tired. I’m going back to my room to rest."
Shen Yi watched his sister enter the house and let out a soft snort.
’It seemed his sister had a few tricks up her sleeve after all. She wasn’t as useless as he’d imagined.’