I Have 10 Trillion Dollars only Usable For Simping
Chapter 98 - 098 Have you paid your respects?

Chapter 98: 098 Have you paid your respects?

As time went on, the number of customers entering the bar gradually increased; although there were some younger ones, even the younger patrons here tended to have a more reserved or mature demeanor compared to those at lively bars.

"Shu Rui, did you rush back from the hospital just to buy me a drink?"

Li Shuru could keep her composure, but Jiang Chen was starting to get impatient.

"When did I ever say I was treating you?"

Li Shuru said, "Let’s go Dutch."

Jiang Chen was taken aback, observing the girl with her calm and serious demeanor, his sense of strangeness toward her growing stronger.

He could tell that although she appeared untroubled on the surface, there were undercurrents stirring within her, much like the Undersea Red in his glass.

When had he offended her again?

Jiang Chen introspected yet again but still couldn’t pinpoint the reason.

Li Shuru, with her unusual demeanor, quietly sipped her wine.

Jiang Chen repeatedly seemed about to speak but ultimately didn’t. Instead, he slowly started to drink his Undersea Red as well.

"Here’s to the lovely couple," the bar owner, Yu Lan, said as she gracefully approached with a cocktail in hand. With her elegant smile, it was hard to imagine that such a refined woman could be the other woman in a love triangle.

"Yu Lan, we’re just friends," Li Shuru explained matter-of-factly, but her explanation came far too quickly and deliberately.

Yu Lan, who was quite perceptive, could easily see through the other’s attempt to conceal the truth.

Though they were not particularly close, Yu Lan knew the young woman’s character well.

If they were just ordinary friends, they wouldn’t have come out to drink alone; since Yu Lan had known Li Shuru, this was the first time she had seen such a thing happen.

"Is that so?"

Yu Lan’s expression remained unchanged as she glanced at Jiang Chen, who was "extraordinarily ordinary."

"My apologies, but you two really do look like a married couple," she said with a hint of mockery.

And with that, she lifted her glass with a smile.

The three of them clinked glasses and drank.

At that moment, Jiang Chen’s phone began to ring; it was Li Shao calling.

"I need to take this call."

"Please do," said Li Shuru.

After Jiang Chen stood up and walked away, Yu Lan sat down beside Li Shuru, swirling her brightly colored cocktail, and stared at her with a half-smile.

"What’s going on?" Li Shuru looked puzzled.

"What, you’re still pretending in front of me?" Yu Lan chuckled. "I never would have thought that a girl like you would take the initiative in her life."

"Yu Lan, I really don’t know what you’re talking about," replied Li Shuru, her face composed.

"This guy doesn’t seem to have anything special about him. What virtues or abilities does he have that have made you fall for him?" Yu Lan was set on her guess, not caring for Li Shuru’s responses at all.

Seeing this, Li Shuru stopped trying to explain and fell silent.

"You lack experience when it comes to dealing with men. How about I give you some advice?" Yu Lan suggested playfully.

Li Shuru kept silent.

"I know you care about face, but in matters of the heart, you can’t be shy. Although it’s only my first time meeting him, if he caught your eye, surely this Jiang... Jiang Chen, right? He must have some exceptional qualities. Good men need to be pursued; if you don’t seize the moment, you might just lose him to someone else," Yu Lan advised.

Li Shuru let her ramble on, listening to the foreign band playing in the shop, not offering explanations or indications of her stance.

"As the saying goes, ’When a woman pursues a man, it’s only a veil apart.’ There is nothing more convenient and effective than turning raw rice into cooked rice."

Yu Lan looked at the Seabed Red she had personally mixed, which Jiang Chen had placed on the table.

"Not too much, just a couple of drinks will do. Even if he has a high tolerance, he’ll still be carried out horizontally tonight. At that point, won’t he be at your mercy?"

As she spoke, Yu Lan winked at Li Shuru, truly relentless in destroying others, a trait worthy of someone who "bravely pursues love" even knowing the other party is married.

Unexpectedly, Li Shuru didn’t retort; instead, she oddly said, "Yu Lan, have you ever considered that if he’s different, say, an irresponsible jerk?"

Yu Lan couldn’t help but be startled.

"It shouldn’t be... I feel like he’s not that kind of person..."

"Not what kind of person? What are you talking about?"

Jiang Chen returned after finishing his phone call.

"Nothing much, you guys drink up; I won’t disturb you."

Yu Lan rose to her feet with composure, casting a significant look at Li Shuru.

"Our dorm monitor saw I hadn’t come back so late and called to check on what I was doing."

Jiang Chen sat down and explained, then asked, "What were you two talking about just now? Why did she leave as soon as I came back?"

"She was curious about what exactly our relationship is,"

said Li Shuru calmly.

Jiang Chen let out a wry chuckle, without thinking, and blurted out, "Then she must be thinking in her mind, ’Good cabbage has been spoiled by pigs.’"

Before his words could fade, Jiang Chen’s face changed, realizing this wasn’t appropriate.

He was trying by all means to maintain the last layer of paper-thin secrets, and joking like this was clearly ill-timed.

But what had been said could not be taken back.

Li Shuru was silent for a moment and then, looking at him, actually smiled slightly and played along, "Did you spoil it?"

Jiang Chen’s expression stiffened, utterly unprepared.

Li Shuru’s personality was indeed different from most girls; she wasn’t so easily embarrassed or shy, but such a joke was still rather inappropriate.

What was up with this girl today?

Jiang Chen had a faint sense of being under siege.

He lowered his head to take a sip of the Seabed Red, using it as an excuse to avoid her gaze.

"Jiang Chen, in your eyes, do you think I’m better than Ai Qian?"

This was almost the kind of question that would make any man’s head hurt, and most men seemed to encounter it at some point.

Comparing oneself with a man’s ex-girlfriend was one of the things women loved to do, just as classic as the question of ’who would you save first if your mother and I fell into the water.’

At this question, Jiang Chen also felt a headache coming on, but unlike other men, in this situation, anyone with common sense would typically belittle their ex, yet he didn’t do that.

No matter how Ai Qian had wronged him, it was all in the past.

To degrade the ex after a breakup, to sling mud, wasn’t the act of a real man.

"If you find it hard to answer, then I’ll switch to another question,"

Seeing that he did not respond for a long time, Li Shuru didn’t push him and changed tack, asking, "Then, who do you think is sillier compared to Ai Qian, me or her?"

Jiang Chen frowned slightly and lifted his head, "Shu Rui, ...what do you mean?"

"You don’t know what I mean?"

Li Shuru took out her cellphone, pressed the screen, and then Jiang Chen’s cellphone pinged with a notification.

He took out his phone, puzzled, and looked down, feeling a sudden lurch in his heart.

It was a message from the Starry Sky app.

Jiang Chen suddenly looked up, and what he saw was an expressionless beautiful face.

"Should I call you Lei Feng, or Han Jiang Gu Ying?"