Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!

Chapter 113: Chapter 98: Just a Simple Goodnight

Lin Lu and Shen Qingning rented a three-bedroom house off-campus, and the living room was quite spacious with a large TV set.

However, both Lin Lu and Shen Qingning seldom watched TV alone in the living room.

The two of them would occasionally watch a movie together there.

At the moment, a TV drama from Mango TV was playing on the television, and the sound wasn’t very loud.

The voice actress, who was bending over to switch her slippers, felt inexplicably nervous when she heard the soft “I’m back.”

“I’m going to take a shower first; I sweated a bit earlier!” She immediately ran into her room.

Shen Qingning watched her retreating figure and silently turned off the living room TV, since she hadn’t been watching with focused attention anyway.

“Was she holding a milk tea cup in her hand just now?” Shen Qingning noted the detail.

The milk tea shop of that brand was at the school gate, but Hang City was so big, it wasn’t the only place around Technology University that had one.

She shook her head slightly, deciding not to think further on it.

She didn’t even know why she had sat in the living room waiting for her to come back.

“Maybe it’s just an instinct, always feeling that something is off with her?” Shen Qingning thought it was her sixth sense acting up.

“Moreover… did she seem in a particularly good mood when she came in?” she wondered to herself.

The cool girl no longer sat crossed-legged on the sofa but retreated to her room.

After closing the door, she couldn’t help but mumble, “When did I start being so suspicious?”

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“No, it’s not that I am being paranoid.”

“Knowing Lu Lu’s personality, she’s the type who can’t keep things to herself, always telling me whatever she does. Usually, I might even find her too talkative, sometimes not feeling like listening at all.”

“There’s definitely something fishy!” she concluded in her mind.

…

…

Next door, Lin Lu had informed Cheng Zhu that she was home and then went to remove her makeup and shower.

The warm water washed over her body, and the carefree girl soon forgot the pressure Shen Qingning had just put on her, humming a song in the shower.

Having just won a little “Pig Hero” figurine, the voice actress was singing the theme song of “Pig Hero.”

“La la la lei, la la la lei…”

“Smart and brave, with strength aplenty, I really admire myself…”

She sang with a childlike charm.

The bathroom is a magical place that makes one feel like a shower singing champion, with everyone sounding perfect.

After her shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and sat before the mirror to meticulously apply skincare products to her face.

After applying toner, she waited for it to be fully absorbed by her skin before rubbing on the night serum.

So, she took the opportunity to pick up her phone and text Cheng Zhu on WeChat: “All done with my shower!”

See, someone who wants to keep chatting with you will tell you right after they finish their shower.

Someone who doesn’t want to chat with you would have drowned in the shower and disappeared without a trace.

As it turned out, Cheng Zhu, who had also gone to shower, only replied after five minutes: “I’m done too.”

Lin Lu, who had finished applying her skincare and changed into her pajamas, picked up her phone, unable to resist typing: “How come you take longer to shower than me?”

“What, are guys supposed to shower faster than girls?”

In reality, when he got back to his dorm, he had been subjected to a “trial” by his three roommates.

With gossipy faces, his roommates asked him about the entire day’s events, but Cheng Zhu, feeling no obligation to report to them as a father figure, brushed them off with a few words before taking his shower.

If you want me to give a lecture, you’d better pay up for the knowledge first!

After chatting for a few more exchanges, Cheng Zhu said he had to get busy with work.

A man can’t have his mind filled with women all the time, nor can he devote all his attention to them.

The same applies to women.

If that were the case, most of the outcomes wouldn’t turn out well.

“Which sportswear shop on Taobao is yours?” Lin Lu asked when she heard he was going to take care of his shop, unable to hold back her curiosity.

The last time in everyone’s presence, Cheng Zhu told Wang Wei that the clothes he sold were also sporty, and everyone believed him.

Undoubtedly, Lin Lu took it seriously.

“I was just talking nonsense that day; I actually sell women’s clothing,” Cheng Zhu replied.

“Send me the link, I’m in a good mood today, I’ll splurge a bit on you!” Miss Lin immediately said.

“Forget it, the clothes in my shop aren’t suitable for you at the moment,” Cheng Zhu texted.

“Don’t look down on me! I’m very versatile, everything I wear looks good!” Lin Lu was very confident in her own beauty and figure.

Cheng Zhu imagined her wearing a gray backless sweater, thinking it would undoubtedly be very eye-catching.

“When I get the chance, I’ll give you a few pieces, then don’t refuse to wear them,” he typed with a smile.

“Pff, even if you sold old ladies’ clothes, I’d still make them uniquely stylish!” Lin Lu typed back full of smugness.

“Alright, alright, I’m going to get busy,” Cheng Zhu immediately disappeared, and in the end, he still didn’t reveal the name of his shop.

Lin Lu put down her phone, talking to herself: “Weird, being so secretive about a small business.”

She knew some people were thin-skinned and also didn’t want acquaintances to patronize their shops out of friendship, feeling that money didn’t come comfortably and instead felt like they owed a favor.

But she didn’t think Cheng Zhu was like that.

“How thick-skinned he is!” the voice actress remarked sarcastically.

With that thought, she got up from the bed, barefoot, looking for her slippers she didn’t know where she had kicked during her dive onto the bed, and then sat down at her desk.

Lin Lu first opened her black bucket bag and took out the prize from her dart game.

The “Pig Hero” figure did indeed emit a cheap vibe, not particularly attractive, with average quality and an overall ugly appearance.

But she liked it quite a bit, finding it quite cute.

At this moment, looking at the figurine, she remembered the darts Cheng Zhu had thrown on her target board.

Whoa, as if shot by Cupid’s arrow.

The girl sat at the desk and childishly mimed the action of throwing darts in the air, instinctively adding her own sound effects: “Swoosh—!”

After a while, she took out a notebook and pen from her drawer and began to record.

Nothing significant happened today; she just ate junk food she wouldn’t usually eat, drank milk tea, checked on the shop she supervised, gained a full sense of achievement, and played darts…

Lin Lu, who often recorded her life, was good at summarizing while writing.

But today, she wrote a lot of words in her notebook, detailing everything very elaborately.

She wrote about the flavor of fried chicken, how sweet the milk tea was, what pattern was formed by the neon lights in the shop, her thoughts and conclusions from playing darts, and that she finally won a little figurine.

After writing, she added a note in brackets.

Bracket: (Note it down, he still owes me a meal!)

Lin Lu knew very well that she actually lost the bet, and Cheng Zhu had made it too obvious he had let her win, making her triumph feel quite cheeky.

But this cheeky feeling was just so comfortable.

…

…

In dormitory 309, Cheng Zhu lay half-reclined on his bed, not in a hurry to check the Taobao store’s backend.

He could sense that Lin Lu was probably quite happy today.

“Peak-end rule”, still has some truth to it,” Cheng Zhu thought.

The so-called “Peak-end rule” was proposed by a psychologist who surprisingly won the Nobel Prize in Economics.

A psychological state that lets many enterprises earn more money after learning about it, indicating its significance.

Simply put, this rule suggests that in an experience, if the climax and the ending are pleasurable, the overall memory of it is likely to be pleasurable.

With limited resources, many businesses follow this rule for the best customer experience.

The psychologist discovered a cognitive bias in the human brain; if the peak and end experiences are good, even with some bad experiences in the middle, the final memory would still feel quite satisfactory.

Let’s take the dumb boys’ most understood example: gaming.

You’re gaming in an internet café and almost lost the entire night.

But during your streak of defeats, you pulled off an impressive feat, scoring a pentakill.

Then, right before leaving, you finally won a game.

Thus, the memory of that night’s gaming experience is likely to be good.

Take note, the peak-end rule also applies in male-female interactions.

Many experienced playboys may not understand these psychological concepts, but their actions often follow the peak-end rule.

For example, create a small highlight during a date to elevate the mood, and then tell her at parting that you actually prepared a small gift for her.

This effect is better than presenting a gift right at the start of the meeting.

Of course, playboys also value their own experiences, so if they’re not enjoying their time with her, they might skip the last part…

Cheng Zhu’s plans for the day had inadvertently aligned with the peak-end rule, targeting human vulnerabilities.

Throwing darts wasn’t something extraordinary.

But he hit Lin Lu’s target.

In the end, he subtly secured third prize for Lin Lu.

Following the peak-end rule, hitting right at the weak spots of human nature.

He didn’t really do it on purpose; some things are ingrained in the soul, and he simply interacts with people naturally.

Just max out the emotional value for you.

After reviewing the day’s whole process, Cheng Zhu started managing his store’s backend and arranging work for tomorrow in his work group.

At eleven, he received a photo from Lin Lu.

It was a group picture of the stuffed toy “Cheng Pig” and its new friend “Cheng Zhuxia.”

“Keep busy; I’m just showing you; no need to reply. I’m going to sleep, turning on silent mode, good night.”

Cheng Zhu read the WeChat message and really didn’t reply.

He personally thought that saying goodnight at the same time wasn’t very significant.

Only after finishing all his work did he message Lin Lu, who was already asleep: “Just finished, exhausted, I’m going to sleep in silent mode too, good night.”

In this way, Lin Lu would see the message when she woke up in the morning, and it actually continued the conversation, providing a starting point for further discussion.

If the girl was willing to chat, then she’d reach out to you early in the morning following this cue.

Saying goodnight might not mean much, but saying good morning to each other upon waking up is closer.

It signifies a willingness to chat first thing upon waking up, or even a desire to reach out to you right away.

The next day, Cheng Zhu didn’t have early classes, so he didn’t set an alarm and slept until he naturally woke up. He didn’t need to check on the claw machine store since Lin Lu would supervise for him, better to take the opportunity to sleep in.

When he woke up, he saw Lin Lu’s WeChat messages.

“Ah? Busy until after midnight, seems like you’re making a fortune!”

She also sent another message with a homemade emoji made from a little pig doll.

The words and the emoji together said:

“I’m getting up for class now, Morning! Cheng Zhu!”

…

(ps: Second update, asking for monthly votes at the end of the month, and there’s a third update coming today.)