You are all bad women! Don't come over!

"Achoo!"

Shen Mochen sneezed.

"Caught a cold?"

"I feel like someone's bad-mouthing me..."

"By a girl you dumped?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't make baseless accusations! I might look like a ladies' man, but I'm a decent guy, you know. I haven't been with a second girl... cough cough, I mean, I hadn't dated a second girl before you!"

Catherine bowed her head and stomped hard on Shen Mochen's foot. Aware of his slip-up, he kept his indignation to himself. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

Fortunately, she was wearing sneakers today, so it wasn't too painful.

Shen Mochen cleared his throat, "Actually, it could also be that someone is jealous and talking behind my back."

Catherine, eating her bun with a lack of enthusiasm, replied, "Is that so."

"Look, my girlfriend is the most beautiful woman in the world, and she even drives a luxury car. Which man wouldn't be jealous of me? They're bound to say bad things about me behind my back!"

"That does make some sense," Catherine nodded slightly, took another sip of her congee, and her mood seemed to lift slightly.

They both lowered their heads and ate their meal leisurely as the latest pop songs played in the restaurant.

"Nuclear Girl," Catherine said.

"What?" Shen Mochen was confused.

"The song playing now is by Nuclear Girl."

Catherine's eyes were faint, as if she looked down on Shen Mochen for his ignorance.

"Oh, I don't know, I don't listen to music much... You seem to know quite a bit."

"I don't know much either, just that girls talk about them more in their circles, so you get to know after hearing it often."

Shen Mochen tore a piece off his fried dough stick, "Anyway, I just know about them... they're big stars, the hottest idol group at the moment. I think Fei Shuimo is the most famous of them. I've seen her picture; she's pretty... Of course, she can't hold a candle to you!"

"Her name is Fei Yumo, and I heard her family was very poor before she debuted."

"Stars can be poor? Can a poor person even become a star?"

Catherine shrugged, "I wouldn't know, I don't follow the showbiz scene. But, I did hear that they might be invited to the school anniversary celebration?"

Shen Mochen clicked his tongue, as if pitying humanity, "Yes, I heard too.

"That said, I seem to have seen a few of them online, something about 'outstanding youth' or something like that, but I never paid attention, I can't even remember any of them."@@novelbin@@

"Yeah, their backstories are emptier than blank sheets of paper. So apart from a few star-crazed fans, who cares about the officially-announced dream chasers? Doubt even their fans would bother."

"Do you think about these things every day?"

"Nah, no point thinking about it; I've got no power to change anything. Just griping, that's all. Also, I haven't listened to Nuclear Girl's music, but I'll still go to see them when they come."

Catherine finished her last sip of congee and wiped her mouth with a napkin, "Roar, because they're big stars?"

Shen Mochen smiled and nodded, "Yeah, because they're big stars, really something. Although I don't know what's so great about them."

Catherine looked at Shen Mochen with a teasing smile, "If you ever debuted, maybe you'd be even more popular than them. If you were in a talent show, I'd buy you a flower ticket and make sure you're number one."

"Please no, what if after debuting someone wanted to take advantage of me? If it's a young and pretty rich woman like you, I could accept that, but what if it's some middle-aged woman with a double chin? And even weirder, what if there are some old men with special interests... Eek!"

Catherine, seeing Shen Mochen clutching his backside in pain, couldn't help but cover her stomach and laugh.

Shen Mochen downed his hot and spicy soup; she had finished eating, and he didn't want to keep her waiting.

Catherine's laughter subsided, and she kicked Shen Mochen's foot lightly, "If you want to see stars, I could take you backstage. You could meet them up close, shake hands, get autographs, even take photos together."

"Really? Can you do that?"

"Just a bunch of little stars, they're not big shots or anything."

Catherine spoke so lightly that Shen Mochen was momentarily stunned. He suddenly realized that the girl sitting across from him in this little diner, casually chatting, laughing, and dating, was no ordinary girl.

She was Catherine Alexandrova, the sole heiress of the Alexandrov Family, the future Duchess of the Roman Empire.

In truth, even if he didn't try so hard to break up with her, they couldn't end up together in the end. To this "Princess," he was perhaps just a playmate to pass the time at school.

"What's wrong?" Catherine, noticing Shen Mochen's daydreaming and thinking he doubted her ability, snuffled a little, "Don't you believe me?"

"Of course, I believe you!" Shen Mochen smiled, "I'm looking forward to meeting Nuclear Girl!"

Catherine's eyes curved into a smile, but her tone was slightly cold, "Heh~ Do you like someone from there, like Fei Yumo?"

Shen Mochen instinctively felt threatened and quickly shook his head, speaking the truth: "I can't even name them all. It's mainly because Yin Caiyu seemed to really like them, and I wanted to get an autograph for her."

"I see... Well, I won't take you, then."

"Eh? Why not?"

"I dunno, figure it out yourself!"

Shen Mochen finished eating as well, and Catherine took out her blindingly flashy Supreme black card, calling the owner over to settle the bill.

The owner apologized with a smile, "Sorry, miss, we can't take cards here. Do you have any cash on you?"

"I never carry cash."

Catherine glanced sidelong at Shen Mochen, whose mouth twitched slightly. Under the owner's complicated gaze, he reluctantly fished a twenty-yuan note out of his pocket.

Weren't you supposed to treat today? Why am I still the one paying? You're definitely setting me up, let's go to the bank and withdraw some cash after we leave!