You said you hated men, why are your eyes now full of love?

The next day.

Ji Mu was awakened by the alarm clock.

10:45

That was the time he had set last night.

Although he really wanted to sleep a bit more, he remembered that he had already agreed to accompany his task partner to the downtown library yesterday. Despite his drowsiness, he could only force himself to get out of bed.

In the bathroom, the boy looked listless in the mirror.

His deep brown peach blossom eyes were slightly dull, the color on his thin lips had faded, and his handsome face looked tired and lethargic.

The system that had just woken up looked equally lethargic and weak.

Both the person and the system had been obsessed with the game last night, fighting until four in the morning before finally falling asleep.

Forcing itself to get up at this time was truly agonizing.

It yawned lazily, [Good morning, host].

"What's good about it? Nothing is good."

Ji Mu pouted in resentment.

Who invented 'good morning' anyway? Who exactly has a good morning!

[Host, it's your fault for insisting on the ranking yesterday]

The system replied angrily.

[Otherwise, would we have stayed up so late?]

Even if they had moved up, it would have been fine, but what happened? Not only did they not advance, but they also lost several stars.

A huge loss.

[We must be more restrained in the future. Doing this all the time will affect our condition too much. What if it delays the progress of the task?]

Ji Mu agreed, the system made a good point.

He spat out the white foam from his mouth.

He washed his face with cold water, instantly feeling much more awake.

"It seems I need to be more restrained."

Staying up late every day to play games was clearly taking a toll on his body.

[Today is the first time you are going out alone with Ruan Qingqing. You need to be in a good mood and try to reduce some of her dislike points,] the system advised as he struggled to stay awake.

"Got it."

He grabbed a towel from the rack and wiped his face, then picked up the black-framed glasses next to him.

The originally handsome and elegant young man was instantly transformed into a nondescript, ordinary character.

He looked at his bookish appearance in the mirror and nodded.

Perfect, let's go.

...

With precise time management, he successfully arrived at the subway station at 11:10.

"Great, not late."

Just as he was about to boast to the system about his increasingly refined timing skills, he caught a glimpse of a graceful figure standing near the subway entrance out of the corner of his eye.

"Here so soon?"

He looked surprised.

In his line of sight, the girl wore a light blue pleated dress with straps.

Her thick, dark hair cascaded down her back, her slender waist flowed down to her skirt, and her legs were tightly wrapped in over-the-knee white stockings, making them appear straight and well proportioned.

The brilliant light slanted across a corner of the subway emblem, the warm tones of the light bathing her as if favored by the heavens, further accentuating her fair and smooth skin.

Compared to her usually conservative attire, her outfit this time was noticeably bolder.

Pure, but not without charm.

The contrast created by the combination of these two contradictory traits was enough to get most men's nerves on edge.

It wasn't hard to confirm this by the way some passersby couldn't help but look at her.

When she noticed a rather handsome man approaching the girl to start a conversation, Ji Mu clicked her tongue in surprise.

In the future, if someone liked this girl, he would probably fall in love with her quickly.

With such charm, who wouldn't be smitten like a dog?

When Ji Mu saw that the guy didn't seem to succeed and went back with an embarrassed look on his face, he shook his head.

But it didn't have much to do with him anyway.

By the time this happened, he would probably have already returned to Blue Star with a huge sum of money and enjoyed a financially free retirement.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he was about to walk towards the girl.

The guy who had just failed to strike up a conversation was nudged by his companion.

"Hey, how did it go? Did you get her number?"

The guy was extremely frustrated, "Get her number? No way. She was so cold and barely noticed me."

"I told you, with a girl like that, your chances are pretty slim."

His companion raised his eyebrows knowingly, clearly expecting this outcome.

"She's been standing there for a while. She's probably waiting to meet her boyfriend."

The guy snorted in disbelief, "Boyfriend, my foot. Looking that flirtatious, she's either a mistress or a kept woman of some big boss."

???

Where did this shrimp head guy come from?

Being quite close, Ji Mu could clearly hear their conversation.

Failing to strike up a conversation and then getting angry enough to slander a girl was pure idiocy.

He felt grateful to the world for once again witnessing the diversity of species.

"She dresses so provocatively, she could be in that business."

The guy speculated maliciously, unaware of the figure coming closer behind him.

"I wonder how much she charges per night. I'll go ask..."

As they talked, someone suddenly tapped the guy on the shoulder, and a lazy voice came from behind him.

"Dude, what era are we in? Still throwing random punches like that?"

The guy was stunned and instinctively turned around.

The boy with the round glasses looked down at him, his indifferent face showing a hint of laziness.

"A girl puts on some makeup and wears slightly sexy clothes, and she doesn't look like a good person to you? If I give you a cup of Xi Zhi Lang, do I look like your grandfather?"

Seeing the figure that was a head taller than him, the guy swallowed hard.

Considering his own height - barely 176 cm, claiming 178 cm and pretending to be 180 cm - he felt inexplicably guilty.

"W-what do you want? What does that have to do with you?"

For the sake of his pride, the guy tried to confront Ji Mu with a calm demeanor.

Seeing this, his companion quickly stepped forward to pull him back.

"My friend has had too much to drink, don't worry about him."

He wasn't stupid; just from the tone of his voice, he could tell that this person has a special relationship with the girl.

After all, they were the ones who were bad-mouthing others behind their backs, so they were clearly in the wrong.

"Sorry, really sorry."

After hastily apologizing, he quickly dragged the guy away.

Looking at their somewhat embarrassed backs, Ji Mu was a bit surprised.

He thought that the other guy would act like the typical cannon fodder in novels, playing out the cliché scene of showing off and getting humiliated.

He hadn't expected him to back down so quickly.

"Classmate Ji Mu!"

A soft voice filled with joy sounded from not far away.

The girl moved gracefully, like a fairy descending to the mortal world, captivating and elegant.

"You're here~"

"Yes."

Ji Mu greeted her, "Good day."

"Good afternoon to you too~"

Her beautiful eyes glanced in the direction of the two people who had just left, and she looked curious, "Did you have a disagreement with someone just now?"

"No," Ji Mu waved his hand, "They were just asking for directions."

"Oh..."

Ruan Qingqing blinked.

"I see."

… Classmate Ji Mu is lying again.

Because her hearing had always been much sharper than that of ordinary people.

She hadn't missed the guy's deliberate slander.

Of course, the part where the boy stood up for her was included as well.

Thinking about it, she bit her lip slightly.

Strange, even though she knew he was lying, why did she feel a warm sensation in her chest...

"By the way."

On the other side, Ji Mu asked casually.

"Why did you come so early today?"

Ruan Qingqing paused for a few seconds to collect her emotions.

"No, I just..."

"You just got here too."

Ji Mu finished her sentence for her, "Is that what you wanted to say?"

The girl's face froze.

Such a direct revelation left her unsure how to react.

Ji Mu understood.

"Tell me the truth, when did you actually get here?"

Uh...@@novelbin@@

"Ten... ten o'clock."

She looked away, her earlobes warming by a degree.

"So you were actually planning on lying just now?"

Ji Mu spoke slowly, "Silly goose, that's not a good habit."

Ruan Qingqing's face turned red.

She mumbled softly, trying to explain, but couldn't find the right words.

"How about this."

Seeing that his goal was achieved, Ji Mu stopped teasing her.

"As punishment, I'll pay for lunch later."

The girl's lips parted slightly.

What kind of punishment is that?

"Classmate Ji Mu, I..."

"If you have any objections, you'll just have to accept it. After all, you just made a mistake."

Ji Mu didn't give her a chance to refuse.

Ruan Qingqing fell silent, feeling a bit annoyed.

Ji Mu had tricked her again.

She pouted, looking very much like a little fox silently protesting.

Seeing this, Ji Mu couldn't help but find it amusing.

Why did it seem like the closer they got, the more she got upset?

Girls are really hard to figure out.

He thought to himself and decided to change the subject to divert her attention.

"So, what made you decide to wear a dress today?"

Sure enough, the sulking girl looked over immediately.

"Does it.. Does it not look good?"

"No, it's very pretty."

Ji Mu sincerely praised her, "It suits you very well."

Ruan Qingqing didn't say anything.

However, the smile on her eyebrows indicated that her mood had greatly improved.

Seeing that this tactic worked, Ji Mu was about to give her some more compliments when the girl in front of him hesitated and pursed her lips.

"Then..."

She took a deep breath, her captivating eyes meeting his without flinching, as if she had made up her mind.

"Do you... like it?"

Ji Mu was stunned for a moment.

After a few seconds, he gave a thumbs up with an expressionless face and replied vaguely.

"It's pretty good."

Strange, I'm not the one wearing it, so why are you asking me if I like it or not?

He was a bit confused.

[Huh? You don’t even understand this?]

The system, which had been silent for a long time, spat out some saliva and wiped its hair.

Finally, it was the system's turn.

[Host, think about how girls interact with each other.]

[When a girl dresses up beautifully and goes out, she definitely wants to ask her best friend if her outfit looks good, if they like it, and if it makes them look good together.]

[And the only friend Ruan Qingqing recognizes is you. If she doesn't ask you, who else would she ask?]

"Oh... I get it now."

Ji Mu suddenly understood.

"So this also reflects the good side of friendship?"

[Exactly.]

The high-EQ strategist system confidently puffed out its chest.

[At this rate, she's probably starting to see you as a good friend rather than just a friend.]

After all, only if the relationship reached that level would she specifically ask, right?

Of course, it could also be because she likes the host and dressed up so beautifully on purpose.

[Hahahahaha.]

The system was amused by its own sudden thought and laughed heartily.

Ridiculous, too unrealistic.

This isn't abroad, don't make international jokes.

Editor’s note: Xi Zhi Lang looks like a type of jelly drink in China.