This definitely was his pure and adorable deskmate.
Wen Nan quickly made the judgment.
Sure enough, the system's voice echoed in his mind,
[Name: Liu Qi (Qiqi)]
[Identity: Pure and adorable deskmate]
[Background: Qiqi is your deskmate and also your childhood neighbor. You are familiar with each other and often go to and from school together. Until the cram phase in senior year, you chose to live at school, focusing on your studies, and you gradually grew apart. Tonight, Qiqi mustered the courage to invite you.]
[Strategy Difficulty: ★★★☆]
Feeling someone approaching, Qiqi looked up, and the moment she saw Wen Nan, a light immediately sparked in her previously unfocused eyes.
Her eyes curved into crescents with her smile, and she jumped up like a little rabbit, hugging her heavy backpack as she bounced toward Wen Nan.
"Bro! You came! I thought... you wouldn't come."
Wen Nan smiled at her, "You invited me, how could I not come?"
Qiqi lowered her head without responding.
She had sent many letters, sitting by this flower bed night after night waiting, but she had never received a response. She had lost hope, never expecting that this time her brother would actually come.
"Have you been waiting long?" Wen Nan asked softly when she didn't speak.
Qiqi quickly gathered her thoughts, looked up with a smile, and shook her head, "No, I haven't been waiting long."
Saying that, she hoisted her backpack and headed for the sports field, "Let's go."
Wen Nan lifted his hand to grab the backpack strap, wanting to help her carry it, "What's in here, so heavy?"
Qiqi sidestepped, hugging the backpack protectively like a puppy guarding food, not letting Wen Nan touch it, "Not heavy! I can carry it myself."
Seeing this, Wen Nan let her be.
The two reached the stands by the sports field and sat side by side on the steps.
Qiqi opened her backpack, and Wen Nan looked over, only to discover it was filled with bottled sparkling water.
All of the same brand, different flavors, colorful.
Wen Nan couldn't help but wonder if she liked that brand of soda so much she had to carry the whole set with her?
Qiqi picked through the bag, hesitating between green and yellow with her finger.
She placed her small hand on the yellow bottle first, paused for a few seconds, then, thinking of something, blushed, shook her head, and finally picked the green one, offering it to Wen Nan.
"Here, bro, for you."
Wen Nan looked at the bottle of green drink, hesitating slightly.
Hmm... usually, he didn't prefer that color.
But seeing Qiqi's eyes full of expectant sparkle, Wen Nan still reached out and accepted it.
Qiqi was happy, lowering her head and giggling softly.
As Wen Nan was about to open the bottle cap, his gaze landed on a row of striking ad words on the packaging—
[Under the moonlight, perfect for holding hands].
Wen Nan paused.
So, Qiqi bought every flavor just to collect the cheesy pick-up lines on the packaging?
While Wen Nan was in a daze, Qiqi looked up at the pitch-black night sky, feeling a bit disappointed.
"Ah, there's no moon tonight."
As she spoke, she cautiously inched closer to Wen Nan, sneaking her hand toward his.
As their hands were about to touch, Wen Nan raised his hand, opened the bottle cap, and took a sip.
Her hand missed, and Qiqi looked at Wen Nan, asking softly,
"Do you... like it?"
"What?"
"That."
Qiqi raised her hand, pointing at the soda bottle, though it was unclear if she meant the flavor or the advertising line.
Wen Nan glanced at the starlit sky without a moon, shaking his head, "No moon, not fitting."
"Oh..."
Qiqi stopped trying to hold hands, pulling her hand back completely and wrapping her arms around her knees, wishing she could shrink into a tiny ball and hide underground.
Her lips turned downward, and her eyes were red.
Meanwhile, in Jiu cilang's livestream room, the chat was buzzing,
[Is this really a ghost girl? How can she be so cute and yet a ghost?]
[Dude, are you a one-time player? Don't you know even basic common sense? The more heart-capturing the ghost girl, the scarier it gets. Three and a half stars at this level, being so cute is normal.]
[Ah, I see. I didn't even clear the first level, and the highest I've conquered is one star. Compared to this, I'm far behind.]
[Hold her hand!]
[Grab her hand]
[Jiu cilang, aren't you going for it?]
Then, several red-highlighted comments floated by,
[Don't touch her! Don't touch her! Don't touch her!!!]
[Important things need to be said three times!]
[My friend did his newbie trial with Qiqi, touched her, and now the grass on his grave is three meters high!]
[Is that for real? What happens if you touch her?]
[You don't want to know]
[This Jiu cilang doesn't seem to be a newbie?]
[To have such strong resolve, not going for hand-holding, seems like he's done similar strategies before]
[Could he really be a big shot hunting in the fish pond]
While the comments discussed, they saw Wen Nan leaning toward Qiqi, raising his arm in an almost embrace-like posture, wrapping around Qiqi's shoulders.
The sudden intimate gesture startled Qiqi. She instinctively straightened her back, her cheek unintentionally brushing against Wen Nan's hand.
Wen Nan was slightly startled, clearly feeling the sensation of her cheek's skin—cold, delicate, smooth, soft.
[?]
[???]
[Touched her!]
...
It was just a very brief touch. Wen Nan quickly withdrew his arm, holding a bottle of yellow soda.
Only then did Qiqi realize that Wen Nan hadn't intended to embrace her, but was just trying to reach her backpack on her side to grab the bottle.
She turned her head, staring directly at Wen Nan.
Her originally fair skin gradually became covered in blue-purple patterns, her big eyes lost their pupils, leaving only hollow whites.
Two lines of thick black blood flowed from her eyes.
[It's over]
[Showing true form]
[gg]
...
Wen Nan stared fixedly at Qiqi's face, momentarily stunned.
9527, "Ding!"
9527, "Dear Jiu cilang, congratulations! Your account has surpassed 1000 Gold Coins! If you need to purchase any items, please let me know any time."
Before the words fell, the system considerately pulled up the shop interface, prominently displaying a purchasable piece of equipment,
[Safety Bubble: Wearing this equipment protects the user from all attacks for 30 minutes. (Applicable only to targets of four stars and below)]
9527, "Would you like to use your coins now?"
Wen Nan, "Use them."
9527, "Okay, purchasing equipment for you now—"
Wen Nan, "—No, don't buy equipment."
9527, "..."
Wen Nan, "Now, help me open a betting pool in the livestream room. Put all my current coins on the bet."
9527, "…Understood."
The betting pool opened, with odds instantly skyrocketing to 86.37.
Wen Nan turned his gaze back to the girl in front of him.
He raised his hand and lightly wiped away the blood flowing from her eyes, softly saying, "It's just not holding hands, why are you crying?"
As he spoke, he offered the yellow soda bottle in his hand.
On it was printed a cheesy pick-up line in a similar style—
[A sky full of stars, perfect for kissing].
"I think green doesn't suit me; I'm more suited for yellow things."
Wen Nan said, leaning in to kiss Qiqi on the lips.