Who Goes First

Su Yang raised an eyebrow and continued his internal reply.

—Then binding with her doesn't seem very cost-effective for me; she starts at 80 right off the bat.

[Host, rest assured, the higher the initial favorability, the richer the reward upon reaching 100.]

—Oh? There's such a rule?

[Yes.]

—Well, that does make it worthwhile~

Just then, Zhong Qing spoke up: "Su Yang? What are you spacing out for?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"Give me your WeChat~"

"Alright." Su Yang agreed, taking out his phone, opening WeChat, and adding Zhong Qing as a friend.

At that moment, Liu Bo tagged everyone in the group chat: Is everyone done? When are we heading out?

Meng Wenzhou replied: Almost, just taking a dump.

Zhang Ziming: Me too~

Liu Bo: Hurry up, hurry up. What are we doing after this?

Meng Wenzhou: Go wander around the ancient town, soak up the local culture, then find a place to eat.

Chu Qiunan: After eating, go to the bar street [hook finger emoji]

Ji Bo: See if we can have a little romantic encounter, hehe~

Meng Qianyu: [disdainful look]

Tang Ziyun: [disdainful look]

Su Qingci: [disdainful look]

Ji Bo: ......Can't a single guy like me go look for a little happiness?

Meng Qianyu: Don't think we don't know what you're really after. Is your true purpose just to 'look for happiness'?

Ji Bo: Of course it is! I'm going to search for the happiness of my remaining years~

Chu Qiunan: Me too~

Meng Qianyu: Can't be bothered with you guys. Later, us girls are going to get colorful braids. Are you guys coming?

Ji Bo: Colorful braids? What would we guys do with colorful braids~

Meng Qianyu: What's wrong with that?

Zhang Ziming: Nah, forget it, we'll pass. It's better suited for you beauties.

Meng Qianyu: Fine then~

After everyone chatted for a while, at 3:40 PM, they all gathered in the reception area of the front courtyard.

Once everyone was assembled, the eleven of them walked out of the inn, chatting and laughing.

Soon, they followed the stone step path they came on down to the busiest and most bustling central area of the ancient town.

The streets were packed with people. Laughter, vendors' calls, hand drum beats, and songs from street-side bar singers all mingled together.

Seeing the lively scene, Su Yang's mood instantly improved quite a bit.

[Ding, detecting host's pleasant mood. Reward: 2 million.]

Meng Qianyu, happy like a little girl, gleefully pulled Su Qingci along as they weaved through the streets.

The guys followed behind, strolling casually. Soon, they came upon a shop called "Ancient Colorful Braids."

Meng Qianyu stood at the entrance, looked inside, then turned and called to the other girls: "Sisters, let's go. This place has fewer people."

"Let's go~"

As they said this, they looked at Zhong Qing and invited her: "Xiao Qing, do you want to come with us to get braids?"

Zhong Qing cooperatively replied: "Sure~ Getting colorful braids in Li City sounds really fun."

"It is! Then come along~"

"Okay~"

Pan Ning wasn't very keen initially, but she couldn't withstand Meng Qianyu's constant persuasion in her ear.

In the end, all five girls went into the braid shop together.

Seeing this, Su Yang stood at the door and said: "You guys go ahead and get braided. We'll wander around for a bit~"

"Go on, go on~"

Su Yang turned and called to Meng Wenzhou and the others: "Let's go, we'll do our own thing. Let them have their fun~"

"Let's go~"

As they said this, they continued walking further down the road.

After just a few steps, they came to a shop selling air-dried yak jerky. Liu Bo's eyes lit up: "I've had this beef jerky before; it's pretty tasty. I'm gonna buy some~"

"Any of you want some?"

The others behind him shook their heads: "No thanks~"

"It's really good."

"Then buy a pack for each of us~"

"Alright, alright, so that's your game, huh? Fine, I'll buy them." Liu Bo smiled, turned, entered the shop, sampled a piece first, then satisfied, bought eleven packs of jerky.

Watching Liu Bo walk out carrying two bags, Meng Wenzhou laughed: "You're quite thoughtful, knowing to buy a pack for the girls too~"

"Of course~"

"Let's go. There's a Luckin up ahead; let's get some coffee. I'm thirsty." Meng Wenzhou pointed to a Luckin coffee shop about tens of meters away on the street.

"Let's go then. You're buying, Brother Meng~" Liu Bo said with a grin.

Meng Wenzhou shot Liu Bo a look: "Fine~"

They strolled forward. When they were about twenty meters from the coffee shop,

Chu Qiunan suddenly grabbed Zhang Ziming and Ji Bo beside him and shouted: "Brothers, hold up!!"

Hearing the shout, the others turned to look at Chu Qiunan, puzzled: "What's up?"

Chu Qiunan looked towards the coffee shop, tilting his head and blinking to signal: "Look next to the coffee shop."

Following his gaze, they saw about a dozen young people lining up in front of an ice cream shop next to the coffee shop.

Among them were two long-haired girls wearing short blue and pink dresses respectively, each with a small backpack, standing sideways at the end of the line.

However, because of the crowd on the street, their faces weren't very clear.

Liu Bo stared at their legs, examining them carefully, then asked: "What's so special? Aren't there fair legs all over the street? Making a fuss over nothing."

"Not so! Those two girls are really good-looking. I saw their faces earlier."

"Oh? Really?"

"Why would I lie?"

Just as they spoke, the two girls turned around. The guys looked again and their eyes widened.

These two girls were indeed quite attractive, with delicate faces, fair skin, and nice figures.

They were almost the same height, around 165 cm. The most eye-catching were those four long legs—well-proportioned, with a bit of curves but not heavy.

But what surprised Su Yang and the others most was that not only were the girls' height and figures almost identical, their faces were also exactly alike. They were clearly a pair of twins.

"Whoa!! They're twin sisters!" Zhang Ziming said with an auntie-like smile.

"No kidding! They look exactly the same! And from a distance, they even look a bit like some actress... ah, can't remember who right now." Ji Bo also said, his eyes glued to them.

After standing by the roadside admiring them for a minute, Meng Wenzhou looked at Chu Qiunan and asked: "So, what now?"

"So? Hehe, I have an idea."

"Go on~"

"Alright, look. It's perfect timing since the girls from our group aren't here. This place is called the 'City of Romantic Encounters,' right? We don't necessarily have to wait passively for an encounter; we can take the initiative. So, I propose we each take turns going up to ask those two sisters for their WeChat. We'll rely on our own skills. Whoever fails to get it pays for everyone's expenses tonight."

Hearing this proposal, they all rolled their eyes thoughtfully and nodded one after another.

Zhang Ziming grinned: "You sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely! I suggested it; of course I'm in!"

"Alright then. Everyone's in, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. So who goes first?" Zhang Ziming asked.

Liu Bo looked at Chu Qiunan: "He proposed it, so he should go first, of course."

Chu Qiunan blew a strand of hair off his forehead and smiled confidently: "First is fine by me. You guys are actually being polite about such a premium resource? Hehe, watch me~"

He took out his phone, switched to selfie mode, and tidied up his hair, then touched his face.

Meng Wenzhou, standing beside him, rolled his eyes and said impatiently, "Are you going or not? If you don't hurry, they'll be gone!"

"Of course I'm going. But before that, I need to check out my peerless good looks to boost my confidence."

After saying this, Chu Qiunan ruffled his hair again, put his phone back in his pants pocket, and strode forward.

The other five wore expressions of amused anticipation as they leaned against a wall to watch the show.

About twenty meters away, two girls were still waiting in a line of over ten people to buy ice cream.

Chu Qiunan walked briskly with long strides to the girls' side and initiated his pickup routine.

Over with Su Yang and the others, they craned their necks to see. The two girls seemed startled, then looked at Chu Qiunan with confused expressions.

"It's starting, it's starting."

"Haha, this guy. Do you think he'll get it?"

"I doubt it~" Liu Bo said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Why not? Although his talk can be flashy, just looking at his face, he's actually not bad. Generally, I think a good-looking guy asking for a girl's WeChat has a pretty high success rate," Zhang Ziming remarked, looking into the distance.

"Not necessarily. Looks are one thing, but vibe is important too. This guy gives off a bit of a slick, smooth-talker vibe at first impression. The girls might not be into that."

"Well then, let's wait and see~"

...