msmithbooks Chapter 134 "The outside world is wonderful, the outside world is also full of helplessness...&
Chapter 134 "The outside world is wonderful, the outside world is also full of helplessness...&
"What am I doing right now?" Shen Li grinned, raising her beer glass.
"Come on, let's have a toast! Let's celebrate 'Grain Run's' transformation from a 'beauty economy' to a 'word-of-mouth economy'!"
The four clinked glasses. The ice-cold beer washed away the spiciness in their mouths.
Yang Yi's eyes welled up with tears from the spiciness, but he still managed to ask, "What about Senior Ling Yingying... won't she be unhappy? She really likes being in the center position..."
Shen Li waved her hand: "It's okay, I'll talk to her. Ling Yingying is easy to coax. Just tell her, 'We take turns sitting in the center position. You can sit there again next time we have an event.' She'll probably just grumble a bit and then it'll be over."
Jing Yang suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Li Zi, how's that monthly subscription service you mentioned for Guo Xiaoxiao coming along? Is she having hot pot or Japanese food this week?"
"Hot pot. Saturday night." Shen Li took out her phone and glanced at her notes.
"Her 'VIP package' costs 400 yuan a month and includes queuing up for her four times. Last week it was barbecue, this week it was hot pot, and next week she said she wants to eat at the newly opened 'Soul Broken Bridge' Japanese buffet next to 'Hot Life'."
Yang Yi asked curiously, "'Waterloo Bridge'? That name doesn't sound like a Japanese restaurant, it sounds like a funeral home!"
"The boss is an artsy type, and I heard he's a huge fan of Vivien Leigh." Shen Li shrugged.
"Who cares, Guo Xiaoxiao's paying anyway. By the way, Jing Shao, was your partner for that welcome party skit really Li Fei?"
The mere mention of Li Fei caused Jing Yang to visibly wilt.
"Don't even mention it. That day, we were rehearsing our lines behind the rockery in the little garden, and she was completely expressionless, like she was just reading a textbook. I said, 'Can't you have some emotion?' She said, 'I do have emotion, you just can't tell.' And freaking, I really couldn't tell!"
Dai Xiao added, "Based on micro-expression analysis, Li Fei's facial muscle activity is indeed below average. But this doesn't mean she has no emotions; it just means her emotional expression threshold is higher."
"...Brother Xiao, could you please stop using my partner as a test subject for analysis?" Jing Yang wailed.
Yang Yi added in a low voice, "I think Li Fei is pretty good. Last time in the physical education class, when she lifted you up, you almost dropped her, but she wasn't angry."
"That's because she's too lazy to argue with me!"
Jing Yang was exasperated. "You guys don't understand! Acting with Li Fei is like reciting lines to an iceberg. After you finish, she gives you a cold look, and you feel like an idiot!"
Shen Li smiled and opened another bottle of beer:
"Young Master Jing, think about it from another angle. Li Fei's coldness is a performance style in itself. If you can create sparks with her, it will be like 'A Song of Ice and Fire,' which is definitely more interesting than those cloying pairings."
Jing Yang paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "A Song of Ice and Fire? Holy crap, Shen Li, now that you mention it, it actually makes some sense..."
"That's right." Shen Li took a smug gulp of beer. "With my silver tongue, I can not only fool teachers, but also be your artistic advisor. If your skit becomes a hit, remember to give me a share of the profits."
"Dividends my ass! Let 'LiLiPao' make a profit first!"
The four of them laughed and joked as they finished their incredibly spicy hot pot meal.
When it was time to pay, Jingyang swiped his card, glanced at the bill, and his face turned green, but he still stubbornly insisted, "It's nothing! It's all nothing! Once I get famous, I'll treat myself to two meals in one go!"
After eating "Spicy You Die," the evening breeze helped the four of them cool down a bit from the alcohol.
The "Degenerate Street" is at its most lively at night.
The neon signs illuminated the whole street like a red-light district, with red, green, blue, and purple lights dazzling the eyes.
The fumes from the barbecue stalls mingled with the sweet aroma of the milk tea shop, swirling and wafting into our noses.
A long line formed in front of a stall selling grilled squid. The owner, shirtless, wielded two iron spatulas with incredible speed, the squid sizzling and dripping with oil on the grill. Sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, the aroma was so enticing it could be smelled from miles away.
Next door was a ring toss stall; ten rings for five yuan, the prizes were various plush toys. A broadcasting major was standing with her hands on her hips, arguing with the owner:
"You've got a problem with this betting strategy! I tried twenty times and didn't win a single time!"
The shopkeeper looked completely innocent: "Miss, your hands were shaking so much before you put it on, you really have a bad ring..."
The girl was so angry that her ample bosom under her tank top heaved violently, and the eyes of the boys next to her almost popped out of their sockets.
Further on, a small open-air karaoke bar was having a blast.
A boy in a Hawaiian shirt, holding a microphone, was wailing hysterically at the music video on the projection screen.
"I'd rather die than not love... I won't be satisfied until I've loved to the fullest..."
The tune veered from Beijing to Hainan Island and then from Hainan Island to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, making the onlookers laugh uproariously. One girl covered her ears and exclaimed, "Senior, did you get your voice slammed in a door?!"
Jing Yang was eager to try:
"How about I sing one too? I've been practicing 'Exaggeration' for two months!"
Yang Yi and Dai Xiao exclaimed in unison, "No!"
Shen Li added, "Young Master Jing, your song 'Exaggeration' is indeed quite exaggerated. Last time I sang it in the dorm, Xiong Ge from the next dorm knocked on the door and asked if someone's water pipe had burst."
Jing Yang rolled his eyes and was dragged away by the three of them.
There was an old man selling candied hawthorns by the roadside. His tricycle was covered with bright red candied hawthorns, hawthorn, strawberry, and grape candied hawthorns, and the crystal-clear sugar shells glistened under the streetlights.
Shen Li took out his money and bought four skewers, one for each person.
Yang Yi grimaced from the sourness of the hawthorns, while Jing Yang ate them with relish. Dai Xiao chewed them expressionlessly, saying, "You've exceeded today's recommended sugar intake," but still finished them.
Further ahead, a street performer playing guitar sat on the curb, his guitar case open, with a few banknotes scattered inside.
He held his guitar and hummed a folk song softly, his voice hoarse but with an indescribable charm.
A few listeners were scattered around, and a girl in a floral dress was listening intently, her chin resting on her hand. The hem of her dress fluttered gently in the night breeze, revealing a slender ankle covered in thin stockings.
The performer continued strumming his instrument, singing an old song: "The outside world is wonderful, the outside world is helpless..."
As Shen Li listened, she suddenly stood up, threw the candied hawthorn skewer into the trash can, and patted the sugar residue off her hands.
"Let's go, brothers, back to the dorm."
The four of them staggered back.
Jingyang was still humming "I Will Love You Till I Die" off-key, Yangyi was rambling on about tomorrow's class schedule, and Daixiao was scrolling through his phone with his head down.
Shen Li walked at the very back, looking up at the night sky dyed purple by neon lights.
The phone dinged.
When I took it out, a new order popped up on the "Flash Delivery Campus" APP, bright red, like a freshly baked sugar-coated sesame seed cake.
"Pick up a document from Teacher Hua in Room 602, Building 3 of the faculty dormitory, and deliver another document to the backstage dressing room of the experimental theater. Reward: 30 yuan. Note: Urgent!!! Don't knock when you arrive, just slip it under the door!!! Don't call!!! Don't call!!! Don't call!!!"