Chapter 73: Truth or Dare (Part 1)

During the meal, Qiao Xi remained very quiet, eating everything Yu Fan picked out for her. Sitting together, they really did look like a couple. In fact, Qiao Xi’s apparent “obedience” seemed a bit over the top. This was something Ji Niansheng was most reluctant to admit.

At last, the long meal ended. Xu Jia’er and Ji Niansheng left first, one after the other, leaving only Yu Fan and Qiao Xi behind. With the performance over, she had no intention of staying any longer, so she stood up. “Thank you for the meal. I’ll be going now.”

“Stay a while,” Yu Fan said.

Qiao Xi stood there without moving.

Yu Fan fixed his gaze on her. “Are you afraid I’ll do something to you?”

“No,” Qiao Xi replied, finally sitting down again.

“Are you always this quiet with everyone?” Yu Fan asked.

“That’s just who I am,” Qiao Xi answered.

“With your personality, how did you come to like fighting?” Yu Fan pressed further.

It wasn’t that she liked it—Xin Meng was too impulsive, made a lot of enemies. With her reputation, more and more people challenged or ambushed her. Sometimes she had no choice but to fight back, and the more she did, the more her own name became known.

“You don’t really understand my personality.”

“Oh? Are you suggesting I should get to know you better?” Yu Fan looked intently at her.

Qiao Xi furrowed her brow slightly. “That’s not what I mean. There’s really not much to say. I’m not talkative—I act more than I speak.”

“Is that so?” Yu Fan smiled faintly.

An action-oriented person? She didn’t seem like one at all—more passive, if anything.

Qiao Xi said nothing more, and Yu Fan also fell silent, simply watching her. Even in his usual cool demeanor, his gaze had softened slightly.

Being stared at by someone with such a powerful presence was not something easily ignored. Before long, Qiao Xi felt too uneasy to sit still.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go,” she said.

Yu Fan thought that was enough for now. Some prey was more interesting when caught slowly. “Dinner together tonight?”

“I already made plans with friends.”

Yu Fan didn’t press further. “Next time, then.”

Qiao Xi nodded, got up, and left.

After school in the afternoon, the group went for an early dinner before heading to the park. When they arrived, it was nearly deserted.

“Weren’t you saying it was a theme park—bustling and full of fun?” Dan Chouchou asked.

Gu Panxi turned her gaze to Qian Yinyin. “What exactly did you tell me?”

“Let me check,” Qian Yinyin hurried to call her friend.

When the call ended, Gu Panxi immediately asked, “Well?”

“I got the date wrong—it’s next week, not this one.”

A collective silence fell over the group.

“If there’s nothing to do, let’s head back,” Dan Chouchou suggested.

“No other choice,” Gu Panxi agreed.

Qiao Xi didn’t mind either way.

The four were about to leave when they saw Oya and Ji Niansheng, along with a tall boy.

Ji Niansheng had overheard Gu Panxi and Dan Chouchou chatting about coming here that evening, and learned Qiao Xi would join them. An idea came to him. He wasn’t willing to lose his bet with Yu Fan so easily, and the only one who could come between Yu Fan and Qiao Xi was Oya, whose relationship with Qiao Xi was ambiguous. So, he naturally wanted to set up an encounter. He brought along his baseball buddy Wang Xiaowei, and—after much pestering—Oya, orchestrating this “coincidence.”

“Oh, you guys came too?” Gu Panxi asked.

“Heard it’d be lively tonight, so I dragged them along for the fun,” Ji Niansheng replied, glancing around. “Strange, why is it so quiet?”