Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

In the end, Shen Qingning declined Lin Lu’s invitation to stay over and drove back to her house.

Around 10 p.m., because the bar business was indeed slow, the bored Shen Minglang began to send a message in the group chat. “Brothers and sisters, have you made it home safely?”

Jiang Wanzhou, who loved to retort to him, said directly, “You only asked after more than an hour. You really know how to show you care, huh? I’m almost in Shanghai already.”

Cheng Zhu looked at WeChat and grinned.

A lively atmosphere in a group was crucial. Fortunately, with these two as the mood-makers, he didn’t need to personally step in to keep things going.

Lin Lu had a more outgoing personality and wasn’t as reserved as Shen Qingning’s attitude, so she would definitely talk in the group.

Everything went exactly as Cheng Zhu had expected.

Just like that, everyone happily chatted intermittently in the group for over an hour.

As a regressor, staying ahead of the game is a must. This was Cheng Zhu’s personal request to himself. College is going to be a long journey.

Look, even before school started, he was already one step ahead and had gotten in touch with a good resource like beautiful senior sisters.

Of course, he repeatedly warned himself, Don’t be fooled by Lin Lu’s cute appearance!

Who would have thought that behind her sweet appearance lies an extremely terrifying… figure?!

Men were truly fascinating creatures. They might get dizzy with naked-eye 3D, but they would never get dizzy with 36D.

I’m still in my growth phase. No way I’m going to wean myself during my four years of college.

* * *

On days full of conversation, time always seemed to fly by.

Shen Minglang had no idea that his newly acknowledged cousin wasn’t just chatting with him in the group but also having daily private conversations with his employee, the bartender Yezi.

Through Yezi’s mouth, Cheng Zhu had already learned that business at Hidden wasn’t doing well recently and had started to decline after the World Cup ended.

As a bartender who earned commission, Yezi was also feeling financial pressure.

In both subtle and overt ways, she had been hinting to Cheng Zhu, “I’m short of money. I need to earn more.”

Cheng Zhu knew very well that many girls working in nightlife often had personal loans.

As for why someone so young would have loans, there were many reasons.

Like getting plastic surgery or a boob job, he mused.

Men might not fully grasp this. Did so many people really do that?

The reality was yes, and in significant numbers. The practice of taking out loans for plastic surgery had even developed into an industrial chain.

Speaking of which, when chatting with a man, if a woman is willing to reveal her needs in front of you, it’s actually a good sign, Cheng Zhu thought.

However, he had no romantic thoughts about Yezi and certainly wasn’t going to waste money on her. He needed to save his money to make more money.

Still, Cheng Zhu was happy to see she was in need of money.

After all, since he planned to launch an e-commerce business, product photos were a must.

And for the clothing industry, models were essential.

Come to think of it, Yezi is a pretty good fit. Cheng Zhu was no longer satisfied with just having her take product photos for him.

—Ah, man, your name is greed!

Of course, it didn’t matter if Yezi was unwilling to take on this job. She had many resources and would definitely be able to introduce suitable candidates to him.

It’s not easy to find models for adult products, and the fees will be higher than regular clothing products.

But it’s actually just taking some photos, and those can be edited. It doesn’t matter whether the models are professional or not.

Damn it, I shouldn’t go through the standard channels and waste extra much money.

How he planned to operate now was good.

After putting his phone into his pocket, Cheng Zhu got ready to go to Yunlai Restaurant.

It wasn’t time for dinner yet, and he wasn’t going there to eat but to accompany Little Youzi to watch Balala the Fairies.

That damn cliffhanger yesterday was something else! he grumbled inwardly.

On the way, he could only think about how unbearably hot this summer was! Just a few steps left him sweating profusely.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he was dumbfounded.

It wasn’t dinner time yet, so Old Cheng wasn’t busy in the kitchen. Instead, he was sitting on a dining chair, scooping out a chilled watermelon with a spoon.

He and Xu Yun were an old married couple and still shared their food with a loving air—one bite for you, one for me. It was sickeningly sweet.

Hey, how come no one called me to eat watermelon?! Cheng Zhu roared in his head.

Summer without chilled watermelon was incomplete.

And in their family, everyone agreed that watermelon was best eaten by scooping it out with a spoon.

Of course, Cheng Zhu had long gotten used to his parents not calling him over for watermelon.

It had to be emphasized many times that Little Youzi was raised as a princess, while Cheng Zhu was at best a sword-bearing guard.

What’s with all the fuss, security captain?

Old Cheng and Xu Yun didn’t even acknowledge him when they saw him enter the restaurant.

Cheng Zhu’s eyes naturally fell on his sister.

Little Youzi was sitting cross-legged on a chair with half a small watermelon balanced on her legs. Her small hand held a large spoon, diligently scooping out pieces of watermelon and placing them into a big bowl.

Seeing Cheng Zhu, she immediately placed the half watermelon on the table, raised the big bowl with both hands above her head, and even added her own sound effect. “Ta-da! Big Brother, you’re finally here. I’ve been scooping out watermelon for you for a long time!”

Cheng Zhu’s family status was undoubtedly the lowest, but sometimes, he enjoyed privileges like this.

—A privilege bestowed by Princess Little Youzi.

He looked down at the half watermelon on the table. She scooped out only the middle part, the sweetest part.

Cheng Zhu didn’t reject her. He really ate from the bowl without touching the remaining half watermelon.

He knew very well not to decline a child’s good intentions. At her young age, she wouldn’t understand that he was trying to be considerate. She would only secretly feel hurt.

As the chilled watermelon slid down his throat, he looked outside at the scorching sun and suddenly felt that this summer wasn’t so unbearable after all.

He had previously thought that going to Guanyun County in this heat to source products was simply not work meant for humans.

Now, he thought it wasn’t so bad. He could just come back home and enjoy more chilled watermelon.

On the TV, Balala the Fairies began playing again.

Every time the fairies transformed, Little Youzi would jump up and dance excitedly, waving her arms as if she could transform too.

Cheng Zhu, a 1.82-meter-tall guy with the face of a school bully, would loudly add a voice-over for his sister. “Balalal energy! Shalosa, Shalosa, little fairy, transform completely!”

Old Cheng and Xu Yun looked at their silly son in shock and murmured softly, “He didn’t use to be like this, right?”

Little did they know that the current Cheng Zhu didn’t care about others’ opinions at all. He only cared about Little Youzi’s bright smile.

* * *

At night, after returning home, Cheng Zhu sent Wang Anquan a message. “We’re heading to Guanyun tomorrow.”

“Got it!” Wang Anquan replied instantly, brimming with anticipation.

After all, Brother Zhu had said that place was a paradise for men.

Tonight, Wang Anquan, a sturdy teenager with a few spots of youthful acne, experienced a bit of insomnia. When he finally drifted off, he had a series of youthful, wild dreams.

The next day, under the scorching summer sun, two young men boarded a train with their luggage.

Just as Cheng Zhu settled into his seat, he saw Wang Anquan typing away happily on his phone with a smile so wide it almost reached his ears.

“Who are you chatting with that’s making you so so happy?” Cheng Zhu frowned, a suspicion forming in his mind.

“With Rongrong. Brother Zhu, I feel like I’m falling for her.”

“Heh, have you installed a GPS? Are you aware of your position?” Cheng Zhu chuckled.

“Brother Zhu, what do you mean? I don’t understand.” Wang Anquan was confused.

“It’s not important. Let me ask you. What gave you that feeling?”

“We’ve been chatting really well these past few days. She never used to message me first, but she’s been looking for me lately. She even asked if I got on the train. Hehe.” He smiled, already starting to feel sweet.

“Didn’t you tell me a few days ago that Chen Rongrong was playing hot and cold with you? Sometimes, you would have a good chat, and other times, she’d leave you for half a day without replying.”

“Yeah… a bit,” Wang Anquan said.

Cheng Zhu looked out of the window. His tone was light, but his words hit Wang Anquan’s heart heavily.

“When you’re showering and the water temperature suddenly changes between hot and cold, you know that means someone is sharing the water with you.”