"Lu Chen, let me remind you! When he asks questions later, try to say as little as possible. Let me handle it if anything comes up."

As Shen Qiumo saw Xu Hao's figure, she reached out to take Lu Chen's arm and softly reminded him.

Exactly!

She eventually took Xia Weiyi's advice and, after weighing the options, decided to have her cousin pretend to be her boyfriend.

She hoped to provoke Xu Hao with this act.

Maybe Haozi would sense a crisis and courageously confess his feelings?

Of course, this was just her most optimistic scenario!

"Cousin, I'm only twenty, and I look so young. Is it appropriate for me to pretend to be your boyfriend? Won't it be obvious? Besides, if you need someone to pretend to be your boyfriend, you don't need to drag me, your cousin, into it. There are so many people pursuing you at school, couldn't you just pick one? Any of them would be better than me!"

When Lu Chen first heard his cousin ask him to pretend to be her boyfriend to provoke the person she liked, he almost used up his entire year's worth of shock.

He never imagined that the clichéd plot of a novel would one day happen to him.

Are there no other options at school?

Are thousands of people just dead weight?

And who exactly is the blind boy that forced his cousin to resort to such a tactic?

Shen Qiumo, a campus icon, naturally had no shortage of admirers.

But she didn't want to use those innocent bystanders to test Xu Hao, nor impose her entanglements with Xu Hao on them.

After all, they had done nothing wrong; they just liked the wrong person at the wrong time.

She said firmly, "Those people won't do!"

Hearing this, Lu Chen glanced at his cousin's profile and felt that using those people might indeed be risky.

"But you're pulling me into this on such short notice. I'm afraid I'll give it away! At least give me a few days to prepare, like changing to a more mature, confident hairstyle..."

"Alright, stop talking. You're just a scapegoat, nothing to prepare for."

Ignoring Lu Chen, she dragged him forward.

Scapegoat Lu Chen smiled wryly, "Alright, alright, I'm just a scapegoat with nothing to prepare for. But let me make it clear! Don't blame me if it goes wrong!"

"Alright, I won't blame you. Just cooperate with my act, and listen to me for everything."

"Okay!"

Forced into the situation, he nodded unwillingly.

"Look, he's the one sitting on the steps. Try not to talk when we get there,"

Shen Qiumo, holding his arm, walked towards Xu Hao with a smile on her lips, softly reminding him again.

Lu Chen followed her gaze and saw Xu Hao in a black jacket.

He was a bit handsome, but also a bit dark.

Without the streetlights, Lu Chen couldn't even see the guy's face clearly.

He wondered what kind of magic potion this guy had given his cousin to make her so infatuated!

At that moment, seeing the two intimate figures approaching from a distance...

Xu Hao's heart!

It felt as if being pierced, suddenly filled with unbearable pain.

Everything before him seemed like a dream...

But he had imagined this scene before...

Yet when it actually happened, he couldn't deal with it, sat dazed on the steps, as if losing all consciousness, not moving for quite a while...

Even as Shen Qiumo and Lu Chen stood in front of him, he didn't notice until Shen Qiumo's voice reached his ears:

"Haozi, you're here. Let me introduce you, this is my boyfriend Lu Chen. Dear, this is my high school classmate Xu Hao, also a friend who's always taken good care of me."

"Hi, I'm Lu Chen. Nice to meet you," Lu Chen said with a smile.

Haozi looked up.

He glanced at their clasped hands but said nothing.

He only handed the heavy plastic bag in his hand to Shen Qiumo.

Then he turned and walked away...

Watching Xu Hao's departing figure, Shen Qiumo felt thoroughly uncertain.

She began to panic!

Not knowing whether to chase after him or not.

Lu Chen frowned slightly and advised, "Cousin, he didn't even say a word before leaving? We don't need someone like that. Better to wander in the forest than hang from this one tree..."

"Alright, enough, I know what I'm doing. You can head back first..." the exhausted Shen Qiumo interrupted him.

Alright!

The scapegoat's role was over!

"Okay then, I'm leaving. You should head back to the dorms yourself, don't wander off!" Lu Chen reminded her before leaving.

Shen Qiumo left Xu Hao's snacks with the dormitory auntie and then wandered aimlessly.

From high school to college, he followed her closely, and she thought their relationship was inevitable. Yet it turned out to be her dream!

After so many years of entanglement, she could never take that final step, just missing a little love.

If that's the case, maybe it's better to let go gracefully, each pursuing their own happiness...

This way is good too!

Though she thought so, she still felt like it was all a dream from a past life, her heart torn with pain.

She unknowingly found herself at the entrance of Delicious Restaurant, where Xu Hao worked.

She ran into Huang Tao and his daughter, who were about to close the shop and head home.

She forced a smile, more like a grimace: "Hi..."

As soon as Xuanxuan saw her, she waved and greeted with a smile: "Qiumo sis, did you come to eat? But Daddy is about to close..."

"Xuanxuan, I'm not here to eat, just happened to pass by."

Huang Tao noticed her alone and seemed a little down and asked caringly, "Haozi should have gone to your school to find you. Didn't you meet? Or did you two have a fight?"

She kicked a small stone under her feet and said, head lowered: "There's nothing between me and Haozi, he doesn't like me at all."

"How can that be?"

Huang Tao laughed incredulously and thought for a moment before saying, "Wait, let me show you something!"

"Hmm?"

Just as Shen Qiumo felt puzzled, Huang Tao took out his phone, swiped to unlock the screen, opened a video, and handed it to her: "See for yourself!"

She took the phone.

It was a video.

Apparently, from one of the times she came to see Haozi at work, when Haozi went into the kitchen to make a dish for her, secretly filmed by Boss Huang.

In the video, handsome Haozi skillfully prepared the ingredients, looking no different from an ordinary chef...

Wait!

Why is he carving characters?

Each ingredient, from a small garnish of green onions to the large piece of meat to be sliced into strips, he carved characters with the tool used for carving radish flowers.

After carving, he returned to the regular cooking process.

Chopping, slicing, and frying as needed.

She wondered aloud, "What is he carving into the ingredients?"

"Look closely, and you'll find the answer," Huang Tao chuckled without directly revealing the mystery.

She nodded, replayed the video back and forth, and watched it carefully several times.

Her fingers mimicked Haozi's carving, clumsily tracing the characters.

Initially, she couldn't figure out what he was writing, until the sixth time when, like a revelation, she saw what Haozi had carved...

It was clearly...

Shen Qiumo, I love you!

Upon realizing those six words, she froze in disbelief.

Seeing her expression, Huang Tao knew she had found her answer and nodded at her.

"I knew it, he loves me..."

She leapt up with joy.

Then she hugged Xuanxuan happily.

By the time Huang Tao reacted, his phone had already been taken by Shen Qiumo in her excitement...

Watching Shen Qiumo's retreating figure, Xuanxuan blinked her big eyes and tugged on Huang Tao's shirt: "Daddy, Qiumo sis took your phone away..."

"It's okay, she'll return it tomorrow."

Huang Tao tousled her hair, eyes smiling: "Let's go home."

"Okay~"

She nodded obediently.

Just then, Shen Qiumo returned, handing the phone back to Huang Tao: "Boss Huang, sorry, I got carried away just now..."

"No worries, I understand. How about I send the video to your phone?"

"Sure, let me add you on WeChat."

The two exchanged WeChat contacts.

Huang Tao sent the video to her.

"Boss Huang, Xuanxuan, I'm leaving now..."

"Bye, Qiumo sis..."

Xuanxuan waved to her back and then was carried onto the electric bike by her dad.

The father and daughter left under the starlight, returning home under the moonlight, singing and laughing all the way.

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