The Buggiest System

193 - Pursuit!

Ring, ring!

The bell sounded through the halls of the school, signaling the students that it was time to leave.

Zhou Lei, who was extremely bored with school - mainly because he really couldn't understand most of the lessons due to his laziness - stood up and went to Lin Hanying's chair, looking especially excited for their trip. "Ying, let's go!"

Lin Guiying, who was in the middle of fixing her stuff, got startled like usual. She glanced at Zhou Lei's expression. "...You're way too eager for this."

Even though she said that, inside, she had the same feelings as him, even slightly more pronounced than his. 'Oh my gosh, this can be considered as a date, right?

She blushed inwardly.

Eventually, the two exited the classroom with jovial faces. The pair's expressions positively influenced the emotions of the people that they passed by.

In Lin Guiying's case - even though her current appearance was not attractive to most people, she emanated the natural aura of beauty. As for Zhou Lei, there wasn't much to be said other than the usual swooning. These two paired together formed quite a destructive combination.

As they walked down the stairways, they didn't notice that three people followed them quietly.

The first walked out of the restroom, looking spick and span. This girl went back home early just to change out of her uniform.

She wore a cutesy light blue dress long enough to cover her legs, with a parasol in her hands. Most importantly, some of her blonde hair stuck out from a bonnet that matched her outfit.

"Heh, heh, heh. With this, they'll never recognize me." Lu Xi donned a confident smirk as she walked out of the school, grabbing the attention of everyone around her.

The second sneaked behind the two, sticking to the walls or hiding behind posts as she passed by them. Her face was hidden beneath black shades and an extravagant scarf.

While following the pair, she slowly removed her blouse to reveal the casual pink shirt beneath. Her skirt followed, leaving behind medium length denim jeans. She packed these two clothings in a brand new bag.

Her lips sipped on a straw piercing an orange juice box. Fan Xinyue continued her silent pursuit.

Lastly, inside a seemingly expensive black car, a girl sat on the fabric coated chair with proper posture. Her hands, which wore two white gloves, laid on the pleated long silk skirt that covered her crossed legs. Overlaying her beige undershirt was a darker colored blazer.

She had her eyes on the two outside her one-way window as the car followed their path as discreetly as possible, persisting even through narrow streets and alleyways.

"Mr. You, please go faster." Ye Muqi's mouth opened, issuing orders to the driver of the black car.

As for Ma Xiaoli, she didn't bother to follow the two and did the smart thing. In her school uniform, no less, she headed to StarLars before the two could arrive. Her blank face made for a brilliant repulsion against those who tried to woo her.

Zhou Lei felt like something was amiss with the atmosphere, however, he couldn't quite point his finger at the problem. Thus, he cast it aside as needless worry. After he did so, only excitement was left in his mind.

Meanwhile, Lin Guiying beside him was anxious. She boasted that she knew various flavors for coffee, but in reality, she knew just as little as Zhou Lei.

How could she know about this? Too busy with work, her agent, Guo Mingyan, was the one who ordered coffees for her. She found a select few of the flavors undetectable, making Guo Mingyan put those in her blacklist.

Other than those in the list, Lin Guiying had no idea what the names of the flavors were, not to mention that the list comprised of the ones she disliked. It would be stupid of her to recommend these to Zhou Lei.

Unknowingly, they made it to the café without either of them noticing.

"Oh, we're here." Zhou Lei scratched his head. As they went here directly without going back to their homes first, there were two problems that arose for him.

One, he wasn't wearing anything to block his appearance, making it a certain fate for him to be mobbed by a crowd sooner or later. He already felt the spying gazes of others earlier, it was only a matter of time before they approached him without shame.

Two, he didn't inform his parents of his sudden departure. Although they have been going home late lately, what if they were already there this time? And what about his friend, Lin Hanying? Wouldn't her parents worry as well?

"That reminds me... don't you have your part-time job today, Ying?"

"Ah, no, I don't. I finished up all the tasks yesterday..." Lin Guiying cut off her sentence in the middle. '...since I was in a hurry to meet you.'

Lin Guiying led the way inside the café to show off her capabilities. Well, you could say that utilizing acting was one of them...

She was just as inexperienced as Zhou Lei in this field, but she couldn't help boasting about her fake seniority in this field. After all, that guy just bested her in cooking, and by a large degree.

She barely qualified as an amateur, while he was probably one of the masters, if not "the master", when it came to cooking. The food that he prepared made her lose herself in the pleasurable sensation of taste alone. She even used her tongue to lick all over the spoon that recently entered his mouth!

Right after that incident, her competitive tendencies flared up, causing her to brag about her expertise when Zhou Lei brought it up.

She glanced at the guy beside her, who had a massive smile on his face. He noticed that she took a peek at him, and she smiled in response. Inside, she was freaking out.

'Oh my gosh, what'll I do when that waiter comes to me and takes my order? What will I do?!' She suppressed her inner emotions and found an unoccupied seat.

"Let's sit here, Lei."

"Oh, okay." Zhou Lei was feeling quite excited as of now. He couldn't wait to taste the wonders of coffee!

That Vanilla Latte he tasted the other day exceeded his expectations, but Lin Hanying said that it was for normies, and that there existed way better tasting coffee mixes!

This Zhou Lei was blissfully unaware of the motives that she had by telling him that the coffee he drank and enjoyed thoroughly was common and quite possibly one of the low-tier drinks.

In his head, the only intentions that Lin Hanying had were the purest of intentions. Even he, a good-natured person, would be unable to have intentions as pure as hers...!

As such, he couldn't resist smiling in front of the inwardly exasperated Lin Hanying.

Once they were seated, they waited for some person to take their order. The two's feelings conflicted with each other. One was eager for the waiter to come, while one hoped that no one would come at all.

A dozen minutes passed, without anyone taking their order. Zhou Lei was nonplussed about the situation, and even a bit sad.

Lin Hanying saw her friend's enthusiasm diminish by the second, and it made her feel not only guilt and shame, but also elation and satisfaction.

However, just as her feelings were about to reach their respective peaks, Zhou Lei's lit up as he saw someone in uniform walking toward them.

"Ying, he's finally here!" Zhou Lei, who was resting his chin on his hand, stood up and slammed the table, the slight dejection he felt earlier completely obliterated by the sight of the waiter.

Lin Guiying, on the other hand, felt crestfallen.

At the last second, the waiter appeared? What is this, some kind of stupid novel plot?!

Right before she was about to lose all hope and come clean, someone else appeared in front of them. It was Ma Xiaoli, the honor student!

"C-c-classmate Ma! You're here!" Lin Guiying had a jovial expression when she saw Ma Xiaoli making her way towards them.

"Huh? Classmate Ma?" Zhou Lei turned his head around, and sure enough, he saw a girl in school uniform, the same as theirs, walking over.