Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 92 True Friends

Chapter 92: Chapter 92 True Friends

"Why Hui cuisine?"

At noon, Shen Siyuan and Ruan Hongzhuang chose a Hui Restaurant.

"I think Hui cuisine should probably suit your taste," Shen Siyuan said.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you like Sichuan cuisine, so you probably prefer heavy flavors, the nearby Luzhou native cuisine is too sweet, and Cantonese cuisine too bland..."

"You really thought it through," Ruan Hongzhuang said, somewhat delighted.

"As long as you like it."

Shen Siyuan said and then bowed his head to continue replying to messages on WeChat.

He had ignored Hong Wenqing all morning, not knowing he had been leaving him hanging; after all, this was his close friend.

When he opened the WeChat chat with Hong Wenqing, countless messages popped up.

"You scoundrel~"

"Speak, you scoundrel~"

"You really deserve to die~"

"This girl is so pretty, how could she fancy you, you must have hired her, right?"

"MD, have you blocked me?"

"You deserve to die, wait till you come online, I’m going to kill you a hundred times."

"Where are you?"

"Where are you guys? I’ll treat you to lunch."

"Fc*k, did you really block me?"

"Flying kick.gif."

"Flying kick.gif."

...

"Breaking friendship. Angry.jpg."

...

Seeing these messages from Hong Wenqing, Shen Siyuan couldn’t help but grin.

"What’s so funny that you’re laughing so happily?" Ruan Hongzhuang across the table asked curiously.

"It’s about that friend from this morning, I blocked him and he’s really mad..."

"And you’re still laughing so happily?" Ruan Hongzhuang said, astonished.

"Because he’s a good brother, his anger makes me happy."

"I really don’t understand you guys."

"There’s something else I want to tell you."

"What?"

"Actually, before asking you out, I had planned to go gaming with him today," Shen Siyuan said.

"So... you stood him up?" Ruan Hongzhuang’s eyes widened.

"Is that really okay? He must be very upset, right?"

While saying this, Ruan Hongzhuang stretched her neck to glance at Shen Siyuan’s phone screen, catching sight of that last "Breaking friendship" message.

"Sorry, it’s all my fault; I made your friend want to break up with you," Ruan Hongzhuang said feeling guilty.

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan couldn’t help but give her a look; her words seemed quite melodramatic.

But it looked like Ruan Hongzhuang genuinely felt apologetic.

"Just joking around, you took it seriously, watch me reply to him, and he’ll definitely respond immediately."

Saying this, Shen Siyuan typed and sent a message.

"Where?"

Then, he faced a setback—the message was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no reply for a long while.

Seeing Shen Siyuan’s awkward expression, Ruan Hongzhuang couldn’t help but laugh.

They waited until the waiter served the dishes, but still no response from Hong Wenqing.

"He’s not really angry, is he?"

Shen Siyuan also felt a bit uneasy in his heart. Hong Wenqing was quite a good friend, and he did not want to lose such a friend because of this.

"Should I apologize to him? Mr. Qing surely can’t be that petty, right?" Shen Siyuan muttered to himself.

Seeing Shen Siyuan looking absent-minded, Ruan Hongzhuang said, "Why not give him a call?"

"Make a call, why should I make a call?" Shen Siyuan widened his eyes.

Seeing Shen Siyuan acting stubborn, Ruan Hongzhuang found it even more amusing and thought that he seemed more genuine this way.

Just then, Shen Siyuan’s phone screen lit up.

Shen Siyuan quickly picked up the phone, and sure enough, it was a message from Hong Wenqing: "NMD, of course, I’m at the Blue Sea Internet Cafe, where else could I be?"

Hong Wenqing’s attitude wasn’t very good, but Shen Siyuan let out a long sigh of relief.

Then he immediately replied: "Then why did it take you so long to reply to me?"

"Of course I was clearing a dungeon. Did you think I couldn’t live without you?"

"How you talk, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, why, do you want to come over and eat with me?"

"No, I’m eating right now. Just thought of you and wanted to remind you."

Shen Siyuan snapped a photo, with Ruan Hongzhuang also in the frame, but only showing half of her body.

"Ah ah ah, you’re really killing me, you dog thing~"

"Alright, I know you’re anxious, don’t be in a hurry, go eat something first, we’ll talk later."

After replying to this message, Shen Siyuan quickly blocked his message notifications again.

He had a bit of OCD; be it SMS or WeChat, whenever there was a pop-up or a red dot, he always felt the urge to check it. Blocking the notifications made him feel much more comfortable.

Seeing Shen Siyuan put down his phone, Ruan Hongzhuang, who hadn’t moved her chopsticks at all, said, "Are you done chatting? Is your friend not angry anymore?"

"He wasn’t angry in the first place. If he gets upset over such a small matter, I’d rather not have such a friend."

Ruan Hongzhuang covered her mouth and giggled, finding his stubbornness quite adorable.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, let’s eat."

"You can laugh if you want. I don’t have many friends. It’s rare to find someone I resonate with, I don’t want to lose him just like that. Life is full of comings and goings, most people are just passers-by..."

Ruan Hongzhuang, who was still laughing, suddenly found it hard to laugh. She felt the same, especially since back in middle school, her best friend suddenly passed away, which was a big shock to her...

Just then, Shen Siyuan suddenly said, "Let’s eat."

Ruan Hongzhuang: ...

Ruan Hongzhuang glared at him discontentedly, this man was really petty.

But she didn’t say anything more, and the two started eating and talked about other topics.

"Do you have plans with a friend tomorrow?" Ruan Hongzhuang asked seemingly casually.

"I have something in the morning tomorrow, but... I have a date in the afternoon."

"A date?"

Ruan Hongzhuang put down her chopsticks and looked at Shen Siyuan with a questioning gaze, her face slightly unhappy, as if to say, you have me, why do you still have other dates? And to say it in front of me?

"Before I met you, a colleague from the company introduced me to someone else. She works at the aquarium, and I promised to go watch her performance tomorrow."

"Must you go?" Ruan Hongzhuang said with a slight dissatisfaction.

"A promise is a promise. However, if you’re free tomorrow afternoon, you could come with me," Shen Siyuan said.

Upon hearing this, Ruan Hongzhuang hesitated: "Would that... be okay?"

After all, this person knew Shen Siyuan before she did.

"There’s nothing wrong with that. She clearly told me that she isn’t interested in dating right now, which is why we are sitting here. Otherwise, I would have definitely refused to meet you," Shen Siyuan said.

Ruan Hongzhuang was a bit happy but also a bit unhappy upon hearing this.

Happy because the other woman missed out on Shen Siyuan, unhappy because if the other woman hadn’t, Shen Siyuan would have given her up.

Women are just such a complex of contradictions.

"Since that’s the case, I’ll begrudgingly accompany you," Ruan Hongzhuang said with feigned arrogance.

"Then I thank you, Miss," Shen Siyuan played along.

The two looked at each other and laughed, with a romantic atmosphere spreading between them.

Some say that the most beautiful part of falling in love is the process, the mutual ambiguity, the sweet entanglement at the tip of each other’s hearts, which is the most beautiful thing in the Mortal World.

Shen Siyuan wanted to say, that statement couldn’t be more correct.