The dishes were washed and placed on the dish rack to dry.
Zhang Xiaotong turned off the faucet, removed her gloves and wiped her hands. The corners of her mouth showed two shallow dimples as if she had completed something remarkable.
When she came out of the kitchen and saw Liu Zilang sitting on the sofa, Zhang Xiaotong could not help but feel dazed for a while. She then unconsciously bowed her head to pick up her phone.
Liu Zilang, who was sitting on the sofa, saw Zhang Xiaotong and briefly hesitated.
However, seeing the still indifferent expression she showed him, he could not help but blurt out asking, "Who is Shangshan Xiaxiang? Is he your classmate?"
When she heard Liu Zilang's question, she cocked her head slightly and blinked in confusion.
Then, her expression suddenly changed and her body instantly reacted as she went to grab her phone from the table.
Zhang Xiaotong turned on her phone and stared at it before she slowly lowered her hands. With a jerk of her head, she clenched her fist and glared at Liu Zilang furiously.
Oops!
Once the words came out, Liu Zilang felt that something was wrong as well.
However, as matters were already out of hand, he could only bite the bullet and explain, "I didn't mean to peek. When you left your phone on the table to do the dishes, a message suddenly appeared and I accidentally..."
It was obvious that Zhang Xiaotong did not believe him as she continued to stare at Liu Zilang. She then questioned him angrily, "You… What gives you the right to look through my phone?"
"Ah... I said I did not peek... It was incidental... That means it was a coincidence."
Liu Zilang scratched his head and stared at the enraged Zhang Xiaotong. He helplessly shrugged. "Besides, I only looked through your phone because I cared for you."
"I! Don't! Need! It!"
While Zhang Xiaotong glared at Liu Zilang, she spat the sentence out word by word.
After that, she paced towards her room.
Seeing how Zhang Xiaotong was, Liu Zilang hurriedly replied, "Hey! Xiaotong don't go... Who is Shangshan Xiaxiang? Let me tell you, there are no good guys nowadays, don't you be..."
BANG!
"Fooled..." Liu Zilang's final word was shut out by the sudden close of the door.
…
This brat, how could she not understand my effort?
Staring at the closed door, Liu Zilang scratched his head in frustration. Yet all of a sudden, he thought of something.
Oh, right!
He had yet to inquire about the identity of Shangshan Xiaxiang!
Although Zhang Xiaotong rejected the guy on QQ, he had made an effort to assist as well.
However, what if that kid really was Zhang Xiaotong's friend in real life, such as her classmate, senior, or someone else…
As the saying goes, 'good women are afraid of the pestering of men'. Once she had succumbed to it, she would die crying.
When he thought about this, Liu Zilang immediately stood up from the sofa, walked to the front of Zhang Xiaotong's door and lightly knocked on it. He said in a lowered voice, "Xiaotong, it was my fault. I shouldn't have looked through your phone. I acknowledge my mistake. Open the door and give brother a chance to apologize, okay?"
The room was quiet and not a sound was heard.
"Xiaotong?"
Still quiet...
"Xiaotong-chan?"
With a 'dong' sound, it seemed as if a pillow or something of that sort was thrown at the door from within the room.
Startled, Liu Zilang jumped and he rubbed his nose before he helplessly returned to the living room sofa.
He thought to himself, 'Maybe this little brat is still fumed with anger. Now is not the time.'
Sitting on the sofa, his gaze wandered. His eyes then inadvertently wandered to a photo frame set next to the television.
Within the photo frame was a family portrait taken three years ago when Zhang Xiaotong and his stepmother had just moved in.
At that time, Liu Zilang was still a fourteen or fifteen years old 'internet addict'. He was dragged out of the Internet cafe by his father in order to take this family portrait.
He took the photo with his hands crossed in front of his chest, looking unhappily at the camera.
While Zhang Xiaotong was a tender, fair and lovely little loli, she timidly held her mother's hand. She stood by the side as she tilted her little head in an attempt to steal a glance at Liu Zilang.
Seeing that photo, Liu Zilang's heart gradually calmed down. His long, narrow eyes narrowed into a slit.
Shangshan Xiaxiang?
Hehe, how dare he has any ideas about my sister!
Kid!
You are dead!
…
After taking a shower, he returned to his room.
Lying on the bed, Liu Zilang picked up his phone and opened QQ. He then entered "Shangshan Xiaxiang" into the friend search.
The search results showed quite a few people, but there was no avatar in which he was familiar with.
That did not seem right!
Meanwhile, as he tried very hard to recall, Liu Zilang slapped his forehead all of a sudden!
His anger had really turned him silly!
He re-entered, Shangshan Xiaxiang in different words.
Clicked 'search'.
The list refreshed and it listed out an entire bunch of results. Liu Zilang looked at them one by one and he finally found the familiar avatar.
'Add as friend.'
He left a message saying, "Hello, can I get to know you?"
The account that Liu Zilang used was a secondary account. After changing a few details, his avatar was now a cute girl in an anime and the gender setting was also changed to a female. The username of that account was called 'Intracloud Mei'.
After adding him as a friend, Liu Zilang tossed his phone down and waited for a while.
Since the friend request had been sent for less than two minutes, who would have thought that his phone would ring with a 'drip' sound?
You have successfully added the other person as a friend!
…
What the f*ck, that's so fast!
Liu Zilang was stunned for a while before it was immediately followed by silent swearings.
One f*cking look and he could already tell that this person was not of decent character!
Calm down, calm down...
First, he was to obtain that boy's trust and then talk.
Liu Zilang mentally contemplated it for a bit. Enduring his repugnance, he typed, "Hello brother, judging from your avatar, it seems like you like animes too."
The other party was quick to respond, "Yes, are you a little missie?"
Liu Zilang continued, "That's right, that's right! I looked at your address just now and you're a native of Jianghai too. Brother, this must be fate."
Liu Zilang is a straight man, so it was an obvious fact that he would not have any experiences in flirting with a guy.
Had it been a normal individual, that sentence would trigger one's awareness on whether it was an internet scam.
However, this person seemed abnormal.
Following Liu Zilang's message, he actually responded and replied by saying that he felt that this was a fateful encounter as well.
…
Fate? Not my problem!
Liu Zilang succumbed the discomfort in his heart and carried on in his conventional verbal exchange.
However, he did know as to why the other party suddenly became vigilant, refusing to disclose any more real information.
After a while, the other party suddenly mentioned that there would be a 'firefly' anime and video game convention. Since both of them were situated in Jianghai, they would be able to meet and share their thoughts in anime.
F*ck, meeting up so soon?
Do kids nowadays treat this seriously?
Liu Zilang was a little flustered now.
Yet as he thought about it again, it occurred to him that it would be alright to meet. When that time came, everything would be made clear by asking.
If the 'actual conditions' allowed it, maybe he would even be able to hold down the kid and give him a beating!
Just as he was about to ask where the 'firefly' was and the details of the meeting... A video chat was requested by the other party.
F*ck!
Liu Zilang suddenly panicked.
Had it been a voice chat, he would still be able to deceive him with a voice changer.
However, the same would not work for video.
Even if he were to dress in female clothing, Liu Zilang would never be able to transform into a cute girl with big X like how burly men on the internet do.
…
Can't answer!
Liu Zilang decisively chose to decline.
The other party was unwilling to resign, sending another video request.
Once again, decline!
After two attempts, the other party had finally calmed down.
While he pondering on whether it was okay to strike a child's 'enthusiasm', he had to find some excuse to console the other party.
However, when a message was sent out, the system displayed 'the counterpart is no longer your friend!'
Deleted!
What the f*ck! What kind of f*cking person is this!
Liu Zilang was so infuriated that he started to laugh in exasperation. 'Determined', he thought, 'but don't let me catch you at the 'firefly' convention tomorrow, otherwise, it'll spell trouble for you!'
…