Xidan Warwick, a place Zhou Xueyin was more than familiar with, a destination she had visited several times a month since high school.
But previously it was all about leisurely shopping trips, whereas this time she came with the task of scoping the area, making the experience feel somewhat different.
However... exactly what does scoping entail? Both Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang were utterly clueless. Might as well fill their bellies before tackling the issue of scoping!
After exchanging glances and nodding in unison, the two, hand in hand as if by some unspoken agreement, entered the McDonald's on the basement level of the Warwick Building.
As soon as she walked in, Zhou Xueyin thought she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
"Jixiang, look quickly to your left, in the corner! Isn't that Shanshan's boyfriend?" Zhou Xueyin whispered into Li Jiniang's ear.
"Where, where?" Following Zhou Xueyin's gaze, Li Jiniang squinted and looked in that direction, murmuring for confirmation, "It really seems to be him!"
"Hurry and call Shanshan, ask her if she knows what her boyfriend is up to right now!" Zhou Xueyin picked up her phone, ready to call Yao Shanshan.
"Don't call yet... You know what Shanshan is like. If you tell her now, she'll just spend her whole day overthinking and not do anything else!" Li Jiniang stopped Zhou Xueyin just in time, who was about to make the call.
"Right... then I'll go and find out what the hell this bastard is thinking!" Zhou Xueyin, realizing it was nearly her turn to order, actually wanted to leave the line.
"You come back here! If you go and confront him with that fierce look, what if he claims they're just friends out shopping? Didn't you bring a compact camera? Get the evidence before you confront him!" Li Jiniang managed to persuade Zhou Xueyin once again.
"You're right! Look at my temper… Let's eat first!" Zhou Xueyin smiled sheepishly and ordered a meal set with Li Jiniang, sitting where they could capture photos of Yao Shanshan's boyfriend.
Mi Lu dipped a French fry in ketchup, put one end in her mouth, and lovingly fed the other end to He Tong.
"This..." Her action left Zhou Xueyin dumbfounded.
Was that not way too audacious? Flirting in a public space? With off-duty students watching? What on earth went through Mi Lu's mind?
"Stop gawking! Snap a photo quickly!" Li Jiniang hit Zhou Xueyin lightly.
"Oh right! Take a photo!" Zhou Xueyin hastily set down her hamburger, wiped her hands and mouth with a napkin, then grabbed her camera and clicked away, capturing the pair's intimate moments.
"As far as I'm concerned, Shanshan and He Tong would never dare to do something like this! Do all men really prefer bold women? Look at the low-cut dress Mi Lu is wearing today! She's blatantly showing off for He Tong! Really..." Zhou Xueyin said disdainfully, curling her lip.
"Pssh... if I wore that outfit, I'd look even better than her!" Li Jiniang scoffed dismissively.
Indeed, with Li Jiniang's unrivaled figure, an average person couldn't hope to match her look.
"They've finished eating! They're getting ready to leave! We need to hurry up too!" Zhou Xueyin saw Mi Lu laughing and saying something to He Tong, then heading to the restroom.
The two of them quickly turned around, their backs to the couple, afraid that a single careless move might give them away.
But at this moment, He Tong turned to watch Mi Lu's departing figure, completely oblivious to Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang's presence.
Zhou Xueyin swiftly crammed the remaining burger into her mouth and washed it down with Coke, experiencing for the first time what she thought was the "correct way" to enjoy fast food, her cheeks puffed out like a storage chamber in a hamster's cheek.
Li Jiniang wasn't faring much better; in order to keep up with the dodgy couple, she quickly devoured a Big Mac at top speed.
Mi Lu, arm in arm with He Tong, entered the Warwick Building.
Talk about a coincidence, they were headed to the same destination; might as well follow them in and see what's happening.
But the stalls inside Warwick were complex and easy to get lost in; one moment of distraction, and they could either lose sight of their target or expose themselves, so they had to be careful and cautious!
Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang also walked hand in hand, following behind Mi Lu and Old He.
It was the summer vacation now, and the Huawei Building was buzzing with noise and crowded with chatter. Most of the shoppers were groups of students.
Mi Lu and Old He headed straight to the Japanese and Korean fashion district on the eighth floor of Warwick; it seemed Mi Lu had custom-ordered a competition costume for cosplay here.
"How about it? Does it look good?" Mi Lu had changed into her cosplay outfit, and it was the bunny girl costume worn by Mikuru from Haruhi Suzumiya!
"Good! It looks good!" Old He swallowed, nodded shyly, and his face turned a bit red.
"Is it better than when your girlfriend wears it?" Mi Lu crossed her arms and intentionally stood on tiptoe.
"She can't compare to you, she's flat as an airport..." Speaking of Yao Shanshan, Old He acted as if she was a nobody to him.
"So, do you prefer mountains or airports?" Mi Lu flirted with Old He, casting him seductive glances while rubbing up against him.
"Ugh... Jixiang, I can't stand this woman anymore... How can she be so..." Sl*t! Zhou Xueyin didn't even care to complain about that word anymore.
"Poor Shanbao, meeting a scum like him. Hurry up and take all this evidence! We'll settle the total bill later!" Li Jiniang took the camera out of Zhou Xueyin's bag, pretending to take a photo of the two, but focused the lens on Mi Lu and Old He, clicking away.
Mi Lu returned to the changing room to put her original clothes back on and then dragged Old He to the next stop, a DIY bracelet booth, obviously wanting to make a bunch of couple's bracelets.
Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang hid not far from the booth, pretending to pick out sunglasses.
These two were truly sticky, picking and comparing while playfully messing with each other.
If it were any regular couple, it would have been fine, but Old He had a girlfriend, and he shamelessly accepted the pursuit of another woman with a better figure! He was trash of the third degree!
In her heart, Zhou Xueyin cursed the couple before her, hoping that even if they ended up together, it wouldn't last long!
The two of them seemed as if they wanted to spend the whole afternoon picking at the bracelet booth, and finally, they started making couple bracelets.
If not for the light customer traffic on the eighth floor, the owner of the sunglasses stand would have started chasing people away long ago.
Upon completeing the bracelets, Mi Lu and Old He headed to the photo sticker booth.
This particular photo sticker booth was imported from Japan, and only the Warwick Building on the eighth floor had one.
Normally, there would be a line to use the photo booth all the way to the elevators, but perhaps due to the time of day, there wasn't a soul in sight.
Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang had no choice but to pretend they were waiting in line to take photos, standing behind the two who had already slipped inside.
Once in a more private area, Mi Lu and Old He threw caution to the wind. The flash from inside the booth illuminated their kissing and embracing figures, casting their silhouettes on the white curtain behind them.
Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang silently watched the shadows of the two change.
When Old He emerged contentedly from behind the curtain, he was startled at the sight of the two women with distressed expressions and instinctively blurted out, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just bringing a friend to have fun!"
"He Tong! You think we're blind?" Zhou Xueyin crossed her arms and eyed He Tong.
"Old He, who are these two?" Mi Lu scornfully sized up Zhou Xueyin and Li Jiniang, her gaze eventually settling on Li Jiniang's 36G.
"They...are my university classmates..." He Tong hesitated.
"Yo, Old He, got a new girlfriend? She's pretty enough!" Li Jiniang provocatively said, "But that horse face paired with a short stature... still feels like Shanshan is the better catch, doesn't it?"