Chapter 16

A Tool for Somebody

Chu Yao pouted, “I think, either you should tell him that you’re willing to have dinner together and allow him to bring food to your place. Look, you’ve been avoiding letting him in your house, and now he doesn’t even want to come over. Occasionally, you should give him a little encouragement.”

Chen Rou’er furrowed her brows.

She was somewhat reluctant.

In her view, Ye Xingchen was nothing more than a relatively wealthy lapdog, not even worthy of being a backup plan.

Although Ye Xingchen was good-looking and came from a decent family, he was still far from the billionaire she had in mind.

Under normal circumstances, Chen Rou’er wouldn’t have even considered Chu Yao’s suggestion. But now…

Chen Rou’er mentally tallied up her remaining supplies.

Biscuits, instant noodles, soda water, instant bird’s nest, a small box of chocolates, a box of nuts, instant fish maw. Instant sea cucumber, packaged bread…

Except for the instant noodles and bread, the rest were just some small snacks that wouldn’t fill her up.

She didn’t even dare to take out the bird’s nest, fish maw, and sea cucumber, fearing that Chu Yao might snatch them and eat them all.

She couldn’t bear this situation any longer. Even if it meant lowering her standards, she wanted a satisfying meal.

“Fine, I’ll go along with your suggestion. I’ll give him a chance.”

With a reluctant expression, Chen Rou’er picked up her phone, and sent a message to Ye Xingchen.

“Alright, let’s not bicker. I know what you’re thinking. Fine, I’ll agree to your request. I’ve decided to give you a chance.”

“You’ve been wanting to visit my house, right? Well then, come over tonight. I’ll allow you to enter my house. Chu Yao will also be here. Let’s have dinner together at my place.”

Ye Xingchen was enjoying his time in the water, and when he saw Chen Rou’er’s message, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You want to treat me to dinner? Sure, thank you in advance!”

This response left Chen Rou’er at the other end fuming with anger.

She tossed her phone onto the bed and exclaimed indignantly, “This Ye Xingchen really doesn’t know his place! I’ve been so clear with my intentions! And he’s pretending not to understand! He… he actually has the audacity to ask me to treat him to dinner!”

Chu Yao was taken aback.

She hadn’t expected that the Ye Xingchen who used to follow Chen Rou’er around like a shadow would suddenly become so obtuse.

Strangely enough, did this lapdog suddenly become smarter?

Chen Rou’er was truly annoyed this time. Ye Xingchen had always been the most obedient among her pursuers. Why was he now being so difficult at every turn?

“This Ye Xingchen! I was even thinking of upgrading him to backup plan status! But now, what is he doing? He’s fallen even further down the list!”

“Even if he wants to gift me a mansion now, I won’t care about him anymore!”

Chu Yao chimed in, adding fuel to the fire, “Exactly! He should realize what kind of person he is! Wanting to pursue you, yet being so stingy! He’s only fit to be a lapdog under the table!”

After venting her frustration for a while, Chen Rou’er felt somewhat relieved.

She picked up her phone, flipping through it, thinking that Ye Xingchen might send an apologetic message.

However, after a while, Ye Xingchen didn’t send any more messages. This caused Chen Rou’er’s expression to darken even further.

Meanwhile, Chu Yao had other thoughts in mind.

She withdrew back under the covers, stealthily retrieved her phone, and sent a message to Ye Xingchen.

“Ah, Ye Xingchen, why are you so clueless! Look at what you’ve done, making Rou’er unhappy!”

When Ye Xingchen saw his phone screen light up, he habitually glanced at it.

Now, checking various chat groups’ messages had become a form of entertainment for him.

In this post-apocalyptic world, what could be more intriguing than observing human nature?

Seeing it was a message from Chu Yao, Ye Xingchen looked at it and burst out laughing.

“Best friends in front of people, but talk behind their backs?”

Ye Xingchen had long seen through the two of them.

One appeared cold and pure in public, the other was sociable.

However, essentially they were both selfish, self-serving individuals who were only interested in personal gain.

“Don’t be mad at Rou’er. You know she has a bad temper. But, sigh, she’s being a bit unreasonable. You treat her so well, pursued her for so long, and she’s not even moved a bit. She keeps getting angry at you.”

“Sigh, I’ll definitely talk to her later. I’ve even advised her to treat you better before. She just won’t listen… How are things on your end? Rou’er and I don’t have any food left at home. You must be worried about Rou’er, right?”

Ye Xingchen found it amusing.

Chu Yao might be pretending to mediate, but in reality, she might be trying to steal him away.

This was the so-called good best friend, Chu Yao, who seemed to have been secretly scheming and advising Chen Rou’er all along. Ye Xingchen wondered if Chen Rou’er herself knew about Chu Yao’s true intentions!

“Yeah, I don’t even feel like trying anymore. Rou’er seems to dislike me completely. After all this time… She doesn’t even show me a bit of kindness. Even with the other guys pursuing her, she treats them better than me!”

Seeing this, Chu Yao felt a sense of victory and was about to take advantage of the situation to turn Ye Xingchen into her own lapdog. But before she could even reply to his messages, Ye Xingchen sent a goodnight message.

“Damn it!”

Chu Yao muttered softly, clutching her growling stomach. She briefly thought of persuading Chen Rou’er again.

“This Ye Xingchen is so clueless. Don’t you have other lapdogs?”

In this residential area, there were many students from Jinghai University. Many well-off second-generation students preferred not to stay on campus and moved out. This area, not far from Jinghai University, had the best environment.

Naturally, there were many pursuers of Chen Rou’er in this area.

For instance, there was Zhang Peng, who had recently been pestering her.

Chen Rou’er naturally knew who Chu Yao was talking about.

She had a disdainful expression. Zhang Peng wasn’t even worth being called a lapdog. Although he was a second-generation wealthy individual, he didn’t get much allowance from his family. Chen Rou’er didn’t even spare him a glance on ordinary days.

The reason Chen Rou’er still had Zhang Peng’s contact information was due to his distant relative relationship with Zhang Yi. Zhang Peng seemed to be Zhang Yi’s distant cousin or something similar…

Zhang Yi was one of Chen Rou’er’s targets.

He had looks, money, and power. Unfortunately, Chen Rou’er hadn’t been able to officially meet Zhang Yi yet. The only reason she still had Zhang Peng’s contact information was that she hoped to establish a connection to Zhang Yi through Zhang Peng.

Chu Yao continued to persuade, “Now it’s so cold outside, and it’s snowing heavily. We can’t go out to buy things. We shouldn’t waste anything we have. Ask him to do something for us!”

Chen Rou’er’s gaze shifted, considering Chu Yao’s words to be quite reasonable.

But what she didn’t expect was that after she sent a message to Zhang Peng, within about ten minutes, Zhang Peng came rushing over with a backpack full of food.

Chen Rou’er’s message woke Zhang Peng from his sleep, and he hurriedly put on some clothes and rushed over.

Chen Rou’er took the backpack, smiled at Zhang Peng, and with just a few words like “Zhang Peng, you’re really kind-hearted,” she had him utterly lost in her charms.

However, as soon as the door closed, her expression changed.

“Huh, disgusting. If this were under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even have a chance to kiss up to me!”