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Chapter 3 – Two-Timing!

A blond guy in his early twenties stood there. His face was youthful and fair, with exquisitely delicate features, radiating a warm, sunny aura—like a golden-haired angel.

At the moment, this angelic young man was rubbing his chin, staring at the green-packaged Bubble Cat Food in Li Huanhuan’s hands.

Despite his angelic looks, his expression was unexpectedly serious.

“This brand of cat food is absolutely not okay!”

He snatched the green Bubble Cat Food from her arms, placed it back on the shelf, then grabbed a yellow-packaged one and shoved it into her hands, nodding earnestly. “Sister, if you’re going to buy any, buy this brand. It’s safe.”

Li Huanhuan looked at the cat food, then at the strange blond boy in front of her. She opened her mouth, hesitated, then asked, “Are you a store clerk? And why are you calling me ‘sister’?”

“Nope, I’m a customer too, sister.”

The blond guy stood in front of the shelf, picking through cat food. “As for calling you ‘sister’… would you rather I call you ‘auntie’?”

He turned to glance at her, his gaze scanning up and down with exaggerated curiosity. “You don’t look that old, right? Or are you just really well preserved?”

Seeing the increasing doubt in his eyes, Li Huanhuan quickly raised her hand to stop him. “Okay, just call me ‘sister.’”

“I thought so.” He muttered, turning back to the cat food aisle.

Looking at his stunning side profile, Li Huanhuan realized—he was one of those overly friendly types. She stared at his side profile for two seconds before looking away to examine the cat food ingredients.

After confirming the food he recommended was fine, Li Huanhuan prepared to leave.

She hesitated briefly, turned her head, and saw the blond guy crouched in front of the shelf, holding two different cans of cat food, frowning as if torn between them.

“Um, I’m heading out now. Thanks for the recommendation,” she said softly.

He simply responded, “Oh,” put the can in his left hand back on the shelf, grabbed a bag of cat food and the remaining can, and stood up. “Alright, let’s go.”

Then, he walked toward the cashier.

Li Huanhuan assumed he’d just finished shopping too.

But when she exited the pet store after paying, she saw him standing outside with two girls. As soon as he saw her, he waved to the girls, apologetically saying, “Sorry, I’ve got plans today.”

The two girls gave Li Huanhuan resentful looks.

Before she could figure out what was happening, the blond guy walked up to her. “Let’s go, sister. Ah Hua said it’s hungry.”

“What? Wait—where are you taking me?”

Before she could finish, he grabbed her hand.

“Ah Hua, remember? You said you’d help me feed her!”

“When did I ever say that?! Who even is Ah Hua?!”

…

Soon after, the blond guy had led Li Huanhuan to an alley nearby.

“This is Ah Hua, and these are her babies. Cute, right? I found them last week.” He crouched down, introducing the mother calico and her kittens warmly.

So… this was Ah Hua?

Li Huanhuan stared at the cats eating canned food, feeling complicated. He’d been buying food for them earlier.

“It’s getting colder, so I’m trying to find them a home.”

He turned to her, eyes full of hope. “Sister, would you adopt them?”

She really wanted to say yes—but reason won. “No, my cat would get jealous.”

“Your cat?”

“Yeah, his name is ‘Your Highness.’”

Her cat was extremely skittish and territorial. Once, after she’d visited a cat café for her birthday, her cat had flipped out from the unfamiliar scents. She’d had to throw her jacket onto the balcony and take a full shower before her cat calmed down.

Since then, she avoided other cats entirely.

So no way she could bring these strays home.

Still, the weather was getting cold, and she worried for them.

“How about this? I’ll ask around in my friend group to see if anyone can adopt them.” Li Huanhuan offered.

She messaged trusted friends, then also contacted the vet she regularly visited.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure someone will take them in soon.”

Half an hour later, they finished feeding the cats and exited the alley. The blond boy seemed a bit down, so she tried to comfort him.

Just as they left the alley, they ran into Qin Shi and his group.

“Sister? What are you doing here?” came a familiar voice. It was red-haired Hu Xun, looking delighted to see her.

She looked at him, then at Qin Shi’s group—what a coincidence!

Then Hu Xun spotted the blond guy next to her. His expression immediately changed, eyes widening.

“Fox?!”

He clutched his face dramatically. “Huanhuan-jie! Why are you with Fox?!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on a blind date with Qin Shi? Why are you on a date with Fox?!”

“Who would’ve thought—underneath that pure and kind appearance, you’re actually two-timing!”

…

Hu Xun looked very emotional.

The others also changed expressions when they saw the blond guy.

Qin Shi’s smile faded when he noticed the cat food she held. The atmosphere tensed.

Li Huanhuan turned to the blond boy in shock.

Fox? The angelic guy… is Zhang Canyang, aka Fox?

Fox Zhang Canyang was also a pro player—but a villain in the novel, always opposing the main character Qin Shi. They had a strong rivalry.

“Quanquan? What a strange name,” Fox murmured, touching his lips.

Li Huanhuan froze.

“Sister, you know Qin Shi?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “We just met today.”

Fox smiled brightly. “Since you only met today, then it’s not two-timing.”

Though smiling, his eyes turned icy when he looked at Hu Xun—like a totally different person.

“You—”

“Hu Xun.” Qin Shi raised his hand to stop him.

Zhou Jianyu quickly restrained the furious Hu Xun.

“Let me go! I’m going to—mmph mmph…” His mouth was soon covered.

“Fox.”

Qin Shi finally spoke. The pressure around him was low, his eyes cold. “This is between us. She has nothing to do with it.”

“Of course.”

Zhang Canyang’s expression turned sinister. “I haven’t forgotten what happened last season!”

“Then see you at the match the day after tomorrow,” said Qin Shi.

“Hah, see you then,” said Zhang Canyang.

Tension filled the air again.

Li Huanhuan felt she should’ve checked her horoscope before going out today. Then she could’ve avoided the blind date, the protagonist, the rival—and this whole mess. As a mere background character, she never should’ve ended up in such a bizarre situation.

“Sister~”

Zhang Canyang looked back at her with his angelic smile. “I had fun on our date today~”

He blew her a kiss and ran off.

Li Huanhuan was stunned.

“Fox—!!”

Hu Xun broke free and ran after him.

“Hu Xun!”

“Get back here!”

…

Zhou Jianyu, the bespectacled guy, and the cool girl all chased after him.

Only Qin Shi and Li Huanhuan were left.

She felt awkward.

Looking toward where Zhang Canyang had disappeared, then at the silent Qin Shi, she thought: I should leave now, before anything else happens.

“I…”

“I don’t know how you know Fox,” Qin Shi turned to her. “But he’s dangerous.”

“Huh?” Staring into his deep black eyes, her mind flashed to the novel’s descriptions.

“He’s not someone worth associating with.”

He repeated himself, thinking she didn’t understand.

Li Huanhuan shook off those thoughts and responded. “Thanks. I was going to say, I should leave…”

“Sister!”

Hu Xun was dragged back by his teammates.

He looked gloomy after failing to catch Zhang Canyang.

“Sister, let’s go have a drink!” he suddenly blurted.

“Huh?”

Half an hour later, they were at a nearby bar.

She hadn’t planned to go, but it turned out today was Hu Xun’s birthday.

“Sister, come on. We’re fated to meet like this~” he begged.

“Just go, it’s rare for him to beg like this,” said Qin Shi calmly.

“But I can’t drink,” she hesitated.

“You don’t have to,” said Qin Shi.

Looking around at the warm faces, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

“…Okay,” she finally agreed.

Now she sat with them in a bar, Hu Xun across from her.

Apparently upset about Fox, Hu Xun drank a lot, venting all his grievances to her.

“Sister, don’t be fooled by Fox’s pretty face. Yeah, he’s handsome and always smiling, but that guy? Not a good person.”

“He plays dirty. Last season, he nearly got Qin Shi disqualified.”

“Plus, he always dates older women. I mean, just look at…”

…

He spilled all the stuff Qin Shi didn’t say earlier.

Listening to him, Li Huanhuan became more confused about Fox. Which one was the real Zhang Canyang—the villain from the novel, the one Hu Xun described, or the angel she met today?

Was he an angel or a devil?

“Have some water.”

As she pondered, a glass appeared in front of her—Qin Shi. He handed her snacks too. She quickly helped him with them and thanked him.

She thought he’d sit inside with his friends, so she moved slightly to let him pass—but he sat down next to her instead.

She glanced at him in confusion. He avoided her gaze, reaching for snacks.

“Want some?” he offered a bag of chips.

“Thanks.” She took it politely.

Crunch. Crunch.

She nibbled awkwardly, wondering when she could leave.

The birthday boy had dragged his friends into the dance floor, the others were learning palm reading. Only she and Qin Shi were left at the table.

Under the pulsing lights and music, her head spun as she replayed the day’s madness.

Just as she thought it couldn’t get crazier—

Screams erupted:

“Star—!!!”

“Ahhh!!! It’s STAR Qin Shi!!!”

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