I Really Didn’t Want to Increase My Favorability!

On the road, Xu Lin was riding his electric scooter, while Zhu Zhaoxue sat behind him, her head lowered as she looked at her phone. Judging by the sound, she seemed to be watching a livestream.

Xu Lin thought of the third-ranked top supporter in Jiang Zimeng’s livestream. The username was “Miss Zhu from the Zhu Family,” with the hospital logo as the profile picture. He couldn’t help but wonder if it might be her. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask.

“Dr. Zhu, you seem to enjoy watching livestreams?”

“Yeah, in my free time. I don’t have many other hobbies, so I just watch livestreams or play games.”

“That’s nice. Who’s your favorite streamer?”

“I watch all sorts of streams, but the one I’ve been following consistently is Chen Youmi. I started by watching her videos, then her livestreams. She’s a really skilled gamer. I’ve been a fan for a long time and even work as an admin in her fan group. But she only streams at night.”

“Oh?”

“You probably don’t watch livestreams much, so you might not be familiar with this stuff.”

“I do watch. I’ve even seen Chen Youmi’s videos, though I haven’t caught her live streams.”

Xu Lin didn’t reveal too much. After all, they’d never met in real life, and explaining too much might make his intentions too obvious. However, Jiang Zimeng’s real-life personality would probably click well with Zhu Zhaoxue’s. They both played games, and Zhu Zhaoxue was even a loyal fan of hers.

“You’ve seen her videos too? She hasn’t been posting much lately, probably because there haven’t been any new games coming out.”

Talking about games brightened Zhu Zhaoxue’s mood, just like when Jiang Zimeng discussed anime and games. Xu Lin joined in the conversation. After all, he was a lone single-player gamer. Most people were into online games like Dota, CF, Dungeon Fighter, or League of Legends.

There were few single-player gamers, and even fewer who followed the single-player gaming market. That situation improved slightly in the future, but it never fully changed.

“We’re here. You can drop me off here; you’d have to cross the street if you went further, and it’s too much trouble.”

“Alright.”

Xu Lin stopped the scooter. Then it hit him—if he didn’t go with her, what would happen to the scooter?

“Why don’t you hold onto the scooter for now? It’s hard to get a cab at night, and bikes are too slow.”

“Thanks. I’ll bring it back tomorrow morning.”

“Whenever is fine, no rush.”

Watching Zhu Zhaoxue enter the shop, Xu Lin twisted the handlebar and headed to his next stop.

Zhu Zhaoxue stepped into the shop and took off her cute knitted hat. Her mother glanced over.

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. You guys?”

“Neither have we.”

“You don’t have to wait for me. Just eat earlier next time,” Zhu Zhaoxue said as she pulled down the roller shutter.

“Your scooter is still outside. The battery will definitely get stolen if you leave it out all night,” her dad called out.

“I gave the scooter to Xu Lin.”

“Xu Lin?”

“He happened to be delivering something to me, so I asked him to give me a ride. It’s late, so I let him keep the scooter.”

“Zhu Zhaoxue, have you lost your mind?”

Her mom immediately scolded her, leaving Zhu Zhaoxue stunned. What did I do wrong?

“He has a girlfriend, and you let him give you a ride? And what exactly did he deliver to you?”

“Mom, calm down. He made some snow princess pastries and brought me some. I helped him by bringing my colleague, Sister Huang, to check his skin problem last time. This was just his way of saying thanks.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t have let him give you a ride!”

Then Zhu Zhaoxue impatiently explained the matter about the uncle again, and her parents finally felt reassured.

“Seriously, why are you guys so nervous? Is your daughter the type to steal someone else’s boyfriend?”

“Zhu Zhaoxue, you talk a good game, but sometimes, you young people just can’t control yourselves. That’s why we worry.”

“As if! A doctor like me, with such strong willpower, could never make that kind of mistake… Anyway, here, try this. Xu Lin made these snow princess cakes. He said he felt awkward giving them directly, thinking it might be inappropriate since our family runs a pastry shop.”

“What’s so inappropriate about that? Let me try.”

Zhu’s father grabbed one right away, took a bite, chewed a couple of times, and squinted his eyes.

“Not bad. On par with mine.”

“On par with yours?!”

Zhu Zhaoxue widened her eyes in surprise. She had assumed they’d taste good, but she didn’t expect such high praise from her father. After all, despite his gentle personality, he was extremely strict when it came to pastries. If her mother made something subpar, he’d critique it seriously. Yet today, he actually admitted these were on par with his own.

“Really, try it, wife.” Zhu’s father handed the remaining half to Zhu’s mother. She took a bite and nodded as well. Zhu Zhaoxue picked up another one, took a bite, and immediately understood they weren’t just being polite.

She didn’t expect this guy to actually know how to make desserts—and quite skillfully at that. Speaking of which, hadn’t her dad always said he wanted her to find a son-in-law with practical skills? Xu Lin seemed like a pretty good match.

Wait, no! She just said she wouldn’t covet other people’s men! Absolutely not… stay strong!

Zhu’s mother, watching her daughter’s changing expressions, turned away, tugged at her husband, and whispered,

“This won’t do. We need to keep an eye on her. I’ll also talk to Yunhe about it.”

“Is our daughter that kind of girl? Seriously…”

“If I hadn’t been impulsive back then, I wouldn’t have married you.”

“Honestly, I think this young man isn’t bad—good-looking, and he’s got skills…”

“You only care about his damn skills!”

“Hey, hey, watch your language.”

At this moment, Xu Lin, oblivious to the couple’s minor argument, had already arrived near Bai Xiaoxiao’s house. Walking through the dim alley, he finally didn’t get lost this time, having visited so often.

As he approached the door, he heard the sounds of cats and dogs coming from the yard, a cacophony of meows and barks. Xu Lin knocked on the door, which quickly opened. Bai Xiaoxiao was wearing a down jacket that didn’t quite fit her figure, holding the little kitten she had rescued.

An orange blur—Chen Pi—ran straight to Xu Lin’s feet and promptly climbed into his arms in two leaps.

“Xu Lin, why are you here so late?”

“To bring my cat back. It’s been days since I forgot about it.”

“Oh… I heard you had some trouble today.”

“It’s fine. It’s all sorted out. Didn’t Uncle tell you?”

“He ate dinner and went straight to bed.”

“Then I won’t go in. Here, this is for you—I made it myself.” Xu Lin handed over the snow princess cakes.

“Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“I’ll go get the cat carrier and some cat food for you.”

Bai Xiaoxiao quickly ran back into the yard and returned half a minute later with the carrier and food. Xu Lin gently coaxed Chen Pi into the carrier.

“Alright, I’ll head out now.”

Xu Lin said this and realized that Bai Xiaoxiao was the only girl for whom he hadn’t been delayed while delivering the cakes. Everything had gone smoothly.

Looking at her delicate face, he suddenly felt like chatting with her a bit longer, despite having planned to leave right away.

“Uh… that’s not your coat, is it?”

“Mm, it’s my mom’s. The one I wore last year got torn, and I haven’t had a chance to fix it yet.”

“Oh~”

“Don’t you dare spend money buying me one!” Bai Xiaoxiao quickly said when she noticed Xu Lin’s expression.

“Wow, most girls are afraid guys won’t buy them things, but you’re the complete opposite…”

“You’ve got plenty of expenses for your business, don’t waste money unnecessarily.”

“Alright, I won’t waste money.”

This silly girl… When I get back, I’ll talk to Ji Yun and have her discreetly buy Bai Xiaoxiao a couple of coats.

“You should head home soon. It’s already 10 o’clock.”

“It’s 10 already? Then I’d better hurry. You get some rest too, especially since you wake up early.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Watching Bai Xiaoxiao slowly close the door, Xu Lin finally realized—this was how a proper gift delivery should go. The process had been smooth and uneventful.

Looking back on the earlier deliveries, he couldn’t help but think he had wasted too much time. At this rate, will I have to pull an all-nighter to finish today’s work? Oh well, let’s get all the deliveries done first and worry about that later!

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