Chapter 82: Revenge on the Scoundrel

"Huh?" Lin Huiran was clearly bewildered. She pointed at Xie Xu, "Isn’t he your boyfriend?"

Lu Yiqi shook her head. "No, he isn’t."

Lin Huiran blinked, taking a moment to process this denial. She looked from Xie Xu to Lu Yiqi, then explained, "Oh, I’m sorry, I must have misunderstood. I asked him before if you were his girlfriend and he didn’t object, so I thought he was admitting it by default. Sorry about that. But you two really do look good together—are you sure you’re not a couple?"

"…"

Lu Yiqi could only shake her head again to deny it.

Xie Xu’s mood had plummeted because of Lu Yiqi’s denial, but Lin Huiran’s casual, "You two look great together," eased his expression somewhat.

He spoke up, "I didn’t object because I couldn’t be bothered to talk to you, got it?"

His tone wasn’t exactly harsh, but it wasn’t pleasant either.

Lu Yiqi even suspected that Xie Xu might scare this girl, though she didn’t seem the type to be easily frightened.

She poked Xie Xu and reminded him gently, "You shouldn’t talk to girls so rudely."

Xie Xu was momentarily stunned. Was she really lecturing him over another girl?

Was she taking sides against him?

As he was stewing over how he ought to snap back at Lu Yiqi, her soft voice reached his ears again, "Did you hear what I just said?"

At that moment, a subtle, inexplicable sense of grievance welled up within him, leaving his mood complicated. Even the tone of his reply was tinged with a hint of hurt: "Oh."

Lin Huiran watched the exchange between the two, her face practically spelling out, I get it!

She hurried to reassure them, "It’s fine, really, I don’t mind at all."

Lu Yiqi smiled. "Alright then. By the way, what did you mean just now about returning a favor?"

At the mention of this, Lin Huiran brightened up, slapping her thigh as she launched into an impassioned explanation, "Here’s the thing, let me tell you both—just now, that guy, don’t be fooled by his appearance, he’s actually a total loser—a jerk!"

A trio of question marks seemed to appear above Lu Yiqi’s head as she voiced her confusion, "But, I think I saw you… you dumped him?"

"That’s right, I was doing a service for humanity! Getting back at a jerk!"

Lu Yiqi was speechless.

"It’s not that simple, though," Lin Huiran continued, sighing before going on, "That guy was actually my best friend’s ex-boyfriend. My friend liked him for ages, kept chasing after him, buying him gifts—expensive ones, too. His vanity was satisfied, so he agreed to date her. At first he put on a good act, but after a week his true colors showed. He started asking her for money outright, and every time, she gave it to him. Do you know how awful he was? He treated my friend colder and colder, so she came crying to me. I decided to investigate and, let me tell you, what I found was shocking!"

"That jerk was spending my friend’s money partying and chasing other women. As soon as I found out, I forced my friend to break up with him!"

"But I still wasn’t satisfied. That scumbag had treated my friend so badly—I just couldn’t let it go. So I decided to get revenge. And what’s the best way to deal with a jerk like that? You win him over, and then dump him hard…"