Chapter 165: Red Bean Purple Rice Porridge

Chapter 165: Red Bean and Purple Rice Porridge

"Zhouwei, shall we go sing karaoke?"

"Yes, yes, let's go!"

"Zhouwei, shall we go sing karaoke?"

"Fine."

"Zhouwei, shall we go sing karaoke?"

"Can I not go?"

"Zhouwei, shall we go sing karaoke?"

"I'm not going! I'm going to the library with Yanan today!"

Meng Fan’s high-frequency invitations to sing had become a burden to Zhang Zhouwei within a few days, a task she now viewed as a chore, leading her to find ways to dodge him. Of course, Meng Fan wasn’t just asking Zhang Zhouwei; he couldn’t complete his mission with just one person. Xing Tage and Chen Daqiang had long since started avoiding him, but fortunately, there were plenty of other classmates. Relationships were generally good, and while one could reject a confession, surely one couldn't refuse an invitation to sing! As for Qu Jingjing and the others, he had invited them, but didn't dare to do so too often. He had even managed to find people on a "rent-a-friend" app twice. Then there was Da Fei and his crew.

"Brother Fei, want to sing?"

"Brother Fei, I've asked you several times now, it's your turn to invite me!"

"Brother Pao..."

Over the next few days, Meng Fan had invited everyone he knew at least once. At first, he thought it was strange to spend every day in a karaoke booth. Now, however, after realizing the hit rate on the rental app was low, he discovered that his marathon karaoke sessions didn't seem odd to his classmates at all. What was strange about it? Could it be stranger than moving from Hangzhou to Shanghai, or suddenly breaking a world record? Only a few who were asked too often felt annoyed; most were quite happy, as someone was paying for the singing and the drinks were bottomless.

So, Meng Fan shifted his strategy. During the day and early evening, he invited friends he knew. After eleven o'clock, he would sneak into other people's private rooms at more distant karaoke bars. If he noticed their drinks were running low, he would almost always order more for them. Not all of them, of course. For instance, one night he encountered a group of men who were acting like scoundrels, taking advantage of intoxicated women with wandering hands. Meng Fan not only refused to buy them drinks, but he also tripped each of them several times—thoroughly enough to ensure they completely lost the ability to "commit crimes."

Over these few days, he averaged 130 experience points a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, as he still had classes to attend and work to finish. Including what he had earned before, by Sunday, he had accumulated over 870 points.

On Sunday, Meng Fan went for his usual morning run at school. Wu Tong soon joined him, though she didn't run today; she simply stretched and then walked along the sidelines, reciting vocabulary from her headphones as she strolled. Wu Tong studied traditional Chinese painting but possessed a passion for languages. Beyond her fluent English, she was learning German and Portuguese—not necessarily for practical application, but out of interest in the logical relationships and cognitive structures hidden within linguistic systems. Learning a new language, at its core, was undoubtedly about logic and thought.

Meng Fan was certainly not foolish enough to ask why she wasn't running, nor was he dense enough to run his usual ten kilometers. He slowed down after a while to match her pace, and though he was still technically running, it was at the speed of a walk. Seeing this, Wu Tong removed her headphones. When she didn't signal for him to continue, his jog naturally transitioned into a walk. After a few laps, they agreed to have breakfast together.

"Are you still rushing to finish your drafts today?" Meng Fan asked as he set her food down and sat across from her.

Wu Tong smiled and shook her head. "I'm already done. I don't want to go anywhere today; I just want to finish eating, go back, take a nap, and curl up to watch the documentaries I've been saving."

Having so many sisters, Meng Fan knew that some women preferred not to move during this special time of the month. He hesitated, then asked nervously, "Would you... like to come to my place? I have a house near the school, just behind the campus. You could watch your documentaries in the living room; it would be more comfortable than the dorm. If you need anything to eat or drink, it’s all very convenient."

Wu Tong looked up, studying him closely. "Aren't you busy?"

Meng Fan blinked. "I am, of course I am. But I’ll be working on my drafts at home, so I won't disturb your viewing."

Wu Tong laughed, then asked with a hint of teasing, "I meant, aren't you busy going to sing karaoke?"

Meng Fan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How did you know?"

"I have Zhang Zhouwei, Qu Jingjing, and Wei Zhixue on WeChat," she replied. "I've seen you singing with them in their Moments these past few days."

Meng Fan laughed heartily. "I'm always being teased for my singing, so I decided to find a way to torture them back."

"So that's why you didn't invite me?" Wu Tong wiped her mouth with a napkin, glanced at the deflated Meng Fan, and said, "I'm going back to sleep first. We'll see when I wake up." She paused. "You aren't going to tell me you have plenty of rooms, are you?"

Meng Fan clamped his mouth shut.

After they parted ways, Meng Fan hummed a tune, nearly skipping out of the school gates. He wandered around the neighborhood, returning with red dates, white fungus, red beans, purple rice, ginger, brown sugar, and rose tea, along with some fruits suitable for warming. He didn't know if Wu Tong would come, but he wanted to be prepared just in case.

Even though he hadn't broken a sweat, he took a shower and changed his clothes, then set the red beans and purple rice to soak. If she didn't come, he would just make it for himself.

Before eight o'clock, Meng Fan finished organizing the nineteenth chapter of *Campus Love Guide* and the seventh chapter of *Spirits Underground*, uploading them respectively. Xing Tage had already written the script for *Campus Love Guide*, and it would conclude in about a dozen chapters. It was a short story, and Xing had no intention of expanding it; Meng Fan lacked the fundamental skills in romance to continue drawing it indefinitely. So far, the short story had surpassed 400,000 followers. As for *Spirits Underground*, although this was only the seventh chapter, it came with its own built-in audience. After signing with the Penguin Comics platform, it received continuous recommendations, eventually overtaking *Campus Love Guide* with over 450,000 followers.

Meng Fan began to draw, but every few minutes he would glance at his phone, making high efficiency impossible.

*Buzz.*

His phone vibrated. Meng Fan grabbed it immediately. It was a message from Wu Tong: "Woke up, but I'm too lazy to move. Don't want to go anywhere. (Sad face)"

It was hard to tell if the emoji meant she was too lazy to move or if she simply couldn't make it to his place. When expectations fall through, it’s naturally disappointing, but this wasn't something one could press without the tone turning sour. However, Meng Fan could be quite cunning at times. He went to the kitchen, took a photo of the soaking red beans and purple rice, and sent it to her with a clumsy excuse: "Just happened to be making porridge for lunch. Do you want me to bring you some?"

Some things you do don't need to be known, but some things absolutely must be.

Wu Tong sent back a side-eye emoji: "Just happened to? Red bean and purple rice?"

Meng Fan explained, perhaps over-explaining: "It's for health and weight loss, you know. I've been drinking a lot of porridge lately, and today it just happened to be the turn of red bean and purple rice."

"What a coincidence! But what should I do if I've been craving ice cream for the past few days? (Stubborn face)"

"That's fine! What brand and flavor do you want? I'll go buy it, heat it up, and bring it over with the porridge."