Chapter 97 - 74: I Only Want to Be Your Best Friend

Chapter 97: Chapter 74: I Only Want to Be Your Best Friend

Song Jianye watched with rapt attention, her face turned toward the window. Every time she saw an animal, she would take a picture with her phone.

Chen Yuan, however, wasn’t particularly interested. His attention was fixed on Song Jianye’s legs.

Her short skirt paired with thigh-high socks created an ’absolute zone’ of about twenty centimeters. He had to admit, it was a bit more attractive than the fair skin of a young wife.

The tour was about thirty minutes long and came to an end before they knew it.

"Are you upset?" Song Jianye asked after they got out of the vehicle.

"What makes you say that?"

"You didn’t seem to be looking at the animals much."

’Aren’t people animals too?’

’And doesn’t looking at legs count?’

"You were looking at the animals the whole time, not at me. How would you know I was upset?"

"I guess that’s true."

She said that, but her doubts weren’t dispelled.

He had been so quiet the whole way, unlike the other visitors who were constantly oohing and aahing.

Afterward, the two of them headed to the walking area, where they could stroll and look around at their own pace.

Taking pictures was a must, of course. Chen Yuan took some photos of her with the small animals. He even snapped a picture of two giant pandas getting frisky, planning to report them to their parents.

There were some animals Chen Yuan was also seeing for the first time, and he took some close-up photos as mementos.

The walking area was quite interesting, allowing for close-up viewing of the animals. Song Jianye seemed especially fond of the capybaras, squatting down to pet them for a long while.

As they walked along, Chen Yuan also felt he’d gained a lot.

Some animals had a dick on their face, like elephants.

And some animals had a face on their dick, like snakes.

After finishing the walking tour, they went to the zoo’s Tiger Restaurant for a meal.

It was expensive. After getting used to the food in University City, the prices here seemed to offer no value for the money at all.

The upside was that three of its walls were made of glass, with tigers on the other side, making it a pretty neat tourist spot.

However, the place was more suitable for dating couples and families with kids. Married couples had no need to come—they could just go home and look at their own wives.

After their meal, the two went to watch a free animal show.

This part of the visit had no hidden fees, but there was a tipping segment afterward. They just set up a QR code, and whether to tip or not was entirely up to the visitors.

But Song Jianye scanned it and donated 100 yuan.

"Will you still be able to balance your fake budget for the week?"

"I’ll just take an advance on next month’s budget."

"The money we saved on the tour vehicle all went to this."

"I hope the staff will buy more food for the performing animals. I feel so bad for them."

"You’re going to heaven someday."

"You have to go too. We’ll go together."

"But I didn’t donate any money."

"Fifty of the 100 I donated was from you, so we can go together."

"And when we get to the elevator, we can give Stephen Hawking a push."

Song Jianye burst out laughing, and the afternoon sun seemed to shine even brighter.

"I wouldn’t push him."

"Why not?"

"Let’s find a Chinese person to push."

"Attagirl."

They had pretty much finished three sections of the park. The last one left was the Water Exploration Zone.

The route was a boat ride on the river, making a loop along the bank. The animals you could see were also all on the bank, making it a bit of a bait and switch.

"Look, there are ducks in the water! They’re fighting."

"The ducks aren’t fighting."

"Yes, they are! That black duck is bullying the black-and-white one next to it. Look, look, it’s still pecking it."

"But those are mandarin ducks."

"Oh, oh."

Song Jianye fell silent, abashed, and focused her attention on the animals.

Chen Yuan went back to looking at her legs.

Back on shore, the setting sun gradually sank below the distant horizon. They had seen all the animals there were to see, and their day at the park was drawing to a close.

Chen Yuan had booked a ride-share in advance. Because it was peak time for leaving the park, he had to pay an extra 20 yuan, but that was just a drop in the bucket.

"Thank you for the reward. I had a super fun day. It would have been even more perfect if I could have brought you some cut fruit and snacks."

"I already got to drink the imported yogurt, which is basically an indirect kiss. I’d say that’s pretty good."

"But we could still do that even if I had brought cut fruit and other snacks."

HOLY SHIT!!!

’She’s a low-key genius at romance!’

Leaving the zoo, the two got into the ride-share and headed back to University City.

Song Jianye was looking at her phone, chatting with her aunt, her expression conflicted.

’Should I have dinner with Chen Yuan, or with my aunt?’

’My aunt came all this way, and she made a special trip just to see me. It would be wrong not to have dinner with her.’

’But today was my day out with Chen Yuan. If we don’t have dinner together, it won’t be a perfect day.’

’What should I do?’

’I’ll just eat a little with him and save some room for dinner with my aunt.’

"Driver, you can stop here."

When they were still a few hundred meters from University City, Song Jianye asked the driver to stop the car.

"What’s wrong?"

"We’re too close to the hotel. I’m afraid my aunt will see. We should be careful."

"Alright."

The car pulled over, and they got out. Song Jianye’s expression turned unnatural.

She was clutching the hem of her skirt so tightly it was wrinkled. She felt like she had said the wrong thing.

’Chen Yuan is a great guy, a really, really great guy. He’s not someone I should be ashamed of. By saying that, will he think I’m afraid of him meeting my aunt?’

’But...’

’That’s not what I meant.’

’During the zoo tour today, he didn’t even look at the animals when we were in the car. He seemed really distracted. It was probably because of what happened this morning.’

’I shouldn’t be so secretive. He’s a friend I can be proud to introduce to people. I shouldn’t be afraid of my aunt seeing us.’

’It’s all my fault.’

’I should introduce him to my aunt openly.’

"Is there anything you want to eat?" Song Jianye asked, testing the waters.

"Your aunt is here. Don’t worry about dinner with me tonight; go eat with her. We can eat together anytime," Chen Yuan said casually.

Song Jianye stopped in her tracks. Chen Yuan looked at her.

"What’s wrong?"

"I’m sorry. I made you upset."

"Why are you saying that again? When was I upset?"

"You’re so good to me, you even took me out for the day, but I was being all secretive, afraid my aunt would see you. I was wrong. I’m sorry."

"Uh..."

’Why is she suddenly being so sensitive?’

’Even if you openly wanted me to meet your aunt, I wouldn’t want to. We’re not at that stage yet!’

’But it seems she’s misunderstood something.’

"I’m not afraid of my aunt misunderstanding our relationship. It’s just that she’s quite strict, and I was worried she might say something that would upset you. I was really just worried about that, not about her getting the wrong idea."

"Of course I know that. Your aunt is a bit serious, but she’s good to you. She’s just worried about you."

"I hope you don’t misunderstand what I meant. If you’re still upset, how about we drink from the same yogurt carton every day from now on?"

"I can get behind that. I’m raising five hands in favor," Chen Yuan said.

"But you shouldn’t be so sensitive either. If they really do misunderstand, we can just turn the act into the real thing and give them a reason to check their blood pressure."

"No, no, we can’t do that," Song Jianye said hurriedly, with an unprecedented seriousness.

"Is it because you think our families aren’t a good match?"

"That’s not it."

Song Jianye said quietly,

"A girl with no parents is bad luck. I only hope to be your best friend. I haven’t thought about anything else."

...

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