Chapter 13: Little Tricks to Seduce Men?

Chapter 13: Little Tricks to Seduce Men?

“Low HP! Low HP!”

“Who the hell tossed a flashbang like that?! I’m blind!”

“Crap! All five of them are rushing me!”

Once she was fully absorbed in the game, Chen Shiyu completely forgot about keeping up her “image” or any sort of ladylike act. She was like an excited little fox, shouting at the top of her lungs.

She was terrible at CS to begin with—dying over and over. Just managing to kill two people in a round was enough to make her beam with joy. Her skills weren’t much better than a rookie’s.

“Low HP my ass! Stop giving fake callouts!” Shen Yan cursed, unable to hold back.

“Then how do I have three of them on me?! What, they’ve got eight players now?!”

“Keep it down, you’re screaming in my ear.”

Chen Shiyu yanked off her headset and shot him a glare. “What, so it’s my fault you’re playing CS without headphones?”

“Otherwise I wouldn’t hear you at all, and then you’d complain again.”

“That’s…”

She froze for a second, suddenly realizing she had slipped up. Quickly, she shut her mouth, straightened her back, and put on a demure look, even throwing in a dismissive line: “This game’s boring anyway.”

“You’re 3/12. Of course it’s boring. Trash.”

The word trash made her blood pressure spike. She puffed out her cheeks and glared at Shen Yan, her lips jutting out so far they could’ve held a soy sauce bottle.

When the next round started, Shen Yan noticed her character wasn’t moving. Turning to the side, he found her sulking with puffed-up cheeks, round eyes locked on him, looking exactly like an angry hamster.

Too familiar. He knew this kind of “throwing a tantrum.”

If he didn’t smooth things over right now, she’d probably start squeezing out crocodile tears.

He could handle arguments, even fistfights—after all, they’d grown up bickering since childhood. But crying? Chen Shiyu’s tears were his kryptonite.

“Don’t… don’t look at me like that.” Even knowing she was a sly little fox, Shen Yan still caved, mumbling an apology. “You’re not trash, I’m the trash one. I couldn’t carry you. My bad.”

“Tch!”

Chen Shiyu turned back to the screen, finally satisfied. But her lips twitched uncontrollably.

Ugh, disgusting! Pouting and sulking like that—it looked like I was… acting cute?! What the hell?!

In her last life, she had never acted spoiled toward a man. Not even toward her own father!

“One more round, then I’m done. I’ll just watch some videos.” She was already losing the mood.

“Not gonna play until you win one?”

“Who knows when that’ll be? It’s pointless.”

Funny, coming from the girl who had just been screaming her lungs out in excitement.

For some reason, Shen Yan found spending time with this little fox spirit surprisingly comfortable. Sometimes it didn’t even feel like he was with a girl—more like hanging out with a buddy.

Not like back when he was with his childhood sweetheart. Then, he always had to hold back, too uptight to even talk about his favorite games. Instead, he had to pretend interest in “girly topics,” constantly tiptoeing around her moods…

Was this the power of a fox spirit?

Shen Yan’s eyes narrowed, his guard against her instincts sharpening another notch.

But he couldn’t help wondering: If my childhood friend had shared hobbies like this… wouldn’t that have been perfect?

He spaced out for a moment, then noticed Chen Shiyu’s screen.

Wait—she wasn’t playing anymore. She was watching anime.

“You like anime? Not into the new J-dramas?”

“Uh…” Chen Shiyu blinked, then quickly rolled her eyes and came up with an excuse. “Well, I figured you seemed to like it.”

“What are you watching? Funeral of the… Lotus King?” Shen Yan leaned over curiously.

“It’s Frieren, you dummy!”

She had watched half of it in her previous life, and now, she finally had the chance to finish it in this one.

“Hey, doesn’t this girl look kinda like you?”

Shen Yan pointed at Frens face on the screen. The anime character’s cute round cheeks and bright, sparkling eyes did, at a glance, look a little similar to Chen Shiyu.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head seriously. “Nope. She’s got bigger boobs.”

“Then you’d better start working on it.”

Her eyes instantly darted down to her own pitifully flat chest. In a flash, her entire face turned crimson.

I’m a man, damn it! Why would I need big boobs?!

Even this pair of barely-there A-cups already felt like too much. If she had her way, she’d prefer to be a complete washboard—no bras needed!

“…Get lost.”

Instead of being offended, Shen Yan just looked ridiculously pleased as he returned to his game. At this point, anyone watching might wonder if he was secretly some kind of masochist.

Propping her chin in her hands, Chen Shiyu turned back to the anime on the big monitor. Compared to watching on a phone or tablet, this was way more comfortable. A pity she didn’t have a computer at home.

“When will I ever get my own PC?” she muttered.

“Would Auntie even allow it?” Shen Yan glanced at her.

“But I’ll be heading off to college in a couple years, right? No computer would be a huge hassle.”

That was what she said aloud. But in reality, she had no intention of sticking around in this body for years. All she wanted was to find a way to turn back into a man.

After all, if she stayed like this too long… wouldn’t the girl’s memories start seeping in? Affecting her thoughts, her behavior, even her orientation? That’d be a nightmare. At least as a man, she wouldn’t be blushing at every little thing some guy said!

“You help me convince her, yeah? If I get a computer, I’ll finish homework early every day and play with you after.”

“Done.” Shen Yan agreed without even thinking.

By now, the internet café was getting livelier, more crowded and noisy. Their time was almost up. Shen Yan finished another match, stretched his arms and neck, and said, “We should probably head back.”

“Mm.”

Reluctantly, Chen Shiyu shut down the computer.

Computers really were the best—powerful, big screen, easy to do anything on.

She followed Shen Yan out of the café. Outside, the alley was pitch black, with only a faint streetlight glowing at the far end.

“Uh… why are you going that way?”

She started walking in the direction they’d come, but Shen Yan turned the other way.

“This way’s faster. Shortcut.”

Her eyes flicked nervously toward the dark corners. Maybe it was just guilt, or maybe it was all those nights as a fox sneaking into fields to steal vegetables and getting chased halfway across the village by dogs… but either way, she had the prickling sense something might be lurking in the shadows.

Still, her pride as a man refused to let her show fear. So she kept her face blank and simply quickened her pace, sticking close behind Shen Yan.

“The last bus is probably gone by now,” Shen Yan said as they walked through the alley. “We’ll see if there are shared bikes out on the main street.”

“…Mm.”

Her eyes darted around nervously, her body unconsciously drifting closer to him, shoulders hunched in, as if trying to shrink her presence.

The alley was lined with rows of residential houses, but when she looked up, hardly any windows were lit. For a moment, it felt like they were the only two people left in the world.

Shen Yan, walking just ahead, spoke casually, the way he always did with his childhood friend. “Want to grab something to eat? The late-night barbecue stalls should be open.”

Clang!

“Woof!”

A sudden crash rang out, followed by a startled bark. A stray dog had knocked over a pile of bottles and cans stacked in the corner, sending them clattering to the ground.

“Ah! A dog!”

Before Shen Yan even processed what happened, something soft and fragrant collided with his arm.

He lowered his gaze, and in the dim alley light, he could just make out Chen Shiyu’s panicked, helpless expression—wide eyes, pale face, clinging to him like the world was ending.

—His protective instincts went into overdrive.

Wait a second.

This sly little fox… afraid of dogs? Or was it the dark?

—Or maybe—just maybe—this was some sneaky little trick to seduce men?