Chapter 93: Ready for Battle

When Zhang Shen returned to the dormitory, he had no mind for such trivial matters. He lay on his bed, lost in idle thoughts.

But Meng Ran was not thinking that way at all. Faced with the presence of such a master at winning over girls, Meng Ran naturally found himself eagerly yearning for more.

He picked up a glass of cola from the table and walked over to Zhang Shen with a wicked grin. “Zhang, this one’s on me. Try it. It’s pretty good.”

Zhang Shen turned his head, saw the so-called happiness drink of the shut-in and the sofa-sloth, and could not help saying, “Meng Ran, I advise you to drink less of this. Look at Wang Ying’s figure, then look at yourself. It’s like comparing two starkly different worlds.”

At the mention of Wang Ying, Meng Ran immediately grew excited again and hurriedly asked, “Zhang, what exactly happened to Xiao Ying this morning? Why didn’t she come to class?”

Hearing this, Zhang Shen did not know what to say to the fat man in front of him.

After all, your progress has not even reached that stage yet, and you’re already calling her by such an intimate name? This fellow really does have a thick skin. Still, he only ever showed it in front of people he knew.

“Meng Ran, if I were you, I wouldn’t go to class this afternoon. I’d go straight to Wang Ying’s place and explain everything properly. Maybe you’d get an unexpected result.”

“But…”

In an instant, Meng Ran lost his nerve again.

Seeing his dispirited look, Zhang Shen rested a hand on his shoulder. “For now, just treat it like saving a dying horse with a living-horse remedy. If it doesn’t work, we can always try another way.”

At that, Meng Ran actually got annoyed. He swatted Zhang Shen’s hand away and said with righteous fervor, “I don’t want anyone else. I only want Wang Ying.”

Zhang Shen could not be bothered to reason with him anymore and only said, “Fine, suit yourself. I’m going to sleep now. Do whatever you want.”

Meng Ran had not expected Zhang Shen to suddenly drop the matter. He quickly changed to a gentler tone. “Zhang, do me a favor, will you? I’ll listen to you from now on. If you ever run into trouble, this little brother of yours will go through fire and water without a second thought.”

Zhang Shen did not feel that he particularly needed this fat man’s help. So long as Meng Ran did not disturb him, everything was already perfect. But at the moment, the fellow seemed far too idle, and it really would be better to find something for him to do.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shen suddenly felt, perhaps only in his imagination, that his clothes carried a sour sweat odor. He took them off and handed them to Meng Ran.

“This is the first thing I’m assigning you. Go wash this for me first.”

Hearing Zhang Shen’s words, Meng Ran did not dare delay even for a moment. He hurriedly took the clothes, soaked them in a bucket, and immediately began scrubbing them with all his might.

Yet the more he scrubbed, the more he felt that something seemed to be hidden inside the garment.

Puzzled, Meng Ran pulled out the item, then cried out, “Zhang, your letter…”

At the moment, although Zhang Shen had little interest in the letter itself, he was quite interested in the person behind it. Hearing Meng Ran’s shout, he sprang straight down from the bed.

Looking at the letter covered in soap suds, Zhang Shen felt that he had lost the only clue to finding that girl. He was about to toss it casually into the trash can.

But Meng Ran, for reasons unknown, actually picked the letter back up from the trash and laid it on the table.

In Meng Ran’s eyes, as a man who had remained single for a thousand years, this was not a letter written to him by some girl, but at the very least it could still be pleasing to the eye. Perhaps he could even imitate it later and pull off a move in front of Wang Ying.

Zhang Shen did not bother with what happened next. As for Meng Ran, after obediently helping him finish washing the clothes, he also lay back on his bed for a while.

From then on, the two of them still went to class that afternoon as usual. But when they returned to the dormitory, an astonishing scene appeared.

Just as Meng Ran was preparing to open the snacks on the desk, a line of writing actually appeared on the soap-covered letter, which filled him with delight.

He immediately shouted excitedly, “Zhang, come over here and look—”

After hearing Meng Ran howl three times in one day, Zhang Shen responded somewhat impatiently, “Can’t you keep your voice down? If you keep shouting, believe me, I’ll prick you with silver needles.”

“The letter… the letter.”

Zhang Shen did not understand what Meng Ran meant and said at once, “If you already have a letter, why are you still shouting?”

Meng Ran was too excited, so much so that his speech was a little unclear.

“Zhang, I said the letter.”

As he spoke, he also waved the letter in his hand.

“What about the letter?”

In Zhang Shen’s view, the writing on it had already long since become blurred and indistinct.

“There are words on it. Come look quickly!”

Seeing Meng Ran’s agitated expression, Zhang Shen knew it did not seem fake. He took the letter from Meng Ran in a single motion.

“Tonight at eight, meet at the school park. Remember to bring the thing.”

Zhang Shen and Meng Ran both fixed their eyes on it. At that moment, one of them was thinking about why new writing had appeared on it, while the other was worrying about what exactly the thing to be brought at eight in the evening was.

“Oh! Right!”

Zhang Shen suddenly slapped his thigh as though he had discovered a new continent. “How could I not have thought of it? Master once told me that there is a kind of dye that cannot be seen under normal circumstances, but once it is mixed with a certain reagent, words can appear on what was originally a blank sheet of paper. That must be what this means.”

Over Zhang Shen’s delight, Meng Ran wore a wicked grin. “Zhang, it looks like I’ll be guarding an empty room all by myself again tonight.”

“Guarding an empty room?”

Zhang Shen still did not catch his meaning.

“Isn’t that obvious? The girl invited you first, and you still aren’t getting ready for battle? Don’t forget to bring your equipment.”

At Meng Ran’s sly smile, Zhang Shen finally sensed that something was not quite right. But in his understanding, this thing was probably related to the gold card from that night.

And if that was truly the case, then the person who had asked to meet him might be the delicately featured girl.

“Hey, Zhang, what are you thinking about?”

Seeing Zhang Shen lost in thought, Meng Ran assumed he was already planning out tonight’s strategy.

“Nothing.”

Zhang Shen’s brush-off struck Meng Ran as somewhat strange. After all, when any normal man encountered something like this, which one would not be burning with impatience?

“Zhang, this stroke of romance is a good thing and all, but I should warn you of one thing, brother.”

“What is it?”

Although Zhang Shen knew nothing good would come out of Meng Ran’s mouth, it would not hurt to listen.

“It’s almost seven now. If you don’t hurry up, don’t let the girl wait in vain!”

Zhang Shen’s face darkened with black lines. He had not expected Meng Ran to produce any profound wisdom, but this was just plain absurd.