024 Pretty Cute
“Pei Ningle.”
Wang Heng silently repeated the name, feeling a faint chill slowly rise up his back.
Of course, among the four girls, Pei Ningle was probably the most guileless. Even so, her appearance still signaled a certain unavoidable, dangerous fate, hinting at the possibility of a battlefield of love. And that was what terrified Wang Heng the most.
And what about Pei Ningle? At almost the same time she noticed the hamster, she also noticed Wang Heng running towards her. Not only that, but this sharp-eared and sharp-eyed girl also noticed the shape of his mouth as he silently spoke. It seemed to be… her own name?
Pei Ningle first asked curiously, “Is this your hamster?”
Wang Heng felt that it was hard to put into words.
After struggling for two seconds, he sighed. “If you like it, I can give it to you.”
“No, no, no, how could I…” The girl couldn’t help but ask again, “By the way, do you know me?”
Wang Heng quickly shook his head. “No, of course not.”
“But you just said my name. I saw the shape of your mouth, it seemed to be…”
“No, you’re mistaken. What’s your name?”
“Pei Ningle.”
“What I said was…” Wang Heng said with a straight face, “Pretty cute.”
The girl was stunned for a moment before realizing that if he had been silently saying ‘pretty cute’ (tǐng méng de), it would indeed look very similar to silently saying ‘Pei Ningle’ (Péi Nínglè). Although there seemed to be a slight difference, on second thought, this tiny difference was really hard to judge…
Wang Heng, on the other hand, was silently complaining to himself—This girl is exactly the same as I remember. When talking to others, she often gets hung up on some strange details, her train of thought always a little different from a normal person’s. And in daily life, she would frequently space out, as if she always had an aura of absent-mindedness. But on the other hand, this kid’s musical talent was truly amazing. It was just a pity she started playing music a bit too late.
If she had shown her talent in middle school and then gone to a professional music conservatory for further study, Pei Ningle’s later musical path would not have been so bumpy…
Suddenly, the girl smiled at him. “Oh right, when you said ‘pretty cute’ just now, were you complimenting me?”
Praising a girl is one of the little shortcuts to gaining affection.
Wang Heng was well aware of this, so he decisively shook his head. “No, I was talking about the hamster.”
Pei Ningle didn’t seem to mind. She squatted down and cupped the hamster in her hands. Seeing the little guy obediently sitting in her palm, her big eyes grew even brighter.
She held the little hamster, stood up, and reluctantly handed it back to Wang Heng.
Wang Heng: “If you really like it, I really don’t mind giving it to you.”
Pei Ningle waved her hands. “No, no. I can’t even support myself, let alone a hamster.”
Can’t even support herself?
Wang Heng keenly noticed this detail and realized that she might need some help. But on second thought, since the hamster administrator hadn’t reminded him, it meant that Pei Ningle’s current difficulties should only be temporary and would soon get better, right?
So Wang Heng remained silent.
But the girl spoke again, “What’s its name?”
Wang Heng: “Administrator.”
“What?”
“It is the Chosen One of the Rodentia Order, the King of the Nut Shell Space, the Guardian of the Molar Stone, the Strongest-Mouthed Support, the Devourer of Causality, and its most important identity—the Spacetime Administrator of the Multiverse. In summary, Administrator for short.”
The more serious Wang Heng’s tone was, the more amused Pei Ningle became.
“Hahahaha…” The girl clapped her hands and laughed heartily. “You’re so interesting! By the way, what’s your name?”
Pei Ningle, who usually had no social sense, was actually asking for someone’s name. This phenomenon immediately put Wang Heng on alert. He suddenly realized that his words just now, half-complaint and half-joke, seemed to have resonated with this girl.
The risk had quietly increased a little.
Wang Heng looked down and saw the hamster in his palm staring at him, as if to say: If you deliberately act differently from a normal boy, it will be even worse.
He said in a low voice, “Wang Heng.”
“Is it the ‘Hen’ from ‘scar’ (hén)?”
“That’s a front nasal sound. Mine is a back nasal sound. Besides, what kind of parents would give such an unlucky name… Stop guessing. It’s the ‘Heng’ from ‘balance’ (héng).”
“Your name is Wang Heng, my name is Pei Ningle. It sounds like we’re fated to meet.”
Wang Heng was almost too tired to retort. “What kind of logic is that?”
Pei Ningle rubbed her hands and smiled, finally revealing her true purpose. “Anyway, I’m from out of town, and I just got off the train today and got lost. I only have two yuan left in my pocket, but I’m very hungry, so…”
“You want me to treat you to a meal?”
The girl nodded eagerly, not being polite at all.
Wang Heng: “We just met, only a few minutes ago.”
The girl continued to nod, clearly having no self-awareness at all.
Wang Heng sighed deeply. “Alright, what do you want to eat?”
Pei Ningle immediately raised her hand to answer, “Hot pot!”
He was stunned. “Don’t you think your appetite is a bit too big?”
Perhaps because it had been a while since he had experienced this girl’s style, Wang Heng was actually a little unaccustomed to it. Of course, the more crucial point was that after investing in Bitcoin and paying his tuition and accommodation fees, he only had about 5,000 left in his bank card. A hot pot meal would cost at least one or two hundred, so he naturally couldn’t be so extravagant.
Pei Ningle rubbed the back of her neck and said embarrassedly, “I also think it’s a bit much… but you asked me what I wanted to eat. Since I’m in Rongdu, the thing I want to try the most is definitely hot pot!”
Wang Heng calmed down and asked, “Then, within a budget of twenty yuan, what do you want to eat?”
“Uh… is Golden Arches okay? I saw one when I passed by just now, and the smell of fried chicken made my mouth water. Sorry, sorry, I know this might still be a bit over budget. How about I think of something else?”
“Forget it, this will do.”
Wang Heng didn’t want to get entangled with her any longer. And the best thing about Golden Arches compared to other restaurants was that getting the food and eating it should be very fast, which would allow him to end this unexpected encounter sooner.
“Heehee, thank you so much!” The girl raised her face, her smile brighter than the setting sun.
In the memories of the previous timeline, before the final tragedy, Wang Heng and the girls had of course had their happy times. In his memory, his time with Pei Ningle was always so simple. Even when it was quiet, it was as if they were accompanied by the sound of a shepherd’s flute, leisurely and joyful. Just like the girl’s charming smile at this moment, a little willful, yet with a strange healing quality.
But this feeling was far from enough to shake Wang Heng’s determination.
He silently averted his gaze and muttered three letters under his breath—”TMD.”
Pei Ningle noticed this detail again and couldn’t help but ask, “What did you say just now?”
“Oh, I said… pretty cute.”
“This time it must be a compliment for me, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks!”
***
T/N:
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TMD (他妈的, tā mā de): This is the pinyin abbreviation for a common and strong Chinese curse word, equivalent to “damn it” or “f*ck.”
