My game, Orange Flavor, is great!

"It's no trouble at all, just a small favor," she replied with a smile, then took the water and went out the door first.

Si Ling followed closely behind her, watching Lu Zhao's back with great interest.

The prey being watched was far too unguarded, brazenly allowing herself to approach. However, she did not reject Lu Zhao's attitude; on the contrary, she was even secretly pleased.

"Captain Lu... Lu Zhao, slow down, don't hurt your foot." Seeing the bucket bumping against her foot, Si Ling gently reminded her.

If you heal someone in a dream a few times, even the most unsuspecting person will start to doubt you.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Ambiguous Dreams

Lu Zhao, who temporarily took on the role of water deliveryman, delivered the water buckets to the neighbor's house. He rubbed his slightly sore fingers and watched as Si Ling struggled to carry the water buckets inside with both hands. Unable to bear it any longer, he stepped forward and offered a helping hand.

"Be careful, spilling water will be a big problem," she whispered, trying her best to keep her attention away from their hands that had accidentally touched.

A hint of a smile appeared in Si Ling's eyes. She lowered her gaze and softly replied, "Thank you."

The two of them worked together to carry the bucket to the living room, and Lu Zhao finally had a chance to take a look around. Unlike the modern style of her home, the decoration here was obviously much more luxurious, and every place was filled with the aura of money.

She tried to ignore the fact that a bookshelf designed by a famous designer and priced in the six figures that she had seen in a magazine was now here, but her heart started pounding.

This bookshelf alone is worth a year's income for her; indeed, everyone else living here, except her, is either rich or powerful.

She sighed, then felt something was off. Logically, a family like that would hire many movers to help them move, or even not need to bother the homeowner at all.

As if reading her mind, Si Ling squatted down to scoop water while explaining, "I recently moved to this city because a friend introduced me to this job, so I'm just killing time now, so I decided to do it myself."

Lu Zhao suddenly realized, and then smiled and said, "Miss Si is so outstanding that she even does such trivial things herself."

"Si Ling." She suddenly repeated her name.

Lu Zhao looked at her with slight surprise, then heard Si Ling continue, "This is my name, you can call me that too."

As she spoke, her eyes remained lowered. Because she needed to clean, she took off her light brown trench coat after entering the house, revealing only a white shirt underneath.

From Lu Zhao's angle standing by the sofa, he couldn't see her expression clearly, but he could see the slender, pale wrist revealed when her shirt sleeves were rolled up.

She swallowed unconsciously, feeling that she was a little thirsty.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now." She had bought an incredibly expensive water bottle earlier and was starting to miss it.

Si Ling then stood up, a shy and grateful smile on her face. "Then thank you for carrying the water for me. If you're not busy, could I treat you to dinner tonight? As a way of repaying you."

what?

Lu Zhao blinked in surprise, about to decline by saying that someone would be coming home for dinner later, but before he could say anything, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

She quickly picked up her phone to take a look, and her body stiffened again when she saw what it said.

"Ah Zhao, take care of your own dinner. I have a lot of reports to work on lately, so I need to work overtime."

It was a text message from the young lady.

That's it, now there's no excuse.

She thought to herself, then looked up and met those hopeful eyes. Her heart softened inexplicably, and she nodded as if possessed.

"Okay, see you tonight."

"Okay, see you tonight!"

She turned and left at almost breakneck speed. As soon as she stepped outside, the howling wind chilled her heart, which had been bubbling with pink joy. She pulled her coat tighter and ran out into the sudden cold.

She remained restless for the rest of the afternoon, her mind constantly shifting between thoughts of Si Ling's gentle and shy demeanor in real life and her earlier dream...

She collapsed onto the sofa, hugging a cushion and letting out a venting scream without any regard for her image.

Why did she have such a terrible dream?! It's made her so nervous when she's around Si Ling in person!

In her dream, Si Ling was pinned against the wall of an alley, surrounded by the shouts of food vendors. Clearly, it was the scene from the last time she encountered him.

However, from this point on, dreams and reality become very different.

“Captain Lu…” Si Ling smiled gently, her slender white fingers tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Her shimmering eyes lazily lifted, and she pulled almost the entire soft body into her arms. “What are you doing?”

Lu Zhao didn't know what she was thinking in her dream, but she didn't dodge, and even grabbed her overly slender wrist and pressed it against the wall.

His other hand encircled her slender, smooth waist, gently caressing it through her clothes.

She stared intently into Si Ling's eyes, as if she were handling a priceless treasure, and then gently kissed her...

Can't think any more!

Lu Zhao sat up, her face flushed, shaking her head frantically in an attempt to banish those images from her mind. However, some things cannot be accomplished simply by thinking about them more.

However, when she was there earlier, she did see that Si Ling's waist was very slender.

In my memory, the waistline hidden beneath the white shirt seemed absolutely perfect. I wonder if touching it would give me the same feeling as in my dreams...

Wait, what is she thinking now!

Lu Zhao was so shocked by her own lewd thoughts that she immediately jumped up from the sofa. Her heart was beating extremely fast, in a frightening way, as if it was about to jump out of her throat.

I can't think about it anymore. To fantasize about a woman who is barely recognizable is worse than being a scoundrel!

She strode to the restroom and splashed cold water on her face. Instantly, the icy sensation invigorated her, and all her ambiguous thoughts vanished.

Lu Zhao was just letting out a long breath when he heard the doorbell ring again.

Her heart skipped a beat. She hastily wiped her face and rushed to open the door. Sure enough, Si Ling was at the door. She quickly put on her usual smile and asked, "Is everything ready at home?"

"That's about it. Thank you for your help." Si Ling had changed into a cotton coat, which made her look less thin.

She curved her lips into a smile, her gaze lingering on Lu Zhao for a moment before settling on the tiny bit of water stain on his chin that he hadn't had time to wipe away.

Lu Zhao was taken aback. Following her gaze, he touched his chin and then noticed a few drops of cold water clinging to his neck. He blushed instantly and stammered, "Ah... I took a nap earlier and washed my face when I woke up. I'm sorry you had to see this!"

As he spoke, he nervously gripped his trouser leg tightly.

Perhaps even Lu Zhao herself didn't realize that she cared a lot about her image in front of Si Ling, more than she did when facing anyone else.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Is This Considered a Date?

Lu Zhao quickly went back to his room to change his clothes. He stood in front of the mirror for a long time, examining himself before finally leaving the room, feeling that he looked somewhat satisfied.

"I just moved to this city and haven't settled in yet. Does Captain Lu know of any restaurants worth visiting nearby?" Although he had been waiting for a long time, Si Ling didn't show any dissatisfaction, which relieved Lu Zhao's tense mood considerably.

She thought about it carefully. Since many restaurants were having Christmas promotions, she said, "A Western restaurant I frequent recently launched a new set menu for two. Shall we try it?"

Si Ling naturally had no objections.

As the two left the residential area, Lu Zhao blinked in surprise when he saw that all the shops around them were decorated with various Christmas ornaments.

Before this, she hadn't realized that Christmas was coming soon because she had been too busy lately and there wasn't much of a festive atmosphere on the streets. But now that Si Ling was here, all the festive spirit had come out.

She pretended to look at her phone, but actually secretly and carefully observed the woman next to her, unconsciously exhaling a breath of hot air.

"Hmm? Is there something on my face?" Si Ling noticed her gaze and stopped to ask.

"Ah! No, no!" Lu Zhao panicked immediately, hurriedly turning his head away and explaining in a flustered manner, "I wasn't looking at you... oh no, I just glanced at you by accident... oh, that doesn't seem right either!"

Seeing her inexplicably fall into a state of frantic frustration, Si Ling couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle for a while. She stretched out her slender finger and, while Lu Zhao was still struggling with how to explain, gently poked him.

The sound stopped abruptly.

Lu Zhao stared blankly at the girl in front of him with a faint smile, his face gradually growing hotter.

“That evens things out.” Si Ling winked at her, then lowered her hand and tried to walk towards the road ahead, but found that the green light sign had suddenly changed color, so she stopped and waited patiently.

It felt cool on my face.

Lu Zhao stood dumbfounded beside her, subconsciously touching the cold skin that had just been touched, and his heart began to pound again.

It's such a normal action, so why is her reaction so strange?

Could she have fallen under some kind of spell again? No, Si Ling said her ability isn't spellcasting, and even her eyes are just naturally like that…

And she didn't look the other person in the eye!

His mind was a complete mess. Only when the car in front of him gradually stopped did Lu Zhao mechanically lift his leg, intending to cross the pedestrian crossing. But as soon as he took a step, a fast-moving black shadow suddenly darted out in front of him.

"careful!"

A strong force pulled her arm from behind, unexpectedly pulling her body back. Lu Zhao's pupils contracted slightly as she was pulled back several steps by the force before she saw a bicycle that had almost hit her because it couldn't brake in time, along with its owner, fall to the ground.

"Ouch, it hurts so much..."

The cyclist grimaced and rubbed his thigh as he stood up. He looked around and quickly spotted the culprit who had caused him to fall. He stormed over and yelled at her, "Aren't you watching where you're going?!"

This was the first time Lu Zhao had ever seen someone turn the tables on someone like this. She instantly understood the whole story and her face darkened. Just as she was about to teach this middle-aged man a lesson, a slender hand suddenly stopped her.

Si Ling?

She looked at the person in surprise, only to find that Si Ling, who had been smiling just moments before, now had a frosty expression, with a hint of anger flickering in her eyes, completely devoid of her usual gentleness.

Si Ling... is she angry because of her?

Just when she thought Si Ling was about to say something to the man, he suddenly smiled and took out two bright red banknotes from his pocket and handed them over, saying, "I'm sorry you got hurt, consider this as medical expenses."

The man was also somewhat surprised, but he assumed that the two girls in front of him were naive little girls who had cowered in front of him. So he smugly reached out and took the two banknotes, and said loudly, "Little girl, next time tell your companion to watch the road!"

After saying that, he pocketed the money, got on his bike, and rode away.

Lu Zhao watched the man's retreating figure, clenching his fists in anger. However, he didn't want to speak harshly to Si Ling, so he patiently said, "That person ran a red light. I don't need to apologize to him, much less pay him to settle things. If you do this every time, it will only encourage people to break the rules. It's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

"Yes, you're right." Si Ling nodded, gave her a gentle smile, her eyes still slightly red. "But I don't want unimportant people to ruin the atmosphere of our outing."

"This..." Lu Zhao was speechless for a moment, looking at her with mixed feelings. After a long while, he seemed to have barely let go of the matter and said in a low voice, "Thank you for earlier."

In any case, if it weren't for Si Ling, she would have fallen to the ground with that man.

Moreover, everyone has different attitudes and methods when facing the same thing. As long as it doesn't cross the line, she can't really criticize it.

To be honest, if she had been the one to negotiate, she probably wouldn't have been able to have dinner. From this perspective, Si Ling was also thinking of her.

Looking at the pair of eyes that were faintly red, she tried hard to find a reason for Si Ling. After finally convincing herself, she turned to look at the indicator light that was about to turn green and reminded her, "Let's go."

Stepping onto the sidewalk, Lu Zhao glanced at Si Ling, who looked visibly disappointed, sighed inwardly, and reached out to grasp her fingers, which had been exposed to the cold air.

"Lu Zhao?" A puzzled voice sounded from the person beside him.

She kept her eyes fixed on the sidewalk in front of her and explained in a calm voice, "It's safer this way."

Although she didn't turn her head, she could still feel that Si Ling's slight unease and loss vanished the moment she spoke.