My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 55

When Chen Gu heard Zhang Tongqi announce that “someone is here,” he reluctantly let go of the generator, his face darkening as he rushed outside.

Mu Ning had intended to handle the annoying group herself, but seeing the flicker of curiosity in Ren Chenxi’s eyes, she paused. With a slightly aggrieved tone, she whispered to Ren Chenxi, “Liao Lan is back for more water…”

Liao Lan? The disgusting guy who used Ren Muhui’s name to take advantage of others?

Ren Chenxi’s expression soured instantly. “Ignore him. Kick him out!”

“But I’m afraid he’ll just keep insisting he’s close friends with Ren Muhui…”

Hearing Mu Ning’s concern, Ren Chenxi knew that given Liao Lan’s thick-skinned, shameless nature, he would indeed lie through his teeth about his friendship with her brother. He viewed Mu Ning as a permanent, free reservoir. In Liao Lan’s mind, since Ren Muhui wasn’t around and there were no other close associates in the base to expose him, he wasn’t going to give up his chance to leech off Mu Ning so easily.

At that thought, Ren Chenxi huffed and said to Mu Ning, “Come on, I’m going with you to get rid of this guy! Remember, from now on, if he comes for water, don’t give him a single drop!”

“Alright~” Mu Ning replied, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

As they stepped out of the gate, they were met by a shrill, sarcastic female voice that was currently ranting non-stop.

“Well, well! I was wondering why Senior Mu refused to let us stay in this empty building! It turns out you lot occupied it first? Tang Ying, I see how it is—you certainly moved fast to get on Senior Mu’s good side!”

As the jealous voice trailed off, Tang Ying’s sharp retort followed immediately: “We moved faster than you? Zhang Xiaoxiao, do you even have a brain? You shamelessly stole all our supplies and ditched us in the middle of the night! We were left with no food or water; how could we possibly beat you to the base?”

“Chen-ge, these scumbags betrayed their own people and left them for dead. You shouldn’t give them water anymore!” Yang Xiangrui’s deep voice was thick with anger. “Who knows if they’ll turn around and help Fan Juntian against Senior Mu later!”

Ren Chenxi then saw a man standing next to Liao Lan frantically explaining to Chen Gu: “Chen-ge, don’t listen to their nonsense! They were the ones freezing us out! We only took back our fair share of the supplies before parting ways!”

“Pfft! We froze you out? Li Jie, don’t make me laugh! The water was limited, yet you insisted on wasting it. You drank way more than us on the road, and when we called you out on it, you got pissed and stole everything in the middle of the night!”

“Hah! You just hate us, so of course you’re going to throw dirt on our names! Chen-ge, even if you don’t believe us, you should believe Liao Lan. He’s Senior Ren’s best friend! Senior Mu cares so much about Senior Ren; if she knew his best friend was being slandered like this…”

“And what would happen if I knew?”

Mu Ning’s cold voice cut through the air just as Li Jie habitually brought up Liao Lan’s status as Ren Muhui’s “best friend.”

“Se—Senior Mu, you’re just in time!” Seeing Mu Ning, Li Jie actually had the audacity to play the victim first. “Back then, we asked to stay in the building next door and you refused. So why are these lowlifes like Yang Xiangrui allowed to stay there? Senior Mu, our Liao Lan is Ren Muhui’s roommate and best friend! If he comes back and finds out his friend was treated so poorly…”

“And what if he is treated poorly? Is there a problem?” Ren Chenxi walked to Mu Ning’s side, cutting Li Jie off. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “I didn’t know Liao Lan was my brother’s ‘best friend.'”

With Ren Chenxi’s interruption, Li Jie and his group turned their dissatisfied gazes toward her. However, the moment they saw her face, their eyes widened in unison.

“Ren—Ren Muhui… no, wait! You’re a girl?”

“You called Ren Muhui ‘brother’? You’re his sister?” Liao Lan, who had been posing as the best friend, stared at her in disbelief.

“Calling him ‘Ren Muhui’ so formally… are you sure you’re his friend?” Ren Chenxi crossed her arms and tilted her chin up, looking at Liao Lan with pure disdain.

“You…” Facing this woman who had the exact same face as Ren Muhui, Liao Lan had no choice but to admit she was indeed the sister. But so what? She hadn’t gone to the same school; she had never met him. Surely he could just tell her whatever he wanted and she’d believe it?

With that thought, Liao Lan forced a smile he thought was charming and friendly. “Hello, little sister~ I’m Ren Muhui’s roommate and his best friend. Your brother probably didn’t get a chance to introduce me, so it’s natural you didn’t know about me~” He couldn’t help but notice that this twin-sister version of Ren Muhui was quite stunning.

Watching his shameless attempt at familiarity, Ren Chenxi gave a sarcastic smirk and “kindly” corrected him. “Actually, you’re wrong. My brother did tell me about you~”

“…”

Watching the smile freeze on Liao Lan’s face as intended, she continued, “Not only did he not consider you a friend, he thought you were incredibly annoying. In fact… he told me all about the pathetic things you did in the dorm. Do you want me to repeat them for everyone here?”

Seeing Liao Lan’s face turn pale, Yang Xiangrui cheered her on. “What pathetic things? Tell us, Sister Xi!”

“Oh, you know, my brother might have been a bit too petty. It was just small things—like someone using up his toothpaste, shampoo, and body wash. Or someone stealing spare change, constantly ‘forgetting’ to pay their share of the utility bills, or asking for food and never paying him back…”

“Enough!” Liao Lan interrupted, his face turning a sickly shade of green with rage. “What are you talking about? I never did those things! You never lived in our dorm; how dare you slander me with such lies?”

“Oh? Why so anxious? These aren’t my words; they came from my brother~”

“Your brother, your brother! How do you even know he was telling the truth?”

“Good point!” Ren Chenxi clapped her hands and nodded in agreement. “I never lived there, so I have no idea if what my brother said was true or false…”

Liao Lan’s expression relaxed slightly, but before he could defend himself further, Ren Chenxi added, “So, if what he said was true, then a person as loathsome as you couldn’t possibly be his friend. And if what he said was false… then why would he say such bad things about you? Weren’t you his ‘best friend’?”

“…” Liao Lan’s face darkened again. He glared at her for a long time before choking out, “How should I know what’s wrong with your brother, talking behind people’s backs like that? To think I always considered him a dear friend…”

“So it was just a one-sided thing then? But if you really were his friend, why did you betray him?”

“Wh—what do you mean? What lies are you telling now?” This time, Liao Lan’s expression was visibly panicked.

“Oh, you know, like secretly snitching to Fan Juntian? Telling him that my brother snuck out halfway through a lecture so Fan Juntian could send thugs to corner him?”

Ren Chenxi narrowed her eyes at him. This was actually just a guess, but she remembered being cornered by Fan Juntian’s thugs outside school right after she had slipped away from a common lecture. Back then, she was worried about Tantan, who had just come home from the pet hospital, so she often left early. On that specific day, her other two roommates had skipped the class entirely; only Liao Lan had been there. Compared to her other classmates, she had always suspected this man with the terrible personality. Seeing his guilty expression now, she was certain: Liao Lan was the one who sold her out to Fan Juntian!

“Ah! I bet you were the one who provided Fan Juntian with the drugs to frame my brother, too!”

At this, Liao Lan reacted violently. “Nonsense! Fan Juntian got those drugs from god-knows-where himself! How would I have the means to get drugs—” He stopped mid-sentence, his face turning an ashen gray. “No… no, I…”

“Oh, so you knew Fan Juntian was going to frame my brother with drugs. Instead of warning him, you conspired with Fan Juntian and gave him my brother’s location? After all, getting caught doing drugs off-campus while cutting class would lead to severe punishment. Maybe even expulsion~” Staring coldly at the now-silent Liao Lan, Ren Chenxi spat out every word with venom. “Trash like you has the nerve to call yourself his friend? You used his name to leech water from Mu Ning? Hah! If my brother knew, he’d want nothing more than for you to die of thirst in this wasteland!”

“In that case, let him die of thirst.” Mu Ning spoke up coldly, placing a comforting hand on Ren Chenxi’s back. “Don’t come to me for water anymore. I will not provide it for free, nor will I sell it to you.”

“No… wait… Senior Mu, Liao Lan he…”

“That’s enough! Shut up, you garbage!” Chen Gu added, his face twisted in disgust. “You people are genuinely sickening. You clearly hated the Boss’s boyfriend, yet you used his name to sponge off her? Consider that water a donation to stray dogs. From now on, find someone else to buy from or just shrivel up. You bunch of giant babies—I doubt you have the guts to go out and find your own water.”

“Oh, Chen Gu, did you forget? They have Fan Juntian~” Zhang Tongqi seized the chance to join in on the mockery. “Believe me, now that they can’t leech off our Boss, they’ll go crawling to him in a heartbeat.”

“Right, right! Fan Juntian~ You guys are perfect for each other. Now. get lost!”

“Leave! Scram! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out~ We look forward to hearing the news that you’ve dried up!”

Tang Ying and Yang Xiangrui waved them off with mock politeness. Given that these were the people who had stolen their food and water, the only reason they hadn’t beaten them to a pulp was the base’s rule against fighting.

“Hey! If you won’t give us water, fine, but why curse us!” Zhang Xiaoxiao, who had been arguing with Tang Ying earlier, started tearing up, looking as if she were the victim of a great injustice.

“Is it a curse?” Yang Xiangrui shrugged innocently. “We’re just helping you predict your future~”

“You…” Li Jie glared at Yang Xiangrui, his face twisted in a dark scowl. “You just wait. One day, you’ll fall into our hands!”

“Ooh, I’m so scared!” Yang Xiangrui shivered playfully. “We’ve already been betrayed by ungrateful wolves like you once. We’ll be very careful to make sure it never happens again~”

The mention of “ungrateful wolves” reminded Chen Gu of Chen Jia’s injuries. He added bitterly, “Ungrateful is an understatement! You hurt our Xiao Jia so badly, didn’t even give her medicine, and then had the gall to come here for water every day? Oh, and where’s Dong Ting? Too ashamed to show her face? She’s still hiding at home using our Boss’s water, isn’t she!”

Li Jie could talk back to Yang Xiangrui, but against the far more powerful Chen Gu, he could only swallow his anger. Finally unable to take it anymore, he turned and stormed off.

With Li Jie gone, Liao Lan couldn’t stay. Seeing Mu Ning’s resolute expression, he knew the well had truly run dry. He gave Ren Chenxi one last resentful glare before following the others.

With the main leeches gone, Zhang Xiaoxiao and the rest of the group left empty-handed under the scornful gazes of the crowd. Before leaving, Zhang Xiaoxiao spat out one last petty line: “What’s the big deal? You aren’t the only water-ability user in the base!”

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