The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

144 It's (Not) Difficult to Make Friends

Fan Mei wasn't convinced but there was no point in trying to make a person in love see what kind of trash they were swooning over. You just couldn't get through to them. You had to wait until they were able to see it themselves.

Thinking this way, she didn't insist on continuing the topic. In fact, she didn't even continue to ask about Si Yi and Si Jin. She would have loved to just to maybe find a clue or put her suspicions to rest for real but she didn't think that Si Qi deserved to be put through that. He might love to tell her all about Si Yi but it would needlessly hurt him.

As much as Fan Mei could be a nightmare to the people she opposed, she was also somebody who was great to the people she liked. Somehow, despite his affiliation with Si Jin and Si Yi, Si Qi had managed to squeeze his way into the latter camp. Of course, she wouldn't do something that she could see would hurt him like that.

Suddenly changing the topic would seem too strange though so she thought for a bit and finally found the easiest way to turn it around. "Speaking of Mister Xiao, I was a bit surprised today. He is the same on the show as he is in his live streams."

Si Qi noticed her deliberate change in topics but pretended not to. "He is. I can't say I'm surprised. When I met him outside, he was exactly the same. Your thoughts on this are probably quite different but to me, he was very ... empathetic. He listened and let me vent even though he didn't really know me or Si Yi. It felt good."

"You don't have anyone to talk about this normally?" Fan Mei furrowed her brows. He had indicated that he felt like he didn't fit in but she had thought that maybe this was a thing of the past. Now, it seemed that it wasn't.

Si Qi sighed. "No. You'll laugh at me for this but most of the people I know are also acquainted with Si Yi in one way or another. It'd be awkward to mention it. I was never somebody who had many friends. That hasn't changed. I just ... I don't connect with people easily. I don't know why."

Yes, this was indeed a problem for him. Part of it was surely the Si clan and the secrecy surrounding it. That made it difficult to fit in with regular people. But even in the clan itself, he had trouble getting along with the others. His relationships were all shallow. The best one was probably still with Si Shi Yi but that was also because they both loved artsy things. It didn't go further than that.

The others though, they didn't seem to have this problem. Nobody was close to everyone but there were always one or two people they were closer to. Well, other than Si Er maybe but he was weird in the first place. And they also had connections to the outside world. It seemed that he was the only one who was stuck not knowing what to do with himself.

Fan Mei gave a hum. "Well, that just means it takes some more effort. What are you doing next week?"

Si Qi looked at her, his eyes turning round. "Next week?" Why? He really wanted to ask but he didn't dare to. "Uh ..." Considering that they still had the order to go out and mingle, he should find something valuable to do. But it wasn't like he had had much luck with that last week either. "Actually, I'm not sure. I might be a bit of a homebody."

"Well, that's really not conducive to meeting people. You should go out more. What are things you like doing?"

Si Qi stared at Fan Mei, not sure what to think. He had invited her to have this talk for the Si clan. Now, it seemed that she wanted to coach him on how to make friends? How had this happened?

He had trouble keeping up with the change but as the ninja ranking number seven in the Si clan, he was also somebody who could regain control of his emotions and thoughts fast. "If I do feel like going out, then I am definitely somebody who is more inclined to quieter things. I loved going to that bookstore last week, for example. I also enjoy anything cultural. A book reading, a concert, an exhibition at a gallery or in a museum ... I could spend hours doing these types of things." He gave a smile, a genuine one for once, just thinking of the times he did something like that.