I Don’t Want To Be Popular - Chapter 27
Chapter 27: A Tree Would Not Persuade Its Leaves To Stay
“Internet-famous attraction, Sansheng Bridge, check-in completed (2/15)”
…
“Internet-famous attraction, Nanchuan Golden Buddha Mountain, check-in completed (7/15)”
…
Wu Jiayi took a photo of Chen Chuan.
She then asked a female tourist’s assistance to take a group photo of Chen Chuan and herself.
After the tourist had taken the photo, she said enviously, “Both of you look really good, you are a good match! Are you an internet celebrity checking in here? Do you have a TikTok account? I’ll follow you.”
Wu Jiayi smiled shyly. “No, no, we’re just ordinary friends.”
She took her phone and looked at the photos. She then nodded and said, “That’s not bad. My roommates will probably blow up if I post it on my Moments.”
“Post on Moments? If you dare to post it, then I’ll dare to post it too,” Chen Chuan said in a good mood.
“Okay, I’ll post it, and whoever doesn’t post is a dog!” Wu Jiayi shouted.
Evening.
Wu Jiayi took Chen Chuan to her hometown, White Horse Town’s Phoenix Village.
The sunset shined with an afterglow.
The car stopped in front of a quaint old house. The walls were built with bricks which had marks mottled on them from all the years.
Chen Chuan leaned against the car and looked at the old houses scattered among the green mountains and waters. Rows of old buildings were bathed in pale golden color, and there was the sound of children speaking in dialects. There were also occasional dog barks. The scene looked like an ancient painting.
The firewood had been erected at an empty land in the middle of the village. A red drum had been placed beside the firewood.
Chen Chuan had seen this bonfire-party scene on television before.
After a while, a lady walked out of an old house. Chen Chuan almost could not recognize her. She wore a tube top made by wrapping a red cloth and a red cloak together. She had a slender waist and limbs as well as a light body, just like a dancer performing on stage.
“It’s, it’s the designated driver?” Chen Chuan recognized that she was Wu Jiayi who had changed her clothing.
Unexpectedly, after taking off her black tights and putting on this traditional Chinese style clothing, the girl had a simple, natural, and mysterious temperament.
“Is it alright? Do I look good?” Wu Jiayi did a spin and her red sleeves whirled along.
“What are you doing? Are you going to dance at the bonfire party?” Chen Chuan was curious.
“You’ll know later, and it’s getting dark soon.” Wu Jiayi smiled mysteriously.
As night fell, smoke floated from the bonfire.
All the villagers of Phoenix Village came out, lit the bonfire, sang songs, and danced. The local dialect songs carried a different type of feeling.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of drum beats spread in the night.
Chen Chuan heard the sound and saw that the person playing the drum was Wu Jiayi. She moved her arms and swung the drum sticks to beat the drum. It had a stable and rhythmic beat.
The blasting drum beats created waves in his originally nonchalant heart.
This reminded Chen Chuan of that song. “You make waves~”
In the pulsating red flame, her snow-white waist could be vaguely seen, and her long hair in a ponytail swung around. Her graceful figure was full of enchantment. Who would have thought that this was the designated driver with road rage during the day?
Chen Chuan felt like a scholar who had accidentally walked into a fox’s cave, mainly because this girl’s drumming figure was too good.
He took out his mobile phone and recorded a section as a remembrance.
He wanted to upload it to his Moments, but after thinking about it, he did not. What if this was a taboo in their village?
He saw an update on his Moments. Wu Jiayi had updated their Moments a few hours ago.
It was a photo of the two at the Golden Buddha Mountain.
In the photo, Wu Jiayi did a peace sign next to her eyes. She lifted a leg and leaned against Chen Chuan. The posture showed off her good figure, and the effect of elongating her legs was perfectly captured. Her legs looked like they were at least 1.2 meters.
‘Hah! The girl really posted the photo on Moments.’
Chen Chuan had not posted it. ‘Wasn’t that a joke? She actually posted it.’
“Internet-famous attraction, Phoenix Village’s Bonfire Party check-in completed (9/15)”
Chen Chuan was surprised because it looked like the village was also considered as an attraction.
He had dinner after watching the bonfire party. Although it was simple, it tasted good.
It was getting late, but fortunately, there was a national highway next to the Phoenix Village. Chen Chuan would be able to reach Wulong District by driving along the national highway for 10 minutes.
He said to Wu Jiayi, “Thank you for the hospitality. The bonfire party was very exciting and your drum dance was also very nice. I’ll go to a hotel in Wulong District to sleep for the night. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning to continue the journey of visiting more attractions”
Wu Jiayi nodded and said generously, “It’s up to you, but you can also stay at my house for the night. Although the conditions here are average, I can still clean up a room for you to stay.”
The moon was beautiful, and the calm moonlight was quietly shining onto the courtyard.
Chen Chuan and Wu Jiayi stood opposite each other. Wu Jiayi wore a jacket over her red clothing because it was cold at night in the mountains.
The two looked at each other for a minute, Chen Chuan waved his hands and said, “Well, this is awkward. I’m going to go now. It’s midnight already, aren’t you going to persuade me to stay?”
In reality, Chen Chuan did not have much confidence driving at night.
Wu Jiayi said, “I did persuade you to stay, I said that I can clean up a room for you to stay.”
“Then have you cleaned it up yet?”
“You haven’t decided on where you want to stay yet, right?”
“…fine, then I’m leaving.” Chen Chuan stopped after taking two steps, turned back, and said, “I always feel that you’re not enthusiastic enough, don’t I deserve to stay?”
Wu Jiayi was taken aback, she pressed her lips together and said with a smile, “It seems like you’re pretty confident in yourself eh?”
Chen Chuan thought, ‘Why shouldn’t I?’
Wu Jiayi said, “Okay, what’s with the petty look? You got to know, I’m a designated driver so I’ll inevitably meet some people. You’re really good, but there are tons of people in this world, right? There are always better people. Now I’ll invite you again to sleep at my house for the night. I’ll clean up a room for you, I’ll do it now.”
“Thank you, but I’ve already booked a hotel in Wulong. See you tomorrow.” Chen Chuan waved and said goodbye.
He then got into his car, started it, turned into the national highway, and drove towards town.
He stopped his car halfway and pushed the door down. He then took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. It was the local specialty cigarette, Longfeng Chenxiang. He bought it when he visited attractions during the day for 30 yuan a box.
He usually did not smoke much, but he needed one this time.
In the silent mountains, there were the occasional sounds of birds chirping, and the bright moon hung above the dense mountains.
He felt at ease even though he was alone on the road late at night because he had the [Four Dreams of Linchuan]. However, he knew that in the case that something really happened, this piece of wood may not be of any use.
He closed his eyes to check his current status.
“Name: Chen Chuan”
“Age: 19”
“Skill: Magical Makeup Skill with Permanent Double Expenditure Cash Return”
“Props: [White Heaven and Earth Bag], [Four Dreams of Linchuan]”
“Money: 16.68 million”
“Charm: 120”
“Reputation: 8”
“Ringwraith Limitation: Level 5”
“Next Unlockable Limitation: Level 6”
Chen Chuan thought to himself, ‘It seems like a charm of 120 is insufficient as am I still feeling a little left out? Or maybe I’m just overthinking it, maybe that’s just her personality?’
Chen Chuan suddenly noticed that there was ‘Reputation’ in his panel. He had finally gained Reputation, but it only had a value of 8?
He started to think about how this 8 was calculated.
Then, another message appeared in his mind:
“Reputation Gained from the Respect of People Around: 4”
“Reputation Gained from Being Liked by People Around: 3”
“Reputation Gained from Natural Growth: 1”
“Reputation value will be concluded every 50 days and will increase by 1 point naturally.”
After reading the information, Chen Chuan understood the general idea of gaining Reputation. However, he could not see who were the people who respected and liked him.
‘That’s so slow, it’s been 50 days since I came here, yet I only gained 8 Reputation points…’ Chen Chuan thought as he smoked a cigarette.
At that moment, a message appeared:
“The Reputation Mall will open on the Conclusion Day.”
“Current items in the mall: [Reputation Card], [Charm Comb]”
“[Reputation Card] (Rare): After purchase, you will automatically gain 100 Reputation points. The price is 15 million.”
“[Charm Comb]: A comb made of Kunlun Yellow Pear Wood, each time you comb your hair, you can get 5 additional Charm points. It lasts 30 minutes with a Cooldown Time of 12 hours. The price is 1.2 million.”
After he saw the two items, Chen Chuan cursed in his heart and thought that the Ringwraith System really knew how to make money. However, he did not hesitate to buy the two items. He had full confidence regarding money.
“You bought the [Reputation Card] and gained 100 Reputation points, currently at 108 Reputation points.”
Seeing that the prestige had risen to 108 points, Chen Chuan felt that this was not a loss. Although 15 million was not a small amount, Reputation was hard to get, so it was not too bad that he could gain it by spending money.
As for the [Charm Comb], if he had it in Wu Jiayi’s courtyard earlier, and took it out to comb his hair on the spot, would she go clean the room for him without saying a word?