Ji You had just settled in when a llama suddenly started hopping and jumping her way, its clumsy yet adorable demeanor evoking envy in the onlookers.
"What kind of charm does this girl have to charm Mengmeng ?"
"Mengmeng is usually so cold, not even humphing at anybody when spoken to, ignoring everyone completely. I thought that was just its nature, but I was wrong! It’s not that it’s cold by nature; it just hadn’t met the right person."
"Mengmeng, I misunderstood you."
"Mengmeng, that’s not cute of you."
"Mengmeng, tone it down a bit. You favoring this one person is one thing, but don’t show it off in front of everyone. It really hurts our hearts! Deeply!"
"Mengmeng, you’ve stabbed me in the heart. I need your kisses and hugs and to be lifted high to recover."
In short, the competition hadn’t even started yet, and everyone was already distressed and feeling hurt by the pet favoritism drama stirred up by the store’s mascot llama.
Ji You slumped in her seat, cracking sunflower seeds and petting the llama, while soaking in everyone’s looks of envy and jealousy. She thought the feeling was quite nice; if there were more drinks, beer, peanuts, and mineral water... that would make things even better and more comfortable.
Shen Changqing, Yue Qiyuan, and Xuzhou, from the neighboring seats, had become immune to this spectacle and felt no need to comment.
They were emotionally drained.
Sheng Qingyan was not having any of it. He puffed up his cheeks, glaring at the llama Mengmeng with a peeved expression, and said, "You llama, how can you belittle others? Are others not cute? They are obviously cuter than this poor dead soul. Why wouldn’t you let them touch you even once before?"
Before, when the llama treated everyone equally, there was no grounds for such feelings, but now that Ji You was receiving such blatant favoritism, everyone had a hard time swallowing their pride.
Especially Sheng Qingyan, who couldn’t take it at all.
Last month, he had won the final victory and thought he’d finally get the chance to pet Mengmeng, but what happened? He got kicked away by Mengmeng with a flick of its hoof.
It was maddening for Little Cutie...
Mengmeng the llama, not understanding a word, innocently snuggled up next to Ji You.
Ji You couldn’t stand listening to this any longer and gave a glance, saying, "If it’s not yours, don’t force it. If it’s meant to be yours, it will eventually be yours. So—don’t even think about messing with my Mengmeng, got it? Otherwise..."
—I’ll beat you to death.
—I may not beat you to death, but I’ll curse you to death!
Sheng Qingyan didn’t take Ji You’s threat seriously at all. His eyes were fixed on the obedient Mengmeng by Ji You’s side. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and suddenly he stood up and headed straight for Ji You’s seat.
Ji You looked on guard: "What are you doing? What do you want? I’m warning you! No matter what you’re planning, I won’t let your schemes succeed!"
Sheng Qingyan took one step, two steps, three steps, his strides firm...
A few seconds later, Sheng Qingyan arrived next to Ji You, gave Mengmeng a few glances with his charming eyes while Ji You braced herself with all her might. Then, she saw Sheng Qingyan reach out his hand—
Towards the plate of fruits and seeds on Ji You’s table, grabbing a handful of seeds.
Sheng Qingyan grabbed a handful of seeds, snatched up a drink, and left after dropping a contemptuous remark: "You poor dead soul... hogging all the snacks for yourself, see if you don’t get fat..."
Sheng Qingyan, seeds and drink in hand, walked away muttering and cursing.
Such deplorable behavior is highly contagious, especially when all the other contestants saw that only Ji You’s seat had drinks and seeds for snacking. They all started feeling unbalanced.
The second to take action was Yue Qiyuan; he stood up, strutted over to Ji You, grabbed a handful of seeds and a drink without uttering a word to her, and walked away brazenly.
The third one to act was Shen Changqing. Sitting in his seat, he was actually a bit hesitant, but seeing Sheng Qingyan and Yue Qiyuan cracking sunflower seeds with a crisp sound and the faint aroma of the seeds wafting into Shen Changqing’s nostrils, he found himself inexplicably standing up. When he got to Ji You and grabbed some seeds and a drink, Shen Changqing still felt a bit dizzy. He looked at Ji You, then at the naturally dumb alpaca beside her, fell silent for a second, and murmured, "Thank you."
Thinking a thank you would cover up the fact that you’re a robber?
Since you’re my brother, I suppose I can stomach sharing some seeds with you.
Then, slowly and reluctantly, Xuzhou approached Ji You with a look of embarrassed and shamefaced awkwardness on his face. The moment his fingers reached out, they met Ji You’s pitch-black eyes.
Xuzhou’s fingers paused.
Ji You demanded in a threatening tone, "What do you think you’re doing?" I might not be able to control others, but can’t I control my own son?
That’s utterly ridiculous!
Xuzhou pursed his lips and after a few moments said, "Everyone else has some, but I don’t..."
Somehow, Ji You detected a note of grievance in them. It was like hearing one’s own child complaining, "Barbie, others have candy to eat, why don’t I?"
Ji You got goosebumps and glared at Xuzhou, who was making a face with thick eyebrows and big eyes, trying to act cute and mischievous. She waved him off, "Take it and go!"
Xuzhou, keeping a straight face, reached out with his large hand and grabbed a handful of seeds. His palm was big and his knuckles were prominent; with one handful, he cleared out half the bowl of seeds in Ji You’s fruit dish.
Well, one has to accept the child they’ve acknowledged. What else can I do but spoil him?
Raising a child is hard.
Raising a bratty cub is even harder.
As Ji You was softly sighing, suddenly, the other dozen or so players, seeing Shen Changqing, Sheng Qingyan, Yue Qiyuan, and Xuzhou all cracking seeds taken from Ji You, got their mouths watering uncontrollably with envy.
In an instant, several players stood up and broke ranks.
Ji You sensed trouble.
These people headed straight for Ji You. Reaching her, they unceremoniously grabbed a handful of seeds and even flashed a smile at Ji You, "Big bro, thanks a lot."
Ji You tried her best to be prepared, but still wasn’t able to fend off a dozen robbers.
She was so frustrated she was about to implode.
Seeing all the seeds and drinks on her table disappear, Ji You helplessly glanced at Mengmeng beside her, then again and again, hinting subtly: Mengmeng, hurry and get your master to replenish the seeds and drinks... However, no matter how flirtatiously Ji You signalled, the alpaca Mengmeng couldn’t see the hints.
An alpaca , a scumbag who doesn’t understand human language, should be slaughtered and eaten.