Chapter 153

Chapter 153

Luo Yu circled around Bai Xingshu for a while, praising him up and down, finally getting over his excitement at not having seen him for so long.

It wasn’t until then that Luo Yu noticed Shen Geng. His gaze immediately landed on the breast pocket of Shen Geng’s similarly dressed shirt.

There wasn’t a handkerchief there, but a simple pearl pin.

The two had one very obvious commonality.

They were both white.

This subtle matching detail made Luo Yu unconsciously take a few extra glances at the pearl pin.

Today, he had dressed up fashionably, which was precisely why he had immediately noticed Bai Xingshu had dressed up specially.

To put it simply, Luo Yu was wearing a T-shirt paired with a stylish light-blue jacket, looking fresh and young—a perfect look for him. Anyone who saw him couldn’t help but think, “Total hottie.”

But now, seeing Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng’s outfits, Luo Yu suddenly felt like the odd one out.

However, Luo Yu wasn’t one to overthink things, so after feeling briefly awkward, he quickly brushed it off.

After all, once he became aware of Shen Geng’s presence, his first thought was to be fair to both.

Turning to Shen Geng, Luo Yu opened his mouth, ready to give him the same glowing praise he had given Bai Xingshu.

Yet, the moment he actually tried to speak, for some reason, he drew a blank.

He'd been so smooth just seconds ago!!!

Dammit, say something!

After choking out a few awkward seconds of silence, Luo Yu managed to choke out, "Bro Shen, you look really handsome today too."

Bai Xingshu: "..."

Shen Geng: "..."

...

Well, it was pretty hilarious.

The three fell silent for a moment before starting to laugh, one by one.

After joking around a bit, Bai Xingshu raised a hand. "Alright, let’s head out!"

Food! A feast!

Bai Xingshu was pumped.

And so, with great anticipation, Bai Xingshu arrived at the entrance of a restaurant he wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with.

Bai Xingshu had no words.

To put it simply, upon arriving here, Bai Xingshu could easily confirm that Luo Yu really did his homework for this meal.

And the food here was truly as amazing as Luo Yu had promised.

Only problem? Bai Xingshu had been here before.

Teacher Song had taken Bai Xingshu here to eat before.

Out of respect for what Song Xiyan had meant to him, Bai Xingshu hadn’t planned to come here with anyone else afterward.

But Bai Xingshu never expected that Luo Yu would also choose this place for their meal.

It was hard to say whether the food here was truly so exceptional that all elite Alphas considered it great, or if there simply weren’t many outstanding dining options on the whole capital planet.

It felt a little awkward, but Bai Xingshu didn’t want to rain on Luo Yu’s parade, so he kept his thoughts to himself and followed behind Luo Yu with an easy gait.

Stepping into the restaurant, Bai Xingshu let out a small sigh of relief.

The coincidence didn’t extend too far—this time, they were seated in a different section from when he had dined with Song Xiyan before.

As the host, Luo Yu took the initiative to select two signature dishes first, then passed the ordering tablet to Bai Xingshu.

"See if you want to add anything?"

Bai Xingshu reached out to take it, his eyes immediately going to the dishes Luo Yu had already chosen—and then he froze.

They were his two favorite dishes! Bai Xingshu’s eyes lit up.

Never shy with praise, he spoke up right away, not hiding his delight at all: "Xiao Luo, you're amazing!!"

Luo Yu’s lips instantly curved upward. If he'd had a tail, it would've been wagging like crazy at Bai Xingshu’s words.

Indeed, this wasn’t a coincidence—Luo Yu had actually done his research.

Back when they had lived together at the police dorms and often ate together as a trio, Bai Xingshu wasn’t particularly picky, but there were still clear differences between what he liked and disliked. Whenever he ate something he enjoyed, his face would light up every time.

—When not deliberately concealing it, Bai Xingshu was an open book.

Once he'd figured out Bai Xingshu’s preferences, Luo Yu could easily guess which signature dishes he’d enjoy.

Still, without being sure, Luo Yu wasn't fishing for compliments, so he hadn’t planned to bring it up.

Yet Bai Xingshu spotted what he'd done right away, without him even needing to say anything.

This made Luo Yu even happier than if he had pointed it out himself and received praise afterward!

For Bai Xingshu, the compliment was purely instinctive. After saying it, he didn’t dwell on it and simply added two more dishes to the order before passing the tablet to Shen Geng.

Shen Geng took it and glanced down.

His eyes first landed on the two dishes Bai Xingshu had mentioned liking, then shifted to the ones Bai Xingshu had just selected.

Shen Geng froze.

Bai Xingshu had picked two dishes that were clearly Shen Geng's favorites.

All his jealousy melted away. The corners of his normally stoic mouth twitched upward as he quickly selected two dishes that suited Luo Yu’s preferences. Then, to play it cool, he casually asked the other two, "Five dishes and one soup for three people—should be enough, right?"

The two nodded without objection.

"That should do it," Luo Yu said generously as the host. "If it’s not enough, we can always order more later."

While waiting for the food, the three easily slipped into conversation.

To be precise, it was Bai Xingshu and Luo Yu doing most of the conversation, with Shen Geng chiming in a word or two every now and then.

After all, Shen Geng was never the talkative type to begin with.

For Bai Xingshu, the scene of the three of them together was no different from when they were temps.

So, he fell right back into their old rhythm during meals.

Back at the police station, their conversations revolved around the cases they handled that day, but now, they effortlessly shifted to discussing their training sessions over the past month.

Luo Yu’s reactions while piloting the mech, their combat strategies, and the teaching materials included in Bai Xingshu’s gift.

"Your greatest strength in battle is that relentless drive—the absolute belief that you can do it."

"That kind of confidence can also mess with your opponent’s head. That's your edge, so there’s no need to stick to the playbook word for word."

"For example..." Bai Xingshu read out a part from the materials he provided, then explained how Luo Yu should handle the situation at that moment.

Luo Yu paid close attention but didn’t just nod along—he frequently raised his own questions: "I get this part, but during actual combat, your style leans more toward unorthodox moves. I feel this might not work for you. My approach was more like this..."

Both sides broke down their fighting styles, completely absorbed in tactical analysis.

As the accidental host of this meal, Shen Geng had no choice but to take charge of coordinating the dishes as they arrived.

Once all the food was served, Shen Geng spoke up, cutting them off: "Alright, save the rest of this for the dorm. Let’s eat now."

There was a sigh in his voice.

Though Shen Geng had expected from the start that these two knuckleheads wouldn’t turn this into a social event, he hadn’t anticipated it would be this boring.

Who talks about this kind of stuff over a meal?

Bai Xingshu saw no issue with it.

Seriously, this was Luo Yu’s way of thanking him for his guidance! As the one being thanked, wasn’t it only natural to put in the effort?

Absolutely nothing wrong with that!

Feeling completely unbothered, Bai Xingshu confidently reached out with his chopsticks, aiming straight for his favorite grilled lamb ribs.

However, as he lifted them, he noticed two ribs stuck together stubbornly.

He gave them a light shake, but they showed no sign of separating—not even a little.

Luo Yu, observing this, was about to reach out and help separate them.

But before he could act, Bai Xingshu, having reached the same conclusion, simply picked up both ribs at once, then turned his chopsticks and held them out directly in front of Shen Geng.

The motion was so natural, as if Bai Xingshu hadn’t even considered asking Luo Yu for help.

Following Bai Xingshu’s movement, Luo Yu clearly saw the look on Shen Geng’s face that was both exasperated and affectionate as he silently reached out with his chopsticks.

Not a single word was exchanged between the two.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal—except their table was a small round one, and Luo Yu was seated to Bai Xingshu’s right.

By all rights, Luo Yu ought to have been the easier pick.

However...

That feeling of being completely unable to enter Bai Xingshu's world once again surfaced in Luo Yu's heart.

Luo Yu's raised chopsticks gently lowered back down.

A few seconds later.

Luo Yu's competitive fire lit up.

This time doesn't count! Sooner or later, he'd be the person Bai Xingshu trusts the most!

Luo Yu swore to himself, vowing to train harder starting today! He'd stay up all night on the mech battle platform tonight!!

After making this vow, Luo Yu thought of something and looked at the two with confusion.

"Senior, between you and Bro Shen, who's the better mech pilot?"

Luo Yu had added Bai Xingshu as a friend, and of course he wasn't playing favorites—he'd added Shen Geng as well.

Over the past month, the two had gone a few rounds.

Well...

He'd lost to both.

So for Luo Yu, he genuinely couldn't tell the difference in skill between Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng.

But it was probably Bai Xingshu, right?

Luo Yu figured naturally.

And indeed, that was the case.

Bai Xingshu answered without missing a beat: "Me, obviously!"

Shen Geng didn't argue.

As military academy students and roommates, Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng had naturally faced off plenty of times.

Early on, Bai Xingshu was losing more often than not, but later, as his skills improved, Shen Geng rarely won.

This wasn't because Bai Xingshu's mech piloting skills were vastly superior to Shen Geng's, but rather because Bai Xingshu's unconventional tactics were just too much to handle.

For Bai Xingshu, even with just 70-80% of an average pilot's skill, he could put up 150% in a fight.

Shen Geng's talent in this area truly couldn't compare to Bai Xingshu's.

Talent's just unfair like that.

But Bai Xingshu didn't stop there.

He continued, "In one-on-one, I win. Squad vs squad, I'd probably win too." This was Bai Xingshu's comfort zone. "But when it comes to full battalion-level combat, the gap between me and your Bro Shen is huge."

After all, Shen Geng was from the Combat Command Department—comparing their skills was apples and oranges.

Luo Yu wasn't shocked by Bai Xingshu's words.

But favoritism's human nature, and hearing the latter half of Bai Xingshu's statement, Luo Yu couldn't help but feel Bai Xingshu was selling himself short: "Surely the difference isn't that big? After all, your father is legendary in combat command."

At this, Bai Xingshu's face scrunched in confusion: "Huh? Father? I don't have a father?"

Luo Yu stared at Bai Xingshu, his confusion even greater.

Huh??