To bring or not to bring Shi Li along.

This was a dilemma as profound as Hamlet's "to be or not to be."

Whether to bring her or not, both options seemed reasonable.

Gu Yuqing, who advocated for bringing Shi Li along, first presented her opinion.

[The truth can't be hidden forever. Shi Li will definitely find out through some channels that we went to Yaojing's house, but didn't bring her or even ask for her opinion.]

[At best, she'll feel isolated by us; at worst, she might become suspicious of us.]

[I believe neither of these outcomes is what any of us want.]

Gao Yun had been immersed in an ocean of knowledge all day, missing both Xue Xuejia's father's farewell party and the group dinner.

She could only vaguely guess the day's events through the chat group after finishing her classes.

Upon seeing Gu Yuqing's message, Gao Yun silently thought, "Why say only Shi Li didn't go? Aren't Shi Li and I both in the same boat?"

"I've missed even more group activities because of my extra classes. Does anyone even care about my existence?"

She had completely forgotten about that scoundrel now; the only thing that could make her anxious was probably an afternoon without classes!

Gu Yuqing's words gained unanimous agreement from everyone.

Initially, they didn't want to invite Shi Li along purely out of guilt, fearing her suspicion.

Gu Yuqing was right; keeping everything secret would only breed more suspicion.

By laying everything out in the open and acting with integrity, even if Shi Li became suspicious, it could only be seen as a coincidence.

So, a few days later, Shi Li received an invitation to have dinner at Duan Yaojing's house.

"My grandparents are out traveling, and I'm alone at home. I thought it would be nice to invite a few people over for a get-together, to liven things up a bit."

"My uncle visited us recently and brought two packages of homemade hot pot base. It's incredibly fragrant, and I thought it would be cozy for everyone to have hot pot together in winter. Would you like to come?"

Shi Li, being naturally fond of lively gatherings, was of course willing when she heard about everyone getting together.

"Which day is it? I'm afraid I might not have time."

But upon hearing the date, wasn't that the night when the creep was supposed to show up at Duan Yaojing's house?

[I must go, I absolutely must go, I'll overcome any obstacle to be there!]

She didn't know that everyone had already planned to stay overnight at Duan Yaojing's house.

[That night, I'll definitely not be able to handle my alcohol and have to stay over]

Duan Yaojing: There's no need to be so excited, really.

Gu Yuqing: She really wants to come, as we guessed. For the sake of Shi Li's grand plan to stay overnight, should I bring a couple of cans of alcohol? But drinking is bad for health. At her age, she might even get tipsy from AD calcium milk.

All the classmates, except for Gao Yun, had already told their families the day before that they were going to a classmate's house for dinner, might stay overnight, and not to worry or send drivers to pick them up after school.

After school, the four of them took a car together towards Duan Yaojing's house.

Duan Yaojing had gone to great lengths a few days earlier to persuade her grandparents to go on a trip.

She had also prepared fresh hot pot ingredients in advance, along with enough pots, bowls, and utensils.

Duan Yaojing: There's no choice, since the excuse for inviting Shi Li was to have hot pot. And since everyone in their class was coming, the last time she saw thirty sets of bowls and chopsticks was at a banquet in the countryside.

This was truly a sweet burden.

After entering, Shi Li took out a small box from her backpack.

"The last time I walked you home, I realized you live in an old neighborhood, and with elderly people. A household of women, children, and the elderly might not be very safe, so I brought you a small surveillance camera."

The others knew why Shi Li had brought this, and didn't think she was showing off by being the only one to bring a gift.

Instead, they thought Shi Li's gesture was very thoughtful. With the camera installed, they could watch for the creep from the bedroom without having to leave the lights on in the living room, which might deter him from coming.

Everyone: We brought gifts too, a baseball bat each ＼＼\\٩('ω')و//／／

Duan Yaojing: Alright, enough with your superpowers.

Everyone was worried that someone might forget to bring a bat, so to be safe, even the classmates who weren't assigned to bring bats had brought one.

As a result, everyone except Shi Li and Duan Yaojing had brought one with them.