Chapter 26: Going Further Down the Path of Madness

**Chapter 26: Going Further Down the Path of Madness**

"Alright, it's confirmed that the battery is faulty, right, young man?"

The repair shop owner said this while looking at Lin Qingshan, who was standing before him with an annoyed expression.

Lin Qingshan had Pochita strapped to his chest, and Gu Qianli stood behind him. After ensuring the laptop rebooted successfully and had no issues, he nodded.

He nodded his head and, without feeling the least bit embarrassed by the owner's annoyed expression, smiled and said, "Thank you, boss!"

He then pulled out his wallet from his backpack and handed three hundred-yuan bills to the owner.

Gu Qianli was taken aback and was just about to stop him, but Lin Qingshan had already handed the money over.

"Don't forget to give me change, boss."

He didn't forget to remind him.

"I know."

The owner, now with a dark expression, confirmed that the money was genuine before turning around to grab a ten-yuan bill and handed it back to Lin Qingshan.

Lin Qingshan then carefully inspected the ten-yuan bill in his hand, as if worried it might be counterfeit.

The owner couldn't take it anymore and said, "Customer, if your laptop is fixed, please leave. I still have a business to run here."

In fact, at this moment, the only people in his shop were Lin Qingshan and Gu Qianli.

Lin Qingshan wasn't bothered. He chuckled, put the laptop back in his bag, and exchanged a glance with Gu Qianli.

Gu Qianli understood immediately and walked alongside Lin Qingshan.

Only then did they leave the electronics mall.

The owner watched as Lin Qingshan and Gu Qianli walked away, muttering to himself, "Just made a small profit. Why do these young college students date these days? Them dating makes me lose so much money."

"My money!"

He had told the young lady earlier that her laptop's graphics card might be damaged and that it needed to be replaced, quoting a price of 8,000 yuan, with a discount down to 7,800.

He had a few used GTX 690 graphics cards on hand, and replacing it could have easily earned him a profit of 5,000 yuan. If he could take away the "broken" graphics card from the young lady, it would have been a profit of over 10,000 yuan.

Unexpectedly, her boyfriend showed up, asked a series of knowledgeable questions, and even demanded an on-the-spot diagnostic test.

There was no way to scam the young lady anymore, so he had to replace the battery as per normal repair procedures.

The owner was a seasoned professional with a thick skin.

He knew he couldn't scam Gu Qianli, but he still thickened his skin and completed the repair job.

However, he sincerely hoped that college girls across the world would stop dating, so he could make more money.

At this moment, Gu Qianli was unaware of the owner's complaints and was hurriedly walking away.

After walking for a while, she sensed something was wrong and turned back to see Lin Qingshan still leisurely walking.

"Qingshan, why aren't you in a hurry to leave?"

Gu Qianli walked back to Lin Qingshan's side and asked in a low voice, somewhat puzzled.

Lin Qingshan looked at her, puzzled, "Why should we hurry?"

His voice wasn't much louder than Gu Qianli's, but it carried an air of natural ease and calmness.

"You... I..."

Gu Qianli was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say.

"That shop owner's look was a bit off; aren't you worried?" she asked, somewhat helplessly.

"Worried about what? We were just normal customers earlier. We didn't scam the owner. It was a fair transaction; there's no need to be so anxious."

Lin Qingshan replied nonchalantly.

"Ah?"

Gu Qianli thought about it for a moment and realized that he had a point.

Why was she anxious? It was just a normal transaction.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that owner still made a profit with the 290 yuan I paid him."

Lin Qingshan smiled and said.

Although he didn't know the current market price for laptop batteries, it was impossible for the owner not to profit.

Even when he revealed that he was knowledgeable, the owner would still find a way to make money.

They didn't owe the owner anything, so why be anxious?

"Well… alright."

Gu Qianli finally sighed in relief.

"But…"

She then looked at Lin Qingshan and said, "Thank you for paying earlier. I'll give you back the money."

Lin Qingshan waved his hand, refusing the money she wanted to return. "I don't mind. I'm not really interested in money, besides…"

"Woof, woof!"

Lin Qingshan suddenly barked twice, which startled Gu Qianli.

Even Pochita looked at him strangely from the pet carrier.

Nearby passersby and shop owners in the electronics mall also looked at Lin Qingshan and Gu Qianli with strange expressions.

They were probably thinking that young people these days are really something else.

"You… what are you doing, Qingshan?"

Gu Qianli asked, clearly embarrassed.

She suddenly remembered that in the West, there are some perverts who enjoy playing sadistic and masochistic games, commonly referred to as SM.

Were she and Lin Qingshan going to be mistaken as those kinds of perverts now…?

"Doggy is man's best friend!"

Lin Qingshan chuckled.

[Translator: sauron]

Gu Qianli opened her mouth, full of confusion. "What…"

She thought for a moment and then hesitantly said, "Qingshan, were you trying to say that we are friends?"

"Aren't we?"

Lin Qingshan said with a pitiful expression.

"No… wait, yes, yes, yes, we are friends."

Gu Qianli was exasperated. She couldn't understand Lin Qingshan's bizarre train of thought.

It seemed… Lin Qingshan might really have a screw loose?

But he had always seemed so normal.

And if Lin Qingshan knew what she was thinking, he would probably strongly argue—

Having a screw loose doesn't necessarily mean being stupid.

One could be crazy instead!

And being crazy doesn't mean being stupid, right?

"But expressing yourself as a dog is just… wrong."

"Indeed."

Lin Qingshan pondered for a moment and then said seriously, "If it's like being a 'simp dog,' then yeah, that's not good. But a loyal dog… still not quite right. What really matters is whether there's an owner who loves it."

"Just like Pochita. If there's an owner who loves it, it's a happy dog."

"If there's no owner who loves it, it's just a poor stray dog."

He looked at Pochita in the backpack, speaking pitifully.

"That's not quite right…"

Gu Qianli weakly replied, "Qingshan, you're a human, not a dog. That's what I mean."

"How can you be so sure I'm not a little dog, Qianli?"

Lin Qingshan laughed.

Gu Qianli's eye twitched. "You can't be saying…"

"Ahem, actually, I'm now a repair dog. I can even walk on all fours like Pochita…"

As Lin Qingshan said this, he seemed to really intend to crawl on all fours like a dog.

"Enough."

Gu Qianli quickly pulled Lin Qingshan up, afraid he might do something even more embarrassing.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

The two of them quickly left the electronics mall.

The onlookers and shop owners who had witnessed all this once again exclaimed that young people these days really know how to have fun.

(PS: This storyline was adapted from when Fujimoto-sensei had an episode, pretending to be a third-grade schoolgirl. Consider this as the protagonist's mad character setting.)

(End of chapter)