Lin Xinyuan and Li Tang chatted for quite a while, though it was mostly Li Tang asking questions and Lin Xinyuan answering.
The atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant.
“Hi! I’m Li Tang!”
Li Tang introduced herself warmly, extending her hand as she spoke.
This left Lin Xinyuan at a loss—this was the first time she’d met such an enthusiastic girl.
“Um… hi… Lin Xinyuan…”
Lin Xinyuan reached out and gently grasped Li Tang’s fair, delicate hand, not expecting the other to squeeze it firmly and shake it a little.
If this had happened before, with a good-looking girl holding her hand like that, she probably would have blushed…
But now… Lin Xinyuan had no romantic thoughts at all.
Her mind was calm as still water, unable to summon any emotion…
“Fate brings people together; from now on, we’re friends!”
Fate… friends…
Although she didn’t know how Li Tang had learned her name, it didn’t matter.
“Uh… yeah…”
Seeing the girl’s bright, sparkling eyes, Lin Xinyuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly before lowering her head.
“Oh, you must be hungry, right? Wait a moment, my boyfriend should be back soon.
He brought us some food! You can eat first and then rest!”
“Okay…”
Hearing this, Lin Xinyuan suddenly felt hungry as well, so she didn’t refuse.
“Lin Xinyuan? Can I ask you something?” After a while, Li Tang suddenly asked, her tone hesitant.
“Go ahead.”
Li Tang was silent for a moment before saying, “Um… you should be a girl, right? But how come… your name… and during gym class…”
Li Tang’s words were vague, but Lin Xinyuan immediately understood—Li Tang was doubting her gender.
The air grew heavy for a moment—
After a long pause, Lin Xinyuan took a deep breath and slowly said, “I don’t know…”
Li Tang was at a loss for words and blamed her own curiosity.
She hurriedly apologized, “Sorry, sorry!”
“It’s okay.” Lin Xinyuan’s expression was calm, as if she didn’t mind at all.
Seeing this, Li Tang sighed inwardly, regretting her question and blaming herself for not thinking before speaking.
A girl dressed like this, not caring about makeup, with a masculine name and identity—there had to be some secret…
Maybe her family was too conservative? So they lied about her gender and raised her as a boy? Li Tang had seen such cases before; a classmate in middle school was like that…
Thinking this, Li Tang felt even more guilty and decided not to bring up the topic again, switching to other subjects instead.
The two chatted while waiting for Zeng Yan to return with the food.
Li Tang was quite upset! Because of that shark-armed woman Wu Xiaoyue, they had been called in for a scolding!
What a waste of time—now she hadn’t even eaten!
“Lin Xinyuan, how old are you this year?”
“Eighteen, almost nineteen.” Lin Xinyuan smiled as if she had forgotten the earlier unpleasantness.
She thought that no matter how bad her mood was, she shouldn’t show it and disappoint someone’s enthusiasm…
“In international age, you’re still one year younger than me! From now on, I’ll call you ‘A Yuan,’ and you can call me ‘A Tang’! That way it sounds more intimate!”
Li Tang spoke tirelessly.
Even though Lin Xinyuan’s replies were perfunctory ‘uh-huh’ and ‘okay,’ she didn’t get angry.
Lin Xinyuan admired that kind of personality—optimistic and positive, unlike her own introverted, gloomy self…
When she heard Li Tang mention nicknames, she finally got curious: “Wait… I think I heard your boyfriend calling you ‘A Li,’ right?”
“Hmph, only Yan Ge is allowed to call me that! We’ve known each other since we were little, and he’s called me that since then.” Li Tang giggled.
“A pet name…” Lin Xinyuan murmured.
“Yes!” Li Tang nodded happily, then suddenly remembered something. “By the way… A Yuan! I haven’t asked where you’re from yet! Let me officially introduce myself—I’m from Zhan Nan City, Yue Province! How about you?”
Such a coincidence?
Lin Xinyuan hadn’t expected that just a few days apart, she would meet another fellow hometown person.
Since when did so many people from Zhan Nan come to Tianbei City?
She was quite surprised, looking a bit embarrassed: “Can I say… I’m from Zhan Nan City?”
“Ah! A Yuan, you’re from Zhan Nan too!” Li Tang’s small mouth parted in surprise, then she looked at her like a lost child spotting a fellow villager.
“I couldn’t tell! You don’t even sound like you have a Yue accent?”
“Don’t you?” Lin Xinyuan was speechless.
With the widespread education nowadays, they had all been taught in Mandarin from childhood, so the older generation’s heavy accents were gone—some couldn’t even speak their hometown dialect.
It was normal not to recognize it…
“Oh, right, hehe…” Li Tang laughed awkwardly but was still very happy.
Meeting a fellow hometown person at school—well, except for her Yan Ge, she was truly glad!
She excitedly said something in their native dialect: “A Yuan, let’s go back and hang out together during New Year’s Holiday!”
Lin Xinyuan was utterly confused: “I don’t understand, simida!”
Seeing the clear, delicate girl’s somewhat blank face, Li Tang wasn’t sure either.
This time, she switched to Mandarin: “A Yuan, you’re from Zhan Nan… you don’t speak Cantonese?”
Lin Xinyuan thought for a moment, then pretended to ponder deeply, finally answering seriously: “Only one sentence.”
“What?”
“Whenever I think of the delicious food in Zhan Nan, I start drooling!” Lin Xinyuan said expressionlessly.
“Pfft!” Li Tang couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“Just kidding, don’t be mad! I really can’t speak Cantonese; the novels I read are all in Min Dialect…” Lin Xinyuan hurried to explain, afraid the girl would misunderstand.
Li Tang wasn’t angry at all; she just laughed.
A loud, clear, and pleasant laugh.
“Ah… Tang, you?” Lin Xinyuan called the name for the first time, feeling a bit unfamiliar.
At this, Li Tang’s expression made her somewhat uneasy…
After a moment, Li Tang gradually recovered, her eyes still shimmering with tears of laughter: “No… A Yuan, has anyone ever told you that you’re really cute?”
As she spoke, she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes.
Then, thinking of something else, she burst out laughing again: “I originally thought you were some cold, aloof girl, but to think… hahaha… you joking seriously like this is so funny… hahaha…”
Li Tang couldn’t stop laughing like a bell ringing: “Too cute… you… hahaha…”
Listening to Li Tang’s uncontrollable laughter, Lin Xinyuan breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a bit helpless.
Cute?
She didn’t think so…
She felt cold after speaking that line…
But she just didn’t want her new friend to think she was too boring…
Thinking about what Li Tang said earlier, she somehow thought of Qin Nanfeng.
Damn it! Why did she think of that damn yellow-haired guy!
Really…
That shark-armed woman had said something like…
Uh…
Lin Xinyuan didn’t know how long she and Li Tang had been talking.
Although she wasn’t a conventional girl, the two still found plenty of topics to discuss.
Like recent hot topics and interesting news…
“Why isn’t he back yet? I’m starving!” Li Tang muttered, “Ah! That damn Wu Xiaoyue caused me to still not have eaten past nine o’clock… A Yuan, are you hungry?”
“Not really.”
Hearing this, Li Tang felt guilty.
Because of their little group’s troubles, Lin Xinyuan had suffered.
Who knew how panicked she’d been when Lin Xinyuan fainted?
Thankfully, she was fine…
But now to let the victim go hungry, she really felt bad.
“I’ll call and check!”
She picked up her phone, about to call Zeng Yan.
Just then! The faint sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside the infirmary.
Shhhh~
The door creaked open quietly.
Hearing this, Li Tang’s eyes lit up.
She stopped dialing and hurried out.
“Yan Ge! You’re finally back! I’m starving!” Li Tang coquettishly said.
“Heh heh, many shops on South Street were closed, so I ran to the Back Street and finally got some, took a bit longer…”
A warm, gentle male voice laughed, then complained: “It’s really cold outside… the wind kept blowing down my sleeve. The Weather Forecast says Tianbei City is about to snow—probably this weekend…”
“Yay! It only snowed after New Year’s Holiday last year, so I didn’t get to see it! This time I’ll finally get to experience it!”
“Right… by the way, has Lin classmate woken up?”
“A Yuan is already awake!”
“A Yuan?”
“That’s Lin classmate. A new friend I just made!”
“Oh?”