After adding Zhōu Línxiāo on WeChat, Xiang Di couldn’t help thinking of her hopeless brother again.
It was almost lunchtime, yet he still hadn’t shown up. Xiang Di had no choice but to message Xiang Sheng again, asking him where he was.
Xiang Sheng: [Almost there.]
Xiang Di practically rolled her eyes: [Is your ‘almost’ the ‘almost’ from Miller Planet?]
Miller Planet was a terrifying world from the movie Interstellar, where one hour equaled seven years on Earth.
Xiang Sheng responded self-righteously: [Yeah, how’d you know?]
Xiang Sheng: [So I still need six years and three hundred sixty-four days to get to your school, just you wait.]
Xiang Di: [……………]
Why must there be both Yu and Liang in the world? Xiang Di really couldn’t understand why her parents had to give birth to such a useless, unreliable brother. Even if she came second, for heaven’s sake, couldn’t their mom have gotten rid of him first, and then had her?
Xiang Di was so mad at her brother her blood felt clogged; she just hated that she wasn’t the No True Concubine, or else she would’ve ordered the Emperor to behead her brother for sure.
Noon arrived in the blink of an eye. Ten minutes before class ended, the teacher let everyone study on their own. Hardly anyone actually did; most were busy discussing where to eat and what to get.
As Class Monitor, Ye Minjia planned to take Zhōu Línxiāo for a tour of their Fourteenth High School cafeteria and grab lunch together.
Since there’d be one extra person for lunch, he had to let his usual meal buddy know. So Ye Minjia had Wang Sicheng pass on the message, asking him to tell Bo Jiangxin that Zhōu Línxiāo would join them for lunch, and if that was okay.
Wang Sicheng quickly replied: “He said whatever’s fine.”
To Bo Jiangxin, “whatever” meant yes.
Ye Minjia said, “All set, but let me warn you—Bo Jiangxin is really particular. When you eat with him, be careful or he’ll give you attitude right there at the table.”
Zhōu Línxiāo: “How particular?”
Bo Jiangxin was a young master with a prince’s temperament, not only arrogant but a serious neat freak. He rarely ate with others; he refused to use the cafeteria’s utensils, insisting on bringing his own, as if the school cafeteria’s cutlery was filthy. Eating with him made those using cafeteria utensils feel like they were the uncouth ones.
Ye Minjia shared a traumatic story: “Back in Senior Year One, I didn’t know about his cleanliness thing. He had some great-looking dishes, and I tried to grab a bite from his bowl. He almost talked me to death, saying, ‘Are you so poor you can’t afford your own food and have to pick at what’s left in someone else’s bowl?’”
Zhōu Línxiāo:
Zhōu Línxiāo’s family had been intellectuals for generations; though he was mixed-race, he was raised in a scholarly household. The first Chinese proverb he learned was, “A kind word warms three winters, a harsh word chills six months of summer.”
Not only was Zhōu Línxiāo speechless, even Liang Qianqian, who was discussing lunch with Xiang Di, couldn’t help but complain.
Even if he’s the school hunk, isn’t this too much? In novels these days, the cold and poisonous-tongued male lead trope is out of style.
“That’s a bit much,” Liang Qianqian said. “No offense, but after Bo Jiangxin insulted you like that, you could just take it? Class Monitor, you’re not crushing on him, are you? I’ll really believe it if you keep letting him treat you this way.”
The one truly harboring a crush on Bo Jiangxin, Xiang Di, didn’t chime in—she just quietly retorted in her heart: So what if it’s a secret crush? Secret love is noble! Why does having a crush make you a simp? Don’t belittle it!
But then Ye Minjia added, “I was about to blow up at him, but the next second he tossed me his Meal Card and said, ‘If you really can’t afford food, just use my card. Eat whatever you want in the future, just don’t pick from my bowl.’”
Ye Minjia shrugged helplessly: “Sure, he scolded me, but he also told me I could use his Meal Card whenever I want—what was I supposed to do?”
Dignity is important, of course. Insult my dignity? Unacceptable. But if you insult me with money, that’s another matter.
Hard to judge, really—one’s willing to hit, the other’s willing to take it. No wonder they’re friends. Liang Qianqian twitched her lips: …Fine, whatever makes you happy.
Ye Minjia: “It’s not that I have no pride, but you guys can’t imagine how good it feels to be kept.”
Liang Qianqian: “Yeah, I really can’t relate.”
Snubbed by Liang Qianqian, Ye Minjia tried to get some support from Zhōu Línxiāo: “You grew up abroad, your thinking’s more open—you get me, right?”
Zhōu Línxiāo smiled honestly: “Not really. If I had to pick, I’d rather be the one keeping someone than being kept.”
For a moment, Ye Minjia didn’t know what to say to such an honest sugar daddy confession.
“Then good luck to you.”
That left only Xiang Di.
Xiang Di blinked, giving him a look like “You want to ask me?”
Too bad Ye Minjia didn’t get her meaning, thinking, Forget it, no need to ask. With her innocent and adorable looks, she’s the kind of stubborn little white lotus heroine in idol dramas who would say, “Don’t think a bit of money gives you the right to trample my dignity,” while tossing pickled vegetables at the bossy male lead.
Ye Minjia gave up trying to talk and sat in lonely silence, waiting for the bell to ring.
Xiang Di wrinkled her nose, thinking, Why isn’t the Class Monitor asking me? If he did, she’d definitely say she understood—she understood completely!
Xiang Di subtly leaned to the side and sneaked a look at Bo Jiangxin, who was bent over his test paper, his profile strikingly handsome. When he focused, his lips pressed together ever so slightly—devastatingly sexy.
People who didn’t get Bo Jiangxin’s appeal, people who didn’t get dirty talk, she had nothing to say to them.
She desperately wanted to be scolded by those beautiful, sensual lips, but sadly, he barely noticed her.
Xiang Di sighed in disappointment, when suddenly Zhōu Línxiāo asked her where she planned to eat lunch.
Xiang Di said, “Cafeteria.”
“Why don’t you join us then?” Zhōu Línxiāo invited. “It’ll be more fun with everyone.”
Xiang Di was stunned for a moment.
Didn’t this mean she’d get to eat with Bo Jiangxin?
It takes a decade for White Lady and Xu Xian to ride the same boat, a century to share the same pillow, but after just three years, she could eat at the same table as Bo Jiangxin—she truly was the luckiest girl in the world!
Xiang Di nodded. “Sure!”
Wang Sicheng tapped Bo Jiangxin’s arm with his pen again. He really didn’t want to bother the top student, but Class Monitor’s orders couldn’t be ignored, or else he’d get in trouble with the Class Teacher.
Bo Jiangxin, trying to suppress his irritation at being interrupted, answered coolly, “Speak.”
Wang Sicheng asked with an overly pleasant tone, “Class Monitor wants to know if you mind adding two more people to your lunch group?”
After a moment, Wang Sicheng, barely holding in a laugh, turned to Ye Minjia: “Bo Jiangxin said, ‘No wonder you’re so bad at King, you even need a five-man stack for lunch.’”
Ye Minjia:
That damn sharp tongue, and he even rhymed it.
“So is it okay or not?” Ye Minjia grumbled. “If he doesn’t want to, he can solo-queue his lunch. I’ll go queue with the others.”
Wang Sicheng relayed Ye Minjia’s message.
A moment later, Wang Sicheng said, “He asked, ‘Which two?’”
Ye Minjia rolled his eyes. “What, eating lunch needs a background check now? For crying out loud, it’s Xiang Di and Liang Qianqian. Perfectly upstanding citizens. Check away.”
Just in case the young master had some weird standards for meal partners’ family backgrounds, he double-checked with Liang Qianqian and Xiang Di: “Your families have all been law-abiding for three generations, right? No criminal records? I don’t want Bo Jiangxin to mind.”
Liang Qianqian stared at Ye Minjia: “?”
What, now eating with Bo Jiangxin meant passing a political screening?
Xiang Di said worriedly, “Ah, my brother got fined fifty yuan by the Traffic Police Uncle in his second year in college for riding his scooter across the street without a helmet. Does that count as breaking the law? Will he mind?”
Liang Qianqian looked at Xiang Di: “?”
Why are you taking this so seriously?
Another minute passed, and Wang Sicheng relayed to Ye Minjia: “He said, ‘Whatever.’”
Ye Minjia said, “Congrats, you both passed.”
Xiang Di was delighted. “Yay!”
Liang Qianqian:
Is Bo Jiangxin some kind of civil service agency? Is it her that’s weird, or is this world just weird?
Thanks to Ye Minjia’s heads-up, the three of them were all aware of Bo Jiangxin’s serious cleanliness obsession. As long as they minded that, everyone could sit at the same table in peace.
The school cafeteria had a great variety of dishes; sometimes, if you were lucky, they served all your favorites. Today, Xiang Di glanced at the window as she queued up and saw the selection was almost like charity—they had sweet-and-sour ribs, pork in sauce, hamburger steak, fried pork cutlets, and the dessert options were cheese pudding and fries.
She wanted to try everything, but her Meal Card was running low. Xiang Di agonized in front of the window, and the Dish Auntie holding the big serving spoon hurried her along: “Student, have you decided yet? There’s a long line behind you.”
Xiang Di couldn’t decide, but then gritted her teeth—life’s short, indulge while you can—so she ordered everything she liked.
Although the meal cost her over twenty yuan, which hurt a little, bringing back a tray loaded with meat was absolutely worth it.
Liang Qianqian burst out laughing when she saw her tray. “How many days have you been starving? That’s a mountain of food!”
Xiang Di replied, “Gotta eat well to study well!”
Liang Qianqian sighed, “Small frames are lucky, you never have to worry about getting fat. If I ate like that, I’d be over a hundred pounds by now.”
Xiang Di: “But at your height, a hundred pounds is already slim.”
Compared to her own body, Xiang Di genuinely thought Qianqian’s tall, goddess-like figure was the real deal. So when she fantasized, she felt embarrassed imagining her own skinny self—she worried Bo Jiangxin wouldn’t find her attractive in her fantasies.
Liang Qianqian said, “But photos always make me look fatter.”
Girls were always jealous of each other’s looks. The two chatted as they searched for the Class Monitor’s group. Ye Minjia, with sharp eyes, quickly spotted them and waved, “Over here!”
Xiang Di’s tray really was piled high today. She loved fried pork cutlets and ordered two portions. Setting her tray down, Ye Minjia marveled, “Didn’t think you could eat that much for someone not that tall.”
Zhōu Línxiāo glanced at her feast and asked, “How come I didn’t see any fried pork cutlets when I was picking out food?”
“You probably queued at the wrong window, it’s at the one on the very end,” Xiang Di said, “But they’re probably out by now.”
Zhōu Línxiāo replied, “No worries, I’ll have some tomorrow.”
Ye Minjia said, “No guarantee. Our cafeteria menu changes at random. You never know what’s on offer until the day of.”
Zhōu Línxiāo shrugged in disappointment. “All right, I’ll just leave it to fate then.”
Not wanting the new classmate to miss out on his first cafeteria meal, Xiang Di said, “I got two servings—if you don’t mind, I can share some with you?”
Zhōu Línxiāo smiled, “Of course I don’t mind, thank you.”
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