The restaurant at noon was bustling with noise and excitement.
Lin Yu and Xia Yanran arrived just in time, managing to snag the only empty table left.
“This one will do.” Xia Yanran sat down first, picked up the menu, glanced at Lin Yu across from her, and then handed the menu over.
“Order whatever you want. Your Sis Yanran’s treating today.”
“My Sis Yanran must have struck it rich, treating me to a meal,” Lin Yu replied, not standing on ceremony as he took the menu to look over the dishes.
Xia Yanran reached out and bumped his shoulder with her fist. “Aren’t we Good Bros? Isn’t it normal to treat you to a meal?”
“Then I’ll take you up on it, thanks.”
While the two of them were looking at the menu, a Waiter approached, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Um… Dear guests, would you mind sharing your table with that guest over there? We’re completely full at the moment. As compensation, the house will give you a free dish.”
Table-sharing was a common thing.
But as the two followed the Waiter’s pointing finger, their expressions changed in different ways.
“Why is it her?” Xia Yanran ground her teeth a little.
“…” Lin Yu’s eyes widened slightly—he never expected to see her here.
At the entrance, a girl was wearing a neatly pressed white uniform dress with a black ribbon at the collar, her long hair falling neatly behind her.
She didn’t have the striking figure of Xia Yanran, but her shape was well-proportioned.
Her delicate face, still a bit babyish, looked unapproachable, but the faint trembling in her pupils revealed her unease in this environment.
Mu Liuli, like them, was a new student at Qiongdian Academy, and had been Xia Yanran’s competitor since childhood.
From academics to physical tests, neither had ever claimed an absolute victory.
Well, though Xia Yanran often skipped class, her grades were still good—pure talent.
Before the two could respond, Mu Liuli had already noticed them. Seeing who they were, she walked straight over.
“This will do. We’re classmates,” she said in a cool voice.
“Really? That’s wonderful! I’ll go urge the kitchen right away.” The Waiter, relieved to solve a customer’s problem, conveniently ignored the two’s opinions.
“Haven’t even ordered yet, what’s there to urge?” Xia Yanran muttered under her breath.
Mu Liuli showed no sign of embarrassment and sat right next to Lin Yu, causing both of them to tense up a little.
Lin Yu stiffened slightly, while Xia Yanran exploded outright.
“Where do you think you’re sitting? Did we say you could sit there?”
Mu Liuli glanced at her indifferently and casually took the menu from Lin Yu’s hand.
“Classmate Xia, let me ask you something: are we classmates?”
Lin Yu scratched his head, already picturing the coming scene and needing to calm himself to avoid laughing out loud.
Xia Yanran paused for a moment, then glared at Mu Liuli. “Obviously.”
“Besides you two, is there anyone else at this table?” Mu Liuli pressed on without even looking up.
“No, so what?”
“Then why can’t I sit here?”
“You? I…”
Not skilled at this sort of logic, Xia Yanran looked as if little circles were spinning in her eyes.
Lin Yu pinched his own face, his body trembling as he suppressed laughter.
Mu Liuli’s absolutely flawless… bandit logic, left Xia Yanran thoroughly dizzy.
Then Mu Liuli waved to the Waiter and handed over the menu. “These will do.”
“Alright.”
Only after the Waiter left did Xia Yanran realize what had just happened.
“Hey! What’s the meaning of this? We were here first, how come you’re the one ordering now?”
“I included portions for both of you.” Mu Liuli took out her phone and quietly started scrolling.
“Do you even know what we want to eat?”
“No, but you can’t be picky.”
“You—!”
After that round of verbal sparring, Xia Yanran was almost fuming with frustration, her chest puffed up, unable to get a word out for a long while.
At last, with no way out, she looked to the silent Lin Yu for help. “You say something too! Isn’t this woman going too far?”
Lin Yu turned his head, meeting Mu Liuli’s gaze—there was a trace of faint disdain in her eyes.
“Oh? So you’re here too, Xia Yanran’s Little Follower.”
With a loud bang, Xia Yanran slapped her hand on the table, her cheeks flushed red. “Who are you calling Little Follower? Mu Liuli, are you looking for trouble on purpose?”
Other diners turned to look and, seeing it was young people quarreling, couldn’t help but marvel at how wonderful youth was.
Mu Liuli, in contrast, was momentarily at a loss. She always called Lin Yu that—she didn’t understand why Xia Yanran reacted so strongly now.
She opened her mouth to explain, but upon meeting Xia Yanran’s furious gaze, her lips just trembled and she couldn’t say a word.
At that moment, Lin Yu placed his hand over Xia Yanran’s that was on the table, smiling as he said, “Let it go, Yanran. We’re all classmates. Doesn’t the Class Monitor usually call me that too?”
Mu Liuli looked at him in surprise, not expecting Lin Yu to say that.
In her impression, Lin Yu always trailed behind Xia Yanran. Apart from being easy on the eyes, he had little presence.
Of course, that was her perspective.
Xia Yanran looked at Lin Yu as well, first in surprise, then with a bashful awareness of their hands touching, and finally, a hint of grievance.
From her perspective, Lin Yu was siding with Mu Liuli instead of her.
Why?
She didn’t quite understand, but meeting Lin Yu’s gaze, she still heeded his words, withdrew her hand, and sulked in silence with her head down.
Before long, the dishes arrived. The mood at the table was a bit stifled, at odds with the lively surroundings.
Xia Yanran seemed to have lost her appetite, her eating manners suddenly refined.
Sensing that she’d caused a rift between the two, Mu Liuli spoke softly.
“Sorry, Lin Yu. I shouldn’t have called you that.”
Xia Yanran shot her a glare and continued eating silently.
Lin Yu just shook his head, picked up a rib and put it into Xia Yanran’s bowl. She looked up at him in delight.
“Eat up. If you keep this up, I’ll lose my appetite too.”
“Hmph…” Xia Yanran pursed her lips, but her mood visibly improved.
“It’s fine, Class Monitor. Like I said, you always call me that, it’s no problem. We’re all classmates.”
Lin Yu gave Mu Liuli a polite smile.
“Oh, oh…” Mu Liuli ducked her head, sneaking glances at the now harmonious pair out of the corner of her eye.
In the blind spot where no one could see, Lin Yu was pinching his own thigh.
Why am I like this, running my mouth? I should’ve just let the two of them argue.
He just couldn’t stand to see the two fall out, nor let Mu Liuli be left awkward.
Just as he understood Xia Yanran, he understood Mu Liuli.
A typical beauty with a kind heart, but a sharp tongue.
Kindness was her nature, while that sharp tongue was her shield.
In fact, she was a lot like Xia Yanran. Only, she was the unlucky Xia Yanran—the one who didn’t have Qin Wuyue to shelter her from the wind and rain along her path.
Rather than saying she was clashing with Xia Yanran, it would be better to say she envied—even secretly resented—this girl who shone on everyone around her like a little sun.
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