When Shen Xiyan arrived at the Dining Hall with Qin Sheng, the place was already quite empty.
From a glance, he spotted Lin Ci and Wenwen sitting quietly in the corner.
“Have you two eaten yet?”
“Not yet. Lin Ci said…”
Wenwen, who had been happily scrolling through her phone, looked up at the sound and saw Qin Sheng walking behind her brother.
Qin Sheng even smiled and greeted her, causing Wenwen’s throat to catch: “Lin Ci said to wait for you.”
“Wait for me? Why?”
“You should ask Lin Ci that!”
Wenwen wasn’t about to admit that she had thought the same thing.
Her brother had a habit when eating: the speed at which he finished his meal depended on how fast she ate.
If she finished early, he would unconsciously speed up, sometimes even not feeling fully satisfied before rushing to clear the table.
Right now was exactly like that—if she and Lin Ci finished early, Shen Xiyan would gobble down his food the moment he arrived, which would be exhausting.
Shen Xiyan had never told Wenwen these little trivial details, but since they spent so much time together, she had long noticed this small gesture of care.
“Wow! Lin Ci looks so beautiful today~”
Qin Sheng’s exaggerated praise rang in her ears, causing Shen Xiyan to roll his eyes. “Is this the first time you’ve met today?”
“Just a bit slow on the uptake!”
Lin Ci said nothing.
She rarely put effort into dressing up. She always felt that once girls start caring about hairstyles or makeup, it meant their feelings were stirring.
But now—
She wanted to be different, to attract just a bit of attention.
Yet whenever Qin Sheng appeared, it seemed she could never win.
“I brought you here to eat… don’t make a fuss!”
Shen Xiyan shot Qin Sheng a sharp look, then handed out the drinks in his hand to the three of them. “Want something to eat? I’ll get it for you.”
“Anything’s fine.” Lin Ci pursed her lips.
Qin Sheng sat down beside Lin Ci confidently, forcing Shen Xiyan to sit opposite her. She cooed, “Anything you get, I’ll like it.”
If it were any other girl, Shen Xiyan would be annoyed by this by now.
Most men couldn’t handle the word “anything.”
Does “anything” mean barbecue, hotpot, or Japanese cuisine?
But these two really meant “anything.”
Only Wenwen held her little belly, stood up, and hurriedly said, “I’ll come with you, I’m not ‘anything’.”
“No need, you sit here and rest.”
Without hesitation, Shen Xiyan refused.
There was no way he would leave Qin Sheng and Lin Ci alone here.
But Wenwen completely misunderstood his gaze, clutching her meal card happily as she went to get the food, all the while lecturing, “You can’t carry food for four people by yourself!”
Shen Xiyan: This little foodie!
There was no choice but to tap the table to warn Qin Sheng and then get the meal quickly.
Qin Sheng put on an adorably “obedient” expression. The moment Shen Xiyan left, she started acting up.
She reached out to tug Lin Ci’s sleeve, pointed at her lips, and pitifully asked, “Lin Ci, can you check if my lips are swollen? I think I might be inflamed.”
“… A little bit.”
Qin Sheng suddenly twirled her finger. “Ouch, it’s all Xiyan’s fault. He hugged me and kissed me fiercely on the way over—no respect for a lady at all.”
… Oh.
Then Shen Xiyan felt a prickling sensation on his back, utterly uncomfortable.
He glanced back to see Qin Sheng’s sweet smile and Lin Ci’s embarrassed grin.
Damn it, he knew Qin Sheng was up to something. He just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
He handed the task of getting food entirely to Wenwen, then hurried back, rotating his fists near Qin Sheng’s temples.
“I knew you wanted to cause trouble by making Wenwen stay behind. You didn’t disappoint me! My threats don’t work on you, huh? What did you just say to Lin Ci?”
“Ouch ouch ouch… I’m dying.” Qin Sheng writhed in her chair.
“If you don’t tell the truth today, I’ll beat you till there’s nothing left.” Shen Xiyan growled.
Qin Sheng didn’t show a hint of guilt. Instead, she shamelessly acted spoiled. “I just greeted Lin Ci. You can ask her.”
“If I believed you, I’d be your son!” Shen Xiyan swore.
“Then do you want some milk?” Qin Sheng puffed out her chest, looking a little shy.
That line caught not only Lin Ci off guard, but Shen Xiyan was steadily retreating too.
What about his pride? Was he throwing it on the ground?
His brain trembled; he really wanted to hit her.
“Brother! Come help me carry this. I can’t handle it…”
Shen Xiyan jabbed Qin Sheng’s forehead hard, leaving a red mark. “Eat first! I’ll deal with you later! Lin Ci, don’t listen to her nonsense!”
Setting the dispute aside for the moment, he returned with Wenwen after getting the food.
Shen Xiyan ate silently, not wanting to stay with Qin Sheng even a second longer.
But compared to him, Qin Sheng and Lin Ci were much more “reserved.” Girls ate like little chicks pecking—snacking daily without worry, but afraid of gaining weight when eating real rice.
“Xiyan, you should eat this.”
“Xiyan, this is good too!”
“Xiyan.”
Lin Ci sat quietly, watching Qin Sheng shower Shen Xiyan with attention, silently eating her rice.
Qin Sheng glanced sideways, feeling very pleased.
Winning over her aunt meant she was now in a prime spot to become the favorite niece-in-law. Now that she had maxed out her aunt’s favor, it would be hard for Shen Xiyan not to marry her. Haha!
She loved watching him get so irritated yet helpless.
What’s called a dimensionality reduction attack?
What she needed now was to let Shen Xiyan taste her charm.
A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, once he’d had a taste, who could resist that temptation?
Everything else was fake; only that was a true “complete defeat.”
By then, it wouldn’t be her pestering Shen Xiyan all day, but the other way around, and how humiliating that would be.
But Lin Ci gradually calmed down and began to assess the situation.
Qin Sheng and Xiyan seemed to have reconciled?
No, it wasn’t quite reconciliation, more like the misunderstanding was cleared.
Even if Qin Sheng’s earlier “bragging” was nonsense, she personally saw the two walking over together.
So the question remained: how did Qin Sheng pull that off?
She didn’t know.
The situation was bad. Qin Sheng had already maxed out favor with her aunt, so her advantage was gone.
Shen Xiyan was stable, but his favor was capped at about 10%, and very hard to improve beyond that.
A chaste woman fears clingy men; the reverse is even more true.
Qin Sheng was too pretty and unruly. Even if Shen Xiyan maintained the current relationship, Qin Sheng would be thrilled.
Four people at the table, three with hidden agendas, only Wenwen was genuinely there to eat.
“Brother, don’t just eat meat, have some veggies. I feel like you’ve been gaining weight lately.”
Wenwen was considerate, sharing some vegetables from her plate with Shen Xiyan.
As he was about to thank her, Wenwen’s eyes locked on the steamed pork in his bowl. “Brother, that looks good, give me some.”
She used her chopsticks to take half of the steamed pork from Shen Xiyan’s plate.
Shen Xiyan: “…”
Forget it, she’s my little sister.
“Mmm, so tasty! Lin Ci, try this…”
Wenwen then shared some steamed pork from Shen Xiyan’s plate with Lin Ci and Qin Sheng.
“Maybe next time we should come later. They’re so generous with the leftovers here! But brother, don’t go next time. We ordered from the same counter, but you got less than half of what I got. Have you thought about why?”
Shen Xiyan shot her a sidelong glance.
“What’s that look?”
Wenwen knew it well. Whenever her brother thought she wasn’t very smart, he’d give her that look.
“Try to look a bit cuter and see what you get.”
“That’s more like it!” Wenwen lost interest in throwing a bottle at his head, popped the cap, and took a couple gulps of water.
“Lin Ci, you want some?”
“No, thanks…”
“How about you, Qin Sheng?”
“I’ve had enough, you guys eat…”
This was where Qin Sheng and Lin Ci’s personalities diverged.
Lin Ci always ordered the plainest dishes, while Qin Sheng deliberately ordered big fish and meat, complaining about the mediocre taste while sneaking food off Shen Xiyan’s plate.
Shen Xiyan pushed the plate, piled high by Qin Sheng, toward Wenwen. “My appetite’s average today. Do you want it?”
“Yes!”
Wenwen smiled brightly, eyes squinting in delight.
Suddenly, Shen Xiyan felt a gaze on him—it was Lin Ci.
Though she said nothing, Shen Xiyan understood the principle of fairness.
But the question was… why Lin Ci?
That didn’t fit her personality at all.
He didn’t have time to think more and quickly took food from Wenwen’s plate to give to Lin Ci.
Lin Ci smiled sweetly. “Thank you!”
Then Qin Sheng tapped her bowl and began to complain. “I just gave you so much, and you haven’t returned the favor. Isn’t that unfair?”
Shen Xiyan tried to ignore her, but Qin Sheng pulled out her phone and showed him a chat log from yesterday about taking care of their aunt.
Shen Xiyan didn’t want to look, but she waved the phone in front of his eyes until he gave in.
He sighed, “What do you want to eat?”
“I’ll eat whatever you pick.”
Then Shen Xiyan carefully selected a piece of chicken thigh meat for Qin Sheng.
The moment she bit into it, her smile froze.
Shen Xiyan showed no expression.
“Ginger in braised pork is like meat, in potatoes it’s like a potato, in yellow braised chicken it’s like chicken… Didn’t you just have your period a few days ago? This should warm your stomach.”
“Xiyan~~”
Though clearly being teased, Qin Sheng enjoyed it and added a playful tone to her voice.
If Shen Xiyan treated her so easily, wouldn’t her “conquest” be too simple?
This was just right.
As long as he didn’t ignore her, it was fine.
Speaking of which, now that she had secured the aunt card and behaved a bit better—unlike when she twisted her ankle—Shen Xiyan really had no reason to ignore her.
After all, she had kissed him twice already. How could he deny it?
Lin Ci silently stuffed rice in her mouth and suddenly asked, “Xiyan, what did Song Wan want from you just now?”
Qin Sheng’s smile faded GIF.
Little schemer. The chat atmosphere was perfect, and she deliberately wanted to stir trouble, didn’t she?