Zhou Linxiao shrugged regretfully and said that was fine then, he’d just leave it to fate.

Not wanting the new classmate to have regrets on his first day eating at the cafeteria, Xiang Di said, “I got two portions. If you don’t mind, I can share some with you?”

Zhou Linxiao smiled. “Of course I don’t mind. Thank you.”

Xiang Di immediately picked up a few strips of the cutlet and put them onto Zhou Linxiao’s tray.

Liang Qianqian actually really liked fried pork cutlet too. With a playful grin, she said, “Babe, I want some too.”

Xiang Di generously shared a few pieces with Liang Qianqian as well. Seeing how generous she was, Ye Minjia shamelessly asked, “Um, I also lined up at the wrong window just now. Can you give me one piece? Just one is fine, I haven’t eaten it in a long time either.”

“No problem.”

Xiang Di picked up another piece for Ye Minjia. That was the joy of sharing.

This way, everyone got a share of her fried pork cutlet—except Bai Jiangxin, who hadn’t said a word from beginning to end.

Ye Minjia originally wanted to ask Bai Jiangxin whether he wanted a piece too, but after thinking about it, he felt that this guy definitely wouldn’t be willing to eat food picked from someone else’s tray. Besides, the two of them had already broken up; he’d probably mind eating a former girlfriend’s saliva. Better not to do something unnecessary.

Xiang Di felt that she had shared with everyone except Bai Jiangxin, which didn’t feel very nice. But on second thought, it had taken three years just to get the chance to sit at the same table and eat with him—she shouldn’t court death.

The last time she accidentally took a sip of his milk tea, the look of disgust on his face had been terrifying. Just thinking about it made Xiang Di feel lingering fear.

She hesitated and glanced at Bai Jiangxin, only to meet his indifferent gaze. Bai Jiangxin lightly swept a glance at her, then calmly looked away, clearly uninterested in her—and in her fried pork cutlet.

Xiang Di: “……”

Forget it. Xiang Di took a bite of the fried pork cutlet. The crispy crust immediately exploded in her mouth, filling it with fragrance.

“So good!”

Liang Qianqian said, “Today’s pork cutlet is fried just right.”

Ye Minjia said, “It really is good.”

Zhou Linxiao also said that the fried pork cutlet here was no worse than what outside restaurants made. Only Bai Jiangxin couldn’t join the fried pork cutlet topic.

But he was used to being aloof—if he suddenly joined their conversation now, that really would be the sun rising in the west.

When the food was good, the meal naturally went fast. In less than fifteen minutes, the boys had already finished eating.

Xiang Di had taken a lot of food today. In order to act ladylike, she ate several times slower than usual. Even Liang Qianqian had finished, yet she still had half a bowl of rice left.

Xiang Di felt embarrassed to make the boys wait for her, so she said, “How about you guys go back first? Qianqian can just wait for me.”

Ye Minjia was originally going to say it was fine and they could wait until she finished eating and then leave together, but Bai Jiangxin beside him picked up his own tableware, stood up, and left.

“Then eat slowly.”

“Hey! You—”

Ye Minjia couldn’t stop him and could only leave together with Bai Jiangxin.

No helping it—this was what it was like to be a kept cafeteria songbird. Wherever the patron went, he had to follow.

“Then eat slowly,” Ye Minjia said to Zhou Linxiao. “Are you leaving too?”

Zhou Linxiao said, “It’s fine. I’ll stay here and wait for Xiang Di to finish eating.”

“Alright, then we’ll head back to the classroom first.”

After saying goodbye, Ye Minjia hurried off to chase after Bai Jiangxin.

After Bai Jiangxin left, even though Zhou Linxiao and Liang Qianqian were still there to keep her company until she finished eating, Xiang Di was still a little unhappy.

It seemed that compared to being ladylike, Bai Jiangxin hated people who ate slowly even more. Then next time, she’d better eat faster.

Without wallowing in self-pity, naturally optimistic Xiang Di simply silently sped up the pace of shoveling rice.

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

Bai Jiangxin hadn’t left yet. He was standing by the faucet washing his tableware. When Ye Minjia caught up, he couldn’t help but lecture him: “I say, you’re really too impatient. Girls eat slowly, what’s wrong with sitting there and keeping her company until she finishes one meal?”

Bai Jiangxin lifted his eyes to glance at him, then lowered his head again and continued washing the tableware.

His tone was calm. “Isn’t there already someone keeping her company?”

Ye Minjia was speechless. “You can’t put it that way. We men should have some gentlemanly manners, okay?”

Bai Jiangxin remained unmoved. “There’s already one man accompanying her to finish eating. How many more do you want to accompany her?”

“Zhou Linxiao is Zhou Linxiao, and the two of us are the two of us,” Ye Minjia sighed. “She hadn’t even finished eating yet, and you just left her there.”

…No wonder you got dumped.

Ye Minjia silently added that in his heart.

After the tableware was washed, Bai Jiangxin turned off the faucet and turned his head to look at him. In those black eyes like icy blades, there wasn’t a ripple. He coldly asked in return, “May I ask what she is to me? Why should I care about her?”

Deskmate? Not anymore.

Sexual fantasy object? Already replaced by someone else.

Hopefully Zhou Linxiao would perform better in her fantasies—at least he was mixed-race. Don’t let it be even shorter than his time.

Ye Minjia: “……”

“If you want to wait, then wait. I’m leaving first.”

Bai Jiangxin took his tableware and left, leaving Ye Minjia standing there alone, rolling his eyes.

No—just with that sour, jealous tone, just like that, and that dead girl Liang Qianqian still scolded him for being the reincarnation of Mouri Kogoro¹Mouri Kogoro is a fictional character from the Japanese manga/anime Detective Conan., saying he was making blind deductions?!

Wasn’t this blatantly the tone of an ex-boyfriend who was clearly jealous but had no standing to be jealous, so could only throw a cold face and try to brainwash himself into thinking he didn’t care at all?!

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

During the lunch break, Xiang Sheng from Miller’s Planet finally replied.

Xiang Sheng: 【I’m at your school gate.】

Xiang Di: 【Didn’t you say it would take another six years? How did you get here so fast?】

Xiang Sheng: 【Wasn’t that because I was afraid you’d starve to death.】

Xiang Di: 【I already starved to death long ago, okay?】

Xiang Sheng: 【Since you’re already dead, then I’ll head off first. I’ll burn some cream puffs for you at Qingming.】

Xiang Sheng: 【88, I’m leaving. See you at Qingming.】

Xiang Di told herself to stay calm. If it weren’t for the cream puffs, she would’ve blocked Xiang Sheng long ago.

She cursed his ancestors for eighteen generations in her heart, but then suddenly realized that she and Xiang Sheng shared the same eighteen generations of ancestors, so she silently withdrew the curse and changed it to only cursing Xiang Sheng alone.

Curse him to be impotent for life!

That curse was vicious enough for a man. Xiang Di felt satisfied and ordered Xiang Sheng to deliver the cream puffs to her classroom. Their school wasn’t that strict—outsiders could come in as long as they registered with the guard.

But Xiang Sheng refused and told her to come to the school gate herself to get them.

Xiang Sheng: 【Hurry up. If you don’t come in ten minutes, I’m leaving. You can wait until Qingming Festival to eat them.】

Damned brother!!! Curse you with impotence!!! Single forever!!!

Xiang Di wanted to ask Liang Qianqian to go with her, but Liang Qianqian was taking a nap.

Not wanting to go to the school gate alone, she scanned the classroom. The few girls she was close with were all napping. Her deskmate Zhou Linxiao said he was going to take advantage of the lunch break to tour the school and dragged Ye Minjia along as a guide, so the two of them weren’t around either.

Among the boys she was relatively familiar with, only Bai Jiangxin was left…

Bai Jiangxin hadn’t gone to sleep yet and was looking at his phone. And these cream puffs were originally bought for him to eat.

But Xiang Di immediately vetoed the thought.

Forget it, forget it—better not bother him.

She stood up and, in the end, went to the school gate alone.

At noon, the school gate was open. As soon as Xiang Di got there, she saw her damned brother.

He was dressed all in black today, in a cool-guy outfit, tall at over one meter eighty. The only thing was the dessert paper bag he was carrying in his hand—it was completely out of place with his outfit.

Show-off. Xiang Di ground her teeth in hatred. Before she even got close, she shouted, “Why are you wearing all black? Going to rob a bank?”

Xiang Sheng turned his head, watching her walk over, the corner of his mouth tugging up. “Yeah. With a glutton like you at home, I really can’t afford it anymore. Had no choice but to rob a bank.”

Xiang Di rolled her eyes and directly snatched the paper bag from his hand.

“Hand it over.”

Xiang Sheng: “I came all this way to deliver cream puffs to you and you can’t even say thank you? Where are your manners?”

“If you’d taken the initiative to deliver them to my classroom door just now, I might’ve barely managed a thank-you.” Xiang Di directly shooed him away. “Now you’ve already lost your chance. You can go.”

Xiang Sheng flicked his fringe, utterly righteous. “At the very least I’m an internet pretty-boy. Wasn’t I afraid of getting recognized by the girls at your school and being mobbed?”

Some lousy influencer, really treating himself like a top idol.

Xiang Di said, “You’re overthinking it. It’s lunch break, there aren’t many people around, and our school has plenty of handsome guys. Just our class alone has several—you don’t even make the rankings, OK?”

Xiang Sheng laughed. “You’re just bragging. Can they be more handsome than me?”

“Believe it or not.”

“No pics, no truth.” Xiang Sheng raised a brow. “Show me photos.”

Xiang Di: “I don’t have their photos.”

“Knew you were bragging.” Xiang Sheng snorted.

Xiang Di clenched her teeth. “I wasn’t bragging. I just don’t have their photos. If you saw them, you’d absolutely lose and be convinced.”

Her certainty really did stir Xiang Sheng’s competitive streak.

“Alright then. Since they’re more handsome than me, go get their photos and show me.” Xiang Sheng sounded confident, even proposing a bet himself. “If they really are more handsome than me, I’ll split the five thousand Dad gave me—two thousand five hundred for you.”

Hearing there was money involved, Xiang Di perked up too. “Really?”

“If I’m lying, may my face be ruined tomorrow.”

“Then you just wait.”

Xiang Di ran off with the paper bag.

Xiang Sheng clicked his tongue, hands in his pockets, standing at the school gate. Only after his sister’s figure completely disappeared did he turn around and leave.

He hadn’t gone more than two steps when the phone in his pocket rang. Xiang Sheng clicked his tongue again, answered, and held it away from his ear.

“Xiang Sheng!! Get your ass back right now! If you don’t come back, the counselor is going to slaughter you!”

Xiang Sheng rubbed his ear. “Coming, coming. Didn’t I say I was delivering cream puffs to my sister?”

“Damn siscon. What’s more important, your sister’s cream puffs or your graduation certificate?”

Xiang Sheng fell silent for a few seconds, then gave a lazy smile. “Neither is important. My handsomeness is the most important.”

“……”

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

Before entering the classroom, Xiang Di deliberately took a look inside the paper bag.

Xiang Sheng probably hadn’t stolen any on the way, right? She should’ve checked earlier.

She opened the bag and found it packed to the brim with cream puffs, clearly several portions’ worth.

Xiang Di felt guilty for a few seconds over her prejudice against Xiang Sheng, took out her phone, and sent him a message: 【You bought too many.】

Xiang Sheng: 【Didn’t buy too many. Raising pigs needs this portion.】

Just as Xiang Di was about to retort, Xiang Sheng sent another message: 【If you can’t finish them, share them with your classmates. Even pigs, to survive in the human world, have to understand human social etiquette, you know?】

Then he sent over a little pig snorting emoji.

“……”

She’d turn around later and download a few high-H sibling incest novels online and send them to him—disgust him to death.

Xiang Di took a deep breath, lifted the bag of cream puffs, and walked into the classroom.

Bai Jiangxin still hadn’t gone to sleep. She took another deep breath and walked up to his desk.

Bai Jiangxin was lowering his head, looking at his phone. In fact, he had already sensed someone standing in front of his desk, and he had also smelled that unique sweet scent on her.

But he didn’t want to pay her any attention.

The mixed-race guy wasn’t around, so only now she remembered to come find him. When she was eating pork cutlet at noon, she hadn’t thought of him at all.

Footnotes

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  Mouri Kogoro is a fictional character from the Japanese manga/anime Detective Conan.