Lin Xichi’s smile froze at the corner of her mouth. She remained silent for a few seconds, not daring to turn around. In her heart, a battle of emotions raged. She chose not to respond, calmly placing her phone back into her pocket.
It was as if he anticipated she would pretend not to notice.
At the same time, she heard a male voice behind her shout, “Hey! Xu Fang, where are you going?”
The response was low and languid.
“Just some errands.”
This sentence seemed to come with its own sound effects.
In an instant, Lin Xichi felt familiar footsteps approaching from behind, gradually getting closer to her. They carried a chilly breeze, like a gust of cold wind.
Her legs felt a bit weak.
Lin Xichi was torn about whether to approach or not.
She was afraid that Xu Fang would hold her accountable, but it had indeed been almost half a month since she last saw him. After much hesitation, she decided to stop and whispered, “Why don’t you go eat with them…”
Her roommates were puzzled by her sudden change.
Nie Yue proactively asked, “What’s going on?”
Lin Xichi wanted to briefly explain to them. She had just uttered “I” when that impatient voice interrupted again. It was lazy and dismissive.
“Come over here.”
Lin Xichi instinctively turned her head.
Xu Fang stood about two meters away from her, his hands casually in his pockets. He looked down at her from a higher vantage point, his eyes dark and bright, like pebbles in water.
Profound and indifferent, his emotions were unreadable.
This posture made Lin Xichi swallow the words she was about to blurt out. She mumbled, “You go ahead and eat. I’ll talk to you guys when I get back tonight.”
After saying that, she walked toward Xu Fang, leaving her roommates standing there, exchanging puzzled glances.
Cars honked on the street, and people bustled about in the lively city. The neon lights in front of the shop gradually lit up with the descending sun, painting the city in vibrant colors.
Lin Xichi walked up to him, surprised, and said, “What a coincidence, you’re here too.”
He let out a cold laugh but didn’t respond.
“I was actually planning to have grilled fish with my roommates,” Lin Xichi scratched her head and grinned, “But since I ran into you, why don’t we go together?”
Xu Fang turned and started walking away.
Lin Xichi hurriedly caught up, not mentioning the incident from earlier. She continued, “Have you eaten? No? Have you been to the new seafood restaurant around here?”
Xu Fang ignored her.
Undeterred, Lin Xichi persisted, “I heard it’s really delicious. Do you want to try it?”
Still no response.
Lin Xichi tried again, “But it’s a bit expensive…”
This time, Xu Fang finally reacted. He paused, turned his head, and glanced at her with a slightly disdainful look, “Are you treating?”
Lin Xichi fell silent.
Xu Fang’s eyelashes twitched, and he scanned her from top to bottom. His lips curled up, neither salty nor bland.
“Spineless.”
In the following moments, Lin Xichi walked behind Xu Fang, her gaze vacant as she watched his footsteps. She didn’t dare to speak again and wracked her brain to figure out how to appease this seemingly irritable god.
She mused softly to herself, “Why is he taking such small steps today, like a dandy?”
As this thought crossed her mind, she had a sudden inspiration and excitedly looked up.
“Hey, Pipi!”
As soon as she said that, Lin Xichi felt her shoe tip hit something. She looked down in confusion and saw Xu Fang take a big step forward and stop.
Lin Xichi stopped too, her head tilted in puzzlement.
Their eyes met, with Xu Fang’s gaze being cryptic and unclear.
After a few seconds, he seemed to chuckle with exasperation.
“So, you warn people before stepping on them. Thanks for that.”
“No, I didn’t mean to step on you,” Lin Xichi said in a manner that suggested she had been wronged. She quickly waved her hand and increased her pace to walk alongside him. “I wanted to say that today, you seem different from usual.”
Xu Fang responded with a disdainful hum and let his eyelids droop lazily.
He had no intention of engaging with her.
As Lin Xichi watched his demeanor, she suddenly realized that the last time they had met was during registration day. After that, they had undergone two weeks of military training. During that time, they had kept in touch through WeChat.
On registration day, Lin Xichi was the first to arrive at her dormitory, so her roommates hadn’t seen Xu Fang when he had escorted her.
Lin Xichi began to recall Xu Fang’s appearance on that day.
He wore a simple white shirt with one button undone, revealing his delicate collarbones. His skin was pale as if it had never seen the sun, exuding a clean and aristocratic aura. He sat lazily in her chair, half-squinting his eyes, resembling a nobleman, and watched her tidy up before leaving.
Today, due to the recent military training, his skin was notably darker, and his gaze was sharper. He no longer gave off the sickly impression he used to.
To please Xu Fang and make him willingly treat her to dinner, Lin Xichi began to flatter him without reservation, “You’ve become quite classy.”
Before she could continue, a sweet voice from the waitress sounded in her ears, “Welcome.”
Xu Fang walked in.
Lin Xichi hadn’t noticed the surroundings because Xu Fang’s body had blocked her view. She looked up and was stunned to see the sign above.
It was the seafood restaurant she had just mentioned.
She quickly followed him inside, mumbling, “Pipi, how generous of you.”
After telling the waitress “two” when asked about the number of diners, Xu Fang glanced at her casually.
“If you keep calling me that, you won’t have to eat this meal.”
Lin Xichi had initially intended to keep calling him by that nickname, but upon hearing his words, she reluctantly refrained.
“The military training has worked wonders,” she marveled, muttering to herself as she followed him, “Not only did it make you more generous, but you also gained some class…”
The waitress pointed to a corner by the window and asked, “Can you sit there?”
Xu Fang was about to nod.
Just then, Lin Xichi continued, “Your dandy appearance used to be much worse. Today, I can hardly see any dandy in you!”
“…”
Xu Fang’s steps abruptly stopped, and the curve of his lips froze. He slowly turned his head and fixed his gaze on Lin Xichi. Then, with a single hand, he pushed her head toward the opposite direction of the door.
Xu Fang looked at the waitress and said, “Sorry, we won’t be eating here.”
Lin Xichi: “…”
As they left the restaurant, Lin Xichi lowered her head and regretfully kicked a small stone on the pavement, thinking, “I should have waited for him to order and pay before saying those things.”
After walking a short distance, she asked, “So, where are we eating?”
Xu Fang raised his chin and said, “That Sichuan restaurant ahead.”
“Oh.” This time, Lin Xichi didn’t dare to speak further and obediently walked beside him.
Once they entered the restaurant, they found a table and sat down.
Lin Xichi pierced the plastic wrap covering her bowl with her chopsticks and casually asked, “You suddenly left your friends to have a meal with me. Won’t you get in trouble later?”
“It won’t be that easy to get me in trouble.”
Lin Xichi exclaimed in disappointment upon hearing this. She noticed her tone was a bit exaggerated and changed her approach, “By the way, aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting? You seem like you’re out for leisure.”
“I left the meeting early.”
“Did your teacher mention anything about a senior who missed an exam because of a game?”
“I don’t know.”
Lin Xichi thought about saying something else but was afraid that he might leave again. So, she changed her approach, “Why didn’t you bring up the incident earlier?”
“What incident?”
“Just…” Lin Xichi blinked and shook her head, “Never mind.”
She had forgotten about it.
Although it was somewhat unbelievable, she strangely felt like she had gained an advantage.
Xu Fang glanced at her and noticed her attempt to change his nickname back. He immediately stopped her, “Do you dare to change it back?”
After a moment of hesitation, Lin Xichi decided not to change it back. She patted her chest and assumed an upright posture, “You treated me to dinner today, and I’m not someone who repays kindness with ingratitude. I’ll give you a nicer nickname.”
Exhaling deeply, Xu Fang couldn’t be bothered with her.
Lin Xichi curved her lips and set the nickname as “Lord Pipi,” checking it several times to her satisfaction.
—”Lord Pipi.”
Then she looked up, grinning, and asked, “Do you want to see it?”
“…”
“Don’t want to?”
“…”
“See it.”
Exasperated by her pestering, Xu Fang finally said, “Do you still want to eat?”
“…”
Lin Xichi made an “Oh” sound, refraining from causing any more trouble. She put her phone aside. Seeing that the dishes hadn’t arrived yet, she used her shoe’s tip to lightly touch his shoe.
“We haven’t seen each other for so long, let’s chat.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Fang leaned back in his chair, unlocked his phone, and treated her as if she were invisible. His expression was clear—get away from me.
This reaction was quite irritating.
Lin Xichi held back her words and made a suggestion, “How about we make a bet, just like in high school? We bet one month’s living expenses.”
She wanted to win all of Xu Fang’s money, let him come begging for money from her, and make him taste the pain she was going through now.
Xu Fang sneered, “Your living expenses?”
Lin Xichi was choked by his tone and raised her voice, “It’s the beginning of the month! I also have 3,000 yuan now!”
“3,000?” Xu Fang furrowed his brows and appeared to contemplate for a moment before saying, “I’ll check how much change I have.”
Lin Xichi gritted her teeth and ignored his words, proceeding with her original idea.
“I’ll arm wrestle you with both hands against your left hand. How about that?”
If she still lost this way, she would truly be convinced.
But Xu Fang probably wouldn’t agree, right…
As this idea crossed her mind, Xu Fang raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes showing a hint of interest. He sat up straighter, chuckled lightly, and spoke with a deliberately elongated tone.
“Sure.”
Lin Xichi hadn’t had time to rejoice when she heard the continuation of his sentence.
“Another fool has come to give me money.”
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