Because Xu Fang suddenly appeared, Lin Xigeng was startled and took a deep breath, fearing that he had heard everything she had just said. She stuttered, “Xu, Xu Fang, why are you here?”
Lin Xiche wasn’t taken aback, she furrowed her brow, and after rubbing her cheek, she said, “I asked him to come.”
“…”
Lin Xigeng couldn’t believe it, she looked at Lin Xiche with a mix of emotions in her eyes. It seemed like she was silently saying, “You called him here, why didn’t you tell me? Why can’t we have some private time just the two of us?”
Xu Fang lowered his gaze, staring directly at Lin Xiche, then casually glanced at Lin Xigeng. Soon, he seemed to ask casually, “What were you guys talking about just now?”
Both of them were looking at her like this, and Lin Xiche felt a bit uneasy. She thought about it for a moment. Their conversation had mainly been about He Ruliang. She had criticized him while Lin Xigeng had praised him.
It shouldn’t have involved Xu Fang…
After confirming that their conversation had nothing too sensitive, Lin Xiche honestly replied, “Oh, just that Jingjing said He Ruliang can outdo—”
Hearing this, Lin Xigeng was afraid that Xu Fang would catch on and immediately interrupted her, “Can outdo Xu Fang by a mile.”
“… ” Suddenly, Lin Xiche changed her words, and Lin Xigeng’s words left her in a daze. She looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
The topic suddenly shifted to someone unrelated, and Xu Fang didn’t seem to understand. He asked in confusion, “He Ruliang?”
Seeing that he didn’t seem to remember, Lin Xiche reminded him, “He’s the senior who missed his exams and got held back at the beginning of the school year, the one the teachers often mentioned. He was also in charge of the freshmen’s basketball game, the one who wore glasses.”
“Oh.” Xu Fang recalled for a moment, squinting his eyes. He seemed lazy as he said, “I don’t remember.”
All his memories seemed to be reserved for Ye Shaowen.
Great.
Lin Xigeng breathed a sigh of relief and changed the subject at the right time, “So, where are we going now?”
“We’re going to have dinner, my treat.” Lin Xiche smiled and pulled two bills out of her pocket, showing them to Xu Fang. “It’s my first day’s wages! This shop pays daily, and the boss is really nice!”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xigeng became interested too and pointed to a certain direction. “Then let’s go to the barbecue place at the intersection. I smelled it just now, and I really want to eat there!”
“… ” Lin Xiche remained silent for a moment and then waved the two bills in front of Lin Xigeng, reminding her earnestly, “My daily wage is only sixty yuan.”
In other words, her budget was only sixty yuan.
Lin Xigeng replied, “…”
As a result, the three of them still went to the barbecue place.
Inside the restaurant, a waitress handed them the menu. Lin Xigeng took it and sat in a row with Lin Xiche, their heads close together to order. Xu Fang sat in his seat for a while, then went to the restroom.
Once he was gone, Lin Xiche immediately lowered her voice and began to praise Xu Fang, trying to change his unfavorable impression in Lin Xigeng’s heart.
“Look how generous Xu Fang is, how good he is to you. He came to this restaurant just because you wanted to eat barbecue.”
Lin Xigeng didn’t respond to Lin Xiche’s words and turned around to make sure Xu Fang wasn’t nearby. Then she hesitated and asked, “Xu Fang didn’t hear what we were talking about on the street, did he?”
Lin Xiche paused and tried to reassure her, “Even if he heard it, it’s not a big deal.” She closed her eyes briefly and continued with a clear conscience, “Xu Fang is a generous person and wouldn’t care about such a small thing as you talking about him behind his back.”
“No, when did he come…”
“I don’t know.” Lin Xiche didn’t understand why she kept asking this, and she scratched her head, looking puzzled. “I’ve been here listening to you talk.”
Lin Xigeng bit her lip and her gaze became uncertain. She said rapidly and softly, “I just said that you’ve set your sights on Xu Fang, and I don’t know if he heard… No, I really don’t know why he suddenly came.”
Her speech became faster, and her voice quieter. Lin Xiche was still a bit puzzled by the meaning behind her words.
There was a moment of silence.
Lin Xiche’s puzzled expression gradually cleared, and she suddenly remembered their conversation earlier.
—”Lin Xiche, you should choose him.”
—”You still don’t like this condition, so why did you set your sights on Xu Fang?”
And then, less than a minute later, Xu Fang suddenly appeared from behind and pinched her cheek.
“…”
Connecting the dots, Lin Xiche’s emotions suddenly changed. A rush of heat surged to her forehead, making her face turn completely red, and she couldn’t control it.
Lin Xiche even considered escaping right then and there, covering her face in embarrassment. “No way…”
But after calming down, Lin Xigeng thought that if Xu Fang had really heard her words, his reaction couldn’t be this calm. However, it was strange that he left for the restroom shortly after arriving.
Maybe he was too excited, worried that he might reveal his long-standing desire for Lin Xiche, and went to the restroom to calm down.
Anyway, she didn’t understand…
Lin Xigeng had initially wanted to remind Lin Xiche that whether or not Xu Fang had heard, she should stay calm and composed in front of him, acting as if nothing had happened. Otherwise, even if he hadn’t heard, he could probably guess.
But she couldn’t find the right words, and when she saw Xu Fang returning from the corner, she didn’t dare to say anything more. She quickly said, “Stay calm,” and continued to look at the menu.
Lin Xiche’s face was still red, and she pretended to be thirsty, lowering her head to drink water.
Xu Fang sat back at his seat, facing Lin Xiche.
Lin Xigeng hadn’t ordered the dishes yet, so they wouldn’t be served for a while. At the moment, the three of them were doing their own things at the table, and there was an awkward silence in the air.
Xu Fang noticed that Lin Xiche was acting strange and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He called out to her, “Lin Xiche.”
His sudden serious tone and call caught Lin Xiche off guard, and she felt very uneasy. The string in her mind seemed to snap. She held her breath and blurted out everything she had been repeating in her mind, “It’s not my business, don’t ask me, please don’t ask me, I told you not to talk about it! Just be quiet!”
Xu Fang: “…”
He still hadn’t said anything.
Seeing this, Xu Fang’s brow furrowed deeper, and he stared at her with his pitch-black eyes. He didn’t say anything else about her strong reaction. Instead, he pointed at her cup, and his Adam’s apple moved gently as he spoke softly, each word sliding out smoothly, “Stop drinking, there’s no water left in there.”
“Okay,” Lin Xiche immediately released the water glass, realizing that she was indeed too nervous right now. She covered her face and stood up, saying, “I need to use the restroom.”
After a few seconds, she suddenly realized the presence of Lin Xigeng, her “comrade-in-arms,” and sat back down.
“Forget it, I won’t go.”
“…”
Lin Xigeng raised her hand again at the right moment, breaking the awkward silence, and called the waiter over to take the menu. Then she lowered her head and sent a message to Lin Xiche on her phone: “Too obvious, sis.”
Lin Xigeng: “Don’t talk anymore, just stay quiet, please… Otherwise, if he finds out, you’ll definitely blame it all on me.”
Lin Xiche’s phone was in her bag, and she completely missed Lin Xigeng’s inner turmoil and the vibrating bag. She swallowed hard and, as if determined, asked, “Did you hear our conversation just now?”
Xu Fang turned his head slightly and calmly repeated the words he had heard earlier. He enunciated each word clearly and without emotion, “Regardless, he’s still better than Xu Fang.”
Lin Xiche nervously clenched her fist and asked, “Just that?”
“Yeah.”
“Nothing else?”
Her extremely nervous demeanor made Xu Fang’s strange emotions even more apparent. After a few seconds of hesitation, he asked in a slow, deliberate manner, “What else could there be?”
After saying this, Xu Fang’s brows furrowed slightly, and he stared at her. After a while, confirming that what he had said was true, Lin Xiche breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Nothing.”
“…”
“Just that Lin Xigeng said you were beaten by He Ruoliang.” After her overreaction earlier, Lin Xiche felt the need to explain herself. But after saying it, she felt like she had betrayed Lin Xigeng and quickly changed her words, “Oh, He Ruoliang beat you.”
She didn’t dwell on this any longer, and with a smile, she said, “It’s basically the same.”
Xu Fang: “…”
So why were they beating around the bush like this?
Just then, the waiter brought several plates of meat and came over to help heat the grilling plate. Lin Xigeng pursed her lips and didn’t pay any more attention to the two of them.
She just wanted to check on Lin Xiche’s campus life and tomorrow, no, the day after tomorrow, she would go back. She was about to take the college entrance exam, and there were still many assignments she hadn’t done, and she hadn’t corrected her mistakes. She had a lot of things to do…
In any case, it had nothing to do with her!
While using tongs to place meat on the grilling plate, Lin Xigeng glanced over. She saw Lin Xiche with her head down, trying to hide her pleased expression. There was a hint of smugness in her eyes, and her tail seemed almost ready to wag.
Then she turned her head to look at Xu Fang.
At this moment, he was also staring at Lin Xiche.
His expression was completely different from his usual cold and unapproachable demeanor. His eyes were deep, and there was a hint of meaning in them.
After dinner, Xu Fang dropped the two of them off at their dormitory building and then returned to his own dorm. The other three roommates in his dormitory were nowhere to be found, and the room was empty. It was clean and tidy, with everything neatly arranged according to the rules.
Xu Fang’s dormitory was not very good, with bunk beds, old water heaters, and air conditioners. When he first arrived, there was a strong musty smell in the room. He slept on the lower bunk, and now, with the lights off, he had taken off his shoes and lay on the bed.
Xu Fang lazily leaned against the stacked blankets, with his legs propped up on the ladder, in a very comfortable position. In the darkness, only his phone emitted a soft glow, illuminating his face.
His expression was nervous and somewhat incredulous.
Xu Fang licked his lips and sent a message to Jiang Zhengxu, typing slowly.
Xu Fang: “Bro.”
After a one-second pause, he continued typing.
Xu Fang: “That girl seems to have set her sights on me.”
Leave a Reply