Listening to his words on the phone, Lin Xiche sniffed and stared blankly at the ten buns in her hand, pondering how to handle the current situation.
If she had been the one to call and say these two sentences, she would feel more justified. But now, with Xu Fang calling first, she suddenly felt like she shamelessly snatched his thunder.
Should she pretend to still be asleep?
After all, this was the first time he had shown affection to her. If she rejected him now, he would probably never do such a thing again. But pretending to be asleep was easy. The problem was that she still had ten meat buns in her hand. What should she do with them?
She couldn’t waste food, could she?
Lin Xiche hesitated, lost in thought, and still hadn’t replied to him.
Thinking that she had fallen asleep again, Xu Fang raised his voice and urged, “Hurry up.”
Lin Xiche still didn’t respond, her mind still stuck between “ten meat buns” and “pretending to be asleep,” concepts in which, in her mind, were synonymous with “cherish food” and “save face for Xu Fang.”
The next moment, Xu Fang’s tone returned to its normal volume, and his voice was calm and unemotional. He used a composed attitude to pressure her, saying, “Lin Xiche.”
Hearing this tone, Lin Xiche suddenly shivered and stopped contemplating. She licked her lips, turned around, and walked in the direction of her dormitory building. She called out to him cautiously, “Pipi.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you eat meat buns?”
“…”
Lin Xiche, with a meat bun in her mouth, walked down to the dormitory building, and within ten minutes, she saw Xu Fang standing beneath her dormitory. He was holding a paper bag, wearing a black woolen coat and a white turtleneck sweater. His gaze was fixed on the dormitory entrance, not looking in her direction.
From this angle, she could only see his profile, with distinct and graceful facial features, a straight back, a spirited temperament, and a tall and handsome appearance.
Lin Xiche nibbled on her food, not calling out to him, and silently walked up behind him. She used the tip of her shoe to gently tap the heel of his shoe.
Xu Fang subconsciously turned around.
He saw Lin Xiche, who had wide-open eyes, looking at him. She didn’t seem like she had just woken up, and she was chewing on a meat bun.
The weather today wasn’t very good. The temperature was lower than the past few days, and the sky was overcast with thick clouds. Although it wasn’t raining, the air was damp, and even a slight breeze brought a bone-chilling cold.
So Lin Xiche was dressed warmly.
She had woken up at six o’clock when the temperature was extremely low. At that time, she was most afraid of the cold, so in the dim light, she just grabbed whatever thick clothing she could find and put it on.
Lin Xiche couldn’t remember how many layers she had put on. Anyway, she was warm now, but her movements were not very agile. She felt stiff and sluggish, like an elderly person.
Xu Fang silently watched her.
Lin Xiche noticed his gaze, lowered her head to look at her clothes, and then raised her head to look at Xu Fang’s current outfit. The contrast between the two was striking, one bulky and short, the other tall, lean, and clear.
She opened her mouth, took the last bite of the bun, and then struggled to take out a tissue from her pocket to wipe her mouth.
After tossing the tissue into a plastic bag, Lin Xiche used her free hand to adjust her scarf and reposition her knitted hat on her head. Sensing that he was still looking at her, she couldn’t help but say, “It’s quite cold today.”
So, this time, I can’t afford to be less dignified and wear one less piece of clothing for your attention. She added this thought in her mind.
Upon hearing her words, Xu Fang lit up his phone and quietly said, “It’s nine degrees today.”
Lin Xiche quickly nodded, seeking his approval. “Yeah, it’s very…” cold.
“Seeing you like this,” Xu Fang’s brows relaxed, and he lazily said, “I thought it was minus nine degrees.”
“…” While debating whether to regain some dignity and remove one piece of clothing, Lin Xiche hesitated and tugged her scarf down a bit more. But before she could take any further action, Xu Fang suddenly stuffed the paper bag he was holding into her arms.
Lin Xiche naturally caught it.
Xu Fang raised his hand, quietly unwrapped her scarf halfway, and then rewrapped it, tying a small knot that buried half of her face in the scarf. His dark eyes were deep and gentle as he looked at her.
Under his gaze, Lin Xiche blinked, her neck shrinking slightly, showing a hint of embarrassment.
Xu Fang hadn’t worn a scarf much before, so now he was tying it randomly, and it looked like he was wrapping a mummy.
Lin Xiche found it a bit difficult to breathe, but he meant well, and this rare act of gentleness made her not want to ruin it directly in front of him. Moreover, with the scarf properly worn, it was indeed much warmer than when it was loose and sagging.
For these two reasons, Lin Xiche felt she could endure the slight discomfort in breathing.
After putting on the scarf, Xu Fang took back the things he had handed to her. He took a step forward with his long legs and walked straight ahead.
Lin Xiche hesitated for a few seconds and quickly jogged to catch up.
After walking a short distance, Xu Fang’s pace slowed down, and he walked side by side with her.
After a short while, Lin Xiche began to feel a bit uncomfortable. She had to talk with several layers of fabric covering her face. She lowered her head and started tugging at the scarf, trying to loosen it a bit.
Noticing her movements, Xu Fang looked over.
“Wear it,” he said.
Hearing this, Lin Xiche immediately stopped what she was doing.
Xu Fang lowered his brows and eyelids. His eyelashes were long and dense, and his tone was casual as if he was considering her well-being. He continued, “Cover your face so others won’t recognize you with such a swollen face.”
“…”
Near the dormitory building, there was a campus supermarket. Lin Xiche had originally intended to go there, but because of the cold weather, Xu Fang had led her to the nearest cafeteria.
It was just past seven o’clock, and students were entering and leaving the cafeteria. It wasn’t the peak hour, so most of the seats were empty. A few students were scattered at various tables.
Lin Xiche found an empty seat and sat down first.
Xu Fang placed all the things he was holding on the table, then calmly sat down opposite her. He reached out and opened the plastic bag containing the meat buns.
The transparent plastic bag contained white paper bags filled with steaming meat buns.
Xu Fang hadn’t thought much about why Lin Xiche had gotten up so early. He simply assumed she wanted to eat meat buns and had bought some for herself. He had also bought one for himself on the way. Although he had felt the weight of the bag was a bit strange when he carried it, he hadn’t paid it much attention.
Now, as he opened the bag and saw the neatly stacked meat buns inside, Xu Fang’s expression changed slightly. While the meat buns weren’t large individually, the sheer quantity made him freeze for a few seconds.
Xu Fang’s brows slightly furrowed. “Why did you buy so many?”
Lin Xiche blinked playfully and said, “To share with you.”
“…”
“How many did you buy?”
“Ten.”
“…How many did you eat?”
“One.” After saying this, Lin Xiche began to emphasize proudly, “The rest are all yours! I won’t compete with you. I bought them all for you.”
“…” He might burst from overeating.
Xu Fang closed his eyes for a moment, then reached for the paper bag.
At this distance, Lin Xiche noticed a label on the paper bag from a bakery outside the school. She had been there a few times and remembered that the price of a single pastry was not cheap, roughly equivalent to the cost of twenty meat buns.
Next moment, Xu Fang took out two pastries and a chocolate cake from inside, along with two bottles of milk. He placed them in front of her and said, “See if you want to eat.”
The pastries were long and thin, sprinkled with matcha powder, and wrapped in paper, emitting a rich aroma. The triangular chocolate cake beside them had layers of filling, chocolate sauce oozing down, and two strawberries on top as decoration.
Even the milk was in cute, wide glass bottles.
Lin Xiche’s initial smugness vanished in an instant. “…”
How can a grown man be so delicate?
Lin Xiche compared the two kinds of food on the table and felt that the nine meat buns she brought seemed more like something to feed a dog and didn’t belong on the same table.
She sighed in frustration, feeling that it was unfair for her to eat the breakfast Xu Fang had brought while he was eating the one she brought. But she couldn’t resist the temptation of the cake, so she reluctantly picked up a spoon.
Noticing her expression, Xu Fang smiled slightly and finally picked up a few meat buns to eat.
After finishing the cake, Lin Xiche looked longingly at the two pastries on the side. Seeing that Xu Fang still had five buns left in front of him, she hesitated for a while before secretly picking up one to eat.
She would leave one bun for him.
She was being so kind to him; how could she not share the good things with him?
A few minutes later, Lin Xiche looked longingly at the last bun. Noticing that Xu Fang still had two buns in front of him, she hesitated for a moment but ultimately picked up the last bun.
After eating so many meat buns, Xu Fang definitely wouldn’t be able to eat another pastry. At least that’s what Lin Xiche thought.
While she thought that way, she couldn’t help feeling guilty and anxious with each bite of the bun. This behavior was really terrible; there were three pastries, and she didn’t share a single one with Xu Fang. This was far from the gentle and considerate approach she had planned.
Xu Fang didn’t notice her inner turmoil. He was focused on finishing the breakfast in front of him. He rarely ate so much for breakfast, but he managed to finish it.
He also thought that he was lucky that he didn’t buy too much breakfast. Lin Xiche should be able to finish what she had. If she couldn’t, he could probably force it down.
He had never thought about competing with her.
After he finally swallowed the last bun, Xu Fang looked up and suddenly noticed Lin Xiche’s gaze. Her expression was deep and determined.
Perplexed, he asked, “What’s wrong? Are you still hungry?”
Lin Xiche didn’t answer but asked instead, “Do you know, Pippi?”
“What?”
“I heard from someone that the Xu family, starting from your generation, has been cursed.”
Xu Fang furrowed his brows, completely unfamiliar with this legend. “What…”
But his words were cut off by Lin Xiche.
“If the eldest son of the Xu family casually breaks up with his first love,” Lin Xiche felt her own words weren’t very nice, but she said it with enough force, “from then on, whenever he farts, it will become loud and smelly.”
“…”
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