From the look of it, he was preparing to eat tea eggs with plain porridge.
Liang Erban was a well-known troublemaker in this area. No one usually wanted to mess with him. Once he latched onto someone, he was like a piece of sticky plaster that wouldn’t come off. He used underhanded methods to disgust people, and there was nothing you could really do about it—by the end, you could only admit defeat yourself.
You couldn’t confront someone like that head-on. He could waste your time endlessly, and you still wouldn’t outlast him.
Just like now—if you accused him of shamelessly eating a little girl’s leftover porridge, he could easily claim he was just unwilling to waste food.
It wasn’t that no one around saw what disgusting thing he was doing, but nobody could afford to provoke him. Most people avoided him as fast as they could.
Meng Zeyan placed his lunch box at the food counter and walked toward Liang Erban. As he passed an empty table, he picked up the remnants of a previous customer’s meal.
Liang Erban had finished peeling his tea egg and was about to scoop up his porridge. His fingers hadn’t even touched the spoon when the bowl—half full—suddenly became only half of what it had been before.
At the bottom was porridge, and on top was some unknown leftover food—no one could tell if it was the remains of spicy soup or soy milk curds…
And before he even got the chance to touch the spoon that the pretty girl had used, it had all been ruined!
Liang Erban slammed the table and stood up, shouting at Meng Zeyan, “Are you sick in the head? Do you know who I am? I—”
Before he could finish, a peeled tea egg was shoved directly into his mouth with precise force, silencing his rant.
Meng Zeyan calmly reminded him, “Don’t do this kind of thing again.”
The egg stuffed in his mouth almost made Liang Erban choke. After finally chewing and swallowing it, he still refused to back down.
“So what if you’re talking tough? You think you can control me? I’ll do whatever I want! Where are you from, kid? Dare to give me a rule? Believe it or not, I’ll have someone kill you!!”
For a guy barely in his early twenties to call Meng Zeyan “kid” while shouting threats made him sound less intimidating and more ridiculous.
Most of the people eating here were locals from the area. The older ones knew Meng Zeyan well—after all, he had once been one of the troublemakers here himself, only settling down after joining the army.
Those who didn’t know him worried for him. Those who did knew better—they were worried for Liang Erban instead.
The Liang family had moved here later. It was normal that Liang Erban didn’t recognize Meng Zeyan.
After hearing him, Meng Zeyan stayed silent for a moment. There was a faint sense of embarrassment in him—because he seemed to recall that he had once been that same kind of “arrogant” youth.
He had never done such disgusting things, but he had hung out with a few similarly reckless people and caused plenty of trouble.
However, they had always kept a distance from female comrades.
Seeing that Meng Zeyan didn’t respond, Liang Erban assumed he was scared and started acting even more arrogantly.
“I got it! You like that little widow too, don’t you? Let me tell you, drop that idea. She’s mine.”
This was the first time Meng Zeyan heard someone refer to Tang Huan in such a degrading way—replacing her name with “little widow,” as if she were nothing more than an object to be spoken about casually.
“What’s your name?” Meng Zeyan’s expression turned cold.
“What, scared now?” Liang Erban smirked smugly. “Listen up, I don’t change my name or hide my identity. East City Third Street—Liang Erban.”
Although his home was only one street away, Meng Zeyan didn’t remember there being a Liang family in the area.
“Nice name,” Meng Zeyan said lightly. “Will you be home this afternoon?”
Liang Erban looked at him like he was an idiot. He hadn’t expected the man to be this cowardly—so easily frightened by a few words.
He straightened his hair in a self-important gesture and said, “I’ll be home. What, you planning to come apologize? Don’t forget to bring something.”
Meng Zeyan curved his lips slightly. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”
“Kid, don’t try to trick me. I know plenty of people—it’ll be easy to deal with you!”
With a leg bouncing, Liang Erban threw down his threat like a victorious rooster and swaggered out the door.
Meng Zeyan bought his breakfast at the counter and left as well.
Hearing Liang Erban insult Tang Huan like that made a faint bitterness rise in his chest. She was so small and gentle, yet she had to endure so much malice.
Meanwhile, Tang Huan had already packed her school bag and was walking toward the bus stop, narrowly missing Meng Zeyan.
The early bus was mostly filled with students. As soon as she boarded, she saw Fang Sisi sitting up front waving at her, pointing to the seat beside her.
She had specially saved that seat for Tang Huan and wouldn’t let anyone else take it.
After buying her ticket, Tang Huan sat down next to Fang Sisi and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, Sisi.”
Not many people said “good morning” like that—it sounded quite refined.
Fang Sisi smiled back. “Good morning, Huanhuan.”
It really did sound refined. Saying it felt refined too.
“From now on, let’s take this bus together. I’ll save your seat every day,” Fang Sisi said, feeling very satisfied with her decision. She felt like she had gained a soft, sweet, and refined best friend.
“Okay!” Tang Huan agreed without hesitation. She had taken this bus to avoid running into Meng Zeyan—and instead unexpectedly met Fang Sisi.
Fang Sisi was very talkative, while Tang Huan was a good listener.
Fang Sisi explained her situation in detail. She was nineteen years old, had repeated a year twice, and had finally improved all her subjects. But then the college entrance exam added English—and she had never passed English before.
Her parents were both office workers, and she had a younger brother in middle school. If she still couldn’t pass next year’s exam, she said she wouldn’t bother revising anymore no matter what. Worst case scenario, she’d just find a rich husband to marry and live a comfortable life.
“I’m pretty good at English. If not, I can teach you,” Tang Huan said. She hadn’t expected Feng Sisi to be so decisive—giving up studying and marrying instead felt like it was all or nothing.
Feng Sisi’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she looped her arm through Tang Huan’s and laughed. “That’s great! You’re so nice, Huanhuan~ Also, I was just talking nonsense about marriage earlier. Don’t take it seriously.”
How could there be such a cute and kind-hearted treasure in this world? Feng Sisi almost wanted to turn into a koala and cling onto Tang Huan, or even let Tang Huan cling onto her—it worked either way.
When they got off the bus, Feng Sisi insisted on holding hands all the way down, saying that was the standard for best friends.
The two of them walked off hand in hand. Along the road, many other girls were also walking hand in hand. Tang Huan looked at them, then at their joined hands, and her smile gradually widened.
She felt genuinely happy. So this was what having friends felt like. She had friends at school, and family at home—everything was really nice.
It was just a pity she couldn’t share all of this with her brother. After she died, her brother was left alone in that world. She wondered if he would be happy.
The two of them entered the classroom holding hands and only let go once they sat down at their desks.
Tang Huan took out the homework she had finished the night before, while Feng Sisi collected both of their assignments and handed them to the class monitor.
The morning reading session was English. Tang Huan took out her English book and asked Feng Sisi what she didn’t understand.
Feng Sisi closed her book, tapped it lightly on the cover, and silently mouthed: “Everything.”
Tang Huan looked at her skeptically.
Feng Sisi nodded firmly. She always guessed answers in English tests—getting a few right was already considered luck.