But she never expected her taste to be so good that she directly set her sights on the male lead.
Now, according to the plot, she had even become the male lead's girlfriend.
Just thinking about it gave Lin Yingyue a headache.
"Yueyue..."
"Zhong Mu, we've already broken up. Let's part amicably and not make things ugly."
Seeing her so resolute, Zhong Mu's hand froze in midair.
In his memory, Lin Yingyue was a soft, cute girl who always spoke gently and softly, putting him first.
His mother was also very satisfied with her gentleness.
Lin Yingyue had never been so decisive with him before, not like this.
His lips moved, the rims of his eyes reddened, but in the end, he didn't say a word.
Lin Yingyue didn't look at him again and walked forward.
After just a few steps, she saw Su Xiaoxiao poking her head out from around the corner.
Su Xiaoxiao had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, and when she smiled, two little fangs showed.
She ran over, grabbed Lin Yingyue's arm, and started chattering away.
"Yueyue! I've been waiting for you forever. Hurry up, let's go eat dinner together. I'm starving!"
Su Xiaoxiao caught a glimpse of Zhong Mu not far away out of the corner of her eye and curiously turned her head to look twice.
"Hey, Yueyue," Su Xiaoxiao lowered her voice and leaned close to her ear, "Why is that guy staring at you? And he looks like he's about to cry. He's really handsome—is he from our school?"
Lin Yingyue didn't even lift her eyelids and kept walking without stopping.
"You're seeing things. He's not looking at me."
"How is that possible? I clearly saw him staring at your back the whole time."
"Oh, maybe he's never seen a beauty of my caliber before."
Su Xiaoxiao was stunned for a second, then burst out laughing. "If anyone else said that, I'd think they were a total poser.
But coming from you, big beauty Yueyue, it's pretty convincing!"
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you, that lunatic in the dorm was at it again today! She used my washbasin as a footbath, and I almost got athlete's foot on my face!"
Lin Yingyue patted her on the shoulder. "Hang in there a little longer. I'll be moving in with you soon."
"Right, right!" Su Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up. "Once you're here, we'll be sisters in misery. Come on, it's dinner time now. My treat today!"
Suddenly, Lin Yingyue caught a glimpse of her phone screen lighting up out of the corner of her eye.
She reached for it to see who had sent the message—
The screen went black.
Dead battery. It had shut down automatically.
Lin Yingyue stuffed the phone back into her bag.
The messages she usually got the most were spam texts saying her son had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom.
It probably wasn't anything important anyway. She'd charge it later.
Soon, Lin Yingyue completely forgot about the message.
The two of them walked to the snack street behind the school.
The shop wasn't big, but it was kept clean and tidy.
The owner clearly knew Su Xiaoxiao well and greeted her with a smile. "Xiaoxiao's here? The usual?"
"Yeah, two servings of the signature snail noodles, both with fried eggs!"
Before long, two large steaming bowls of snail noodles were brought out. The golden fried eggs lay in the red chili oil broth, and the aroma of pickled bamboo shoots wafted straight into their noses.
"Dig in!" Su Xiaoxiao couldn't wait to pick up a chopstickful of noodles and slurped them down happily.
Lin Yingyue took a bite, and her eyes lit up. "Delicious!"
"Of course! Have I ever steered you wrong?"
Su Xiaoxiao's mouth was stuffed full, and she mumbled indistinctly, "We can come here often from now on. The owner is really nice and always gives extra bamboo shoots."
"Oh, Yueyue, didn't you tell me last time you were looking for a part-time job?"
Lin Yingyue nodded. "Yeah, I need to save up some money. Why?"
"I've got good news!" Su Xiaoxiao's eyes sparkled. "There's a part-time front desk job at a hotel, and they asked me if I knew any good-looking classmates to recommend. I immediately thought of you!"
She put down her chopsticks and counted on her fingers. "It's almost five thousand a month!"
Lin Yingyue's heart stirred.
Five thousand a month, plus the scholarship, would be enough for her to save quite a bit.
Then, she could go abroad.
"Is it reliable?"
"Totally reliable!" Su Xiaoxiao patted her chest to guarantee it. "If you're willing, I'll tell them tomorrow, and you can start next week."
Lin Yingyue nodded. "Alright, I'll give it a try."
"Great!" Su Xiaoxiao was even happier than if she had found the job herself. "From now on, we can go to work together and come back together after our shifts. Perfect!"
The two chatted and laughed as they finished the last few mouthfuls of noodles.
They walked out of the small shop one after the other.
As they turned a corner, Lin Yingyue's steps suddenly halted.
Not far away, a black Maybach was parked by the roadside, completely out of place with the messy snack street around it.
Lin Yingyue's heart skipped a beat.
Song Zeqian was leaning against the car, his eyes narrow and noble, his tall figure straight and imposing.
His gaze was cool, fixed in her direction.
A handsome guy like that naturally attracted quite a few people nearby secretly taking photos.
Only then did Lin Yingyue remember that Song Zeqian had mentioned that morning that he would pick her up for dinner.
Oh no, how could she have forgotten about that!
Feeling a bit guilty, she secretly wiped the chili oil from the corner of her mouth.
Judging by his sinister look, Lin Yingyue had no doubt that he had come specifically to catch her.
"Yueyue?" Su Xiaoxiao walked a few steps and noticed she hadn't followed, turning back to look at her. "What's wrong?"
Lin Yingyue forced a smile. "Nothing. I still have something to do. You go on ahead."
"Okay." Su Xiaoxiao didn't think twice and skipped away.
Quickly glancing around to make sure no one she knew was nearby, Lin Yingyue resigned herself to getting into the car, her face full of despair.
The man's icy voice drifted over from beside her.
"Why didn't you answer the phone?"
"My phone died, so I couldn't answer."
Hearing her explanation, Song Zeqian's expression softened a bit.
Lin Yingyue thought everything was fine, but then Song Zeqian added another question.
"Why did you pack all your luggage?"
Lin Yingyue's smile froze. How did he know!
"N-no... I didn't..."
"Little sister, didn't anyone tell you that you're a terrible liar?"
She was startled and looked up to see Song Zeqian's dark eyes fixed on her without blinking. Lin Yingyue had no choice but to answer honestly.
"I'm moving back to the dorm."
"You've only been living at the Song residence for a short while, and you already want to move out?"
"Mm-hmm, I don't want to bother Big Brother."
"Do you really want to live in the dorm that badly?"
For Lin Yingyue, sharing a dorm with three other people meant no privacy and the possibility of running into weird roommates.
In contrast, the room the Song family had prepared for her was spacious and bright, with its own bathroom—the difference was like heaven and earth.
If it weren't to avoid Song Zeqian, she wouldn't have moved out.
"Yes, Su Xiaoxiao and I agreed long ago to live together."
Song Zeqian didn't ask any further. He looked down at his tablet screen, but his expression grew even darker.
Seeing that he didn't object, Lin Yingyue secretly breathed a sigh of relief and made a victory sign.
It seemed she had been overthinking things. Of course, the male lead would want her to move as far away as possible.
But she didn't notice that Song Zeqian's cold, pale fingers were unconsciously tapping on the screen, not turning the page for a long time.
After a long while, he picked up his phone and sent a message to his assistant.
"Call the president of G University."
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