After finishing his meal, Song Yunshen looked at Xia Yunuo across from him, whose tray was wiped completely clean. He tried hard to hold back a smile.
He thought, "Who was it that just said she had enough to eat? She still finished it all anyway.
"Gotta eat more to grow, after all."
Song Yunshen glanced at Xia Yunuo’s chest, then immediately retracted his gaze.
Hearing Song Yunshen’s inner voice, Xia Yunuo blushed slightly across the table and lowered her head, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
She thought, "This is too embarrassing. I should have eaten less.
"But it really was delicious. I hardly ever eat meat at school, so getting to have it for once... I couldn’t control my mouth at all.
"Though this will probably be the only time. Sigh... I’ll have to go back to eating vegetables this evening."
Compared to Xia Yunuo’s reticence at school, her inner world was quite rich.
In Song Yunshen’s eyes, Xia Yunuo was no different from any normal girl. At least, judging by the content of her inner voice, she was actually quite cute and interesting.
Whenever he thought about how a girl like her was so poor that she could only afford vegetables every day, living frugally with her older sister, and even having to figure out how to work part-time jobs during summer vacation to subsidize their household expenses, Song Yunshen couldn’t quite rein in his overflowing sympathy.
"How about we make a deal?" Song Yunshen asked.
"What kind of deal?"
"From now on, I’ll cover your lunches," Song Yunshen said. "But you have to let me copy your English homework every day."
"Can’t you borrow Kang Ping’s?" Xia Yunuo was still somewhat averse to having too much interaction with others, so she replied subconsciously.
"AHEM... Your handwriting is nicer, so it’s clearer when I copy it." Song Yunshen silently apologized to Sister Ping in his heart while explaining with a perfectly straight face.
"If you want to borrow my English homework, you just have to ask. You don’t need to treat me to lunch every day." Xia Yunuo shook her head gently. "That’s too expensive."
"It’s not that bad." Song Yunshen did a quick mental calculation. Xia Yunuo’s meal—two meat dishes and one vegetable dish—wasn’t considered expensive to him at all.
A serving of rice at the cafeteria cost one yuan, with unlimited refills.
Vegetables were one and a half yuan per serving. As for meat dishes, a half-meat, half-vegetable stir-fry was three yuan, while a pure meat dish like a crispy chicken cutlet was four and a half yuan.
Xia Yunuo’s entire meal only added up to ten yuan.
Even if Song Yunshen treated her from Monday to Saturday, it would only be an extra sixty yuan in expenses a week.
But for Xia Yunuo, she was already used to eating a single serving of rice mixed with soup and a side of vegetables every day. Her lunch and dinner combined only cost five yuan.
Song Yunshen’s sixty yuan a week, which only covered lunch, was enough to last her half a month.
"I said there’s no need." Xia Yunuo continued to shake her head in refusal.
She was very grateful that Song Yunshen had treated her to lunch today, but she couldn’t allow herself to indulge her appetite.
People were fickle. If Song Yunshen changed his mind in the future, and she had grown accustomed to eating lavishly, it would be even harder to return to her original lifestyle.
Xia Yunuo would never harbor expectations for any man.
Even among the boys who had once showered her with attention and confessed to her, there was no shortage of those who secretly badmouthed her behind her back after being rejected.
Therefore, she had long cultivated the belief of never expecting anything from anyone.
Aside from the family members she depended on for survival, everyone else was just someone who could betray her at any moment.
"Alright then." Seeing her unwavering resolve, Song Yunshen didn’t push the matter further. He picked up his tray, stood up, and said, "Let’s head back to the classroom."
"Okay." Xia Yunuo nodded calmly. She followed suit and stood up, ruthlessly snuffing out the faint trace of regret in the bottom of her heart. After adjusting her mindset, she matched Song Yunshen’s pace.
"Speaking of which," Song Yunshen said to the girl beside him as they left the cafeteria and walked along the tree-lined path of the campus. "If you want to find a part-time tutoring job, you can try asking Teacher Song."
"Teacher Song?"
"Yeah, our dear math teacher," Song Yunshen said. "He should know quite a few off-campus tutoring centers. You can ask him if he has any part-time tutoring gigs to recommend."
"Just go and ask him directly?" Xia Yunuo was a little hesitant.
Her math grades weren’t very good, so she felt a lack of confidence when facing Teacher Song.
"Just say that Song Yunshen recommended you to ask," Song Yunshen said. "I’m on good terms with him."
"Oh." Xia Yunuo nodded lightly. "Then I’ll go ask when I have time."
Song Minggui, the math teacher for Class Five of the tenth grade, was Song Yunshen’s biological uncle. Of course they were on good terms.
However, Song Minggui didn’t let him broadcast their relationship at school, so Song Yunshen didn’t elaborate.
Xia Yunuo just assumed that Song Yunshen was close to the math teacher because he had good math grades, so she didn’t think much of it.
The two of them walked all the way back to the classroom door.
Xia Yunuo went to the restroom, while Song Yunshen walked into the classroom.
But the very next second, someone shoved him hard against the wall and forcefully pinned his head down.
"Song Yunshen! Do you plead guilty?!" Xu Zhuoyue, dripping with sweat after playing basketball, viciously apprehended him.
"What crazy fit are you throwing now?" Song Yunshen looked speechless. After breaking free from the restraint, he adjusted his collar. "What’s with the excitement?"
"You have the nerve to ask?" Xu Zhuoyue said in a huff. "Take a good look at yourself and reflect! How long has it been since you played basketball with your bros? Let alone noon today—you didn’t even eat lunch with your bros, damn it!
"Forgetting your brothers the second you get a girl, huh?
"You look like such an honest guy, but I never expected you to make your move so fast."
"Don’t talk nonsense." Song Yunshen walked back to his seat and sat down, his expression completely unfazed. "I just treated her to a meal as a thank you for letting me borrow her English homework."
"Then how come I don’t see you treating Sister Ping to a meal?" Xu Zhuoyue sneered coldly. "Playing favorites, are we?"
"Sister Ping, how about I treat you to dinner tonight?" Song Yunshen asked Kang Ping at the desk in front of him.
"No need." Kang Ping adjusted her glasses and replied seriously. "I’m going to the campus store to buy bread and milk for dinner. I’ll eat in the classroom while doing practice questions. I’m not going to the cafeteria."
"See?" Song Yunshen looked at Xu Zhuoyue and threw his hands up in a gesture of helplessness.
"Hmph! You sure have a lot of excuses, you dog." Xu Zhuoyue sat back in his seat, annoyed. "Sister Ping, don’t spoil him! Last time I borrowed your homework, I even treated you to a glass of milk."
"Oh," Kang Ping responded flatly. "He’s more handsome than you."
"PFFT—" Hearing those words, Xu Zhuoyue instantly spat out half a pound of metaphorical blood, clutching his chest as if he had suffered a grave injury. "Sister Ping... those words are too hurtful."
"Just for that sentence, Sister Ping, your bread and milk tonight are on me," Song Yunshen said with a wide grin. "I love hearing that."
"Handsome men will interfere with my studies." Kang Ping shot him a glance. "So, no thanks."
Song Yunshen was speechless.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Xu Zhuoyue burst into roaring laughter, as if he hadn’t been the one metaphorically spitting blood just a second ago.
Having had his offer to cover meals rejected by two girls in a row, Song Yunshen felt quite defeated. He let out a long sigh. "It’s true what they say. Money can’t buy everything."
Xu Zhuoyue patted him on the shoulder. "Then treat me tonight, and your bro will forgive you for abandoning him this noon."
"Do you even deserve it? My ass you do."
"Get lost!"
...
The tedious day of school life quickly passed by.
After evening dismissal, on his sprint toward the school gates, Song Yunshen made a detour to the English Club to pick up Xia Jinsu’s reply letter.
Xu Zhuoyue tagged along beside him, eyeing the envelope in his hands with deep suspicion. "So, who exactly is writing to you?"
"A pen pal from the English Club," Song Yunshen replied.
"Class. Name."
"Didn’t I tell you already? Xia Jinsu from Class Four of the eleventh grade."
"Like hell I believe you!"
"Suit yourself then."