Qi Yue looked incredulous, he emotionally exclaimed, “Brother Yuan, you actually came back! Are you that reluctant to part with me? It turns out that I’m so important to you!”
Gu Jing Yuan massaged his temple, “You should shut up.”
He glared at Tao Yi Xi with frigid eyes, “You set me up?”
Tao Yi Xi tilted her head, “Ge-ge, as I’ve said before, a fall into the pit, a gain in one’s wit.”
Her slender white fingers twirled a black pen, “If I guessed correctly, Ge-ge was planning to slip out of school from the missing brick wall near the toilet of the first storey.”
“How did you know?” Qi Yue blurted before Gu Jing Yuan could reply.
Gu Jing Yuan inhaled, ‘Pig teammate[1].’
She smiled, “there were so many footprints that it becomes hard to miss.”
Even if he wanted to skip class, it was impossible for him to openly walk out the front gates. Hence, she strolled a couple of rounds around the school premises and gained some understanding of the layout before she borrowed a few personnel from Gu Mu Yang.
And sure enough, the person appeared there.
She innocently asked, “Ge-ge, didn’t you say you’ll be coming back after going to the toilet?”
Gu Jing Yuan swallowed his irritation, “…”
He was wrong.
He couldn’t understand what was being taught in class. Hence everything sounded like a racket to him, causing him to want to skip. Who knew that she had already pre-empted an inescapable entrapment[2].
His eyes were fixed on the rotating black pen at the tip of her finger.
She soon stopped and firmly grasped the barrel of the pen in a standard pen-holding grip.
“Class is about to start. During this period, Ge-ge should strive for one last push and learn a bit more.”
Her dewy eyes always look at him. Dark brown eyes clearly reflected his figure, as if he was her everything.
Gu Jing Yuan’s Adam’s apple rolled, unable to pull his eyes away while forcing himself to maintain a nonchalant expression.
The two looked at each other, and she suddenly beamed. As if saying, ‘Ge-ge, hope you don’t lose too tragically~’
f*ck!
He tore his gaze away, cutting a sorry figure.
Since he was a child, he had never suffered from such a terrible setback.
He managed to endure boredom till class ended before leaving.
Tao Yi Xi quickly followed behind him. When she passed by Zhou Zhi, she quickly informed her, “I’m eating with him today, I’ll be leaving first.”
“Ah? Okay,” Zhou Zhi watched as Tao Yi Xi hurriedly tried to keep up with Gu Jing Yuan. The distance between the two of them was neither too close nor too far; there was no familiarity between them.
Yet, their auras were not mutually exclusive. There was even a hint of subtle complementarity between them.
It’s as though the only one capable enough to stand beside Gu Jing Yuan, was Tao Yi Xi.
The only one! So sweet!
No, no, no, NO! Zhou Zhi, sober up!
They are related!
**
Along the way, the two walked side by side. The school flower and the school grass, a handsome lad accompanied by a beauty painted a picturesque image.
Tao Yi Xi felt a lot more relaxed now and addressing him as ‘Ge-ge’ felt more favorable.
“Ge-ge, what are we eating later?”
Gu Jing Yuan didn’t reply to her. In fact, he took bigger steps forward but Tao Yi Xi easily kept up.
Why can’t he seem to get rid of her?
On their way, they encountered Shen Chen Chen.
“Jing Yuan!”
Gu Jing Yuan frowned, “Why is it you again.”
Shen Chen Chen was oblivious to his exasperation and continued conversing as per usual, “It so happens that I haven’t eaten too, so let’s go together. Oh, you’re here too!”
Shen Chen Chen finally noticed Tao Yi Xi.
“Yes,” In fact, she had been standing at the side for quite a while already.
“Cough, Jing Yuan, did you receive anything yesterday?” Shen Chen Chen was a little bashful and she stared straight at him with anticipation. This look of hers was really lovely.
Back then, in a dimly lit bar, she was alone enticing people to have wicked motives. Gu Jing Yuan, who was also there, was leaning lazily against the wall and called out to that person.
“Oi, come here.”
The guy saw that Gu Jing Yuan was tall and imposing, and could only leave after spitting ‘unlucky’.
The dim glowing lights illuminated his handsome face. In that one glance, he looked lithely.
All love at first sight, starts from the attraction to the other person’s physical appearance.
But who would’ve expected that when she wanted to get closer to him, there was already a difficult bitch hovering at his side. That bitch was from the vocational high school next door.
That vixen was even more flamboyant and ostentatious than she was.
Shen Chen Chen was afraid that she wouldn’t even stand a chance. Hence, she made the decision to be different by going down the innocent and pure route. It wasn’t until she met Tao Yi Xi that she felt the difference was too disparate.
After asking, Shen Chen Chen cast several meaningful glances at Gu Jing Yuan.
Gu Jing Yuan, who had long forgotten about the incident, “What?”
Shen Chen Chen unconsciously frowned at Tao Yi Xi, who quickly clarified.
“I’ve already handed it over to him.” Gu Jing Yuan’s trying to wrong me!
Gu Jing Yuan glanced at Tao Yi Xi before recalling, “That pink thing?”
Shen Chen Chen’s eyes rekindled with anticipation, “En, en! Have you read it?”
“Didn’t, I tore it up.”
Tao Yi Xi faltered. So blatantly rude and upfront?
Yet, she saw Shen Chen Chen lit up with a relieved smile, “So you don’t like this type.”
She continued, “Then what type do you like? Maybe I can develop in that direction, is that okay?”
When Shen Chen Chen’s hand was about to touch him, he nimbly dodged sideways.
“Not okay.”
He didn’t even know what was his type. Other than igniting his annoyance, all these girls were unable to draw any other emotions from him.
That right, Tao Yi Xi was the most annoying.
Tao Yi Xi, “…”
Is this person sick? She clearly didn’t provoke him just now.
The four of them walked into an expensive-looking restaurant. The waiters were all dressed in a smart vest, standing with a straight posture; carrying themselves with dignity.
The waiters did not disdain the fact that they were students as they warmly welcomed the group.
“Welcome Young Master Gu, the private room has been reserved for you.”
Tao Yi Xi flipped through the menu and after seeing the price list, she silently closed and put it down. By then, Gu Jing Yuan had already familiarly ordered a few popular dishes. When the waiter asked her, Tao Yi Xi only ordered an ordinary noodle dish.
Even the frequent customer, Gu Jing Yuan, had never heard of that dish. After looking through the menu more carefully, he finally found it hidden in the bottom corner, with no accompanying pictures.
The dishes were usually listed in the order of their price. So at that bottom corner, it was naturally the cheapest item on the menu.
The waiter took their order and retreated courteously.
Soon, their food was served. Tao Yi Xi gently blew and ate in small bites, but her speed was not considered slow.
The noodles were firm and the soup was aromatic, it should be a specially slow-simmered broth. Making it worthy of the price tag that was many times higher than other places.
However, she would still eat noodles from street vendors. She, as of now, was not qualified to sit here and enjoy high-end delicacies.
Qi Yue felt that she was very pitiful when he noticed that she was only having a serving of plain broth noodles.
“Sister Yi Xi, have some other dishes.”
She shook her head, “I’m not used to having side dishes with noodles.”
“Ah, so that’s the reason.”
After a bowl of noodles, she was also full.
At that table, Tao Yi Xi polished her plate the ‘cleanest’. Every other dish ordered was only half touched.
“Waiter, the bill.”
Gu Jing Yuan held up the payment code on his mobile, and the waiter bowed graciously and scanned it with his machine.
Beep-
After a while, no response came.
“Young Master Gu, much apologies. It seems like the network is down and it needs to be reconnected. I’ll have to take up more of your valuable time.”
Gu Jing Yuan lazily leaned back on the chair, “en.”
After the meal, he felt a little drowsy.
“Alright, Young Master Gu, please try again.”
Beep-
Still couldn’t go through.
Beep-
Still nothing.
Gu Jing Yuan gradually sat up straight, his sleepiness slowly dissipated. The waiter’s expression also gradually stiffened.
The situation was awkward.
A soft voice shattered the silence that no one dared to break, “I’ll pay for it.”
[1] Refers to a person that drags the whole team down; a bad teammate
[2] Gu Jing Yuan said that Tao Yi Xi set a ‘Five Finger Mountain’ trap. 五指山 or ‘Five Finger Mountain’ originated from Sun Wu Kong, Journey to the West. Sun Wu Kong (the Monkey King) was tasked by Buddha (如來佛 – Ru Lai Fo) to escort Tang San Zang (monk) to the west. But rebellious Sun Wu Kong didn’t want to, so Buddha created this ‘Five Finger Mountain’ and told Sun Wu Kong that if he managed to escape, then he didn’t need to escort Tang San Zang. But obviously, he couldn’t escape from the entrapment. Imagine holding a tennis ball; your five fingers look like a cage. (Thought it was nice to know~)