“What on earth is going on here?” Wen Ya muttered to herself. “I better just return this bowl and get out of here. The vibe is getting way too weird.”
With that, she stood up, returned her empty bowl, and began walking back. True to form, Ling Hao trailed right behind her, mimicking her every move. Wherever she walked, he followed. Watching this little routine, Xie Ling was practically seething with frustration.
Back at their seats, Wen Ya pulled out her Little Red Book again. Sigh, there’s really nothing good to read. This is so boring.
While Wen Ya read her book, Ling Hao simply watched her. By midday, even the shy short-haired girl had figured out that the terrifying iceberg of a man had a massive crush on Wen Ya.
For lunch, Wen Ya bought a boxed meal from the dining cart for thirty cents. It was a bit pricey, but the best part was that it didn’t require any ration coupons. The meal came with two dishes—one meat and one vegetable: twice-cooked pork slices and stir-fried napa cabbage.
Wen Ya picked up a piece of the cabbage and took a bite. Hmm, not bad at all. Then she tried a piece of the pork. Eh, average.
To be fair, her standards were a bit high. Having worked as a food blogger in her past life, she naturally had a very picky palate. Across the table, Ling Hao was devouring his food at lightning speed. While Ling Hao was simply eating like that because of his survival habits in the apocalypse, Wen Ya had no idea. She assumed the icy man was scarfing it down because he thought it tasted exceptional.
Meanwhile, Xie Ling had headed to the dining car for lunch, fully expecting to cross paths with the man again. To her dismay, she sat there until the staff began cleaning up the car, and he never showed. She ultimately concluded she must have arrived too late and that he had already finished and left. She figured she would just come a bit earlier next time. Little did she know, whether or not the man visited the dining car depended entirely on whether Wen Ya was there.
Dinner was another boxed meal—this time featuring moo shu pork and shredded stir-fried potatoes. The quality was decent, and even if it hadn’t been, Wen Ya would have finished every last bite. Wastefulness was a shameful crime in this era (though honestly, it’s shameful in any era). In modern times, if you didn’t like something, you could just toss it. Try throwing food away here, and a whole crowd of people would line up to teach you a lesson in morality.
After dinner, once the meal-box vendor came by to collect the empties, Wen Ya decided to turn in early. She hadn’t rested well the previous night due to the commotion, so getting a full night’s sleep would ensure she stayed sharp in case anything happened later.
Seeing Wen Ya prep for bed, Ling Hao closed his eyes and settled down as well.
Wen Ya was well aware that Ling Hao had spent the entire day watching her, but she wasn’t terrified anymore. After all, the look in his eyes was no longer that chilling gaze meant for a corpse. Still, she couldn’t figure out why he was doing it, or why he copied her every move.
Fortunately, the night passed without incident, and she slept soundly.
When she woke up the next morning, her cheeks were flushed a healthy pink. The moment she blinked open her eyes, she found Ling Hao staring straight at her.
Wen Ya’s lips twitched slightly. She stood up, grabbed her toiletries, and headed out to wash up. At this point, she wasn’t even surprised by the icy face trailing behind her. Let him follow if he wants, she figured. Once we get off this train, we’re going our separate ways anyway. Who’s going to remember who?
For breakfast, Wen Ya headed back to the dining car, and the moment she stepped inside, she spotted Xie Ling.
Xie Ling had spent the entire previous evening waiting in vain at the dining car until closing time, causing the staff to assume she was just trying to squat in the car for a free seat. Because she had spent so much time loitering there, when she finally returned to her compartment, she discovered someone else had taken her seat.
She had left Wang Meiyu to watch her spot, but it had been snatched away anyway. After aggressively booting the interloper out of her seat, Xie Ling and Wang Meiyu had gotten into a screaming match. The argument escalated into a shoving match, and Wang Meiyu had accidentally lost her footing, slamming her head hard against a wooden chair.
Xie Ling had panicked when Wang Meiyu knocked herself out cold, but after frantically reviving her, she finally let out a sigh of relief. She even muttered an apology, though Wang Meiyu completely ignored her.
Wang Meiyu was currently too busy processing a mind-blowing realization: she had been reborn. With a second chance at life, who on earth had time to waste on Xie Ling? Wang Meiyu was too preoccupied plotting how to live her life to the fullest this time around.
While all this drama happened off to the side, Wen Ya sat down and thought to herself: This female supporting character is seriously persistent. Shouldn’t she be chasing after the male lead? Why did she change her taste? And if we’re talking about who actually saved her, it was the plainclothes officers who subdued the criminal.
As far as Wen Ya was concerned, Xie Ling was simply superficial and had fallen for the icy man’s drop-dead gorgeous face. And honestly, fair enough—Ling Hao’s looks were undeniably top-tier. If he didn’t walk around glaring at people like they were already dead, he probably would have had a line of suitors a mile long.
Wen Ya ordered a small bowl of wontons. Ling Hao ordered a large bowl. As soon as Wen Ya sat down to dig in, Ling Hao materialized across from her with his bowl, slurping down his wontons.
Wen Ya took a sip of the broth. Mmm, super savory. She scooped up a wonton. Delicious! She blew on it. Oof, a bit too hot.
Right as she was getting into her meal, Xie Ling marched over and planted herself right beside their table.
“What a coincidence running into you again, comrade,” Xie Ling chimed, flashing a bashful look at Ling Hao. “May I sit here?”
Wen Ya watched with wide-eyed fascination.
She glanced over at the icy man, expecting him to at least acknowledge the woman. Instead, Ling Hao didn’t even lift his chin. He just quietly shoveled wontons into his mouth—fast, efficient, and completely silent.
Suddenly, Ling Hao raised his eyes, fixed his gaze entirely on Wen Ya, and announced, “Eat faster. Your wontons are going to get soggy.”
Uh… excuse me?
Why was he dragging her into this? She was just trying to enjoy her breakfast theater!
Seeing this, Xie Ling shot Wen Ya a look of pure poison. Recognizing her as the girl who had been cradled in her savior’s arms during the hijacking, Xie Ling’s expression twisted into open hostility.
Wen Ya felt an urge to roll her eyes. Girl, don’t look at me like that! If you want a man’s attention, go stare at the iceberg across the table!
Feeling the immense pressure of Ling Hao’s unblinking stare locked onto her, she cleared her throat. Forget it. Back to food.
Head down, spoon up—slurp, slurp.
By the time she finished every last wonton and drained her bowl, she looked up to find that Ling Hao had already finished his meal and was sitting there patiently, watching her wrap up.
Meanwhile, Xie Ling was sitting at a nearby table, shooting toxic, aggrieved daggers at Ling Hao’s profile.
“What a heartbreaker,” Wen Ya muttered under her breath.
Hearing her, Ling Hao looked across the table and watched her huff in mild annoyance. She’s so cute.
At the same time, he agreed that the woman hovering nearby was utterly repulsive. If not for the fact that he didn’t want to alarm the girl sitting across from him, he would have dealt with Xie Ling a long time ago.
After finishing breakfast, the two of them headed back toward their carriage. They had only taken a few steps out of the dining car when a blood-curdling shriek echoed from inside.
Wen Ya instinctively started to turn around to look, but her forehead bumped squarely into a solid, warm chest.
She tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge an inch. When she ducked sideways to peek past him, Ling Hao smoothly shifted his stance to block her view completely.
She gave his arm another shove, curiosity getting the better of her. From the sound of that scream, it definitely belonged to Xie Ling.
“You’re blocking my view. Move aside.”
“Let’s just head back,” Ling Hao said smoothly. “Aren’t you afraid of running into more criminals?”
The moment the word criminal left his lips, Wen Ya’s mind flashed instantly to that blood-dripping knife.
Nope! Absolutely not!
She had zero desire to relive that nightmare. As the old saying went, curiosity killed the cat, and she definitely didn’t have nine lives like a cat. She only had one precious life.
Scary, too scary. Let’s get out of here!
Discarding all thoughts of rubbernecking, she obediently turned around and scurried safely back toward their carriage.