The cafeteria at Beijing Capital University was not only clean and hygienic compared to places outside, but it also offered a wide variety of delicious food.
Xie Ran liked it very much.
He took out his phone, snapped a photo of the cafeteria, and sent it to V: [Teacher V, I am here to eat. Have you eaten yet?]
Seeing this, Zhang Xuan, who was sitting next to him, asked in a teasing tone, “Ran-er, who are you messaging? You even need to take a picture. Don’t tell me you are reporting to a girlfriend?”
After sending the message, Xie Ran tucked his phone into his pocket. “Where would a girlfriend come from? I do not date, thank you.”
“Tsk,” Zhang Xuan touched his chin. “If I had a face like yours, I would definitely not waste it.”
“I would take selfies and look in the mirror a hundred times every day.”
Aside from Jiang Xu, who in Beijing Capital University did not know that Xie Ran, the art department’s department crush, was delicate and pretty? Outsiders viewed him as cold and unworldly, but once they interacted with him, they discovered he was humorous and funny, making it even easier for people to develop a favorable impression.
He was simply captivating to both men and women alike.
Xie Ran jokingly scolded, “You pervert.”
Laughing and chatting, they went to buy their food. Instead of packing it back to the dorm, they planned to finish eating right there in the cafeteria before heading back.
Just as they found a table and sat down, Zhang Xuan leaned over secretly to Xie Ran’s side and pointed toward a spot not far away in the cafeteria.
“Ran-er, look. It is Jiang Xu.”
Xie Ran had just picked up a piece of braised eggplant with his chopsticks. Hearing this, he raised his head and looked in the direction pointed by his companion.
It truly was Jiang Xu.
Today, the other person was wearing an orange and blue plaid loose-fitting shirt jacket, layered over a pure white short-sleeved T-shirt, with a silver necklace without a pendant hanging around his neck. The entire outfit made him look trendy and cool.
His height of one meter eighty-seven stood out exceptionally in the crowd, and his micro-layered fringe made his brows and eyes look cold and distant.
It was as if he had been detached from this world, giving off a sense of belonging to an entirely different dimension compared to the people all around him.
Zhang Xuan could not help marveling, “I never expected a young master from a wealthy family to actually come to the cafeteria.”
Xie Ran was amused, biting down on his eggplant. “A wealthy young master is still human, and he has to eat just the same.”
Zhang Xuan shook his head like a rattling drum and said mysteriously, “Shouldn’t young masters go to high-end restaurants to eat steak and seafood, with Michelin-star chefs serving them?”
Xie Ran pondered, “Maybe he wants a change of flavor?”
Normally, they indeed rarely saw Jiang Xu appear in the school cafeteria, at least not during their freshman year.
“What do you think Jiang Xu is doing?” Zhang Xuan asked while eating his food. “I have seen him standing over there for two minutes.”
Although they were currently roommates, their relationship was not close, so they had not called him over to eat together.
What if Jiang Xu had things to do?
Xie Ran said unconcernedly, “Waiting for someone, probably.”
As he spoke, he took out his phone and sent another message to V: [The braised eggplant in the Beijing Capital University cafeteria is super delicious! OvO]
The person on the other end ignored him.
Xie Ran was long used to it, so he put his phone down. Raising his head, he saw a rather delicate-looking guy walking toward Jiang Xu.
A handsome face really did attract admirers wherever it went.
Seeing this, Zhang Xuan gossiped, “Aiyah, isn’t that from your art department? I remember his name seems to be Song Qingyu. I heard he is gay. Is he taking a fancy to Jiang Xu and asking for his contact info?”
Xie Ran knew Song Qingyu. Speaking of which, the two of them were even classmates, though they were not close and had never spoken to each other.
He also knew about the other person’s sexual orientation, as the person had never tried to hide it at school.
However, whether someone was straight or bent had no relation to him whatsoever, and he had never judged a person’s character based on their sexual orientation.
“Then he is hitting on the wrong person,” Zhang Xuan continued with a smile. “I remember hearing that Jiang Xu is homophobic.”
Xie Ran blinked. “Homophobic?”
He had never heard of this matter.
Though it was also normal; for a straight man, being pestered by another guy might be a lifelong nightmare.
“Yes,” Zhang Xuan, who stood at the front lines of gossip year-round, recounted the information he had dug up. “This news apparently came from Jiang Xu’s high school classmate. It seems back then, a guy confessed his love to Jiang Xu, got rejected, and Jiang Xu said he does not like men.”
“That classmate said Jiang Xu’s expression was so serious at the time, frowning so much he looked like he wanted to stay as far away from the confessor as possible.”
“If this is not homophobia, what is?”
Xie Ran did not offer any opinions, seeing as rejecting a pursuer was normal behavior after all.
Zhang Xuan clicked his tongue twice and sighed deeply. “I reckon this Song Qingyu definitely will not get WeChat.”
The two of them looked toward the spot where Jiang Xu was. Sure enough, after a short while, Song Qingyu walked away with a downcast face.
Leaving Jiang Xu standing alone in place.
“Look!” Zhang Xuan laughed. “Even classmates probably cannot add Jiang Xu on WeChat, let alone someone trying to hit on him.”
Xie Ran shrugged and did not pick up the topic.
After finishing their meal, the two put their clean plates into the designated utensil return area.
Jiang Xu was still standing in the same spot, frequently checking his phone.
“Let us go back to the dorm,” Zhang Xuan said, feeling quite full. “Ran-er, are you playing Honor of Kings later?”
Xie Ran had no classes and agreed, “Sure.”
They walked one after another toward the outside of the cafeteria. Passing by Jiang Xu, Xie Ran even raised his hand with familiar friendliness to greet him.
As a result, just as he was about to leave, he was called out.
“Xie Ran.”
Hearing the voice, the two stopped in their tracks and looked toward Jiang Xu.
The other person’s gaze landed on Xie Ran, and he asked in a very calm and distant tone, “I forgot to bring my meal card when I came. Could I ask to borrow yours?”
Zhang Xuan originally wanted to volunteer and pull out his own meal card, but before he could open his mouth to speak, he closed it again.
Because Jiang Xu had not paid attention to him at all.
The other person’s gaze had been fixed entirely on Xie Ran from start to finish.
The cafeteria at Beijing Capital University was different from other schools; the food at the service windows required using the meal card issued by the school. For other small restaurant shops, one could choose to scan a QR code to pay.
Clearly, Young Master Jiang wanted to eat the food from the service windows.
Otherwise, he would not have proactively spoken up to borrow a meal card.
Xie Ran was not a stingy person either. He reached into his pocket, fished out his meal card, handed it to Jiang Xu, and curved his lips in a smile. “Sure.”
“Return it to me after we get back to the dorm.”
Jiang Xu accepted the meal card stamped with the Beijing Capital University logo and said politely and distantly, “Thank you.”
Xie Ran raised his hand indifferently to signal it was no big deal, and left the cafeteria to return to the dorm together with Zhang Xuan beside him.
While walking downstairs, Zhang Xuan asked curiously, “Ran-er, when did you get so close to Jiang Xu? He actually proactively asked to borrow your meal card?”
Mainly, why did someone as wealthy as Jiang Xu insist on eating food from the school windows? Could he really be wanting a change of flavor?
Besides, when had Jiang Xu ever proactively started a conversation with anyone?
Being roommates for a month, occasional conversations only happened because they considered dorm collectivism and invited him to participate in activities.
Every single invitation received the exact same answer:
“You guys go ahead and play. I have to go to the lab later.”
As time passed, none of them dared to greet Jiang Xu outside the dorm, fearing they would be ignored and treated as strangers by him.
And thus, affecting the bonds between roommates.
Xie Ran put both hands in his pockets. “Not close.”
Zhang Xuan did not believe it. “Then why did he ask you to borrow a meal card?”
Xie Ran curved his lips. “Because we are roommates.”
“Alright, let us drop this. Hurry back and play games.”
The two walked to the downstairs area of the dorm building. He quickened his pace, taking two steps at a time up the stairs, leaving Zhang Xuan behind.
“I am a roommate too,” Zhang Xuan muttered, scratching his head. “And Jiang Xu never asked me to borrow a meal card.”
Not only that, Jiang Xu had not even noticed him just now.