Qin Ling had never met Fei Chaichai.
Zhou Yi, however, recognized her silhouette at a glance and said in surprise, "Hey, classmate, why is it you again?"
Yeah, why was it her again.
A second strike. Fei Chaichai was deeply disappointed in herself.
It was all her fault—she'd spent the past eighteen years living with total integrity, which was why she couldn't even pull off something this sneaky.
But she hadn't meant to eavesdrop. She'd only followed them in to ask about Room 108. Who knew that the moment she stepped into the hallway, she'd get drawn into their conversation and lose herself listening without realizing it.
And now, caught red-handed again.
Luckily, what happens once becomes familiar the second time around.
This time, Fei Chaichai didn't play deaf and dumb. She spun around in a flourish, pivoting to face the other wall, and greeted them with a solemn profile view: "Hi, it's me—a scholar who got hungry from memorizing texts and came in to forage for food."
The word "scholar" was emphasized with extra weight, as if in protest against being called an "angry bird."
Having said that, Fei Chaichai turned her face for a proper introduction—but her peripheral vision caught the man in the corner.
She froze for a moment.
So his tattoos weren't just on his neck.
There was one on the back of his left hand too, like ink bleeding through water, or smoke curling upward—a string of incantation-like marks winding from his pale, slender wrist up his forearm, disappearing into the black sleeve.
Hard to say whether the man elevated the tattoo or the tattoo elevated the man, but the pattern looked as if it had grown naturally into his skin, stripped of any vulgar ink-and-needle quality, leaving only the quiet emptiness of an ink-wash painting.
Fei Chaichai accidentally found herself admiring it as a work of art.
Which meant she didn't notice that the man in the corner, after hearing her words, dried the last drop of water from his hands and lifted his eyes toward her.
Even seated, he didn't need to look up at anyone. The pressure was innate, steeped in those careless, pitch-black eyes.
The moment their gazes met, Fei Chaichai's heart reacted faster than her brain, thumping wildly out of rhythm.
She immediately braced herself.
But he said nothing. In the shadow cast by the wall fan, he lazily tilted his jaw, gesturing to her: "Sit."
Fei Chaichai: "?"
So… so polite?
She hadn't expected this turn of events. A flicker of shame passed through her, and then she heard his lazy, indifferent voice add three more words: "Scholar."
Fei Chaichai: "…"
She really shouldn't have changed her opinion of someone so easily!
She muttered under her breath, then heard Zhou Yi's enthusiastic invitation: "Yeah, come sit! We've got an empty seat at our table."
Eager to fish for information, Fei Chaichai naturally wanted nothing more than to sit at their table.
Unfortunately, the only empty seat just so happened to be right next to ¥%#. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and decline: "That doesn't seem quite right."
Zhou Yi: "What's not right about it? It's not like you'd be sitting on my boss's lap."
"…"
Fei Chaichai was speechless.
Qin Ling, on the other hand, had plenty to say and forcibly inserted himself into the conversation: "Li Yuyuan, you're isolating me, aren't you! How come I'm the only one who doesn't know this scholar classmate!"
"Hey, President Qin, I don't know her either," Zhou Yi clarified for himself. "But—"
"But!" Fei Chaichai, terrified of being exposed, intercepted mid-sentence, "Meeting is fate! Allow me to introduce myself. Hello, I'm Fei Chaichai—good fire burns charcoal, good dishes waste rice, good people waste firewood—Fei Chaichai."
Finally, she added a separate declaration: "I'm an adult, not a kiddie."
Simple-minded Zhou Yi didn't catch the abruptness of her self-introduction and immediately followed up: "Oh, hi! I'm Zhou Yi—week one, week one, spirit goes west, Zhou Yi."
Gossip-loving Qin Ling, even though he could tell Fei Chaichai had ulterior motives, played along: "Qin Ling—Qin Ling, the Huai River divides north and south, Qin Ling."
The pressure fell on the last one.
Fei Chaichai glanced sideways at him.
Clearly, the corner formed by the wall and the table was too cramped for him.
Even with his chair pressed tight against the wall, his long legs couldn't fit under the table, so he'd stretched one out to the side, watching people through half-lidded eyes.
Every inch of him radiated a "don't mess with me" energy.
Fei Chaichai assessed the situation.
He hadn't even given face to the bureau earlier—the fact that he was still sitting here listening to their nonsense was already generous. She shouldn't expect him to join in.
Anyway, she'd already heard Qin Ling call his name.
Lǐ, yǔ, yuán.
She didn't know how to write it, but it sounded like an ordinary, completely unremarkable name. Surely he wouldn't have any interesting slogan to share.
Fei Chaichai proactively saved him the trouble: "The boss doesn't need to introduce himself."
Li Yuyuan accepted the kindness, humming in acknowledgment: "Someone as vicious as me doesn't deserve one, indeed."
"…"
Why was he suddenly putting himself down?
Fei Chaichai quickly tried to console him: "It's just a name—no need to call yourself vicious."
Li Yuyuan met her comforting gaze, unhurried, and helped her recall: "You said it."
"…"
No wonder it sounded familiar.
It had come from her own mouth!
But she'd mistaken him for a gang leader back then—that was why, upon hearing words like "minor crimes," she'd connected him to criminal underworld forces and even called him vicious.
Fei Chaichai was at a loss for words, so she simply stopped defending herself and honestly admitted her mistake: "Would apologizing to you even help?"
"No."
"…Then what do you want me to do?" Fei Chaichai knew she wasn't in the right, so she hung her head and pouted.
Her tone was that of someone who had given up all hope, yet the defiance in her heart was written all over her face, as transparent as plain water.
Li Yuyuan remained lounging casually, his back against the wall and his head resting against it as well. He looked at her, nudged the empty chair beside him with his knee, and said, "Sit."
The one-word reply was so short it might as well have been a hallucination.
Fortunately, the soft scrape of chair legs against the floor served as proof that Fei Chaichai hadn't misheard.
She let out a dull "Oh," never expecting that Li Yuyuan had gone through all that trouble just to make her sit.
It seemed he was used to being the boss and couldn't tolerate anyone defying him.
With no other choice, Fei Chaichai had to compromise. She pulled a chair from the side and sat separately at one end.
Qin Ling was utterly stunned throughout the whole exchange. It was the first time he'd seen Li Yuyuan handle a problem so circuitously, and he immediately demanded of Zhou Yi: "Didn't you say you didn't know her?!"
Zhou Yi was equally shocked and explained, "I genuinely don't know her, but the boss seems to. Just now outside, he even proactively held the door for this classmate, and she told him to get lost."
"—Oh?" Qin Ling suddenly calmed down, and the look he gave Fei Chaichai underwent a qualitative change—there was now a kind of admiration reserved for a national hero.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Before she could even recover from the shock of Zhou Yi's seamless fabrication, she was frightened half to death by Qin Ling's gaze and frantically waved both hands in denial.
But Qin Ling had already turned to the other party involved, as if he'd finally caught him red-handed, and said in a teasing tone: "Spill it."
This remark seemed to pique Li Yuyuan's interest as well.
The moment Qin Ling finished speaking, Li Yuyuan, who had been sitting lazily, slowly leaned forward, propped his elbow on the table edge, half-rested his chin on his hand, and turned to look at Fei Chaichai: "Spill it."
"…Me?" Fei Chaichai pointed at herself in confusion. "Spill what?"
Li Yuyuan: "Spill how you told me to get lost earlier."
"…Get lost yourself!" Qin Ling shoved Li Yuyuan's shoulder hard. "Is that what I wanted to hear?!"
Fei Chaichai flinched at the sudden loud voice.
Li Yuyuan took the force and leaned back against the chair again. He lifted his eyelids, finally deigning to glance at Qin Ling, and said in a cool, flat tone: "Isn't it?"
Qin Ling mouthed the words "screw you" back at him, knowing that Li Yuyuan had no intention of letting him ask. He didn't push it: "Fine, I won't listen. Let's get people fed first."
"Right, right, let's eat first." Zhou Yi chimed in to smooth things over. "Boss, you know this place well. Recommend a few signature dishes for this classmate."
Fei Chaichai thought to herself that Li Yuyuan would probably only recommend dishes that would "ruin the restaurant's reputation."
She wanted to refuse.
But Li Yuyuan had already started recommending: "Mapo tofu, scallion-braised tofu, and shrimp and tofu casserole."
The dishes were perfectly normal, and the flavors were quite varied. The only problem was—
"Why is it all tofu?" Zhou Yi was puzzled.
Li Yuyuan: "Scholars like it."
Two pairs of eyes turned to the scholar in unison.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Her again?
"Since when do I like eating tofu?" She looked baffled.
Li Yuyuan: "Just now."
Fei Chaichai was even more confused upon hearing that.
Just now, she hadn't eaten any tofu at all—she'd been chasing after Bus No. 71…
Bus No. 71?!
The keyword triggered a memory, and her ears began automatically replaying her own impassioned shout—
"Junior! I'll just touch it once!"
"Just touch it…"
"Once…"
…
So that "tofu" wasn't this "tofu."
No wonder Li Yuyuan had been targeting her all along—he must have taken her for a pervert!
Fei Chaichai accepted it and admitted readily: "Right, I like eating tofu, but I don't like eating pork, because I keep a pet pig. Speaking of which, do you all know Director Yan Ci from the Chongchong Pet Hospital?"
The topic shift was rather abrupt.
But Zhou Yi didn't notice at all, simply taking it as a coincidence and generously sharing: "Of course I know him! He's my boss's older brother. You know him too?"
Older brother?
No wonder they looked exactly alike—so he and No. 108 were twins?
But then why were their surnames different?
Could it be that one took the father's surname and the other the mother's?
Fei Chaichai had gotten a key piece of information for free and had to expend considerable effort to suppress the smile tugging at her lips. She sighed and said, "It's like this—my Second Senior Brother… that is, my pet pig, has been sick recently. Someone recommended Director Yan Ci to me, but every time I go to the hospital, he's not there. Would it be convenient to ask for his contact information?"
Since it involved someone else's privacy, Zhou Yi no longer answered on his own.
Qin Ling also stayed silent, glancing at Li Yuyuan.
This remark had completely exposed the girl's true intentions, yet it didn't stir the slightest ripple in his eyes. His voice remained as steady and flat as ever as he replied: "Not convenient."
Fei Chaichai: "…"
If it had been Qin Ling or Zhou Yi, she might have wheedled and persisted a bit longer.
But of all people, it had to be Li Yuyuan.
There was simply no room for negotiation.
Fei Chaichai's heart sank into despair.
It was a long while before she heard Qin Ling still asking her whether she ate beef.
She snapped back to reality and shook her head, bringing this awkward scene to a close. "I just remembered I have something to deal with at school, so I need to head back. I won't join you for the meal. Thanks for today—this one's on me."
With that, she stood up and walked toward the counter in a daze.
The drawing tube tapped against her back with each step, as if urging her to perk up, but her head remained hung low. Even her ponytail, now missing its hair tie, had lost the vitality it had this morning, lying quietly against her shoulder.
Li Yuyuan remained seated, unmoving.
Qin Ling kicked him. "Bro, you're really going to let a young lady pay?"
Despite the scolding, Li Yuyuan didn't withdraw his gaze. Watching the dejected figure, he replied with complete composure, "And what if I do?"
"…"
Qin Ling flipped him off, then grabbed Zhou Yi and called out to Fei Chaichai, "Hey, classmate, it's pitch black out there—who knows what kind of nasty things might crawl out. Let me have someone walk you home."
Fei Chaichai turned toward the voice.
The moment she saw Zhou Yi, her deflated spirits lifted instantly. She hadn't expected fate to hand her another chance to probe for information. She suddenly grew coy: "Oh, that… no need, really. I'd hate to trouble you all."
"No trouble at all." Qin Ling pointed behind her, generously offering someone else's services. "This guy's heading the same way as you anyway."
"…"
Wait.
Qin Ling and Zhou Yi were both in front of her.
So the person behind her could only be… Li Yuyuan?!
Fei Chaichai's neck went stiff. She dropped all pretense of playing hard to get and immediately made her stance clear: "No no no, really, there's no need! I'm not scared—"
Her words came to an abrupt halt.
A faint, cool, crisp scent enveloped her in the space between her breaths.
Li Yuyuan had already walked up beside her. His voice was light, betraying no emotion, as he said, "I am."
"…"
Oh.
So she'd be escorting him, then!
Fei Chaichai silently cursed him with her expression, absolutely refusing to play bodyguard for Li Yuyuan. The moment he finished speaking, she shot off like a rocket, not even looking back.
Qin Ling: "…"
He knew Li Yuyuan had never been the caring type, but he didn't know when the guy had become so shameless. He continued dragging Zhou Yi along, thoroughly ostracizing him.
But when the man really didn't follow, Qin Ling grew annoyed and turned back. "Your Majesty, what are you standing there for?"
Li Yuyuan's gaze remained fixed outside the shop.
In the long, dim alley, the young woman moved with light grace, like a dancing firefly, sprinting past one worn-out streetlamp after another.
He stood on the steps, watching her cut through the darkness toward the brightly lit street corner, and said slowly, "Walking someone home."
Qin Ling: "…?"