As Zhi Nian said those words, she first glanced at Bai Niao beside me. The latter showed no sign of yielding, quietly bowing her head as she ate the wontons in her bowl, completely ignoring Zhi Nian.
I wondered, if I just left Zhi Nian standing there without acknowledging her, would she stay frozen like that by my side all day, as if she were some knight guardian in a fantasy world?
Unfortunately, I’m not the mischievous type who would do something so mean just to tease Zhi Nian.
Just as I was about to get up and take Zhi Nian to a quiet corner of the old cafeteria—or maybe pack up and head to the second floor of the assembly hall—the male classmate sitting across from me, who had helped me with my meal, stood up immediately and gave up his seat.
“Come on, Sis-in-law, take a seat. Thanks for bringing drinks and tissues for us and Big Bro last semester.”
He often played basketball with me last semester, so he was quite familiar with Zhi Nian’s presence.
But when he suddenly called her “Sis-in-law,” Bai Niao, who had been quietly eating, abruptly looked up. I saw her shoot him a fierce glare.
After realizing I was watching her, she quickly reined in her expression, forced a smile at me, then turned her attention to Zhi Nian, who stood stiffly with her bag, unmoving.
“Ah, welcome, Zhi Nian! Come, have a seat over here.”
“……”
Zhi Nian didn’t say a word. As she passed the kind male classmate, she nodded at him slightly in thanks, then reached into her bag and took out a homemade chicken roll wrapped in white paper. It was something the shop at the snack bar restocked regularly—short shelf life, and a price much higher than ordinary bread.
After expressing her thanks through this little transaction, Zhi Nian finally pulled out her chair and sat down across from me. She placed her plastic bag on the table. The things inside bumped against each other with a sharp “zi la zi la” sound, and since the bag wasn’t tied up, its contents spilled out a bit. I could see there were three or four homemade instant baked buns from the snack bar inside.
“Just bread for lunch? Won’t it be too greasy?”
I wasn’t worried there wouldn’t be enough for Zhi Nian—after all, I’d eaten lunch with her more than a hundred times, and I knew this was absolutely an excessive amount for her.
“It’s fine. Gu Fan, do you want to try one? They’re pretty good.”
Those blood-red eyes stared straight at me, like a top predator locking onto its prey. She was so focused that my heart started to beat faster—I couldn’t tell if it was an instinctive sense of danger buried in my genes, or if I was just shy being watched by such a pretty and well-built girl.
She pushed the opening of the bag toward me. After thinking for a moment, I reached in and took the biggest burger.
A single portion of rice noodles was never enough to fill me up anyway. I just wanted to eat as fast as possible and get this lunchroom conversation over with, then either get back to class or ride my motorbike to my uncle’s place for a nap.
Zhi Nian had bought too much bread for lunch, so I figured I’d help her out a bit, though I was also curious to see what a chubby, round-bellied cat-eared girl would look like after overeating.
“Just one? I know your appetite, Gu Fan. Whenever I prepare lunch for you, I always have to make two extra servings of rice just for you.”
Zhi Nian puffed out her cheeks, looking slightly annoyed. But in reality, her gaze slid to Bai Niao sitting beside me, as if to prove that she was the one closest to me.
I hadn’t expected Zhi Nian to become this sharp—even if her approach was clumsy, anyone could tell what she meant.
I couldn’t help but shake my head and grabbed another jam-filled bun, following Zhi Nian’s wishes.
This small act seemed to finally calm the anxious cat-eared childhood friend. She let out a long sigh, her rigid posture visibly relaxing. The school uniform jacket, puffed up by her posture before, loosened again and concealed her curvy figure, sealing it away so that no one could see what she really looked like.
Zhi Nian no longer stared at me stiffly, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
As she lowered her head to unwrap a sandwich, I filled the small soup bowl on my tray with rice noodles and savory broth, then handed it to Zhi Nian as an “I can’t finish this” excuse, so she could eat it with her bread—otherwise it’d be way too dry.
We each started eating our lunch. Around us, classmates who’d come to the cafeteria together started picking up their chopsticks.
But the relaxed, easygoing atmosphere from earlier had completely vanished—like a drop of ink falling into clear water, a heavy, oppressive feeling spread throughout the room, quieting things until all you could hear were the sounds of people chewing.
The girls, who had been chatting happily before, now glanced at Zhi Nian from time to time with complicated expressions, whispering to their friends.
The boys, on the other hand, didn’t react as strongly. Most of them just acted like nothing was wrong, but their eyes still swept over Zhi Nian as her cat tail brushed back and forth on the floor.
After all, this far into the new semester, Zhi Nian had barely shown up in the classroom, let alone eaten in the cafeteria with everyone.
But Zhi Nian seemed completely oblivious to all the curious stares directed her way. It was as if an invisible barrier surrounded her, blocking out all other attention and opening only for me.
When I glanced at her, I found her still staring at me intently—I could almost hear the sound of her gaze—her small mouth chewing on meat floss and cheese, a bit of cream on the corner of her lips that she hadn’t bothered to lick away.
Being looked at with so much feeling wasn’t new to me, but so far, the only one who’d ever looked at me like this was Zhi Nian. Other people approached me with more complicated motives.
Usually, I could read useful information from the way people looked at me, sometimes even guess what they’d say next based on their background and personality.
But this little skill I’d honed so carefully was completely useless with Zhi Nian. All I could feel was her sincere heart overflowing with emotions, like grass bursting to life after a spring rain.
With the salty broth from the rice noodles, the bread quickly disappeared. The flavor wasn’t anything special—these instant baked buns were good for a quick fix, but you’d get sick of them fast if you made them your main food every day.
I glanced at Zhi Nian again. She’d already finished her meal—she always ate fast—and now she sat up straight, locking eyes with me.
“Gu Fan… Are you full?” Zhi Nian mumbled quietly, her hand on her lap reaching toward her backpack on the back of the chair.
I chuckled, nodded, and stood up. After casually letting everyone know, I took Zhi Nian’s hand and headed for the cafeteria exit.
As the stares of those behind us followed, I looked helplessly at Zhi Nian. Her stubborn little expression made me swallow whatever I wanted to say.
I didn’t really care what our classmates thought of us. In fact, I was secretly glad that Zhi Nian had entered my life at a time when I wasn’t that close to most of them—it saved me a lot of potential trouble.
Um….”
After leaving the cafeteria, Zhi Nian made a strange noise. I saw her arm, pressed tightly to mine, trembling, her fingertips curling as if she wanted to reach out, but was afraid of being bitten.
“Do you want a hug, or do you want to hold hands?”
“Wha? I want a hug… Wait, no, no, let’s hold hands instead…”