Chapter 5:

After the conversation subsided, Shang Yan stepped forward with long legs, slipping under the table and sitting next to Su Miao Miao.

Li Zhe and a few other boys hesitated for a moment, exchanged glances, and reluctantly found seats to sit down.

Across the petite girl in the middle, Huang Qisheng straightened up, furrowing his brows as he looked at his student.

“Why weren’t you so respectful to teachers before?”

With his elbow on the table, Shang Yan’s slender fingers traced his jawline, casting a fleeting glance at the girl for two seconds before teasingly curling his lips.

“Maybe because… I’ve become a mentor to someone else too?”

Huang Qisheng pondered for a moment before realizing that Shang Yan was referring to him asking him to teach Su Miao Miao.

He nodded, “I happen to be heading to the communication room after dinner. As the ‘mentor,’ make sure to safely escort her back to the training group.”

Shang Yan nodded in acknowledgment.

Once Huang Qisheng left, Li Zhe, sitting across from Shang Yan, asked curiously, “Brother Yan, are you mentoring someone else too?”

A nearby boy chuckled. “Who is it? Such an honor at this level?”

“Could it be… Shu Wei?”

“…”

The conversation died down, and giggles erupted from nearby.

Shang Yan kept his eyes lowered, calmly eating his meal. There was a hint of a casual smile on his lips, letting them chatter away.

Until a gap in the conversation, he suddenly spoke in a light tone, “Kid, your face is almost buried in your food.”

The laughter around the table abruptly stopped.

Several boys looked at Shang Yan with surprise.

With a pause in the movement of his slender fingers holding chopsticks, Shang Yan lazily raised his eyes to the side.

All gazes followed his.

And indeed, they saw it.

The child wearing a David hoodie was nearly burying his whole face into the table.

Amusement flickered in Shang Yan’s eyes.

He leaned over until he was only a hand’s breadth away from the hood.

With a slight curve of his lips, he met the gaze.

Amidst the bustling noise of the cafeteria, Su Miao Miao could only hear his husky voice as if everything else faded away.

“…Didn’t we agree you wouldn’t be afraid of me?”

The trailing tone inexplicably made Su Miao Miao shiver.

The timid girl hesitated, not saying a word.

Li Zhe, sitting opposite, furrowed his brows and then smiled, “Is Huang Qisheng’s son a bit introverted?”

“Girl.”

Shang Yan said without lifting his eyes.

“…Huh? Why is this girl dressed like this?”

Li Zhe was stunned for a few seconds before finally tearing his gaze away from Su Miao Miao, “Sorry, little sister, my bad.”

Before Li Zhe could say anything else, Shang Yan, who had been watching the girl beside him with his eyes half-lidded, lifted his gaze.

At the same time, his long legs under the table straightened out, kicking the chair under Li Zhe’s butt.

Shang Yan lazily looked at him and tilted his chin to the side.

“…Sit over there.”

Li Zhe: “?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Li Zhe was also quick-witted. After a moment, he realized, “So, it’s because I’m sitting opposite, that this kid doesn’t dare to look up?”

He stood up, “Got it, I’ll change seats.”

Shang Yan silently lowered his gaze again.

After Li Zhe moved, the girl did indeed sit up slightly straighter.

After Li Zhe settled into his new seat opposite Shang Yan, he widened his eyes as he looked at Shang Yan’s plate.

“Wait, something’s not right, Brother Yan.. It’s all shredded pork with garlic sauce for you, but why is mine full of carrots and wood ear mushrooms? Yours is all meat??”

Someone nearby snickered, “Maybe it’s because of the face.”

“Damn.”

Li Zhe glared with furrowed brows and raised eyes, “You’re also a carrot and fungus person, and you dare to make fun of me!?”

“We all are.”

“Yeah, only Brother Yan’s plate looks like he mixed all the shredded meat from the whole pot.”

“Which auntie at the cafeteria window is this? Don’t they know everyone is equal under the rule of law?”

“‘Everyone’ is equal, but in a woman’s eyes, the gap between Brother Yan and us might have crossed species, huh?”

“…Damn, who’s so good at talking? Come out, I won’t beat you to death.”

While the boys were clamoring on the side, Shang Yan’s gaze fell on the plate in front of the girl next to him.

White rice, egg drop soup, stir-fried bamboo shoots.

And a version of fish-flavored shredded pork with carrots and fungus.

Shang Yan looked for two seconds.

“Kid, you might easily suffer from malnutrition like this.”

“…”

The handle of the spoon that had been sticking out of the hoodie sleeve paused for a moment, motionless for a long time—the girl seemed to be contemplating where the “malnutrition” came from in her own plate.

A sweep of the person’s eyelashes, a smile.

“No wonder you’re only five feet.”

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Su Miao Miao: “You… you’re only five feet tall.”

The girl’s voice was soft and slightly nasal, even more inaudible amidst the noise in the cafeteria.

Only Shang Yan, sitting on her right, heard it.

A hint of a smile flickered in his eyes.

“I’m 6’1″.”

“…?”

“Do you need some white shirts? I have a few shirts I just bought, want them?”

“………………”

A smile crept into Shang Yan’s eyes.

He didn’t tease the girl any further, instead, he turned sideways and took out a pair of new chopsticks from behind.

Then he picked up the untouched fish-flavored shredded pork from his own plate and placed them one by one into Su Miao Miao’s plate in front of her.

The noise beside them stopped again.

Li Zhe’s expression uncontrollably twitched at the corner of his mouth, “Brother Yan…?”

“Yeah.”

The person didn’t look up, just lazily responded.Li Zhe: “I’m also all carrots.”

“She’s seventeen, still growing.”

“She’s seventeen??” Li Zhe’s expression distorted again, but he quickly realized, “No, I’m also seventeen, I’m still growing!”

“Oh.”

Shang Yan finally lifted his eyes, the corners of his slender eyes slightly raised.

“She’s five feet tall, are you also five feet tall?”

Li Zhe: “…………”

Li Zhe: “Okay, I’ll give it to her.”

Shang Yan lowered his gaze back, but the next chopstick missed its target.

—

The girl slowly dragged her plate to the other side.

Using her five-foot-tall body to express resistance.

Shang Yan paused his movements, put down his chopsticks, and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?”

Su Miao Miao remained silent for two seconds, her voice very low, almost inaudible:

“…I’m 5’2”

“…If I wear shoes.

The girl silently added in her mind.

Waves of laughter flooded Shang Yan’s pitch-black pupils.

He suppressed the upward curve of his lips, leaning towards the girl who was slightly bent over—

“How tall are you? I didn’t hear clearly.”

Su Miao Miao: “…………”

The lesson from the “Su meow meow” incident was still fresh in her memory.

This time, she finally learned her lesson and refused to speak again.

The table fell silent.

The atmosphere became strangely tense for a moment.

In the end, it was Li Zhe who couldn’t help but clear his throat lightly, “Brother Yan, do you know this… um, female classmate?”

“She’s a newcomer in the group, my little apprentice.”

Shang Yan raised an eyebrow.”She’s also the kid you had to find in the bamboo forest yesterday.”

Li Zhe: “…”

Li Zhe looked at Su Miao Miao in shock.

—

The person who dared to ghost Shang Yan unexpectedly managed to live for another two days, completely unscathed?

And with these three names stacked together… why does it always feel like something big is going to happen in the future.

Before Li Zhe could finish thinking about what that “big thing” might be, his phone in his pocket rang first.

He sighed when he looked down at the caller ID.

“Brother Yan, please get yourself a phone, mine’s practically becoming Shu Wei’s personal pager.”

“Then don’t answer it.”

“…” Li Zhe hesitated for a second, “I don’t have the guts for that. She’s got suitors all over the school, and each one of them could drown me in spit.”

After muttering to himself, Li Zhe got up to answer the phone.

Soon after, Shu Wei walked to the table with another girl carrying their trays.

Shu Wei’s looks were widely recognized throughout Third Middle School, and very few freshmen didn’t know this senior, the school flower of the seniors.

As soon as she appeared, there was a slight commotion in the cafeteria. By the time she reached the table where Shang Yan sat, almost half of the cafeteria’s attention had shifted towards them.

Li Zhe and the others lifted their heads to greet her.

“—Brother Yan, Shu Wei is here.”

“Yeah.”

Shang Yan didn’t raise his head, responding casually.

Several boys beside him exchanged looks, not sure what was going on, and looked towards Shu Wei with a mixture of embarrassment and confusion.

Shu Wei’s expression turned a bit ugly too.

But soon, she put on a smile and placed her tray on the table opposite Shang Yan.

“Shu Wei, sit here.”

She turned to the girl who came with her and said.

The girl nodded, glanced cautiously at Shang Yan, and was about to sit down.

—

But Su Miao Miao, wearing a hoodie across from her, stiffened slightly.

Sure enough… I should have left with Mr. Huang at the first opportunity.

The girl frowned lightly.

But before Su Miao Miao could decide, she heard a lazy voice from behind the hood—

“Change seats.”

“—What?” Shu Wei doubted her ears.

“…” Shang Yan looked up, the smile in his dark eyes gradually cooling, “I said, change seats.”

Shu Wei’s face turned completely pale.

Seeing the situation turning sour, Li Zhe quickly stepped in with a smile, “Shu Wei, don’t be angry, Brother Yan didn’t mean anything else—it’s just that this new student joined the computer training group, and she’s a bit introverted…”

If Li Zhe hadn’t mentioned it, Shu Wei wouldn’t have noticed Su Miao Miao. Now, reminded by Li Zhe, Shu Wei suddenly remembered the girl she encountered in the bamboo forest yesterday seemed to be this girl.

Her expression immediately turned uglier.

The atmosphere became awkward and tense.

More and more eyes gathered from all sides of the cafeteria.

In the increasingly oppressive silence at this long table, the girl in the hoodie put down her chopsticks.

“…I’m done eating.”

She said softly, holding the edges of the tray, ready to get up.

But before she could shift her weight, a hand suddenly reached over from the side, grabbing her wrist and pressing her down on the table.

Su Miao Miao and beside her, Shang Yan’s eyes flickered slightly.

—

The wrist held in the palm feels rather slender, as if it could snap with just a little force.

He unconsciously lightened his grip, and even his voice lowered considerably.

“Do you want to be five feet tall for the rest of your life, kid?”

“…”

Su Miao Miao choked.

Staring at the hand clutching the cuff of the girl’s gray hoodie, Shu Wei’s fingertips holding the tray turned white.

Beside them, Li Zhe finally snapped out of it and quickly kicked the boy sitting opposite him, then stood up with his tray.

“Move, why are you so blind? Letting the girl stand and eat? Hurry up and give up your seat.”

With Li Zhe offering an olive branch, Shu Wei finally relaxed her expression, pulling the girl who came with her to sit next to Shang Yan.

This lunch was unusually quiet.

As the group finished eating and got up, Li Zhe couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But before that relief could sink in, he heard Shu Wei speak up:

“Shang Yan, can you accompany me for a walk?”

Li Zhe was taken aback.

Several people looked at the boy standing next to them.

Shang Yan lifted his gaze, his expression indifferent.

“I have to take the kid back to the training group.”

“…” Shu Wei glanced at the girl who kept her head down, her face covered by a large hood, feeling frustrated. “You could have let Li Zhe take her back.”

Shang Yan lightly tugged at his thin lips.

“Li Zhe.”

“Huh? Oh, right, I can—”

“Whoever called you here, you can take care of it yourself.”

Turning around, Shang Yan casually patted the girl’s hooded head.

“Let’s go, kid.”

“Shang Yan!”

Shu Wei’s frustrated voice couldn’t be contained, drawing the attention of many in the cafeteria.

Their gazes were mixed with surprise and gossip.

“… ” With his back to Shu Wei and the others, Shang Yan’s smile turned cold.

“Are you rehearsing a scene in the cafeteria?”

Just then, Wu Hongbo and Luan Wenze, who had finished their meal, appeared from somewhere.

“… ” Shu Wei regretted shouting out just now, now she could only bite her lip, feeling both angry and annoyed, as she stared at the slender figure ahead.

“Ahem, looks like I didn’t time the invitation well.”

Wu Hongbo awkwardly glanced at Luan Wenze.

“Brother Yan, should we go first—”

“… Are you going back to the tech building?”

A soft voice suddenly sounded.

Wu Hongbo paused for a moment before realizing that it was Su Miao Miao next to Shang Yan who spoke.

He rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah, our class has self-study in the afternoon, so we’re going straight to the group.”

“I’ll go with you.”

The girl’s voice was soft and peaceful. Before Wu Hongbo’s brain could react, his mouth had already agreed uncontrollably.

And after saying that, the girl turned sideways and walked towards the cafeteria door.

Wu Hongbo and Luan Wenze, who were standing still, were stunned… This new person seemed no different from yesterday.

But they always felt a hint of escape from this figure.

“Hey, Shu School Flower—”

Li Zhe looked headache-riddenly at the back of the figure leaving, scratched his temple, then circled around to Shang Yan’s side.

“Brother Yan, Shu Wei seems really angry, aren’t you going to do anything?”

“… ” Shang Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. It wasn’t until the slender figure he was staring at disappeared outside the cafeteria door that he returned his gaze.

“Back to the classroom.”With that, he walked forward.Li Zhe stood still for a moment, then pointed in the direction Shu Wei had left.”Brother Yan, this door is closer!””Digest your food.””…??”