The afternoon sun was a bit harsh, and Xu Xing pulled the curtains closed, yawning.

Xu Xing didn’t return to the dormitory during lunch break. Instead, he wrote half of a test paper in the classroom, then napped on his desk for about ten minutes. A soft chime sounded from the classroom speaker, followed by some gentle, soothing music.

The chime was meant for the students resting in the dormitories: it’s two o’clock, time to get ready for class.

Xu Xing leaned against the wall, propping his face up with his hand. His long, slender fingers held a ballpoint pen, which he gently twirled.

Students began trickling back into the classroom, and the noise level rose again.

Xu Xing’s gaze wandered casually to the first group, where Liu Peilian was chatting and laughing with Lin Peisang, while Huang Mengjiao quietly worked on her homework.

Xu Xing tried hard to recall the common thread between Liu Peilian, her friends, and Xiao Shun when he noticed the red thread connecting them, but his mind went blank, failing to retrieve any useful information.

He wasn’t sure what he had missed, but the red thread had appeared without warning once again.

Seeing the red thread still piqued Xu Xing’s curiosity, but this time, he decided to just observe, as things had been calm recently. Even with the red thread still around, Xu Xing was fine coexisting with it.

Xu Xing’s only request was that the red thread wouldn’t cause trouble. He wasn’t about to fall for Lu Che’s showy antics.

There was no way he would like Lu Che just because of this red thread, right? That would be ridiculous.

Xu Xing sighed, remembering the painful lesson he’d learned, making him cherish the current peace and quiet—except for the fact that Lu Che was a bit annoying. Everything else was fine.

Xu Xing was still deep in thought when he heard Lu Che’s voice behind him, “Class leader, I just picked up some clothes and went to return them to your dorm, but you weren’t there.”

Xu Xing turned around and said, “Yeah, no big deal.”

Lu Che chuckled, “No big deal? I didn’t see you at the dorm, so I brought the clothes back. I’ll give them to you tonight.”

Xu Xing: “…”

This guy is definitely weird.

Xu Xing turned around, pulled out his book and notes for the next class.

Lu Che stretched out his arms, resting his head on them. His chestnut-colored hair fell softly on his smooth forehead, and his deep-set eyes, dark like ink, glimmered faintly like obsidian.

Lu Che stared silently at Xu Xing’s back, wanting to tell him that the late summer breeze made him drowsy, and Xu Xing was the reason he woke up from his afternoon nap.

In the past, Lu Che, notorious for his bad mood upon waking, was always the last one to leave the dorm, usually arriving in the classroom just as the bell rang, his face showing irritation as if everyone owed him money. It would take him half the day to get into a good mood.

Lu Che bent his right arm and rested his face on it, while his extended left hand hung loosely over the table. His slender fingers absentmindedly brushed against the folds of Xu Xing’s school uniform, too lightly for Xu Xing to notice.

When Xu Xing leaned back to retrieve a book from under the desk, his movement brushed against Lu Che’s hand, making him notice.

Xu Xing frowned and turned around, saying, “Move your hand.”

Lu Che said, “Hey!” but instead of pulling his hand away, he grinned cheekily, “You bumped into me! Help me rub it better.”

Xu Xing: “Get lost.”

Lu Che, who loved to provoke, even enjoyed being scolded.

After two periods, Xu Xing had just returned from getting warm water from the teacher’s desk when Lu Che, seated behind him, complained of hunger, “Class leader, do you have any food? I’m starving.”

Xu Xing responded, “No.”

Lu Che continued whining, “I’m so hungry, I can barely say your name, wuli Xingxing~^[1]Wuli means our, It’s the Korean word for “we/us” , but it’s just an internet slang term and not used in formal situations.

Xu Xing ignored him, “If you’re hungry, go buy something from the store downstairs.”

At that moment, Wang Zicong, who was kind and chubby, turned around and softly asked, “I have beef jerky, yogurt, and dried mango. Do you want some?”

Lu Che politely declined, “No, thanks.”

Xu Xing, pulling out some exercises, overheard their conversation and scoffed inwardly. He thought Lu Che was so picky—complaining about hunger yet being choosy. He deserved to stay hungry.

Earlier that morning, Lu Che had joked about checking with Xu Xing whenever they had a physics homework inspection. Though Xu Xing immediately pointed to the 1st, he eventually switched to 3 and 8 due to Ke Di’s tearful plea, which had annoyed Xu Xing.

When Yu Canchun came to hand in her homework, she naturally struck up a conversation with Ke Di in the back row, “Ke Di, a few of us are planning to order food. Do you want to join?”

Ke Di, who was outgoing and got along well with everyone, asked, “What are you ordering?”

Yu Canchun said, “It’s from a western restaurant. My deskmate says the food’s good, but because it’s far away, the delivery minimum is 100, so we’re looking for more people to split the order. How about it, Lu Che?”

Yu Canchun smiled at Lu Che.

Lu Che, busy asking Xu Xing for candy, glanced at her dismissively, “No.”

Yu Canchun: “…”

Lu Che was so concise he didn’t even bother saying the full word “no,” maintaining his aloof image as the cool campus heartthrob.

Fortunately, Wang Zicong turned around to ease the awkwardness, his eyes gleaming, “What do they have? Can I join?”

Yu Canchun replied, “Sure, I’ll share the restaurant in the class group.”

After returning to her seat, Yu Canchun posted the restaurant information in the class chat, and Xu Xing, influenced by Wang Zicong, ordered some seafood baked rice.

Seeing this, Lu Che chimed in, “Class leader, order one for me too.”

Xu Xing turned back and shot a look at him, saying, “Didn’t you just say you didn’t want it?”

Lu Che casually replied, “Of course, I don’t want things from others, but I want anything of yours.”

Xu Xing: “…”

“Go eat sh*t, thanks.”

Although Yu Canchun mentioned that the delivery fee was 100 yuan, the regular meals from the restaurant started at 20 yuan, and with four or five people, they could easily place a combined order.

In the end, the entire class placed eighteen orders. With so many people, Yu Canchun asked everyone to give their names when ordering to make it easier for settling the bill later.

After school, instead of the usual rush to the cafeteria as soon as the bell rang, about a dozen or so students stayed in the classroom, chatting while waiting for the food delivery.

Tang Mian also joined in on the fun and ordered a baked rice dish. She sat across from Wang Zicong, teasing him, while Xu Xing sat nearby doing homework.

At 5 PM, class ended, but the delivery was delayed. When Yu Canchun called at 5:40 to check, the restaurant said the food had already been dispatched.

The group grew restless, and Ke Di exclaimed, “If it turns out their food is bad, we’ll drown them in eighteen bad reviews!”

The idea of eighteen bad reviews sounded imposing, and Ke Di’s comment made everyone laugh, easing the anxiety of waiting.

The food finally arrived around 6 PM. Yu Canchun and three boys went to the back gate to collect it, returning with several large bags and distributing the meals based on the list they had compiled in the class chat.

But—

Although all eighteen orders had arrived, Wang Zicong’s snacks were packed separately, and Xu Xing’s seafood baked rice was missing—the only seafood dish in the entire class.

Xu Xing: “…”

After waiting hungrily for hours, only to find out his food hadn’t arrived, anyone would feel irritated.

Before Xu Xing could react, Lu Che spoke up first, “What’s going on here?”

Lu Che wasn’t exactly known for his patience. He walked over to check the delivery receipt, only to find that someone had already torn it up and thrown it away.

Frowning, Lu Che turned to Xu Xing and said, “Do you want black pepper steak baked rice? You can have mine.”

Xu Xing shook his head. “No need.”

Yu Canchun quickly offered, “Should I call the restaurant and ask them to send it again?”

By this time, it was already 6 PM, right during the evening rush hour, so there was little hope the delivery would arrive quickly. The cafeteria, meanwhile, only had cold leftovers.

Yu Canchun had already dialed the restaurant, stepping outside to take the call. After speaking for a moment, she returned and asked, “The owner said they can deliver it quickly. Do you still want it?”

Xu Xing thought for a moment and said, “Yeah, have them send it. I’ll wait.”

Lu Che glanced at Xu Xing, then walked toward Yu Canchun and said, “Give me the phone.”

Xu Xing returned to his seat, trying to ignore his hunger and the delicious smells filling the classroom, pretending to focus on his homework. Wang Zicong and Tang Mian both offered to share their food, but Xu Xing refused.

Staring out the window at the darkening sky, Xu Xing sighed, feeling more and more annoyed. Out of all the orders, his was the only one missing. It felt even worse than when you open a cup of instant noodles and find no seasoning packet inside. He bottled up his frustration and, despite the concern from his classmates, forced a smile, saying, “I’m not hungry, it’s fine, no worries.”

Behind him, he heard some rustling. Lu Che called out, “Class rep.”

Xu Xing, with a chicken wing Wang Zicong had given him in his mouth, turned around and saw Lu Che pulling a whole stash of snacks from under his desk: a row of Wang zai milk drinks, a cup of boxed milk tea, a rice cake, an egg yolk pastry, and a small box of purple sweet potato puffs.

Lu Che said, “Here, eat something to fill your stomach. The delivery should be here soon.”

Xu Xing assumed Lu Che was just trying to comfort him and politely declined, “No, it’s fine.”

He turned back to finish a math problem, but suddenly remembered something and turned around again.

Lu Che was eating. Seeing Xu Xing looking at him, he scooped up a piece of steak, held it out, and opened his mouth playfully: “Ahh~”

Xu Xing instinctively leaned back to avoid being fed and asked suspiciously, “Where did you get all this snack? And weren’t you complaining about being hungry earlier?”

Lu Che hadn’t expected to be called out but didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He admitted openly, “I was just messing around~”

Xu Xing: “…”

This guy had a whole stash of Wang Zai drinks hidden under the table, and in the morning, he’d even asked Xu Xing to bring him one back—he was definitely just stirring up trouble!

Xu Xing took a deep breath and went back to his homework, trying to calm down.

He had braced himself for another hour-long wait, but to his surprise, after just 10 or 20 minutes, Yu Canchun got a call saying, “The delivery’s here.”

Hearing that, Xu Xing stood up and said, “Alright, I’ll go get it.”

The back gate of the school wasn’t far from their building, and since the gate was usually closed, there was no guard, so students would collect deliveries through the gaps in the iron bars.

By this time, it was almost 6:30 PM, and the campus was nearly deserted. Xu Xing reached the back gate and saw a man sitting on a mountain bike, his long legs planted on the ground.

When the man saw Xu Xing, he asked, “Are you here for a delivery?”

Xu Xing nodded and gave the last digits of his phone number, saying, “The seafood baked rice.”

The man chuckled when he heard that and handed over the food, saying, “Wow, kid, you sure know how to your girlfriend.”

Xu Xing looked confused. “Huh?”

The man explained, “Your call was answered by my wife. After she took the call, she rushed me to get this delivered to you. And hey, there’s 200 yuan here—that’s the price for ten orders of pasta. You confirmed the order on the app, so I’ll just refund you in cash.”

Xu Xing, utterly bewildered, took the two 100-yuan bills from the man and asked, “Uh… I wasn’t the one who placed the order. I’m just here to pick it up for a classmate. What’s going on?”

The man was equally confused for a moment, then laughed. “I thought it was your call! Haha.”

It turned out that Lu Che had taken Yu Canchun’s phone and asked the restaurant to rush the order. He’d also added ten extra orders of 20-yuan pasta, confirmed the receipt, and only asked the boss to send the seafood baked rice quickly.

The owner’s wife, filled with enthusiasm after hearing the call, urged the kitchen to hurry and even insisted that her husband personally deliver the meal. Before he left, she handed him a mountain bike, saying it would be faster than driving in the evening traffic.

After telling this story, the man asked, “My wife gave me one more task—can I ask you something?”

Xu Xing, still a bit dazed, replied, “What?”

The man asked, “Your classmate… is he handsome?”

Even the delivery guy looked embarrassed after asking the question. If his wife hadn’t been worried about traffic, she probably would’ve hopped into the passenger seat just to see the “handsome guy” herself.

“…”

Xu Xing hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly said, “I guess… he’s better looking than me.”

The man burst out laughing, “Well, then he must be very handsome.”

Xu Xing chuckled, thanked the man, and headed back to the classroom with the food.

As he climbed the stairs, he happened to glance down at the delivery receipt attached to the food. In big, bold letters in the notes section, it read:

“My wife is so hungry she’s about to break up with me. Please deliver ASAP.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Xu Xing returned to the classroom with mixed feelings. The rest of the class had already finished their takeout, and several bags of takeout boxes were temporarily placed next to the trash can.

Xu Xing walked back to his seat and slapped the order receipt and two hundred-yuan bills on Lu Che’s desk.

Without turning his head, Xu Xing said, “The boss refunded your money.”

Lu Che glanced at the receipt for the ten orders of pasta and leaned forward, asking, “Are you mad?”

Xu Xing felt awkward, but deep down, he wasn’t angry at all.

He opened his own takeout and took a bite. The baked rice was still warm.

Wang Zicong and Tang Mian had gone to the bathroom to wash their hands. Fu Dai wasn’t around, and Zhou Mang, seated at the desk behind him, was working on homework with his earphones in. Ke Di had gone to get some hot water and was joking with others at the front of the classroom.

Xu Xing hesitated for a while before muttering, “Thanks.”

Lu Che chuckled and said, “Oh, so you weren’t mad after all.”

Xu Xing half-heartedly responded, “Mm.”

Then, a low, magnetic voice came from behind, laced with laughter—

“Wifey~”

Xu Xing’s face darkened instantly. He turned around, slapping his palm on Lu Che’s desk, and said, “Do you believe I will not beat you up?”

Lu Che laughed even harder, softening his voice, “Well, you should eat first. You’ll need the energy to beat me up after, right?”

Xu Xing: “…”

Please leave me alone, thanks.

---

Author’s note:

Every supporting character exists to help Xu Xing learn how to fall in love. The one with the surname Yu represents the love triangle, explaining the tangled red string of rotten romance. (:з」∠)

---