As they approached, they noticed a few small words written above the Yellow Fish Noodles sign: “Four Years Old Shop.”

The four characters were newly added. Originally, there was a “two” in that position, but later it was added a horizontal line in the middle, and finally the whole thing was crossed out.

Jing Tian thought to himself, what a new shop.

It had only been open for a few years, yet it looked so run-down on the outside, inevitably making people doubt the quality of the food sold inside.

Despite its unassuming appearance, the inside was bustling with activity.

The shop wasn’t large, but it was already ninety percent full.

Located near the school, the customers all looked to be in their twenties.

The staff were extremely busy, shuttling back and forth with bowls of noodles, loudly calling out numbers.

The surrounding responses were continuous, the voices blending together, making it difficult to distinguish.

Jing Tian thought to himself, “No wonder I made a mistake back then.”

The email briefly described the events of that day.

Jing Tian embellished and reconstructed it in his mind, guessing it was just a misunderstanding, and there was no clear right or wrong.

That day as the email had said, he had ordered a basic bowl of yellow fish noodles and, after a short wait, heard the server call his number, immediately responding loudly.

While eating, he had marveled at how delicious and affordable the food was at this shop. Besides the pickled vegetables and large pieces of fish, even a braised egg was added to the most ordinary bowl of yellow fish noodles, truly offering great value for money.

Just as he was enjoying himself, he heard his number being called again by the server.

Then, a voice of confusion came from someone sitting to his right rear, “They’ve called up to number 19, what about my number 16?”

With a bad feeling, he glanced at the printed receipt on his tray, which boldly displayed the number “16.”

Yet, what he held was clearly number 19.

This should have been an easy matter to resolve.

Acknowledging his mistake, apologizing, and offering to pay for an extra egg would have settled it.

But unfortunately, the person was Zheng Xunqian.

Jing Tian’s unilateral attitude towards him turned a small matter into a big deal, and the situation became never-ending.

He didn’t detail what was said between them in the email, focusing solely on criticizing Zheng Xunqian.

He admitted his own responsibility, but Zheng Xunqian also had issues. When number 16 was called, he had remained silent, directly leading to the tragedy.

He was coerced into buying an extra egg and became a victim. Why should he listen to Zheng Xunqian’s complaints?

Now, Jing Tian, whose memory had been reset, felt incredulous, unable to imagine what Zheng Xunqian’s complaints might have been like.

Based on the information he had gathered in recent days, he himself seemed more like the one who would complain.

“What are you daydreaming about?” Zheng Xunqian, sitting opposite him, asked.

Startled out of his reverie, Jing Tian said, “Nothing!”

Zheng Xunqian didn’t press further, pointing to the menu on the wall, “There are other flavors too, but most people order the signature noodles here.”

Jing Tian nodded, “Then I’ll have a bowl of the signature yellow fish noodles. How about you?”

Zheng Xunqian continued looking at the menu, “The special braised eggs here are also delicious.”

Jing Tian hesitated for a moment, “Then I’ll have one too.”

“Same as me,” Zheng Xunqian said.

They placed their orders and received their numbers.

Jing Tian looked at the plastic card in his hand, where the number “16” was written very casually with a marker.

His heart skipped a beat.

Seeing him staring at the plastic card with a serious expression, Zheng Xunqian asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Jing Tian squeezed the card in his hand, raised his head, and smiled at him.

Zheng Xunqian glanced at the tightly clenched fist, then said, “Since we have time now, if you didn’t understand anything from the previous class, you can ask.”

Jing Tian suddenly felt even more nervous.

He didn’t understand anything at all and didn’t know where to start asking.

But admitting this in front of Zheng Xunqian would be embarrassing.

Staring at his face for a few seconds, Zheng Xunqian raised his hand and pointed to his backpack, “Take out your books.”

Jing Tian obediently did so.

Although the shop looked run-down, the tables were quite clean.

The books were placed upright between them, the covers were new, with barely any creases, indicating they hadn’t been opened much.

“You haven’t read any of this?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

“Not yet!” Jing Tian explained, “I’ve been busy with other things these past few days…”

Without responding, Zheng Xunqian briskly opened the book, quickly scanned the table of contents, then reached out his right hand to Jing Tian, “Give me a pen.”

Jing Tian hurriedly took out a pen from his bag and handed it to him.

“I’ve crossed out these chapters; they won’t be on the exam,” Zheng Xunqian marked on the table of contents, “The ones with checkmarks are important and must be understood. The ones circled should also be looked at. What we learned today is quite important. If you don’t understand it, you need to study this chapter first.”

As he spoke, he also wrote something on the title page.

“Although it’s not the same subject, one of the subjects you failed last semester is closely related to this. You need to clarify the knowledge points in that subject first.”

Jing Tian listened attentively, hardly daring to breathe.

“And also…”

“Number 16! number 16? Two bowls of yellow fish noodles with two eggs! Number 16!”

Jing Tian suddenly woke up, quickly raising his hand, “Here! Here!”

The server, a middle-aged woman whose Mandarin wasn’t very standard, hurried over with the tray, swiftly distributing two bowls of noodles to them.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly paused.

“Oh, you’re here again,” she said with a smile as she looked at Jing Tian. “Haven’t seen you for a while.”

She glanced very casually at the seat opposite Jing Tian, and her expression quickly turned surprised.

“How come you two are getting along so well now?” she asked.

Jing Tian was surprised. Why would a server know that their relationship used to be very bad?

“Last time, you two seemed like you would never speak to each other again,” she said. “I told you, it wasn’t a big deal to begin with. Young people shouldn’t hold grudges.”

Jing Tian was at a loss, while Zheng Xunqian acted as if nothing had happened, focusing on adding chili to his bowl.

“Did you get your clothes cleaned after last time?” the server asked Zheng Xunqian.

“Yes,” Zheng Xunqian replied politely when asked. “They’re clean now.”

“That’s good then, no harm done,” the server said with a smile before quickly bustling off.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Zheng Xunqian had no intention of explaining, so he neatly packed up the books and pen and handed them over. “Eat while it’s hot.”

After putting away his things, Jing Tian picked up his chopsticks, hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered up the courage to ask, “What clothes?”

“When I came here last time, my clothes accidentally got splashed with soup,” Zheng Xunqian said. “It was quite a mess, and the floor got dirty too, so she remembered.”

Jing Tian felt uneasy.

He suspected that he was the one who had splashed the soup.

“If you don’t eat the noodles soon, they’ll clump together,” Zheng Xunqian said.

“Oh!” Jing Tian quickly started eating, picking up a mouthful with his chopsticks.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, the rich soup that accompanied the noodles still amazed him.

After taking a big gulp, a sudden thought popped into his head.

This soup was thick and aromatic, delicious to taste, but wouldn’t it be difficult to wash off if it splashed onto clothes? It tasted delicious in his mouth, but if it soaked into fabric, it would surely be very unpleasant.

He hesitated before asking Zheng Xunqian, “About your clothes…”

“They’ve been cleaned. You accompanied me to get them cleaned, and you paid for it,” Zheng Xunqian said without looking up.

Jing Tian was stunned for a few seconds, then an exclamation mark popped up in his mind.

It really was me who splashed the soup!

“…I’m sorry,” he said, feeling ashamed.

“Why are you apologizing?” Zheng Xunqian looked at him. “Did you remember something?”

Jing Tian didn’t remember anything.

But combining the email he had sent and the conversation between the server and Zheng Xunqian, he could be sure that he definitely hadn’t done something good that day.

How embarrassing.

“Was it me who made the clothes dirty?” he asked.

“You didn’t do it on purpose,” Zheng Xunqian said.

Jing Tian wondered, really? Are you sure?

Zheng Xunqian looked at his face, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. “…Was it intentional?”

“No! I didn’t!” Jing Tian was frightened. “I mean… I don’t remember…”

“When you turned around, you accidentally bumped into my bowl,” Zheng Xunqian said. “The panicked look on your face at that time… it’s quite similar to now.”

Jing Tian pressed his lips tightly together.

After reminiscing for a moment, Zheng Xunqian continued, “That day, you later bought me a cup of milk tea.”

Jing Tian blinked twice.

“…It was winter at the time, and I was wearing a thick coat,” Zheng Xunqian said. “It got wet and smelled bad, so I couldn’t wear it. Taking it off made me feel cold. So, you went and bought two cups of hot milk tea.”

“Remember now?”

No, he didn’t.

But listening to Zheng Xunqian’s description, it felt different from what he had written in the email.

There was a slight hint of idol drama in the story.

“So, you said that was our first…” Jing Tian began.

“Oh, that…” Zheng Xunqian looked away. “You could say that.”

This guy, had he forgotten that he had said they came here for a date?

“That milk tea shop is diagonally across the street,” Zheng Xunqian pointed and stood up. “Wait here for me.”

He had just said that leaving the noodles for too long would make them clump together.

But now, he was gone for more than ten minutes. It wasn’t until Jing Tian finished his noodles and drank most of the soup that Zheng Xunqian returned with two cups of milk tea.

“Here,” he said, placing one cup in front of Jing Tian. “Yours.”

“…Thank you!”

Jing Tian took it, inserted a straw, and took a sip.

It was sweet, with added taro and mochi, just the taste he liked.

Zheng Xunqian sat back down in front of him, holding his own cup of milk tea.

The scene seemed somewhat out of place, yet it exuded a strangely harmonious feeling.

Jing Tian couldn’t help but glance at him a few more times before asking, “Did I apologize to you that day?”

“Apologizing through actions counts too,” Zheng Xunqian said. “…You seemed to have fallen ill after you went back.”

“What?” Jing Tian was surprised.

“You insisted on giving me your coat to wear, and I couldn’t stop you,” Zheng Xunqian said, shaking his head and laughing. “You even said you weren’t cold at all, feeling perfectly fine. The next day, your roommate helped you apply for sick leave for class.”