Chapter 32: The Perfect Meal Companion

As they reached the final 200 meters, Qi Ze accelerated into a sprint, and, as expected, he took first place.

A round of cheers followed.

Qi Ze gradually slowed down, and as Jiang Mingyue was about to step forward with the water, a girl ahead of her stepped in and handed a bottle of water to Qi Ze. “Qi Ze, you’re amazing! Please have some water.” she said.

Jiang Mingyue froze momentarily.

Qi Ze glanced at the girl who had given him the water and politely declined. “No, thank you. I have my own.”

He then waved at Jiang Mingyue.

The girl also turned to look at Jiang Mingyue. She had her hair tied in a bun, with red lips and white teeth, looking quite charming and cute.

She enthusiastically waved at Jiang Mingyue. “Hi, hello!”

Jiang Mingyue thought for a moment but didn’t recognize her. She stepped forward and politely nodded. “Hello.”

She then prepared to hand the water to Qi Ze, but she couldn’t tell which bottle belonged to him.

Both bottles were the same, and both had about half of their contents gone.

“I can’t tell which one is yours. Do you remember which one is yours?” Jiang Mingyue asked Qi Ze, somewhat confused.

Before Qi Ze could respond, the girl handed him her bottle again, her eyes curved into a smile. “Just drink mine, I just bought it, and it’s still cold.”

“No need.” Qi Ze said as he took a bottle from Jiang Mingyue’s hands and opened the cap to take a drink.

Jiang Mingyue asked: “Are you sure that’s yours? I feel like that one is mine.”

Qi Ze had already tilted his head back, drinking. His attractive Adam’s apple moved up and down, and a drop of sweat slid down his face, trailing down his neck and into his collar.

After finishing half the bottle, Qi Ze responded: “I just grabbed any bottle. If it’s yours, I don’t mind. What’s the matter, are you worried about drinking from mine?”

Jiang Mingyue replied: “Of course not, I wouldn’t mind drinking from yours. But have you had enough? If not, you can have this bottle too.”

Qi Ze responded with a casual: “Hmm, I’m good.”

The girl, not embarrassed by her two previous rejections, took out a pack of tissues and handed it to Qi Ze. “Here, take some tissues to wipe off the sweat.”

“No need, thank you.” Qi Ze rejected her once more.

“Alright.” the girl said with a smile as she withdrew her hand, still smiling as she spoke. “Let’s get to know each other. I just transferred to Class One, my name is Li Ge. Since I’m new here, I’d like to make some friends. You were amazing on the track and you won the first place. I thought I’d come over and introduce myself. I hope you don’t mind.”

Only then did Qi Ze look at her seriously. Li Ge also looked up at him, unperturbed, allowing him to size her up.

Qi Ze glanced at her a few times before casually averting his gaze and speaking again, this time with a hint of impatience in his voice. “I do mind. There’s no need to get to know each other.”

Li Ge’s perfect smile finally showed the slightest crack. She froze for a moment but quickly regained her composure. She politely apologized: “Sorry, I was too forward. I didn’t mean anything by it; I just wanted to make a few friends.”

Then, she tilted her head playfully and added: “But now we’ve met, right? You know my name, and I know yours—Qi Ze.”

After saying this, she turned to Jiang Mingyue and asked: “Can I get to know you too? What’s your name?”

Upon hearing her name, Jiang Mingyue became slightly unsettled. She now knew exactly who this girl was.

In the original novel, Li Ge was a popular female supporting character who transferred to the main characters’ class as their relationship began to heat up.

She quickly developed feelings for Qi Moyang and pursued him, but being open-hearted and straightforward, once she realized Qi Moyang was with Qiang Wei, she let go of her feelings. She and the female lead became good friends.

Later, she helped the main couple clear up some misunderstandings, even becoming their ally.

So, in the novel, Li Ge was one of the readers’ favorite female supporting characters.

But now, this situation seemed a bit off. In the novel, Li Ge wasn’t close to Qi Ze, and she wasn’t as eager or proactive toward him as she appeared now.

Moreover, Jiang Mingyue had a gut feeling that Li Ge wasn’t as harmless as the novel had portrayed her.

However, as 118 had said, this was the real world, and things were bound to differ from the novel.

Jiang Mingyue decided not to think too much about it. She shouldn’t judge someone without knowing them. She smiled and said: “I’m Jiang Mingyue, from Class Seven.”

Li Ge pulled out her phone. “Can I add you on WeChat? I’m new here, and I don’t know anyone. If I have any questions, I can ask you, right?”

Jiang Mingyue politely declined: “Sorry, I didn’t bring my phone; I left it in the classroom.”

“Then just tell me your WeChat ID, and I’ll add you. You can accept it later.”

“…Alright.”

Jiang Mingyue gave her WeChat ID, and after Li Ge added her, she looked at Qi Ze, seemingly wanting his WeChat ID as well. But when she saw his indifferent expression, clearly uninterested in engaging, she didn’t ask again and headed back to her class.

After the boys finished their 1000-meter run, there was nothing else to do. Staying on the track was hot and boring.

Plus, after this physical education class, it was time for lunch.

Jiang Mingyue glanced at the time—it was about ten minutes until class ended.

She grabbed Qi Ze and ran to the cafeteria. The second floor was supposed to have braised pork today, and if they went now, they could probably get some fresh out of the pot.

She hadn’t felt particularly hungry before, but once they entered the cafeteria, the delicious smells filled the air, and Jiang Mingyue felt as though she hadn’t eaten in a day. She felt like she could eat a whole cow.

The first thing she grabbed was the braised pork, then she took a portion of “Three-Cup Duck” and saw a plate of stir-fried yellow beef. But with all these meats, she still wanted to get a vegetable dish. However, if she took everything, she wouldn’t be able to finish it all. She knew her own limits.

In the past, when she was really hungry, she would buy a lot of food, but in the end, she could never finish it all, and it all went to waste. That always made her feel guilty.

As she hesitated, Qi Ze reached over and took a plate of stir-fried yellow beef. “What else do you want?” he asked.

Jiang Mingyue: “Are you going to eat with me? Wuwuwu, you’re so nice.”

Qi Ze: “Hurry up and choose, or I’ll change my mind.”

“Okay!”

In the end, Jiang Mingyue picked two meat dishes, one vegetable, and a soup, while Qi Ze chose two vegetables, one meat, and a soup.

They placed everything on the table, and it looked quite abundant.

“Qi Ze, you’re really the perfect meal companion.” Jiang Mingyue said, savoring a bite of braised pork, feeling satisfied.

Qi Ze, seeing her enjoying her food, also picked up a piece of braised pork. “Meal companion?”

“It’s someone who has similar tastes, someone you can eat with.”

As they were enjoying their meal, someone suddenly sat down next to them.

“Can I sit here and eat with you?” Li Ge asked, placing her tray down.

Although she asked, the tray was already on the table, and she had already sat down.

Jiang Mingyue, currently gnawing on a duck leg, didn’t respond. She didn’t really want to, to be honest. For her, eating was something to enjoy, and she didn’t like eating with unfamiliar people.

But it wasn’t right to directly tell her not to sit, so she just silently continued eating.

Qi Ze didn’t say anything either, calmly eating his meal.

Seeing that no one responded, Li Ge didn’t mind. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating.