Chapter 11

Lost in thought, a warm drink was suddenly placed in front of Xu Zhilu.

She snapped back to reality, looking blankly at Xin An’an.

Xin An’an pouted and whispered, “Cheng Song asked me to give this to you.”

Xu Zhilu tilted her head, looking at the milk tea in front of her, “Hmm?”

Xin An’an lowered her voice and said, “He said Shen Siyan bought it for you.”

She observed Xu Zhilu’s expression and asked mysteriously, “Does he know you’re in a bad mood?”

Xu Zhilu stared at the milk tea without saying a word.

She loved drinking milk tea when she was feeling down, a small quirk that her close friends knew about.

She paused and pushed the milk tea away, “I don’t know.”

Xin An’an looked at her and asked, “Aren’t you going to drink it?”

“I don’t want to.”

Xin An’an sighed, “What a waste.”

Xu Zhilu glanced at the milk tea on Xin An’an’s desk, and before she could say anything, Xin An’an quickly explained, “This one isn’t from Shen Siyan.”

She added, “Cheng Song specifically told me this one was from him.”

Xu Zhilu: “…”

She was speechless and mumbled, “It’s normal for Shen Siyan to buy it.”

Xin An’an snorted, “Not normal at all.” She said, “I wouldn’t drink anything Shen Siyan buys, I’d be afraid it’s poisoned.”

Xu Zhilu choked up.

She felt like this topic of poisoning was hard to get away from.

She responded with an “Oh,” and continued to lay down, “I’m so tired.”

Xin An’an laughed and pointed at the milk tea, “Drink some milk tea, it’ll wake you up.”

Xu Zhilu: “…”

She glanced at Xin An’an and muttered, “I don’t want to talk to you.”

Xin An’an snorted, “You actually want to drink it but want to act proud.”

She asked bluntly, “Can you tell me why your attitude towards Shen Siyan suddenly changed?”

Xu Zhilu ignored her.

Xin An’an sighed: “Aren’t you going to pay attention to me?” ”

“Mm-hmm.”

Xu Zhilu mumbled, “I don’t know how to explain.”

Xin An’an sighed, patted her shoulder, “Alright, I won’t force you then.”

She took a sip of her milk tea, swallowed a tapioca pearl, and said, “No matter what, your sister will support you unconditionally.”

“…Thanks.”

–

In the afternoon, everyone listened to the drowsy lesson.

Xu Zhilu tried to stay focused, but her eyes kept drifting to the milk tea in the corner.

In the end, she placed the milk tea on the desk behind Shen Siyan, finally being able to control her gaze.

However, Xu Zhilu didn’t expect to encounter Shen Siyan again after school.

He was standing lazily at the school gate, a bicycle parked in front of him.

He looked casual and relaxed.

Passing classmates greeted him loudly, surprised, “Brother Yan! Why are you back at school?”

Shen Siyan glanced at them but didn’t respond.

Gao Chi whistled, looked back at Xu Zhilu, and asked, “Brother Yan, are you coming out to play tonight?”

“No.”

Cheng Song laughed, “He’s been into cycling morning and night for exercise lately, let’s leave him be.”

Cheng Song looked back at Xu Zhilu, who was following them out, and smiled, “Xu Zhilu, want to join us?”

Xu Zhilu was about to decline when Xin An’an hooked her arm around her shoulder excitedly and said, “Come on, let’s go! Zhilu, I heard there’s a new mall at the new plaza with lots of fun activities.”

Xu Zhilu thought about it. It was Friday.

“How about we go for barbecue today?”

Xin An’an’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she said, “Sure, I think there’s a barbecue place there too.”

“Then let’s play after eating, and I’ll treat everyone to barbecue,” Cheng Song interjected.

Xin An’an raised her eyebrows and said unceremoniously, “Alright, let’s eat till you’re broke.”

Cheng Song turned to Shen Siyan and said, “Brother Yan, want to join us for barbecue?”

Shen Siyan: “…”

Seeing Shen Siyan’s expression, Cheng Song quickly added, “Come on, Brother Yan, give your brother some face. I’m treating, and you still won’t come. That’s too much.”

Gao Chi snickered.

Shen Siyan shot him a cold look and then glanced at Cheng Song, reluctantly saying, “Alright, I’ll go.”

Everyone: “…”

You don’t seem very reluctant.

Fortunately, everyone is not stupid, and they will not deliberately debunk Shen Siyan or anything.

The plaza was quite a distance from both the school and home, making it inconvenient for Xu Zhilu and Shen Siyan to bring their bikes.

In the end, they decided to lock their bikes at school and ride them home next week.

Shen Siyan extended his hand to Xu Zhilu and said, “Give it to me.”

Xu Zhilu hesitated and looked at him, “I’ll do it myself.”

Hearing this, Shen Siyan stared at her for a moment, then chuckled, “Alright, let’s go together.”

Xu Zhilu: “…”

Why does this feel like a trap?

They walked back to the school, one after the other.

As they passed the school gate, they ran into Xu Zhijia, who was coming out with her backpack.

As soon as she saw Shen Siyan, she immediately forgot what happened at noon and started cheerfully calling him “Brother Siyan” again.

Xu Zhilu lightly pulled her lips into a smile and kept her head down, walking forward.

“What’s up?”

The voice came from behind.

Xu Zhijia smiled brightly at him, “Brother Siyan, why are you back at school?”

She glanced at the school gate and said, “I’ve made plans with my friends to eat Japanese food. Do you want to join us, Brother Siyan?”

“No.”

Shen Siyan didn’t even look at her, “Move aside.”

Xu Zhijia’s face turned pale, and she bit her lip, “Why not? Are you going somewhere with my sister?”

Shen Siyan glanced at the figure walking further away, then looked coldly at her and asked, “Does it concern you?”

Xu Zhijia was stunned, “Huh?”

She probably never expected Shen Siyan to be so blunt.

Shen Siyan sneered, avoiding her and pushing his bike forward, “Xu Zhijia, stop bothering me.”

He paused, then looked back at her, “I haven’t exposed your little tricks out of respect for your parents, but don’t think everyone is a fool.”

…

Xu Zhilu had just reached the bike rack when Shen Siyan leisurely caught up.

His long legs allowed him to take two steps for every one of hers.

Xu Zhilu didn’t even spare him a glance. She bent down to lock her bike and was about to leave when someone grabbed her backpack.

Caught off guard, she stumbled back.

“Shen Siyan!”

Hearing the energy in her voice, Shen Siyan responded, “Here.”

He looked down at her and said, “Wait a bit before you go.”

Xu Zhilu frowned, “Are you a toddler? You need someone to wait for you.”

Shen Siyan: “…”

Seeing her furious expression, he chuckled and said, “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Xu Zhilu responded without thinking.

Shen Siyan smirked, teasing her, “A toddler.”

Xu Zhilu: “…”

“Shameless.” She glared at Shen Siyan and pulled her backpack away from him.

As soon as she freed her backpack, he grabbed her by the back of her neck.

The warmth of his fingertips made Xu Zhilu shiver uncontrollably.

The next second, without thinking, she stepped on his new shoes.

Shen Siyan noticed her movement and instinctively stepped back, letting go of her.

Xu Zhilu snorted, “It seems like your shoes are quite important to you.”

With that, she grabbed her backpack and quickly ran away.

Shen Siyan looked at the back that was far away from him, touched the tip of his nose helplessly, and sighed.

–

When Shen Siyan returned to the school gate, only Cheng Song was there, playing a game on his phone.

Shen Siyan kicked him and looked around, “Where is everyone?”

Cheng Song said, “Aah. Wait a moment, Brother Yan, let me finish this game.”

The game ended with an “over” sound from the phone.

Cheng Song turned to him and asked, “Which people?”

Shen Siyan didn’t respond.

Cheng Song, acting like a good brother, hooked his arm around Shen Siyan’s shoulder and asked with a smile, “Are you asking about Xu Zhilu and the others?”

Shen Siyan gave him a look.

Cheng Song whistled and teased, “They left already.”

He mimicked Xu Zhilu’s voice, saying, “She said, ‘Whoever wants to wait can wait, we’re leaving first.'”

Then Cheng Song shrugged. “Brother Yan, see, only I truly care about you in this school.”

Shen Siyan: “Shut up.”

Cheng Song: “Don’t be so touchy. Those were Xu Zhilu’s exact words.”

…

Shen Siyan lowered his eyes. “Where’s the car?”

Hearing this, Cheng Song’s eyes lit up, and he pointed, saying, “It’s over there waiting.”

When they arrived at the barbecue restaurant, Xu Zhilu and the others had only ordered their food and hadn’t started eating yet.

Upon hearing the commotion, Xu Zhilu didn’t give Shen Siyan a glance. She sat inside, chatting with Xin An’an.

The atmosphere in the barbecue restaurant was lively, and they were all classmates, having had many gatherings before.

Xu Zhilu’s love for food was stronger than anything else, especially her love for meat. She ate quite a lot but never gained weight.

However, she was lazy and didn’t like to cook for herself.

After grilling a few slices of meat, Xu Zhilu got tired.

She glanced at the meat on the side and started eating other things.

Xin An’an didn’t notice her small change, and everyone was focused on eating. No one was really paying attention to the grilling; they just cooked what they wanted to eat.

Suddenly, Gao Chi’s shoulder was patted.

He looked up at Shen Siyan’s gaze. “What?”

“Switch seats.”

Gao Chi glanced at the person opposite and chuckled. “Sure.”

He generously made way for Shen Siyan.

Shen Siyan sat opposite Xu Zhilu. The table was rectangular, and a few people sat face to face, not too far apart.

Xu Zhilu heard their conversation but didn’t look up.

She kept her head down, eating, not caring about anything.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw a plate pushed in front of her, piled high with her favorite meat.

Xu Zhilu paused, holding her chopsticks.

Instinctively, she glanced at Shen Siyan, and their eyes met.

The next second, her phone on the table vibrated.

She watched Shen Siyan wave his phone and click on it.

Shen Siyan: It’s not okay to use this to compensate you for your crimes.

Xu Zhilu: ?

Shen Siyan: I didn’t let you step on my shoes.

Xu Zhilu: …