After clinking glasses, everyone continued to chat while eating cold dishes.
Shen Siqi seized the opportunity to ask Qin Tian several questions like a curious baby that she hadn't gotten answers to from Xia Nuannuan. For instance, when did the two of them fall in love, who confessed first, how did they confess, and so on.
Xia Nuannuan was too embarrassed to tell her these things. Qin Tian, however, was nonchalant about it. He took all the credit, stating that he had fallen for her first and had also confessed first.
Xia Nuannuan sat beside him, her face blushing. From time to time, she would glance at his beautiful eyes, her gaze shifting, her smile sweet and charming.
Before long, the proprietress brought over two large plates of freshly grilled skewers. The enticing aroma of the skewers wafting from the table made everyone, who had barely eaten dinner and were already hungry, salivate.
"Enough talk, enough talk. If we keep chatting, we'll be stuffed with dog food and won't be able to eat skewers," Shen Siqi said, playfully feigning disgust.
"Same here!" Chen Zhuang agreed wholeheartedly.
Lu Lei smiled but said nothing. Cao Mingliang and Lü Yanran huddled together, whispering things only they could hear, a charming smile on the latter's face. Zhuang Zhe, on the other hand, hadn't said much from beginning to end, quietly acting like the eighth person who wasn't there.
"Stop talking and eat your skewers!" Xia Nuannuan glared at Shen Siqi, annoyed, and picked up two beef skewers, handing them over.
"Hehe... Alright!" Shen Siqi took the beef skewers with a bright smile and ate them contentedly. The others also began to feast.
As they had guessed, the skewers at this shop were indeed very tasty. Even Chen Zhuang, who often had small barbecues three meals a day in his hometown, gave his approval.
"This is how you should eat skewers – a piece of meat, a clove of garlic. That's how they taste best!" Chen Zhuang held a meat skewer in his left hand and a grilled garlic skewer in his right, demonstrating his unique way of eating skewers.
Shen Siqi blinked her eyes, finding it quite interesting. She then took a grilled garlic skewer and imitated him.
"How is it?" Chen Zhuang asked with a chuckle.
"It's really good, fragrant!" Shen Siqi nodded.
"See, you can't go wrong following me!" Chen Zhuang grinned happily, then took two beef skewers in one go.
Watching this scene, Xia Nuannuan turned her head and said to Qin Tian beside her, "Do you want to eat grilled garlic?"
"No," Qin Tian shook his head with a smile.
"You don't like grilled garlic?" Xia Nuannuan asked, a little surprised. She naturally remembered that Qin Tian ate garlic and thought he disliked it grilled.
"This way of eating is only suitable for single people like them, not for us," Qin Tian said with a mysterious smile.
"Huh? Why only for us single people, Qin Tian? Your words might not hurt much, but they're quite insulting!" Shen Siqi protested indignantly.
"Exactly, if you don't explain clearly, this isn't over!" Chen Zhuang loudly chimed in.
Qin Tian looked at the two of them and said helplessly, "You don't understand this? Grilled garlic has such a strong taste. It doesn't matter to you single people. But if we eat it, how can we kiss or anything?"
The two were instantly stunned into silence. Xia Nuannuan's face turned bright red, and she hastily lowered her head, picking up her cup to drink coconut juice to hide her shyness.
"Lu Lei, look at them!" Shen Siqi, after recovering, looked at Lu Lei beside her aggrievedly, trying to draw her into their camp.
Lu Lei elegantly ate a corn skewer and said unhurriedly, "Don't look for me. It was you two who insisted on giving him the opportunity." It was clear that the intelligent Lu Lei had seen through everything long ago.
"You knew this and didn't tell me?" Shen Siqi dangled the grilled garlic skewer in her hand, looking at her resentfully.
"What Qin Tian said isn't wrong. You're still single, so just eat it if you like it!" Lu Lei smiled wryly.
"Ahhh... you three devils!" Shen Siqi cried out to the heavens, casting a resentful gaze at Chen Zhuang opposite her. She was a lady who wanted to find a partner quickly, how could she recommend this to her! What's more, it was really delicious. If she developed the habit of eating meat and garlic together, how could she find a boyfriend in the future?
Chen Zhuang smiled awkwardly and tentatively asked, "How about... I eat it for you?"
"Never mind. Unlike you two, I'm still single, so I'll eat this meal first!" Shen Siqi glared at Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan beside her, her face filled with indignation, and took another bite of grilled garlic.
Qin Tian remained composed. He brought a piece of grilled mushroom he had already taken a bite of to Xia Nuannuan's mouth. "This one is good too. Try it."
"Mm!" Xia Nuannuan opened her small mouth, tasted the grilled mushroom, and nodded with a smile, "Delicious!"
"Yuck... I can't stand it, I can't stand it!" Shen Siqi shivered, goosebumps appearing all over her body, and quickly averted her gaze from them.
"Tian Ge, you two are enough, spare us!" Chen Zhuang pleaded with a mournful face.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand," Qin Tian said blandly.
Xia Nuannuan, blushing, reached for a skewer, pretending not to have heard.
"Please stop showing off!"
"I don't understand what you're saying. Just be like Zhuang Zhe and don't look at us, okay?"
"Damn it, I shouldn't have sat on this side!" Chen Zhuang was filled with regret. Glancing at Cao Ze who was happily chatting with Lü Yanran on the other side, he felt even more bitter.
Just then, the proprietress entered the barbecue restaurant with several young men and walked towards Qin Tian's group. The previous diners had just finished and left at an empty table next to them.
The young men's eyes lit up when they saw the girls at Qin Tian's table.
"So many beautiful girls, are they from our school?"
"They should be freshmen, otherwise, we would have seen them."
"The quality of the new female students this year is really high. When I was receiving new students yesterday, I saw a stunningly beautiful freshman, but she was a bit aloof, so she even got a girl to accompany her."
"The male students this year are also good, having a gathering so soon after arriving?"
As the young men whispered amongst themselves, a guy with a buzz cut frowned, staring at Lü Yanran, his expression showing some displeasure.
"Yu Ge, what's wrong?" The male beside him asked in surprise, noticing his expression.
The buzz-cut guy didn't answer. Instead, he put on a bright smile and shouted loudly at Lü Yanran, "Junior, what a coincidence, you're eating here too!"
Qin Tian's group heard the voice and looked towards him. Lü Yanran's eyes darted away upon seeing the person, a hint of panic appearing on her face. Following the direction of the young man's gaze, Qin Tian and the others also looked at Lü Yanran.
"Do you know him?" Qin Tian quietly asked Xia Nuannuan beside him.
"He's a senior from our school. He was the one who brought Lü Yanran to our dorm today," Xia Nuannuan whispered.
Qin Tian nodded in realization and looked at the two again thoughtfully.
"Your friend?" Cao Mingliang asked Lü Yanran beside him.
"Just a senior who helped me register today," Lü Yanran answered calmly, her expression serene, having already regained her composure.
"Oh!" Cao Mingliang nodded, his gaze turning slightly cold as he looked at the buzz-cut guy.
Qin Tian witnessed all of this and sighed inwardly. Why couldn't the first day of school just pass smoothly! The senior's tone was clearly unfriendly, and there was definitely something going on between him and Lü Yanran. At least on Lü Yanran's side, she had given the other party some signals.