Two cups of the same milk tea, but the taste was slightly different.

Chen Yuan thought this was reasonable, since one had seventy percent sugar and the other half. Seventy percent sugar should be more...

Wait, why does the half-sugar one taste sweeter?

Got it, the peach is rotten. I want compensation!

If you don't give me an explanation, I'll blow up all Gu Ming stores in Xia Hai.

If you give me an explanation, I might consider Cha Bai Dao.

"You drink it, I'm cutting sugar." After taking a sip of the milk tea, Chen Yuan handed it to Xia Xinyu, feeling a little guilty.

It was like when he was a kid, the old man took him out for breakfast, ordered a zha jiang mian (noodles with savory soybean paste), and kept saying he wasn't hungry, telling him to eat it. Chen Yuan was so touched then, feeling his father's back was so tall and great.

If he hadn't seen the old man eating fei chang mian (pig intestine noodles) and drinking morning wine while ordering himself a pig intestine at the next corner, that feeling might have lasted throughout his entire childhood.

And now, he was like that old man back then.

He had clearly already drunk a cup of milk tea, yet he still lied to Xia Xinyu, saying he hadn't. And she even shared her milk tea with him... I'm such a jerk.

[The place to eat is almost here, I should borrow some money from a friend first.]

Holding the milk tea, Xia Xinyu tilted her phone slightly to the side, planning to secretly borrow money so she could treat Chen Yuan to a meal later.

"Do you know why I had money to buy milk tea today?" Suddenly, Chen Yuan asked.

"Um..." Xia Xinyu had actually thought about it. There was a reason why she needed to save and be frugal, but Chen Yuan didn't necessarily have to. Maybe he was really short on money and borrowed some from a classmate, so she didn't ask too much. But since he brought it up, she wasn't worried about being offensive and asked curiously, "Did you borrow it from Zhou Yu?"

Chen Yuan shook his head and explained, "I've used up my living expenses for this month, but Tang Jian borrowed a hundred yuan from me last month. Now he made a little money from opening boxes (online mystery boxes), so he paid me back."

"Eh? What can you do to make money?"

"Thieves eating meat is a rare occurrence, thieves getting beaten is the norm. He loses more often, it's not worth promoting." After casually explaining, Chen Yuan said in a relaxed tone, "In other words, the money Tang Jian saved for me last month can temporarily solve my urgent need."

"That's good..." Xia Xinyu lowered her eyes. Although she said that, she still hesitated a bit, and then took the initiative to say, "But it's your first time at Fourth High, I should show you around and treat you to something."

Faced with this question, Chen Yuan didn't directly answer. Instead, he pretended to be reminiscing and asked, "What did you say to me just now?"

"Ah?"

Xia Xinyu looked up, a little confused, not knowing what Chen Yuan was referring to.

Was it that she didn't hear him clearly, or that what she said earlier could be related to the current situation?

After thinking for a while, she suddenly realized, then pinched a strand of hair that had fallen from the side of her ear and said a little embarrassedly, "I... I wasn't just being polite, but I also want to show you around Fourth High..."

Xia Xinyu was an honest child, and also cared about face within a normal range.

If she had money, even if it meant going hungry, she would not hesitate to take it out to show filial piety to... ahem, showing filial piety to friends, that was Zhou Fu, and Zhou Fu had money.

She was always generous to her friends.

That's why she was so poor before, but when he suggested going out, she still offered to buy him milk tea.

However, she was completely overthinking it.

"This month, let's just focus on getting by."

Chen Yuan took out fifty yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xia Xinyu, explaining, "Let's consider the living expenses from last month as this month's. We need money for food and transportation, let's get through this together first."

"I understand..." When Chen Yuan pointed out that they were still in a period of 'tightening their belts,' Xia Xinyu didn't argue anymore. She accepted the money, planning to use it as living expenses for the two of them to get through this difficult time together.

But in her heart, she was still a little concerned.

She had always been taking advantage of Chen Yuan's things: air conditioning, hot water, food, and even her life was extended because of him.

If this goes on for too long, will he think I'm taking things for granted and that I'm not keeping enough distance?

"Xinyu."

"Mm?" Just as Xia Xinyu was thinking about some insignificant things that she was very concerned about, Chen Yuan called out to her.

Then, in front of Xia Xinyu, Chen Yuan took the cup of milk tea from her hand, gulped it down, and left only an empty cup: "I'm a little thirsty, let me have the last sip."

You already drank it all and you're still asking me...

"Okay."

But it seems like I was really overthinking things and being too sensitive.

The distance between me and him was already very close when we first met.

I'm treating him like a normal friend... I hope he doesn't know.

Otherwise, he might think I'm not being a good friend and get angry.

Sorry, I understand now.

Xinyu, you're a bit too much, are you really calculating things so clearly with your bros?

The relationship has faded, let's bury it now.

"What do you want to eat?" After walking to the alley behind the school, Xia Xinyu took the initiative to ask.

Although this was Fourth High's territory, the main audience was college students, after all, high school students had to live on campus and didn't have many opportunities to come out.

The alley was neither old nor dirty, and very clean, but the shops were all very down-to-earth. The signs on the left were all uniformly yellow wooden boards, with snacks and meals. The right side seemed more casual, with fruit shops, lottery shops, milk tea and coffee, and even some selling women's underwear and accessories, mainly featuring a dazzling array of cheap and good products.

"You recommend something?"

When asked by Chen Yuan, Xia Xinyu didn't know what to say. She usually ate in the cafeteria with her aunt, and went straight home after school. She had only been here a few times, so as for the good food, she thought for a moment and said, "Do you want to eat sheng jian (pan-fried buns)?"

"Yes."

Chen Yuan wasn't picky, otherwise he wouldn't have grown to be such a tall guy at 183cm.

As long as the taste was good and his appetite was okay, he would eat a lot.

Then, Xia Xinyu led Chen Yuan into a small shop called 'Jiangning Sheng Jian.'

It was very narrow inside, with three tables and a bar that could seat about five people.

Because there were few seats, sharing tables was very common. Some college students were sitting opposite high school couples.

Chen Yuan and Xia Xinyu came at the right time, there were two bar seats near the outside.

So, Chen Yuan sat outside, and Xia Xinyu sat inside.

"What would you two like to eat?"

The owner was a very quiet middle-aged man, with a calm expression and clear speech.

"You order." Chen Yuan directly handed over the task to Xia Xinyu.

Xia Xinyu thought for a while and said, "One serving of sheng jian, one serving of guo tie (potstickers), and then one serving of duck blood vermicelli soup... Please give us a small bowl."

After ordering, Xia Xinyu looked at Chen Yuan and explained the reason for only ordering one main dish: "Let's share the duck blood vermicelli soup, the portion is quite large. If we're hungry at night, we can cook some noodles when we get back."

"Okay, ordering these is enough."

"This place only has the owner working, so it's a bit slow." Xia Xinyu said in advance, "It might take more than ten minutes."

"It's okay, the longer it takes, the more authentic it is." Chen Yuan didn't mind.

Maybe because the owner was just a slow person, he wasn't in a hurry even though business was so good, and even in this era of national takeout, he didn't even do takeout.

According to the setting in Wuxia novels – he's probably a sweeping monk (a hidden master).

As expected of the Four Sects (referring to a powerful high school), there is such a great power in a mere snack street, which makes people gasp in admiration, so terrifying.

"So tomorrow, are you planning to..."

Xia Xinyu naturally started a conversation with Chen Yuan, but suddenly stopped halfway through.

Then, grabbing Chen Yuan's shoulders, she turned his whole body around, and then grabbed the short sleeves of his school uniform with both hands, and buried her head down...

Thump, thump.

The throbbing of her heart suddenly became irregular.

Stunned and stiff, slowly lowering his head, looking at Xia Xinyu grabbing his clothes while leaning infinitely towards him, almost with her face touching his, Chen Yuan's tiger in his heart at this moment was as weak as a kitten.

"Xinyu, you..."

Xinyu was also an uneasy little kitten, wishing she could burrow into his arms. Burying her head tightly, she said tremblingly, "Auntie... Auntie is outside."