The antique girlfriend of a chaebol heir

Wednesday mornings have four required classes, and there are no classes in the afternoon, so the atmosphere in the dormitory is exceptionally lively.

Chu Xuanxuan and Li Yueran successfully joined the Hanfu club, and Yu Nuo also just received the notification that she had passed the student council selection written test. Her eyes were full of smiles.

"Today is Yue Ran's birthday, and our dorm is celebrating so many happy occasions, we must have a proper celebration!" Chu Xuanxuan declared decisively.

As a native of Hunan, Li Yueran loves spicy food. Her roommates and I immediately decided to celebrate her birthday at a popular hot pot restaurant near the school.

This shop is extremely popular, and it's always packed with people in the evenings, with long wait times.

Fortunately, they chose lunchtime, and there were still empty seats in the lobby.

As soon as they sat down, Li Yueran expertly ordered a four-compartment hot pot, specifically instructing the owner: "Make sure the spicy broth is extra numbing and spicy, the spicier the better!"

Not long after, the steaming hot pot broth was served.

One of the hot pot compartments was bright red, with a thick layer of butter and a dense layer of dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns floating on the surface. As it boiled and bubbled, a strong and intense aroma instantly wafted over, making one want to sneeze.

"Thank you so much, my dear girlfriends, for celebrating my birthday! I won't be polite!" Li Yueran said, picking up a slice of tripe and dipping it in the broth. "The tripe here looks so fresh; it's a perfect match for the spicy broth!"

She took a bite and let out a satisfied sigh:

"Wow, this is absolutely delicious!" Li Yueran looked at Shen Ci with a treasure-like expression and strongly recommended, "Xiao Ci, you have to try it. This tripe with the spicy hot pot is so crispy and fragrant."

In her previous life, Shen Ci was physically weak and always ate a bland diet. She couldn't even touch slightly spicy dishes, let alone hot pot with added numbing and spiciness.

But today is a special day, and seeing Li Yueran's expectant eyes, she also felt a surge of courage to give it a try.

She carefully picked up a crisp piece of tripe and dipped it in the spicy broth. After the tripe, coated in chili oil, rolled around in the dipping sauce, Shen Ci took a deep breath and put it in her mouth.

The first thing you smell is fragrance.

The richness of butter, the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns, and the intensity of chili peppers, like a sudden storm, swept through the entire mouth.

The second second was pain.

The spiciness felt like countless tiny needles, piercing from the tip of the tongue all the way to the bottom of the throat, and then burning down the esophagus.

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears, her nose stung, and her throat felt like it was on fire.

"Oh dear! Xiaoci, do you usually not be able to handle too much spice?" Li Yueran was startled and quickly grabbed a few tissues to hand over. She then hurriedly poured her a glass of chilled plum juice. "Hurry up and drink some of this to calm down."

Shen Ci tilted her head back and drank most of a glass of plum juice. The icy liquid slid down her burning esophagus, but it couldn't suppress the spiciness that was rampaging through her mouth.

Tears welled up uncontrollably, and she awkwardly pressed tissues to her eyes.

"Xiao Ci! Are you alright?" Yu Nuo was also startled by her appearance.

"N-nothing..."

Shen Ci waved her hand, coughed twice, her nose and eyes were red, like a little rabbit that had been bullied badly, "It's just... this hot pot is a bit too spicy."

"What's wrong?"

A man's voice suddenly came from beside me:

Shen Ci raised her head, her eyes still red, her nose red, and her eyelashes glistening with tears from the spiciness.

Jiang Duo was standing right next to their table.

He was wearing a simple white short-sleeved shirt, revealing his pale arms. Behind him were his friend Xie Shuheng and two other boys, who had obviously just entered and were still carrying the warmth of the outside sun.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The bubbling pot was still bubbling, but the noisy sounds of clinking glasses seemed to be blocked out by an invisible barrier.

Everyone's eyes, whether open or hidden, were turned in this direction.

Most of the people dining here are students from Puhua University; everyone knows Jiang Duo.

He was always the center of attention, yet he was also like the moon high in the sky, aloof and distant, never taking the initiative to approach anyone.

But just now, he spoke up on his own initiative.

He stopped next to a girl and took the initiative to talk to her.

Someone couldn't resist taking out their phone, and the camera was quietly pointed in this direction.

Chu Xuanxuan and Yu Nuo's chopsticks hung in mid-air, while Li Yueran's duck intestines fell back into the pot with a "plop." The three of them stared wide-eyed, as if a pause button had been pressed—

Jiang Duo was an unattainable legend at Puhua University. He came from a wealthy family, had outstanding grades, and was handsome and refined, someone who could only be admired from afar. They had only ever seen him speak on stage during the freshman orientation ceremony.

At that moment, this unattainable beauty appeared before me without any warning.

The three of them stood frozen in place, their breathing even shallower, not realizing for a moment that the campus heartthrob was talking to them.

Shen Ci's heart clenched suddenly.

Almost instinctively, she stood up and deliberately increased the distance between them.

"Hello, Senior Jiang," she said with a slight bow, her voice respectful yet distant, as if addressing any senior she had never met before. "I choked a little while eating the spicy hot pot earlier, so I was a bit loud. Sorry to have disturbed you."

Jiang Duo's gaze fell on the spicy hot pot.

The bright red butter was bubbling and rolling, while the densely packed chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns were still boiling and churning.

Then, he looked away and moved his gaze to her face—her lips were red and shiny from the spiciness, even more luscious than after he had kissed her in the car that day, her eyes were still glistening with tears, and fine beads of sweat glistened on the tip of her nose.

Jiang Duo's eyes darkened slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, but his face remained calm and composed.

"If you can't handle spicy food, don't force yourself to eat something this spicy. You'll end up with a stomachache."

His voice was flat, revealing no emotion.

"Thank you for reminding me, Senior Jiang," Shen Ci quickly replied, her tone as respectful as an ordinary junior.

"Xiao Ci," Chu Xuanxuan finally found her voice, though it was trembling, "You...you know Senior Jiang?"

"I don't know him," Shen Ci answered decisively, not daring to raise her head or look into Jiang Duo's eyes.

There was silence beside me for a long time.

Then she heard a very soft breath, like a sigh or a laugh.

Jiang Duo gave her a half-smile.

He didn't say anything more, turned around, and sat down at the empty four-person table next to her.

Yin Kuo followed, looking bewildered: "Brother Duo, I booked a private room upstairs, aren't we going up?"

He was about to turn around when his gaze swept across Shen Ci's face, and the word "sister-in-law" was already on the tip of his tongue—

"Sister-in-law—"

Shen Ci suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with an almost pleading desire to draw a clear line, causing Yin Kuo to swallow the word back, almost biting his tongue.

He glanced at Jiang Duo again; the man was sitting there quietly, slowly unfolding his napkin.

"Forget it," Yin Kuo plopped down, his voice rising eight octaves, "The private room isn't as lively as the main hall! We'll just sit here!"

He beckoned to the waiter and shouted, "Menu! Quickly!"

"Click—"

The sound of cameras being taken could be heard not far away.

Xie Shuheng looked up.

He sat opposite Jiang Duo, barely uttering a word since entering the room, his presence as faint as a shadow.

But the moment he raised his eyelids, his narrow phoenix eyes seemed to be covered with a thin layer of ice, coldly sweeping across the entire room.

There were no words, no actions.

He just glanced around indifferently.

Those hands holding their phones froze in mid-air, as if frozen by an invisible chill.

Some people sheepishly stuffed their phones back into their pockets, while others looked down and pretended to be replying to messages. In short, no one dared to secretly take pictures anymore.

No one dared to offend them.

Jiang Duo is a formidable figure at Puhua University, while Xie Shuheng—the only son of the Xie family with an unfathomable background—is a notorious cold-faced devil in the circle.

Together, they were like two insurmountable mountains, pressing down on people and making it hard to breathe.

The hot pot restaurant has returned to its noisy state, but it's a deliberate, cautious kind of noise.