The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

Yuncheng University, North Second District Cafeteria, is bustling with activity.

Qi Yu sat in a cold jelly shop, slowly picking at the sticky cold jelly in a plastic bowl with his chopsticks.

The sour smell of vinegar, mixed with a faint alkaline taste, hits your nasal cavity.

It wasn't an appetizing sour taste, but rather a pungent smell, like a spoiled rag fermenting in a stuffy corner.

It tastes awful...

Qi Yu put down his chopsticks, looked at the half-eaten bowl of cold noodles, and shook his head with a wry smile.

I've never eaten such unpalatable food before.

He stood up, intending to go to another restaurant and eat something else.

It's a pity that this half bowl of jelly can only go to waste.

Twenty yuan a bowl, that's really expensive...

"Hey, hey, wait a minute!"

When the owner of the cold jelly shop saw Qi Yu about to leave, he quickly came out waving a palm-leaf fan and blocked Qi Yu's way.

"What's wrong?"

"You haven't paid yet. You can leave after you pay."

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow, took out his phone, and placed the payment records in front of the boss.

I paid when I placed my order.

The shopkeeper glanced at the twenty-yuan payment record above and snorted coldly.

"You ate two bowls of noodles, but only paid for one."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yu frowned.

"But I only ate one bowl of noodles. Look at my table, there's only one bowl."

The boss looked in the direction Qi Yu was pointing and indeed there was only one bowl.

"If there are no problems, I'll be going now."

Who would eat a second bowl of such terrible noodles?

Qi Yu muttered to himself, preparing to walk around the boss.

But the boss blocked his way with a palm-leaf fan.

"After you finished your first bowl, you asked me for a second one. We don't offer free refills of noodles at our shop, so you'll have to pay for another bowl."

The boss said it with absolute certainty.

? ? ? ?

Qi Yu was stunned.

He noticed the boss's serious expression and realized that the boss wasn't joking with him.

"I didn't renew my subscription, you must be mistaken."

"I'm not mistaken!"

The boss sneered and shouted at the clerk sitting at the cashier.

"Xiao Li, did you see him ask me to renew his subscription?"

The shop assistant noticed the wink the boss gave him and quickly said something.

"I saw it. This student finished one bowl and then got another."

The boss nodded.

"Pay up, twenty."

At this moment, Qi Yu also realized what was happening.

These two are teaming up to frame themselves!

He looked around and saw that there were no other customers in the restaurant, but there was a security camera in the corner.

"I only ate one bowl of noodles. If you don't believe me, check the security footage."

The boss was prepared for this.

"The surveillance cameras are broken."

"Are you kidding me? That camera is still flashing, and you're saying it's broken?"

The boss chuckled dismissively, took two steps forward, and moved a few steps closer to Qi Yu, his chubby, wrinkled face staring at him with ill intent.

"You're not thinking of skipping out on the bill, are you?"

"Trying to skip out on the bill? I ate a bowl of noodles and paid for it. How can you say I skipped out on the bill?"

A sour, foul smell wafted over, and Qi Yu wrinkled his nose, feeling nauseous.

The sour smell seemed to be coming from the boss.

He stepped back, trying to get away from the nauseating stench.

But for every step he took back, the boss took a step forward.

Even after he retreated to the corner, the boss continued to press him relentlessly.

Qi Yu couldn't help but reach out and gently push the boss, trying to get him to keep some distance from him.

But with that push, the boss took the opportunity to fall backward, letting out a cry of "Ouch!"

He pointed at Qi Yu's nose and shouted curses.

"What are you doing? Not only are you trying to skip out on the bill, but you're also going to hit someone?"

Hearing the commotion, many shop owners from the vicinity rushed over.

"Old Zhou, what happened?"

"This kid ate two bowls of my noodles, only paid for one, and now he's trying to hit me. Ouch, my back..."

"No? I only ate a bowl of noodles!"

"You young man, you've gone too far!"

"You don't even know to pay for food? What kind of upbringing did your parents give you?"

"Old Zhou already has a bad back, and you've really gotten yourself into trouble. Don't even think about leaving without paying ten or twenty thousand."

The other bosses chimed in, their criticisms all aimed at Qi Yu.

At this moment, many students who were eating in the cafeteria came to see what was going on.

They gathered around the cold noodle shop, whispering and discussing among themselves.

"What happened?"

"They say this student ate two bowls of noodles and only paid for one?"

"Really? I've eaten at this noodle shop before, it's awful, who could possibly eat a second bowl?"

...

"I only ate one bowl. If you don't believe me, go check the security footage."

"How many times have I told you the security cameras are broken? You should pay for both bowls of food. Do you think you can get away with not paying just because you're educated?"

"To be fair, young man, you'd better pay for the powder right away. Otherwise, if Old Zhou holds you responsible for pushing him, you'll be in big trouble."

"Today's college students, tsk tsk... their quality is really low."

"Who are you calling low-class?"

From the crowd, a boy stood up, pointed at the owner of the cold jelly shop, and said to the students watching.

"Classmates, this is the cold noodle shop. Last time my girlfriend came here to eat noodles, the owner ripped her off with the exact same trick. He wouldn't let her leave without paying. My girlfriend was afraid the owner would hurt her, so she paid for two bowls."

"The last time I ate at this restaurant, I found a fly in my noodles. When I asked the owner for an explanation, he said that I had thrown it in."

"They were selling spoiled jelly, and it tasted weird!"

"Those bosses who help him are no better. They cheat on weights and measures, offer double-dealing menus, and now they're ganging up on our classmate. How can we tolerate this?"

"Damn it! I can't stand it, I've wanted to beat them up for ages!"

Someone started it, and a big slipper flew and hit the face of the cold noodle shop owner.

Immediately afterwards, the students swarmed around the business owners.

......

When Zhao Lin arrived with Xu Xi and Wen Yao, the scene was chaotic.

"Yu, who did you fight with?"

The veins on Zhao Lin's arms bulged as she gripped the wooden stick tightly, her eyes seeming to spit fire.

"No, it's the owner of that cold noodle shop..."

"Fuck you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Lin cursed, pushed through the crowd gathered at the entrance of the cold noodle shop, rushed forward, and kicked the owner twice with the tip of her high heels.

Qi Yu rushed into the crowd and carried Zhao Lin out.

"I'm fine...we didn't fight."

Qi Yu scratched his head and explained.

When he first saw Zhao Lin acting crazy, he was terrified, worried that she would beat up the owner of the cold noodle shop.

However, after calming down, a warm feeling rose from Qi Yu's heart.

Does it feel like being protected behind someone?

It seems like I've never experienced that again since leaving home.

Zhao Lin frowned, cupped Qi Yu's cheeks, and carefully examined him. She breathed a sigh of relief after finding that he was not injured.

"Qi Yu, what happened?"

Wen Yao glanced at the owner of the cold jelly shop who was being beaten up by the students and asked in a deep voice.

Qi Yu wiped his glasses, which had fallen to the ground in the chaos, and began to explain.