Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

The heat from the cafeteria, mixed with the smell of cooking oil, wafted over.

Yan Xi released his hand and walked ahead, her pace neither fast nor slow.

Li Chen followed half a step behind, the lingering sensation on his right palm still present.

The circle she just drew with her thumb was located between the base of her index and middle fingers, and it went clockwise one and a half times.

One and a half laps.

It's not a circle.

He memorized the number.

"What do you want to eat?"

Yan Xi stood in front of the electronic menu screen, tilted her head, and asked a question.

What would you like to eat?

"I'm asking you."

"Then I'll order."

Yan Xi did not object.

She turned around and went to find a seat.

Li Chen stood in front of the screen and swiped his finger across the page twice.

Yan Xi remembered the side dish combination he ordered last time for the spicy hot pot: wide rice noodles, enoki mushrooms, tofu skin, luncheon meat, and lotus root slices.

No cilantro, no scallions, mildly spicy.

Add an extra serving of shrimp paste. Last time she glanced at the picture of shrimp paste but didn't order it, though her gaze lingered on it for a couple more seconds.

He added the shrimp paste.

Add another serving of plum juice.

She doesn't like carbonated drinks because she finds the bubbles too harsh on her throat.

Pay and get a number.

When he walked over with his tray, Yan Xi was already sitting at the two-person table by the window.

A canvas bag hangs on the back of the chair, and a mobile phone is placed face down on the table.

She was looking out the window.

The cafeteria windows face the school road, and the streetlights make the snow look yellow.

Several students walked quickly and hurriedly towards their dormitories, their necks hunched over.

"What are you looking at?"

Li Chen put down the plate and placed the chopsticks to her right.

Yan Xi looked away.

"Look at the streetlights in your school."

What's wrong with the streetlights?

"The spacing is incorrect."

Yan Xi pointed out the direction outside the window with her chopsticks.

"The distance between the lampposts from the cafeteria to the library is 15 meters. But from the library to the teaching area, it becomes 20 meters."

"There is a section of the road that is completely dark."

Li Chen was stunned for a moment.

"You even look at this?"

"Occupational disease".

Yan Xi picked up a piece of enoki mushroom with her chopsticks.

"Architecture students see everything as structure and circulation."

She put the enoki mushroom in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and her brow relaxed slightly.

"The spiciness level is alright today."

"I told them to put in one less spoonful of chili."

Yan Xi stopped eating.

How did you know it was too spicy last time?

"You drank three glasses of water after you ate last time."

Yan Xi looked at him for two seconds.

He didn't say anything, just kept eating with his head down.

Li Chen noticed that she picked up a piece of shrimp paste with her chopsticks.

When she put it in her mouth, she chewed it a little slower than the other dishes.

It's not because it's hard to chew, it's because it's delicious.

He didn't speak.

I mentally archived the information that "Yan Xi likes shrimp paste".

The two ate quietly for a while.

The cafeteria was noisy, but their corner felt like it was separated by a layer of noise.

Yan Xi put down her chopsticks, picked up the plum juice, and took a sip.

"When did you develop this habit?"

"What habits?"

"Remember what I eat, what I drink, and what temperature of water I like."

Li Chen thought for a moment.

"I didn't deliberately try to remember it, I just saw it."

"You remember it just because you saw it?"

"Um."

Yan Xi put down the plum juice.

There was a faint ring of water on the cup where her lips had touched it.

"Li Chen".

"Um."

"Someone like you."

She paused for a moment.

"It's very dangerous."

Li Chen didn't understand.

"What do you mean?"

Yan Xi did not explain.

She picked up her chopsticks, took another slice of lotus root, and put it into Li Chen's bowl.

"Eat yours."

Li Chen looked down at the lotus root slices in the bowl.

It was sliced ​​very thinly, with slightly curled edges, and coated with chili oil.

He ate it.

"Is it tasty?"

"tasty."

"Then eat more of that in the future."

Li Chen felt that this sentence didn't seem to be referring to lotus root slices. But he didn't press the matter.

At the end of the meal, there was a little bit of wide rice noodle left on the plate.

Yan Xi couldn't eat anymore, so Li Chen swept all the rest of her food into his own bowl.

"Don't you mind my saliva?"

Yan Xi's tone carried a hint of probing.

"Disgusting."

Yan Xi narrowed her eyes slightly.

"But your saliva tastes better than the cafeteria's seasoning."

Yan Xi reached under the table and pinched his thigh.

Li Chen did not dodge.

pain.

But it was worth it.

As the two were clearing away the dishes, Li Chen's phone vibrated.

Group 302 message.

Wang Qiang posted a picture.

It was taken from a blind spot in the cafeteria's surveillance cameras—I don't know who took the photo from a distance.

The two sat at a table by the window, and Li Chen was putting food into Yan Xi's bowl.

Wang Qiang added a caption below the photo.

[Wang Qiang: New forum post title candidate—"The God of War Personally Feeds Us! All the Single Dogs in the School Die a Massive Death," what do you think?]

[Chen Mo: The title is too sensational. I suggest changing it to "Suspected Abnormal Event of High Concentrations of Oxytocin Found in the Window Area on the Second Floor of the Cafeteria."]

[Zhao Zixuan: Can you two speak like human beings?]

[Wang Qiang: In plain language—I'm jealous.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

"Whose message?"

Yan Xi's voice came from behind.

"Wang Qiang."

"What did you say?"

"He's being sarcastic."

Yan Xi's lips twitched slightly.

"Should."

As I stepped out of the cafeteria, a cold wind rushed back into my collar.

Li Chen walked on her left, blocking the side closest to the driveway.

Yan Xi did not put her hands back in her pockets.

Her right hand hung at her side, her fingertips slightly spread.

Li Chen glanced at it.

He reached out and took her fingers in his.

Yan Xi's hands were a little warmer than before.

The temperature in the cafeteria helped me stay warm.

But my fingertips were still cold.

He put both of their hands into his pockets.

Same as this morning.

But this time Yan Xi didn't say "I'll borrow your warmth".

She didn't say anything.

He simply tightened his grip slightly.

When Li Chen reached the fork in the road leading to the dormitory area, he stopped.

"arrive."

Yan Xi withdrew her hand.

My fingertips brushed across his palm, taking away the last bit of touch.

"tomorrow."

"Um?"

"I don't need to buy soy milk tomorrow morning."

Li Chen was stunned for a moment.

Why?

"I'll bring it."

She turned around and took two steps, then stopped and turned halfway to the side.

The light from the streetlamp shone on her profile, and the phoenix hairpin reflected light at the base of her ponytail.

"Li Chen".

"Um."

"You have a circle on the back of your hand."

Li Chen looked down at his right hand.

There was nothing on the back of my hand.

He looked up.

Yan Xi had already entered the lobby of the girls' dormitory building.

The sound of the glass door closing was very soft in the night breeze.

Li Chen stood still.

He turned his right hand over and looked at the back of his hand.

There was nothing there.

But the places she drew seem to actually have a circle.

It is invisible.

But it's hot.

He stood there for five seconds, then turned and walked towards the boys' dormitory.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

He took it out.

News about Yan Xi.

[Yan Xi: I'll come back when I get there.]

Three words.

Li Chen typed two words.

[Li Chen: Okay.]

Delete it.

Replay.

[Li Chen: Received, girlfriend.]

Send it out.

Read.

No reply.

But he knew the person on the other side of the screen was smiling.