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

Yan Xi came closer.

"What did they say?"

"I'm really looking forward to it."

"That's a lie."

Yan Xi glanced at the last line of his phone screen.

Wang Qiang said his shrimp paste is running out.

"He'll have shrimp paste."

Are you sure?

Li Chen took two steps.

"After I peel the shrimp for you..."

Yan Xi reached out and patted him.

The force was moderate. It hit the outside of his upper arm.

Six o'clock sharp.

Haidilao hot pot restaurant near the school gate.

Wang Qiang, Zhao Zixuan, and Chen Mo have arrived.

The three people were sitting on the same side of a six-person table.

Neat and tidy.

Like an interviewer.

Li Chen pulled out the chair opposite him.

Yan Xi sat down.

All three people turned their gazes to Yan Xi at the same time.

"Hello, Senior Yan."

Wang Qiang's tone was at least three levels more reserved.

"Um."

Yan Xi glanced at the desktop.

"Have you ordered?"

"No, we'll wait for you."

"Then we won't wait."

She picked up the menu and flipped through two pages.

"One serving of tripe, two servings of freshly sliced ​​beef, and three servings of shrimp paste—"

She paused for a moment.

"Are three servings enough?"

Wang Qiang's eyes lit up.

"Enough, enough, enough!"

"One more, please." Yan Xi put down the menu. "Four servings of shrimp paste."

Wang Qiang's expression jumped directly from "restrained" to "tears welling up in his eyes".

Zhao Zixuan kicked him.

"Don't embarrass yourself."

"I'm not ashamed, I'm grateful."

Li Chen sat down next to Yan Xi, took the menu, and added a few more dishes.

Enoki mushrooms, baby bok choy, and fresh duck blood.

She doesn't eat duck intestines.

He's kept this in mind for three months now.

The broth is served. Half tomato, half mushroom soup.

Yan Xi doesn't eat spicy food.

Even Wang Qiang remembered this—the last time they ate spicy hot pot in the cafeteria, Li Chen specially ordered a less spicy version for Yan Xi, and Wang Qiang witnessed the whole process.

"Li Chen".

Chen Mo spoke from the other side.

"Um."

"None of the dishes you ordered are ones you actually like to eat."

Li Chen picked up a piece of tripe and put it into the pot.

"I eat everything."

"You love fatty beef; you ordered three extra portions of fatty beef last time you came to this restaurant."

I don't want to eat today.

Chen Mo pushed up his glasses.

"It's not that you don't want to eat, it's just that the items added to the menu have exceeded your budget, and you're trying to control the total price."

Yan Xi tapped her finger on the table.

"Add two portions of fatty beef."

Li Chen glanced at her.

"Need not."

"I said I'd add it, so I'll add it."

She waved to the waiter and ordered two more servings of fatty beef and one serving of beef tripe.

"It's your business if you treat us."

Her voice was not loud.

"But what you eat is my business."

The three people across the table all looked down at the pot.

Wang Qiang tossed a chopstickful of enoki mushrooms into the tomato pot, his hand trembling.

It wasn't hot. It was overly salty.

Zhao Zixuan's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound.

But Wang Qiang deciphered the meaning from the lip movements...

"here we go again."

The shrimp paste has been added to the pot.

Li Chen picked up a soup spoon, scooped out a cooked shrimp paste, placed it on a plate, broke it open with chopsticks, blew on it twice, and pushed it in front of Yan Xi.

Yan Xi pushed the plate back.

"Give them to them first."

Li Chen was stunned for a second.

He glanced at the three people opposite him.

The three people's expressions changed from "sick" to "shocked".

Yan Xi picked up the serving chopsticks, took three shrimp pastes from the pot, and placed them on the plates in front of Wang Qiang, Chen Mo, and Zhao Zixuan respectively.

"You are his roommates."

Her voice was flat.

"I will take care of those who need it."

Wang Qiang looked at the shrimp paste on the plate.

His Adam's apple bobbed twice.

"Senior Sister Yan."

"Um."

Are you an angel?

Yan Xi picked up her chopsticks.

"Eat yours."

Zhao Zixuan looked down at the plate.

He didn't say anything.

But he kicked Li Chen under the table.

Li Chen kicked back.

The meaning has been received.

Chen Mo slowly chewed the shrimp paste, took out his phone and typed a message.

Wang Qiang glanced at it from the side.

The screen reads:

[Research Notes: Today we observed Yan Xi proactively extending goodwill to her roommates for the first time. The triggering condition appears to be a generalization of her group care behavior when Li Chen was present. This action is expected to have a greater effect on increasing roommate loyalty than three times the material incentive of shrimp balls. Conclusion: She's not just dating Li Chen. She's taking over 302.]

Wang Qiang almost spat out the shrimp paste in his mouth.

He covered his mouth and swallowed hard.

"Chen Mo."

"Um."

"Can you please stop analyzing things while we're eating?"

"I'm conducting fieldwork, and the dining table is the best observation location."

"Look at your analysis. What do you mean by 'taking over 302'?"

Chen Mo put his phone away.

"fact."

"What facts?"

"She remembered that you like double shrimp paste, so she ordered four servings."

"She put one on each of the three of our plates, distributing them evenly, which shows that she had observed the seating arrangement beforehand and that she was using serving chopsticks."

Chen Mo's tone was calm.

"This wasn't something done casually; it was a conscious social behavior."

"The goal is to make your friends like her, thereby solidifying her central position in your social network."

Wang Qiang slowly put down his chopsticks.

"This is terrifying."

Zhao Zixuan took a sip of tea.

"It's not scary."

His voice wasn't loud.

"She just wanted us to know that she cares about him, and therefore cares about the people he cares about."

The desktop was silent for two seconds.

Yan Xi and Li Chen both looked at Zhao Zixuan.

Zhao Zixuan felt himself being stared at by four pairs of eyes and coughed.

"I was just saying."

"you're right."

Yan Xi picked up the cup and took a sip of lemon water.

"You're smarter than both of them."

Wang Qiang and Chen Mo both turned to look at Zhao Zixuan.

Zhao Zixuan's expression was complicated.

"I suddenly feel a lot of pressure from this praise."

Li Chen squeezed Yan Xi's hand under the table.

Her finger flicked back.

Then loosen it.

She picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of tripe from the pot.

Feeling extremely uneasy.

She put the tripe on her plate.

I cut a small piece.

Pick it up with chopsticks.

It was brought to Li Chen's lips.

Open your mouth.

Li Chenzhang.

The tripe has a crisp and chewy texture.

I dipped it in the sesame paste on her plate.

"Is it tasty?"

"Um."

"Then eat more."

The three people opposite buried their faces in the steam from the pot.

Wang Qiang's voice came out muffledly from behind the mist.

"I'm stuffed."

Zhao Zixuan glanced at his plate.

"You only ate two slices of fatty beef."

"I'm fed. Mentally."

Li Chen's phone lit up on the table.

A WeChat message.

It was posted by Leng Qingge.

[Leng Qingge: Did Sister Xi go eat hot pot with you guys?]

[Leng Qingge: Could you bring me back some shrimp paste?]

[Leng Qingge: Take it all out. Thanks, boss.]

Li Chen pushed his phone towards Yan Xi for a quick look.

Yan Xi took it and replied with a single word.

[Yan Xi: Get lost.]

Then she put her phone back in its place and continued eating her enoki mushroom.

Li Chen glanced at her plate.

The enoki mushrooms on her chopsticks were wrapped around her chopsticks several times.

The method of binding is the same as his.

Not a coincidence.

It was learned.

She saw him wrap enoki mushrooms once when he ate in the cafeteria.

He clenched his right hand under the table.

There was nothing in my palm.

But that spot felt hot.

Yan Xi's knee lightly touched his leg under the table.

It was not taken back.