2

At lunchtime, Chen's Family Restaurant outside the school was packed with students out for a meal.

"... I've really never met such a narcissistic person before! Eating his tofu, my foot," Lin Tiao complained to Meng Xin about a guy she ran into earlier in the classroom.

Meng Xin laughed uncontrollably, her hand trembling even more than the cafeteria lady's as she held her chopsticks. "No way, did he really say that? How confident does this guy have to be?"

Lin Tiao took a small bite of rice and, once she had swallowed, said, "Is that confidence? That's just shamelessness."

Seeing Lin Tiao's disgruntled expression, Meng Xin couldn't help but laugh even more. "But I'm really curious about what this guy looks like."

"Just two eyes, a mouth—what else could he look like?"

Meng Xin's eyes widened in surprise. "He doesn't have a nose?"

Lin Tiao: "..."

After chatting aimlessly for a while, Lin Tiao didn't care much about being misunderstood for intentionally being flirtatious. Meng Xin finished her meal first and went to pay.

She asked Lin Tiao, "Do you want a Coke?"

"Just water will do." Lin Tiao loved carbonated drinks but had been experiencing some toothache recently. Under her mother's strict instructions, she had been cutting back a bit.

Meng Xin went to get the water while Lin Tiao continued eating. A few more boys came into the restaurant and leaned over the counter to speak with the owner. "Uncle Chen, do you have any seats left?"

"Yes, yes, yes, a table will be available soon." Uncle Chen finished with Meng Xin's payment and handed her two bottles of mineral water from the freezer. Turning back to the boys, he asked, "How did the exam go today?"

"Uncle, what do you think we could have done? We just roasted ourselves," Xu Yichuan said as he took an ice cream from the freezer.

Uncle Chen chuckled. "Where's Jiang Yan today?"

"He's at the supermarket next door buying something. He'll be over later."

"Buying cigarettes again, huh?" Uncle Chen said knowingly. "I've told you all several times, you're too young to be smoking."

"No, he's buying candy," Xu Yichuan said with a grin, and the boys jokingly shifted the topic away.

Meng Xin returned with the water. Lin Tiao had already finished eating and took the water from her. "How much? I'll transfer you the money later."

"No need, just treat me to a meal tomorrow. It's too much trouble to transfer money back and forth."

Lin Tiao nodded, wiped her mouth with a napkin, gathered her things, and stood up. "Let's go, let's get some rest."

"Yeah."

Just as they were about to leave, Uncle Chen came over with a cleaning cloth. "Finished eating? Come back again next time."

Meng Xin smiled and said, "Sure."

Uncle Chen then called over the boys crowded around the counter. "You guys come over and sit."

"Coming!"

The boys' loud voices caught Lin Tiao's attention, and she saw Jiang Yan, who had just returned from buying cigarettes, throwing the items to the boys who were talking.

Her mind raced, and she quickly grabbed Meng Xin and sat back down at the table they had just vacated. "Sorry, Uncle, I haven't finished yet. Please don't clean up."

Uncle Chen was startled by her sudden action and hesitated, "This..."

As Jiang Yan, Xu Yichuan, and the other two boys—Song Yuan and Hu Hanghang—walked over to the table, all four heard Lin Tiao's words.

They stood by the table, eyeing the two girls.

Lin Tiao remained unperturbed and leisurely poured the mineral water into a plastic cup and took a sip.

"Lin Tiao..." Meng Xin tugged at Lin Tiao's sleeve, a bit anxious. "Do you know who's sitting next to you?"

Lin Tiao raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Meng Xin continued trembling, "The leader of Class 18, Jiang Yan, the one who supposedly fought half of the boys from the neighboring school and walked away unscathed."

Lin Tiao gasped in surprise. "Is it too late to leave now?"

Meng Xin was about to cry. "Do you think so?"

Lin Tiao was amused and remained silent.

Seeing the situation unfolding in such a strange way, Xu Yichuan interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt."

The two girls looked over.

Xu Yichuan cleared his throat and pointed at Jiang Yan. "About the rumor that he fought half of the boys from the neighboring school, I need to correct it."

Lin Tiao and Meng Xin waited for more information.

"It wasn't half a class; he's not that—"

Hearing this, Meng Xin thought the rumor was indeed exaggerated, and the big shot probably didn't fight half a class.

"He's not that weak; it was a whole class of boys," Hu Hanghang added to Xu Yichuan's comment.

"..."

Meng Xin: I choose death.

Upon hearing this, Lin Tiao glanced at Jiang Yan next to her. Their gazes met again, this time for over twenty seconds.

Jiang Yan looked away and then, after a couple of seconds, raised his eyes again, appearing in good spirits and smiled. "It's all rumors. Don't take it seriously."

Lin Tiao couldn't help but snort quietly at his humble attitude, doubting it.

Sure enough, the next moment, Jiang Yan added, "But if you want to believe it, it doesn't matter because it's really true."

"..."

Lin Tiao genuinely wondered if this guy's shamelessness was made of reinforced concrete. How could he be so thick-skinned?!

The other three boys, who seemed to be used to Jiang Yan's antics, didn't react much to his statement.

A few minutes later, Uncle Chen came over to clean the table. Seeing there was no real point in staying, Lin Tiao and Meng Xin stood up. "We won't bother you. We'll head out."

Xu Yichuan was the first to protest. It was rare for Jiang Yan to invite someone to sit with them, so he didn't want to miss out. "Don't, we're already sitting here. Let's have a meal together."

The other two boys followed suit. "Yeah, let's eat together."

Lin Tiao forced a smile. "No need, we've already eaten."

Hearing this, Jiang Yan, who had been silent, looked at Lin Tiao with a frown, as if considering something. "Weren't you just saying you weren't full?"

Lin Tiao continued to smile. "I'm full now."

"Oh." Jiang Yan's eyelids drooped lazily, but he suddenly said something startling. "So, seeing how handsome I am, you get full just by looking at me."

"…?"

Lin Tiao froze for three seconds, realizing what he was saying. She couldn't even maintain a fake smile and stared at him with a blank expression.

"Has no one ever told you you're shameless?"

Lin Tiao spoke her mind, but before she could react, the others fell silent.

To be honest, no one had ever told Jiang Yan he was shameless, considering his cool and handsome appearance.

The surroundings fell silent for about half a minute.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan stood up.

Lin Tiao couldn't help but tremble a little when Jiang Yan stood up, wondering if he was about to attack her.

She swallowed silently and eyed him.

After three seconds, Jiang Yan suddenly raised his hand, almost as if to push her head.

The atmosphere became tense.

Lin Tiao thought she was definitely done for.

It's said that in moments before death, one sees the person they most want to see. Lin Tiao closed her eyes and thought of her invigilator from the morning.

"…"

Alright, whatever legends.

In just a few seconds, Jiang Yan's hand came closer, but then he retracted it, stretched it out again, and then retracted it, as if evaluating something.

After a few back-and-forth motions, Lin Tiao seemed to understand what he was doing.

Before she could ask, Jiang Yan confirmed her thoughts. He looked at his hand, measured the distance between himself and Lin Tiao, and asked with a serious expression, "Why are you so short? Are you even 160 cm?"

"…"

You're the one who's not 160 cm! Your whole family isn't 160 cm!