A large crowd gathered.

"Why do you have to drag me along?" Lily said to her two roommates, her expression one of reluctance.

"Feifei, your boyfriend is doing business here, and you're not even going to check it out?" Xiaoyun said. "Even if you two had a quarrel, it's been a few days now. It's time to let it go."

"We didn't have a quarrel," Lily replied.

"Since you didn't have a quarrel, then you should come and see him even more," Xiaoru said.

"Forget it, I can't explain it to you guys," Lily said helplessly.

"Hurry up, we're almost there. I heard from a classmate that it's just ahead," Xiaoyun said to Lily.

"Why do we have to come if you don't even like barbecue?" Lily asked.

"Haven't you seen that so many people from school want to check it out?" Xiaoru said. "Besides, it's your boyfriend who's selling it. We should definitely show him some support."

"He's also our teacher!" Xiaoyun added.

Lily was speechless. The three of them had been chatting online in the dormitory when Xiaoyun saw a message from other classmates, saying that Jaxon was selling barbecue on the street in front of their school, complete with photos. Xiaoyun immediately wanted to go and see for herself. It was bad enough that they were going, but now they were insisting on dragging Lily along. Although she didn't want to go, Lily had no choice but to follow.

"Wow! There are so many people!" Xiaoyun exclaimed as she looked at the crowd surrounding Jaxon's stall, three layers deep on the inside and three layers deep on the outside.

The street was lined with various stalls and shops, frequented by students from nearby schools who came here to hang out. The area had a wide variety of affordable options, catering primarily to students, so the foot traffic was always quite high.

However, none of the stalls on the entire street had ever attracted such a large crowd as Jaxon's. People were packed around the stall, and the road was so crowded that it became difficult to move.

"It's just barbecue. Do so many people really need to gather around?" Lily was also taken aback by the scene. It felt more like they were surrounding a celebrity than a barbecue stand.

"It's not the same," Xiaoyun said, standing on her tiptoes to get a better view. "This teacher from our school is selling barbecue, and he became super popular on the school's intranet today. He's got a perfect physique. Don't you think that would excite everyone?"

"Still, there's no need to crowd like this. People who don't know might think they're surrounding a big celebrity," Lily said.

"Teacher Jaxon is basically a celebrity in our school now," Xiaoru said. Then she added thoughtfully, "Oh, is it because you see so many girls here and you're jealous?"

"Definitely!" Xiaoyun said seriously.

"Jealous? What do I have to be jealous of?" Lily felt like she was going to collapse. "He's not even my boyfriend."

"Feifei, you don't need to be angry. We all understand," Xiaoru said.

"Yeah, we understand," Xiaoyun echoed.

"What do you understand? You don't understand anything," Lily said helplessly. "You have no idea what's going on."

"You never tell us what's going on between you two. How are we supposed to know?" Xiaoru said.

"Alright, enough about that," Xiaoyun said. "Let's go squeeze in and see how good your boyfriend, my Teacher Jaxon, is at making barbecue."

"You guys go ahead. I'll wait for you here," Lily said.

"Come on, let's go together. Without you, we won't have as much influence. There are so many people here. We might not get to eat if we don't have some help," Xiaoyun said.

"Exactly! With you, the person closest to him, we might be able to cut in line a bit," Xiaoru added.

"What do you mean 'the person closest to him'? You guys are getting more and more out of line," Lily said.

"Let's not talk about that. Let's go," Xiaoyun said, pulling Lily toward the crowd.

Normally, people would be annoyed if someone tried to squeeze in like this, but Lily and her roommates were all quite attractive—especially Lily, whose looks could easily compete with Chloe and Tang Yufei. As a result, people who might have scolded them ended up swallowing their words.

Beauty, after all, can have its privileges.

"Teacher Jaxon, give us three skewers of enoki mushrooms, three of lotus root, and three of eggplant..." As soon as they squeezed in, Xiaoyun immediately spoke up to Jaxon.

"It's you," Jaxon said, looking up and instantly recognizing her.

Jaxon had been extremely busy lately, not just with the barbecue but also with all the students who had come specifically to see him. He hadn't expected so many students to show up and ask him strange questions—like how he stayed in shape, why he was selling barbecue, and whether he had a girlfriend.

These were all students from Goldenleaf University, and although they weren't rude, their curiosity was overwhelming. Jaxon couldn't exactly be cold toward them, so he answered each question. He found dealing with the students was more exhausting than making barbecue.

When he saw Xiaoyun, he also noticed Lily beside her and couldn't help but say, "You came too?"

Jaxon hadn't expected Lily to show up. This was the first time they had met since he had taken her to register for school. Although they weren't very close, they knew each other, and Lily was also a relative of his landlord. He couldn't exactly pretend not to recognize her.

"They insisted on dragging me along," Lily explained, clearly not wanting Jaxon to misunderstand.

Jaxon nodded. He wasn't the type to jump to conclusions out of self-importance.

Because there were so many customers, Jaxon didn't have time to chat with Lily and the others, and he quickly went back to focusing on the barbecue.

"Feifei, since Teacher Jaxon is so busy, why don't you go and help him?" Xiaoyun suggested.

"Why should I go? Why don't you go?" Lily asked.

"You're Teacher Jaxon's girlfriend. I don't have any special relationship with him," Xiaoyun replied. "Besides, Teacher Jaxon is super popular now. With all these people around, it's a good chance for you to claim your territory and keep other girls at bay."

"Claim what territory? I don't have any special relationship with him," Lily said.

"Alright, alright, no special relationship," Xiaoyun conceded, thinking Lily was still upset with Jaxon. "But even if you're not claiming anything, you can still help out, right?"