Close to noon, the dismissal bell finally rang at long last.

The teacher was the first to bolt out of the classroom.

After a whole morning of getting crushed under a sea of problems, the students swayed to their feet. Every one of them had dead-fish eyes. Starving, they desperately needed a hearty lunch to comfort their weeping souls.

Which also meant another brutal sprint was about to begin.

Mo Xuan casually tidied up his desk. He was planning to grab a bowl of egg fried rice by the school gate.

His friend Yang Jie called out to him. “You eating at the cafeteria today?”

“Nope. Even dogs wouldn’t eat the school cafeteria food.” Mo Xuan didn’t even turn his head.

That last meal had practically become trauma for him.

His luck had clearly been good that day. He’d been near the front of the line, and the dishes looked great too. At a glance, Mo Xuan had fallen for an especially huge braised chicken drumstick. It was as big as his palm, a full half larger than the ones beside it.

So he shamelessly begged the lunch lady to give him that one. Then he happily found a seat, rubbed his hands together, drooled a little, closed his eyes, and took a huge bite.

The juicy, tender meat he imagined never came. Instead, a sharp spicy taste spread through his mouth. Mo Xuan spat it out on the spot.

When he looked closely, he was so mad his lungs were about to explode.

How was that a chicken drumstick?

It was obviously a piece of ginger that looked freakishly like one!

The school had gone too far. They were actually using something like that to scam students and trample on their trust.

He stormed over with the evidence to complain to the lunch lady. But she was too busy serving food to pay him any attention. The students behind him even complained that he was blocking the way without buying anything.

In the end, Mo Xuan could only swallow that anger back down. From then on, he swore he’d never eat at the school cafeteria again.

“You really not going?” Yang Jie wriggled in his seat like a maggot. “They’ve got braised lion’s head meatballs and pork stewed with radish today.”

Mo Xuan’s steps paused.

After a long moment, he turned around with half-lidded eyes and a helpless look. “Since you’re begging me this humbly to stay, I guess I’ll go eat at the cafeteria with you guys.”

As lively as ever, the school cafeteria was packed to the brim. Thanks to their usual solid training, the two of them sprinted like mad. They left the other food warriors hundreds of meters behind and smoothly secured spots near the front.

“Damn, you’re really splurging today.”

Yang Jie sat down with his tray and couldn’t help exclaiming when he saw Mo Xuan’s dazzling spread.

The glossy braised lion’s head meatballs looked soft and tender. The white radish, soaked full of broth, gave off a rich aroma. The dark brown ribs were steaming hot. On top of that, Mo Xuan had also gotten stir-fried greens and potatoes with Chinese chives. The bright green and golden yellow set each other off, making the whole tray look colorful.

“Isn’t living all about eating, drinking, and having fun?” Mo Xuan bit on his straw and happily sipped his iced black tea, then picked up a heaping bowl of rice.

“Besides, we’re seniors now. Of course we’ve got every reason to eat more and fatten ourselves up.”

While they chatted, more and more people arrived with trays and found seats with their class. The long tables quickly filled up, all of them from Class One.

Generally speaking, the seating in the cafeteria had its own pattern. Boys sat with boys, girls sat with girls. Aside from a few who wandered into the other camp, everyone usually found their own side.

Mo Xuan’s group of boys sat closer to the school store. The girls’ group sat closer to the main entrance, with several long tables between them.

The food smelled amazing. Mo Xuan buried his head and ate with total satisfaction.

After graduation, he’d never had high school cafeteria food again. Even though the fake chicken drumstick incident still haunted him, he had to admit the school food was actually pretty tasty. If he didn’t have to worry about the cost, he’d honestly love to eat all three meals here.

He was only halfway through when Yang Jie, sitting on his right, nudged his elbow and lowered his voice. “Look over there.”

“Yun Jiumo?” Mo Xuan mumbled through a mouthful of rice.

“How’d you know?”

“You’re acting all twitchy and telling me to look right now. If it’s not Yun Jiumo, who else could it be? Don’t tell me some other beauty showed up?”

Mo Xuan finished off his drink in one gulp, sounding annoyed.

His friend opened his mouth, only to realize sadly that he really couldn’t argue with that. So he lowered his head in frustration and changed the subject.

“Don’t you think it’s weird? Yun Jiumo actually came to eat in the cafeteria.”

“Maybe she just couldn’t be bothered going outside.” Mo Xuan stuffed a piece of green vegetable into his mouth.

As far as he remembered, Yun Jiumo either went home to eat or ate outside. She really did rarely eat at school.

After all, she had money. Wherever she went, she could get a great meal. Why would she care about the cafeteria’s signature dishes?

Even so, Mo Xuan still looked around, wanting to see what that girl would order here.

He found Yun Jiumo very quickly.

Not because his eyes were especially sharp, but because Yun Jiumo naturally carried an extraordinary presence. She stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens. No matter where she was, people noticed her right away.

A beauty would draw attention in any setting, let alone in a packed cafeteria.

Faced with all kinds of looks from the people around her, Yun Jiumo kept her usual cool expression. Holding her tray, she walked past without looking sideways. Her steady steps made it seem like she was heading to a royal banquet.

Quite a few people recognized her as Yun Jiumo from Senior Year Class One. They all moved aside and opened up a path for her to pass through smoothly.

When someone was too outstanding, too perfect, people around them would naturally feel both admiration and fear. To the boys, Yun Jiumo was a flower on a distant peak, something to admire from afar and nothing more. To the girls, she was a proud and brilliant white swan. The two sides simply weren’t on the same level.

Mo Xuan and the other boys all stopped eating. Their eyes followed her steps.

It was obvious she was heading toward the girls from Class One. But that only made Mo Xuan even more puzzled. She was actually going to sit with them?

Everyone knew Yun Jiumo didn’t really have friends. She rarely even joined school activities, and if something required teamwork, she would refuse it to your face.

It was the same on the girls’ side. Aside from the deskmate she saw every day, no one had ever seen her with any particularly close friend, nor did she seem especially familiar with anyone.

It was like she treated everyone the same way: polite, courteous, distant. Sometimes she even seemed a little cold, yet somehow you just couldn’t bring yourself to dislike her.

The strong were always lonely.

That line was perfectly embodied by Yun Jiumo.

“Looks like she can’t sit there after all.” Yang Jie, who had been watching the whole time, spoke with a chicken drumstick stuffed in his mouth.

That was true. Yun Jiumo had come a little late. The long tables on the girls’ side were already full. Even if they welcomed her with both hands, there still wouldn’t be room unless someone got up and left.

But everyone was still eating. Who would leave now?

Yun Jiumo clearly noticed the situation too. So she changed direction and slowly walked around the cafeteria for a while, as if she wasn’t in any hurry at all.

In the end, she sat down at a small square table and began eating lunch in an unhurried way.

The boys all withdrew their gazes as well.

Mo Xuan shoveled the last bite of rice into his mouth. The moment he looked up, he almost choked.

Everyone else was staring at him with blazing eyes. Quiet. Motionless. They looked like they were waiting for him to be thrown into the pot as the main dish.

“What’s with those looks?”

“Aren’t you going over there? No one’s sitting across from her.”

“Didn’t you see I already finished eating?”

“Then get another tray. Or buy some bread.”

“I mean, are you guys bored or what? You’re not women. Why are you all this gossipy?”

“Right now, you’re the only one in class still openly chasing Yun Jiumo. How could we not be curious?”

“Let me correct one thing. First, I’m not the only one who has feelings for Yun Jiumo. Second, what does that have to do with you guys?”

“The others are just secretly crushing on her. You’re actually pursuing her. How is that the same? And besides, we’re your good friends. How could we not care about our brother’s lifelong happiness?”

After Yang Jie finished his impassioned speech, the other troublemakers around them nodded like crazy.

“Go, go, go—” Mo Xuan waved his hands again and again. “I’m not even panicking, so why are you? Relax. You’ve got to stay calm no matter what you do.”

One guy who had stayed silent the whole time finally couldn’t hold back anymore. Worried, he said, “Mo Xuan, I think you should be more proactive. You’re not the only one who likes Yun Jiumo. If you don’t hurry, someone else might make a move first.”

As if to prove his point, the moment he finished speaking, Mo Xuan and the others saw a boy who had just entered the cafeteria walking toward Yun Jiumo with his tray in hand.

Right in front of everyone, he actually sat down across from her.