Chapter 23: The Twenty-Third Day - My Ex-Boyfriend's Tone

After adding Zhou Linxiao on WeChat, Xiang Di thought of her dead brother again.

It was almost lunchtime, and he still hadn't arrived. Xiang Di had no choice but to send another message to Xiang Sheng, asking where he was.

Xiang Sheng: [Right away.]

Xiang Di almost rolled his eyes: [Is your horse the one from Miller's planet?]

Miller Planet is a setting from the movie Interstellar, a very terrifying planet where one hour is equivalent to seven years on Earth.

Xiang Sheng answered confidently: "Yeah, how did you know?"

Xiang Sheng: [So it will be another six years and three hundred and sixty-four days before I can get to your school. Just wait and see.]

Xiang Di: [...]

"Why did fate create both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang?" Xiang Di didn't understand why her parents had given birth to her brother, this piece of garbage with no sense of time or integrity. Even if she was the one born later, couldn't her mother have aborted her brother first and then conceived her?

Xiang Di was so angry with her brother that she felt her blood stagnate. She only regretted that she wasn't a real imperial concubine, otherwise she would have gotten the emperor to behead her dead brother anyway.

Before we knew it, it was noon. With ten minutes left before get out of class ended, the teacher told everyone to study on their own. But very few people actually studied; most were discussing where to eat and what to eat later.

As the class monitor, Ye Minjia planned to take Zhou Linxiao to visit the cafeteria of their No. 14 Middle School and have a meal there.

If he wanted to bring more people to lunch, he had to report to his lunch buddies first. So Ye Minjia asked Wang Sichen to pass on a message to Bai Jiangxin, asking if it would be okay to bring Zhou Linxiao to lunch with him.

Wang Sichen quickly replied, "He said whatever."

For Bai Jiangxin, "whatever" meant "okay".

Ye Minjia said, "Okay, but I have to tell you first, Bai Jiangxin is a very particular person. You have to be careful when you eat with him, otherwise he will give you a hard time on the spot."

Zhou Linxiao: "How particular are you about it?"

Bai Jiangxin has the body of a young master but the illness of a prince. Not only is he arrogant, but he also has severe mysophobia. He rarely eats with others. He doesn't use the tableware provided in the school cafeteria and insists on bringing his own, as if the cafeteria's tableware is dirty. Eating with him makes those of us who use the cafeteria's tableware seem unrefined.

Ye Minjia also told him a bloody example from her own experience: "When I was in the first year of high school, I ate with him. At that time, I didn't know he had mysophobia. I saw that the food he served smelled delicious, so I wanted to take some food from his bowl to taste. As a result, I almost got scolded to death. He said that I was so poor that I couldn't afford to eat, and that I had to pick up the leftovers from other people's bowls to eat."

Zhou Linxiao: "..."

Zhou Linxiao's family has been composed of highly educated intellectuals for three generations. Although she is of mixed race, she comes from a respectable scholarly family. The first Chinese proverb she learned was "A kind word warms the heart for three winter months, while a harsh word chills the heart for six summer months."

Not only Zhou Linxiao couldn't stand it, but Liang Qianqian, who was discussing lunch with Xiang Di, also couldn't help but complain.

Even the school heartthrob shouldn't act like this. These days, the aloof and sarcastic male character type isn't popular in novels anymore.

"This is a bit too much," Liang Qianqian said. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but how can you tolerate Bai Jiangxin insulting you like this? Don't fawn over him too much, class monitor. If you keep doing this, I'll really think you have a crush on Bai Jiangxin."

Xiang Di, who truly had a crush on Bai Jiangxin, remained silent, only weakly retorting in her heart: What's wrong with having a crush? It's so great! How does having a crush make someone a simp? Don't belittle crushes.

Then Ye Minjia added, "I was about to get angry, but the next second he threw his meal card at me and said that since I couldn't afford to eat, I should use his. He told me to use his meal card to pay for whatever I wanted to eat, and not to take food from his bowl."

Ye Minjia shrugged helplessly: "Even though he cursed at me, he said I can use his meal card as I please from now on. What can I do?"

There's no doubt that everyone must have principles and dignity. Insulting my dignity is unacceptable, but if you use money to insult me, that's a different story.

It's hard to say. One is willing to give and the other is willing to receive. No wonder these two are good friends. Liang Qianqian twitched her lips: "...Alright, I respect and wish you happiness. As long as you're happy."

Ye Minjia: "It's not that I have no moral bottom line, you wouldn't understand how great it feels to be kept like this."

Liang Qianqian: "Then I really don't understand."

Feeling scorned by Liang Qianqian, Ye Minjia tried to gain Zhou Linxiao's approval: "You grew up abroad, you're more open-minded, can you understand me?"

Zhou Linxiao smiled honestly: "I don't really understand. I probably prefer to be the one who keeps others rather than be kept myself."

Ye Minjia was momentarily speechless at his frank statement that he wanted to be a sugar daddy.

"Then I wish you success."

At this point, only Xiang Di remained.

Xiang Di winked, giving him a "you're asking me?" look.

Unfortunately, Ye Minjia didn't get her meaning. She thought to herself, "Forget it, I won't ask anymore." This girl, with her pure and lovely appearance, is the kind of stubborn little white lotus heroine in idol dramas who says, "Don't think you can trample on my dignity just because you have a few stinky coins," while throwing pickled vegetables at the domineering CEO.

Ye Minjia gave up on communicating and waited for the bell to ring, feeling lonely and dejected.

Xiang Di wrinkled her nose, thinking to herself, why didn't the class monitor ask her? If the class monitor had asked her, she would definitely have said that she understood, she understood, she understood a million times!

Xiang Di subtly shifted her body and secretly glanced at Bai Jiangxin, who was in the same row.

The boy was writing his exam paper with his head down. His profile was handsome, and his lips, which would slightly purse when he was focused, were incredibly sexy.

She has nothing to say to people who don't understand Bai Jiangxin's appeal or her dirty talk.

She longed to be insulted by his handsome and sexy thin lips, but unfortunately, he ignored her completely.

Xiang Di let out a disappointed sigh, just then she suddenly heard Zhou Linxiao ask her where she planned to eat lunch.

Xiang Di said, "The cafeteria."

"Why don't we eat together?" Zhou Linxiao invited her. "It'll be more lively if we all eat together."

Xiang Di paused for a moment.

Does that mean she can have dinner with Bai Jiangxin?

It took Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian ten years to be able to share a boat ride and a hundred years to be able to share a pillow, but she only took three years to be able to have dinner at the same table with Bai Jiangxin. She really is the luckiest little girl in the world!

Xiang Di nodded: "Okay, okay!"

...

Wang Sichen tapped Bai Jiangxin's arm with his pen again. He really didn't want to disturb the top student, but he couldn't disobey the class monitor's orders. Otherwise, if the class monitor made things difficult for him, he would be scolded by the teacher.

Bai Jiangxin suppressed his annoyance at being frequently interrupted and said in a calm voice, "Speak."

Wang Sichen asked in a very friendly tone: "The class monitor asked if you mind having two more people join you for lunch?"

After a while, Wang Sichen suppressed a laugh and turned to Ye Minjia, saying, "Bai Jiangxin said, no wonder you're so bad at King of Glory, you even have to play five-player teams to be carried when you want to eat."

Ye Minjia: "..."

That sharp-tongued guy even placed a single bet.

"So, is it okay or not?" Ye Minjia said irritably. "If he doesn't want to, then he can play solo and I'll play in a four-player squad."

Wang Sichen turned around again and relayed Ye Minjia's words.

After a while, Wang Sichen asked, "Which two did he mention?"

Ye Minjia rolled her eyes: "You have to check their household registration just to have a meal? What a hassle. Xiang Di and Liang Qianqian are definitely law-abiding citizens, go ahead and check them."

As he spoke, he was genuinely worried that the young master might have requirements regarding the family background of his dining companions, so he asked Liang Qianqian and Xiang Di, "Your ancestors for three generations should have been law-abiding citizens, right? There shouldn't have been any illegal or criminal activities, right? I'm afraid Bai Jiangxin might mind that."

Liang Qianqian looked at Ye Minjia: "?"

Why do I have to go through a political vetting process just to have a meal with Bai Jiangxin?

Xiang Di asked with concern, "Oh, my brother was fined fifty yuan by the traffic police when he was a sophomore in college for riding his electric bike across the street without a helmet. Is that illegal? Will he mind?"

Liang Qianqian looked at Xiang Di again: "?"

Why are you answering so seriously?

A little while later, Wang Sichen relayed to Ye Minjia, "He said whatever."

Ye Minjia said, "Congratulations, you two have passed the test."

Xiang Di said happily, "Yay!"

Liang Qianqian: "..."

Is Bai Jiangxin working for a civil service position? Is she abnormal, or is the world abnormal?

-

Thanks to Ye Minjia's prior warning, all three knew that Bai Jiangxin had severe mysophobia. As long as they kept this in mind, they could still eat peacefully at the same table.

The cafeteria offers a wide variety of dishes. Sometimes, if you're lucky, the cafeteria chefs will make dishes they like. For example, I was very lucky today. When I was queuing, I glanced into the window and saw that the cafeteria's menu was practically charity. Not only did they have sweet and sour pork ribs and sweet and sour pork, but they also had hamburger patties and fried pork chops. In addition, the desserts were cheese pudding and fries.

She wanted to eat everything, but unfortunately, her meal card was too expensive. Xiang Di stood in front of the window, hesitating for a while. The cafeteria lady with the big ladle urged her, "Student, have you thought it over yet? There are many other students in line behind you."

Unable to decide between Xiang Di and the others, Xiang Di gritted his teeth and, deciding to enjoy life to the fullest, ordered all the dishes he liked.

Although the meal cost over twenty yuan, which was a bit painful, it was worth it to leave with a plate full of meat.

As soon as Liang Qianqian saw her plate, she laughed: "Have you been starving for days? How can you eat so much?"

Xiang Di said, "You need to be well-fed to have the energy to study."

Liang Qianqian sighed, "It's so good to have a small frame. You don't have to worry about gaining weight even if you eat a lot. If I ate like that, I would have weighed over 100 pounds long ago."

Xiang Di: "But you're already very thin at 100 pounds for your height."

Compared to her own figure, Xiang Di genuinely felt that Qianqian's tall, mature figure was the best. So whenever she fantasized, she was too embarrassed to imagine her own figure, afraid that Bai Jiangxin in her fantasy would think she was too thin and wouldn't have any sexual desire for her.

Liang Qianqian said, "But it makes me look fat in photos."

Girls are like that, always envying each other. The two chatted while looking for the class monitor and the others. Ye Minjia had good eyesight and quickly spotted them. She waved from her seat, "Over here!"

Xiang Di ordered quite a lot of food today. She likes fried pork chops, so she ordered two portions. As soon as she put the plates on the table, Ye Minjia exclaimed, "I didn't expect you to be such a big eater, even though you don't look very tall."

Zhou Linxiao glanced at the abundant dishes on her plate and asked in a puzzled tone, "Why didn't I see the fried pork chop when I was getting the food?"

"Then you must have booked the wrong window. It's the one on the far right." Xiang Di grunted. "But if you go to call now, it's probably sold out."

Zhou Linxiao said, "It's okay, we can eat it tomorrow."

Ye Minjia said, "It might not be available tomorrow. Our cafeteria menu is randomly updated, so you have no idea what dishes will be served until the day of the event."

Zhou Linxiao shrugged regretfully and said, "Alright then, let's leave it to fate."

Not wanting the new student to have a disappointing first day eating in the cafeteria, Xiang Di said, "I got two portions. If you don't mind, I can share some with you."

Zhou Linxiao smiled and said, "Of course I don't mind, thank you."

Xiang Di immediately placed a few slices of pork chop into Zhou Linxiao's plate.

Liang Qianqian actually loves fried pork chops too, and said with a grin, "Baby, I want some too."

Xiang Di generously shared a few pieces with Liang Qianqian. Seeing how generous she was, Ye Minjia shamelessly asked, "Um, I also queued at the wrong window just now, can I have a piece? Just one piece is fine, I haven't eaten in a long time."

"No problem."

Xiang Di picked up another piece and gave it to Ye Minjia; this is the joy of sharing.

In this way, everyone got a piece of her fried pork chop, except for Bai Jiangxin, who hadn't said a word from the beginning.

Ye Minjia originally wanted to ask Bai Jiangxin if he wanted some too, but after thinking about it, she felt that he would definitely not want to eat food taken from someone else's bowl. Besides, they had broken up, so he would definitely mind eating his ex's saliva. She decided not to bother.

Xiang Di felt bad for not sharing with Bai Jiangxin except for everyone else. But then she thought, it was a rare opportunity to sit at the same table with Bai Jiangxin for three years, so she shouldn't be reckless.

The last time Xiang Di accidentally drank a sip of her milk tea, he looked so disgusted. Just thinking about it still makes her shudder.

She glanced hesitantly at Bai Jiangxin, only to meet his cold gaze. Bai Jiangxin gave her a quick look before turning away indifferently, his eyes showing no interest in her or her fried pork chop.

Xiang Di: "..."

"Never mind." Xiang Di took a bite of the fried pork chop, and the crispy outer layer immediately exploded in her mouth, filling it with fragrance.

"tasty!"

Liang Qianqian said, "The pork chop is fried just right today."

Ye Minjia: "It really is delicious."

Zhou Linxiao also said that the fried pork cutlets here are no worse than those in restaurants outside, only Bai Jiangxin couldn't join the conversation about fried pork cutlets.

However, he was used to being aloof, and joining their conversation at this moment would be like the sun rising in the west.

The food was delicious, so the boys ate quickly. In less than fifteen minutes, they had finished their meal.

Xiang Di took a lot of food today, and in order to act like a lady, she ate several times slower than usual. Even Liang Qianqian had finished eating, but she still had half a bowl of rice left.

Xiang Di felt bad making the boys wait for her, so she said, "Why don't you guys go back first? Qianqian can wait for me."

Ye Minjia originally wanted to say it was okay and that they could leave together after she finished eating, but Bai Jiangxin next to her picked up her own cutlery, got up, and left.

"Then eat slowly."

"Hey! You little brat—"

Ye Minjia couldn't stop him, so she had no choice but to go with Bai Jiangxin.

There's no way around it; that's how it is for kept canaries in the cafeteria—wherever their sugar daddy goes, they have to go too.

"Then take your time eating." Ye Minjia looked at Zhou Linxiao, "Are you coming with me?"

Zhou Linxiao said, "It's okay, I'll wait here for Xiang Di to finish eating."

"Okay, let's go back to the classroom then."

After saying hello, Ye Minjia hurriedly went to catch up with Bai Jiangxin.

Bai Jiangxin left, and although Zhou Linxiao and Liang Qianqian were there to finish their meal with her, Xiang Di was still a little unhappy.

It seems that Bai Jiangxin dislikes slow eaters more than ladylike people, so she should eat faster next time.

Without wallowing in self-pity, the naturally optimistic Xiang Di simply sped up her eating.

-

Bai Jiangxin hadn't left yet; he was standing by the tap washing the dishes when Ye Minjia caught up and couldn't help but scold him: "I have to say, you're so impatient! Girls eat slowly. What's wrong with us sitting there and helping them finish their meal?"

Bai Jiangxin glanced up at him, then lowered her head again and continued washing the dishes.

He said calmly, "Isn't someone already with her?"

Ye Minjia was speechless: "You can't say that. After all, we men should have gentlemanly manners, okay?"

Bai Jiangxin remained unmoved: "She already has one man with her after dinner, how many more do she want to keep her company?"

“Zhou Linxiao is Zhou Linxiao, and the two of us are the two of us,” Ye Minjia sighed. “We haven’t even finished our meal, and they’re just leaving us there unattended.”

...No wonder she got dumped.

Ye Minjia silently added a sentence in his mind.

After the dishes were washed, Bai Jiangxin turned off the tap, turned to look at him, and coldly asked, "May I ask who she is to me? Why should I care about her?"

My deskmate? No longer; my sexual fantasy object? Also someone else.

Hopefully, Zhou Linxiao will perform better in her fantasy. After all, she's mixed-race, so don't let her time be shorter than his.

Ye Minjia: "..."

"You can wait if you want, I'm leaving now."

Bai Jiangxin left with the cutlery, leaving Ye Minjia standing there rolling her eyes.

No, with that jealous tone, and that's it, that brat Liang Qianqian even called him the reincarnation of Kogoro Mouri, saying he was making wild guesses?!

Isn't this exactly the tone of an ex-boyfriend who's clearly jealous but has no right to be jealous, so he just throws a tantrum and tries to brainwash himself into thinking he doesn't care at all?!

-

During lunch break, Xiang Sheng from Planet Miller finally replied.

Xiang Sheng: [We've arrived at your school gate.]

Xiang Di: [Wasn't it supposed to be another six years? How come it's here so soon?]

Xiang Sheng: [This isn't because I'm afraid you'll starve to death.]

Xiang Di: [I've been starving to death for ages, okay?]

Xiang Sheng: [Since you're already starving, I'll be going now. I'll cook you some cream puffs during Qingming Festival.]

Xiang Sheng: [Bye, I'm leaving. See you at Qingming Festival.]

Xiang Di tried to calm herself down. If it weren't for Puff, she would have blocked Xiang Sheng long ago.

He cursed his ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, but then suddenly remembered that he and Xiang Sheng shared the same eighteen-generation ancestor, so he silently withdrew his curse and changed it to only curse Xiang Sheng.

May he be impotent for life!

This curse was vicious enough for a man. Xiang Di was pleased and ordered Xiang Sheng to bring the cream puffs to her classroom. Their school wasn't that strict; anyone from outside the school who wanted to come in could just register with the security guard.

Xiang Sheng refused and told her to come to the school gate to pick it up herself.

Xiang Sheng: [Hurry up, if you're not back in ten minutes I'm leaving. You can eat it during the Qingming Festival.]

Damn you, bro!!! I curse you to be impotent!!! May you be single forever!!!

Xiang Di wanted Liang Qianqian to go with her to get it, but Liang Qianqian was taking a nap.

Not wanting to go to the school gate alone, she glanced at the classroom. Several of her close female classmates were taking a nap. Her deskmate, Zhou Linxiao, had said he wanted to tour the school during the lunch break and had asked Ye Minjia to be his tour guide, but neither of them were there at the moment.

Among the guys I'm fairly familiar with, only Bai Jiangxin is...

Bai Jiangxin was still awake, looking at his phone, and besides, this cream puff was originally bought for him.

However, Xiang Di immediately rejected the idea.

Forget it, I'd better not bother him.

She got up and went to the school gate alone in the end.

The school gates were open at noon, and as soon as Xiang Di went in, she saw her damned brother.

Today, Brother Si was dressed all in black, looking like a cool guy. He was over 1.8 meters tall, but the dessert bag he was carrying was completely out of place with his outfit.

"Show-off guy." Xiang Di was so angry she wanted to grind her teeth. Before she even got close, she shouted, "Why are you dressed all in black? Are you going to rob a bank?"

Xiang Sheng turned her head and watched her walk over, a smirk playing on her lips: "Yeah, with a glutton like you at home, it's really impossible to support you. I'll have to rob a bank."

Xiang Di rolled her eyes and snatched the paper bag from his hand.

"Give it to me."

Xiang Sheng: "I brought you cream puffs from all this way, and you can't even say thank you? Are you even polite?"

"If you had walked me to my classroom door, I might have reluctantly thanked you," Xiang Di said, dismissing him directly. "Now you don't have that chance anymore. You can leave."

Xiang Sheng flicked her bangs and said matter-of-factly, "I'm a beauty influencer, after all. I'm just afraid of being recognized and mobbed by the girls from your school."

This lousy internet celebrity actually thinks he's a top influencer.

Xiang Di said, "You're overthinking it. It's lunch break now, there aren't many people on the road, and there are plenty of handsome guys in our school. There are several in our class alone, you're not even in the running, okay?"

Xiang Sheng laughed: "You're just bragging. Can you really be as handsome as me?"

"Fine, don't believe me then."

"No picture, no proof." Xiang Sheng raised an eyebrow. "Take a look at the photos."

Xiang Di: "I don't have their photos."

"I knew you were just bragging," Xiang Sheng chuckled.

Xiang Di gritted his teeth: "I didn't brag, I just don't have their photos. If you saw them, you would definitely be convinced of your defeat."

Her confident tone really stirred up Xiang Sheng's competitive spirit.

“Fine, since they’re more handsome than me, then get me their photos.” Xiang Sheng said confidently, even offering a bet: “If they’re really more handsome than me, I’ll give you 2,500 of the 5,000 yuan Dad gave me.”

Upon hearing that there was money to be made, Xiang Di perked up: "Really?"

"If I'm lying to you, I'll be disfigured tomorrow."

"Then you just wait."

Xiang Di grabbed the packaging bag and ran away.

Xiang Sheng scoffed, put his hands in his pockets, and stood at the school gate. He waited until his sister's figure was completely out of sight before turning around and leaving.

He had only taken a couple of steps when his phone rang. Xiang Sheng clicked his tongue, pressed the answer button, and held it further away to listen.

"Xiang Sheng!! You son of a bitch, why aren't you back yet! If you don't come back soon, your counselor is going to kill you!"

Xiang Sheng rubbed his ears and said, "Coming, coming. Didn't you say you were going to deliver cream puffs to my sister?"

"You siscon, is your sister's cream puff more important than your graduation certificate?"

Xiang Sheng was silent for a few seconds, then smiled lazily: "None of that matters, my handsomeness is the most important."

"..."

-

Before entering the classroom, Xiang Di took a special look at the cream puffs in the paper bag.

I don't think Xiang Sheng ate anything on the way; they should have checked him back then.

Upon opening the paper bag, I discovered it was overflowing with cream puffs, enough for several servings.

Xiang Di felt guilty for a few seconds for harboring resentment towards Xiang Sheng, then took out her phone and sent Xiang Sheng a message: 【You bought too much.】

Xiang Sheng: [I didn't buy too much; this is the amount you need for raising pigs.]

Just as Xiang Di was about to retort, Xiang Sheng added, "If you can't finish it, share it with your classmates. Even pigs living in the human world need to understand human etiquette, you know?"

Then they sent me a little pig snorting emoji.

"..."

I'll download a few incestuous romance novels about siblings online and send them to him to disgust him.

Xiang Di took a deep breath and walked into the classroom carrying the cream puffs.

Bai Jiangxin was still awake. She took another deep breath and walked to his desk.

Bai Jiangxin was looking down at his phone, but he could already sense someone standing in front of his desk, and he could also smell her unique sweet scent.

But he didn't want to talk to her.

She only remembered to look for him when the mixed-race man wasn't around; she hadn't seen him while eating pork chops at lunchtime.