Chapter 29
Yu Xia woke up with dark circles under her eyes the next day.
After a long talk with her partner last night, her brain was too excited, constantly replaying everything that happened yesterday, making it impossible for her to fall asleep.
In the end, she resorted to her sheep-counting method to force herself to fall asleep.
But the results were clearly not very good.
Yu Xia stared at her two large dark circles under her eyes in the mirror.
Depend on.
It's like a real-life panda reincarnated!
She hadn't planned to wear makeup, but her dark circles were so obvious that Yu Xia had to use concealer to cover them up.
Fortunately, she brought this concealer with her when she ran away from home. It blends seamlessly with her skin tone on her eyes, so her dark circles are barely visible.
The effect is good, but the price is almost half of her rent.
Yu Xia sighed, then glanced at the concealer she had bought for a dozen yuan on a shopping app. Suddenly, she felt that its effect was inferior to the other one, and it even looked powdery on her eyes. But it only cost a dozen yuan! What more could she ask for!
It's already a good thing they didn't look down on you for being poor, so what right do you have to look down on them? Without it, you can't even afford concealer. As for the powdery finish, as long as your skin is in stable condition, that can be ignored.
Thinking about it this way, Yu Xia felt that her concealer, which cost only a dozen yuan, was still better.
—
Ever since she learned yesterday that the cafeteria at Yubai Studio provides breakfast and lunch, Yu Xia has decided to go to the studio for breakfast every day.
What a joke! Breakfast is so expensive these days. A bread roll and milk cost ten yuan, not counting lunch and dinner. That's the price of a concealer for breakfast! She can't afford that.
The cafeteria offers a wide variety of food, including porridge, custard buns, sticky rice chicken, fried dumplings, noodles, milk, soy milk, and more.
Yu Xia took a cup of soy milk and millet porridge.
Yu Xia found a place to sit down and took a small sip of the porridge. She had thought the food in the studio's cafeteria wouldn't be very good, but surprisingly, it tasted quite nice, sweet, and delicious.
Yu Xia scooped up another spoonful.
tasty.
Just then, someone sat down opposite them.
Yu Xia looked up and saw Yuan Yi.
Yuan Yi took a custard bun and soy milk and sat down opposite her: "Xia, you're here so early."
Seeing her sit down, Yu Xia moved the soy milk closer to herself.
Upon hearing Yuan Yi's words, Yu Xia glanced at her phone; it was already 8:20. A little puzzled, she said, "Is it still early?"
I have ten minutes left before I have to go to work.
Yuan Yi chuckled: "We finish our breakfast in five minutes, and we get to our workstations right on time."
Yu Xia was somewhat shocked by the speed of the part.
She slowly took a sip of porridge before whispering, "Eating too fast is bad for your stomach."
"I was trained to eat this way when I was in school. There's no way around it. If I eat too slowly, I actually feel a bit uncomfortable," Yuan Yi said.
"Oh." Yu Xia was stunned, not knowing what to say.
What Yuan Yi said is indeed a common problem among Chinese students.
When I was in school, in order to squeeze out more time to complete my studies, I could only choose one of washing my hair or eating, and even going to the toilet had to be done within the ten-minute break between classes. Every minute at school had to be calculated, and all my time was dedicated to studying.
Here, students all share a common goal—to get into university. Therefore, everyone consciously develops the same understanding: only studying is necessary; everything else, including sleep, is superfluous and a waste.
Therefore, every minute had to be used as two minutes. In order to save more time, finishing the meal in less than ten minutes became an essential skill for every Chinese student.
A period of complete focus and purity, where one can give everything for their goals, exert all their efforts, and sacrifice everything, including their own health.
I really don't know whether to feel fortunate or sad.
“It’s better to eat slowly, we won’t be in a rush,” Yu Xia said.
"Mm." Yuan Yi smiled and handed one of the custard buns in her hand to Yu Xia. "Try this. It's the darling of our studio."
Yu Xia took it, took a bite, and was greeted by a soft texture and a creamy aroma.
It wasn't the taste she expected, and Yu Xia was a little surprised: "It's delicious!"
There's a breakfast shop near where Yu Xia lives now. She bought their custard buns there before, but the buns were terrible. The dough was so watery and soft, it looked like it was about to melt. Yu Xia only bought them once and never bought them again.
Influenced by this shop, Yu Xia thought all custard buns tasted the same, so she didn't take one just now.
Yu Xia took another bite of the custard bun: "I've decided I'm going to have this for breakfast tomorrow."
That damned breakfast shop! How could they let her miss out on such delicious food for so long? They deserve to die!
"Then you'd better come early, or there won't be any left," Yuan Yi said.
"Is breakfast only eaten here by our employees?" Yu Xia suddenly asked.
“Basically, people like President Gu and Director Fu have their own dedicated dining areas and won’t be squeezed together with us.” Yuan Yi finished the last bite of her custard bun.
"Oh." Yu Xia nodded thoughtfully, then continued to drink her porridge, thinking that she would take the soy milk to her workstation after she finished and then she could start working.
While I was eating, someone suddenly patted my arm.
Yu Xia was confused. She looked up and saw Yuan Yi's eyes wide open and her expression excited. However, because she had just finished drinking soy milk, her mouth was too full and her cheeks were bulging. She couldn't speak, so she pointed wildly at the back of Yu Xia.
Yu Xia followed the gaze and stopped.
Two tall figures stood in front of the cafeteria window.
Fu Ze stood in front, choosing breakfast at the window, while Gu Yubai stood behind him, looking down at his phone. After Fu Ze finished choosing, he turned around and handed each of them a bowl of noodles. Gu Yubai took it and the two of them walked forward with their breakfasts, their eyes darting around as if looking for seats.
Yuan Yi finally swallowed the soy milk: "Holy crap, what are those two doing in the cafeteria?"
As he spoke, he quickly began to clean up the trash on the table, urging Yu Xia, "Hurry up, let's finish eating and leave."
"Huh?" Yu Xia didn't understand. "Why are we leaving?"
Although she didn't really know why she didn't want to face Gu Yubai for the time being, probably because she hadn't recovered from yesterday's shock, she couldn't understand why Yuan Yi was leaving too.
“Don’t you think it’s like your homeroom teacher checking up on you while you’re eating at school?” Yuan Yi said. “Who knows if they’ll ask you about your work progress while you’re eating? It’s no different from a teacher asking if you’ve finished your homework. Who can eat then?”
That makes a lot of sense. Yu Xia didn't want to face Gu Yubai, so she nodded in agreement and quickened her pace to pack.
Just then, Fu Ze's gaze fell on Yu Xia's table: "Hey, isn't this Yuan Yi and Yu Xia?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Yubai paused and looked up from his phone screen.
Upon hearing her name, Yu Xia instinctively turned around.
Their eyes met.
Fu Ze, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to anything and strode over to them as soon as he saw them.
For some reason, seeing Fu Ze walk this way, Yu Xia suddenly felt inexplicably nervous, silently praying that Gu Yubai wouldn't condescend to sit at the same table with them.
But to everyone's surprise, Gu Yubai had no objections. Instead, he put away his phone and followed behind Fu Ze.
Fu Ze casually sat down next to Yuan Yi, and Gu Yubai followed suit, sitting directly opposite Yu Xia.
Yuan Yi, who was packing her things: "..."
Now they can't leave even if they want to.
The moment Gu Yubai sat down, Yu Xia quickly lowered her head. It was inexplicable, and she couldn't explain why; it was just an unconscious action.
She felt very strange when she saw Gu Yubai, so her first reaction was to avoid him.
Gu Yubai paused when he saw her lower her head.
Why are you avoiding him?
Gu Yubai's eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Fu Ze didn't notice the undercurrent between them. He put his noodles on the table, noticed Yuan Yi's empty bag, and asked, "Are you leaving already?"
She left as soon as the leader arrived; it takes incredibly low emotional intelligence to do something like that.
Yuan Yi chuckled and sat down again: "No, I'm waiting for Xia."
As he spoke, he took another sip from the soy milk he had already finished drinking through the straw.
Fu Ze's gaze then shifted to Yu Xia, and he smiled, casually asking, "Are you getting used to life in Yu Bai? What do you think of the cafeteria? Does it suit your taste?"
Yu Xia felt the gazes of the two people opposite her, especially Gu Yubai's. She forced a smile and said, "It's great. The people in the studio are great, and the food in the cafeteria is delicious too."
As she said this, Yu Xia didn't dare to glance at Gu Yubai, but she could clearly feel that he was looking at her.
That gaze made her cheeks burn.
I don't feel very comfortable.
It felt like being scrutinized.
Yu Xia coughed, shifted her gaze, and silently lowered her head to drink the porridge in her bowl.
At this moment, Yu Xia regretted taking porridge for breakfast. If she had taken steamed buns or something similar, she could have finished quickly and left, instead of having to endure two, no, three stares here.
God, kill her.
...
As soon as he finished speaking, no one uttered a sound.
Gu Yubai was usually a man of few words, and he rarely exchanged pleasantries with his employees. After Yu Xia finished speaking, he looked away and ate his noodles as if he were detached from the situation. Fu Ze was looking at his phone, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. Yuan Yi, on the other hand, felt extremely uneasy, wishing she could grab her bag and run away at any moment.
For a moment, no one spoke, and a faint awkwardness filled the air.
Yu Xia pursed her lips, unsure of what to say; all she wanted was to escape.
So, in this atmosphere, Yu Xia could only bury her head in her porridge, hoping to end this chilling scene as soon as possible.
I'll drink, I'll drink.
There's so much porridge!
Speed up, speed up.
Drink, drink, drink, drink!
Finally, after working hard and almost bursting her stomach, she finished the porridge.
She eagerly cleaned up the remaining trash on the table, thinking that this suffocating scene could finally end, and even quickened her pace.
Perhaps her eagerness was too obvious, for Gu Yubai also stopped eating at some point, looked up, and stared at her.
Just as Yu Xia finished wiping the last bit of stains off the table and was about to say goodbye, she met Gu Yubai's direct gaze before she could even speak.
Then, she heard Gu Yubai speak.
"Yu Xia, let's talk."
Every word and every syllable was clear and powerful.
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