As dusk fell, the street lights on campus lit up one by one, and the orange-yellow halo spread in the darkening sky.
When Ning Xiwan and Duan Shuce walked out of the library, the evening breeze blew past with the coolness of early autumn, and she subconsciously tightened her collar.
"Cold?" Duan Shuce turned his head to look at her, his fingers already on the zipper of his jacket.
Ning Xiwan shook her head: "I'm not cold, just a little hungry."
Duan Shuce chuckled softly and reached out to brush away her wind-blown hair: "What do you want to eat?"
"Hot pot, please." She narrowed her eyes. "It's cold, I want something hot."
Duan Shuce pulled out his phone and swiped across the screen. "A new Chongqing hotpot place just opened behind the school. It's got good reviews."
He paused, then suddenly raised an eyebrow. "But the spiciness might be a bit high. Can you handle it?"
Ning Xiwan snorted lightly: "Look down on me?"
Duan Shuce smiled and pinched her fingertips: "I dare not."
The two walked along the tree-lined avenue towards the school gate, and the fallen leaves made a crackling sound under their feet.
Ning Xiwan lowered her head and stepped on her shadow, and Duan Shuce let her pull his hand and swing it around. Occasionally, he would deliberately play tricks on her and suddenly move away when she stepped on him, causing her to glare at him.
As they approached the school gate, Ning Xiwan's phone rang. She took it out and saw it was Ye Qingliu.
"Hello?"
"Sister Wan," Ye Qingliu's voice came through the receiver. The background was noisy, and Bai Zhiye could be vaguely heard talking to someone. "Are you at school?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"Zhiye and I are near your school," Ye Qingliu paused, "Would you like to have dinner together?"
Ning Xiwan looked up at Duan Shuce, who was kicking pebbles on the side of the road boredly. Noticing her gaze, he raised an eyebrow and mouthed, "Ye Qingliu?"
She nodded and said to her phone, "Okay, we're going to eat hot pot too."
Bai Zhiye's voice came from the other end of the phone: "That Chongqing hotpot? We were planning to go there too."
Twenty minutes later, the four of them were sitting in the booth at the back of the hot pot restaurant.
The shop was bustling with activity, steam billowing from the bubbling red oil pot, and a spicy aroma filled the air. Bai Zhiye wore a high ponytail and a loose black sweatshirt, which accentuated her pale complexion.
She was looking down at the menu while Ye Qingliu sat next to her, quietly pouring sour plum soup into a glass.
Ning Xiwan looked at Ye Qingliu's slightly pursed lips as he poured the drink, and couldn't help but reach out and ruffle his hair: "Qingliu, have you been staying up late again recently? Your hair is sticking up."
Ye Qingliu paused, raised his cold gray-blue eyes, and said calmly: "No."
"You're lying." Ning Xiwan pinched his face. "Your dark circles are almost falling to the corners of your mouth."
Duan Shuce chuckled beside him and rubbed Ye Qingliu's head: "Son, listen to your mother."
"Long time no see," Bai Zhiye looked up and smiled at Ning Xiwan, "I've had too much homework at Zhejiang University, so I haven't had time to see you."
Ye Qingliu pushed the poured sour plum soup in front of her and added, "She finished three papers this week."
Bai Zhiye sighed and rubbed his temples: "The Physics Department is really not a place for people to stay."
Duan Shuce was putting some hot pot beef into Ning Xiwan's bowl when he interrupted, "You two are from the physics department and the biology department, a perfect match."
Ye Qingliu glanced at him calmly: "Better than you."
Duan Shuce: "…………"
Ning Xiwan couldn't help but laugh out loud. She picked up the beef from the bowl and dipped it in the sauce. The red oil coated the tender slices of meat, and it tasted fresh, fragrant, and spicy. She squinted her eyes in satisfaction.
Duan Shuce looked at her, then suddenly reached out and rubbed the corner of her mouth with his thumb: "It got stained with chili."
His fingertips were warm, and when they brushed against her skin, a slight shiver arose. Ning Xiwan's ears felt hot, and she slapped his hand away: "I can do it myself."
Bai Zhiye propped up her chin and looked at them with a mischievous smile in her eyes: "You two are still the same."
Duan Shuce raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean by the same old thing?"
"Sticky." Ye Qingliu said concisely.
Duan Shuce was not ashamed and put his arm around Ning Xiwan's shoulders: "Envy?"
Ye Qingliu put a plate of shrimp paste into the pot with an expressionless face, his movements as graceful as if he was operating a precision instrument in a laboratory.
But Ning Xiwan keenly noticed that when he put the shrimp slips in, he deliberately pushed the largest piece to Bai Zhiye's side.
Halfway through the hot pot, Ning Xiwan finally experienced what "the contrasting cuteness of a high-class flower" meant.
Ye Qingliu looks very well behaved while eating.
When he eats spicy food, he will frown slightly and the tip of his nose will turn a little red, but he will continue to eat without saying a word.
When the spiciness becomes unbearable, I lower my head and take a sip of sour plum soup. My Adam's apple rolls slightly, and my lips are glistening with water from the cold.
The worst thing is that he actually feeds Bai Zhiye!
"Try this." Ye Qingliu picked up a piece of fatty beef covered with sesame oil and handed it to Bai Zhiye's mouth.
Bai Zhiye naturally opened his mouth to take it, chewing with his cheeks puffing: "Delicious!"
Ye Qingliu raised the corners of his mouth slightly and picked up another piece of shrimp paste for her.
Ning Xiwan was stunned, and the tripe on the chopsticks fell back into the bowl.
Duan Shuce's shoulders were shaking from trying to hold back his laughter. He leaned over and whispered, "Didn't you expect it? Our son is so sweet when it comes to love."
Ning Xiwan covered her chest and lowered her voice: "The cub I raised... actually feeds others..."
Her tone was full of the relief and bitterness of an old mother.
Duan Shuce maliciously picked up a piece of beef and handed it to her mouth: "Here, let mom eat too."
Ning Xiwan opened her mouth and bit it, glaring at him at the same time.
In fact, Ning Xiwan has always raised Ye Qingliu as her son. This story started when he was a child.
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