At noon, Zhao Aiguo deliberately left work early, rushed home, parked his bicycle at the door, and called out, "Grandpa! Grandpa!"
Zhao's parents quickly came out and each handed him two lunchboxes. Zhao's father said, "Dongpo pork, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, and a box of crab meat lion's head meatballs. I also brought you a box of rice! Hurry up and go!"
"Hey! Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma!" He pedaled his bicycle as fast as he could! After asking around, he finally arrived at Liu Man's classroom. He peeked inside and, coincidentally, Liu Man was sitting with Li Qianqian.
Li Qianqian snorted smugly to herself. "You dared to embarrass me yesterday? If I don't give you the cold shoulder today, you'll think I'm easy to win over!" She deliberately kept her eyes fixed on him.
Zhao Aiguo glanced at his watch, waited another ten minutes or so, and get out of class ended. He hurried to the door and looked inside. Liu Man saw Li Qianqian slowly packing her things and said anxiously, "Qianqian, hurry up! Otherwise, the line in the cafeteria will be so long, and all the good food will be gone!"
Li Qianqian said nonchalantly, "It's okay, I'm not very hungry. If you're in a hurry, you can go first!" She still wanted to give Zhao Aiguo some face, after all, it wouldn't be good for others to see her apologizing.
Liu Man said "Oh" and walked out. Just as she reached the door, Zhao Aiguo happily said, "Xiao Man, I'm here!"
Liu Man then noticed Zhao Aiguo. Seeing that all the students around him were looking at him, his face turned bright red. He nodded to Zhao Aiguo and said, "Hello, leader. I'm off get out of class now and I'm going to the cafeteria for lunch. Goodbye, leader!"
Zhao Aiguo, ever the friendly type, said, "I brought you food. Let's go eat in the cafeteria!"
Liu Man's face turned even redder, and he quickly shook his head, "No need, no need, I'll just go to the cafeteria to get food."
Zhao Aiguo chuckled, "Are you sure you don't want to eat? Dongpo pork, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, and crab meat lion's head!" Liu Man was swallowing hard; to be honest, she was craving it too, having not eaten her hometown dishes for several months.
Zhao Aiguo laughed and said, "It's nothing, you don't think I'm a bad person! I just saw you crying yesterday and thought you were homesick! I specially asked my grandpa to make this dish, you're in for a treat. Come and try it!"
Liu Man patted the money and tickets in his pocket, calculated for a moment, and nodded firmly. He would solve this meal first, then eat vegetable soup and cornbread for a few days. He would endure it for ten days and the family's subsidy would come.
The two of them headed straight for the cafeteria, running so fast they were practically smoking. Finding a corner, Zhao Aiguo took out his lunchbox. Liu Man's eyes lit up; the smell was making his mouth water! Zhao Aiguo handed him a pair of chopsticks and a spoon, saying, "Try it, see if it suits your taste!"
Liu Man picked up her chopsticks and ate a piece of fish, nodding vigorously. Zhao Aiguo quickly divided the rice and gave Liu Man most of the box, putting the other half on the lid. He was overjoyed. Judging from her figure, he knew this girl was a glutton. Having a weakness made things easier. As Zhao Aiguo ate, he said, "My name is Zhao Aiguo, I am 21 years old, and I work in the Municipal Organization Department!"
Liu Man nodded and smiled, saying, "My name is Liu Man, I am 19 years old, and I am a medical student."
Zhao Aiguo happily said, "From now on, can you call me Zhao Aiguo instead of 'leader'? I'm not some kind of leader!"
Liu Man chuckled and nodded, saying, "Okay." Zhao Aiguo cautiously asked, "Won't your boyfriend be angry if we eat like this?"
Liu Man shook his head and said, "I don't have a boyfriend!" Then he sighed. From childhood to adulthood, he had always had an invincible beauty, Li Qianqian, by his side. She was short and fat, and no one paid any attention to her.
Xiaoman finally got into university, and a classmate had a crush on her. She was overjoyed, thinking she could finally have a relationship. But before they even started talking, Li Qianqian said, "Xiaoman, that man is only after your family's wealth. Be careful! He has eight siblings in the countryside, and his clothes are patched in several places. He's so poor, yet he still has the nerve to chase after girls!"
Then, without saying a word, she cursed at him. From then on, all the boys kept their distance from her and pointed at her. She cried her heart out, and Li Qianqian said disdainfully, "What's there to cry about? You have to put on a high and mighty attitude for those who aren't good enough to back down. Otherwise, they'll all come over and it'll be so annoying. You're not smart enough to be fooled again."
Li Qianqian's mouth was like a machine gun; she couldn't win an argument with her, so she could only get angry. Zhao Aiguo, on the other hand, was overjoyed; he had truly found a treasure.
The little girl had a small mouth, but she ate very quickly. She even thoughtfully left half for Zhao Aiguo, only eating her own portion. It was the first time Zhao Aiguo had ever been so considerate of others while eating. He took the unused spoon and handed the fish and lion's head meatballs to Liu Man, carefully asking, "Xiao Man! Can I be your boyfriend?"
Liu Man looked up, his greasy little mouth looking exceptionally pretty to Zhao Aiguo, even prettier than the children in New Year's paintings. Liu Man's mind went completely blank; was he out of his mind?
She immediately shook her head and said, "You're trying to make Qianqian jealous, aren't you! I think you should be more focused when pursuing a girl. This will only make her dislike you more!" These past few days, Li Qianqian had been telling her that Zhao Aiguo had gone to Liu Man to make her jealous because she hadn't looked at him that day.
Zhao Aiguo frowned. "What Qianqian? I'm talking about Wanwan! No, what do you take me for? I've only been looking at you, the only girl, from beginning to end! What does that have to do with Qianqian?"
Liu Man blinked. "Don't you guys all like tall, pretty, and slim girls?"
Zhao Aiguo said speechlessly, "Who told you that? It's like you know so much about guys! Xiaoman, I'm serious, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend? I promise I'll be devoted to you! You know I'm not some shady character. In..."
Liu Man, biting his chopsticks, tilted his head and looked at Zhao Aiguo for a while before asking, "Are you pursuing me?"
Zhao Aiguo immediately nodded, "Can you give me a chance?" Looking at Liu Man's curious expression, he wondered if he was being too hasty. He said apologetically, "It's okay if you don't agree. I know I'm not a college student, and there's a big gap between us..."
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