Chapter 53: Eating Spicy Food
Chapter 53: Eating Spicy Food
I don't know if Li Peixiang is crippled or not, but Fang Yuenian is definitely crippled.
While waiting for the awards ceremony, everyone from each class stayed in the stands. The publicity team's articles were sent to the broadcasting station like snowflakes. The two heroes from Class 1 were praised on repeat over and over again on the broadcast, making Fang Yuenian, who was slumped in her seat in the stands, almost blush.
Liu Miao and her friend went outside and bought oden. They brought it over to Fang Yuenian and said, "Fang Yuenian, here, have some. You must be hungry after your run, right?"
Fang Yuenian, who had been slumped over with her school uniform covering her head, immediately ripped it off and sat up straight: "Thank you... thank you, but no need, I can't eat spicy food."
Liu Miao was a little embarrassed, his hand hanging in mid-air. Chen Yu, Fang Yuenian's other roommate, was sitting next to him. Seeing this, he quickly said, "I'll eat it, I'll eat it! I like to eat the whole thing!"
"Here you go." Liu Miao hurriedly stuffed the oden cup into Chen Yu's hand, then turned and went downstairs.
Fang Yuenian covered her face with her clothes again, and just as she was about to lie down, Chen Yu said with a wicked grin, "Hey, Fang Yuenian, does Liu Miao have feelings for you?"
"Huh?" Fang Yuenian's muffled voice came from under her clothes, "What did you say?"
Chen Yu scooped a meatball into his mouth and mumbled, "Don't pretend, everyone can see it. When you just reached the finish line, she was so excited. If your friend hadn't been supporting you, I think she would have gone up herself."
Fang Yuenian thought for a moment and said thankfully, "It's a good thing she didn't come up, otherwise I would have had to wipe my sweaty hands on her."
"Hmph, but your friend is really a good friend... Oh my god, it's so spicy!" Chen Yu gasped for breath. "Fang Yuenian, aren't you from Shuibiwei? I heard that people from your area can handle a lot of spicy food."
"I can't eat it, I'm a traitor to Shuibiwei," Fang Yuenian said, her school uniform unable to block the smell of chili oil. She was so agitated that she felt like sneezing, so she sat up and let out a long breath. "When is the awards ceremony?"
Chen Yu finished his cup of oden, exclaimed "Awesome!" with a satisfied sigh, and then said, "Almost done? I'm going to throw out the trash first." Just then, Meng Xiaoyang came over, so he called out, "Hey Meng Xiaoyang, come sit here!"
"Coming," Meng Xiaoyang replied, walking around to sit down next to Fang Yuenian. "How are you? Does your leg still hurt?"
The spiciness had faded, and Fang Yuenian lay back down. "It hurts. I just want to go back and take a shower, then lie down."
Meng Xiaoyang looked at him with concern, seeing his lifeless appearance. "Li Peixiang just said he's already booked a place for hot pot tonight. Are you still going to be able to go?"
"Ah..." Fang Yuenian sighed, "Let's not go."
“I just heard him ask Cheng Bing out, and Cheng Bing agreed.”
Fang Yuenian yanked her clothes, revealing her face: "What? Agree to what?"
“Let’s have hot pot,” Meng Xiaoyang said. “Li Peixiang said you should go, and asked Cheng Bing if she wanted to go, and Cheng Bing said yes.”
"Damn it, how could Li Peixiang lie to him like that?" Fang Yuenian exploded. "Besides, when did I say I was going? I can't eat with him. Last time he ate glutinous rice balls, he even added two spoonfuls of chili."
Meng Xiaoyang laughed, "We can order a half-and-half hot pot. I don't eat spicy food either, but I find it really strange that you don't eat spicy food."
“Mmm,” Fang Yuenian slumped her shoulders. “Let me reiterate, I am a traitor to Shui Biwei.”
"What about Cheng Bing? Does he eat spicy food?"
"Yes, he can eat a lot of spicy food, you wouldn't believe it, would you? But he usually doesn't eat it."
"Who is it? Someone who can eat spicy food but rarely does, such self-control!" Chen Yu asked after throwing out the trash. "Is that you, Meng Xiaoyang?"
"No, I don't eat spicy food. My throat gets swollen if I eat spicy food."
“You guys are all noobs,” Chen Yu sighed. “Our dorm has never gone out for a meal. I heard that the kids in room 105 have had barbecue.”
Meng Xiaoyang and Fang Yuenian: "I don't eat barbecue."
Chen Yu: "..."
"What kind of barbecue?" Li Peixiang suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Your dorm is having a barbecue? You have to take me with you, you're short one person anyway."
Chen Yu quickly invited the meritorious person to sit down, "Quickly, sit down. I was just wondering where you were. When are we going to give out the awards?"
Li Peixiang took the bottle of mineral water from Meng Xiaoyang and drank it down in one gulp, leaving Meng Xiaoyang stunned. "This water..."
“Fang Yuenian,” Li Peixiang said, seemingly not hearing him, still holding a glass of water, “quickly give me a high five and pass on some mysterious power to me.”
Fang Yuenian asked lazily, "What?"
"What? I'm about to go down for the tug-of-war draw. Don't you want to draw Class 18?"
Fang Yuenian's eyes lit up and she jumped up: "Quick, quick, give me your hand, I'll perform a spell!"
Chen Yu watched Fang Yuenian muttering to himself in a daze and asked Meng Xiaoyang, "Why does he want to pick Class 18 so badly?"
“Because Class 1 and Class 18 have never met before, Fang Yuenian wants to fight them,” Li Peixiang said, tilting his head.
"OK!" Fang Yuenian finished casting the spell. "It's up to you now."
“I’m leaving,” Li Peixiang said, not seeming to intend to return the water in his hand. “Wait for my good news.”
After Fang Yuenian's eager waiting, Li Peixiang finally returned ten minutes later with a look that was hard to describe.
Everyone was waiting, and as soon as he came up, he was called out and asked:
"Which class? Which class? Please don't let it be Class 4, the boys in that class are too strong!"
"Class 7 won't do either. The girls in that class are incredibly strong; we can't beat them."
"Class 9, Class 9 is the best, none of them got a single student in the top three in sports this time, hahaha..."
"Keep your voice down, or you're dead if they hear you..."
Despite her half-crippled body, Fang Yuenian hopped and squeezed her way up, tilting her head back as she waited for the respected sports committee member to announce the results.
Li Peixiang felt the pressure. He took a deep breath, dared not look at Fang Yuenian, and said with a heavy heart, "We drew Class 10... 7."
Fang Yuenian: "..."
Alright, I'm leaving. I swear I won't even glance at the tug-of-war tomorrow.
"Class 17, huh? Are they any good? I've never even met them before, I'm so afraid of going up against the top classes, they seem to have superhuman talent..."
"Yes, yes, but Class 17 and Class 18 were also quite impressive this time, with several students getting first place..."
Amidst the clamor of everyone talking, Fang Yuenian earnestly suggested to Meng Xiaoyang, "Why don't we skip the awards ceremony and go straight back to the dorm?"
"Huh?" Meng Xiaoyang asked blankly. "Wait a minute, let's ask Class 18 which class they drew. Maybe we'll be in the same venue."
“Class 2 has drawn Class 18, so we’ll be sharing the same venue,” Li Peixiang said, trying to salvage the situation. “Everyone, get some rest tonight, and let’s have some fun tomorrow!”
"Okay!"
"We'll leave after watching the Sports Commission present the awards!"
"I'm so excited, I'm rubbing my hands together!"
Meng Xiaoyang held Fang Yuenian down so that he wouldn't actually slip away early. Li Peixiang came over to apologize in extreme grief: "Just a little bit, just a little bit more. Class 2 drew the lottery after me and got it. But Brother Nian, I thought about it later. Class 18 is in the same venue as us anyway, so you can still play with School Heartthrob Cheng."
Fang Yuenian sighed heartbrokenly, then remembered the hot pot incident and asked, "Did Cheng Bing really agree to go eat hot pot?"
"Yes, he asked me if I was going, and I said yes, so he agreed."
"When did I..."
"Seriously? You came in fourth place and I even brought back your award certificate, and you're not even going out for hot pot?" Li Peixiang couldn't accept it. "It's just the four of us today. The VIP set meal is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Besides, Meng Xiaoyang doesn't eat spicy food. You two, or even the three of you, can just have the clear broth together."
"Go, go, go," Meng Xiaoyang quickly said, "You should go downstairs and wait, the awards ceremony is about to begin."
"Oh, then I'm leaving. Brother Nian, you're not allowed not to come, or I'll break off our friendship."
Fang Yuenian gave a helpless snort, then suddenly said, "I've noticed that Li Peixiang listens to you a lot."
Meng Xiaoyang blinked blankly: "Huh?"
"Forget it, let's go. If we don't go today, we won't have another chance. After tomorrow, I'll definitely be a couch potato when I get back, otherwise I won't be able to go to class on Monday."
The award ceremony was the moment when each class's stands showed their support. During the long-awaited 3,000-meter award ceremony, when Li Peixiang stood on the podium, the stands of Class 1 erupted in cheers and whistles that lasted for a long time. In Li Peixiang's words, this was the pinnacle of his life, and the glory was no less than when others were ranked in the top 50 of the grade and made it onto the honor roll.
After the event, everyone left one after another. After all, the big events were over, and tomorrow they could relax and enjoy some fun activities. So many people discussed having a meal together.
Li Peixiang booked a fairly large hot pot restaurant. He originally suggested that the four of them take a taxi from school, but Cheng Bing said, "Let's take the bus instead." So the four of them took a bus for more than half an hour before finally arriving.
"So you should thank me, otherwise, why would the three of you boarding students usually travel this far to eat out?" Li Peixiang sat down and immediately started to take credit. "Right, Brother Nian?"
The waiter came over with the menu and, noticing that there were four young men who looked like students, reminded them, "You can't choose alcoholic drinks."
“Okay,” Li Peixiang said, “we won’t drink.”
Although Fang Yuenian had quickly wiped away his sweat and changed his shirt after the competition, he still felt uncomfortable all over. He had also been on the bus for so long that he felt nothing when looking at the menu. He handed the menu to Cheng Bing and said, "Brother Cheng, take a look."
Li Peixiang looked up at him and asked, "Why do you call Cheng, the school heartthrob, 'brother'? Is he older than you?"
“It was big,” Fang Yuenian said, “it lasted for several tens of minutes.”
A slight smile appeared on Cheng Bing's face.
"What do you mean by 'several tens of minutes'?" Meng Xiaoyang asked, puzzled. "Just several tens of minutes?"
“We were born on the same day, only a little bit apart, but,” Fang Yuenian nudged Cheng Bing with her elbow, “maybe I’m a few tens of minutes older than you.”
Cheng Bing nodded calmly: "Mm."
Li Peixiang exclaimed, "Holy crap, you two are such a perfect match! No wonder you get along so well."
Cheng Bing: "Would you like plum juice as a drink?"
“Drink,” Li Peixiang said, turning to Meng Xiaoyang, “What about you? Orange juice?”
"I'll have plum juice too," Meng Xiaoyang said with a smile.
Fang Yuenian noticed his expression was a bit strange and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I used to drink orange juice, but I don't drink it much anymore."
Li Peixiang: "I guess I really drank too much before. Never mind, let's all have plum juice. Let's choose the 'Yuan Yang' soup base. I've already picked out a lot of dishes, you can add more. Don't be shy, it's on me, consider it taking care of the boarding students."
Boarding students have always been well taken care of at the school. Specifically, at lunchtime, day students will give way to boarding students so as not to delay them from getting to the cafeteria for food.
Fang Yuenian shrugged: "Thank you, boss!"
Cheng Bing said, "Thank you, I'll treat you next time."
Fang Yuenian said to Meng Xiaoyang, "Great, we can benefit from this again."
Meng Xiaoyang chuckled.
They quickly selected their dishes and handed them to the waiter. The plum juice was also served immediately. Fang Yuenian couldn't wait to take a big gulp after receiving it. The sourness entered his lungs and made him feel a little better.
Li Peixiang finally had a chance to get close to Cheng Bing, and he had been holding back a lot of questions. He asked, "So you two have been classmates since childhood?"
Cheng Bing replied, "Mm."
“We’ve been classmates since preschool,” Fang Yuenian added.
"What is preschool?" Meng Xiaoyang asked, puzzled.
"It's like a kindergarten. A few years ago, we didn't have kindergartens in our rural area, so we had preschool classes."
Meng Xiaoyang nodded: "Oh, so you've been classmates for almost ten years?"
Fang Yuenian shook her head: "No, preschool is only half a year, and we're not in the same class anymore, so it'll be nine years."
Meng Xiaoyang smiled and said, "Oh."
Li Peixiang looked at the two of them and changed the subject, saying, "Have you ever fought?"
"Hmm?" Fang Yuenian frowned. "Why are we fighting?"
Cheng Bing: "We've never fought."
Li Peixiang: "Damn, my cousin and I have been fighting since we were kids. How come you two guys never fight when you're together? Have you ever argued?"
Fang Yuenian was taken aback by the question. He looked at Cheng Bing and said uncertainly, "Uh, you didn't argue, did you?"
Cheng Bing: "We've never argued."
"Yes, I always manage to appease Cheng Bing in time when she gets angry, so we never end up arguing," Fang Yuenian thought to herself.
Meng Xiaoyang, holding her drink cup, said softly, "Then you two really have a good relationship."
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