Long before obtaining Shen Cui's consent, Mu Erpang told Wei Shu and the others that he got along well with Cui Fei and invited Cui Fei to his home for dinner.
Although the three of them had never met Cui Fei, they loved Cui Fei and thought that someone who had similar interests to Mu Erpang would not be a bad choice.
Especially Mei Ruochu, who had also been treated coldly by his classmates earlier, could empathize with him, so the three of them agreed.
However, in the following days, they still did not see Cui Fei in the government school, and thus did not have the dinner.
It was not until the end of the morning class and the instructor left the classroom that they heard someone next to them laughing and saying that someone had blocked the door.
They looked in the direction of the sound and saw the huge Cui Fei.
After hearing what others said, Cui Fei realized that he was blocking the door, so he quickly shrank his body and stood aside to let others pass.
Wei Shu and the others deliberately slowed down their pace and waited until everyone else had left before the three of them stood up. Wei Shu asked Cui Fei if he was looking for them.
After all, the morning classes were over, and if Cui Fei came to school, he should have come a long time ago.
The blush on Cui Fei’s face from being teased had not yet faded. He tugged at the hem of his clothes with both hands and mumbled for a long while, “Hanshan…he said before…”
The more he spoke, the lower Cui Fei's voice became.
He had just met Mu Erpang for the first time a few days ago, and secretly thought that there were only a few brothers in the Mu family who were as outstanding and handsome as him.
Even in the provincial school, most of the people there are just ordinary people with a slightly bookish air.
Who would have thought that after returning from Cuiwei that day, he asked around and found out that the 'other brothers in the academy' that Mu Erpang mentioned were all outstanding.
His earlier acquaintance and friendship with the outstanding Mu Yunchuan was the result of a series of accidents. It can also be said that the unexpected event forced him to move forward.
Now that he was asked to take the initiative to make friends with Wei Shu and the others, he felt embarrassed and stayed at home for several days. A voice in his heart told him that Mu Erpang would not lie to him, and that other people from Cuiwei in the prefectural school would not despise him.
Another voice said, he had only met a few outsiders in this world who looked at him without discrimination over the years. Did he expect that Cuiwei Academy would be full of such people? If they disliked him in the future, they would have to take him with them for Mu Erpang's sake, so that Mu Erpang would not be caught in the middle.
After hesitating for a few days, he finally came here with great trepidation.
Cui Fei finished his speech, his voice so low that it sounded like a hum of text, Mei Ruochu smiled and continued: "Hanshan has told us all. We haven't met each other at the last banquet held in the academy, so it's a good opportunity to meet each other today."
After that they introduced themselves.
Cui Fei bowed with some fear and trepidation, calling them "brother" one by one.
Although they had just started talking at this time, the three people from Cuiwei all realized that although Cui Fei was not younger than them, his character was several years younger than his actual age, and he might not be as mature as Mu Erpang.
No wonder Mu Erpang mentioned Cui Fei to them before. His implicit meaning was to ask the three of them to take care of him more in the prefectural school.
Wei Shu and others do not feel any ill will towards kind people.
Wei Shu was the most extroverted person. After introducing each other, he walked to Cui Fei and said, "Let's go."
Cui Fei was stunned for a moment, and asked hesitantly: "Are you going back to Cuiwei now?"
The lunch break at the provincial school is only half an hour, which is far too late to go back to Cuiwei for lunch and come back.
Wei Shu said no, "Let's go to the canteen to eat. Why, Brother Cui, you want to leave after coming to see me? You can't have dinner with us, right?"
Wei Xi was afraid that his brother's familiarity would scare off Cui Fei, who had a childlike mind, so he added, "Brother Cui, do you have anything else to do at home?"
"No, no, no, I'm fine at home."
After Cui Wuniang took over the Cui family, there was less need for anyone to worry about the family affairs.
Moreover, he was ‘driven’ out by Cui Wuniang today. She said, “I just said that you have changed. How come you don’t go to the prefectural school and stay at home all day after Mu Jieyuan left? I know what you are worried about, but you know what kind of people Shen Shanzhang and her youngest son are like. How can the students in their academy be bad? Don’t stay at home and think about it. Go and meet them yourself!”
No matter how little contact Cui Fei had with outsiders, he could tell good from bad. At this moment, he knew that the other party had good intentions.
So the four of them went to the cafeteria together.
The canteen of the prefectural school had the same separate dining system as the Qingzhu Academy, but since it was a public place, it was much larger, and they hired chefs from both the red and white chef classes to prepare meals.
Not only are there ready-made dishes, but you can also ask the chef to make fresh stir-fries. Of course, the price of stir-fried dishes will be higher, but it can be considered as a reasonable way for the public chef to earn some extra money.
When he arrived at the canteen, Cui Fei thought that he couldn't just let them take care of him. He also had to show an attitude of wanting to make friends with them, so he introduced them like a treasure: "Master Zhang on the red counter is an expert at making lion's head. He chooses meat that is 70% lean and 30% fat. It is fat but not greasy, and the meat is full of fragrance. It is slightly inferior to the crab meat in Zhenbaolou outside. And the diced meat he braised himself is cut into uniform sizes and absorbs enough soup. It is the best to cover the rice. The porridge cooked by Master Wang on the white counter is particularly well cooked, but they only provide white porridge on a daily basis, and it doesn't taste very good. Later in the Laba Festival, Master Wang will make Laba porridge, which is better than the one bought outside..."
Cui Fei introduced himself to the chefs who were serving food nearby. They smiled and said, "Cui Fei is here today. Come on, there are still a few lion heads left."
Cui Fei agreed with a smile and started to take out his meal ticket.
When he dug around, he realized he had forgotten to bring it.
Because he originally wanted to meet Wei Shu and the others at noon, and then wait outside in the carriage until school was over in the afternoon, and then go to Cuiwei together. He didn't plan to have lunch in the prefectural school.
"Please wait for a moment, I'll go change it." Although he forgot to bring his meal ticket, a man like Cui Fei would certainly not go out without money.
The procedure is not complicated, but what is more difficult is that except for the students, everyone else in the provincial school is a government employee.
The person responsible for exchanging meal tickets may not be at his post throughout the day.
"No need to go through so much trouble." Wei Shu stopped him, then took off his purse and opened it, "I'll give it to you."
Cui Fei had never been treated to a meal by anyone in his life. After all, before he met Mu Yunchuan, there were a few so-called "friends" around him who deliberately approached him and tried to get benefits from him. Later, Cui Wuniang found out about it and forbade him to associate with those people.
Mu Yunchuan had never gained any benefits from him, but he also didn't have the spare money to treat Cui Fei to a meal, so the two of them ate separately.
Seeing the three of them dividing the work, selecting dishes and serving food, Cui Fei hurriedly whispered: "Then I'll give you the money later..."
"No need, my brother has money, just let him give it to you." Wei Xi said with a smile, "The purse was made for him by the headmaster before he was killed earlier. He carries it with him everyday, but the purse is so big, he can't just carry an empty bag, right? He exchanged it for a lot of meal tickets."
Mei Ruochu also laughed and said, "Brother Wei is really rich. He even pays for my meals. I have been in the academy for so long, but I have never exchanged my meal ticket once."
When Wei Shu heard them 'making up' him, he turned around and said with a smile: "Forget about Xiao Xi, but Brother Mei is also embarrassing me, right? If I really want to calculate it this way, Brother Mei was the first in the college examination, and he privately guided my homework almost every day, helping me to think through every word. How much money should I charge? Come on, let's settle the accounts later. I must make up the 'tuition' for you!"
Mei Ruochu raised his hands in surrender and said, "I'm really hungry today, so I'll buy a few more dishes to make up for the tuition! But don't mention this again to embarrass me!"
After their laughter and chat, Cui Fei quickly relaxed. He even knew that Mei Ruochu's suggestion to buy more vegetables was for him.
His appetite is indeed bigger than others, so Mei Ruochu said this probably out of consideration for his feelings.
Soon, everyone had their meals ready. Wei Shu asked them to take some food each and find a seat first. He stayed behind and was responsible for waiting for the stir-fried dishes that needed to be made.
Mei Ruochu led Cui Fei and Wei Xi to find a seat. As soon as they found an empty seat and sat down, they heard someone next to them say, "Brother Cui has a good appetite. He is so generous as soon as he arrives."
Cui Fei was not surprised. In the past, even when he was attending classes at the provincial school, he was unwilling to come to the cafeteria.
Because he eats a lot, others would think, no wonder he is so fat, he eats so much!
He eats very little, so others would wonder how such a fat person can eat so little?
In short, people can always find fault with it.
He ignored the other person's teasing and just explained: "I didn't buy it. Brother Wei bought it for me to eat."
The man who made the noise was still laughing. The person who was eating with him pushed him and said, "Brother Zhang, why do you care about that? What does it have to do with you how much you eat to make yourself fat?"
This man looked like he was advising others to speak less, but the first thing he mentioned was Cui Fei's nickname. It was obvious that birds of a feather flock together, and he enjoyed making fun of Cui Fei.
Mei Ruochu, who had just put the food on the table, turned around slowly, looked up at the man and said, "What did you call him?"
He usually has a smile on his face and is very gentle and modest in his dealings with others. Different from Mu Yunchuan, the top candidate in the previous court, who was gentle but a little cold and distant, Mei Ruochu was more like the kind of person who had experienced a lot and was gentle and transparent.
When Cuiwei and the other two had just arrived at the prefectural school, some of the 'older people' in the school thought that Mei Ruochu was the easiest to get along with - he did not have the bearing of a rich young man like Wei Shu, nor was he as taciturn as Wei Xi. When classmates encountered problems in their studies, they would ask him for help, and he would never mind the trouble, would not keep anything to himself, and would tell them everything he knew.
Such a gentle and kind man suddenly looked solemn, and the two people who were laughing just now suddenly looked stern.
"It's just a joke." Mr. Zhang, who had provoked in front, smiled awkwardly.
"Is it funny?" Mei Ruochu's eyes wandered between the two of them, and the solemn expression on his face did not diminish.
When he was in Hongle earlier, his classmates gave him nicknames, which made him feel bad, but he had no choice but to let his physical condition sometimes implicate others. And those people didn't dare to call him that to his face, because the old headmaster would make the decision for him.
But what about Cui Fei? He did nothing wrong. Just because he was born a little fatter than normal people, he deserves to suffer this? Not to mention shouting such an ugly nickname in public, which was intended to humiliate him.
Cui Fei pursed his lips, wanting to persuade Mei Ruochu to let it go. There was no need to create conflicts with these people because of him.
Before he could say anything, Wei Xi, who had been silent all this time, gently pulled him, then stepped forward and stood in front of him.
Seeing that something was not right, the man who called Cui Fei's nickname explained with an awkward smile, "I was eating something, so my words were a little unclear. I slipped up and said something wrong. I'm sorry, Brother Cui, I won't say anything more in the future!" Then he took Zhang Xiucai away with him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
