Sang Zhi stared at the bare rice noodles before her, sparsely dotted with only a few carrot shreds and vegetable leaves—pitifully plain. Her gaze shifted and fixed on the generous portion of beef piled high in Duan Jiaxu's bowl.
A stifling frustration lodged in her chest, refusing to dissipate.
"......"
She really didn't want to say it.
Do! You! Really! Love! Beef! That! Much!!!
Sang Zhi pressed her lips together, unhappily picking up her chopsticks.
Knowing no one present would come to her aid, she didn't waste energy complaining. Bearing the humiliation, she served herself a bowl of the rice noodles he had so pickily sorted through.
At their table, Qian Fei was the most talkative, especially after drinking. For most of the evening, he dominated the conversation while also polishing off most of the food.
Sang Zhi listened to their chatter with growing boredom.
It was all games and more games—no mention of girls, not a single word about studies.
Sang Zhi lowered her head, nibbling on the rice noodles, her cheeks puffing in and out.
After a while, the lightweight Qian Fei suddenly erupted in drunken antics. This time, he finally started venting about his love life, desperate and broken: "How the hell am I in my third year of college without a girlfriend? I'm already a junior—"
Sang Zhi reached for a chicken wing skewer, startled by the sudden outburst, and immediately withdrew her hand.
She stole a glance.
Sang Yan curled his lip. "Stop yelling. You can cry about it after graduation too."
"No! I've really had enough!" Qian Fei pointed a finger at Sang Yan. "The girls who approach me either ask for your phone number—" then pointed at Duan Jiaxu, "—or for yours!"
"......"
Qian Fei began sobbing pathetically. "No one has ever asked for mine! My own number!"
Watching a grown man cry like this, Sang Yan offered a rare moment of conscience: "How about this—next time, just say your name is Sang Yan. Then they'll be asking for your own number."
Duan Jiaxu didn't even lift his eyelids. He tore off a napkin, placed a chicken wing skewer in Sang Zhi's bowl, and casually agreed, "You can say you're Duan Jiaxu too."
"......"
Wasn't this just adding insult to injury?
Hearing this, Qian Fei immediately stopped crying and stared at them both.
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Sang Zhi didn't dare keep watching, sensing the situation was about to explode.
After a long pause, Qian Fei suddenly burst into tears again, as if granted an imperial favor. Through tear-blurred eyes, he wept gratefully, "Good brothers!! Wuwu, good brothers!!!"
Sang Zhi: "..."-
Seeing they had almost finished eating, Sang Yan went to settle the bill and bring the car around.
Duan Jiaxu helped Qian Fei to his feet and looked down at Sang Zhi. "Kid, walk in front of me."
Sang Zhi murmured an acknowledgment.
Hearing her voice, Qian Fei struggled to focus on her and suddenly remembered something. "Ah, little sister, I still owe you a stuffed toy. Wait, which one do you want? I'm really good at claw machines."
Seeing how unsteady he was on his feet, Sang Zhi hesitated. "It's fine..."
"No! I always keep my word! I never lie!" Qian Fei pulled a twenty-yuan bill from his pocket. "Let's go. I'll get you a toy."
Just outside the barbecue bar, there was an open area with six claw machines.
Qian Fei exchanged all the cash for coins and generously gave ten to Sang Zhi. "Tell me which one you want, and I'll get it for you."Sang Zhi randomly pointed to one machine.
Qian Fei then staggered over to it unsteadily.
Sang Zhi looked around and walked toward a claw machine decorated with Doraemon, directly inserting three coins. She wasn’t very skilled at playing, moving slowly and clumsily—either misaligning the claw or having the prize slip away after being grabbed.
After a while, Duan Jiaxu walked over and stood beside her.
Sang Zhi glanced up at him.
Seeing him reminded her of what had just happened, and she still felt embarrassed. She was also a bit upset about the beef incident.
She stayed silent and dropped another coin into the machine.
This time, she still didn’t manage to grab anything.
Sang Zhi peeked to the side and noticed that Qian Fei hadn’t caught anything either, which made her feel slightly better. She hesitated, wondering whether to keep playing or stop wasting money.
The next moment, Duan Jiaxu lazily spoke up: "Hey kid, spare your big brother a coin?"
"..." Sang Zhi turned her head and said reluctantly, "Why are you asking me for one?"
Duan Jiaxu smiled: "Big brother’s broke."
After a brief standoff, Sang Zhi still handed him a coin.
Duan Jiaxu stepped up to the machine and asked her: "Which one do you want?"
Sang Zhi pointed to one wearing a red hat and couldn’t help adding: "I tried six times and couldn’t get it."
Duan Jiaxu: "Mm, big brother will get it for you."
Sang Zhi stood by and watched. She saw him line up the claw with the plushie, lightly tap the button, and the hook descended, grabbed the toy, lifted it a few centimeters, then dropped it again.
"..."
Sang Zhi shifted her gaze to Duan Jiaxu’s face.
He didn’t seem embarrassed at all, just tilted his head to look at her and said: "How about one more for your big brother?"
"..."
For the rest of the time, Sang Zhi stood there exasperated, enduring Duan Jiaxu’s persistent and shameless requests for more coins. It wasn’t until the very last try that he finally managed to successfully retrieve the plushie.
Duan Jiaxu crouched down to take the toy out of the machine: "Getting one of these isn’t as easy as it looks."
Sang Zhi: "Might as well just buy one outside."
"Big brother’s never played this before," Duan Jiaxu straightened up and handed her the plushie, "You that disappointed?"
Sang Zhi’s fingers twitched slightly, but she didn’t take it.
Duan Jiaxu held his position without moving.
After several seconds, Sang Zhi lowered her eyes and accepted it: "Thank you, big brother."
Duan Jiaxu chuckled softly: "Such a stubborn little kid."
"..."
"Got you the toy," Duan Jiaxu stood up and ruffled her hair, "No more crying now, alright?"
His words seemed to echo how Sang Yan had earlier dealt with Qian Fei.
But he clearly knew that wasn’t the reason. It was as if he had completely forgotten the incident, pretending to know nothing, just to spare her feelings.
Warmth rushed up from her neck, burning to the tips of her ears. Sang Zhi tightened her grip on the plushie, suppressing a smile, and silently nodded.
Since Qian Fei was heavily drunk, Sang Yan first drove to his place and helped him upstairs with Duan Jiaxu. Afterwards, he drove the car to the entrance of Nanwu University.
Duan Jiaxu got out of the car, waved to the two of them, and entered the campus.
The night was deep, and the university’s main gate was wide and brightly lit, though the streetlights inside appeared noticeably dimmer. The man’s figure was lean and tall, gradually blending into the shadows until he disappeared from sight.
The car started up again.
Sang Zhi withdrew her gaze and asked: "Brother, does Brother Jiaxu live on campus?"
Sang Yan: "Mm."
"Why doesn’t he go home?"
"His home isn’t around here.""Aren't we on break now?"
"Don't know." Sang Yan clearly didn't want to engage with her. "Why do you have so many questions?"
Sang Zhi stayed quiet for a moment before leaning forward boredly and asking, "Earlier, Brother Qian Fei said someone asked him for your phone number. Was that true?"
Sang Yan: "Obviously."
Sang Zhi: "Did anything happen after that?"
Sang Yan: "How could there be a follow-up if I didn't give it out."
"Oh." Sang Zhi thought for a moment. "Good thing you didn't give it."
Sang Yan kept his hands on the steering wheel and didn't respond.
The next second, Sang Zhi added, "I think it might be that they went to Brother Qian Fei to get your contact information, then asked if you could give them Brother Ji Xu's contact details."
"..."
"Brother, you should be careful."
"Shut up."
"Don't let them humiliate you."
"..."
"Although you are indeed the ugliest one in our family," Sang Zhi paused as if carefully considering her words, then said honestly, "but even outside, you're... still quite ugly too."
"..."
Author's note: Sang Yan: I'm kind of thinking about quitting this show.
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