Lima syndrome

Xu Shiyuan looked at Liu Zhimin and couldn't believe what he heard. This woman actually wanted to have dinner with them? She was indeed the eldest daughter of a wealthy family. She was so willful.

"Of course."

Before Xu Shiyuan could say no, Bai Zhiyan, who was standing beside him, agreed first.

"Really? That's great! It's a good opportunity for you to taste the food cooked by my chef. His cooking skills are really good. All you have to do is eat ..."

Xu Shiyuan didn't hear what Liu Zhimin said afterwards. He just stared blankly at Bai Zhiyan who was looking at Liu Zhimin with tenderness.

It turns out that he is not only gentle and kind to me.

Xu Shiyuan felt a little disgusted. He thought Bai Zhiyan's feelings towards people were too cheap, but he knew his true thoughts very clearly. He just wanted to use his identity to climb up. Logically speaking, they were equally matched.

But he didn't want Liu Zhimin to have dinner with them, and the efforts he had made during this period should not be taken advantage of by others.

So Xu Shiyuan, who had never said "no" to others, learned to say no for the first time.

"No—I don't want to eat with three of us."

But as soon as he said this, he suddenly realized what he was doing. He looked at Bai Zhiyan in panic. His expression remained unchanged, but Liu Zhimin's face suddenly became very ugly.

"Ah... is that so? Excuse me, squad leader, you don't like eating with people you don't know well? I shouldn't have interrupted your agreement casually."

Liu Zhimin bowed her head and apologized. It was the first time that the pampered little princess was spoken to in such a tone, and her eyes turned slightly red.

Xu Shiyuan knew that he was too impatient for quick success and should have taken it step by step. However, he did not want to say anything against his will to get Liu Zhimin to join. He hesitated for a long time and finally uttered "I'm sorry" and quickly entered the classroom.

Even if he didn't look back, he could imagine Bai Zhiyan comforting Liu Zhimin. He didn't want to see such a disgusting scene.

After returning to the classroom, Xu Shiyuan put the lunch box away. He looked at his old and badly worn lunch box and for a moment he felt that he was just like this stainless steel lunch box, without any brilliance or specialness.

But Liu Zhimin looked like an expensive, gorgeous and elegant tableware, and I felt ashamed just standing next to her.

Xu Shiyuan was in a bad state for the whole afternoon. He didn't hear anything the teacher said at the podium. He was rarely so inattentive. The last time this happened was when he was bullied by Kim Jae-hwan in junior high school.

But until school was over, he couldn't think of a better reason to go to Bai Zhiyan to ask the reason.

During lunch break on the second day, Bai Zhiyan left the class first. Xu Shiyuan chased him out but didn't see him, so he could only wait for him on the rooftop as usual.

Ten minutes passed and still no one came up.

"Ding--"

Xu Shiyuan's cell phone rang and he immediately picked up the phone to check.

"Class monitor, Zhimin asked me to go to the cafeteria for dinner today, so we won't go to the rooftop. I hope you enjoy your meal~"

Bai Zhiyan even posted a very cute white rabbit emoticon.

Under normal circumstances, Xu Shiyuan would definitely reply with an emoticon, but now he had no intention of doing so.

"Okay, I hope you enjoy your meal too."

Bai Zhiyan looked at the message sent by Xu Shiyuan and smiled slightly, but did not reply.

He happened to be seen by Xu Shiyuan when he was returning to class with Liu Zhimin yesterday. He still remembered how ugly Xu Shiyuan's face was at that time. He originally just wanted to simply test Xu Shiyuan's attitude, but the situation yesterday seemed to be much better than he imagined.

Looks like we need to add more fuel to the fire.

During lunch break on the third day, Xu Shiyuan was afraid that Bai Zhiyan would be taken away by Liu Zhimin again, so he immediately walked to Bai Zhiyan's seat as soon as the get out of class was over.

"Squad Leader, why are you here? Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, Zhiyan, you can come with me today..."

"Let's go, Brother Zhiyan!"

Liu Zhimin just happened to come skipping over at this time and saw Xu Shiyuan standing aside.

"Hey? Class monitor, you're here too. Are you looking for Brother Zhiyan to have dinner together?"

"Yes, yes."

Liu Zhimin, it’s Liu Zhimin again.

"But I already made an appointment with Brother Zhiyan yesterday to have barbecue today."

Liu Zhimin looked at Bai Zhiyan and then at Xu Shiyuan.

"Captain, do you want to come with us? I know you don't like eating together in groups of three, but that restaurant is really good."

"I……"

Xu Shiyuan really wanted to refuse, but he didn't want to let Bai Zhiyan and Liu Zhimin go to dinner alone, so he was hesitant for a moment.

"Let's go together, squad leader. Jimin said last time that he wanted to have dinner with you."

Bai Zhiyan invited him again, and Xu Shiyuan finally couldn't refuse.

He began to regret it as soon as he entered the barbecue restaurant. Looking at the huge amount of dishes on the menu, he couldn't help but reach out to grab his wallet, wondering if the money he brought today was enough for a meal here.

"Boss, please give me this and this."

His face became more and more unsightly when he heard Liu Zhimin ordering food. He knew that the two people in front of him were far inferior to him in status and position. He was just a poor student who could enter Silver Star with the help of society. He even dared to sit and eat with those young masters and young ladies. He was simply asking for trouble.

Damn, these bastards definitely did it on purpose.

Liu Zhimin noticed his absent-mindedness and picked up a piece of meat for him with a smile.

"Squad leader, why don't you eat some meat? The food in this restaurant is really great, and the cost per person is less than 10 H coins. It's cheap and delicious."

"Okay...I'll eat..."

10 H coins. Xu Shiyuan smiled bitterly. This money was almost enough for his living expenses for a month.

He had always known that he was not in the same class as other people in school, and he had always longed to be on the same level as them one day, but today's reality had severely defeated him.

Bai Zhiyan didn't say anything, but just kept watching his every move. In a trance, seeing his shivering appearance, he suddenly remembered his past self, the weak, timid and somewhat inferior self.

In fact, he knew very well that if he had not returned to the Bai family, he and Xu Shiyuan would probably be the same kind of people.

Thinking of this, he also picked up some meat for Xu Shiyuan.

"Eat more."

Xu Shiyuan found the meal tasteless. He looked at Liu Zhimin and Bai Zhiyan talking and laughing like a clown. He could not join in the topic they were talking about at all. In his heart, he kept cursing himself for overestimating his own abilities.

When checking out, he opened his wallet with trembling hands and was shocked when he heard the amount. He counted the money while calculating how he would live the rest of his life.

"It's my treat today, so you all take back your money."

Bai Zhiyan took out his card to pay, and smiled as he pressed down Xu Shiyuan's hand holding the wallet.

In Xu Shiyuan's eyes, Bai Zhiyan's actions were like a divine descent.

"Thank you, Zhiyan brother~"

For Liu Zhimin, it doesn’t matter who pays. People like them don’t care about the money anyway.

"Thank you, Chiyan-san."

But Xu Shiyuan was different. He breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he despised himself for feeling relaxed about letting others pay.

He was very conflicted. He knew he couldn't afford it, but he felt it was shameful for others to pay for his meal. He couldn't let go of his pride but couldn't bear to spend the money. He hated himself for being like this.

"Squad leader, Zhiyan and I are going to have coffee next, do you want to come with us?"

After going out, Liu Zhimin looked back at him.

Look, what she said was "Me and Brother Zhiyan", and it turned out that I was the one who shamelessly wanted to join in and didn't know how to read the expressions.

"No, I have something else to do at school. I have to go first."

Xu Shiyuan said this in one breath and turned away without even looking at the two of them.

He had been humiliated enough today.

On the fourth day, Bai Zhiyan sent a message to Xu Shiyuan before lunch break.

"Class monitor, I can't go to the rooftop with you to eat today. Zhimin said he wanted to eat Western food. If you're willing, would you like to come with us?"

"No, I won't go. Just enjoy your meal."

Liu Zhimin, it's Liu Zhimin again! Why does she keep haunting Bai Zhiyan?

Xu Shiyuan's hand holding the phone was shaking slightly. Was the person he had finally established contact with going to be snatched away like this?

He was fidgeting in his seat. He wanted to find Bai Zhiyan to ask for clarification, but he didn't know what position he had to do so.

Xu Shiyuan's father died when he was in elementary school. Because his father was seriously ill, the family owed a lot of money for his treatment. After his father's death, his mother had been taking care of him and rarely came home. The lack of love in his childhood caused him to have a sense of inferiority deep in his heart. Even when he entered school, he did not have the courage to make friends.

Because his only act of bravery in junior high school made him suffer unforgettable pain, he originally wanted to block his heart and no longer hope to make friends, but Bai Zhiyan appeared.

Bai Zhiyan would invite him to drink milk and bring him fruit, would care about his wounds, and also liked to eat the cheap side dishes he made.

He was in urgent need of changing his current situation, so he responded to Bai Zhiyan's goodwill. He wanted to use his background to climb up step by step, and becoming friends with the young master of a wealthy family was not originally in his plan, but Bai Zhiyan looked so gullible that it would be a pity for him not to take advantage of him.

But now he has found a better partner.

Although he had told himself long ago that no one could belong to him alone and no one could stay with him forever, it did not mean that Liu Zhimin could go against him so blatantly.

In this way, he spent another day in a daze. When he saw a car on the road after school, he would think if he could hit Liu Zhimin and send her to the hospital, so that she would have to lie in the hospital and would not be able to come to school again; when he saw an alley, he would think if someone could kidnap Liu Zhimin, so that she would lose her freedom and would not be able to find Bai Zhiyan; when he saw a dog playing in the park, he would think if he could bite Liu Zhimin's leg, so that she would not jump around and act cute in front of Bai Zhiyan.

As long as Liu Zhimin disappears, Bai Zhiyan will never abandon himself again.

During the lunch break on the fifth day, Xu Shiyuan didn't even dare to open his cell phone. He was afraid to see the message that Bai Zhiyan rejected him. He also didn't dare to look at Bai Zhiyan's seat. He was afraid to see him and Liu Zhimin talking and laughing.

He ran all the way to the rooftop with the lunch box. Only when he came here did his uneasy heart gradually calm down.

"Squad leader, why are you running so fast?"

"W-what?"

Xu Shiyuan looked up and saw a person who seemed like he shouldn't be here, and his heart began to get restless.

"The rooftop won't move, why are you in such a hurry?"

Bai Zhiyan's smiling voice sounded, but to Xu Shiyuan's ears it sounded as if from another world.

"Why are you here?"

Bai Zhiyan tilted his head and looked at Xu Shiyuan, whose face turned red due to running too fast, and asked: "Well - why do you ask? Can't I be here? Don't we often eat together here?"

"Is it because I haven't come over these two days that you are unhappy, squad leader?"

Hearing his slightly teasing words, Xu Shiyuan finally came back to his senses and quickly waved his hands to deny: "No, no, how could it be? It's just that you have been eating with Liu Zhimin these days, and I thought you wouldn't come today."

"Ah, I'm not angry. Jimin said she wanted to have dinner with her friends today, so we didn't make an appointment."

Xu Shiyuan was not very happy to hear him say that. Bai Zhiyan came to find him only because Liu Zhimin had an appointment with others. But what if Liu Zhimin came to find Bai Zhiyan again? Would he be left behind again?

Or is it that Bai Zhiyan himself is an expert at manipulating others, and he has already mastered how to make people feel uneasy and suspicious.

Bai Zhiyan didn't notice his thoughts. He took Xu Shiyuan's hand and sat down together. Then he took out a lunch box from the bag mysteriously.

"I feel bad eating your food all the time, so today I brought my own mung bean pancakes for you to try."

After Bai Zhiyan opened the lunch box, the delicious aroma filled his nose. The mung bean pancakes he made looked good and were beautifully presented. You could tell at a glance that he had put a lot of effort into it.

"This, you did this?"

Xu Shiyuan couldn't believe that a young master from a wealthy family like him could actually make things by himself. Wasn't he really going to such extremes to cheat people?

"Yes, I can not only make this, I can also make bean sprout soup with mixed vegetables and spicy fried pork. I can make most of the dishes."

"You actually eat these things?"

"What's wrong? Don't I look like someone who can cook or eat these things?"

It really doesn't look like it.

Xu Shiyuan thought that the taste of a rich young man would definitely not be the same as that of a poor man like himself, but Bai Zhiyan's words overturned his perception.

"Don't talk about this for now, just try what I made."

"it is good."

Xu Shiyuan picked up a piece of mung bean pancake and tasted it carefully. The taste was almost the same as the one he bought.

"Delicious! I can't believe you are such a good cook." He praised him exaggeratedly.

"As long as it tastes good, this is the first time I cook for someone other than mom. I didn't expect you to like it so much. That's great."

First time? Are you kidding me?

Xu Shiyuan pretended to be touched and started eating with big mouthfuls.

"I can only make some small dishes. I wish I had your skills."

"That's nothing. If you like, I can cook it for you often, or I can teach you."

"Really, really?"

"Of course. Tomorrow is a day off. Do you want to come to my house and play? I can also teach you how to cook."

Faced with Bai Zhiyan's invitation, Xu Shiyuan couldn't say no at all.

"Is that ok? Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

"Of course not. Isn't it normal to invite good friends to your house on your day off?"

The smile on Bai Zhiyan's face was enough to melt glaciers and mountains. This was the result of his constant practice in front of the mirror every day. He didn't believe that the person in front of him would remain indifferent.

Xu Shiyuan has always wanted to see with his own eyes what the legendary wealthy area looks like, and it seems that his wish is about to come true.

"Yeah, I'll go."