Pretty and charming, dressed in the 90s, she's good at everything from making money to causing

It's perfectly normal for good friends to have a meal together.

But the way the landlady looked at them was unusually strange.

This made what was originally a normal atmosphere become abnormal.

Lin Ting was caught between a bunch of normal and abnormal people, and felt that she herself was about to become abnormal too.

Fortunately, the dishes were normal, and not only normal, they were exceptionally delicious.

It's miles ahead of the school cafeteria.

The proprietress's surname is Zhao. Her cooking skills are not fancy. The restaurant only serves home-style dishes and does not have the exquisite and sophisticated plating of a restaurant like Ruigong Hotel. However, the food has a homely feel and tastes very much like home.

After she brought the dishes to the table, she considerately went to the back kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.

Whether she listened carefully to what was happening outside is unknown.

Lin Ting and Jiang Zong remained silent during their meal, but the atmosphere was harmonious. Occasionally, when Lin Ting reached for something, Jiang Zong would hand it to her as soon as she raised her hand.

The restaurant serves large portions, and even though they only ordered one meat dish and one vegetable dish, there were still some dishes left on their plates after they were both full.

Lin Ting took out her wallet: "Auntie, I'd like to pay."

Aunt Zhao came out of the kitchen, trying to ignore the money Lin Ting handed her, and held out her hand to Jiang Zong: "Little Jiang, four yuan and fifty cents!"

Before Jiang Zong could take out his wallet, Lin Ting quickly placed five yuan in Aunt Zhao's palm: "Thank you, Auntie."

Seeing that Jiang Zong didn't react, Aunt Zhao couldn't help but put on an expression of anger at his lack of ambition, took the money, and turned to leave.

She gave Lin Ting 50 cents as change, implying, "Girl, you're the first friend Xiao Jiang brought. Come often in the future!"

"Okay," Lin Ting said with a smile, "Your cooking is so good, it tastes just like my mother's."

Aunt Zhao paused slightly, and the light in her eyes went out.

However, the corners of her mouth remained turned up, and she simply said, "I'm glad you like it."

Lin Ting keenly noticed that Aunt Zhao's expression was a bit off. She didn't say anything more, put on her coat, and went out with Jiang Zong.

Aunt Zhao saw them off. As Lin Ting was about to walk out of the alley, he turned back and found that she was still there.

Lin Ting waved her hand, and Aunt Zhao saw it and waved back at her.

It looks just like a mother seeing her child off at the door.

After turning the corner, they could no longer see Aunt Zhao.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Lin Tingwen asked, "Does Aunt Zhao only work in her shop by herself?"

"Ah."

Jiang Zong responded habitually, then after a moment, remembering that "friends should chat more," he thought for a moment before saying, "She said her husband and son went out of town."

Lin Ting nodded thoughtfully.

Her husband and son have both left home, and she's all alone here... No wonder she looks so lonely.

Lin Ting turned her head back and stopped looking at the alleyway.

"want……"

"Want to go hiking?"

As Jiang Zong approached the school gate, he suddenly stopped.

Lin Ting was taken aback, and when she turned her head to look at him, she noticed that his ears were very red.

"It's almost dark, why are we climbing this mountain?" Lin Ting was quite speechless.

Jiang Zong answered in a serious tone: "Ma'ershan."

Lin Ting: "..."

Jiang Zong continued, "You can watch the sunrise."

Lin Ting: "..."

On a spring evening, hiking and waiting for the sunrise?

Each of those options alone would be enough to kill Lin Ting.

Jiang Zong actually managed to put the three together.

Lin rubbed his arms nervously after hearing this, and made an excuse with a dry laugh: "Let's forget it, I haven't finished my homework yet."

This reason is perfectly valid, and no one can argue that it's wrong.

Jiang Zong nodded: "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow... I have to go to the building materials market tomorrow. My shop is opening soon, and I need to find building materials, hahaha..."

"weekend?"

"We need to stock up on goods this weekend..."

Jiang Zong's first invitation to his good friend to go out together ended in failure.

He remained silent, beginning to ponder where he had gone wrong.

Seeing his expression, Lin Ting felt guilty and quickly said, "Um, don't be like that. It's not that I don't want to go out with you, it's just that I really have things to do. Well... if you're free tomorrow, why don't you come with me to the building materials market? I'll treat you to dinner."

Jiang Zong's eyes regained their sparkle, and he looked at Lin Ting, nodding earnestly and solemnly.

Lin Ting breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself that Aunt Qiong Yao was still very capable; when a young man became melancholic, it was truly heartbreaking.

If other girls had seen him looking like that, wouldn't they be smitten?

Lin Ting turned his head and glanced at Jiang Zong.

Forget it, his poker face is already drawing countless screams.

Jiang Zong once again escorted Lin Ting to the girls' dormitory building.

The girls in the same building seemed to have gotten used to this scene. Although they would still take another look, it was no longer surprising.

But Lin Ting couldn't stand the look in that scholar's eyes.

She cleared her throat and said to Jiang Zong, "Then I'm going back. See you tomorrow, my friend!"

Jiang Zong didn't say much, but every word he spoke carried a response: "See you tomorrow."

They went to eat a little early, but they were delayed on the way, so it was just the peak time for students to return from the cafeteria.

Lin Ting ran into several classmates on the road who knew her but didn't recognize her.

They stared at her in astonishment: "Lin Ting, are you really dating Jiang Zong?"

Lin Tingyi said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense, Jiang Zong and I are good friends!"

Students: "Whoa—"

Lin Ting: "I'm serious! He and I are just good friends!"

"But we heard that you came back from outside the school with Jiang Zong this morning?"

"This……"

Because they came back from the hotel together.

Ha, if I said something this blunt, the school would probably explode.

Lin Ting decisively said, "Because I had breakfast with him. It's normal for good friends to have breakfast together, right?"

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

A chorus of gasps and exclamations rose and fell.

Lin Ting was not at all suspicious, after all, she and Jiang Zong had indeed eaten breakfast together.

She glanced at them sideways: "Why are you looking at me? Have you finished your homework? Have you reviewed your lessons? Are you ready for the final exam?"

"It's only the beginning of the school year..."

"So what if it's just the start of the semester? Students, the school isn't training you just to pass final exams; you need to be ready to serve your country at any time!"

“Aside from winter and summer vacations, you only spend nine months at school; besides the evenings, you only have four and a half months of daytime; and if you take weekends and holidays out of that… you don’t even have three months of study time each year.”

"Actually, I've overstated the three-month limit. Think about it yourselves, how many classes do you even have each week? It's already so easy for you, yet you still want to drag it out until the end of the semester to study?"

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows there are, students!"

As a boss, Lin Ting may not be good at motivating himself, but he has a lot of experience in motivating others.

After hearing her words, the students around her suddenly felt a heavy responsibility and quickened their pace to run back to their dormitories to study.

Looking at the empty corridor, Lin Ting felt a great sense of responsibility: "This school really can't do without me..."