The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

"Speaking of which, it seems like it's been a while since I've seen Zhao Lin..."

In the cafeteria, Xu Xi ate the spicy hot pot in her bowl, not forgetting to add a few more spoonfuls of chili sauce.

Seeing that Xu Xi had almost used up the ten packets of chili sauce she had gotten from the ramen window, Wen Yao reluctantly snatched them away and poured them all into her noodles.

"What, you miss her? She's the one who cornered you at the classroom door. If I hadn't been there, you probably would have been a lamb in the tiger's den."

Wen Yao rolled her eyes, feeling nothing but disgust towards Zhao Lin.

Without making a sound, Xu Xi picked up a spoonful of chili sauce from Wen Yao's bowl and secretly added it to her own.

"It's alright, actually Zhao Lin is quite pitiful too."

Xu Xi stirred the mala tang (spicy hot pot), took a bite, and found it both spicy and fragrant—the taste was amazing.

"I liked Song Jiayi for so long and put in so much effort, but I still didn't get Song Jiayi's true feelings in return."

"On the contrary, recently there have been rumors all over the school that she caused Song Jiayi to drop out of school."

"Tch, serves her right. Who told her to do so many bad things?"

Wen Yao muttered to herself.

"He doesn't look like a student at all. He has dyed his hair red, smokes, drinks, and curses every day. He's obviously not a good person."

"Who knows, she's probably having a good time in some bar right now. Anyway, her family is so rich, it doesn't matter whether she goes to school or not."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about her anymore. Just mentioning her makes me feel unlucky."

Every time Wen Yao thinks about how Zhao Lin treated Xu Xi that day, she gets furious.

"Tell me about your tutor. Is he handsome? How old is he? Does he have a six-pack?"

Xu Xi looked up and thought about it carefully.

"He's about two years older than us, and he's pretty good-looking. He's quite handsome with glasses on, and his abs... I haven't noticed them."

"What the hell... You're not even paying attention to the points that should be of most concern."

Wen Yao pouted.

Xu Xi stuck out her tongue: "Because the person I like already has eight-pack abs, I don't need to pay attention to other guys anymore."

"Aa ...

System notification: Player (Xu Xi) used (mental attack) on player (Wen Yao [Eternal Single with No Love or Lover Version]), causing 999999999999 points of mental damage.

System notification: Player (Wen Yao [Angry Version]) used (attempt to choke the other party to death with food) on player (Xu Xi), causing 0 points of damage. Note: Using food attacks on a foodie will restore the other party's health.

......

After a playful fight, Wen Yao lay on the table, looking dejected.

"Don't worry, the person I like, you didn't even ask me if he likes me back, did you?"

Xu Xi chewed on the cuttlefish ball, seemingly to comfort Wen Yao.

Does he like you?

Wen Yao raised an eyebrow, seemingly invigorated, and looked up at Xu Xi.

Xu Xi opened a chat window on her phone, swiped it up as far as she could, and when she reached the top, she covered the contact's name and half of the chat content before handing it to Wen Yao.

Wen Yao leaned closer to look at the words on it.

"I love you~"

Cute emoji pack *1

"I love you too."

"Aa ...

......

After a while, the two of them collapsed into their chairs, panting heavily.

"Waaaaah... Xi Bao, you don't love me anymore. You've already betrayed me and gotten a boyfriend."

Wen Yao put on a very sad expression.

"Just kidding, I'm still a high school student, how could I possibly be in a relationship~"

Xu Xi covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"So what is this chat history of yours?"

"My brother and I were just teasing you~"

Xu Xi showed the complete chat window on her phone.

The note above reads: The best brother in the world.

"Phew~ That scared me to death."

Wen Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm relieved that it's your brother. If it were any other boy, I'd dig him up from the ground, beat him until he begged for mercy, and make him my follower, like Xu Bowen."

"Why are you relieved that it's my brother?"

"Because you're siblings, and siblings can't possibly date."

Wen Yao continued talking to herself, completely unaware of the hint of disappointment that flashed in Xu Xi's eyes.

"By the way, Xibao, do you have any plans for tonight?"

Xu Xi shook her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Come to my house for hot pot! My parents bought a ton of hot pot ingredients a couple of days ago and put them in the fridge, but they went on a trip before they even had a chance to eat them. If we don't eat them soon, they'll go bad."

"I see..."

Xu Xi thought about it and decided to refuse.

"Never mind, I need to go home and cook for my brother. You can eat by yourself."

"Oh, no need, no need."

Wen Yao replied without hesitation.

"Why don't you invite your brother to come eat with you? That would save you time cooking."

"Huh? This isn't a good idea..."

Xu Xi hesitated.

"What's wrong with that? We have plenty of food anyway, and it would be a waste if we couldn't finish it all. Wasting food is a shameful thing to do!"

Wen Yao, on the other hand, looked completely indifferent.

Xu Xi scratched his head.

"Okay then, I'll tell my brother after school tonight."

"OK~"

Wen Yao poked at the noodles in her bowl and was horrified to find that all the chili sauce had vanished.

"Aaaaaaah, Xi Bao, you bad guy! Give me back my chili sauce!"

......

When you're thinking about delicious food, time seems to fly by.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to get out of school.

"Brother~"

Xu Xi rushed into the arms of Xu Nian, who had come to pick him up from school.

Xu Nian ruffled the cat ears on her hood: "Haven't seen you all day, did you miss me?"

"I miss him! I miss him so much! I think about him every single moment!!"

Xu Nian smiled and put the little guy in her back seat.

"Where's Wen Yao? I can't find her."

"Here it comes~"

Wen Yao jogged and jumped onto the back seat of the electric scooter.

"I was kept after school by the teacher, which took up some time."

Because the weather was already very cold, the three of them were wearing thick clothes and squeezed onto the electric scooter, making it look rather crowded.

"Hold on tight, we're leaving."

The electric scooter sped away from the school gate.

"Brother, I have good news to tell you."

"What good news?"

At a red light, Xu Xi carefully took out her report card and handed it to Xu Nian.

Xu Nian didn't understand, but she knew that the little guy's test scores had improved significantly this time.

He could still distinguish between the 40th and the 15th.

"Great job! My little Xi has made great progress and deserves praise."

Praised by her brother, Xu Xi's eyebrows danced with joy, and she hugged her brother's military overcoat tightly.

"Brother, I'm going to Yao Yao's house for hot pot tonight, and Yao Yao invited you too, why don't you come along?"

"Yes, let's all join in. More people means more chopsticks."

Wen Yao echoed from behind.

Xu Nian shook her head.

"Never mind, you guys go eat. I have to work tonight and won't be home until very late, so I'll just eat out."