Chapter 11: Cafeteria
Noon. School cafeteria.
The cafeteria was on the first floor of the dorm building, with a small convenience store next to it. Everything there was about 50 cents more expensive than outside.
An Yuan carried two meal trays back to the long table. After placing the food down, he sat across from the girl.
"Pretty cheap. Two meat dishes and a veggie for just thirteen yuan. Way better than my company’s cafeteria."
He casually reached over and took a piece of sweet and sour pork from the girl’s tray.
"The taste isn’t great, and the hygiene is just so-so. Let’s see if we get lucky today."
"......"
Chen Cheng sat there, slumped over, looking completely out of it.
"What’s up with you?" An Yuan found it amusing. He waved his hand in front of her face.
"You just got confessed to, that’s all. Why are you acting like this? You didn’t even keep the chocolates, they could’ve been our snacks."
He had already heard about what happened. Apparently, when she got confessed to, she was so shocked that she turned pale and stayed slumped over her desk until class started.
"Didn’t Chen Shuting also give you chocolates when she confessed back in the day? And you just shared them with us?"
"Too bad I wasn’t there to see it. How did that guy confess to you? Was it romantic?"
Chen Cheng finally snapped. "Are you stupid or what?!"
"If it makes you feel better, you can hit me." Seeing that she was reacting again, An Yuan felt relieved. He patted his biceps. "Go ahead, try."
"Oh, please! Like that would even hurt you!"
Her sharp voice attracted the attention of some students nearby. Realizing this, Chen Cheng’s face flushed. Embarrassed, she lowered her head and started eating, muttering, "Ugh, this food is terrible. Should’ve just gone outside for some rice noodles. Watch me end up with a stomachache later."
She might seem outgoing in front of friends, but in reality, she had severe social anxiety.
After graduating college, she had spent years holed up in a rental apartment, only ever interacting with food delivery drivers. Just saying "thank you" was the extent of her real-world socialization.
In class, at least she was around former classmates. But in the cafeteria? Everyone was a stranger.
An Yuan tried to console her. "If you’re really upset, why not tell the homeroom teacher?"
Technically, the school didn’t allow “puppy love”, though let’s be real, seventeen or eighteen isn’t exactly ‘too young’ anymore.
"Come on, we’re not kids. Not everything needs to be reported to a teacher."
"Then I’ll handle it for you! I’ll go beat him up."
"People will just think you’re jealous."
"I don’t care. You care too much about what others think, that’s why you have social anxiety."
Chen Cheng pursed her lips but didn’t respond. She pulled a stray hair out of her mouth, then fished a piece of wire out of her tomato and egg dish and tossed it onto the table.
Well, there goes my appetite...
Today just wasn’t her day.
First, her period. Then, a random guy confessed to her. Now, she found a foreign object in her food. Ever since she woke up in this new body, nothing had gone her way.
Putting down her chopsticks, she propped her chin on her hand and finally vented to An Yuan.
"Why the hell did a guy confess to me? Seriously, what is wrong with him? What an idiot!"
"Because you’re pretty."
Chen Cheng, of course, knew she was good-looking. And that was with her glasses and school uniform toning down her natural appeal.
But she never in a million years thought she’d experience something like this. She had never even considered the possibility.
"Men! Straight men! Ugh! So gross! Why didn’t I get a bunch of girls confessing to me back when I was a guy?!"
Honestly, even when she was ranting, her voice still sounded kind of cute, not intimidating at all.
"Maybe I should just act like a tomboy from now on. Not that I have any interest in girls, either."
"If your mom hears that, your butt is done for."
"True..."
Chen Cheng propped her chin up again, poking at her food with her chopsticks, looking for any more weird stuff.
After all that complaining, she actually felt a little better.
She glanced up at An Yuan. "Back in the day, didn’t you lead all of senior year to wreck the cafeteria? It even made the news. Now that we’re back, wanna do it again?"
"Nah, let’s not."
An Yuan no longer had the fiery spirit he once did. Without hesitation, he shook his head. "It’s not like the food will kill us."
"Oh."
Chen Cheng wasn’t sure if she felt disappointed or just regretful. She responded dully.
That’s when she realized, at some point, An Yuan had changed. Unlike her, who had never truly stepped into society and was still just a student at heart.
"We’re time travelers, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we stir things up a little?"
For some reason, she tried to provoke him.
"And what if the school administrators make life difficult for us afterward?" An Yuan smiled and casually took two more pieces of meat from her tray. "In a couple of years, they’ll have regulations in place anyway."
"Fine, whatever."
Once again, Chen Cheng found herself agreeing with An Yuan’s logic. She absentmindedly played with her chopsticks, feeling even more down.
She pushed her tray toward him. After knowing each other for so long, neither of them minded sharing food.
"So… what if someone else confesses to me? It’s disgusting. I lose my appetite just thinking about it."
"Just reject them outright?"
"You know how I am…"
She was never good at rejecting people, especially when their requests weren’t made with bad intentions.
"Then just use me as a shield?"
"Li Wanyi would misunderstand." Chen Cheng offered as a seemingly kind reminder, but with underlying implications.
An Yuan’s expression stiffened slightly. He lowered his head and shoveled rice into his mouth, mumbling, "Let her misunderstand."
At this point, Li Wanyi already had feelings for An Yuan. He knew she wasn’t a good person, but after nearly ten years of complicated emotions, he couldn’t just cut her off. When it came to relationships, he was always passive and indecisive.
Which is exactly why Li Wanyi kept pushing her limits, taking advantage of him time and time again! It was frustrating to watch.
"Ohhh… I see."
So the key problem wasn’t An Yuan?
Chen Cheng suddenly had an idea on how to make Li Wanyi give up on him for good.
All she had to do was let that woman misunderstand on purpose and walk away on her own!
That would actually work out perfectly! There were already rumors floating around the class about her and An Yuan. Who knows? Li Wanyi might explode any day now.
"Chengcheng~ Want to go buy some snacks?"
Just as she was lost in thought, Hu Wei bounced over, eyes shining with excitement. Clearly, she was hungry for some gossip.
"What are you two talking about? You didn’t even eat lunch with us today!"
Chen Cheng looked towards Hu Wei. There was Chen Shuting and two other girls whose names she didn't remember, and Hu Wei standing before her. That made four people, likely Chen Cheng's close friends.
If they weren’t at least somewhat close, they wouldn’t be having lunch together, right?
"Nothing much."
Chen Cheng wasn’t a big fan of hanging out with girls unless she had no choice. She declined, "I’ll pass on snacks. I’m heading back to class for a nap."
"Oh~ okay then! We won’t interrupt you two!"
Chen Cheng caught the implication in Hu Wei’s words and shot her an annoyed glare. Then, she turned back to An Yuan.
"Did you change seats?"
An Yuan shook his head and came up with an excuse. "Our homeroom teacher doesn’t have a class today."
"You could just go to the office and talk to her directly." Chen Cheng rolled her eyes. "I’ll go with you and help explain."
"This…" An Yuan hesitated, rubbing the bridge of his nose before sighing deeply. "Fine, fine. You sure are enthusiastic about my business."
"We’re brothers! Your business is my business!"