When she walked out of the doorway, she saw two boys.
The two boys appeared shy as they had a you-push-me, I-push-you attitude. When one of them noticed her coming out, he immediately turned his head aside.
Lu Qingyan: ??
What was this situation?
Gao Jing cleared his throat like a soldier preparing to march into battle. His hands trembled slightly as he lifted the pastel-colored takeaway bag and extended it to Lu Qingyan like it was a sacred offering.
"Ahem," he began, already regretting everything. "For you."
His voice cracked halfway through the sentence.
Lu Mingxuan secretly examined Lu Qingyan's expression in the corners of his eyes, before looking away
Lu Mingxuan, ever the genius at ruining perfectly good moments, suddenly scoffed, "I didn't want to come. It was him who insisted on bringing me along."
Lu Qingyan's eyebrows twitched.
Her gaze slowly floated from the awkward Gao Jing to the sulky, stiff-backed silhouette of Lu Mingxuan.
Her eyes narrowed, and her lips parted—possibly in disbelief, possibly to say something—but before she could utter a word—
Facing Lu Qingyan's slightly doubtful gaze, Gao Jing added, "Yes yes yes, I insisted on bringing him along."
At that exact moment, the bell rang, and a flood of students spilled into the hallway like it was a metro station at rush hour.
A few curious glances were thrown their way—some whispering, some nudging each other.
Lu Mingxuan stiffened like a board, his eyes scanning the crowd as if expecting a paparazzi ambush.
"Let's go, let's go!" he hissed under his breath, grabbing the edge of Gao Jing's hoodie like a grumpy grandma dragging her grandson away from the candy aisle.
The two retreated down the hall in an oddly choreographed tangle of limbs.
Lu Qingyan, who had originally wanted to refuse the bag, watched as the two inexplicably disappeared as if running for their lives.
Lu Qingyan just stood there. Holding the bag. Looking mildly stunned.
She hadn't even seen the other guy's face. The tall one had kept his head turned away the entire time like she was Medusa and one wrong glance would turn him to stone. All she saw was a lean figure and that ridiculous dark blue hair.
Before she could open her mouth, they were gone.
Like two delivery boys dropping off emotional baggage and sprinting out the back door.
"…Okay?"
Still confused, she looked down at the takeaway bag. It was cute. Pink. The tag said "Strawberry cake & matcha latte." high school girl bait.
Lu Qingyan frowned.
Who were they?
In the end, who were those two?
Strange.
However, it was also difficult for her to ask, what if she really knew them?
Back in her classroom, she slid into her seat as a few heads subtly turned to follow her movements.
Quite a few people noticed as their gaze fell on the bag from time to time. There were even some who showed a look of envy.
The more Lu Qingyan thought about it, the more bewildered she became. It didn't seem like she'd heard about any suitors from her grade.
What was the matter with those two?
Were they her fans?
That couldn't be right. She wasn't even school belle material. She was more like the the scholarly girl next door.
Then again, she was quiet popular in her previous life. Maybe they were admirers?
She didn't realize she was so popular in the school.
This incident just happened to be seen by Peng Jianda who came over to find her.
Peng Jianda loomed over her desk like a protective father catching his daughter with a suspicious love letter.
"Xiao Yan," he said solemnly. "Do you know those two guys from earlier?"
"..."
It was probably best to remain silent for now.
As a result, she showed an expression of profound mystery, the same one that she showed the two strangers from earlier.
The kind of face that screamed 'I know everything' while also shouting 'Don't ask me a damn thing'.
Peng Jianda misread her silence completely. He slapped the desk and hissed, "I knew it. You're too kindhearted. You got swindled."
Wang Jingyuan casually glanced at the bag in Lu Qingyan's grasp, the pen in his hand twirled slightly.
Peng Jianda lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Those two? Total scum. One of them's hooked up with more girls than our Brother Jing has answered math questions."
Lu Qingyan's jaw nearly dropped. Excuse me?
"Yeah," Peng Jianda continued, now fully convinced of his own narrative. "They saw you were pure and beautiful, and decided you were an easy target. They'll sweet talk you, win you over with cake, and then poof—ghosted. Classic move."
Tang Jie, a few seats away, piped up while still scribbling in his notebook. "She's pure and beautiful? Feels like you're writing fantasy novels now, Jianda."
"Shut up," Lu Qingyan said flatly.
She stared at the bag again.
She was originally still confused about why there were people gifting her food, but now she finally understood.
As it turned out, those two were fishermen casting a wide net.
One was… actually quite good-looking.
And the other? She hadn't even seen his face. But his voice… there was something weirdly familiar about it. Deep, calm, and vaguely annoying.
If it was a young girl who was having their first awakening of love, they would definitely be easily deceived.
***
Meanwhile, back in Class 12—
Lu Mingxuan kicked his chair out and slumped into it, arms crossed and brow furrowed like he'd just failed a physics exam. He stared off into space for a full ten seconds before turning to Gao Jing.
"…What was with her attitude?"
Gao Jing blinked. "What do you mean?"
"She looked at me like she didn't know me at all. Like I was a random guy off the street offering her poison."
Gao Jing scratched his head. "Maybe… she's still upset?"
"She didn't even say anything," Lu Mingxuan muttered, "Like she's acting all mysterious on purpose."
"She's probably punishing you."
Lu Mingxuan raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"For being a horrible brother. You ignored her messages for like two years. She's not a puppy. You can't just drop off milk tea and expect everything to go back to normal."
Lu Mingxuan snorted after listening. "How is Lu Qingyan's arrogance so large?"
"Girls nowadays are just strange. If they're upset, they won't tell you why. Instead, they'll want you to carefully analyze and think things through."
Gao Jing patted his shoulder, "Girls are just like this; coax a bit and they'll be fine. Last time when my cousin got angry because I didn't let her play with my phone, I got her one for new year, and now her mouth is very sweet. She used to call me uncle, but now she calls me brother."
"I'm not coaxing her," Lu Mingxuan declared stubbornly. "Who cares what she thinks?"
"Sure," Gao Jing said. "Let's forget it then."
Afterward, he noticed that the mood surrounding Lu Mingxuan body changed, resembling a woman full of grievances.