As the three of them stepped into the restaurant, the noisy dining room instantly quieted down a few notches. Most gazes converged on the entrance; after all, even if Yao Na'er was not quite as breathtaking a beauty as Xiao Ye and Huang Li, all three were undeniably stunners. Having long been accustomed to such stares, the three girls walked inside with perfect composure.
Because they had arrived rather late, the place was packed to capacity, and not a single table was empty. Yet perhaps they had simply exhausted their bad luck for the day and were finally bouncing back from rock bottom: just moments after walking in, a table of customers happened to be getting ready to leave. Truly, not eating here would be an injustice to themselves.
They ordered one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a bowl of mushroom soup, then sat down at the freshly cleared table.
"This place is way too crowded!" Yao Na'er sighed, looking around the jam-packed restaurant.
"Well, nobody forces you to come, but their food is delicious," Xiao Ye replied offhandedly while absentmindedly studying the menu.
Resting her chin in her hand with her elbows propped on the table, Huang Li teased, "What a rarity! There's actually a restaurant near the school that earns such high praise from our Yezi. This place is going places in the future!"
Xiao Ye looked up and smiled slightly. "What a rarity! There's actually a restaurant near the school that our Lizi has eaten at so many times without getting sick of it. This place is definitely going places in the future!"
Little did they know, her words would prove prophetic. Over a decade later, under the capable management of the owner's son, this restaurant would become one of the premier dining establishments in City A.
"Why do I suddenly see pink bubbles floating between you two?" chimed in Yao Na'er, who was sitting across from them.
Hearing this, the two girls turned simultaneously to look at Yao Na'er, staring at her in absolute silence.
Feeling a bit unnerved under their intense gaze, Yao Na'er immediately changed the subject. "I'll go get you guys some water!"
Ignoring the various stares coming from around them, the three bantered back and forth with total ease.
"Look, look!" A girl at the next table suddenly patted her companion's shoulder in excitement, her eyes fixed on the entrance with a look of utter shock.
Xiao Ye and Huang Li's curiosity was piqued by her excitement. What is it? Following her gaze, they saw two tall, slender boys standing near the door scanning the room to see if there were any empty seats. And these two boys were none other than He Yi and his good friend Su Jue, who had come here to eat after finishing their rehearsal.
"Isn't that He Yi? What is he doing here?" Huang Li asked in puzzlement.
"To eat, obviously! You don't think he came just to use the restroom, do you?" Xiao Ye retorted directly.
Meanwhile, having finished his survey of the room, Su Jue said to He Yi in disappointment, "There are no tables again."
"Isn't there one right over there?" He Yi motioned with his chin toward the area where Xiao Ye and her friends were sitting. In truth, ever since he stepped through the door, he had noticed the little girl who had been looking at the fallen cake on the floor with such a heartbroken expression.
Following the direction he pointed, Su Jue saw two pretty girls sitting side by side. Looking closer, he recognized them as the two high school freshmen who had openly provoked Wang Qing on the playground earlier that day, and the seats opposite them were empty.
In an instant, Su Jue understood what he was getting at: sharing a table. Only... "I thought you never liked sharing tables with strangers?"
In the past, rather than share a table with someone he didn't know, he would rather not eat at all. But now... As expected, good looks really were the standard by which everything was measured.
"Let's go." He Yi did not answer him, because even he couldn't figure out why he felt no aversion to sharing a table this time, but rather a faint sense of anticipation.
"Hey! Tell me honestly, you haven't taken a fancy to one of the pretty little freshmen, have you?"
Without a word, He Yi walked straight toward Xiao Ye and her friends. With a polite smile, he pointed at the empty seats opposite them, looked at Xiao Ye who was sitting on the inner side, and asked, "Is anyone sitting here? We'd like to share a table with you."
"Uh... yes, someone is," Xiao Ye stammered, feeling slightly unnerved under his gaze.
Speak of the devil! Carrying two cups of water, Yao Na'er appeared behind the two boys with a look of utter astonishment. "Big Campus Crush He!"
He Yi remained completely unfazed. "Hello, do you mind if we share your table?" His tone didn't shift by even the slightest fraction—a stark contrast to Su Jue beside him, as well as Xiao Ye and Huang Li. All three of them had flinched in shock at Yao Na'er's cry of "Big Campus Crush He," feeling a sudden, strong urge to curse out loud.