LRTH - 6

The hot pot restaurant was a few streets away, a bit of a distance from the school, so the group took a taxi there.

As she sat in the car, Fang Nanzhi began to regret it. However, since she had already agreed, there was no room for her to back out.

They arrived at the hot pot restaurant about ten minutes later, and the five of them sat down.

Fang Nanzhi and Xu Tingyou sat on one side, and the three boys sat on the other. The waiter brought the menu, and Xu Yuanhe took it first, checking and writing.

Xu Tingyou leaned over to his side, wanting one thing one minute, and another the next.

Xu Yuanhe shot her a glance. “Are you a pig? Why are you ordering so much?”

Xu Tingyou retorted, “There are so many of us, and besides, I’m paying. You have so many opinions.”

Xu Yuanhe spread his hands. “Alright, alright, whatever you want.”

Xu Tingyou snatched the menu and, after ticking off a few things, looked at Fang Nanzhi. “Can you eat spicy food?”

Fang Nanzhi: “...A little.”

“So you can’t eat much spicy food. You’re just like Brother Yizhou. What’s the point of eating hot pot if you don’t eat the spicy pot?”

Hearing his name, Fang Nanzhi looked over.

Li Yizhou had been chatting with Zhao Ke, but he looked over when he heard her. “What’s wrong?”

Xu Tingyou said, “I’m saying, I don’t understand what’s wrong with people who don’t eat spicy food.”

Li Yizhou said casually, “You don’t have to understand; you just need to respect biodiversity.”

Xu Tingyou: “...”

Fang Nanzhi wanted to laugh but held it in, her emotions a little subtle.

It was just a coincidence that they both couldn’t eat much spicy food, but the feeling of being categorized together with him was surprisingly pleasant.

“Hey, we’ve been talking for a while, but what’s your friend’s name?” Zhao Ke asked.

Xu Tingyou lowered her head and continued ordering. “She’s my new deskmate, Fang Nanzhi.”

Zhao Ke: “Oh~ I didn’t expect our Tingyou to have such a friendly side. You’re even treating your deskmate to dinner.”

Zhao Ke thought he understood his brother’s sister well enough. The girl was very proud and had a bad temper. He had never seen her have any friends.

Xu Tingyou’s expression changed slightly, looking quite awkward. “What, is that a problem? Why are you making such a fuss? She explained a test paper to me, so I’m treating her to dinner.”

“Explained a test paper?” Xu Yuanhe looked at her. “Was there a test? What subject, and what did you score?”

Xu Tingyou didn’t hide it from Xu Yuanhe. “Just the math weekly quiz. 89.”

Xu Yuanhe was stunned and reached out to flick her forehead. “You didn’t even pass, and you’re still proud of it?!”

Xu Tingyou immediately became unhappy. “You were the one who had to ask!”

“Are you talking back?”

“When did I talk back?!”

“That’s enough, stop arguing,” Li Yizhou pulled Xu Yuanhe back. “Eat.”

He also looked at Xu Tingyou. “You stop arguing too. Your classmate is here. Go ahead and invite her to eat.”

Even though Xu Yuanhe was the older brother, Li Yizhou’s words were more effective. After he spoke, Xu Tingyou also stopped arguing, pushed the menu in front of Fang Nanzhi, and said stiffly, “Tick off what you like to eat.”

Fang Nanzhi took it, looked at it for a while, and didn’t order much. She just said, “That’s enough,” and handed it back to Xu Tingyou.

The menu was finally handed to the waiter, and seven or eight minutes later, the pot base and dishes were all served.

This hot pot restaurant could be considered a famous one online, and the food was very good. Fang Nanzhi sat quietly on the side, slowly eating while listening to them chat.

Sometimes they were complaining about teachers at school, and other times they were talking about esports competitions... They talked about many random things.

She thought that someone like Li Yizhou probably had a good relationship with his friends.

After they finished eating, everyone got up and walked out.

The boys were clearly very familiar with Xu Tingyou and didn’t bother to be polite to her. While Xu Tingyou went to the front counter to pay the bill, they waited outside the door.

Across from the hot pot restaurant was a bubble tea shop. Zhao Ke’s mouth was burning from the spicy food, so he wanted to buy a cold fruit tea to cool it down. He grabbed Xu Yuanhe, who was closest to him, and they walked over together.

Fang Nanzhi had been waiting with them at the door for Xu Tingyou, but after the two boys left, it was just her and Li Yizhou.

When the four of them were standing together, she didn’t feel anything, but now that there were suddenly only two of them, she felt awkward.

Out of the corner of her eye, the person in the school uniform next to her stood tall. One hand was in his pocket, the other was scrolling through his phone. His head was slightly bowed, and his phone reflected a small patch of blue light.

A moment later, he put his phone in his pocket and realized Xu Yuanhe and Zhao Ke were gone.

“Where are they?”

Since there were only two of them, she was the only one who could answer him.

Fang Nanzhi stumbled a bit. “They’re at the bubble tea shop across the street.”

Li Yizhou looked in that direction, and after seeing the two familiar figures, he said, “They can really eat.”

After he spoke, he didn’t walk away immediately. He remained where he was, only taking out his phone again and looking at it for a while.

“All done, I’ve paid. Huh? Why are you two the only ones here?” Two minutes later, Xu Tingyou came out of the restaurant.

It was then that Li Yizhou put his phone away again and walked across the street. “They’re buying bubble tea. Wait here for a bit; I’ll go check on them.”

Xu Tingyou: “Oh.”

The wind was strong that night. Li Yizhou’s clothes were blown to the right, puffing up, but his posture was tall and straight, not swayed in the slightest.

Fang Nanzhi watched his back and was sensitive enough to realize that he had deliberately waited for Xu Tingyou to come out before he left, not leaving her to stand there by herself.

Fang Nanzhi lightly pursed her lips, her eyes squinting slightly from the wind, and her chest felt a little warm.

She knew this was just his subconscious politeness, but she still felt a little respected.

She hadn’t been completely ignored.

________________________________________

For the next week, Fang Nanzhi often explained math problems to Xu Tingyou during evening self-study or after class. Xu Tingyou would occasionally treat her to dinner or bring her drinks.

They still didn’t talk much, but their relationship had changed subtly.

After class one afternoon, Xu Tingyou closed her book and said, “My mom wants me to go home for dinner today.”

She meant that she couldn’t treat her to dinner today.

Fang Nanzhi had already felt embarrassed by the few meals Xu Tingyou had treated her to, so she quickly said, “Then you should hurry home.”

Xu Tingyou: “You’re not going back?”

“It’s my turn to be on duty this week.”

“Oh, I’m leaving then.”

Every class was assigned to clean a certain area of the school. This week, it was their class’s turn to clean the school’s back garden area. Every day, the class would send three students to clean up after class.

Today, it was Fang Nanzhi’s turn, along with Zhang Lanlan and one boy.

After the students gradually left, Fang Nanzhi took the cleaning tools from the back of the classroom, preparing to go down to the back garden.

“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom. Can you take a broom down for me?” Zhang Lanlan walked past her. Her tone was a question, but it had a hint of coldness.

Fang Nanzhi knew about Zhang Lanlan’s aloofness and cold shoulder toward her during this time, but she didn’t want to cause any trouble. Besides, taking a broom wasn’t a big deal, so she quietly agreed.

As Zhang Lanlan walked out of the classroom, the boy who was also on cleaning duty today walked over lazily. “Hey, fatty, I’m going to the bathroom too. You go first.”

This nickname didn’t become cute just because “zi” was replaced with “zhi” and therefore did not lose its mocking nature.

Fang Nanzhi had been thinking that she had been at this school for over a month now. Although her interactions with everyone were minimal to nonexistent, and the most common thing she heard was “hey,” at least she hadn’t been teased like she was at her old school, and no one had given her a nickname.

She was close to forgetting what it was like to be bullied at school.

But the word “fatty” that the boy blurted out instantly dragged her back to the past. Little fatty, tubby, fat pig... she felt like she didn’t have a name at school.

Grandma used to say, “Don’t pay attention to those naughty students at school. Just focus on your own studies.”

And she had really done that at the time. She studied hard, ignored them, and didn’t pay attention to the unpleasant remarks.

But... no matter how much she ignored it, a teenage girl always had some pride, even if it was hidden deep down and she pretended not to care.

So, when she found out she had lost some weight in middle school, she deliberately and subconsciously ate less, and even went on a diet to lose weight faster.

However, once, she fainted at home after not eating for two days. That day, her grandmother was terrified, and when she woke up, she saw her grandmother’s red eyes... She swore she would never diet again.

After that, schoolwork became too busy and the pressure was too high. She no longer had time to worry about her appearance and focused all her attention on her studies.

Her focus was still on her academics now, but some things were still the same as in the past, just hidden in her heart, pretending not to care.

Fang Nanzhi walked to the back garden alone. The late autumn leaves were scattered all over the ground. When she stepped on them, they made a crunching sound, like breaking bones.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the two people who said they were going to the bathroom never came.

In the empty back garden, she was all alone.

Fang Nanzhi lowered her head and swept the fallen leaves, sinking into a great silence.

She had tried not to care, but the emotions she had been suppressing for a month, telling herself “it’s all okay,” fell apart at this moment.

Why was it always her?

Why was she the only one no one liked?

Why did those people only bully her?

Was it because she had a bad personality, or was it because she didn’t have a glamorous appearance...?

So, was this her fault?

Was she meant to be treated as an invisible person, never deserving to be remembered?

It must be.

Fang Nanzhi took a deep breath, trying to hold back the warmth in her eyes.

But she couldn’t control it. Tears welled up in a hidden place, and she wiped them away with her hand.

Crunch, crunch...

She heard the sound of fallen leaves being crushed behind her. Someone was passing by.

She immediately turned her body to the side, not wanting anyone to see her like this.

“Fang Nanzhi?”

Suddenly, the person walking by called her name.

It was a voice that wasn’t unfamiliar, magnetic and clear... like a clear stream, a musical note on a piano, and a gravitational pull that made people unable to resist turning around.

And when the person behind her saw her turning around, revealing her red eyes, he froze for a moment, then took a few steps toward her.

The wind picked up, and the leaves swirled. In a daze, Fang Nanzhi only saw his handsome face bathed in the setting sun, bright and warm.

“Do you need help?”