Chapter 6: Mangosteen

When the noon bell rang, the crowd came surging out of the classroom, splitting off toward the delivery pickup spot, the school gate, and the cafeteria.

The newly opened dry-pot chicken stall was booming, just as expected.

College students hold the utmost respect for cheap and tasty food—they'll queue up for it!

Qin Shuangshuang dragged Wen Tian over to line up.

Sui Mi pulled a wet wipe from her bag, handed one to Yu Qingxian, and the two of them quickly wiped down the cafeteria table.

They'd barely sat down and exchanged a few words.

Yu Qingxian suddenly tilted her head slightly, looking past Sui Mi's shoulder, then quickly pulled her gaze back, lips pressed together in a faint smile.

"Someone's here for you."

Sui Mi: "?"

Before she could react, the soft squeak of sneakers against the floor sounded, and a figure came rushing to her side like the wind.

A male voice, tinged with delight: "Sui Mi, what a coincidence—you guys eat at the First Cafeteria too?"

Sui Mi was half a beat slow, turning her eyes toward him.

Standing beside her was a guy in a basketball jersey, with regular, handsome features, grinning brightly.

"What are you guys eating? Dry-pot chicken?"

The guy greeted them with easy familiarity. Seeing Yu Qingxian nod, he immediately said, "I've had it—it's pretty good, though it gets a bit salty toward the end."

"I remember you like lighter flavors."

The guy stole a glance at Sui Mi. Meeting her clear, dark apricot eyes, he scratched his reddening ear and unconsciously sped up his speech.

"I'll go buy you some milk—wait here."

With that, just as he'd come, he dashed off like the wind toward the self-service vending machine by the wall.

He nearly collided with Qin Shuangshuang, who was just coming back with a tray.

Qin Shuangshuang dodged to the side, didn't get a clear look at him, and grumbled as she set down the tray: "What blind big rat went scurrying past?"

Yu Qingxian: "It's Guan Teng."

Qin Shuangshuang immediately swallowed her complaints, drawing out the syllable: "Ohh—"

She grinned at Sui Mi. "So it's that junior from the computer science department!"

"..."

Only after Yu Qingxian and Qin Shuangshuang supplied the guy's information did Sui Mi finally, belatedly, remember him.

Guan Teng, a freshman in the computer science school, who'd pursued her for quite a while back in college.

Cheerful and enthusiastic, with a pair of earnest puppy-dog eyes, brimming with vitality from head to toe.

Sui Mi was pretty—small, fair face, delicate features. On the day she reported to Jingda, she'd worn loose casual clothes, casually tied her hair in a low ponytail, and while she was bent over writing her name in the registration book, someone had snapped a photo and submitted it to the confession wall.

Over four years of college, plenty of people pursued her.

They came in a queue, and left in a queue.

Guan Teng counted as one of the more persistent ones.

No help for it—Sui Mi was genuinely hard to pursue.

Her family was well-off; little gifts and small bouquets couldn't move her.

And she was lazy by nature. Ask her out to play—outdoor activities felt too sunny, indoor activities felt stuffy. She was picky about food and movies; different tastes meant never meeting again...

Most guys just chased her because she was pretty, and the first hurdle—their own looks—already failed them.

As for Guan Teng.

Sui Mi thought about it. The reason she'd decided to reject him outright back then seemed to be that he was also one of those high-energy people.

Like a big golden retriever.

He needed enough time each day to be let out and walked. Once the dog wasn't walked, the dog would turn around and demolish the house.

Sui Mi, with her personality of lying down wherever she went, really couldn't handle that.

...Strange.

She'd used "also."

Xi Jianbai was the king of grinders among grinders—so why did being with him never feel exhausting?

Sui Mi thought as she stood up, intending to go stop Guan Teng from buying anything.

She took two steps out.

Then she abruptly stopped.

Beside the vending machine was a glass window that hadn't been cleaned in a while, coated in a faint film of grease and dust, as if a blur filter had been applied.

If she hadn't happened to look over, she never would've noticed—someone was standing outside the window, she didn't know since when.

Tall and straight. When he tilted his head, the light cut diagonally across, tracing the deep, cold, hard contours of his features.

His brows and eyes were lowered, long lashes casting dark shadows, pressing down on the pale light in his gaze—cold and sharp as ice over snow.

He'd been quietly watching the guy at the vending machine, thin lips curved in a barely-there arc.

That utterly mirthless, indifferent gaze, paired with that subtle curve, through the less-than-clear glass—he was clearly standing in sunlight, yet there was a ghostly, chilling coldness to him.

He noticed Sui Mi getting up.

The pale eyes shifted, slowly, drawing toward her.

In the blink of an eye, the young man gave her a faint nod, his brows and eyes still calm and aloof.

Like it was an illusion.

Sui Mi froze for a few seconds. Before she could look closer, her view was filled by Guan Teng turning around with the milk.

Seeing her come over, Guan Teng looked rather flattered.

Flashing a row of white teeth, he beamed. "Just sit over there—I'll bring it to you."

"No need."

Sui Mi answered hurriedly, unconsciously stepping to the side, her gaze going back to that glass window.

Outside the window, only branches and leaves swayed gently in the breeze.

Xi Jianbai's figure was nowhere to be seen.

-

In the end, Sui Mi accepted that bottle of milk.

Not just because she didn't want to get into a tug-of-war with Guan Teng over a bottle of milk in a crowded place like the cafeteria.

But also because Xi Jianbai's sudden appearance reminded her of something.

Before her rebirth, she'd been about to divorce Xi Jianbai.

But it wasn't the marriage itself that had gone wrong.

On the contrary, Sui Mi had been very comfortable in that marriage.

With her parents' business-arranged marriage—falling in love after marriage—as an example before her.

And her own experience of treating each other with respect alongside Xi Jianbai.

Sui Mi wasn't averse to marriage.

That being the case, rather than Xi Jianbai—introduced by her parents, met through a blind date, only later discovering they'd once been schoolmates—perhaps she could start now, carefully handpicking, scouting for herself?

Sui Mi's requirements weren't high.

At the most basic: tall, handsome, sufficiently considerate and respectful.

Must have his own career, because she didn't like partners who were too clingy.

Good physique, ideally matching her preferences.

Just like... just like in her dream last night.

So Sui Mi sized Guan Teng up a few times, thoughtfully scanning his firm, exposed arms, staring until the guy's ears went red—then she curved her eyes and accepted the bottle of milk.

Guan Teng happily went off to meet up with his friends.

Sui Mi sat down. When she looked up, she met her roommates' gossipy, curious gazes.

Qin Shuangshuang bit her chopsticks, unable to hold back at all. "Are you going to date Guan Teng?"

Before Sui Mi could figure out how to answer, Qin Shuangshuang asked again: "But didn't you say you like aloof guys?"

Sui Mi: "?"

Sui Mi: "When did I say that?"

Qin Shuangshuang tried hard to recall, her brows scrunching into a tight knot.

It was Wen Tian beside her, leisurely wiping her chopsticks, who spoke first. "The comments under your confession wall post from when you enrolled."

"Someone said they were in the same year as you in high school and witnessed it—a guy blocked your path on the way to the cafeteria and made a big show of confessing."

"You said you don't like talkative guys, you like the aloof type—ideally someone who wouldn't make a sound even if you slapped him."

Sui Mi: "..."