A Midnight Snack and a Debt of Gratitude

Xi Ruo’s intuition proved correct; they hadn’t even reached the main entrance when the entire team was already waiting.

“Ruo-jie, where did you disappear to? We’ve all been waiting.”

“We agreed to a celebration feast, and if Ruo-jie isn’t at the table, none of us dare touch our chopsticks.”

“Ruo-jie, you were amazing! I didn’t get a chance to say it on the court.”

Having just concluded their match, and after showering and changing, the players’ excitement still hadn’t fully subsided.

“I just had a small engagement,” Xi Ruo stated casually. “And I ate a little something, so I won’t be able to eat much later.”

A few girls nearby paused, slightly taken aback.

“A small engagement, and she ate…”

“Hold on, Ruo-jie, you didn’t just go to meet…”

Several of them suddenly recalled that yesterday in the locker room, during their discussion about today’s game, Xi Ruo had only changed her mind and decided to participate after learning that “the high school division would be coming to watch.” Furthermore, they had even touched upon dating topics before that.

No elaborate deduction was needed; a quick run through simple logic made everything abundantly clear.

“That’s incredible, Ruo-jie! You managed to sneak away for a private meeting right under everyone’s noses, without a soul being the wiser.”

“Ruo-jie, come on, tell us! Was it a junior boy or a junior girl?”

“Where did you two eat?”

Realizing that everyone had already caught on, Xi Ruo saw no need to feign ignorance any longer, stating directly, “Stop asking. I’ll introduce them to you when the opportunity arises.”

Truth be told, during the match earlier, she had intended to point out Xi Yao in the stands to her teammates.

To her surprise, when she glanced up, she found her beloved “big-chested girl” affectionately cuddling with another girl.

Fortunately, her hand had been slow to move; had she actually pointed, the ensuing awkwardness would have been unbearable.

“But Ruo-jie, how much ‘later’ are we talking about?”

“Exactly, exactly! Is there a more concrete timeframe?”

“Stop fooling around, are you going to eat or not?” Xi Ruo said, her voice still light. “It’s perfectly fine if you don’t, since I’ve already eaten before coming back anyway.”

“…”

****

“Have you, by any chance, already eaten?”

As Xi Yao made her way back to her dorm room, the air buzzed with excited chatter about today’s basketball game, with “Goddess Xi Ruo” being the ubiquitous topic.

Even the girls she passed downstairs in the dorm building had flushed cheeks, their excitement palpable.

Only her own roommate, Jiang Li, sat quietly in their dorm room, a book laid open before her.

It was the German textbook for her elective course this semester.

Xi Yao felt a pang of worry, wondering if her roommate might have returned directly without even having dinner.

“I went to the cafeteria and ate just a tiny bit,” Jiang Li replied, without raising her head. “I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I simply came back.”

Of course, she wouldn’t confess to Xi Yao that without her “munching away” right beside her, the cafeteria food had lost its aroma, suddenly becoming utterly unappetizing.

This was a severe and utterly irrational dependency, beyond comprehension.

Perhaps the profound German textbook before her could help her regain some composure.

“Oh, I see, alright then,” Xi Yao said, blinking. “What will you do if you get hungry later tonight?”

“By the time I’m hungry, I’ll already be asleep,” Jiang Li replied nonchalantly. “If I’m asleep, I won’t feel a thing.”

Xi Yao considered this and found it logical, having heard that girls often refrained from eating late at night.

So, goodnight then.

The dorm’s bathhouse wouldn’t be available until tomorrow night, so for now, they could only quickly wash up and then climb into bed to rest.

The night sky above Wenlu Academy was remarkably bright, though it vanished from view once the curtains were drawn.

“I’m turning off the light now,” Xi Yao confirmed with her roommate. “If you heard me, just say goodnight.”

Jiang Li hesitated for a brief moment, then burrowed deeper into her quilt. “Goodnight,” she murmured.

Click. The light went out.

In the tranquil night, a perfect time for girls to drift peacefully to sleep, the well-insulated room offered not a whisper of noise.

Then, Jiang Li found herself too hungry to fall asleep.

“Xi- Xi Yao, are you awake?”

Her voice was barely a whisper, as though she feared being overheard.

However, Xi Yao, who happened to still be awake, replied, “What’s wrong?”

“I, um…”

Jiang Li was spared the embarrassment of uttering the difficult words herself, for her stomach chose that opportune moment to let out a distinct “grumble.”

A few minutes later, Xi Yao had fetched a cup of warm water and placed it on the table.

“See, I told you! A person is like iron, and rice is like steel; miss one meal, and you’ll be famished. Don’t harbor that 侥幸心理 (TL Note: a Chinese idiom referring to a mentality of ‘taking chances’ or ‘hoping for the best despite risks’), always thinking you might just fall asleep before the hunger truly sets in.”

Clutching the red bean bread Xi Yao had given her, Jiang Li’s beautiful face was flushed as crimson as the beans themselves, and she lowered her head, nibbling the bread without daring to speak.

It was a stroke of luck that Xi Yao had a few loaves of bread in her backpack, brought from home; otherwise, Jiang Li would have truly suffered tonight.

“Eat slowly,” Xi Yao instructed from beside her. “One bite of bread, one sip of water. Mind your pace and ensure proper digestion.”

Jiang Li slowly consumed the bread, then drank the water, feeling as though she had been brought back to life.

“Thank you, Xi Yao,” she said, her cheeks still faintly flushed. “How can I possibly repay you?”

Xi Yao waved a dismissive hand. “It was just a piece of bread; it’s nothing. No need for thanks.”

Despite Xi Yao’s words, Jiang Li still felt a profound sense of obligation, primarily because her pride wouldn’t allow her to simply let it go. She absolutely had to find a way to repay the kindness.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand in your studies,” Jiang Li offered after a moment of thought, “I can tutor you. I recall you… having a slight issue there.”

She had previously glimpsed her roommate’s final exam scores from the last semester, which had been, to put it mildly, merely average.

Xi Yao paused, a slight twitch at the corner of her lips. “Actually, I… don’t quite have that problem,” she corrected.

“?” Jiang Li blinked, her expression one of clear confusion.

“What if I told you I just casually took the final exam last semester, holding back? Would you believe me?” Xi Yao let out a dry, short laugh. “Alright, you definitely wouldn’t, but I genuinely don’t have any issues.”

Though Jiang Li was undoubtedly a genius, Xi Yao herself had once been a university student. The thought of being tutored by a high school girl in this lifetime presented a psychological barrier she simply couldn’t surmount.

It would feel like a betrayal of her own three years of arduous study and dedication.

“Anyway, let’s just go to sleep,” Xi Yao said, climbing back into her bed. “It’s getting very late.”

“…Mm.”

****

The following day marked the official start of classes, with teachers taking turns to explain the new curriculum for second-year high school students.

Just as she had anticipated, Xi Yao found herself completely at ease with the material.

While for others, learning involved building knowledge from the ground up, for her, it was merely a process of reviewing and retrieving information from the depths of her memory.

Jiang Li, who had been discreetly observing her deskmate all day, was genuinely astonished by her learning capabilities.

Could this “big-chested girl” truly have just casually taken her final exams, not putting in her full effort, exactly as she claimed last night?

Hiding tactics in minor games, and even in minor exams?

However, this realization left Jiang Li with a rather vexing problem.

“Since you don’t need academic tutoring, then what else can I possibly do to show my gratitude?” she inquired.

Xi Yao was momentarily taken aback, and it took her a good while to realize that Jiang Li was still fixated on that bread from the previous night.

Was she truly that persistent?

“If you truly insist on showing your gratitude…”

Xi Yao stretched languidly, suddenly recalling the dorm announcement that the bathhouse would be fully operational starting tonight.

“Yes,” Jiang Li stated earnestly. “I absolutely must thank you.”

“Then help me scrub my back!”

“…?”