Calm, tolerant, and benevolent

Wu Qie was genuinely hungry.

The restaurant he chose wasn’t far from Hongtie High School.

After leaving the school gate, it was about a fifteen-minute walk.

Hidden among winding streets and small alleys was an old shop famous for its fig chicken hot pot.

Dried figs were simmered together with a packet of medicinal herbs to create the clear soup base.

The old hen was deboned and cut into pieces with the skin left on, plate after plate sliding into the pot.

The broth was sweet, the skin crisp but not greasy.

On a slightly cool autumn night like this, it felt just right.

Wu Qie had come here before with colleagues from school.

When he first arrived in Jiangcheng, he hadn’t been used to the dining habits here.

Now he was already familiar with them.

After sitting down, the owner brought over a kettle of boiling water and a small plastic basin that looked like something used for washing one’s face.

He placed them on the table and immediately drifted away again.

The black-haired young man skillfully tore open the plastic packaging of three sets of tableware.

Plates stacked on bowls, bowls stacked on cups, cups stacked on spoons.

Everything was placed neatly into the plastic basin.

Boiling water was poured over them.

Sterilized.

The white porcelain tableware still held the warmth of the hot water when Wu Qie placed it in front of the young man across the table.

The water had been scalding.

After setting down the chopsticks and bowl, Wu Qie pinched his earlobe to cool his fingers.

Only after finishing this series of actions did he look up and realize that Pei Qingyu had been watching him the whole time.

“……”

Wu Qie suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

This person used to be nothing more than his secret crush.

Two weeks ago, if someone had told Wu Qie that he would be eating dinner with his crush at nine o’clock at night, he would probably have told them to stop talking nonsense before they got food poisoning.

Yet somehow it had actually happened.

He, Wu Qie, had somehow dragged the beloved only son of Jiangcheng’s high-ranking law enforcement director to a late-night stall where the average cost was 72 yuan per person.

This young master might never have even used tableware that came sealed in plastic before.

“Student Pei,”

Teacher Wu licked his lips and shifted nervously in his seat, still remembering the idiom mending the fence after the sheep are lost.

“Will you be uncomfortable eating at a roadside stall like this?”

In Wu Qie’s impression, young masters like them—even when eating barbecue—would still go to private restaurants where staff peeled shrimp for them.

Wu Qie asked cautiously.

Pei Qingyu, however, seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

“Teacher,” he said calmly,

“Even young masters have taste buds.”

“?”

“The small shop in Hongtie High’s elementary division sells spicy strips for fifty cents a pack.”

“……”

Wu Qie slowly let out an “Oh.”

He realized he might really be too nervous.

His heart had been racing ever since earlier.

At this rate it would definitely get him a speeding ticket.

He absurdly thought that if the person sitting across from him were Zhao Shu instead, things might actually be easier.

Zhao Shu would probably think bringing a dog to eat chicken hot pot was already generous treatment.

And he definitely wouldn’t help sterilize the bowls.

Wu Qie silently thanked the moonlight outside.

If it had been bright daylight, Pei Qingyu might have immediately noticed how red the back of his neck had become.

It was probably red.

Because he felt incredibly hot and had no idea where to place his hands.

When the owner brought the pot base, Pei Qingyu shifted his sitting posture slightly.

“Hungry,” he said lightly, sounding almost expectant.

He seemed perfectly comfortable with a seventy-yuan restaurant.

Wu Qie believed he was truly hungry.

Because the phone lying on the table rang again for the third time while Pei Qingyu was calling Zhao Shu.

He was probably asking when Zhao Shu would arrive.

If he was close, they could start eating without waiting.

Wu Qie held his chopsticks but didn’t dare look directly at Pei Qingyu.

Instead he stared at the phone screen in front of him, as if trying to distract himself.

He watched as Pei Qingyu’s third call to Zhao Shu was rejected.

No answer.

Pei Qingyu didn’t call a fourth time.

Under Wu Qie’s shocked gaze, the young man simply set his phone down, stood up, and poured a plate of chicken into the boiling pot.

Before Wu Qie could react, Pei Qingyu had already scooped half of the cooked chicken with a ladle and placed it into Wu Qie’s bowl.

The chicken skin was golden, the meat tender white, coated in the sweet fig broth.

Wu Qie’s stomach twisted in response.

It was also very hot.

“Aren’t we waiting for Zhao Shu?”

“If someone doesn’t answer three calls,” Pei Qingyu said calmly while eating,

“either they’re dead or they’re busy and not coming.”

Wu Qie let out another quiet “Oh.”

Then lowered his head and ate.

While secretly scooping himself some soup, he heard Pei Qingyu casually ask across the steaming pot,

“So… Teacher, would you consider canceling your engagement with Zhao Shu?”

Wu Qie’s hand trembled.

The spoon nearly dropped back into the pot.

“Huh?”

Pei Qingyu wiped his mouth elegantly—somehow managing to look Michelin-star refined at a roadside stall.

Through the rising steam, he looked at the confused Beta.

“This is the second time today he’s stood you up.”

“……”

“The first time was because he attended Lin Zuwen’s gathering.”

Pei Qingyu paused.

“This time it’s probably because Lin Zuwen dragged him away again.”

“Mm, whatever,” Wu Qie replied.

If being stood up meant sitting here right now eating dinner with the person he wanted to see…

He would happily build a pigeon coop in his heart.

And fill it with pigeons cooing nonstop.

“Teacher really has a good temper,” Pei Qingyu said.

Wu Qie wasn’t sure whether that was sincere or sarcasm, so he didn’t respond.

The table fell into a quiet but not awkward silence.

Wu Qie lowered his head and drank soup, pretending to be very busy.

The meal lasted over an hour.

Pei Qingyu wasn’t very talkative, but the two of them occasionally chatted about the basketball team.

Wu Qie asked about the competition Pei Qingyu had attended.

Pei Qingyu showed him a photo of himself standing on a podium holding a trophy.

Awards like that had enormous value.

Winning even one could basically secure admission to top universities domestically or abroad.

And apparently Pei Qingyu had several.

Maybe it was just the way people looked at their crushes.

But even remembering Zhao Shu’s warnings, Wu Qie still couldn’t find a single flaw in the person sitting next to him.

Good family.

Smart.

Polite.

No messy romantic or ABO scandals.

At some point during the meal, Pei Qingyu moved his chair closer under the excuse of showing photos.

The two of them ended up sitting side by side.

He even showed Wu Qie pictures of his cat.

The cat was a pure black Maine Coon named “His Majesty.”

His Majesty lived freely in the courtyard of the Pei family’s ancestral home.

Whenever family members returned, they would habitually look up at the roof and call out “Your Majesty.”

The cat would silently climb down from the rooftop.

Then when the returning person reached the entrance and began changing shoes, the cat would suddenly appear at the gate meowing in greeting.

Wu Qie had always wanted a cat.

But his father, Wu Wenxiong, was allergic to cat fur and stubbornly refused to undergo allergy treatment.

If there had been a “If You Are the One” matchmaking show button in front of Wu Qie right now, he would probably have smashed it repeatedly when he heard that the cat weighed over twenty pounds and was longer than a small dog.

Right then, Zhao Shu finally called.

Pei Qingyu was showing Wu Qie a low-angle photo of the cat when the call notification appeared.

The two of them stopped talking and looked at each other.

Pei Qingyu pressed decline.

Moments later Zhao Shu sent a message.

[I’m coming over now.]

It was almost ten at night.

After disappearing for so long, Zhao Shu suddenly popped up again like a resurrected ghost.

Wu Qie felt annoyed.

Why did he have to appear now?

Both of them stared at the phone in silence for a moment.

Finally Pei Qingyu said something shocking.

“Zhao Shu suddenly seems to think I’m some kind of suspicious villain. He’s worried about leaving you alone with me.”

Wu Qie said awkwardly,

“Uh.”

The truth might actually be the opposite.

He’s worried I’m the one with bad intentions toward you.

When Zhao Shu sent another impatient message asking why Pei Qingyu hung up and how long they planned to eat, Wu Qie simply smiled, said nothing, and stood up to pay the bill.

After paying, Wu Qie and Pei Qingyu walked back toward the school together.

The Pei family driver was waiting at the school gate.

Wu Qie had originally wondered why Pei Qingyu insisted on walking back.

After all, a multi-million yuan luxury car could easily drive to a seventy-two-yuan chicken hot pot stall.

Only when they reached the school gate did the truth become clear.

Pei Qingyu looked surprised.

“Teacher didn’t drive to school?”

He had assumed Wu Qie had a car parked there.

Wu Qie shook his head.

For the past few days he had been going home in Zhao Shu’s family car after basketball practice, so he hadn’t been driving himself.

When dealing with smart people, sometimes explanations weren’t necessary.

After a brief exchange of looks, Pei Qingyu simply said,

“Get in.”

That night, Wu Qie rode home in the Pei family car.

When he changed shoes in the entrance, he was still thinking about Pei Qingyu’s invitation to visit his house and see the cat.

Wu Qie truly loved cats.

Especially a giant black Maine Coon that looked like a small dog.

His mood was pretty good.

While responding to his mother Li Junbi’s suggestive question—

“Who were you having dinner with so late?”

—Wu Qie glanced at his phone.

Two unread messages from Zhao Shu.

One from an hour ago.

[Shu: I’ll come later.]

One from twenty minutes ago.

[Shu: Where are you guys?]

Wu Qie stared at the screen and thought, You idiot.

If we were eating at home I might at least invite you to lick the plate.

It’s practically dawn and you’re just now saying you’re coming.

He didn’t want to reply.

But ignoring it might look like he was sulking.

So while standing in the entrance—one foot already in a slipper and the other still bare—Wu Qie straightened up quickly.

He flipped the camera, pointed it at his face, and expressionlessly made a peace sign.

Click.

A selfie.

[Wu Qie: (photo)]

[Wu Qie: Already home.]

Five neat words.

No emotion at all.

Plus a very good-looking selfie.

After adjusting his slightly damp but still perfectly styled hair, Teacher Wu felt extremely satisfied with every strand of it today.