I Should Be Under the Car

"Wait here for me. I'll be right back."

With that, Wuling set down his tray and turned to leave. Cartethyia watched him walk away and opened her mouth to say something, but after a moment's hesitation, she said nothing.

Wuling was not gone long. He returned in less than two and a half minutes, carrying a steaming plate of red-braised pork.

He set the pork on the table and spoke in an even tone.

"Have some with me."

Cartethyia's blue eyes widened. Her gaze fell on the glistening, tempting chunks of meat, and her fingers instinctively tightened around her chopsticks.

"I... don't need any, thank you. I have enough food of my own."

Her voice was faint. She instinctively lowered her head a little, unwilling to look up at Wuling.

"Cartethyia, we're friends, aren't we?"

Instead of answering Cartethyia directly, Wuling looked into her eyes and asked an out-of-the-blue question.

"Huh? Y-yes."

Looking into Wuling's eyes, Cartethyia instinctively looked away and stumbled over her words. Anyone watching closely would have noticed that her ears had turned bright red.

"Since we're friends, I bought more food than I can finish, so it's perfectly reasonable for you to help me eat some, right?"

Wuling spoke gently, his gaze resting calmly on Cartethyia.

At his words, Cartethyia's pale, slender fingertips trembled. The red at the tips of her ears spread to her cheeks, and a few crystalline tears welled uncontrollably in her eyes.

All her life, she had been used to shouldering everything alone, living in poverty, denying herself and treading carefully. No one had ever taken her difficulties into account, much less treated her with such tenderness.

When people saw her as she was now, they either turned a blind eye or cast sidelong glances at her. Wuling alone had chosen to offer her warmth in the most unobtrusive and considerate way.

"I..."

Her throat tightened slightly, and her voice caught almost imperceptibly. She lowered her long lashes, afraid to let him see her reddened eyes.

"Thank you, Wuling. Really, thank you."

There was no need to pity her or feel sorry for her. It was just friends sharing something, plain and simple.

Yet those few words warmed her heart more than any handout ever could.

"Then eat. It'll get cold if we leave it any longer."

Wuling did not point out her reddened eyes or offer further words of comfort. He simply took the opportunity to gently push the plate of red-braised pork closer to her.

The glossy chunks of meat were coated in sauce, steam curling upward as their mellow aroma spread over one corner of the little table.

Cartethyia sniffed, her nose tingling slightly, and blinked back the moisture in her eyes. She gently raised her chopsticks and carefully picked up a small piece of meat.

It was tender and sweet in her mouth. Its warmth flowed from her tongue into her heart, soothing away all the unease and discomfort of the past few days.

She ate in small bites, quiet and well-behaved, the blush on her cheeks lingering.

The two ate lunch together in silence, making no further effort at conversation, yet there was no awkwardness at all. The noisy voices in the cafeteria seemed far away, leaving their little corner quiet and gentle.

Calcharo and Lingyang stood at a distance, watching the heartwarming scene in prolonged silence.

Their classroom building was not far from here either. If they had come straight over, they would have arrived at most two or three minutes after Wuling.

This time, it was mainly because Calcharo had insisted on taking some shortcut, only to get them lost again. Fortunately, they had not gone as deep as last time, and after spending a little extra time, they had managed to get out.

But could someone tell them why, the moment they arrived at the cafeteria, they saw Wuling flirting with a young girl? If they remembered correctly, hadn't Wuling agreed to eat with them?

And judging by the situation, the two could say for certain that Wuling had either forgotten them or forgotten them.

As for a misunderstanding, what misunderstanding could there be when the two were already sharing a plate of food? Surely they couldn't be related by blood, could they? A long-lost younger sister?

Not bad, Rover. You'd only been at this school for two days, and you'd already picked up a young girl. So all those vows you made before were lies, huh?

That said, neither of them had any intention of going over and disturbing the pair.

What a joke. Those two were so intimate—what could they do if they went over? Be third wheels? They had no interest in that.

In the end, the two chose a less crowded spot, but as they ate, they kept shooting resentful glances in a certain direction.

"Achoo!"

Wuling was eating when his nose suddenly tickled. He could not help sneezing, shielding his nose with his arm.

"That's weird. Isn't it summer? Did I catch a cold? Or is someone talking about me behind my back?"

Wuling rubbed the reddened tip of his nose and muttered to himself, looking somewhat puzzled.

Cartethyia immediately stopped eating and looked gently at him, a hint of worry hidden in her blue eyes.

"Did you catch a chill from the breeze? The air conditioning in the cafeteria is set a little low."

Her voice was soft and gentle, as though she feared disturbing the peaceful atmosphere between them.

Wuling laughed and shook his head.

"I should be fine. Probably just my imagination. Oh, right, let's add each other on WeChat after we eat. That way, it'll be easier to reach each other if anything comes up."

"Okay."

Unlike the atmosphere here, in another corner of the cafeteria, two deeply resentful gazes were fixed firmly on him.

Calcharo shovelled rice from his bowl, grinding his teeth. He chewed every mouthful with the force of someone venting his anger, as though he were treating the grains on his plate as a certain person.

He secretly glanced sideways at the pair in the distance. The more he watched, the angrier and more envious he became.

"Unbelievable. Seriously unbelievable."

Calcharo lowered his voice, brimming with resentment.

"We agreed to eat together after class, and what happened? He went and got himself a girlfriend behind our backs, and now they're even sharing a plate. I wanted a chicken leg, and he never gave me one."

Lingyang's fingers paused slightly on his chopsticks. A rare trace of helplessness appeared on his face, and though his tone was even, his words were a complaint.

"He was just saying he'd focus on his studies in his first year and try not to fail any courses, and wouldn't get involved in personal matters. Those vows had an awfully short shelf life."

"Two days! Just two days!"

Calcharo nearly slammed the table and roared, but forced himself to hold back. All he could do was lower his head and eat in aggrieved silence.

"We were only a few minutes late, and we were hurrying over to meet him for a meal. But he already had a beauty at his side!"

The two gazed at the corner from afar.

The young man was gentle and accommodating, the young woman shy and well-behaved. They shared a plate of red-braised pork in a quiet, tender atmosphere. No matter how one looked at them, they were a perfect match.

There was absolutely no room for anyone to come between them.

One side was warm and peaceful; the other was full of resentment.

Wuling had no idea that his two roommates had completely misunderstood him. He continued eating calmly, his head lowered.

After the meal, Cartethyia thanked Wuling sincerely, and they added each other on WeChat.

The two walked out of the cafeteria side by side. A midday breeze swept along the tree-lined path, dispelling the heat.

"Thank you so much for today."

Cartethyia stopped and looked earnestly at Wuling, her eyes clear and sincere.

"I-I'll remember this. I'll definitely repay you someday."

"I told you, we're friends." Wuling smiled faintly. "You don't have to keep dwelling on it. Why stand on so much ceremony between friends?"

The two said goodbye at the crossroads and headed to their respective dorms.

Wuling walked along at a leisurely pace, unable to shake the feeling that he had forgotten something.

But since he had already forgotten it, it probably was not important.

When he returned to the men's dorm and pushed open the door to his room, two intensely oppressive gazes instantly locked onto him.

Calcharo stood with his arms crossed and his back against the desk, wearing a complicated expression that said, "I see right through you."

Lingyang sat upright at the desk and looked up at him. His tone was mild, but every word struck at the soul:

"You had quite a feast at lunch."