"Woof"

He Ao moved incredibly fast.

Yuan Nan Nan stopped talking and watched his movements in a dizzying blur. When she saw him toss the noodles out of the ladle, catch them, and flip all the noodles over in midair, she even clapped.

"So amazing!"

Once He Ao had packed up the two bowls of noodles and handed them over, Yuan Nan Nan's eyes were already filled with stars as she looked at him. "He Ao, you're amazing!"

As she spoke, she mimicked the ladle-flipping motion He Ao had just made with her hands. "This, this—I've only seen this on TV and with those master chefs before. You're really amazing! How did you do that?"

"No trick to it. Just practice."

He Ao laughed helplessly.

He had already realized that Yuan Nan Nan was the kind of girl who had grown up carefree. She had not seen much of the world, but she had retained her innocence.

"Thank you."

Seeing that He Ao did not seem to care much about this awkward encounter, Liu Nan slowly let out a breath of relief.

She had known classmates from poorer families who were terrified of other students finding out that they had part-time jobs or difficult home lives. They would usually be embarrassed if someone ran into them.

After all, there really were people who would see a classmate running a street stall and spread it everywhere, even mocking them outright. Most students were thin-skinned and proud, unable to bear that kind of blow.

At that moment, Liu Nan suddenly realized that there did not seem to be any rumors at school about He Ao running a street stall.

Logically, with his stall so close to the school, he should have been easily spotted.

Then she suddenly recalled all those rumors she had heard from Yuan Nan Nan—that He Ao had "fought bloodily against thugs" and was "fierce and ruthless." Could He Ao have created those rumors himself to hide the fact that he ran a street stall?

But she quickly dismissed the idea. Judging from how skillfully He Ao had knocked out the trafficker who wanted to kidnap her, and how familiar he was with the police, He Ao probably really did have some "side business."

She looked at He Ao and suddenly felt that this classmate was gradually being shrouded in layers of mystery, as if he possessed countless secrets.

Whenever she thought she had uncovered one hidden side of him, he would immediately reveal another, like peeling an onion. Layer upon layer, she could not tell which one was real.

Yuan Nan Nan did not have as many thoughts as Liu Nan. She simply opened one of the packed portions of cold noodles, unwrapped the chopsticks, picked up a mouthful, and brought it to her lips. Then she froze. "So good!"

She slurped the noodles into her mouth in two or three bites, then looked at He Ao through a mouthful of food. "He Ao, everyone at school says you have a private gang. They say you lead your brothers out every night to seize territory, and some people say you belong to some mysterious organization with superpowers, secretly protecting world peace.

"So you sell cold noodles here... slurp... They're so good."

"What kind of ridiculous rumors have you been listening to..." He Ao looked at her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I'm just a law-abiding student who sells cold noodles. I don't have any gang affiliation, and I'm not a member of some mysterious organization protecting world peace."

Liu Nan held the other bowl of noodles in her hand and opened her mouth slightly.

She clearly remembered that when the two traffickers' accomplices saw He Ao, they had called him "Ao Ge" and fled in terror.

He Ao said he had no other identity, but she did not quite dare believe him...

"Oh, so that's how it is."

But Yuan Nan Nan genuinely believed him. She nodded while gazing at He Ao with starry eyes. "They're so good! He Ao, you're amazing!"

"We were going to treat you to some snacks," Liu Nan said helplessly as she looked at her friend, then at He Ao. Yuan Nan Nan was just like that—when she saw delicious food, she could not move on. Her life revolved around looking for good food everywhere. "But I didn't expect you to be the Boss yourself."

She thought for a moment. "This definitely doesn't count as treating you. Are you free sometime soon? I want to treat you to a meal."

She widened her eyes and looked at He Ao sincerely.

The late-night breeze stirred the girl's curls, brushing across her fair skin and beautiful cheeks.

Ever since she was young, Liu Nan had been the kind of beauty everyone noticed at school. The sort of person who would draw the eyes of both boys and girls whenever she walked through a crowd.

The advantage of being beautiful was that life came with many conveniences. Strangers would pay for her meals, boys would eagerly help carry her luggage, people were more willing to compromise during negotiations and deals, and she was more likely to receive high marks in interviews and speeches.

Liu Nan basically never mistreated anyone who had helped her.

But few people could refuse her requests to her face, because she was simply too beautiful.

People were always biased toward attractive people. Even many girls could not refuse Liu Nan's requests in person.

Refusing over the phone was understandable.

But now that they were face-to-face, surely he could not refuse an invitation to dinner from such a beautiful girl?

When she asked the question, He Ao visibly hesitated. He did not reject her outright and seemed to fall into thought.

Liu Nan let out a long breath inwardly.

It was the first time she had realized that treating someone to a meal could be so difficult. If she could not even get him to the table, would repaying He Ao's favor not become even harder? She had to at least get started somehow.

Her beauty offensive would never fail! If it failed, she'd be a puppy!

He Ao seemed to have truly fallen into deep thought. He slowly crouched down and took a small black notebook from the little drawer beneath the stall.

Then he opened it to a page and counted one by one. "Classmate Liu Nan, there are still one, two, three, four, five—five people ahead of you. We should follow the order, right? I think you're being too persistent. I'm not free all the time either. When it's your turn, I'll contact you. You don't have to insist on treating me to a meal right away..."

As he spoke, he noticed Liu Nan's eyes gradually going blank.

"Classmate Liu Nan?"

He called out in confusion.

Liu Nan came back to herself, stared blankly at He Ao, then gritted her teeth.

"Woof!"

He Ao: ?

"Nan Nan, let's go back."

Her face bright red, Liu Nan directly grabbed Yuan Nan Nan, who was focused on eating her noodles, and pulled her outside. It was impossible to tell whether she was angry or embarrassed.

"Liu Nan, wait until I finish this bite."

Yuan Nan Nan was dragged away by Liu Nan with an utterly bewildered expression.

He Ao felt as though there must have been a question mark floating above his head.

She had been quiet and reasonable just moments ago, so why had she suddenly become like this?

How strange.

But He Ao did not keep thinking about it. After Liu Nan left, the crowd gradually grew, and he had to get busy making money.

"Boss, how much are your cold noodles?"

Just as He Ao sent off the last customer in that wave of people, a crisp female voice rang out in front of him.

He looked up.

It was a girl with chin-length short hair and a simple black mask. Her eyes and the upper half of her face were covered in exquisite makeup, and her eyes were as clear and bright as gemstones.