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She felt a little disappointed.

"Milk or juice?"

Ji Qi took six drinks from the Automatic Beverage Machine and handed one to each of them, drawing Ruan Mian out of her disappointment. "Milk. Thank you, Ji Qi."

"You're welcome," Ji Qi said.

He looked at her in surprise. "Are you a thank-you robot?"

Ruan Mian didn't understand what he meant. "What?"

"Have you counted how many times you've said thank you today?" Ji Qi explained.

"No." Ruan Mian froze, realizing that she really had been saying it over and over.

She had received so much kindness here that she felt grateful from the bottom of her heart.

"You don't have to be so polite. We're classmates helping each other out," Qiao Yi said, coming to her rescue.

They had all noticed how uneasy Ruan Mian felt.

Ruan Mian nodded firmly. "Thank you."

Realizing she had said it again, she looked at a loss.

"If you want to say thank you, then say it. It's okay," Shen Baili said.

"Do whatever feels comfortable for you."

Ji Qi agreed. "Exactly!"

"Once we know each other better, maybe you won't keep saying it."

He considerately changed the subject. "Didn't that friend of yours come to the cafeteria?"

"Taotao?" Shen Baili realized she hadn't seen Zhu Zhitao or Sang Fang. She glanced toward the cafeteria entrance, but neither of them was there.

"Maybe a teacher kept them after class," Qiao Yi suggested.

Every teacher in Zhu Zhitao's class had the bad habit of letting lessons run late. Zhu Zhitao had complained about it countless times.

"That's rough," Ji Qi said sympathetically.

Just as they mentioned her, Zhu Zhitao arrived.

"You're almost done eating!" Zhu Zhitao sat down beside Qiao Yi. "This time it was the Geography teacher."

"They've run out of the Braised Pork