Have you taken a fancy to my pan-fried buns?

At that, Gu Yun froze in his seat. After a long while, he smiled and said, "Indeed."

Bai Chen felt there was something a little strange about Gu Yun today, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He gathered his things, picked up his backpack, and left the dorm.

The pan-fried buns in the second-floor cafeteria were good today, and Bai Chen ate quite a few extra. Since coming to this world, all the chronic ailments of his old body had disappeared. Everything he ate tasted amazing.

Before he developed stomach problems, he had loved spicy or fried food. Afterward, he hadn't dared eat any of it. It irritated his stomach too much, and one careless bite could make his condition flare up badly again.

Back then, he had desperately hoped he could eat chili peppers one more time in his life, though he had known how unrealistic that was.

He hadn't expected this body's original owner to fulfill that wish for him. This was pure bliss.

With a little of the cafeteria's special bird's eye chili added to a pan-fried bun, the first bite sent a rush straight to his brain. It tasted incredible.

But Bai Chen had barely taken a few bites when someone suddenly sat down across from him and reached out to offer him a cup of soy milk.

Bai Chen's first impression was that the guy had beautiful hands, slender and fair. He was cute, too, with big eyes and long eyelashes.

He was the sort of boy who looked sweet and well-behaved at first glance.

He wore a light blue hoodie, and his eyes sparkled as he watched Bai Chen. Smiling, he said, "Hi there. My name is Xia Wangqiu."

Bai Chen: ???

What's going on? Why did he suddenly sit down across from me? This doesn't feel good.

Bai Chen looked at him and asked, "Hi. Is there something you need help with?"

People don't butter you up for no reason. He must be after something!

At that, the guy suddenly looked a little embarrassed and scratched his chin.

Bai Chen: ...?

"Go ahead. I'll see if I can help."

Bai Chen quietly waited for Xia Wangqiu, thinking that if he kept dragging this out, he would leave immediately.

The guy finally forced out what he wanted to say, one word at a time. "You're a freshman, right? You and Gu Yun share a dorm room?"

His eyes remained fixed on Bai Chen as he spoke.

Hah-sure enough, he's here to ask about Gu Yun.

"Yes." Bai Chen was like a cold AI, answering only what he was asked.

"Really?! That's great! I often see you eating with Gu Yun. I happened to run into you on your own today, and I thought I might have mistaken you for someone else." The boy spoke without hiding a thing.

"Let me guess. You want Gu Yun's contact details, don't you?" Bai Chen said.

Almost certainly.

Whose else could he possibly want?

"N-no. I wanted yours, Bai Chen." Xia Wangqiu smiled at him.

Bai Chen: "...???"

Bai Chen was startled by his answer.

Wasn't he here to ask about Gu Yun? Why was he asking for Bai Chen's number instead?

Seeing Bai Chen look at him as though he had just caught him eating shit, the boy hurried to explain, "I'm not asking for your contact details to do anything bad. I just want to be friends."

Bai Chen didn't believe him and said bluntly, "Stop pretending. What exactly do you want my contact details for?"

Realizing Bai Chen had seen through him, the boy came clean. "I heard you're really good at pottery, so I wanted to invite you to join our club."

Xia Wangqiu looked very sincere.

Oh, so he's here to recruit me for a club. I thought it was something else.

"Sure, I can do that." Bai Chen agreed.

He liked pottery anyway, and joining a club wouldn't take up too much of his time.

"Really? That's wonderful! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to convince you." Xia Wangqiu excitedly took Bai Chen's hand.

Bai Chen: ...

All I did was agree to join a club. Does he have to get this excited? Bai Chen's gaze shifted to the hand holding his.

Feeling a little awkward, he tried to pull his hand back and gave a dry laugh. "Xia Wangqiu, how about letting go so I can finish my breakfast first?"

"Oh, right, right. Sorry." Xia Wangqiu realized he had been holding on to Bai Chen's hand the whole time, which really wasn't appropriate, and immediately let go.

"It's fine."

But Bai Chen noticed that the other boy kept watching him eat, which made him a little uncomfortable.

He raised his head and asked, "Do you want some too? I can give you one. They're pretty good."

Good things were better shared. Usually, when someone watched you eat, they were hinting, "I want some too."

But the boy shook his head, offered him the soy milk, and said with a smile, "Bai Chen, drink this. It's good for your skin. I bought it especially for you."

Bai Chen: ...

I'm a grown man. I don't care about that. Still, he took it and thanked him.

He looked at the cup of soy milk.

Bai Chen remembered how, back in his old dorm, even a single fried dough stick he bought had to be divided into four portions.

His roommates would call him "Dad" as they ate.

They called him "Dad" when he brought them meals.

They called him "Dad" when he shared things with them, too.

When they ran out of tissues and needed to borrow some, they also called him "Dad."

All in all, Bai Chen had somehow acquired three sons.

"Sons" who were all older than him.

And all of them knew how to sweet-talk him.

But they hadn't simply treated Bai Chen as someone to use. They had been very good to him.

Knowing about his family's financial situation, they had quietly helped him throughout his hardest few months.

One day, it was, "I ordered an extra boxed meal." The next, it was, "My mom sent some good food from home."

Bai Chen had always known what they were doing, and he was grateful. During the hardest months of his life, he had friends who supported him and a considerate little sister. With them, he could grit his teeth and get through any hardship.

Every time he remembered those things, he wanted to go home even more.

He wasn't happy in this world at all.

In so many novels, people who transmigrated thrived in their new worlds and lived happily.

But Bai Chen couldn't feel any joy. He always felt as though he couldn't fit into this world, as though everything was following the book's plot and his entire life had already been arranged for him.

The last time Gu Yun had asked him that question, he had answered, "As long as you want to, you can change it."

In truth, Bai Chen himself didn't know whether this book's ending could be changed.

He was muddling through his own life, so how could he say something like that?

What would he do if, in the end, none of the outcomes could be changed?

But he had never regretted saying those words.

If they could give Gu Yun hope, he could say them every day.

Once Bai Chen finished eating, Xia Wangqiu happily got up along with him.

Bai Chen: "..."

"Xia Wangqiu, is there anything else you need?" Bai Chen asked, seeing that he still had no intention of leaving even after saying what he had come to say.

Xia Wangqiu said, "Not really. I don't have any classes today. Can I come to class with you?"

Bai Chen said, "??? I'm majoring in plant research. Besides, Ms. Lin Xiaoqian is on leave today, so you won't see her even if you come."

Bai Chen couldn't understand it. Did this upperclassman really have that much free time? What normal person would spend their time off attending classes for another major instead of resting?

There was only one possibility: he wanted to attend Ms. Lin Xiaoqian's class.