Before Xu Zitian could finish, Lu Ran had already locked his bike, grabbed his bag from Jiang Nuan’s arms, slung it over his shoulder, and walked into the shop.
Xu Zitian looked at Mu Sheng in surprise, while Mu Sheng just sighed and patted Xu Zitian on the shoulder as they walked in.
“Zitian, sometimes, it’s not about what we eat, but who we eat with. Lu Ran doesn’t refuse to eat skewers or spicy hotpot because he thinks they’re dirty; it’s because eating with you is just not meaningful or tasteful enough.”
“You coming in or not?” Lu Ran glanced back at Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng stopped talking, and the three guys, plus Jiang Nuan, gathered around the big pot of spicy hotpot.
Though the shop was small, the tables weren’t greasy, and the floor and chairs were clean. It had a simple yet homely vibe.
“Do girls all love spicy hotpot? The small spicy hotpot shop near our school is always full of girls.” Xu Zitian asked.
He stretched his neck out to take a whiff of the rich aroma, and his mouth started watering.
“It’s alright. Cheng Doudou loves it, so Rao Can and I always go with her. It’s tasty and cheap. I save all my pocket money to pay for the club, so I can’t afford anything too expensive for you guys. What do you want to eat?” Jiang Nuan asked.
“Junior Sister, you’re so practical. Why don’t you order for us? We don’t know what’s especially good here.” Mu Sheng said.
Jiang Nuan ordered everyone some tofu puffs, bean curd skin, and seaweed, along with some vermicelli.
“What about meat? Do you want chicken feet? They’re cooked till they’re tender and flavorful!”
As Jiang Nuan ordered, she sneakily glanced at Lu Ran.
He didn’t show much expression. Who knew if he was secretly disgusted but too polite to show it?
She purposely placed some chicken feet into Lu Ran’s bowl. Mu Sheng tried to stop her, but he was a step too late.
Jiang Nuan felt amused inside. Aren’t you the school’s male god? Well, let’s see you eat chicken feet, male god!
“Thanks.”
Unexpectedly, Lu Ran didn’t get mad at all, nor did he throw the chicken feet back at Jiang Nuan. Instead, he simply took a pair of disposable chopsticks, broke them apart, scraped off the thorns, and then calmly picked up the chicken feet to blow on them before eating.
Jiang Nuan didn’t expect him to be so composed. It seemed that chicken feet didn’t have enough of an impact. And the worst part was that even when eating chicken feet, Lu Ran still didn’t look awkward at all. She had been hoping the chicken feet would poke into his nose, but now she could only feel deeply disappointed.
“Here you go! Stuffed beef balls! Take one bite! They’re super tasty!”
Jiang Nuan ordered a skewer of beef balls for Lu Ran.
Beef balls had broth inside, so if you weren’t careful, you could burn your tongue or spray oil everywhere!
“Thanks.” Lu Ran thanked her again, calmly poking open the beef ball with his chopsticks, blowing on it, and then putting it in his mouth.
Jiang Nuan was even more disappointed! Why wouldn’t Lu Ran just bite into it?!
“Ah! It’s burning me!” Xu Zitian suddenly yelped.
Mu Sheng quickly grabbed a napkin and placed it under his chin with quick reflexes.
“Xu Zitian, can’t you handle a simple beef ball? You look sillier than someone eating a soup dumpling!”
Xu Zitian gulped down a big mouthful of cold cola, finally saving his tongue.
Jiang Nuan, feeling that there was no turning back now, shouted, “Boss lady, give us four portions of pork kidneys!”
Mu Sheng quickly intervened, “Three portions! Three are enough! Lu Ran doesn’t really eat organs!”
“Ah—but pork kidneys are the specialty here…” Jiang Nuan deliberately put on a disappointed look, “And they’re the most expensive item on the spicy hotpot menu! You’ll never get a chance to make me bleed money like this again!”
Pork kidneys were something that people either really loved or couldn’t stomach at all. Those who couldn’t handle the strong gamey smell might even throw up.
“It’s fine. Order four portions.” Lu Ran said, his expression unchanged.
Jiang Nuan immediately smiled and patted Lu Ran on the shoulder, “That’s right! You’re a guy! Time to replenish yourself!”
Lu Ran leaned closer to Jiang Nuan, and even with the smell of spicy hotpot in the air, the faint cedarwood scent of his body wash was still noticeable.
“Oh? And what do you replenish with pork kidneys?” he asked her, a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth.
For some reason, Jiang Nuan’s ears started to heat up again.
“Eating pork kidneys is, of course, good for your kidneys!” Jiang Nuan replied.
“And why would you need to replenish your kidneys?” Lu Ran asked again.
Mu Sheng, who had been silently holding back his laughter, now lowered his head, trying not to laugh.
Jiang Nuan wasn’t stupid. She quickly realized that Lu Ran was teasing her and responded seriously, “If you strengthen your kidneys, you’ll have better stability when doing lunges in fencing!”
“If replenishing your kidneys made a difference, then with all the milk I’ve brought to your house, why haven’t you grown taller yet?” Lu Ran turned his head slightly to look at Jiang Nuan.
“Who says I haven’t? I’ve grown five centimeters!”
Mu Sheng was now laughing even harder, patting Jiang Nuan on the back, “Junior Sister, what our Master Lu is trying to say is that you’re flat as a board—like a middle schooler. That’s why both Xu Zitian and I didn’t realize you were a girl today! According to your logic, drinking milk should make that area grow, not just make you taller!”
Go to hell with your “drinking milk makes you grow in that area”!
Jiang Nuan was so mad she wanted to throw Lu Ran into the hotpot!
“Boss lady, give us a portion of duck intestines! Make it super spicy!”
Mu Sheng suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Junior Sister, let’s not get the duck intestines…”
“Duck intestines are the specialty here. It’s your first time, so you have to try them!” Jiang Nuan said with a heroic tone, as if she were ready to throw caution to the wind.
Mu Sheng glanced at Lu Ran, signaling with his eyes: Stop teasing Jiang Nuan.
But Lu Ran didn’t say anything.
In the end, Xu Zitian took one bite of duck intestines and immediately gulped down an entire bottle of cola, sticking his tongue out. Mu Sheng couldn’t even bring himself to take a bite after seeing that bright red bowl, and when he glanced over at Lu Ran and Jiang Nuan…
Jiang Nuan’s nose had turned red, and tears were hanging from the corners of her eyes. She was so spicy she couldn’t stop exhaling, while Lu Ran was slowly eating and occasionally sipping cola.
Mu Sheng couldn’t take it anymore and said, “Junior Sister, why do this to yourself… Lu Ran can handle spicy food.”
Jiang Nuan looked at Mu Sheng with red eyes, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
This meal cost Jiang Nuan a good amount of money, and by the time the four of them left the shop, both Jiang Nuan and Xu Zitian’s lips were swollen.
Mu Sheng couldn’t even bear to look at them anymore.
“Who knew spicy hotpot could be so tasty! Let’s come again next time!” Xu Zitian said, sniffling.
“Why don’t you make sure you don’t get diarrhea tonight before talking about next time?” Mu Sheng shook his head helplessly.
Jiang Nuan was still thinking about how to get home when a bag was suddenly pressed into her arms.
“Let’s go, time to head home.” Lu Ran’s voice came.
There was no way she was going to turn down a free ride. Hugging Lu Ran’s bag, Jiang Nuan rode off with him, leaving Mu Sheng and Xu Zitian watching them disappear into the distance.
“Is Master Lu taking Junior Sister home?” Xu Zitian asked with wide eyes.
“What’s going on in that head of yours! Lu Ran and Jiang Nuan live in the same area.” Mu Sheng shook his head and rode off.
Sitting on the back of Lu Ran’s bike, Jiang Nuan couldn’t help but ask, “You guys won’t tell my dad where I’m training in fencing, right?”
“We weren’t planning to. But after eating spicy hotpot, I think I should.”
“What?”
This guy just wanted revenge for her ordering him pork kidneys and duck intestines, didn’t he?
“At that place, it’s hard to find opponents on your level during practice. It’ll be tough to improve like that.” Lu Ran’s voice was calm and matter-of-fact.
“Oh…” Jiang Nuan thought for a moment, “But there’s He Zheng! He can still practice with me…”
Just as she finished speaking, Lu Ran suddenly braked and stopped by the roadside, turning around to look at her.
“Do you think He Zheng is qualified to be your opponent?”
This was the first time Jiang Nuan had ever heard the words “qualified” from Lu Ran.
“You need more high-level sparring partners to adapt to different offensive and defensive styles.”
“But… but you still can’t tell my dad! What if he comes and drags me back home?”
“I won’t tell him for now. If I do, I’ll let you know first.”
Jiang Nuan breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she didn’t particularly like Lu Ran, he had a way of keeping his word. If he promised not to tell her dad, he wouldn’t.
After a while, Jiang Nuan poked Lu Ran’s back again and asked, “Hey… How did you recognize me?”
“We’ve practiced together before.”
That sentence, carried by the wind, wasn’t entirely clear to Jiang Nuan.
“…I don’t remember.”
“Probably because it wasn’t that important to you, so you didn’t remember.”
When they reached the gate of her building, Jiang Nuan jumped off the bike and handed the bag back to Lu Ran.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to buy an ice pop!”
The spicy hotpot had her burning up, and she just wanted an ice pop to cool down. She stood by the freezer in the small supermarket at the entrance, contemplating for a while.
She really wanted a Magnum, but unfortunately, she didn’t have enough money this month.
Forget it, a milk bar will do…
But when she walked back to the elevator while licking her milk ice pop, she was surprised to find that Lu Ran hadn’t left yet.
“Are you waiting for me or the elevator?” Jiang Nuan squinted at him.
At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and without a word, Lu Ran stepped inside with his bag, leaving Jiang Nuan to follow, still nibbling on her ice pop. Unexpectedly, Lu Ran suddenly stopped, and Jiang Nuan, not paying attention, bumped right into him, smearing her ice pop all over his back.
Oh my god… I’m doomed…
Jiang Nuan froze in place, the ice pop in her hand now only half intact, while the other half slowly slid down Lu Ran’s back.
Seizing the moment before the elevator could start, she quickly pressed the open button and tried to bolt.
But Lu Ran’s reflexes were too fast. With his long arms, he easily grabbed her.
Jiang Nuan still wasn’t ready to give up, trying to dash away, but Lu Ran firmly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.
“Clean it off.” Lu Ran’s voice was low.
“How can I clean it… You can just clean it when you get home!”
Then came a soft “plop” and the remaining half of the ice pop fell to the floor.
Jiang Nuan swallowed nervously and said, “No need to clean it now… It’s already fallen off…”
Lu Ran pulled a napkin out of his bag and handed it to Jiang Nuan.
“Wait a sec, let me finish the rest first so it doesn’t drip all over my hand…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Lu Ran suddenly lowered his head, turned slightly, and took a bite out of the remaining milk bar!
Jiang Nuan stood there in shock, feeling like she could still feel the warmth of Lu Ran’s nose brushing against her fingers. Lu Ran pushed the napkin into Jiang Nuan’s hand and turned around.
“That was the part I was eating!” Jiang Nuan thought Lu Ran would care about that!
“The part you were eating is lying on the floor.”
The entire elevator was filled with a sweet, creamy scent, like that of a White Rabbit candy.
Unhappily, Jiang Nuan wiped Lu Ran’s back, grumbling as she did, “It wasn’t even that dirty, just a little bit, and once it dries, you won’t even notice. You guys sweat when you play basketball or soccer, don’t you?”
“This isn’t sweat. It’s milky.”
“Fine, fine! You’re always right! It’s clean now!”
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