Fu Lan was the center of attention, someone everyone desperately sought to win the favor of. So, when he condescended to speak to Xia Miao, the entire cafeteria turned their eyes toward her.
Those gazes were filled with envy and jealousy—who knew when they might spiral into madness?
The moment Luo Xiaoluo saw Fu Lan, the tension in her mind tightened like everyone else's. She couldn't help but yearn to chase after his shadow, to have him spare her even a single glance.
But when her eyes landed on Xia Miao beside him, her consciousness snapped back into clarity.
Xia Miao gave Fu Lan a sidelong glance, utterly unimpressed, and instead lowered her head to pop a meatball into her mouth, chewing with relish.
Fu Lan waited, expecting Xia Miao to eagerly pull out a chair for him or wipe the table clean in delight. But as the silence stretched, his patience wore thin. He reached out, gripping her chin and forcing her face up.
"Xia Miao, don’t you dare ignore me!"
He had taken the initiative to speak to her—wasn’t she supposed to be grateful? Yet she didn’t even deign to look at him properly. This woman was truly infuriating!
Xia Miao’s cheeks were still puffed up with half-chewed meatball.
Fu Lan found it unbearably irritating. He pressed two fingers against her bulging cheek, pushing down hard. Xia Miao nearly choked, almost spitting it all over him.
She slapped his hand away and gulped down a large mouthful of her drink, finally swallowing with relief.
Then, she glared at him, eyes blazing.
Her displeasure only amused Fu Lan. He wiped his hands with a napkin, then cast a lofty glance at Luo Xiaoluo beside them.
Luo Xiaoluo’s scalp prickled. "I’m full—I’ll go now!"
She grabbed her tray and fled, vanishing in an instant.
With the seat beside Xia Miao now empty, Fu Lan elegantly settled into the chair next to her. Without him needing to say a word, people swarmed around, offering to fetch whatever he wanted to eat, even fighting for the privilege of swiping their meal cards for him.
Fu Lan saw nothing wrong with this. In fact, he considered it an honor for them to serve him.
"Something expensive and delicious. No vegetables."
The moment he spoke, a stampede erupted toward the cafeteria counters, everyone shoving and even brawling to be the first to curry favor. The chaos showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Fu Lan feigned indifference as he glanced at Xia Miao’s tray. "Tch. You’re eating this slop? Stop. I’ll share some proper food with you later."
Xia Miao still didn’t respond. Instead, she picked up her tray and moved to another seat, putting an empty chair between them.
Fu Lan’s brow twitched. He shifted over, closing the gap again. "Xia Miao, talk to me."
His tone was imperious, as if the entire world revolved around him.
But Xia Miao never indulged him. No matter how he raged, she remained unshaken, refusing to engage. If she ignored him, she meant it.
Fu Lan gritted his teeth. "Xia Miao, what game are you playing now? I haven’t even done anything to annoy you today!"
Xia Miao set down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and exhaled before finally turning to face him. "What exactly are you trying to pull?"
Her acknowledgment eased his irritation slightly. He straightened, feigning nonchalance. "Pull? What do you mean?"
"You sought me out, said you wanted to eat with me. Does that mean you’re pursuing me now?"
Fu Lan scoffed. "Pursuing you? Don’t flatter yourself. I just pitied you, sitting here all alone, and decided to grace you with my company."
Xia Miao remained impassive. "Tell the truth."
"Fine, fine! I just wanted to eat with you, alright?" Fu Lan threw his hands up. "Weren’t you the one who said last night that you’d teach me the difference between the desire to love and the desire to kill? What, are you backing out now?"
Xia Miao narrowed her eyes. "If you’re serious about pursuing me, why haven’t you distanced yourself from others?"
Fu Lan blinked. "Distance?"
"Those people fawning over you—don’t pretend you don’t know what they want. If you want me to like you, you’d better learn some restraint. Boundaries, Fu Lan."
Her scolding was so authoritative that Fu Lan inexplicably felt smaller. He stiffened his neck, refusing to back down. "It’s always been like this."
"Then change it. Answer me—if I got close to someone else, how would you feel?"
A dangerous glint flickered in Fu Lan’s dark eyes. "Try it. I’d kill you both."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized how extreme they sounded.
He fidgeted, debating whether to soften the statement, but Xia Miao slammed her hands on the table, radiating fury.
"Exactly! That’s how I’d feel if you kept acting like this with others!"
Fu Lan paused, then brightened. "You’d want to kill me? Xia Miao, does that mean you want me all to yourself? Perfect! Go ahead—kill me! Prove your love!"
He leaned in eagerly, his beautiful face twisted with excitement, as if he’d happily hand her a knife just to let her carve her devotion into him.
Xia Miao shoved his face away. "I’ve told you before—if you truly love someone, you’d never want to hurt them!"
"But you just said you’d kill me!"
"That was anger! Can’t you tell?" She barely resisted kicking him. "If you can’t be faithful, I’ll just walk away. I won’t be with you."
The word "abandon" had never been associated with Fu Lan before. It felt foreign.
Then came a suffocating weight in his chest.
"You can’t abandon me!"
Xia Miao crossed her arms. "Then stop letting others cling to you. No more demanding gifts, no more accepting things from them!"
Fu Lan scowled. "No."
"Then I won’t like you!"
"I forbid it!"
"Who I like is my choice! You don’t get a say!"
"Then I hate you!"
His face burned red, his ears flushed crimson, and his dark eyes shimmered with strange intensity. Though he spat the words with venom, his flustered expression betrayed the truth—his "hate" begged to be read backward.
