Chapter 20: Pretend to have a little

Bai Ci sipped her cola, a towel draped over her head, watching the Student Union members train and Lu Mingfei fussing over Zero.

Her swimming skills were average, about the same as Nono’s—not exceptional.
But Nono insisted on giving her the chance to go underwater, so Bai Ci ended up in the reserve team.
She probably wouldn’t need to dive.
Caesar and Zero were one team, Chu Zihang and Susie another, while she and Lu Mingfei were paired together.

But they were basically just along for the ride.
As long as the first two teams didn’t wipe out, it wouldn’t be their turn.

As for Lu Mingfei…

He treated Zero like a fragile sapling.
Every time Zero surfaced, he’d rush over with a towel.
After a dive, he’d make sure she drank warming beet soup.
If Zero wore a skirt, he’d remind her not to catch a cold.
A single cough, and he’d whip out a medicine box from his pocket.

“What’re you looking at?”
A crisp, pleasant voice snapped Bai Ci out of her thoughts.
She turned to see Nono standing beside her, sipping lemonade.

“Nothing, just looking around.”

Bai Ci glanced at her.
“Checking on my partner.”

“Looks like Lu Mingfei’s chasing Zero,” Nono teased.
“Not worried?”

“Who he chases is none of my business.”
Bai Ci’s tone was flat.
“We’re just friends.
Why should I care?
It’d be nice if he got a girlfriend.
Then I wouldn’t have to deal with his carefree attitude all the time.
Sounds great.”

Nono’s gaze dropped…

Hey, you say that, but you’re practically crushing your phone screen…

Everything really okay?

“Oh, by the way, think they’ll make it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You think any girl would like a guy like Lu Mingfei?”

Bai Ci sipped her juice casually, glancing over now and then.

“Why not?”
Nono replied.
“Even the biggest loser has someone who’ll like them.
Maybe one day a girl will fall for him completely.”

“No way…”

“Why not?
Like, what if Lu Mingfei shows off in front of a girl, and she falls for him?”

“…”

“Or say Lu Mingfei lives with a girl for a while, and she starts to like him without realizing it.
Then he notices he cares about her too?”

“…”

Crack, crack.

“What’re you doing?”

“Throwing out trash.”
Bai Ci tossed the flattened cola can into the bin, then looked at Nono, her golden pupils making Nono uneasy.
“I’m heading back.
Tired.”

“Oh… okay.”

Nono nodded, sipping her unfinished lemonade.

“Is lemonade that good?
You’ve been standing here for two minutes.”

Susie’s curious voice came from behind.
She didn’t know her dear roommate loved lemonade that much.

“It’s because of your Lionheart S-rank.”
Nono’s tone was slightly bitter.

“What?”
Susie blinked.

“You know what her look was like?”
Nono pointed where Bai Ci had gone.
“Like a lioness protecting her cub.”

“Pfft!”
Susie burst out laughing.
“That scary?
Why didn’t she eat you then?”

“Then you’d lose the best roommate ever.”

Nono snatched Susie’s uneaten ice cream, eating it with satisfaction.
“This is your apology.”

Bai Ci munched on a roasted pork knuckle in the cafeteria, washing it down with cola.
Cassell students were used to it by now.
She looked like a refined girl but loved the cafeteria’s German pork knuckle and a giant bottle of cola.
Yet, despite days of this, her weight never changed.
Those who watched her concluded: the meat went to the “right places,” or she just had a fast metabolism.

“You’ll get fat eating that all the time.”

A sudden voice interrupted.
Bai Ci glanced back—it was Lu Mingfei.

“I like it.”

Bai Ci’s reply was short.
“And I don’t need to lose weight.”

Lu Mingfei watched her keep eating, reminded of his cousin—160 cm tall, 160 pounds.
He remembered when Lu Mingze wasn’t that* heavy…

Bai Ci was 170 cm.
What if she hit 170 pounds?
He recalled asking her weight once—she said just over 90 pounds…

“Not with Zero?”

“She… said she’s tired tonight, wanted to rest.”

“Oh.”
Bai Ci paused.
“You’re really attentive.
Never seen you care for anyone like that before.”

“Of course.
If something happens to her, we’re the ones diving.”

“Oh.”

Lu Mingfei felt an awkward tension in the air.

He couldn’t place it, just… weird.

“You eating here?”
Bai Ci asked.

“Yeah, suddenly craving pickled fish…”

“Oh.”
Bai Ci lowered her head, gnawing on her meat again.
“A few days ago, someone confessed to me.
Said they liked me.”

“Huh… oh… so, uh, confess away…”
Lu Mingfei suddenly felt nervous.
“What’d you say?”

“I didn’t say yes.”

Bai Ci looked up, stuffed the last piece of meat in her mouth with chopsticks, wiped her lips, stood, and left.

Lu Mingfei stared at her back, dazed, smacking his lips.
The smell of pickled fish hit his nose.

Eat first…