Chapter 11

“I’m Xia Wei. I’m so sorry to have kept everyone waiting!” She dipped politely, her movements gentle and graceful.

A girl beside her said, “Xia Wei was in my class in high school. She was our class monitor for three years!”

Wang Guowei reacted first, waving his hands. “We haven’t waited long! We only just got here ourselves!” He sounded even more enthusiastic than during his introduction.

Wu Kai followed with a broad smile. “Exactly! A class monitor is a capable woman. It’s normal to be busy. We understand!”

Shen Man’s presence was too formidable. Though Wang Guowei and Wu Kai had little dating experience, they knew enough to recognize a girl beyond their reach. They could only look. Xia Wei was different. Her approachable manner made both feel they had a chance.

Only Li Lei stayed in his seat, glancing constantly at Shen Man and offering Xia Wei a merely polite smile. Wang Guowei went so far as to hurry over, pull out a chair, and dust it twice with his sleeve. “Come, Class Monitor, have a seat!”

A little embarrassed by his enthusiasm, Xia Wei smiled, thanked him softly, and walked toward the chair. Liu Xun had been seated off to Li Lei’s side, partly backlit by the room’s warm yellow lights. From the doorway she hadn’t seen him clearly. But as she drew close and recognized him, her light steps stopped dead.

The room seemed to spin. Her face went white.

The five-star hotel where she worked was an upscale place. Its guests were businesspeople or tourists from the middle class and above, spending far beyond an ordinary student’s means. The chance of meeting a student from her own school there, then encountering him a second time, was lower than winning the lottery. Yet fate had played precisely that joke: a guest who should have vanished into the crowd was sitting right in front of her.

“S-sorry!” Her voice was panicked, a world away from her earlier composure. “I just remembered some urgent class business I haven’t finished. Why don’t you eat first? I… I’ll go back.”

Wang Guowei and Wu Kai grew anxious. Aside from Shen Man, they hadn’t found the other girls appealing and had expected only a decent meal. Now another beauty had finally arrived, and she wanted to leave before the meat even reached the grill?

“Don’t, Class Monitor Xia! It’s so late. What could be more important than dinner?” Wang Guowei’s voice rose.

“Exactly,” Wu Kai chimed in. “You’re already here. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow. I’ll come help first thing. If one person isn’t enough, all of us will go. We’ll get it done!”

Li Ying stood and caught Xia Wei’s wrist. “Weiwei, you’ve come all this way. It can wait until tomorrow! It’s our dorm’s first dinner together. You can’t just leave!”

But Xia Wei shook her head stubbornly and edged toward the door. Her fingers had reached the handle when Liu Xun finally spoke.

“Xia Wei, the offices should be closed by now. Whatever it is can wait till tomorrow. Don’t spoil the fun.”

His tone was casual, but to Xia Wei it felt as though an invisible cord had caught her ankle. She went rigid, unable to make the hand on the handle move. After a moment she took a deep breath and forced a smile.

“That’s… true. Tomorrow, then.”

She came back and sat carefully in the chair Wang Guowei had pulled out, hands proper on her knees and head lowered like an obedient schoolgirl. Everyone assumed she was worried about her unfinished business and noticed nothing unusual.

“Server, we’re ready for the food!” Li Lei called. The atmosphere revived. Wang Guowei and Wu Kai grinned foolishly, one pouring Xia Wei tea while the other offered her the menu and asked whether she wanted to order more.

But Xia Wei sat as if on pins and needles. She could feel Liu Xun’s gaze occasionally sweep over her, each faint glance pricking at her taut nerves. She managed a few strained responses to the two boys’ attentions, her mind elsewhere.

“Xia Wei, do you like shrimp? We haven’t ordered any.”

“…Anything is fine.”

Servers soon filed in with trays of marinated beef, pork belly, and chicken wings, followed by drinks. The boys had Jinro soju, while orange juice was set before the girls. Shen Man alone reached past the juice for the open bottle of Jinro.

Li Lei, who’d been watching her every move, sprang up at almost the same instant, nearly knocking over Wang Guowei’s glass with his elbow. “I’ll do it!” He snatched up the bottle and carefully poured her a drink.

Shen Man gave him a brief, indifferent glance and returned to her phone. Li Lei wasn’t discouraged. That one glance delighted him so much that his hand trembled as he set down the bottle.

The grill was hot, a thin layer of oil sizzling under the yellow lights. Li Lei rolled up his sleeves and laid slices of well-marbled pork belly on the iron. Fat melted with a hiss, sending up fragrant wisps of smoke. Li Ying worked another pair of tongs, turning the curling slices. When she pressed them lightly, juices ran out, filling the room with the rich aroma of meat.

“The pork belly’s ready!” Smiling, Li Ying placed a golden slice on the plate of the girl beside her.

Li Lei raised his glass. “Come on, everyone! A toast to starting college!”

“Cheers!” Glasses clinked, laughter mingling with the sizzle of the grill.

Then Li Lei summoned his courage and picked up the best-looking slice of pork belly, one he’d deliberately set in front of himself earlier. He swallowed and, wrist trembling slightly, placed it on Shen Man’s plate.

“Shen Man, this one’s really good. Try it!”

She said nothing and didn’t look up, simply pushing the meat to the edge of her plate. Li Lei took that as acceptance: she just didn’t want it yet. Girls were naturally reserved, and she hadn’t rejected him outright, which was already a good sign. He chuckled foolishly, picked up his chopsticks, and went back to turning the meat with a spring in his movements.

Paying for dinner had been worth every yuan, he thought.