Chapter 5: The Mysterious Youth

  Why did I call him a strange boy? Let time quickly rewind back to last Saturday.

  That morning I sent four texts to the girls: at noon, my mom will send over lunch, with her signature cola chicken wings, remember to come and eat.

  In less than ten seconds, Xiaoyu's text message arrived: Dear, a day without seeing you is like being apart for three autumns. I will replace chicken wings to become your lush wings and soar with you in the blue sky, so don't compete with me at noon!

  I'm stunned, this speed, this writing style, indeed worthy of being mixed in the Chinese department.

  Next is Ah Qian: Now that bird flu is so severe, your mom's safety awareness is too weak, let's change to braised pork belly instead.

  So I reluctantly conveyed to my mother the proposal of adding another plate of ribs.

  Finally, Mu Mu asked: Yao Yao, can you bring your family?

  I thought for a moment and decisively typed out five words: Not enough dishes to go around.

  Although the sea cherry didn't return the text message, and when I called her phone was turned off. Judging from past experiences, it means she either has a meeting or an important event in her club that she won't be able to attend. But I think except for MuMu, everyone else definitely can't tolerate having a big man suddenly appear at what should have been a delightful feast... Specifically, a big glutton with no bottom line coming to compete with us weak women for food.

  Well, okay, I correct it, actually we are shrews.

  That lunch in the card room on the second floor lasted for two hours, and I went up after Auntie finished eating. While eating, I had never been so grateful that I wasn't the kind of person who would feel nauseous at the sight of disgusting things or events and lose my appetite. Otherwise, how could I savor the pork knuckle with gusto while enthusiastically watching the sinister trio of sworn sisters bombard my mom with a barrage of flattering words, making her float on cloud nine, laughing so hard that she couldn't close her mouth, and even saying that she wanted to adopt three more goddaughters.

  After finally sending off that big Buddha after dinner, I stood at the door and shouted to those three still waving horseflies: "You guys don't leave yet, just find a spot to wait, I'll make something new for you to try."

  Mumu, who had originally planned to go see "Senior Oppa" after dinner, was ruthlessly held back by two lonely people.

  Because I had already kneaded the glutinous rice flour into shape in the morning, so putting everything in the steamer for less than half an hour, a plate of hot and fragrant Osmanthus cake was freshly baked. Eight square cakes were arranged by me into a beautiful fan shape, reflecting a tempting translucent color under the lamp light, and to decorate, I also put a handful of golden-colored Osmanthus sugar on the side, the elegant Osmanthus fragrance instantly wafted out.

  Mumu's eyes sparkled: "Yao Yao, I take back what I said earlier. Instead of saying you're born to do business, I think you're actually born to make desserts and pastries."

  I sat down and humbly accepted this unseemly praise.

  Xiaoyu couldn't wait to take a bite, and with her mouth still full, she mumbled: "This rice cake is indeed chewy, but Yaoyao, it could be even sweeter... Hmm, after eating it, the fragrance still lingers on my lips, this is my first time, I used to think those foodies were exaggerating, how amazing."

  I looked at Xiaoyu with a serious face, who was blowing air into his palm non-stop: "No, if I can process such fragrant osmanthus flowers that even the fragrance is gone, that would be amazing."

  She scratched her head and let out a dry laugh.

  Ashin, who had been silent all along, suddenly pointed at someone in front and said: "Yaoyao, how come the guy by the window is so weird? I've seen him eating since we came in, it's been several hours, and he's still eating now. Let alone whether his stomach is made of iron, who has ever seen a boy who loves drinking sweets so much?"

  The three of us immediately looked in the direction she was pointing, and through the thick purple curtains, we could see a boy wearing a black shirt with his head down eating something. His face couldn't be seen clearly, but the hand holding the spoon looked slender and long with distinct joints, and it was so white that it almost obscured the color of the white ceramic spoon in his hand. Moreover, his movements were elegant and refined, causing us to shudder simultaneously, how enticing!

  But at this moment, no matter how many temptations there were, they couldn't interrupt Xiaoyu's knot that had been accumulating for many years and was about to grow into a colorful mushroom. When ordinary people encounter problems that make them sigh with emotion, they usually let out a long sigh, but Xiaoyu is a weirdo, so after turning her head back, she just leaned in and said: "Leaning... the most bizarre person I've known since childhood is you, okay?!"

  A light glance from A Qian made her immediately shut up, and she covered her forehead with her hand, winking at Mu Mu nonstop. Under her fiery gaze, Mu Mu's hand, which was about to pick up a piece of rice cake, stopped for a moment before silently putting down the chopsticks. In a soft voice, he said: "A Qian, actually... I have the same feeling."

  "Do you also think that guy is weird?"

  "Uh... no, I was talking about you."

  Ah Qian raised an eyebrow: "Mumu, what are you joking about?" Then turned her head and looked at me with a raised corner of her eye, "Yao Yao, you say."

  The last lace edge incident hadn't completely subsided, I was afraid that in a fit of rage she would directly expose my identity, bringing me and "Sweet Sweet" an alternative fame and influence that would make me cry uncontrollably. So I wisely chose to support my cheek with my hand, gazing out the window, observing my nose, not speaking or making a sound, silence is golden.

  Xiaoyu was about to speak but hesitated, and after half a day she still couldn't help but smile: "I'll say it myself. Actually, we also made some indirect hints at you back then, but you had no impression of having done this thing, so we never told you. Remember when we were in high school and shared the same dormitory? Every time you fell asleep halfway through, you would actually run to Momo's place and lie down for an hour before running back to your own bed? We went from being shocked in the middle of the night to being nervous, and finally, even when we got up to use the bathroom at midnight, we saw that you were afraid of falling and helped guide you on the road. This is why our class teacher let us five people live in that six-person dormitory for three years..."

  A Sha interrupted her: "You lied to me, I saw this story in a supernatural article."

  "Oh, really? Then may I ask, who is this author with such unique and promising ideas?"

  "Author? I think it was something like... Mu..." A-Qian furrowed her brow, deep in thought. After a while, she suddenly exclaimed: "Muyú! That's right, Muyú! At the time, I even wondered if this person might be a monk who grew up listening to stories about gods and Buddhas in a temple, or else how could they write such bizarre texts."

  Xiaoyu patted her shoulder and stifled a laugh: "Silly."

  A Sha was taken aback for a moment, then reacted and cursed loudly.

  Wooden fish, wooden fish, don't forget, don't forget!

  "Thanks to those bizarre events, I'm still serializing the supernatural stories in that magazine, all thanks to your inspiration." Ignoring Ah Qian's gloomy expression, Xiao Yu continued with growing enthusiasm, "And at that time, Mu Mu thought you were a ghost and insisted on changing dormitories with the class teacher, but after this commotion, who dared to live with you? Our Mu Mu was so nervous for a month and a half until you officially started dating that black-haired girl from the neighboring class."

  When I heard the words "black charcoal", I burst out laughing, actually that guy was a very sunny and handsome guy, his facial features were three-dimensional like a sculpture, but he was too sunny, standing with African natives looked like close brothers, only Ah Qian's taste could be so uniquely heavy.

  A Shallow didn't notice my sinister smile, turned around and said to Mu Mu thoughtfully: "No wonder you were on guard every time we met at first, it turns out that's the reason. Mu Mu, if you had asked earlier, you wouldn't have suffered for so long."

  Mu Mu's mouth was agape with grievances, unable to utter a word. I exchanged a knowing glance with Xiao Yu, and we both completely understood what Mu Mu was aggrieved about.

  Everyone says that homosexuals are a vulnerable group, how dare she take the risk of seriously hurting a living girl's self-esteem by asking such a sensitive question? A stubborn person who can't let go jumped from the sixth floor, and even if she doesn't have to bear joint responsibility, her guilt will swell endlessly, and she'll be having nightmares every day until she ends up in a mental hospital. Moreover, at first, we were all frozen by Ah Qian's icy beauty face, thinking that this person is not easy to get along with, her self-esteem must be stronger, and her skin must be thinner, the probability of jumping off the building is also higher.

  So after spending half a day carefully reasoning with us, Meimei made the calm and painful decision to endure for the time being in order to avoid spending the second half of her life in a mental hospital.

  "Now that you mention it, I think I'm quite strange too. It's only now that I've realized that behind my parents' hesitant expressions every time... was such deep and unwavering love." Ah Qian supported her chin, suddenly laughing very softly.

  "Wow, your parents must be really mentally strong to handle the fact that their beautiful daughter is actually a genetically modified being. I wouldn't have been able to take it if I were them." Xiao Yu's feigned surprise quickly dissipated under a cold gaze, and she waved her hand, dryly laughing, "Haha, just kidding! As a kind-hearted and compassionate sister who loves all living things, how could I do something so inhumane? Besides, our classmate Qin Shallow is so loving and charming, how could I bear to hurt him? So hurry up and eat your rice ball before it gets cold!"

  Considering her argument that she screams at the sight of any animal, plus the unknown person's statement "not liking small animals means having no love", I firmly determined that what she just said was nonsense. I think Ah Qian and Mu Mu also share the same idea as me, because we simultaneously let out a strongly disdainful monosyllable: "Tsk!"

  ……

  When we finally remembered that "mysterious boy" again in our boring nest after the counter-activity ended, he had already quietly settled the bill and left. Not seeing his true face made us very disappointed, you know that birds of a feather flock together, although several of us have some differences in personality, but there is no doubt that we are all revolutionaries with heavy and miscellaneous tastes.

  It's not easy to meet a young man who looks quite handsome, and maybe he's still single. We were already unable to contain our excitement, and then we heard Auntie say, "Oh, that kid in the black shirt is really good-looking, if I were 15 years old again, I'd definitely ditch your uncle for him." Such words made us involuntarily feel a surge of passion.

  It's just a pity that the reality of having no name, no surname and no contact information is too cruel. We can only rely on his pair of hands with infinite spring light and the fact that he drinks sweet treats alone to imagine one after another deep, entwined, lingering, heart-wrenching, soul-stirring, tear-jerking, and moving forbidden love in our hearts.