Although the university was in the same city, it wasn't exactly close to Shu Yuxin's home—they were practically on opposite sides of the city, separated by a river. Even by subway, it took nearly two hours; driving took even longer, at least another hour on top of that, and that was only if traffic was light.
The entire car ride had been eerily silent. After all, they hadn't seen each other in almost a year, and the changes Shu Yuxin had undergone only added to the awkward distance between them. Jiang Zixuan suddenly realized that, facing this once inseparable best friend, he now struggled to find anything to talk about. Shu Yuxin didn't seem eager to chat either. At first, they managed a few exchanges, but soon after, one was focused on driving while the other drifted off to sleep.
It wasn't until they reached campus that Jiang Zixuan gently woke her up: "Hey, we're here."
Shu Yuxin groggily half-opened her eyes, stared blankly out the window for a moment, pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, sat up straight, and stretched. "Huh… Already?"
"It's been three and a half hours—'already'?" Jiang Zixuan chuckled, shaking his head. "Are you hungry?"
She patted her stomach and nodded. "A little."
"Then let's grab something to eat." Seeing the traffic ahead begin to move, Jiang Zixuan started the car again.
Still dazed from sleep, Shu Yuxin leaned her head against the window and suddenly murmured, "So many cars… Is it always this jammed here?"
"Of course not—it's registration day. Both schools are enrolling students today, so of course it's packed."
Unlike Shu Yuxin, who only cared about things that directly concerned her, Jiang Zixuan had done his homework on the school. He'd visited the campus in advance and thoroughly researched the enrollment procedures through various channels. Aside from welcome booths stationed at every campus gate, the main registration hubs for both universities were at the train station. Most out-of-province students arrived there and could immediately find their designated groups—it was practically a tradition that, on the first day of university enrollment, the train station would be swarmed by universities claiming every corner. The schools also arranged shuttle buses; once a batch of students gathered, they'd be driven straight to campus, significantly easing traffic around the schools.
Still, students and their families were another matter entirely. While most arrived by train or shuttle, those with means usually came by car—often with their parents driving them. Though they weren't the majority, each family bringing a car was more than enough to clog the streets.
And that was exactly the traffic jam they were stuck in now.
Jiang Zixuan didn't linger in the congestion. After inching forward a bit, he turned left onto another street. This road was still busy but at least drivable.
Noticing Shu Yuxin's confused look, he explained, "This is a small shopping street right by the school entrance called Via尔斯 (Weiya'ers)—sorry, the name's a bit weird. You can find everyday essentials or entertainment stuff here. If you ever feel like treating yourself, there are decent places to eat, plus two gyms. It basically caters to every student need. Honestly, setting up shop here is way more profitable than near a high school."
He remembered how, back in middle school, Shu Yuxin used to talk endlessly about her dream: opening an internet café right next to a prestigious high school.
Whether or not that plan—which basically preyed on teenagers—was morally sound, she'd always insisted it would make good money.
After all, that's exactly how she'd spent most of her own allowance.
"Who even goes to internet cafés in college?" Shu Yuxin scoffed under her breath. "Everyone's got their own computers. Just play in the dorm."
"You'd be surprised," Jiang Zixuan said, suddenly bursting into laughter.
He laughed genuinely—not at her naivety, but because he realized their old默契 (unspoken understanding) was still intact.
No matter how much she'd changed, she was still the same silly goof he'd always known.
Under Shu Yuxin's baffled gaze, Jiang Zixuan finally let out all the pent-up tension he'd been carrying, exhaling deeply with a lingering smile. "It's a shame there's no movie theater around here, or I'd take you out every weekend. That'd be the life."
Shu Yuxin gave a noncommittal shrug.
Jiang Zixuan pulled over to the curb. "Get out and wait here while I park the car. I'll treat you to something good."
And treat her he did. After parking, he took her to an all-you-can-eat barbecue place. Though the restaurant wasn't large and offered only a modest selection of meats, it was considered above average for this shopping street.
But the variety of meats meant nothing to Shu Yuxin—she filled herself up entirely on grilled chicken breast, plus a few slices of bacon.
This brings us to an important point: our heroine had been a picky eater since childhood. Her philosophy was simple—just because everyone else said something tasted good didn't mean it actually did. Only what *she* deemed delicious was truly delicious. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), her taste buds seemed fundamentally out of sync with the majority. As a child, she hardly ate meat at all because she couldn't find any dishes she liked. The sole exception was chicken—but even then, it wasn't the meat she craved. It was the skin. She even had a younger cousin; during family banquets, they'd sit together at the kids' table, she'd peel off all the chicken skin while he ate the meat—perfectly efficient teamwork.
This situation only improved slightly as she grew older, likely because she'd simply tried more foods. But her pickiness never truly went away. If she decided something tasted bad, not even universal acclaim could change her mind. For example, once when her family took her to the seaside, she declared an entire table of fresh seafood inferior to a bowl of Lao Tan Sour Cabbage instant noodles. Or take potatoes: she absolutely loved potato slices but thought shredded potatoes were bland and boring.
Her parents had always complained how hard she was to feed, though Shu Yuxin herself firmly believed she was easy to please—as long as there were potato slices at every meal, she was perfectly content.
And so, at this lunch devoid of potato slices, our heroine fixated entirely on grilled chicken breast. She piled three heaping plates of it onto her tray and ignored everything else—including the shocked stares from the restaurant owner. Jiang Zixuan tried offering her a few pieces of other grilled meats, but after one hesitant bite, she unceremoniously transferred the rest back into his bowl. He could only sigh in resignation.
To the restaurant owners, their interaction looked endearing.
"Honey," the owner whispered to his wife, "if only our son could find such a pretty girl to marry…"
"Pretty girls like that are trouble," his wife muttered back, eyeing Shu Yuxin's selective eating. "Look how picky she is—and he doesn't even dare say a word."
"True… Better to find one who eats everything."