The spicy mini hot pot that Su Yudiel had her heart set on was delicious and affordable, making it very popur among students. Each person had their own small pot, about twenty timeters in diameter, heated on an indu hot pte. The bright red broth boiled and bubbled i, looking mouth-watering.

  Su Yudiel held the menu, busily cheg off items, murmuring under her breath, "Beef, tripe, thousaripe, lotus root, potato, enoki mushrooms, duck blood, shrimp dumplings, luneat, sticky rice cakes, tangyuan, pineapple cakes..."

  "Is that all for you?" Zhuang Zi'ang asked, ed.

  "I'm a big eater. Besides, you help me finish it, 't you?" Su Yudiel mumbled, her head down, focused on the menu.

  Zhuang Zi'ang quietly sipped his lemon tea, keeping his thoughts to himself. It would be a blow to his manhood if he couldn't keep up with a girl's appetite.

  Shortly after, the waiter arrived with their order. Su Yudiel meticulously divided each dish into two equal portions, pg them in their respective pots.

  Then she inquired, "Coke or Pepsi?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang replied, "Coke."

  Su Yudiel waved to the waiter and asked for two s of ice-cold Coke. The dark brown co oured into gsses, creating a yer of fine bubbles.

  Su Yudiel raised her gss and toasted Zhuang Zi'ang. "Zhuang Zi'ang, may you fet all your troubles and be happy every day."

  Zhuang Zi'ang was touched. "Little Butterfly, thank you."

  The fizzy Coke tingled as it went down his throat.

  Su Yudiel pced the first piece of cooked beef into Zhuang Zi'ang's bowl, and then she began to eat with evident enjoyment, providing a running entary like a seasoned food critic.

  "The dutestines are supposed to be dipped for a total of fifteen dips - no more, no less. These are slightly overdone."

  "The seaweed is a tad salty. They should have ri more thhly."

  "The beef balls weren't kneaded enough. They ck that springy texture."

  ...

  She seemed incapable of keeping her mouth still, always needing to chatter or chew.

  Zhuang Zi'ang offered her a tissue. "You've got a bit of oil on your lip."

  Su Yudiel took it and wiped her mouth carelessly. "Thanks."

  Typically, attractive girls are quite meticulous about their appearance. But Su Yudiel, despite her stunningly beautiful face, seemed to savor the simple, down-to-earth things in life. A girl like her effortlessly put people at ease and was genuinely endearing.

  "Little Butterfly, how do you mao stay so cheerful all the time?" Zhuang Zi'ang asked.

  "A day spent in happiness is a day well-lived, just as a day spent in sadness is still a day passed. So why not choose happiness every day?" Su Yudiel asked with a smile.

  Zhuang Zi'ang nodded in agreement, lost in thought. Her logic was unassaible. If he tio dwell oerday's sadness, he would be only doing himself a disservice.

  "Oh, and do you have a niame?" Su Yudiel asked curiously.

  Zhuang Zi'ang shook his head, bewildered. His cssmates either addressed him as "Css President" or by his full name. Except for Li Huangxuan, who called him "son."

  He supposed "son" didn't really qualify as a niame, did it?

  "Then I'll call you Dummy," Su Yudiel said while dipping some tripe in her hot pot.

  "Why? That sounds terrible," Zhuang Zi'ang protested.

  "Because you lied to me this m, and you did it so unvingly," Su Yudiel said, still hung up on it.

  Zhuang Zi'ang thought to himself, I've ra the top of the entire grade for two years in a row. If that qualifies as 'dumb', what does that make the rest of the students?

  Their mini hot pot feast sted about forty minutes. After retrieving the st piece of potato from the depths of her pot and sav it with a sigh, Su Yudiel looked utterly tent.

  Zhuang Zi'aured to the waiter for the check.

  Su Yudiel hurriedly said, "Since I was the one who suggested hot pot, it's on me."

  Zhuang Zi'ang smiled. "Let me get this one. You get the one."

  "Deal!" Su Yudiel agreed.

  And just like that, they had unknowingly scheduled their rendezvous.

  They emerged from the hot pot pce around one iernoon. Zhuang Zi'ang po go to his mother's two-bedroom apartment to tidy up and , as he would be living there for the foreseeable future.

  When Su Yudiel heard this, she volunteered to e along, to help him tidy up.

  When they were opening the door, the neighbor door, a middle-aged woman, happeo e out. Zhuang Zi'ang reized her, having seen her around a few times before, and offered a polite greeting.

  "Oh, you have a young dy now?" The neighbor's eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the sight of the beautiful Su Yudiel.

  "She's just a friend," Zhuang Zi'ang crified, a blush creeping up his neck.

  "o be coy. Young love is perfectly natural," the neighbor said with a knowing smile.

  Su Yudiel blushed crimson at the neighbor's words. Although she usually chattered non-stop, she was toied at a time like this, not knowing how to expin.

  Though somewhat dated, the apartment was well-lit. Xu Hui only resided there a few days each month. On particurly busy days, she would simply ht at a hotel he train station.

  The sparsely furnished apartme especially spacious. The absence of any pnts lent the space a sterile air.

  Zhuang Zi'ang said to Su Yudiel, "Little Butterfly, for the hree months, feel free to e by whenever you want to hang out."

  Su Yudiel blinked her rge, limpid eyes. "And after that?"

  "Let's cross that bridge when we e to it," Zhuang Zi'ang deflected her question, a shadow passing over his eyes. He imagined he would likely be hospitalized by then.

  Few in this world would mourn his passing.

  A smile pyed on Su Yudiel's lips. "If you get on my bad side, don't expect me to e looking for you."

  "Never," Zhuang Zi'ang said, without a moment's hesitation.

  The hree months promised to be a trying period of loneliness and physical suffering as his illook its toll. He was determined not to let this vibrant spsh of color fade from his otherwise bleak existence.

  Su Yudiel, despite her pretty appearance, t at household chores and probably did a lot of them at home. W in tahey quickly transformed the small apartment, imbuing it with a sense of warmth and homeliness.

  After disposing of the trash, they made a quick trip to a nearby supermarket to stock up on some daily essentials. Zhuang Zi'ang made a point of buying a tear-off dar, the type where one sheet was ripped away each day.

  He hefted it in his hand, noting how insubstantial the stack of y sheets felt. These flimsy pages represehe tdown to his life's end.

  At the checkout, Su Yudiel, impatient with the queue, decided to wait for Zhuang Zi'ang outside.

  When Zhuang Zi'ang emerged, he found her cradling a round gss fishbowl, plete with pebbles and aquatits. Two crimson goldfish darted about inside.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, this is my gift to you. gratutions on your move."

  "Why are you giviwo fish? I barely take care of myself," Zhuang Zi'ang mumbled.

  "I made you miss out on catg fish yesterday, so this is to make up for it. And to add some life to your new home. Promise me, don't let them die," Su Yudiel said seriously.

  "Don't let them die?" Zhuang Zi'ang was taken aback.

  "I meawo fish. If you let them die, I'll never five you," Su Yudiel said, shaking her fist.

  Zhuang Zi'ang looked deeply into Su Yudiel's eyes, as if trying to see into her soul.

  It was a joyful thing to be friends with a girl like her. But why did he have to meet her when his life was about to end?

  Little Butterfly, if only I had met you sooner!