Zhuang Zi'ang and Su Yudiel, who had just met, walked side by side along the bustling street. Every day after school, this area burst into life, the air filled with the tempting aromas of various foods from the vendors lining both sides of the road.

  Having experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, Zhuang Zi'ang finally calmed down enough to feel his hunger. He asked Su Yudiel, "Why did you skip css?"

  Su Yudiel looked at him with an i expression. "I didn't skip css. I went to pick ginkgo leaves."

  "Nonse was clearly during css time. Why weren't you in the ?" Zhuang Zi'ang questioned.

  "Our css had P.E." Su Yudiel expined with a smile.

  Zhuang Zi'ang was immediately rendered speechless. He had been so overwhelmed by sadness earlier that he hadn't even noticed whether there were students having P.E. on the sports field. All he remembered was how quiet it had beeh those ginkgo trees.

  "Then why did you skip css?" Su Yudiel asked.

  "I didn't skip css either. I asked the teacher for leave. I just didn't want to be seen g." Zhuang Zi'ang's tone was full of grievance. He had hidden himself so well, thinking no one would find him. Who would have thought that a girl would be hiding iree, seeing all his sadness on full dispy.

  Su Yudiel looked puzzled for a moment, but then, as if on a whim, she said, "I'll take you to eat something delicious, and your mood will improve."

  Su Yudiel's idea of "something delicious" turned out to be fried potatoes. Potatoes, truly a generous gift from nature to mankind, be served as a staple food or a vegetable. With tless cookihods, they be transformed into a myriad of delicacies. The auntie running the stall cut the potatoes into small pieces and fried them in a wok until they turned a beautiful golden brown. Then she sprihem with salt and pepper, powder, chili powder, chopped green onions, and white sesame seeds. The result was crispy oside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

  Su Yudiel, a self-procimed foodie, repeatedly emphasized that fried potatoes had to be spiough to be enjoyable, and asked the auo add more chili.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, wait here for a moment. I'm going to buy some co.

  Coke or Pepsi?"

  "Coke."

  As everyone knows, Coke is fizzier, while Pepsi is sweeter. Zhuang Zi'a like he could use more fizz right now.

  A few mier, the two new acquaintances sat on a marble step, sharing the spicy fried potatoes. The auntie selling the potatoes was very generous and had added a lot of chili. Zhuang Zi'ang's tongue was almost numb, and fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead. Su Yudiel wasn't faring much better; her cheeks were flushed from the spice, and she gulped down her ice-cold Coke.

  "Tell me your sad story to make me happy!" The girl suddenly said, blinking her bright, watery eyes.

  "Are y to rub salt into my wound?" Zhuang Zi'aed, exasperated.

  "No, no. If you talk about your sad things, maybe they won't be so sad anymore." Su Yudiel said, biting oraw.

  Zhuang Zi'ang turned his head and looked at her beautiful profile. Her harmless and i appearance easily gaihers' trust. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly began, "When I was twelve, after I graduated from elementary school, one night during the summer vay dad said the whole family would go on a trip to the beach. I had never seen the o before and was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. I packed my luggage right away..."

  "Wow, your dad is so nice. I've never seen the o either." Su Yudiel's face was full of longing.

  "But when I woke up the day, I found that the three of them had already go turned out that my dad's so-called 'whole family' didn't include me." Zhuang Zi'ang's eyes instantly dimmed.

  Su Yudiel: "..."

  The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward. Su Yudiel wao offer fort but didn't know how to start. She used a bamboo skewer to pick up a piece of potato and held it to Zhuang Zi'ang's mouth. "Do you want to try mine?"

  "Aren't they all the same?" Zhuang Zi'ang was taken aback.

  "It's different because I'm feeding you." Su Yudiel's eyes were as clear as a ke washed by spring rain.

  Zhuang Zi'ang took a bite of her potato. It tasted just as fiery, yet a faint sweetness welled up from the bottom of his heart.

  "When I was fourteen, I got first p the whole grade. The school held a parent-teacher ference, and the teachers wanted my parents to go on stage and share their experien edug their child. But my dad told my mom to go, my mom told my dad to go, and in the end, her of them went."

  As Zhuang Zi'ang recalled the past, his eyes unknowingly reddehat was one of the most embarrassing afternoons of his life. On his desk y test papers with near-perfect scores in every subject, yet no one cared. He was basking in the aura of achievement but had no family to cheer for him.

  He was like a child abandoned by heaven, deprived of his parents' love for too long, gradually falling into despair. Even now, suffering from a terminal illness, he didn't know whether to tell his father or his mother. This kind of sadness was a thorn stu Zhuang Zi'ang's heart, and he had never spoken of it to anyone. But there was something about the girl in front of him that gave him an inexplicable sense of trust.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, you're having a nosebleed! I'm sorry, it must be because these potatoes are too spicy." Su Yudiel hurriedly took out some tissues and helped Zhuang Zi'ang stop the bleeding. Her haly supported the back of his head as she carefully wiped away the warm blood.

  Zhuang Zi'a a warm current flowing from her fiips into his skin. The pent-up frustration in his heart gradually dissipated.

  After the bleeding stopped, Zhuang Zi'ang said gratefully, "Thank you. I've actually beeing nosebleeds frequently for the past six months. It's not because of the potatoes."

  Su Yudiel took out a wad of cash from her pocket, ted out a few bills, kept two for herself, and stuffed the rest into Zhuang Zi'ang's hand.

  She said softly, "I'll keep some money for the bus ride home. You use the rest to treat yourself to more food. Whenever I'm sad, I just eat a lot of good food, and then I don't feel so sad anymore."

  Zhuang Zi'ang smiled and said, "Love and food shall never be betrayed. But I'm a guy, let me treat you!"

  "No, I'm treating you today. ime when I'm sad, you treat me." Su Yudiel pouted stubbornly.

  "Alright then. I'm known for being thick-skinned and anding on ceremony." Zhuang Zi'ang readily agreed.

  After finishing the potatoes and Coke, they embarked on their ary adventure again. Su Yudiel walked with a boun her step, her skirt fluttering. She truly resembled a little butterfly, dang gracefully. But the moment she saw something delicious, she couldn't tear herself away, drooling like a little foodie.

  They strolled and ate their way through mb skewers (yáng ròu ), hand-held pancakes (shǒu zhuā bǐng), oden (guān dōng zhǔ - a Japayle stew), and spicy matang (má là tàng - a Si-style spicy hot pot). After Su Yudiel spent all her money, Zhuang Zi'ang bought her a strawberry milk tea. He was too full to have anything else.

  "Wow, Zhuang Zi'ang, this is so yummy!" Su Yudiel excimed with exaggerated praise.

  "Keep your voice down. Don't act like you've never seen the world." Zhuang Zi'ang preteo be annoyed.

  "It's really good. Do you want to try some?" Su Yudiel held the cup towards him.

  "How am I supposed to try it?" Zhuang Zi'ang saw the straw stig out of the cup, covered ih marks. Even if it wasn't bitten like that, they shouldn't share a straw, sidering they had only met an ho. It would viote the traditional fu principle of avoiding close physical tact between unmarried men and women (nán nǚ shòu shòu bù qīn).

  Su Yudiel, as if perf a magic trick, pulled out araw from behind her back. "I asked for ara one when I bought the Coke." With a pop, she ied the straw into the cup.

  "Here, have a sip."

  Zhuang Zi'ang stared into the girl's clear eyes, hesitated for a while, and finally couldn't resist. He lowered his head and took a sip. The rich aroma of the milk tea blossomed on his tongue, leaving a lingering aftertaste. It was just an ordinary strawberry milk tea, yet it seemed to taste much better than usual.

  Sharing a ilk tea with two straws was something usually only couples did. Was she doing this on purpose, or was she just being i? Zhuang Zi'ang thought that although he wasn't bad-looking, he wasn't so handsome that such a beautiful girl would fall in love with him at first sight. So she must be naturally naive.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, we should be sidered friends nht?"

  "Of course. You're my first friend since I got here."

  Su Yudiel spoke very seriously, but Zhuang Zi'ang didn't quite uand the meaning behind her words. What did she mean by "first friend"?