Gu Tong started eating on her own, ignoring Lan Siming’s chatter. She had training in the afternoon and didn’t have time to waste chit-chatting with him. She needed to catch up with the New Student Camp’s progress as soon as possible and couldn’t afford any delay.
A surprising sound echoed through the dining hall, interrupting Gu Tong’s meal. "Look... isn’t that the Bai Ling from the Arts Class, Qiu Xue..."
Gu Tong’s hand, gripping the spoon, trembled slightly. She instinctively looked up, but her pupils contracted.
Qiu Xue was dressed in a military green Academy Uniform, her shiny black hair draping over her shoulders, her eyes as dark as gemstones shimmering as if they could speak, her lips perpetually curving into a smile.
In her hand, she held a large silver lunch box, filled with something unknown, looking hefty. She briskly walked to a corner of the dining hall, opened the lunch box and said, "Brother Li, thank you for last time. These cherries are from my dad, have a taste."
Li Yan kept his head down, his expression unclear. He put down his chopsticks and said calmly, "No need, you keep them for yourself."
"You don’t have to be so polite with me. If you can’t finish them, share them with the guys in the class." Qiu Xue was always clever, particularly good at winning people over. Her prestige in Class One had already surpassed Gu Tong’s back in the day. In a sense, she was the real "Madam Li" in the hearts of Class One’s trainees.
This time, Li Yan remained silent. After all, Qiu Xue mentioned the guys in Class One. He could refuse for himself but had no right to make decisions for the group.
He lowered his head in contemplation, but just then, a playful voice sounded in his ear...
"Qiu Xue, you’re quite generous. These are cherries from the South, right? Fresh and shiny." Gu Tong picked up a cherry and popped it into her mouth, giving a thumbs up with satisfaction.
"Gu... Gu Tong, sister..." Qiu Xue was startled, her almond eyes arched up in joy, "You... what are you doing here..."
Qiu Xue’s father was also a Prince of the Academy, and she grew up in the Academy Courtyard, often playing with Gu Tong when they were younger. If it weren’t for this, Gu Tong wouldn’t trust her so much.
"Where there’s you, there’s me," Gu Tong curled her lips, but the words were laden with meaning. She was the Shura climbing out of Hell for revenge and couldn’t let her go easily.
"You’re working at the Academy too?" Qiu Xue’s face lit up with a joyful expression, though it was hard to tell if it was genuine. Perhaps that was her greatness.
"It’s not assigned work, more like a special assignment, experiencing life in the New Student Camp." Gu Tong lazily stretched.
Qiu Xue chuckled, but could more or less guess the situation, "Did you anger old man Gu again?"
"Old man’s a tiger, so he’s naturally short-tempered, easily irritated, can’t blame me." All the children growing up in the Academy Courtyard knew the subtle relationships within the Gu Family.
Gu Tong’s mouth was since childhood, often angering old man Gu, who would chase her around. Only Gu Family’s mother would protect her, stand up for her, and in the end, it was old man Gu who got disciplined. It became the gossip of the Academy Courtyard.
Qiu Xue’s delicate eyes subtly changed, swept over with an indescribable expression but quickly disappeared, "Then we can be together every day... that’s great..." With that, she held Gu Tong’s hand intimately, feeling particularly sincere and heartfelt.