Rejected by the Campus Belle, I Find My True Love-Chapter 156 - 155: Hot Pot Restaurant Incident!

"Alright, then let’s go have hot pot."

These days, Xue Yang had become somewhat famous in University Town and tended to draw attention wherever he went. As soon as the three of them entered the hot pot restaurant, they immediately drew the stares of everyone inside.

Xue Yang was dressed in a military greatcoat, resembling a general from the Republic era—extremely eye-catching. Although Yu Kexin wore a military greatcoat just like him, she looked more like a girl from the next village over. She wasn’t unattractive, just how a normal person would look wearing such a coat. By comparison, Cui Hao looked much more normal in his white windbreaker, yet his regular attire seemed strangely out of place sandwiched between the two greatcoats.

Seeing the three of them come in, a waiter hurried over. "Welcome! How many in your party?"

"Three of us. Could we get a quieter spot, please? Thanks."

"Of course. This way, please."

The waiter found them a spot in a corner. From there, they could see the whole restaurant, but they themselves would be hard to spot unless someone was looking for them. It was a great spot, and the three of them sat down with smiles.

"The service seems decent," Cui Hao commented. "I just hope the food is as good as they say."

"Xue Yang, you’d better not drink tonight," Cui Hao warned. "Last time you got drunk, you nearly killed me."

Cui Hao’s arms ached just thinking about it. He remembered the struggle of finally getting Xue Yang to his door, only for the guy to suddenly change his mind and start yelling that he wanted to go back to the dorm. The effort had been exhausting.

Xue Yang looked a little embarrassed at the mention of the incident. "That was an accident."

"I don’t care. Kexin, don’t you dare order any alcohol. Not even beer."

Kexin knew a little about the drunken incident, but not the full story. Seeing Cui Hao’s intense reaction, she figured something very interesting must have happened.

"How about we get some ’Happy Otaku Fuel,’ then?" she suggested.

Cui Hao’s eyes lit up immediately. "Yes! I haven’t had any in ages, and I’ve been craving it."

Xue Yang glanced at him. "You should drink less of that stuff."

"Mind your own business."

In fact, Cui Hao hadn’t touched the stuff since Xue Yang’s last comment, so he was eager to use this as an opportunity to satisfy his craving.

While checking the menu, Yu Kexin said, "I’ll also order a bottle of Tiandi No. 1. It helps cut through the grease."

"Sounds good," Xue Yang nodded.

"A yin-yang pot is okay, right? I... I like spicy food, but I’m not sure if you two do," Yu Kexin said.

Xue Yang and Cui Hao replied in unison, "No problem."

After they ordered, the waiter took the slip to the kitchen. Since it was hot pot, the broth base arrived quickly, with the various side dishes following one by one.

Yu Kexin was sitting next to the platters of ingredients, so the task of adding them to the pot naturally fell to her. She enjoyed taking care of people and didn’t mind at all, systematically adding the harder-to-cook meatballs into both the spicy and mild sides of the pot.

While they waited for the broth to boil, a familiar voice suddenly called out from nearby.

"Xue Yang, you guys are out eating too?"

Xue Yang looked up and saw Wu Xiaoya and Chen Ying arm in arm, standing behind Yu Kexin. It looked like they had just arrived.

"Want to join us?" Xue Yang offered.

"No thanks, we’ll just sit over here," Wu Xiaoya said, pointing to an adjacent table.

Xue Yang nodded and didn’t insist.

"Xue Yang, now that the holiday’s started, when is your ticket home booked for?" Chen Ying asked.

"I booked it for the 7th of next month."

Xue Yang had booked a flight instead of a train ticket. The trains were too crowded, and the trip from Yancheng to Hui City was a long one, taking about twenty-one hours. On top of that, it was the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush. He had already experienced the chaos of the back-to-school rush when he first arrived and had no desire to go through an ’upgraded’ version of it.

"That late?" Chen Ying asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I still have some things to take care of here, so I’m going back later. How about you, Senior?"

"My ticket is for next week."

"Well, I wish you a safe trip, Senior."

Chen Ying pursed her lips. She wanted to say something but found she didn’t know what. Dejectedly, she returned to the adjacent table. Wu Xiaoya, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind at all. Returning to her seat, she asked Chen Ying what kind of broth she wanted.

"Let’s do the yin-yang pot. I can’t handle spicy food," Chen Ying replied.

"Alright, a yin-yang pot it is," Wu Xiaoya confirmed.

Chen Ying nodded, her mind clearly elsewhere. Xue Yang wants to start his own venture... does he mean with them? And she recognized Yu Kexin. The genius of the Computer Science Department, the 2014 national programming competition champion.

From her seat, she saw Xue Yang laughing and chatting with his friends while Yu Kexin occasionally added food to his bowl. Although Xue Yang claimed he could handle both spicy and non-spicy food, Yu Kexin noticed he ate more comfortably when she gave him items from the mild side of the pot. He would still eat things from the spicy side, but his brow would furrow slightly, as if he were forcing himself.

It seems he’s forcing himself just to accommodate me.

Moved by the thought, Yu Kexin stopped giving him food from the spicy side. As for Cui Hao, he wasn’t picky at all and would eat anything put in front of him.

Well, the guy has his good points, Yu Kexin thought. He’s easy to feed.

When they had nearly finished eating, Xue Yang raised his cup. "To the founding of our new venture, cheers!"

"May it grow better and better! Cheers!" Cui Hao added.

"And to making a ton of money! Cheers!" Yu Kexin chimed in.

The three of them exchanged smiles and downed the Tiandi No. 1 in their cups. There was no grand opening ceremony, no complete team, not even a name for their project, but the three of them were filled with hope for the future. Perhaps that was the advantage of youth. As long as they had hope, they could charge forward, ever onward.

Three people are naturally livelier than two, and a crowd is even livelier than three. The hot pot restaurant was incredibly busy tonight, packed to the rafters. The waitstaff was completely swamped.

"Hey, what about the water I asked for?" a woman’s sharp voice cut through the noise.

"I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ll go get it right now." The waiter didn’t look very old, probably new to the job. It wasn’t usually this busy during the school term. With the sudden holiday rush, his workload had increased dramatically.

"Alright, calm down. He said he’d go get it, didn’t he?" a man at the same table said, trying to placate her.

"I asked him first! He ignored me and went to add food and water to other tables. Isn’t it supposed to be first come, first served?"

"Just because you’re in a bad mood doesn’t give you the right to yell at people. You’re making me really uncomfortable."

"What did you say? Say that again!"

Suddenly, a loud argument erupted, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. The waiter didn’t say another word, simply turning and storming off angrily.

He returned a moment later.

Seeing the waiter storming back toward the table carrying a basin of hot water, Xue Yang’s brow furrowed. As if predicting the waiter’s next move, he suddenly stood and walked quickly toward their table.