Rice Cake

Lin Yu didn’t stop running until he was completely out of breath, finally leaning against a wall to steady himself.

Turning his head to glance behind him, he sighed in relief when he saw the girl hadn’t followed him.

Damn.

So she was just trying to get Tang Manman’s contact info?

Good thing he hadn’t given it to her—otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble might’ve popped up later!

He brushed his hand through his hair a couple of times, shaking off the light snow that had settled on top.

After walking for so long and then sprinting this far, Lin Yu didn’t have the energy to wander around aimlessly looking for a lamb restaurant anymore.

Stepping to the roadside, he flagged down a taxi, deciding to just let the driver take him to any random lamb joint.

...

Seriously.

Who the hell decided to schedule exams for Monday?

Ugh!

School’s already annoying enough as it is!

Lin Yu grumpily stuffed dumplings into his mouth, thoroughly displeased with the school’s exam arrangements.

At least this was the last monthly test of the semester.

Next up would be finals.

Hmm.

One more month of messing around, and then another month of messing around after that.

But despite the approaching winter break, Lin Yu found himself in an unusually sour mood.

Staring at the steaming dumplings on his plate, he felt an indescribable ache in his chest.

Today was New Year’s Day.

Back before he crossed over, he’d have gone home to a lavish feast tonight.

Sure, his parents never went all out with decorations, but just sitting together as a family for a warm, hearty meal was already the most luxurious way to celebrate any holiday.

But now?

After school, all that awaited him was a drafty, poorly heated old rental apartment.

He’d be completely alone, with nothing on the table…

“Sigh…”

Lin Yu exhaled bitterly, finally understanding the emotion behind that famous line of poetry.

A lonely stranger in a foreign land, missing home twice as much during the holidays.

He wondered how his parents were doing over there…

Had he died in that world?

Or was something else happening?

Lin Yu poked at the soft, white dumplings with his chopsticks, his vision growing blurry.

He really wished there was a well-behaved version of himself who could take care of his parents properly…

...

“Long-ge?”

“Why are you crying?”

Hearing the gentle voice across from him, Lin Yu snapped back to reality.

He looked at Gu Yue, who was bent over the table, her face almost touching its surface. Blinking rapidly to clear the moisture from his eyes, he scowled and snapped,

“Who’s crying?”

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

Gu Yue pouted, a little hurt by the sudden scolding.

But she wasn’t the type to dwell on things like that, quickly bouncing back to her usual cheerful self.

Leaning in, she mysteriously pulled out a small paper bag from the pocket of her red school uniform.

After untying the tightly sealed opening, she took out two long, white sticks skewered on bamboo skewers.

She placed one on Lin Yu’s plate and kept the other for herself, chirping,

“Here!”

“This is for you.”

“What is it?”

Lin Yu eyed the white stick on his plate before looking up at Gu Yue.

“Rice cake?”

Gu Yue nodded.

“Yep, rice cake.”

“Back in my hometown, we always eat this on New Year’s Day.”

“It symbolizes ‘rising higher every year.’”

Lin Yu glanced down at the rice cake, then back at Gu Yue’s earnest expression.

“We’re just eating it plain?”

“There’s sugar on it,” Gu Yue explained.

“Oh.”

Lin Yu finally stopped mangling the dumplings and set down his chopsticks, picking up the rice cake and shoving it into his mouth.

“How is it?”

“How is it?”

Gu Yue’s dark, sparkling eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Eh, it’s alright,” Lin Yu mumbled through a mouthful of chewy rice cake.

“Just cold.”

“Kind of hard.”

“It’s still cold?”

Gu Yue’s hopeful expression instantly fell, her voice tinged with disappointment.

“I kept it in my pocket and held it with my hands—I thought it’d stay warm.”

“If it’s too cold, just spit it out.”

Watching Lin Yu struggle to chew, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Nah.”

Lin Yu kept chewing stubbornly.

“It’s edible.”

“Heh.”

Gu Yue grinned and started nibbling on her own rice cake…

...

“Not bad—the math test this morning wasn’t too hard.”

“But the Chinese exam was annoying. That essay prompt was way too obscure.”

“I didn’t even get what it was asking.”

The girl chattered between bites of hot dumplings, venting about the morning’s exams.

After complaining for a while, she suddenly realized something was off.

Why was she the only one talking?

Say something, damn it!

She looked up at her best friend across the table and found her staring blankly in one direction, her expression dazed and vacant—just like when she spaced out in class recently.

Instead of snapping her out of it, the girl turned to follow her gaze.

The cafeteria was packed, making it impossible to tell who her friend was fixated on.

But the girl’s own attention was quickly caught by someone else.

Spotting the cheerful figure happily munching on rice cake, she curled her lip in disdain, rolling her eyes so hard they might’ve fallen out of her head.

What a joke.

Now she’s playing the sweet, innocent girl?

Why the hell didn’t the school just expel this bitch when they had the chance?

Some people have all the luck.

Her resentment toward Gu Yue, who’d bullied her best friend, could’ve filled the sky.

Turning back, she saw her friend still staring blankly in that direction. Waving a hand in front of her face, she asked,

“Manman, what are you looking at?”

“Huh?”

Tang Manman snapped out of it, flustered. She quickly lowered her head, stuffing a dumpling into her mouth as she mumbled,

“N-nothing.”

Seeing her best friend once again hiding whatever was on her mind, the girl exhaled in frustration, losing the will to vent about the exams. She just silently shoveled dumplings into her mouth.

Tang Manman chewed slowly, then discreetly peeked up at her friend.

Once she confirmed the other girl wasn’t paying attention to her, her eyes drifted back to that same spot.

Watching as the guy with dyed blond hair tugged at his collar to show off a neck tattoo, and the black-haired girl rolled up her sleeve to reveal a purple inked design, she lowered her gaze, lost in thought…

...

“At least your tattoo’s easy to remove.”

“Look at mine—right on my neck. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps!”

Lin Yu pulled his collar open wider, his resentment toward his past self growing even deeper.

“True,” Gu Yue agreed, nodding as she tugged her sleeve back down.