So embarrassing

Lin Yu rubbed his temples in frustration, feeling a headache coming on.

How on earth did things end up like this?

If all else fails...

Maybe transferring schools would work?

Lin Yu scratched his head, but even that seemed unlikely.

Given the notorious reputation of Third High, his chances of successfully transferring were about as high as Tang Manman's childhood sweetheart suddenly appearing out of nowhere to beat him up.

Whatever.

What's done is done.

Time to eat first.

Feeling irritated, Lin Yu decided to indulge in a little procrastination.

No matter how big the problem was, it could wait until after lunch!

Though Third High had a terrible reputation, its cafeteria was surprisingly decent—affordable, delicious, and the lunch ladies never skimped on portions.

Truly praiseworthy!

After grabbing a few of his favorite dishes, Lin Yu carried his tray, scanning for an empty corner to enjoy his meal in peace. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a familiar face.

Instinctively, he turned to look.

When he got a clear view of the person’s face, his eyes widened in shock.

Holy crap.

Did you get isekai’d too?

And with your original looks intact?

Lin Yu stared at the tall, burly guy, his face lighting up with the joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

Carrying his tray over, Lin Yu sat down beside him, taking in that same honest, thick-featured face from their past life. He was so thrilled he could’ve hugged the guy and planted a kiss on his cheek!

But considering his current delinquent-like appearance, Lin Yu held back the impulse and decided to drop some hints instead—something to signal that he, too, was from that world.

Picking out a few thin strands of vegetables from his meal, Lin Yu chewed the larger pieces before arranging the processed greens on the table.

As he worked, the message he wanted to convey gradually took shape.

Finally, he placed the last tiny vegetable strand down, completing a symbol—an Arabic numeral—clearly visible against the cream-colored tabletop.

3!

Pleased with his handiwork, Lin Yu grinned at the burly young man, eagerly awaiting his look of recognition.

But to his surprise, the guy showed zero interest in the crude vegetable art. In fact, his thick eyebrows furrowed in obvious disgust, as if Lin Yu had just done something revolting.

?

A giant question mark popped up in Lin Yu’s mind.

How could you miss such an obvious reference? Are you even a real internet troll?

After a while, seeing the guy still hunched over his food in silence, Lin Yu gave up and leaned in closer, whispering:

"Old man, cough up some gold!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the burly guy flinched, his face twisting in fear—clearly not realizing it was just a meme.

"I... I don’t have any money," he stammered, his timid demeanor completely at odds with his hulking frame.

This reaction left Lin Yu utterly baffled.

Wait… is he not who I think he is?

Lin Yu scrutinized the guy again, noting even the mole behind his ear matched exactly the one from his memories. Finally, he rolled his eyes and snapped:

"Niu Dafei, cut the act already!"

"Or do I need to beat the meat right here in public for you to recognize your dear old Lin Yu?"

Lin Yu watched eagerly, hoping for a snarky comeback like "Spare me the formalities!" so they could share a knowing laugh.

But after a long pause, all he got was the guy growing even more visibly nervous.

At this point, Lin Yu was genuinely stumped.

There was no way Niu Dafei wouldn’t know this meme. Back in their past life, they’d joked about it countless times—he’d forget his crush’s name before forgetting this.

So… is he really not Niu Dafei?

Lin Yu was at a loss.

If this guy was Niu Dafei, how could he not recognize these basic internet memes?

But if he wasn’t… well, damn, he looked more like Niu Dafei than Niu Dafei himself!

After staring at the guy for a while longer, Lin Yu decided to pull out the ultimate trump card—a joke so stupid it would make Niu Dafei laugh uncontrollably, no matter the setting.

The joke originated from a lyric by Andy Lau: "Cold icy rain slaps haphazardly against my face."

Internet jokesters later tweaked it into "Cold icy fish slaps haphazardly against my face."

And from there, someone spun it into a full-blown, painfully unfunny joke.

It was the kind of joke even Niu Dafei, with his low standards for humor, would normally shrug off.

But then came the game-changer—a meme.

A very cute meme.

It featured a cartoon character getting slapped left and right by a frozen fish, looking both ridiculous and pitiful.

For some reason, the moment Niu Dafei saw it, he lost it—laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

From then on, just mentioning the joke—or even reciting the lyric—would send him into hysterics, no matter where they were.

Locking eyes with the nervous, fearful Niu Dafei lookalike, Lin Yu took a deep breath and slowly said:

"Cold icy fish slaps haphazardly against my face."

The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Yu watched the guy’s expression like a hawk, ready to pounce the second he saw even a hint of a smirk.

But as seconds ticked by…

Nothing.

Not even a twitch. If anything, the guy looked more terrified.

Finally, Lin Yu accepted the truth.

He really wasn’t Niu Dafei.

"My bad, wrong guy," Lin Yu muttered, patting his shoulder awkwardly before quickly covering his face and fleeing.

Damn it.

Please tell me he doesn’t know what 'beat the meat' means.

This is so embarrassing, ughhhh.