Chicken Leg and Hamburger

"What are you laughing at?"

Liu Muye noticed Han Juyou giggling to herself and couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing," Han Juyou shook her head.

After taking a sip of her iced cola, Han Juyou turned to Liu Muye and asked, "Why do you like chicken legs so much?"

"Do I?" Liu Muye mumbled through a mouthful of chicken, "How can you tell?"

Han Juyou pointed at the drumstick in his hand. "Every time we go to the cafeteria, you buy chicken legs. Even in this McDonald's combo with so many options, you go straight for the chicken. And you still won’t admit you love them?"

Seeing how closely she’d been observing him, Liu Muye chuckled lightly. "Now that you mention it, I guess I do."

Han Juyou pressed further, "So why do you like them so much?"

"I just do. Do I need a reason to like chicken legs?"

With that, he slurped the last bit of meat off the bone, leaving it so clean even a dog would shed tears of disappointment.

Han Juyou countered, "There’s always a reason for liking something, isn’t there?"

Liu Muye shot back, "Do you like hamburgers?"

"Yeah," Han Juyou nodded.

"Then why do you like them?"

"..."

Caught off guard by his question, Han Juyou hesitated.

Liu Muye grinned, thinking he’d stumped her. "See? Even you know liking something doesn’t need a reason."

Han Juyou immediately protested, "Of course I have a reason for liking hamburgers!"

"What is it, then?" Liu Muye asked.

Clutching her McSpicy chicken burger, Han Juyou seemed to drift into memory.

"The first time I had a burger was in fifth grade, one evening."

"I’ve told you before—I didn’t do well in school as a kid. Later, I worked hard and slowly improved. After acing a midterm exam in fifth grade, I ran home excitedly with my report card, but my parents were too busy fighting to care about my ranking."

"Later, my grandma found me crying in my room. She looked at my first-place report card and quietly took me out of the house."

"She asked what I wanted to eat. I remembered classmates bragging, 'If I do well, my parents take me for burgers,' so I told her I wanted one too. My grandma didn’t know much about fast food, but she asked around until we found a no-name diner."

"Ten yuan for three burgers. I ate two that night—so happy—and couldn’t finish the last one. Grandma saved it for me, reheating it the next morning as my school breakfast."

"Seeing how much I liked it, she promised to take me for burgers every time I ranked first. From then on, my biggest motivation to study was 'cashing in' my grades with her for a burger."

"Later, after she passed away, my mom took me a few times. By high school, I stopped eating them altogether."

"That summer after graduation, I worked at a factory. On payday, I finally tried a 'real' KFC burger. Honestly? Not much different from the cheap ones—just two buns and a patty. The diner sold three for ten yuan, while KFC and McDonald’s charge that much for a soda."

"Seeing people online joke about 'budget meals' or 'digestive disasters' makes me sigh. A few-yuan burger was something my grandma never even tasted for herself..."

"..."

Listening to Han Juyou’s story, Liu Muye felt a pang of guilt. Because of a line he’d written in a book, she’d lost the grandmother who loved her most.

He suddenly wanted to slap himself.

Why couldn’t he just write romance properly instead of padding stories with useless details?

Noticing his silence, Han Juyou glanced up.

"You look even sadder than I do. What’s wrong?"

"Huh? Oh!" Liu Muye snapped back, avoiding her gaze. "Your story just... got to me."

Han Juyou laughed self-deprecatingly. "You, a silver-spoon rich kid, could never understand my broke childhood miseries."

"Who says I can’t?" Liu Muye bristled. "I—this young master—am deeply empathetic. Can’t I be moved?"

"Sure, sure," Han Juyou nodded. "So, why do you like chicken legs?"

Liu Muye eyed the bone pile. "Really want to know?"

"Spit it out already."

"Because..." He paused, then grinned. "They’re delicious!"

"You’re messing with me!" Han Juyou’s face fell. "I shared my heartfelt burger tale, and this is your reply?"

"Honestly, I just like how they taste. No deeper reason."

"Ugh, die already!"

Han Juyou sulkily bit into her burger, privately vowing to ignore Liu Muye forever...

Well, maybe not forever—she still owed him money. A month, then!

Wait, he was class president; ignoring him that long wouldn’t work. A week?

But his money was still on her meal card. A week without talking might starve him... Fine. One afternoon of silence—out of charity!

"Mad at me?"

Lost in her calculations, Han Juyou jumped when Liu Muye suddenly leaned in from the side.

"Ah!" Her shriek drew stares from the entire restaurant. Flushing, she ducked her head.

She shoved him away. "Are you trying to scare me to death?!"

Liu Muye slurped his cola. "You zoned out. Thought you were giving me the silent treatment."

"I am!" Han Juyou hissed through gritted teeth.

"Prove it," he dared, grinning. "Get angry for real."

"..."

Eyeing his infuriating smirk, Han Juyou weighed her options. Violence was beneath her dignity as a refined young lady.

Then she spotted his cup of cola.

"What are you—?" Liu Muye’s warning came too late.

Han Juyou pinched the paper cup and squeezed.

"SPLOOSH—"

Cola splattered across his face.

"HOLY—!"

"HAHAHAHA..."

Seeing Liu Muye's deflated expression, Han Juyou covered her mouth and laughed gleefully.

This hard lesson taught Liu Muye one thing—never act cocky with girls for no reason.

Lesson learned, but Liu Muye would still dare to do it again next time!

……