If It's Not Imported, I Won't Eat It

Monday, the temperature was on the lower side.

Shen Nian was no longer the Shen Nian who prioritized style over warmth.

A cold snap hit today; the temperature suddenly began to drop in the early hours. Just when everyone thought the recent 18 degrees Celsius was unbeatable, this morning it was only 14 degrees. This was truly next-level, the coldest day of the entire autumn.

Winter Solstice was coming soon. Here in Ci'nan, Winter Solstice marks the official start of winter. But, supposedly winter, yet the temperatures forecasted were actually higher than they were now in late autumn.

If autumn was this cold, winter would surely demand the unveiling of the ancestral hand-knit sweater from mom.

While exercising, he ran a few steps and his lungs sucked in a bunch of cold air. Although he could recover by himself, it still made Shen Nian feel utterly miserable. Combined with the chilly weather, he didn't even shower this morning.

The wind made his ears sting. Since he didn't sweat, there was no need to shower.

As usual, he went to school with Xia Yanchun. Shen Nian had bought her steaming hot char siu bao. Xia Yanchun held them in her hands, and when she took a small bite, puffs of hot steam would waft out from inside the bun.

Feeling something foreign in her mouth, Xia Yanchun stuck out her little tongue and quietly spat out a piece of paper wrapper she had accidentally bitten. She initially meant to spit it out casually, but it accidentally flew onto Shen Nian's pant leg.

"You motherf..."

Precision-guided munition right here, and I'm like half a meter away.

[Lucky Star] thinks getting trash spat on by Xia Yanchun is lucky? What are those five luck attribute points even for?

"It was just an accident," Xia Yanchun said with a hint of apology, though she didn't really take it to heart. Dealing with Shen Nian required ruthlessly spitting trash on him.

"Whew, the wind is really strong today."

"This year is the coldest year, I believe it now. It's like this even before winter's officially here. Do you think it might snow this year?"

He quickened his pace to catch up with Xia Yanchun, leaning in from the side.

"How could it? Where in Ci'nan does it ever snow? Eleven or twelve degrees at the lowest is the absolute limit."

Shen Nian didn't reply, glancing at the trees by the roadside. Perhaps due to different species, some trees had only a pitiful two or three leaves left, while others merely had a few more withered leaves. A gust of wind blew, and the dead leaves fell, but the whole tree still looked lively, like those cringey middle schoolers wearing tight "Want Want" shirts.

Seems like it's been a long time since they walked to school.

Yesterday, after coming back from hanging out, he forgot to charge the e-bike. This morning, as soon as he pushed it out, it showed low battery.

So, he had to walk to school with Xia Yanchun, a rare occurrence.

"Hoo..."

Xia Yanchun exhaled, her breath forming white puffs. She put the remaining half of the char siu bao back in the bag, pinched the handles to tie a small knot, and was about to stuff it into her pocket when Shen Nian patted her shoulder.

"If you can't finish it, give it to me."

"Didn't you eat?"

"I had a serving of cheung fun at the shop on the way back. Wasn't quite enough."

Xia Yanchun looked at him disdainfully. "Eating other people's leftover trash. Don't go around saying you're Xia Yanchun's little brother."

"Bastard, you just have to take a dig at me, huh? Then I'll have to widely publicize the story of you trying to blow up cow dung and getting it in your mouth."

"Can you stop bringing that up? I really didn't get any in my mouth."

"I don't believe you."

It was like the scene about how many bowls of noodles the sixth son ate. Xia Yanchun rarely gave him a dead-fish-eye look before finally stuffing the remaining half of the char siu bao into his hand.

It was bought by Shen Nian anyway. Ever since Shen Nian started working out, either two cups of century egg congee would magically appear on her coffee table, or Shen Nian would wait at the door to give her something after she came out.

She hadn't spent a single cent on any of this. Shen Nian never asked her for money, and she never offered. The main principle was: benefits for me to enjoy, downsides for you to bear.

She secretly glanced sideways. Shen Nian casually opened the plastic bag and, with practiced ease, devoured the half bun in two bites. Then she watched as he crumpled the plastic bag into a ball and stealthily, silently dropped it.

"I ate that, my saliva's on it."

"If it's not pre-chewed, I won't eat it."

Xia Yanchun's face was flushed pink from the cold, her little mouth chattering away. "And littering too, so uncivilized."

"Don't you dare snitch," Shen Nian pointed at her like a Husky, intimidation maxed out.

"Hmph."

Xia Yanchun turned her head. The wind blew her hair wildly. She subconsciously pulled up her collar, covering her neck and chin. That felt much warmer.

Shen Nian thought she looked a bit like a rice dumpling. He brushed aside the hair at her temples and chuckled lightly, "How many layers are you wearing?"

"Four."

Xia Yanchun was bundled up tightly, not showing an inch except for her face. In this weather, the school didn't enforce the autumn uniform, but Xia Yanchun still wore a pair of uniform pants. They were wide enough that she had thermal leggings underneath.

The outermost layer was a thin, loose white jacket, with a hoodie inside. She didn't look very bright.

"A genuine rice dumpling indeed," Shen Nian laughed.

"None of your business. How many are you wearing?"

"Three. Hard work has given me chiseled muscles, more resistant to cold."

"Hmph."

"What are you hmphing about? Hmph this."

Shen Nian raised his hand and pulled Xia Yanchun's jacket hood over her head. Now she was even more bundled up, her two small hands tucked into her pockets. When she lowered her head, really only her nose and eyes were visible.

They walked all the way, almost at the school gate, when Shen Nian noticed a leaf had landed on her hood. With her backpack on, she looked like a tanuki.

Feeling a bit subtle, Shen Nian scratched his cheek and suddenly flicked Xia Yanchun's nose.

"What?!" Xia Yanchun's nose could practically snort steam.

Shen Nian grinned, wrapping his arm around Xia Yanchun's other shoulder. Xia Yanchun stiffened for a moment, then thought, they were almost at the school gate anyway, it wouldn't be for long, so she didn't say anything and let him.

Xia Yanchun felt she could succeed at anything she did.

If she could tolerate a god-like person like Shen Nian, what couldn't she accomplish?

If it were any other girl, they would have called the police to have Shen Nian arrested long ago, leaving him to eat plain congee every day.

Sister Chun's got swag.

Classroom. Everyone was wearing warm clothes. Li Shiyan had already curled up into a ball of cotton candy, a fluffy lump lying obediently on the desk, though her spirit had already departed for a while.

"It's so cold today," Li Shiyan said, her hands completely retracted into her sleeves. She had a weak constitution and couldn't handle the cold; 14 degrees was already very cold for her.

"If you're cold, why not wear thicker clothes?"

"Haven't been home in two weeks, didn't bring any thick clothes."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I could have brought some for you."

Li Shiyan hugged Xia Yanchun, snuggling for warmth. "It's okay, I asked my family to bring some over at noon."

"Alright then..."

Not long after sitting down, Xia Yanchun went to wash her water bottle.

The previous person had used up all the hot water, so she handed her bottle to Shen Nian. "Get me hot water when it's ready, no need to mix in cold."

Shen Nian shook the empty bottle and nodded.

The hot water was ready soon. When handing the bottle back, Shen Nian also passed over some snacks, half of which were for Li Shiyan.

The snacks weren't exactly small; there was a six-yuan bag of Lay's.

The little loli was too based, deserving of a hefty reward.

She just freeloaded a thousand yuan yesterday, and today there was a pile of snacks. Li Shiyan was over the moon, instantly seeing Shen Nian as if he were glowing golden.

So many, many snacks. During math class, Li Shiyan was carefully sneaking potato chips, occasionally looking left and right. If no one was looking her way, she'd quickly lick the seasoning residue off her fingertips.

From today on, she would no longer let the stick figure Shen Nian eat dirt; she would make sure little stick figure Shen Nian had a proper meal of three dishes and a soup.

Shen Nian's kindness can never be fully repaid!

Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits putting excessive pressure on the servers, it is now recommended that you use sources provided by other big shots.