Chapter 123: Hot Pot Lamb
When Gu Qinghuan and Xu Xinghe arrived in the classroom, they just caught Bao Qingsong posting the lunch set information he had dug up into the group chat.
No one knew how he managed it—he even got a copy of the poster the cafeteria was supposed to put on the door, and it was now hanging on the blackboard.
Gu Qinghuan admired him deeply: “You’re really impressive.”
Everyone was chattering about which set to choose, while Gu Qinghuan quickly made her decision. She had eaten Western food for lunch yesterday, so today she would go for Chinese!
She wanted to enjoy the three-person hot pot lamb set with Chuchu and Xin Bao.
Unfortunately, Jiang Chuchu refused outright: “Tonight my family and Qin Yue’s family are going to a dinner together with roasted whole lamb. I don’t want to eat lamb at lunch too.”
“Oh, then don’t forget to take pictures. I want to see the roasted whole lamb too,” Gu Qinghuan said. Although she had tried dishes like roasted lamb chops before, she had never eaten a whole roasted lamb.
Gu Qinghuan then asked Yu Xin, and Yu Xin hesitated as well: “Sorry, Qinghuan. I’d also like to have lunch with you, but lamb isn’t really my thing…”
“Eh, are you allergic to lamb?” Gu Qinghuan immediately became concerned.
Yu Xin shook her head quickly: “No, not allergic. I just didn’t like the taste of lamb growing up. I used to get scolded by my foster mother because of it, which made me dislike it even more.”
“Then never mind, I’ll find someone else,” Gu Qinghuan said cheerfully.
After a moment, she added to the slightly disappointed Yu Xin: “It’s just this one lunch. Don’t worry too much; there will be plenty of chances to eat together later! I think it’s good that you can express your preference honestly instead of forcing yourself to accommodate me, so no pressure!”
Yu Xin nodded, feeling a little more relaxed.
In fact, she just remembered that earlier, when she wanted to buy a tablet, Gu Qinghuan had also refused her normally, so now she could speak honestly about her own feelings.
Although her two friends had refused, Gu Qinghuan still wholeheartedly wanted to eat hot pot lamb.
Unfortunately, by now, most people had already decided what lunch set they were going to eat. Gu Qinghuan asked around in the class group chat but couldn’t gather two more people.
Some had already formed groups for multi-person sets, which were also finalized. With so many students in the class, finding two more people was surprisingly difficult.
She was considering whether to just hang out on the second floor of the cafeteria at lunchtime, see who was interested in hot pot lamb, and ask them to join her, when someone approached: “Class leader, you can’t find anyone to share hot pot lamb with, right?”
Gu Qinghuan looked up—it was Ai Ning from their class.
She wasn’t very close to Ai Ning, or perhaps they had a bit of a past misunderstanding?
At the start of forming study groups, Ai Ning had said a few critical things about a small teacher role, and Gu Qinghuan had caught her and lectured her.
After that, Ai Ning behaved, though she also tended to avoid Gu Qinghuan a bit.
However, Ai Ning seemed close to Song Yi. Gu Qinghuan sometimes overheard them calling each other “Uncle” and “Nephew.”
Her evaluation of this was: male friendships aren’t only about “buddies,” but can also include “uncle-nephew” dynamics.
If Qin Yue knew Gu Qinghuan thought this way, he would laugh until his stomach hurt.
In fact, Ai Ning wasn’t avoiding Gu Qinghuan out of malice—he was just embarrassed!
Gu Qinghuan, of course, didn’t know this “truth.” She met Ai Ning’s gaze and said calmly: “Yes, do you want to eat hot pot lamb? Want to share a set?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it…” Ai Ning began, but Gu Qinghuan immediately interrupted: “If you don’t like hot pot lamb, you don’t have to force yourself.”
Ai Ning’s confidence immediately deflated: “No, I’m not forcing myself.”
He was a little frustrated. Why couldn’t his mouth just speak for him? He had only heard Gu Qinghuan was looking for a lunch partner, and he didn’t mind what he ate, so he wanted to help.
Hearing Ai Ning insist he wasn’t forcing himself, Gu Qinghuan immediately brightened: “So we’ll share a set? Let’s go eat hot pot lamb together!”
Ai Ning decided to shut his useless mouth and answered with a nod.
Gu Qinghuan clenched her fist. Perfect—just one more person needed!
Unfortunately, even after the two of them set off for the cafeteria, they still didn’t find anyone.
Seeing Ai Ning a little unhappy, Gu Qinghuan comforted him: “Don’t worry. I don’t believe there’s no one in school who wants hot pot lamb. I’ll just stand by the cafeteria entrance and see who’s interested. Then I’ll invite them to join us.”
Ai Ning imagined standing at the cafeteria entrance in winter, hoping to find a lunch partner to enjoy hot pot lamb with…
How pitiful he felt!
Ai Ning decisively said: “I know someone I can invite. Wait here, class leader.”
He made a call and then walked with Gu Qinghuan toward the cafeteria. When they reached the entrance, Gu Qinghuan immediately noticed a girl looking around. When she saw Gu Qinghuan and Ai Ning, her eyes lit up, and she ran over.
“Hello!” the girl greeted cheerfully. “I’m He Meng.”
“Which méng?” Gu Qinghuan couldn’t help but ask, since there was already a “Ning” nearby.
He Meng obviously understood what Gu Qinghuan meant and laughed: “The ‘méng’ as in the sour lemon!”
Gu Qinghuan looked at Ai Ning and then at He Meng. The two didn’t look alike; they didn’t seem like they would have matching or connected names.
She cautiously asked: “Do you two families know each other?”
“Yes,” He Meng nodded promptly.
Ai Ning clearly didn’t want to dwell on this topic and urged: “Aren’t we going to eat hot pot lamb? Let’s go.”
He Meng grabbed Gu Qinghuan’s arm in a friendly way: “Come on, it’s so cold today. Hot pot lamb is perfect to warm up.”
Ai Ning didn’t say much, but He Meng talked a lot. By the time the dishes arrived, Gu Qinghuan had already gotten a rough understanding of He Meng.
She was a student in Class Ten and had known Ai Ning since childhood.
Their mothers met on a high-speed train. Ai Ning’s mother, Ai Wan, was suffering from morning sickness.
The man sitting nearby was dismissive. When she asked if he could help call a train attendant for hot water, he pretended not to hear, wearing headphones.
He Meng’s mother, He Jingcheng, sitting across the aisle, saw this. She crossed over, grabbed the man, and insisted on switching seats.
The man tried to get angry, but when He Jingcheng crushed an apple with one hand, he immediately backed down and switched seats—He Jingcheng was formerly a weightlifter.
After that, He Jingcheng took care of Ai Wan for the rest of the journey, and their families gradually became familiar with each other.
After marriage, Ai Wan moved to her husband’s hometown, far from her own family. She discovered her husband, once gentle and considerate, had completely changed.
He wanted her to do all the housework and quit her job, saying things like, “I’ll take care of you; you don’t have to work hard.”
Ai Wan felt she needed her own income, so she refused.
Later, she unexpectedly became pregnant, which disrupted her plans and forced her to give up competing for a managerial position.
Her health wasn’t great; an abortion could affect future fertility, and she liked children, so she chose to keep the baby.
However, when she took leave early due to health issues, she overheard a conversation between her husband and mother-in-law. It turned out he had deliberately broken the condom to make her “return fully to family life” so he could compete for the managerial role.
Ai Wan was so furious she trembled all over. She applied for long leave from work, bought a high-speed train ticket, and went home to decide on divorce.
Because it happened suddenly, she wasn’t well-prepared and ended up in such a messy situation on the train.
