Unexpectedly, Alice suddenly arrived.
For You Xue, this was another unexpected situation, and it was enough to turn her brain into a pile of mush again.
Before she could even figure out how to get along with Su Li, Alice appeared.
You Xue was a bit stunned, but she still knew to let them in, so she stepped aside to let them pass.
Su Li had already sidled inside, placing the insulated bag on the table and bending over to take out food containers.
Meanwhile, Alice smiled stiffly at You Xue, as if trying to be friendly.
“You… hello.”
You Xue didn’t know how to respond.
Making friends was never her strong suit; she could only squeeze out these few words.
The two of them stood at the door like that, at an awkward distance, staring at each other, as if even time had stopped at that moment.
But their internal activities hadn’t calmed down at all.
‘Alice looked at the girl in front of her, who seemed at a loss, and felt flustered. She wondered if she had come too hastily. The other girl hadn’t reacted at all, and that “hello” had been so timid.’
‘Like a frightened cat.’
‘Maybe I came at a bad time, but since I’m already here, I can’t just leave awkwardly.’
So Alice stood there, not knowing what to do, but she didn’t want to leave either.
You Xue, seeing the other girl still staring at her with sharp blue eyes that seemed to scrutinize her harshly, thought:
‘She doesn’t think I’ll cause problems anymore, so she’s still on guard against me, right? After all, someone who could suddenly attack her childhood friend of so long is indeed a dangerous person.’
‘Hmm, maybe I should explain first?’
As You Xue thought this and prepared to speak, another voice suddenly came.
“What are you two standing at the door for?”
Su Li had just taken out the lunch boxes and was about to call You Xue to eat when he noticed the two still lingering at the door, not speaking, and wondered what they were doing.
He felt that if he didn’t say something, this state would continue for a while.
“You Xue, come eat.”
“Oh.”
You Xue responded, glanced at Alice, then looked away, speaking timidly.
“Miss Alice, please come in.”
After saying this, You Xue herself felt a bit awkward.
Alice seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, nodded slightly, and stepped inside.
Su Li had already set out the food.
It was still hot; steam rose faintly from the rice.
There was only one pair of chopsticks.
You Xue looked up.
“Aren’t you two eating?”
“We already ate before coming.”
With that, You Xue had nothing more to say, so she sat down and started eating.
Food is the most important thing in the world.
No matter what happens, as long as you’re eating, you can put it aside for now.
She ate seriously, head down, her gray-white hair falling on either side of her cheeks, covering most of her face.
Her chopsticks moved at a steady pace, her chewing soft.
In this state, she no longer looked like a cat—her cheeks bulging as she chewed made her resemble a little hamster.
Su Li watched her and remembered that this was how it was when they were kids.
Whenever she encountered something upsetting, she would bury her head in her food, as if shoving food into her mouth could swallow her worries along with it.
Alice sat to the side, her gaze shifting between the two.
She recalled the first time she saw You Xue.
She had seen the girl with gray-white hair running through the streets, covered in wounds.
She thought she was in trouble and wanted to help, but ended up being frightened by her eyes.
But now, looking at those eyes, there was none of that intense violence and rejection from that day.
Both eyes were very calm, as if shining with some kind of gentle light.
It was as if Su Li had tamed a little monster.
But actually, although Su Li said they were childhood sweethearts, from the way they interacted, there wasn’t much intimacy between them.
It seemed that even in their hearts, there was still some kind of barrier.
So Alice immediately made a judgment: even after they had explained the circumstances and the misunderstanding might have been resolved, there was still a considerable distance between them.
Finally, You Xue finished eating and put down her chopsticks.
“Are you full?”
Su Li asked.
“I’m full.”
You Xue nodded.
After she spoke, the atmosphere turned cold again.
Alice knew she couldn’t hesitate any longer, so she softly called her name.
“You Xue.”
You Xue looked up at the golden-haired girl who had called her name.
Even now, she still hadn’t figured out the reason for the other girl’s visit.
As she was thinking, she found the other girl approaching, those blue eyes extremely serious.
“I’m sorry for causing you such serious injuries back then. I was too anxious at the time and attacked you without understanding the full story.”
She paused, as if choosing her words.
“Regardless, it’s my fault that you were so badly hurt.”
You Xue stared at her blankly.
In the original story, Alice was indeed a proud, almost stubborn girl, but she never wavered when it came to matters of principle.
Maybe she could be sharp-tongued, but her heart was always soft.
Besides Su Li, Alice was the second character You Xue liked.
“I heard from Su Li that you like apples.”
As she said this, she took out a box.
“I bought some apple pies. I hope you like them.”
Actually, You Xue didn’t particularly love apples.
It was just a habit from her previous life—always wanting to taste a bit of apple when her body was in pain.
But at a time like this, what she gave didn’t matter.
“…Thank you, I like them very much.”
You Xue answered sincerely.
Although she always complained about the tragic original story and called it a bad novel, why did she still care about it so much?
It was precisely because these characters existed in the book.
She admired them.
They might not be perfect saints.
But they could very well be the kind of simple, good people that could appear in reality.
In this cruel and dark world, they were like lit candles—not dazzling, but everyone wished such people existed.
So You Xue very much wanted to get along with people like that.
“Actually, I never blamed you. It was my fault back then—I accidentally attacked Su Li…”
You Xue lowered her head, looking at her hands resting on her knees.
“Actually, no one is at fault. The fault lies with the people and things that made things turn out this way.”
At this point, Su Li interjected.
It was precisely because too many unpredictable and bad things had happened that things had become this awkward.
‘However, the occurrence of bad things wouldn’t stop; in the future, there would only be more.’
“Then let’s consider this matter over and done with.”
Su Li said so.
You Xue nodded.
She had never held a grudge against Alice.
“Well…”
Alice blinked, as if not understanding how such a matter could be so easily brushed aside, but her expression relaxed, no longer as tense as before.
“But I still feel it’s not enough.”
She continued.
“Huh?”
You Xue looked at her in confusion.
“Since the academy is on break and we have nowhere to go, how about we go out together tomorrow? My treat!”
In a short time, Alice made her decision on her own.