Xie Huai walked out of the milk tea shop and tossed the keys to Xia Xia. “Go bring the vehicle over.”

When Xia Xia brought Xie Huai’s electric scooter, he was standing by the roadside buying a wrap.

The wrap was brushed with sweet chili sauce, filled with fried egg, sausage, fried dough sticks, lettuce, and shredded potatoes, topped with crushed peanuts and pickled vegetables… One glance and you could practically taste it.

Xie Huai stood eating his wrap when he noticed Xia Xia watching him. He lifted the wrap slightly: “Want some?”

Xia Xia had eaten several meals of plain buns from the cafeteria and was craving something with more flavor, but she couldn’t bring herself to spend ten yuan on a wrap.

She looked at Xie Huai: “If I say I want some, will Brother Huai treat me?”

Xie Huai replied flatly: “Brother Huai doesn’t mind treating girls to food, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself, and I’m afraid you wouldn’t dare eat it.”

Xia Xia asked: “Why wouldn’t I dare eat it?”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll poison you?” Xie Huai was brutally honest, “If I treat you to a wrap, I won’t be able to stop myself from putting poison in it.”

Xia Xia: “…”

With half his wrap eaten, Xie Huai asked: “Do you know how to ride an electric scooter?”

Xia Xia said: “Yes.”

Xie Huai: “You drive and I’ll eat.”

Xia Xia mounted the scooter, and Xie Huai looked at her small frame, asking distrustfully: “Really know how? If you make me fall…”

Xia Xia: “Really, my father has an electric scooter too. I used to ride it to buy medicine for my mother.”

Xia Xia rode the electric scooter better than Xie Huai. Being considerate, she kept the speed slow since Xie Huai was eating.

They encountered a few vehicles along the way. The palm trees lining both sides of the road were vibrant, their leaves lush green, and the breeze carried the fresh scent of rain-soaked grass.

“You’re driving well,” Xie Huai casually praised.

Just as he finished speaking, Xia Xia didn’t notice a pothole, and the wheel jolted, nearly throwing Xie Huai off.

“What’s wrong with you!” Half of Xie Huai’s sausage flew out of his wrap as he shouted, “I compliment you once and you get cocky?”

Xia Xia protested: “You can’t blame me for potholes!”

The road surface was uneven, and Xie Huai, sitting sideways, was unstable. He reached past Xia Xia to grab the seat.

The girl happened to shift her body at that moment, and Xie Huai’s hand landed on her waist. The wheel hit another pothole, making him stumble and nearly fall backward. He quickly grabbed her waist to maintain balance.

“Ah—” Xia Xia screamed, “Let go————”

Xie Huai’s eardrums nearly burst. Just as he was about to remove his hand, he noticed the handlebars in Xia Xia’s grip had veered off course, heading straight for the roadside guardrail.

He shouted: “Watch where you’re going—”

The wheel hit a third pothole, and Xie Huai tumbled into the roadside flower bed. The front wheel crashed into the curb, sending both Xia Xia and the scooter falling onto the path.

Her cheeks were as red as sunset clouds, with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

The electric scooter made a muffled sound like a sick person’s labored breathing.

Xia Xia wasn’t hurt and ran to the flower bed to check on Xie Huai.

Fortunately, the flower bed’s soil was soft, with no hard shrubs, only clover and chives planted there.

Xie Huai was unharmed, but covered in red soil, his new clothes and his 28,000-yuan shoes coated in grass and mud.

His remaining half wrap lay at his feet, with peanut crumbs and lettuce leaves covered in sauce scattered across his face.

Xie Huai pulled off the lettuce leaf from his face, his expression as still as dead water, calm as if he’d lost all passion and hope for life: “To be honest, it’s just a wrap. If you wanted one, just say so. Am I that petty?”

“From the vice raid to not answering me, to that forty-eight-point test paper, and now this – what exactly have I done wrong to make you hate me so much? If you have issues with me, say it. Don’t keep messing with me.” Xie Huai looked at her, “Do you have issues with me?”

The redness hadn’t faded from Xia Xia’s face, her eyes still watery: “No issues, I just have—”

“—ticklish skin.”

“Do you know what being ticklish means? I can’t control my shaking when touched.”

“You should have warned me before grabbing my waist, I wasn’t prepared at all.”

Xie Huai patted the dirt off his face and tried to stand up, but his knee suddenly went numb.

Xia Xia crouched down and rolled up his pant leg, seeing his knee had turned purple: “Looks serious, should we go to the hospital?”

Xie Huai stared at his knee for several seconds, emotions churning in his eyes, his mood unstable.

Xia Xia accepted her fate. The fault was hers, and she didn’t try to argue or struggle, preparing to face his anger.

Xie Huai didn’t get angry at her.

He hopped on one leg to the electric scooter, his back straight with determination: “I’ll never let you drive again. Even if I’m left with one leg, even if I have to crawl back to school, I won’t ride with you.”

Xia Xia suggested: “Let me call a taxi. You go back to school first, and I’ll ride the scooter back.”

Xie Huai propped up the electric scooter, the aging vehicle bought from a flea market making wheezing sounds like an old motorcycle.

Xie Huai tried to restart it, but the scooter wouldn’t move.

Three seconds later, the vehicle went silent, lying by the roadside like a lifeless dog.

“Have you noticed?” Xie Huai’s gaze fell on the electric scooter.

After a long silence, he spoke: “Ever since I met you, I’ve had nothing but bad luck.”

Xia Xia: “…”

The rainy season in South City was in August. By September, the continuous rain had subsided, but instead of welcoming autumn’s coolness, the sun became exceptionally harsh. On the first day of military training, the sun blazed overhead, intense ultraviolet rays wrapped in sunlight, and after the scorching heat, a heavy rubber smell permeated every corner of the field.

New students stood at attention under the blazing sun.

Students exempt from training couldn’t leave the training field. Xia Xia sat with several girls at the edge of the field, with a few boys scattered further away.

Xie Huai leaned against a chair under the sunshade, chewing on a foxtail grass stem.

Yesterday evening, his knee had turned purple from the fall, and he went to the university hospital for an injury assessment.

The doctor wouldn’t give him a training exemption note, only granting five days of sick leave for him to apply for medicine, with a follow-up check after five days to determine if he needed an exemption.

Xia Xia had accompanied Xie Huai, witnessing him shamelessly pestering the doctor with his acting skills just before closing time.

One moment he’d cry about leg pain, the next about back pain, and then his arms would start hurting.

The doctor, exasperated, asked: “Where exactly does it hurt?”

Xie Huai weakly said: “I just had an accident, everything hurts now.”

He pointed at Xia Xia: “This woman crashed into me, ask her if you don’t believe me.”

Xia Xia reluctantly said: “I did crash into him.”

The doctor couldn’t determine anything conclusive and was swayed by his combination of coaxing and acting cute.

So when Xie Huai left the university hospital, he obtained a military training exemption certificate, with “leg injury” scrawled on it.

Xia Xia’s phone beeped twice with messages from Xie Huai.

Yesterday, after damaging Xie Huai’s scooter, she volunteered to pay for repairs and his medical expenses, but as usual – in installments.

Xie Huai calculated and sent her the amount.

Xia Xia sighed. When debts pile up, they become less burdensome; the more she owed, the less she cared.

By nine in the morning, Xie Huai couldn’t sit still.

He parked his electric scooter outside the field and made several trips to the bathroom, each time returning with two foam coolers containing milk tea delivered by Zhao Yilei.

Military training times were strictly regulated, with start and rest times clearly stated in the notice.

His timing was perfect – just as the milk tea arrived, the training squad dispersed for a break.

Xie Huai set up a QR code and a cardboard sign in front of the foam coolers.

The cardboard read in black marker: Milk tea ten yuan per cup, five yuan discount with WeChat add.

South City’s cost of living was high, with even bottled water costing two-fifty. The five-yuan milk tea was practically the lowest price possible.

Today’s weather was so hot it made everyone sweat. The water brought in the morning had become lukewarm after two hours by the field, while Xie Huai’s milk tea was still ice-cold. Soon a crowd of curious students gathered around him.

Xie Huai hadn’t expected so many buyers and couldn’t handle it alone.

He waved to Xia Xia: “Come help me collect money.”

A cunning look crossed Xia Xia’s face: “Why should I? Will you pay me for helping?”

Xie Huai: “Should I also provide room and board, plus social insurance? Yesterday you made me fall…”

“We’ve already settled yesterday’s matter. I’ll pay for the scooter and medicine, and once the money’s paid we’re even, so don’t bring that up.” Xia Xia interrupted him, “Besides, you got lucky from the misfortune – if I hadn’t made you fall, how would you get exempted from training?”

“I can help you collect money, wages at eight yuan per hour, take it or leave it. If not, I’m leaving now.” She narrowed her eyes, “Think fast, I’ll count to three.”

Xie Huai met her gaze. The girl’s pupils were black, her eyes bright, clean as if untouched by dust.

He put the change purse in her hand, saying coolly: “Be careful, watch out for miscounting or Brother Huai will get you.”

Morning break was twice, twenty minutes each time.

Xie Huai’s milk tea was cheap and tasty. With over eight hundred people on the east field, two hundred cups sold out completely in one morning.

Many students added Xie Huai’s WeChat to save five yuan. After accepting their friend requests, Xie Huai added them to a WeChat group. He posted a milk tea menu with prices in the group, followed by a message: [For other flavors, order directly in the group, no delivery fee.]

Xia Xia was also in the group and was impressed by his business acumen after seeing this approach.

Even if he didn’t profit from selling milk tea at five yuan per cup, he wouldn’t lose money either.

The most important aspect of business isn’t immediate profit, but customer base and connections. Xie Huai planned to continue long-term, willing to earn less on the first day to attract customers.

South University had four fields, with over five thousand freshmen spread across them.

Xie Huai changed fields every half day, creating four WeChat groups in two days using the same method.

In the morning, he and Xia Xia had to sign in at the east field and couldn’t leave during training, so they could only sneak away twenty minutes before the break, using the bathroom as an excuse. Zhao Yilei would always be waiting at the school gate with milk tea.

After getting the goods, Xie Huai would ride his electric scooter with Xia Xia and the milk tea to another field, timing it perfectly to arrive just as the instructor blew the whistle for the break.

After that, there wasn’t much to say. As Xie Huai mentioned, his devastating pretty face wasn’t for nothing.

Never mind him actively putting his WeChat contact out for people to add – with his looks and that cool, rebellious aura, just sitting at the edge of the field would attract a group of girls stealing glances. Some bolder ones might even come up to ask for his contact information.

Two hundred cups of milk tea was a small matter indeed.

Except for that one time when she stood firm about her wages, Xia Xia was consistently well-behaved, presenting an obedient and docile image.

She was meticulous with accounts and compliant. After a few days, Xie Huai found her useful and also entrusted her with recording orders, having her compile the group orders in the evening during rest time and give them to Zhao Yilei in advance to prepare the next day’s milk tea. Meanwhile, he continued manning his small stall on Chunhe Road in the evenings, sitting on a small stool selling goods.

After Xie Huai completed a round of all four fields, he returned the milk tea to its original price. With higher prices, naturally, fewer people bought, and with daily pre-orders, each field sold at most fifty cups. Although business appeared to have declined, with increased profit per cup, Xie Huai’s income wasn’t much affected.

Xia Xia knew the cost of each cup of milk tea, and after each day would mentally calculate his daily income, then curse “this damn rich person.”

During those military training days, Xia Xia often dreamed of Xie Huai lounging on a mountain of gold, looking down at her.

In her dreams, she tried to curry favor with Xie Huai.

Xie Huai wouldn’t even lift his eyes, his expression arrogant: “Want to cling to Brother Huai’s leg? Watch out or Brother Huai will get you.”

Dream Xia Xia smiled sycophantically: “How could you say that? I wouldn’t dare.”

After waking from these dreams, Xia Xia wouldn’t rush to get up, but carefully calculated in her mind.

Xie Huai was too good at making money.

He had ideas, brains, and most importantly, the ability to take action.

Before she could escape her impoverished situation, she not only had to cling to Xie Huai’s leg but also hold on tight.

She had to act sweet, naive, act obedient, and make Xie Huai leave her some soup while he ate the meat.

No, she didn’t even need soup.

Xia Xia thought humbly: She would be content just licking the bottom of the bowl.