The next day, after Tang Yuanyuan got out of school, she did not head straight to the field. On the other hand, she went to the stall at the school entrance, bought more than ten bottles of water, put them in a bag, and headed to the field.
Before she arrived at the field, the few boys at the basketball court were joking with each other, “Do you think that girl from yesterday will show up today?”
“I’m not sure. Since she wasn’t feeling well yesterday, I reckon she might not choose to run today. She probably needs a few days to recover. Besides, we don’t know what time she woke up last night.”
“If she’s not coming for a run, she should at least come and thank us, shouldn’t she?”
“Come on. Do you help people just to be appreciated? Don’t be that kind of person.”
Sigh.
“Hey, look over there. Guess who’s here?”
When Tang Yuanyuan showed up on the field, this group of boys was stunned.
“She’s here. She’s really here.”
“What is it that she’s carrying in her hands? That huge bag looks heavy. I can’t tell what’s in there.”
“What the f*k. Is she bringing us gifts to thank us for our help yesterday?”
As Tang Yuanyuan approached them, the pink cheeks on her fair face became visible and she looked adorable.
“Dude, I think I’ve just fallen in love.”
” I never knew that girls that were a bit plump could look so adorable.”
“She’s here. Stop talking nonsense.”
Finally, Tang Yuanyuan arrived at where they were with a bag.
“Hello everyone.”
Standing in front of Tang Yuanyuan, these boys, who were just joking and laughing loudly seconds earlier, had now become extremely nervous, not even knowing how to position their hands.
“H-Hello.”
“I was on the running tracks yesterday. After I passed out, the doctor told me you guys sent me to the school clinic. Is that right?”
“Yes, we did, but there’s no need for you to come and thank us. We just happened to be here for basketball, and there was no way we could leave you there when we saw you pass out.”
“Thanks, guys.”
Tang Yuanyuan squatted down in front of them and opened the bag. “Here’s some water for you guys.”
After seeing that it was bottled water in the bag, more than ten no less, they instantly felt embarrassed.
“So these are what you were carrying when you were walking all the way here. Actually, you can just thank us; there’s no need for you to buy us water.”
“He’s right. It was no big deal for us to help you.”
Tang Yuanyuan pursed her lips. “Anyway, I still want to thank you guys, so I bought you guys some water today. If we can find another time, I’ll buy you guys a meal to express my sincerity.”
Being treated to a meal by a beautiful school mate was a dream to many young boys. As much as they would like to accept her offer, to avoid scaring her away, they indirectly responded, “You don’t have to buy us a meal. We can have a meal together, but it shouldn’t be on you. And there are so many of us; it wouldn’t be nice of us to let you pay.”
“It’s okay. I can afford it.”
Reckoning that they might not want her to spend so much money as fellow students, to avoid being rejected, Tang Yuanyuan added, “If you’re afraid that I’d spend too much money, how about I have you all over to my family restaurant? How does that sound?”
“Your family?”
“Yes. My family runs a hotel.”
The group of boys was rendered speechless as they did not expect her to come from a wealthy family.
“Please come. This is a token of my appreciation,” Tang Yuanyuan continued. “But perhaps not today as I haven’t called my dad to let him know. What about in two days? I’ll make sure they’re ready before I have you guys over.”
“Sure.”
They were still in awe when they accepted her invitation.
“Thank you. I’ll be on my way now.”
After she left, those boys began to talk among themselves. “Why did you accept her invitation?”
“I wasn’t planning on letting her buy us a meal. But since she said that the hotel was owned by her family, it might have slipped my mind when I accepted her invitation.”
…
That same night, Tang Yuanyuan needed to make a phone call after school.
Since she wanted to lose weight and do well in her studies, she did not have her phone with her; she could only use the phone booth outside of school.
Mr. Tang was surprised to receive her call. “Yuanyuan, you haven’t called me in a while. Also, why are you calling from an unfamiliar number? Are you alright?”
Tang Yuanyuan subconsciously shook her head before realizing that she was on the phone with her father, who could not see what she just did. She then responded, “Nothing happened. I don’t have my phone with me, so I’m using the phone booth at school.”
“I see. Yuanyuan, do you have anything to ask me?”
As the only child of the Tang Family, Tang Yuanyuan was the most precious person to Mr. Tang, who would always speak to Tang Yuanyuan affectionately and with much care.
“Yes, Daddy. I want to buy some schoolmates a meal.”
“That’s good to hear. Schoolmates should cherish each other.”
“But they didn’t want me to spend so much money. So—”
“Don’t worry about that, Yuanyuan. I’ll take care of it. How much do you need? Ten thousand?”
Tang Yuanyuan remained silent.
“Is that not enough?”
“It’s not that it’s not enough, but I was thinking of bringing them to the hotel owned by the company. Is that okay?”
Mr. Tang quickly came to his senses.
“Of course, that’s okay. How is it not okay? Even if my daughter wanted the stars and the moon in the sky, I would definitely try my best to give them to you.”
“Let’s set the date, shall we? If we can get everything ready, I’ll have them over on Saturday.”
“No problem. Anything for you.”
After the phone call, Tang Yuanyuan happened to walk past a convenience store. She could not resist the temptation when she saw the popsicles on the rack. Because of her diet, it had been a while since she ate popsicles. Should I get one as my cheat meal?
If it’s just one, it shouldn’t be a problem.
No. I can’t do this. Even though one popsicle doesn’t contain that many calories, this would definitely not be the last one. I haven’t achieved my desired weight yet. I can’t possibly make any mistakes now.
She swallowed hard and quickly rushed back to school.
When she was back in her dorm, she stood outside her door for a while after seeing that the door was closed. Just as she was about to open it, she heard some discussions.
“When Yuanyuan comes back later, how do we put it in a way that will sound more natural?”
“Just tell her directly. Why do you even have to consider this when it comes to her?”
“Of course, we have to make sure everything tallies. If you don’t sound convincing, she might not buy it. This is our only shot, and we can’t afford to lose it.”
“Just tell her directly that it’s your birthday and you would like to invite her to your birthday party. You can also add that you will be bringing her to meet some good-looking guys at the birthday party. That might work.”
“Who does she think she is? We should forget this plan. Otherwise, what should we do if the guys complain about how fat she is after we make the connections? Hahaha.”
The two began to laugh loudly. Their laughter was like needles piercing Tang Yuanyuan’s heart.
