Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

Happy chose a random stall among those selling snacks along the road leading to the entrance of the University of South China. He ordered a hot plate of spicy tofu, crystal-skinned mince meat dumplings, and sweet potato noodles. When they were placed in front of him, he did not care about the fact that there was a great beauty staring at him and did not show any intention to treat her to a meal. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and began shoving the food into his mouth at his own pace.

His actions made Xu Yao feel that she was unnecessary. She stared at Happy while he ate his tofu and dumplings happily and did not know whether she should speak or stand up and leave.

‘It’s too irritating!’

If Happy’s horrible attitude last time had made her puzzled, incredibly embarrassed and angry, then this time, he let her experience what was indifference.

“Hey.”

In the end, Xu Yao could not hold it in anymore. She felt saliva pooling in her mouth, and it was really unbearable.

But who was Happy?

No matter what, he had been with Xu Yao for more than two years, and when she used that kind of tone, he did not even need to raise his head to know what she wanted to say. “If you want to eat something, order it yourself. I’m filling up my stomach now.”

He was really hungry. He had been in the game since noon, which meant that it had been around ten hours since he last ate. He felt that his stomach was empty, and even though Xu Yao’s presence ruined his appetite, it was not enough to quell his desire to eat.

“No need.”

Xu Yao’s words died in her mouth. Once she spoke, she stared at Happy busy shoving food into his mouth with a vicious glare, but in her heart, she wondered about it in puzzlement. She felt that he was not the type who would treat others as nothing, and he could also sense her displeasure, so why was it that when he met her, he would have that sort of reaction and attitude?

Xu Yao could not understand it. Hence, she sat quietly in front of Happy and waited for him to finish eating.

The scene was clearly seen by quite a lot of people who were also out eating supper. Some of them who knew Xu Yao instantly felt that it was incomprehensible and perplexing. They sucked in sharp breaths and wondered about the identity of the boy who sat before her. They could not understand why the feisty rose who was well-known in the disciplinary committee would be so obedient in front of the boy who was not well-known.

One of them ate, and the other just sat and waited. Neither of them spoke, and there was an air of great mutual understanding between them. No matter how the outsiders looked at it, the two appeared to be a couple.

A trendy man dressed in a black suit passed by the entrance of the stall while walking down the street selling snacks at that moment. He looked rather handsome, and his face was very exquisite.

His hands were in his pockets, and there were pristine white headphones over his head. He swayed it to the beat while he walked down the street, and his style showed quite a bit of character. He attracted many girls’ attention.

As luck would have it, when he turned his head around, he noticed the side profile of a familiar person in a stall.

“Hmm?”

The trendy man let out a soft gasp and stopped. His first reaction was to pull off his headphones and let them hang around his neck. He looked at the atmosphere at the stall, then observed the pretty figure’s side profile. Once he was certain that he did not mistake her for someone else, he frowned and walked over.

“Xu Yao, what are you doing here alone?”

The trendy man behaved like an A-list actor. The presence he gave off from deep within his soul, which was one of confidence and the air of a winner, made the other students in the stall look at him. When he walked over, he did not even look at Chen Kaixin, who was busy eating hot plate spicy tofu. He even completely overlooked him.

“Li Ning?” When Xu Yao heard someone call her, she turned her head around. “Why are you here?” she asked a little stunned.

“I was just passing by when I saw you daydreaming here. Is he… your friend?” Li Ning finally noticed the situation at the table before him, and he quirked an eyebrow before he put on a faint smile.

The boy in front of him might have been a little handsome, but the way he ate was simply not flattering. Besides, he was dressed in very normal summer attire and slippers. He fit fell with the stall, which was what made him believe that he was Xu Yao’s friend and not her boyfriend.

“Oh, let me introduce him to you.”

But before Xu Yao could make introductions, Happy finished the last piece of tofu. He pushed away the plate, which looked like it had been ravaged by a typhoon, and spoke in a very calm tone.

“I know you. You’re Li Ning, the genius top student of the Computer Engineering Department. You learned how to hack on your own, and you are currently the maintainer of the university’s website. You are also working as a teaching assistant in the Computer Engineering Department for your part time job. I’ve heard of your name for a long time.”

It was only natural that Happy knew all of that. The person in front of him was a very good friend of Xu Yao’s in his previous life. He was exceptional at programming, and he liked Xu Yao a lot. But he regarded himself very highly and liked flirting with many girls.

When Xu Yao had become Happy’s girlfriend, Li Ning had always regarded him with animosity, and he had keyed in Happy’s test results during the finals for the Computer Engineering Department wrong several times. In other words, they could not tolerate each other!

“Heh.”

When Li Ning heard Happy recite his information as if it was a subject he was incredibly familiar with, he smiled. His ego had been stroked.

“I haven’t learned of your name yet.”

“I’m also from the Computer Engineering Department. We’re from the same batch. I’m Chen Kaixin from Class 3.”

“You’re Chen Kaixin?” Li Ning seemed to have also heard his name before. He was slightly stunned. “You’re the one the lecturers and tutors have allowed to not attend classes?”

The disdainful look on his face faded away. In fact, there were signs that a solemn expression was about to take over.

“It’s him. That’s why I wanted to interview him,” Xu Yao explained, then did not forget to wink at him.

“Interview?”

Li Ning was taken aback. He looked at Xu Yao with curiosity. ‘What’s so interesting about him that he would warrant an interview?’

He remembered that when he became the champion in hacking training that held a competition in Hunan, Xu Yao had not interviewed, so why would she do it for something so simple?

Could it be because of that?

Li Ning remembered that some time ago Xu Yao had asked him to use his status as a system administrator to get Chen Kaixin’s files from the university and Happy’s files from South China Martial Arts Ranking Board.

He knew Happy’s fame very well.

Happy was the best player in the University of South China and also the best in World of Martial Arts. He was someone who stood above the others and was unapproachable. But Chen Kaixin did not intend to reveal his secret as of right then. Could it be that Xu Yao was prepared to have him reveal the truth about being the best in the game?

‘That’s not right…’

But when he thought about it, he instantly felt doubtful.

He remembered that Xu Yao had warned him repeatedly when they obtained that secret to keep his mouth shut and not release it, so why was she acting like that now? Could it be that she was interested in him?

At that moment, Happy spoke up again. “Since you’re here as well, why don’t we sit down and chat? In truth, I still don’t know what to do. Li Ning, you should have been interviewed many times. Why don’t you teach me what to do? By the way, Great Beauty Xu, you won’t mind if there’s someone watching by the side?”

“Well, of course there’s no problem with it.”

Xu Yao might have said that, but she gave Li Ning a signal with her eyes. However, Li Ning did not go along with her wishes. He nodded with a smile and ignored the fierce glare from Xu Yao while sitting down.

Xu Yao was instantly speechless.

She had wanted to use the interview to understand Happy, and if she could, shorten the distance between them so they could become close friends, which would make it easier for her to understand him even better in the future. But now, another person had joined them and thrown a wrench into her plans, forcing her to be unable to do anything but conduct a formal interview as a symbolic gesture. She had made some preparations beforehand, but at that moment, she could no longer use any of them. She thus quickly asked a few insignificant questions before she announced the end of the interview.

The three of them all had their own thoughts while they handled the conversation in a perfunctory manner. Then, they returned to the university with the gradually thinning crowd.

Happy might have been handling the exchange with Xu Yao in a half-hearted manner, but as time passed and with Li Ning’s appearance, he became even more certain that she had already figured out his identity. Otherwise, with his understanding of Li Ning, there was no way he would be of any interest to the great hacker. Li Ning regarded himself very highly, and he would never care about a nameless good student who was sitting in a small stall.

Class One Hall did have a lot of tricks up their sleeves!

‘Is what happened in my previous life about to repeat itself?”

Happy might have been a little furious while he was on his way back to the dorm, but he was unable to help himself and looked forward to it. He wondered what sort of methods Class One Hall had used to make a person like Xu Yao go against her own wishes and become his girlfriend.