Standing Next To You
Chapter 91: The Key

Chapter 91: The Key

Fei Chuan opened the container, and the delicious smell of sweet and sour pork filled the room.

Bei Sangyun gulped. The aroma was so enticing that her stomach grumbled.

Fei Chuan passed the container to her, and then he silently opened his own meal.

A mouthwatering aroma of soy sauce and spice spread around.

Bei Sangyun was enticed by the two dishes, and she immediately picked up her chopsticks with her right hand. However, the bandage around her hand prevented her from holding the two chopsticks.

The chopsticks fell down and rolled on the table.

Bei Sangyun: "...."

Fei Chuan saw her dumb expression and passed a fork to her. He didn’t forget to mock her, "Picking up chopsticks using your injured hand? Even three-year-olds are better than you."

Bei Sangyun didn’t mind his insult. She felt that Fei Chuan could mock her all he wanted, as long as Grandma Pei’s pastries were within reach, her patience would be as long as the Nile River.

Bei Sangyun started eating with the fork using her left hand. However, as soon as the sweet and sour pork entered her mouth, the sparkle in her eyes dimmed a bit.

No matter how good the smell was, when it became dirt in her mouth, her excitement toward the food disappeared.

Bei Sangyun drank water to wash down the food to her stomach. She continued to eat her meal as usual.

Fei Chuan glanced at her and noticed that she seemed absent-minded while eating. Did she not like the food?

Fei Chuan had little contact with Bei Sangyun at school, so he didn’t know her likes and dislikes. The only thing he knew was that Bei Sangyun liked Grandpa Pei’s cookies.

"You don’t like sweet and sour?" Fei Chuan asked.

Bei Sangyun was forced to swallow another bite of food. "The smell is enticing. I’m not sure about the taste."

Fei Chuan: "?"

What does she mean by that? Does she not like it?

Fei Chuan observed her for a while, then glanced at his kung pao chicken, struggling with a decision. After a couple of minutes, he sighed in irritation.

He picked up an untouched piece of kung pao chicken. "How about this dish? We can exchange if you’d like. I bought this meal thinking everyone would enjoy it."

Sour and spicy pork was usually popular, so he had assumed that Bei Sangyun would like it as well. But it seemed that it wasn’t to her taste.

Bei Sangyun blinked in surprise, "Are you sure?"

Fei Chuan nodded and lifted the piece of chicken with his chopsticks, expecting Bei Sangyun to place her plate in front of him.

Bei Sangyun blinked back at him, slightly puzzled. Then she shrugged, as if to convey that she didn’t mind, and leaned down to take a bite of the chicken.

Fei Chuan: "...."

He was taken aback for a moment, and his expression darkened.

This woman could seize every opportunity to tease him. Because she had been obedient since earlier, he had momentarily forgotten about her evil nature.

"I intended for you to bring me the plate, not to eat with my own chopsticks," Fei Chuan said with a dark tone.

But Bei Sangyun appeared not to hear him. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the kung pao chicken. Her expression of excitement was evident in her face. "You said we could exchange. Can I have this dish?"

Fei Chuan: "...."

Give her an inch, and she’d take a mile. That saying seemed to suit her perfectly.

Bei Sangyun looked at him with pleading eyes.

Fei Chuan sighed. Why did he let himself be swayed by her? Now she was playing him at her whim.

But the most upsetting was, he was having a tough time rejecting her.

Fei Chuan could only convince himself that he would be kind to her only today. It was because she was injured that he went easy on her. Next time, he would firmly reject her and not let himself be swayed by her ever again.

"...Fine." He answered weakly.

Bei Sangyun was delighted and they swapped their dishes.

She hadn’t expected much from the taste earlier and had been taken by surprise when the savory flavor of soy sauce and spiciness filled her mouth.

Because she had swallowed it hastily, she hadn’t been able to savor it fully, and she regretted that. She should have savored it slowly, chewing it and letting it linger in her mouth.

She stared at the chicken and hoped that the second bite would not disappoint. Anything but dirt. She closed her eyes as she took another bite.

Fei Chuan: "..."

Here she goes again. Why did she always act like she expected something extraordinary from the food? Did she think gold would pop out of it?

Fei Chuan watched as Bei Sangyun’s hopeful expression turned into disappointment.

"Is that some kind of ritual?" He asked with a smirk.

Bei Sangyun sighed. "I’d perform any kind of ritual if it brought about a positive outcome."

Bei Sangyun took another small bite. The tasteless food made it seem as though she had imagined the taste earlier.

She was puzzled again. She had speculated before that Grandma Pei’s miraculous pastries triggered her sense of taste. After all, she couldn’t taste anything except for Grandma Pei’s hand-made treats. Her theory had been tested and proven.

So what was different this time? It was just a meal from a regular restaurant, and it wasn’t even her favorite. How could it suddenly awaken her sense of taste?

What was she missing?

Bei Sangyun continued to eat at a slow pace as she reflected on past incidents. Perhaps she had overlooked something—

Bei Sangyun suddenly paused. A major realization occurred to her.

The first time she had been able to taste something was not with Grandma Pei’s cookies but at the cafeteria, when Fei Chuan was eating chicken soup!

Bei Sangyun then thought of previous incidents. When she ate the cookies, Fei Chuan was holding them. In the other incident in the car, Fei Chuan had been sitting beside her. And now, her sense of taste had awakened while eating with Fei Chuan.

Bei Sangyun looked at Fei Chuan with shining eyes. All of these incidents were connected to him.

Maybe it wasn’t Grandma Pei’s miraculous pastries. It was Fei Chuan!

Bei Sangyun revisited all these situations with Fei Chuan as the common factor. With him in the picture, everything made sense.

But it wouldn’t work by simply being beside him or eating in front of him. In each of those incidents, Fei Chuan had touched the food. His touch must be the key!

Fei Chuan suddenly felt a heated gaze upon him. He looked up and met Bei Sangyun’s intense stare.

Fei Chuan: "...."

Bei Sangyun was observing him as if he were a rare specimen critical to her experiment. Her gaze resembled that of a determined scientist on the brink of a breakthrough.

"...W-what?" he asked, a bit cautiously.

"Fei Chuan."

"...What?"

Bei Sangyun handed her plate to him. "Can you feed me?"

Fei Chuan: "...."

...

Bang!

The door slammed shut loudly in front of Bei Sangyun.

This scene felt all too familiar.

"Hey, I haven’t finished eating yet," Bei Sangyun shouted at the door.

The door opened, and Fei Chuan reappeared with a stern expression. He placed her unfinished meal back in her hands. "Being kind to you is the most stupid thing to do."

He then closed the door once more.

Bei Sangyun: "...."

She could only awkwardly smile.

Yeah, maybe she had worded it wrong.

"Let’s eat together again some other time," Bei Sangyun shouted.

Since Fei Chuan was evidently a vital key she needed, she had to be patient and not anger him. She had obtained a major clue, and the only course of action was to test and confirm it.

If Fei Chuan did turn out to be the key, Bei Sangyun had no choice but to act like an angel in front of him.

****

The next day arrived quickly.

Fei Chuan had a good night’s sleep. The recurring dream that had haunted him did not make an appearance in his sleep, which was a relief. He woke up without that heavy feeling in his chest and had a light breakfast.

When he opened his door, a smiling face came to greet him.

"Good morning, Fei Chuan. Since we’re neighbors and go to the same school, we should go to school together," Bei Sangyun greeted him with a smile she believed was friendly and kind.

But to Fei Chuan, her smile seemed to conceal ulterior motives.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"I’m waiting for you so we can go to school together."

Fei Chuan closed the door behind him. "No. Why do you want to go to school together?"

"Because we’re friends," Bei Sangyun replied. She had already concocted some plans to get closer to Fei Chuan, ultimately with the goal of having her food blessed by his touch.

"You mean ’fake friends’," Fei Chuan emphasized.

"...Yeah. But you know, it’s not bad to become real friends. We’ve had many misunderstandings between us. If we spend more time together, we can resolve those misunderstandings."

"I don’t want to be friends with you," Fei Chuan said darkly.

Bei Sangyun’s smile faltered. This reminded her of their childhood, when Fei Chuan had given her a similar arrogant response.

"It’s hard not to become friends. We’re neighbors, classmates, desk mates, and...," she nearly let slip, ’companions until death.’

But she was the only person who knew that. She quickly swallowed those words and caught up with Fei Chuan. "Anyway, I don’t see why we can’t be friends."

"Because the other person, the person you’re asking to be friends with, doesn’t want to be friends with you. Yesterday was the last time I’ll help you."

Bei Sangyun cursed internally. ’Damn it.’

This man was certainly stubborn. It would be hard to get close to him.

But then again, she could also rival his stubbornness.

"Well, I know it’s hard to be friends after all the harm I’ve done to you. But I’ll make it up. I’m willing to be your errand runner," Bei Sangyun offered.

She didn’t mind serving Fei Chuan, as long as she could go back to living like a normal person. Besides, it was Fei Chuan, someone she gave approval and felt indebted to. If there was anyone in this world she had to serve and become a bread shuttle for, it was him.

"No."

But Fei Chuan gave a cold, abrupt answer.

Bei Sangyun had expected it, so she made another offer. "If becoming friends won’t cut it, how about I become your lackey?"

Fei Chuan paused and looked at her with doubt. "Is this another one of your tricks? I’m sorry, but that kind of trick won’t even tempt me."

Bei Sangyun: "...."

This man just outrightly said she wasn’t worth using as bait at all, didn’t he?

Ugh.

Patience, Bei Sangyun. Patience.