Chapter 298: Let Me Treat You to Spicy Hot Pot, the 6-Yuan Kind

January 1st, 2014. New Year’s Day.

Time flies like an arrow; it waits for no one.

Before they knew it, the new year had arrived.

The weather in Jinling had also turned completely cold.

The plane trees lining the campus paths had long since lost all their leaves, leaving only their stout trunks.

Gu Yifan walked in front, while Su Qinghe quietly followed behind him.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, their shadows gradually overlapped.

“Honey, what do you want to eat tonight?”

Suddenly, Gu Yifan stopped and turned around to speak.

“I… I’m okay with anything.”

Su Qinghe was taken aback for a moment before speaking softly.

“Oh.”

“Then I’ll treat you to some malatang!”

“The six-yuan kind!”

Gu Yifan was suddenly reminded of a terrible meme from his past life and said this with a bit of wicked humor.

“Okay…”

Unfortunately, Su Qinghe didn’t get Gu Yifan’s lame joke. She just nodded obediently.

Seeing that she didn’t get it and still looked just as adorably clueless, Gu Yifan lost the heart to keep joking around.

“Let’s go!”

He shook his head, said this, and then turned to continue walking forward.

Su Qinghe watched Gu Yifan’s suddenly unenthusiastic back, feeling a little lost.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

‘But… I don’t think I said anything at all!’

For a moment, Su Qinghe was baffled.

‘This “Big Bully” is so strange!’

She thought to herself.

“Su Hanhan, what are you spacing out for!”

“Hurry up and catch up!”

Just then, Gu Yifan’s somewhat impatient voice came from ahead.

“Com… coming…”

Su Qinghe replied hurriedly.

With that, she scurried forward in small, quick steps to catch up with Gu Yifan.

「On the night market street not far from the university.」

Because it was the New Year’s Day holiday, the entire night market street was crowded with people.

The various cries of vendors were endless.

“Boss, two bowls of malatang!”

In front of a malatang stall, Gu Yifan called out loudly to the busy owner.

“You got it!”

“Two bowls of malatang, which price would you like?”

The owner was a middle-aged man. Busy at work, he replied without even looking up.

“One six-yuan!”

“And one sixteen-yuan!”

Gu Yifan thought for a moment before answering.

His wicked sense of humor acting up, he had really gone and ordered a six-yuan malatang!

“You got it!”

“You two go ahead and sit. I’ll get to you as soon as I finish this order!”

The owner grabbed the towel from around his neck to wipe the sweat off his face, then smiled at Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe.

To be sweating this much in the middle of winter, one could only imagine how booming business was.

“Have a seat.”

Gu Yifan found a relatively clean spot, and the two of them sat down.

“Honey, are you hungry?”

Gu Yifan asked, looking at Su Qinghe.

“I’m… I’m okay…”

Su Qinghe shook her head slightly.

“Oh!”

Gu Yifan couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her.

‘What time is it, and you’re still not hungry!?’

‘People are made of iron, but food is made of steel; miss one meal and you’ll reel!’

‘Even a stomach of iron gets hungry!’

‘What a stubborn Hanhan!’

Just as he was thinking this, the owner brought over the two bowls of malatang they had ordered.

“Your two bowls of malatang are ready!”

“Enjoy your meal!”

The middle-aged man said to the two of them.

Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe thanked him in unison, though Su Qinghe’s came out as a shy, “Th… thank you.”

“Ha!”

“You two are quite in sync, huh!”

The owner was stunned for a moment, then grinned at the two of them.

WHOOSH—

A blush instantly crept across Su Qinghe’s face, and even the fair skin of her neck turned a shade of pink.

She was clearly extremely embarrassed by the owner’s comment.

“Haha…”

Seeing this, Gu Yifan could only give the owner an awkward laugh.

The malatang owner didn’t linger. He just chuckled and turned back to his work.

“Hurry up and eat.”

Gu Yifan pushed the large bowl of malatang in front of Su Qinghe.

Su Qinghe stared at the large bowl of malatang in front of her, stunned for a moment.

“I… I can just have the small one…”

She said softly.

“It’s fine, you take the big bowl!”

“If you can’t finish it, you can just give the rest to me!”

Gu Yifan said casually with a wave of his hand.

With that, he took the six-yuan bowl of malatang and started eating.

‘In the end, it was still me, Gu Yifan, who had to take on this six-yuan malatang!’

‘Does this mean I have to reward myself twelve times tonight?’

Gu Yifan’s thoughts ran wild.

As for Su Qinghe, she secretly lifted her head to glance at Gu Yifan. Seeing that he had already started eating, she finally picked up her chopsticks and began to eat the large bowl of malatang in front of her in small bites.

HIC—

Five minutes later, Gu Yifan couldn’t help but let out a burp.

‘The owner of this place is a man of conscience!’

The portion size of the malatang was very generous. Plus, since he had already eaten something before they came out, he was already stuffed after finishing the six-yuan bowl.

“Uh…”

Gu Yifan rubbed his stomach, only to suddenly realize that Su Qinghe was staring at him blankly.

“Eat your malatang!”

“Why are you staring at me? You see me every day, aren’t you sick of the sight yet?”

Gu Yifan was taken aback for a moment, then asked with amusement.

“N-Not sick of it.”

Su Qinghe said earnestly in a low voice.

“Er…”

Gu Yifan hadn’t expected her to be so serious. He smiled faintly. “You really are a Hanhan!”

“I… I’m not…”

Su Qinghe refuted softly.

“Hm?”

“What did you say?”

Gu Yifan hadn’t heard her clearly and asked casually.

“N-nothing…”

Su Qinghe said weakly, then quickly lowered her head to eat.

“Oh, oh, then eat up!”

Gu Yifan didn’t think much of it, his expression doting.

Another ten minutes passed.

Su Qinghe finally finished the large bowl of malatang.

“Honey, are you full?”

Gu Yifan asked.

“I’m… I’m full.”

Su Qinghe nodded, a brilliant smile on her face.

In truth, she had been full for a while. She just didn’t want to waste food, so she had quietly finished the rest.

“Wipe your mouth.”

Gu Yifan pulled out a napkin and handed it to her.

“Th… thank you…”

Su Qinghe took the napkin and thanked him in a small voice.

Gu Yifan took out his phone and checked the time. It was already almost eleven at night, so he said, “Let’s go, time to head back.”

“Okay…”

Su Qinghe nodded obediently.

The night market street wasn’t far from Jinling University.

So, Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe decided to just walk back.

It was a good chance to walk off their meal.

The night market was still crowded, mostly with people out for a late-night snack.

‘Easy to get in, hard to get out now!’

“Give me your hand!”

Gu Yifan, who had been walking in front, suddenly turned his head and said to Su Qinghe.

“Huh?”

Su Qinghe didn’t understand what Gu Yifan meant at first. She just stared at him blankly.

Seeing her silly look, Gu Yifan walked right over and took her hand.

“I’ll hold onto you!”

“It’s too crowded. What if my honey gets lost!”

Gu Yifan explained nonchalantly.

“Oh, oh…”

Su Qinghe nodded, her little face red, but she was overjoyed inside.

Su Qinghe’s little hand was very soft and warm.

And so, they made their way through the crowd, slowly walking out of the night market street.