Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 296 Classmate Relationships
"We know each other, but we're not very close."

Ai Liang thought for a moment and said, "I ran into him at the bank before the start of the semester and we chatted for a bit."

"Ai Liang, you don't seem like the type to initiate conversations with others at all... Oh, sorry, that's not what I meant."

Chen Zili subconsciously made a sarcastic remark.

Realizing his slip of the tongue, he quickly apologized.

"It's okay, I don't care what others think of me."

Ai Liang swallowed her food and said.

Although Ai Liang said she didn't care, Chen Zili was still a little embarrassed.

To ease the awkward atmosphere, Chen Zili quickly brought up the previous topic again: "Actually, these past two days, Jin Ping'an has been helping Fang Xinlei get meals, but Fang Xinlei doesn't seem to appreciate it much."

As they were talking, Fang Xinlei followed the flow of people and limped into the cafeteria.

The two of them were sitting nearly ten meters away from the cafeteria entrance.

But Chen Zili lowered his voice unconsciously, as if he was worried that Fang Xinlei would hear him: "Although we haven't seen Jin Ping'an yet, he must be guarding Fang Xinlei. He should come out soon."

Sorry, I've already seen it.

Ai Liang ate her meal with a straight face, glancing furtively at Jin Ping'an, who was secretly watching the cafeteria entrance from behind a pillar in the cafeteria.

Jin Ping'an wasn't blind; he quickly spotted Fang Xinlei, who was easily recognizable, in the crowd.

Jin Ping'an took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally.

He clenched his fist and placed it in front of his chest, as if encouraging himself.

As Fang Xinlei approached the food serving window, Jin Ping'an smiled and joined her.

“That Fang Xinlei, if you don’t mind…”

Fang Xinlei merely glanced at him sideways, not even looking him directly in the eye: "It's you again. Can you please stop meddling in other people's business?"

"Well, this isn't exactly meddling, is it..."

Jin Pingan said weakly.

"Are you really that free? Why don't you use that time to go back to class and review some math formulas?"

Fang Xinlei looked angry and showed no appreciation for Jin Ping'an's kindness.

The students getting their meals nearby started gossiping about them.

Fang Xinlei's expression grew increasingly grim.

Jin Ping'an, being a stubborn guy, obviously wouldn't care about his surroundings.

He was like a clingy plaster: "I heard Uncle Fang said you like shredded pork with garlic sauce, so I got you a serving in advance..."

Fang Xinlei's face darkened.

Just then, the cafeteria staff packed up the food.

Fang Xinlei carried the packed food in one hand and left without saying a word, leaning on her crutches.

As for the packaged shredded pork with garlic sauce that Jin Pingan handed over...

She didn't even glance at it.

Fang Xinlei and Jin Pingan were too far apart.

Chen Zili could only see the two talking, but he didn't know what they were saying.

But Ai Liang is different.

After hearing Jin Pingan say that Fang Xinlei likes to eat shredded pork with garlic sauce.

Ai Liang glanced at the shredded pork with garlic sauce rice on Chen Zili's plate with a strange expression.

You call this just being a little concerned?
Chen Zili was completely unaware of this. He smiled wryly and said helplessly, "Just like the other day, Jin Ping'an got a cold shoulder again..."

Chen Zili greatly admired Jin Ping'an's perseverance.

He said with a self-deprecating tone, "I really admire him. Since last Saturday, Jin Ping'an has been buying meals for Fang Xinlei in advance every noon and evening. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep it up by the second day."

Ai Liang summarized this by saying, "Jin Ping An is just shameless and a bit dim-witted. Of course, most people can't do what he does."

"While he is indeed somewhat different from the Jin Ping'an I know, your assessment is a bit too harsh..."

Chen Zili said with an awkward laugh, "I heard he's at least an advisor to the criminal investigation team."

"So what? A profession is a profession, and a person is a person. A profession can only represent one's position and identity, not one's character."

Ai Liang asked dismissively, "Do you think the description of Jin Ping'an in the report is the same as what you saw?"

Seeing that Ai Liang had already said this much, Chen Zili finally stopped hiding his true feelings: "Okay, I admit it, he is indeed not quite the criminal investigation team consultant I imagined."

He couldn't help but exclaim, "When I first heard the girls behind me chatting and saying that Jin Ping'an was an advisor to the criminal investigation team, I was quite surprised."

He was helping detectives solve cases in his teens; anyone who didn't know better would think they'd stepped into a shonen manga.

"In my imagination, I thought Jin Ping'an would be the kind of lazy, lazy boy who would show off his super high IQ when it came to crucial moments..."

Chen Zili's face twisted, revealing a look of bewilderment: "He is indeed quite different from what I imagined."

This is not just large, it's completely unrelated.

Jin Ping'an has the energy of a monkey and the intelligence of a honey badger.

It can be said to be the complete opposite of what Chen Zili imagined.

If Chen Zili had to describe his opinion of Jin Ping'an in one sentence, it would be perfect.

That is mistaking a husky for a wolf.

Fang Xinlei had already left the cafeteria, and Chen Zili finally settled down to eat properly.

While eating, he talked about his views on Jin Ping'an.

Jin Ping'an, who was still sighing in the cafeteria, seemed to notice that people were talking about him. He turned his head slightly and met Ai Liang's gaze.

Ai Liang's eyes suddenly turned sharp.

Chen Zili, sitting opposite, thought he had said something wrong and looked at Ai Liang's expression with some confusion.

Ai Liang quickly scooped up the food from the tray.

They wanted to leave the cafeteria before Jin Pingan came over.

But Jin Ping'an walked over much faster than he ate.

"What a coincidence, Ai Liang."

Jin Pingan suddenly spoke from behind, startling Chen Zili.

Jin Ping'an sat down next to Chen Zili and asked, "And who is this?"

"My name is Chen Zili, and I am Ai Liang's deskmate."

Chen Zili said, somewhat embarrassed.

The very person they were just discussing has now come knocking on their door.

Chen Zili must have felt somewhat uncomfortable, as if he had been caught talking badly about someone.

"Oh, my name is Jinping..."

"Jin Ping An, I know."

Chen Zili quickly picked up the conversation, showing great enthusiasm.

This is clearly an attempt to cover up their recent behavior of gossiping about others behind their backs.

Even though the other party didn't hear him, he still felt a little guilty.

It's fair to say that teenagers are too easy to understand.

Compared to Chen Zili, who could immediately recall his own name, he himself was completely unaware of the other party's name.

Jin Ping'an was a little embarrassed: "Haha, I'm sorry, I have a bad memory, and I still haven't memorized all the names of my classmates."

This enthusiastic attitude made Chen Zili feel even more ashamed.

Ai Liang ate her meal in silence, without interrupting.

He planned to finish his lunch quickly and leave as soon as possible.

But Jin Ping'an clearly wouldn't let Ai Liang have her way: "By the way, Ai Liang, why didn't you come to class last weekend? Were you sick?"

Ai Liang ignored him.

"Well, it doesn't seem like it... You're lucky, you just barely escaped the foreign language test."

Jin Ping'an, without any embarrassment, started talking to himself at the dining table.

(End of this chapter)