The Silly Alchemist

Zhen Xiaoyan loved food. Anyone who took a glance at her could immediately tell that she had a strong connection with food. As a result, this made her an extremely great cook. Driven by her motivation to eat, her skills in the kitchen were simply amazing,  just as her appetite.

Ye Lang had taken a liking towards this Zhen Xiaoyan because of her cooking. Ever since the day he first tasted her lunch, he’d chase after her for her lunchbox every single day. The taste was simply addicting. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll give it back soon! Just one more bite, please!” mumbled Ye Lang with a full mouth of her lunch. 

“Soon? My lunch would be gone by then!” huffed Xiaoyan. 

“True. But if I don’t finish it, you wouldn’t bring a new one tomorrow,” replied Ye Lang shamelessly.

“You… You…” Xiaoyan was speechless. 

“Hmph, fine. Don’t eat my lunch tomorrow,” said Xiaoyan. That was her usual reply but nothing had changed the next day. Ye Lang would always come back for her lunch.

“I’d like thick noodles with fish balls tomorrow, be sure to make it good!” exclaimed Ye Lang. He had ignored her and instead gave her suggestions for tomorrow’s lunch.

“Alright, you really sure about that? You seem to want that every day, aren't you bored already? Hey… hold on, why should I make it for you?!” realized Xiaoyan.

“Xiaoyan, you always contradict yourself. You said you wouldn’t make it for him yet you still continue to do so,” said a close friend of hers who observed the exchange. 

Well, the reason for that was… 

“If I don’t make lunch for him, he would eat my share and I wouldn’t have enough to eat. He doesn’t have a big appetite anyway so it’s fine,” whispered Xiaoyan while glaring daggers at the shameless boy digging into her lunch. 

“I guess that’s true. Compared to you, he really eats like a mouse,” joked the friend. 

“Hey, was that sarcasm? Go on, I’ll crush you!” threatened Xiaoyan, using her bigger body as an advantage. 

Her body was admittedly huge, but she did not possess an ounce of inferiority- she embraced her size. Perhaps it was because none of the jokes affected her. 

“Ah, please, no! Show mercy, my friend! I’d die!” her friend feigned fear.

“Learn your place, meanie. Come on, let’s eat,” chuckled Xiaoyan, ready to demolish the mountain of food in front of her. 

“Yeah. Let’s eat…” followed the friend, digging into their meal. 

Many of their classmates brought lunch from home, It was the norm for the alchemy students. They’d rather reserve their time and energy for studies and research by devouring homemade lunch than travel a distance to the cafeteria. 

While everyone was enjoying their food, a handsome individual entered their classroom. Somehow, it felt as if today wasn’t going to be a normal day.

The handsome individual went by the name of Moya, one of the four most popular boys in the Royal Institute of Education. Not only was he blessed with delicate features, but he was also very much capable. Not to mention, he had an astoundingly influential family background. 

He was the prince charming of many girls in this institution, almost everyone was head over heels for this young man. Many of Ye Lang’s female classmates had found him unbearably attractive, including Zhen Xiaoyan. 

As soon as Moya entered the classroom, her eyes were practically glued onto him, never leaving him out of sight. Her heart race, face blushing intensely. 

“Sorry I’m late!” apologized Moya from across the room. Despite the admiring stares and shy glances, he made a beeline to a girl. 

The girl he was associated with was, of course, no regular girl. She was one of the beauties in the class, Sha Lan.

Even Ye Lang was rather impressed by the words the “professionals” used to describe her years back. True enough, Sha Lan was now an amazingly sexy beauty, which made perfect sense to be a partner for someone like Moya.  

“It’s alright, I was just done cleaning up. Come on, let’s go,” replied Sha Lan softly, she held onto Moya’s arms, leaving the classroom under the envious gazes of the other girls. 

“They’re already gone, what are you still looking at?” Xiaoyan’s friend said unamused, disrupting Xiaoyan’s daydream.

“Gosh, if it were me, I’d be so happy,” slurred Xiaoyan. She was really envious of Sha Lan. Oh, how she wished she could be the one holding Moya’s arm. 

Ye Lang held out her lunchbox, handing it back to her

"If it were you, it'd be a tragedy!" he insensitively replied.

“Go to hell!” Xiaoyan threw the empty lunchbox towards Ye Lang. 

“Ah!” someone screamed, it was not Ye Lang but instead, some innocent boy seated behind him. The lunchbox stood proudly on his head. 

Ye Lang’s agility had allowed him to dodge the incoming lunchbox, However, it wasn’t the case for the unlucky boy. 

“I’m so sorry! It wasn’t on purpose,” apologized Xiaoyan. 

“I know you didn’t mean it. It’s just that you’re fully aware that he could avoid every single thing you throw at him but yet, you still to do so. It’s always us who receive the attack,” replied the boy pitifully. 

It was obvious from his words that this wasn’t the first time something similar had happened and obviously not the only victim.

“Sorry, I always get so caught up in the heat of the moment. I promise I won’t do that again,” she replied as guilt overcame her.

“But you’ve been repeating yourself for … how many months now?” questioned the boy. 

“Not months. She has been repeating herself for a year and three months!” answered Ye Lang. He was now seated on the side, reading his book as if the situation had not involved him. 

“Well, if it wasn’t for YOU!” yelled everyone else in the class in unison in anger.

“Hmm… this alchemy formula…” Ye Lang promptly ignored everyone’s remark. It wasn’t his intention to change the topic at hand but simply ignorant of everything happening. 

“...” 

Everyone knew he’d react this way. Deeming it unworthy of their time, they finished their lunch and rested.

Life was still the same in the class in the following days. Ye Lang stole Xiaoyan’s lunch while Moya appeared in the classroom to have lunch with Sha Lan. The young passionate couple sure were lovey-dovey.