The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 63

Ten minutes later, the waiter cautiously knocked on the door. “The pho is ready. Should I bring it in?”

Worried about seeing something inappropriate, the waiter hesitated at the threshold.

Li Rong gave Cen Xiao a sly look, then bent his knee, preparing to withdraw his leg. However, Cen Xiao firmly grasped his ankle.

The warmth of his palm enveloped Li Rong’s cool ankle, sending a faint shiver up his skin.

It had been far too long since Li Rong had been close to Cen Xiao, and their earlier fervent kiss only reignited his sensitivity.

Men have one undeniable flaw: their bodies are too honest, incapable of hiding their reactions.

Cen Xiao was likely no better off than Li Rong, who had been desperately trying to think of sad thoughts to suppress that flicker of desire.

Li Rong paused his movements, his gaze flickering toward Cen Xiao’s abdomen. With a smile tugging at his lips, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

He knew Cen Xiao wasn’t actually planning to do anything—after all, they were still in a restaurant, and rationality hadn’t completely left them.

Truthfully, he could’ve pulled his leg back with some effort, but Cen Xiao’s palm was warm, and he wanted to indulge in this moment of closeness for just a little while longer.

Hearing no sounds from inside, the server knocked on the door again. “Excuse me, your noodles are ready.”

Cen Xiao’s gaze darkened. He gave Li Rong’s ankle a teasing squeeze before finally letting go, taking the time to pull down his pant leg with deliberate care.

Li Rong straightened up, adjusted his pant cuffs, and sat upright. Raising his voice toward the door, he called out, “Come in.”

The server entered, placing two bowls of rice noodles on the table. Unable to resist, they stole a glance at the two men.

Both were dressed neatly, sitting side by side with a noticeable gap between them. It didn’t seem like anything inappropriate had happened.

Li Rong ignored the server’s curious gaze and calmly clarified, “I ordered the soup noodles, and he has the stir-fried ones.”

Cen Xiao preferred bolder flavors than he did.

Once the server placed their dishes in front of them and left politely, Li Rong reached for the slightly shriveled spring roll on the table. Dipping it in sauce, he popped it into his mouth.

The spring roll had been sitting out for a while, and its edges had gone hard. Ideally, it should’ve been softened with water, but Li Rong didn’t mind.

As he bit through the crispy wrapper, the flavors of shrimp and mint leaves filled his mouth. It was light yet satisfying, leaving a comforting fullness.

Li Rong lowered his head and licked a bit of sauce off his lips, murmuring, “It’s pretty good.”

The spring rolls that Cen Xiao had thoughtfully brought him for a late-night snack were indeed delicious. It was just now that he had the chance to tell him so.

Cen Xiao glanced meaningfully at the plate of spring rolls before commenting, “I thought you made them for me.”

Unbothered, Li Rong skillfully wrapped a spring roll and fed it directly to Cen Xiao.

Cen Xiao grabbed Li Rong’s wrist, chewed, and swallowed before grimacing slightly. “Not bad.”

It wasn’t exactly to his taste—still too bland for him. The stir-fried noodles, on the other hand, were far more suited to his palate.

The two sat shoulder to shoulder, crammed together on a swing. Their movements were out of sync, yet neither bothered to move, enduring the awkward rhythm as they finished their meal.

During this, Jian Fu sent Li Rong a private message.

[Jian Fu: Calling panda, calling panda. How are you planning to celebrate my brother’s birthday?]

Li Rong glanced sideways at Cen Xiao and didn’t bother hiding anything. He placed his phone on the table openly.

[Li Rong: Treating him to Vietnamese food.]

[Jian Fu: Huh? My brother doesn’t like that bland stuff! Honestly, you could’ve consulted me beforehand. People shouldn’t be so overconfident.]

Li Rong smirked, placed his chopsticks down, and quickly began typing a reply.

[Li Rong: Really? I think he’s enjoying himself.]

[Jian Fu: Impossible!]

[Li Rong: Because he also had something else to eat.]

[Jian Fu: Huh? What else?]

[Li Rong: Haha, not telling.]

Cen Xiao, having read the entire exchange, shook his head helplessly and asked, “Why do you always enjoy teasing him?”

Li Rong turned to look at Cen Xiao, speaking with a double meaning, “Maybe it’s because when someone wants to hide something from me, he always ends up helping.”

Especially in their past life, Jian Fu had often teamed up with Cen Xiao.

Cen Xiao shifted his gaze without a word, reaching out to adjust the sheer curtain. He changed the subject: “Your school dorm’s lease is expiring soon, isn’t it?”

The mention of moving reminded Li Rong of the issue.

At A High, all senior students were required to move out of the dorms before their college entrance exams. The dorms would then be closed for unified renovations right after the exams.

From graduation at A High to enrolling at A University, there would be a three-month gap.

He needed to find a temporary place to stay.

In his past life, after leaving A High, his grandmother—proud of his achievement as a top scorer—allowed him to stay at her house temporarily.

But Li Rong had no desire to deal with them and ended up renting a cheap apartment in an old neighborhood instead.

Even cheap rentals came at a base price in City A, forcing him to take on summer jobs to make ends meet.

It was during that time that he finally snapped out of the grief over his parents’ death. Life didn’t leave him much room for mourning.

“Ah… I’ll deal with it later; no rush,” Li Rong said lightly.

This time around, things were different. He had savings and a means of earning money, so finding a nice temporary place for three months wouldn’t be difficult.

Cen Xiao remarked, “Don’t stay in the dorms. I’ll help you find a place to live.”

Li Rong chuckled and casually draped an arm over Cen Xiao’s shoulder. “Just a heads-up, once we get to A University, we won’t have as much freedom.”

A University had close ties to the Hongsuo Research Institute. Many experts from the institute had taught there, and some had been re-hired after leaving Hongsuo to mentor students while working on projects.

At the same time, A University heavily relied on sponsorships from the United Commerce Association.

The district chairs of Blue Pivot included many alumni of A University, who frequently donated to A University and provided internships for its students.

Thus, A University maintained strict neutrality, neither favoring nor offending either side, while turning a blind eye to the rivalry between Blue Pivot and Hongsuo.

However, in recent years, the Hongsuo Research Institute had been gradually declining.

The businesses collaborating with Hongsuo were primarily innovative tech and research companies unwilling to pay the hefty fees required by Blue Pivot, so they supported Hongsuo unconditionally.

Meanwhile, Blue Pivot’s wide-reaching business influence was nearing monopoly status.

If Blue Pivot’s expansion continued unchecked, small businesses unable to pass Blue Pivot’s audits would face silent exclusion and have no room to survive.

This stalemate had been years in the making and couldn’t be changed overnight.

But it was rumored that Hu Yuming, the district chair of Blue Pivot’s Fourth District, had vowed to merge the district with Hongsuo during his tenure, turning Hongsuo into a subsidiary of Blue Pivot.

Cen Xiao seemed deep in thought as he sipped cucumber lemonade, not out of thirst but to keep his wandering thoughts from appearing too obvious.

Li Rong noticed his distracted state, inhaled deeply, and considered speaking, but ultimately chose not to.

After Cen Xiao’s birthday came the third round of mock exams.

The entire experimental class treated these exams with the utmost seriousness, as they were said to closely mirror the difficulty of the college entrance exams and were ranked city-wide.

When Yang Fenfang asked if Li Rong planned to participate, he refused outright, unwilling to waste his time, becoming the most envied idler in the class.

Li Rong’s desk was devoid of pens, save for a single thermos.

Bored, he stood up to refill his water, then returned to drink it leisurely.

Once, on his way back, he passed Cui Mingyang’s desk and casually glanced at the boy feverishly scribbling away.

To his credit, Cui Mingyang worked hard, but his ambition was insatiable—he wanted the rewards of effort and the luck of miracles.

Li Rong lightly knocked his thermos against Cui Mingyang’s desk twice.

Cui Mingyang, with his dark-circled eyes, snapped up irritably. “What do you want?”

Running on little sleep, his nerves were frayed, but he maintained a wary front with Li Rong.

Li Rong, by contrast, remained relaxed. Leaning lazily, he asked, “Any gossip from your parents about the Hongsuo Research Institute? Share some.”

“…”

Cui Mingyang froze, looking utterly constipated. “Are you kidding me?”

Were they even close? Why was he always prying?

Li Rong wasn’t insistent. Since Li Qingli’s paper was published, Hongsuo Research Institute’s strange silence had left him uneasy.

Aside from meddling with his admissions, they’d done nothing else of note.

His unease lacked evidence, but Cui Mingyang was often an unintentional source of inspiration.

“Come on, you’ve got nothing better to do. Sharing won’t hurt,” Li Rong teased.

Cui Mingyang was dumbfounded, his bloodshot eyes widening. “Who’s idle? Before you came, I was solving a big physics problem!”

Li Rong, shameless as ever, grinned and said, “There are no eternal enemies in this world. Considering I gave up the chance to be the city’s top scorer for you, anything interesting going on lately?”

Cui Mingyang’s facial muscles twitched.

He wanted to retort that Li Rong was utterly shameless—what did he mean by “giving up” the title of city top scorer? 

Clearly, Li Rong had leaked confidential information and secured a recommendation for himself!

But he dared not openly mock Li Rong, especially with Cen Xiao sitting not far away. Without even turning around, Cui Mingyang could feel the eerie gaze directed at his back.

Reluctantly, he said in a sarcastic tone, “Want to hear about funding fights in research or the re-election of the Hongsuo Institute’s president? I can make something up for you.”

Cui Mingyang’s parents were peripheral figures at the Hongsuo Institute, far from the inner circle. Their status was nowhere near that of Li Qingli or Gu Nong back in the day, which was why he always envied Li Rong.

Li Rong didn’t care about Cui Mingyang’s dismissive attitude. Twirling his insulated cup, he said, “Even small gossip is fine. Just for conversation; I’m not picky.”

Cui Mingyang, annoyed, snapped, “Oh, then do you want to hear about a language institute teacher’s affair with a student or a street vendor sneaking into the school’s computer lab to steal?”

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