Chapter 3 — Icebergs Also Know Red Eyes

“I can feel it.”

“It's windy.”

There is no wind in the canteen. I stared at him for three seconds, but his expression remained expressionless as he chewed his chicken breast. I bowed my head, the corner of my mouth curled up a little. Nothing, it's just that this person doesn't seem to be that cold. On the afternoon of the third day, it happened. I studied in the library, To Nghien sat next to me. Between the two of them there was an open book of Advanced Mathematics, everyone studied separately. A girl came over, I knew this person, she was a senior in the Information Technology department, I forgot her name, but she was very pretty, her hair was long to her waist. She took two cups of milk tea and walked to our table, placing one cup down in front of To Nghien.

“To Nghien, Caramel Macchiato, thank you for helping me fix my computer the other day.”

To Nghien looked up at the milk tea cup, then looked at the other senior.

“No need.” He said, then pushed the milk tea cup back.

The senior smiled: "If you can't drink it, you can let your girlfriend drink it." She glanced at me, her eyes stopping for a split second. I was just about to reach out — Caramel Macchiato is the true love of my life! But To Nghien's hand was one step faster, pushing the milk tea cup to the farthest edge of the table.

“She doesn't drink either.”

The smile on the senior's face stiffened, she took the cup of milk tea and left. I stared at the Caramel Macchiato cup moving away, my heart bleeding.

“To Nghien.”

“Um.”

“That's Caramel Macchiato.”

“One cup is 450 calories.”

“I know, but—”

“It's only the third day.” He turned a page of the book, without looking at me, "If I give up now, all the efforts of the past few days will go to waste."

I kept my mouth shut. You're right. But a small question flashed in my heart - when he pushed the milk tea cup away, the movement was a little faster than usual. Doesn't look like calorie control to me. It's like... don't want that thing to appear in front of me. Or maybe I don't want that senior to talk to me. I shook my head. Probably thinking a lot. At night when I returned to the dormitory, To Niem was sitting on my bed chewing snacks. Seeing me walk in, he immediately raised his phone: "Look at my brother's (Wechat) friends list." I leaned closer to see. To Nghien's friend circle has always been empty, but three days ago, another status appeared. A photo, taken from a corner of the library table, next to his Advanced Mathematics book, showed a section of my hand — I was painting my nails an earthy orange. There are no caption lines.

“What does this mean?” I asked To Niem.

To Niem chewed a snack and made a complicated face: "The last time my brother posted a status was two years ago, the content was a line of code."

“So what?”

“So use your gluttonous brain to think, why did my brother post this?”

I thought: "Maybe that corner has a nice layout?" To Niem slammed the bag of snacks in my face.

“Are you stupid?”

I pushed the bag of snacks away and gently licked the crumbs stuck to the corner of my mouth. Salty taste. So fragrant. I took another lick. To Niem snatched the bag of snacks back: "Don't eat! You're losing weight!"

“Just one bite—”

“If your boyfriend knows, he's counting calories with you!”

I pulled my hand back, hugging my pillow in self-pity. Third day of weight loss. I began to suspect that this relationship might not be simply a tool for me to lose weight anymore. But this thought only lasted three seconds, then was overtaken by despair Tomorrow I'll have to eat boiled eggs again. 04 On the fourth day we met, I lost 1 kg. That's good news. The bad news is, even in my dreams I see myself eating hot pot. At six o'clock in the morning, at the stadium, I ran after To Nghien. He was still running at a steady pace, and I was behind like a dehydrated fish, my mouth rising and falling, gasping for breath. After running two laps, I squatted on the ground and he turned around and stood next to me.

“Stand up, walk around twice to relax.”

“I can't walk.”

“Go.”