"If you want to chat, you can sit down,"
"I have plenty of food here, we can chat while we eat."
Wang Zhong pointed to the other end of the seat and said with a light laugh.
Her thin lips pursed slightly. Dugu Yan did have a lot she wanted to say. After all, in this vast continent, encountering someone with the same unique eyes as herself was a kind of inexplicable fate and closeness.
She came to sit beside Wang Zhong, with a large paper bag between them. Dugu Yan had originally wanted to ask many things, but after sitting down, she didn't know where to start.
"Here, have something to eat."
"We both seem to be quite idle people, let's just talk casually."
Wang Zhong took a small biscuit from the bag and offered it to Dugu Yan with a smile.
She reached out to take it and took a gentle bite. It was very crispy and fragrant. Dugu Yan savored the taste in her mouth and suddenly felt that a small biscuit could be such a delicious delicacy.
Especially when it was shared with someone.
"With eyes of your color, do people find you scary, like a snake, or like a wolf? They don't dare to approach you, nor do they dare to play with you."
Chewing the biscuit, Dugu Yan's voice was somewhat low.
Someone with a potent poison was indeed an anomaly in the eyes of outsiders.
His gaze lingered on the other's somewhat unfocused eyes for a moment. Wang Zhong, chewing a small cake, rolled his eyes.
Perceptive and emotionally sensitive, he clearly noticed that the person before him was not in a good mood.
He swallowed the food in his mouth, his face filled with a smile and a sense of peace. He spoke gently.
"Not at all."
"Because the friends I make are those who treat me with sincerity. They wouldn't look at me with strange or fearful eyes just because I'm a little different from others."
"As for those who cast such glances at me, I never pay them any mind. Whether they are timid or afraid, it doesn't matter if they are in awe."
"Compared to the gazes of those friends, family, and loved ones who care for me, their expressions and behaviors have always only made me laugh. Even if I'm an anomaly, I am unique and loved by them."
Her hand, holding the biscuit, paused. Dugu Yan's trembling green eyes stared intently at Wang Zhong's gently smiling face.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, observing his expression. Wang Zhong playfully nudged Dugu Yan's shoulder with his own and chuckled, "What, judging by your expression, you seem greatly shocked."
"Has no one ever said that to you before, or do you just not have any friends!"
Her body swayed from the nudge. Dugu Yan, hearing Wang Zhong's teasing words, immediately became angry.
"Nonsense, how could I not have friends!"
"I have many friends! It's not like you say!"
The young girl raised her chin high, doing her best to project a false sense of reality and pride.
But for Wang Zhong, this was incredibly easy to discern.
"Hmph, you're lying!"
"If you truly had so many friends, how could you not have some who don't mind your unique traits?"
Wang Zhong also raised his head, with an expression of having seen through her.
Ah, this is infuriating!
Dugu Yan had never felt so angry before. This relentless, mischievous boy had instantly exposed her lie.
She glared at him resentfully, then abruptly grabbed the paper bag beside her, pulling out handfuls of small biscuits and cakes. She stuffed them into her mouth with force, her entire face puffing out.
"Ah!"
"Those are mine!"
"You can't be this greedy, leave some for me!"
Wang Zhong immediately panicked. This person was snatching his food!
Turning her body, Dugu Yan hugged the entire bag tightly. She was extremely protective of her food, glaring fiercely at Wang Zhong with her mouth stuffed full, speaking indistinctly.
"No, ... all of this... is mine now!"
"Who told you... to talk nonsense."
She swallowed the contents of her mouth with effort, Dugu Yan said indignantly.
"I bought those!" Wang Zhong wailed, his newly bought snacks being taken away. Who could he complain to?
Was her elder around? Was there anyone who could manage this?
"This is your apology for talking nonsense!"
Guarding the paper bag with both hands, Dugu Yan narrowed her eyes and smiled with great delight.
"Oh."
Wang Zhong sighed powerlessly, sitting in his chair, resting his chin on his hand, feeling dejected.
He had tried to offer comfort, only to lose his snacks. Such a thing was truly disheartening.
Seeing Wang Zhong's low spirits, Dugu Yan inexplicably started to smile. She smiled happily, even triumphantly, and with a genuine joy and cheerfulness from the bottom of her heart.
This was not mockery, nor was it gloating.
It was simply the purest, most innocent joy that arose from the depths of her heart.
The slight sense of closeness brought about by their matching eye colors, which had been strengthened by his comfort, now expanded in this moment.
"Here, don't say I'm stingy."
"You gave me three small cakes earlier, and now I'm giving you three small cakes back."
Dugu Yan lightly snorted, taking out three small cakes from the bag and offering them to Wang Zhong, acting as if she were generous and righteous.
At this, Wang Zhong also smiled. This scene was exactly like when Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan would snatch his grilled fish.
He reached out and took the small cakes, popping them into his mouth one by one, chewing silently. He simply rested his chin on his hand, gazing at Dugu Yan's face, which radiated joy from the bottom of her heart, his eyes filled with warmth.
The person before him, so reclusive and lonely that she only had herself as a playmate! She was somewhat similar to Wang Zhong in the past.
It was just that Wang Zhong was lucky, he met Hu Liena.
Sensing Wang Zhong's gaze, Dugu Yan's delicate eyebrows furrowed. She shot him a fierce glare, then tossed her purple hair and turned her head away, even turning her body on the chair to face away from Wang Zhong.
What boy would stare at a girl so intently?
"Really, this guy, doesn't he know about the separation between men and women," Dugu Yan muttered with a hint of embarrassment, popping a small cake into her mouth, trying to suppress the strange feeling in her heart.
Pitiable as it was, from childhood to adulthood, apart from her grandfather, no peer had ever looked at her with such gentle eyes as Wang Zhong. Instinctively, she wanted to escape his gaze.
But an accident happened at this very moment.
The small cake she had put in her mouth fell to the ground before she could chew it.
A fierce pain surged from her limbs, as if countless ants were gnawing at her bones and flesh. The agony caused her slender body to tremble continuously.