Even Love Has an Expiration Date—Don’t Chase Me Now - Chapter 8:

Chapter 8: Expired Chocolate

After two periods of class, it was now break time. The next two classes were physical education, so the atmosphere between classes was noticeably more relaxed and lively.

At that moment, Mu Yuwei stood up from her seat, took out a box of chocolate from under her desk, and walked toward the trash can at the back of the classroom.

Her unusual action attracted quite a few stares. As the campus belle, everything Mu Yuwei did was naturally eye-catching.

She tore open the packaging, snapped the chocolate bar in half, and threw it into the trash without hesitation.

“Yuwei, what are you doing? Why throw away perfectly fine chocolate?” Liu Tiantian looked on regretfully—if Mu Yuwei didn’t want it, she could’ve given it to her.

“This chocolate is expired. No matter how good something is, once it’s too late, it’s worthless.” Mu Yuwei said this while facing Bai Shinan’s direction. She knew that if it was from him, he would definitely understand the deeper meaning behind her words—

Her patience had limits. If he wanted to apologize, he’d better do it quickly. Once the time passed, no matter how great Bai Shinan was, she, Mu Yuwei, wouldn’t treat him like a treasure.

“Ah, expired? Then yeah, it should be thrown away. But the packaging looked pretty new…” Liu Tiantian echoed without understanding the situation.

Bai Shinan didn’t know what kind of mood swing Mu Yuwei was having again. If she wanted to throw away the chocolate, let her—she didn’t pay for it anyway. But her words gave him an idea.

“Class rep, I’ve got something bothering me. Can I talk to you about it?” Bai Shinan approached Zhu Yuyou, switching back to calling her “class rep.” Li Pengfei was right—it was better to keep a bit of distance.

Zhu Yuyou immediately noticed the change in how he addressed her and felt a sudden pang of disappointment, but still responded with a bright smile, “Sure, Bai, what do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s talk outside. We’ve got P.E. soon anyway.” What he meant was that it was easier to trick her outside the crowded classroom.

“Alright.” Zhu Yuyou followed him without the slightest suspicion.

They arrived at the empty area behind the gym. Everyone was still inside, so no one would come to bother them.

Zhu Yuyou felt a little nervous. Why did Bai Shinan bring her to a place like this? What could he possibly want to discuss?

“Here’s the thing. I bought a bar of chocolate this morning, but it tastes kind of strange. I’m not sure if it’s expired or if it’s just me. Could you help me try it and see?” Bai Shinan pulled out the same chocolate he had bought earlier.

Only Zhu Yuyou would be gullible enough to fall for this. If it had been Mu Yuwei, she would’ve turned and walked away immediately.

“Sure. If it really is expired, you’ll have to come with me to see the school doctor.” Zhu Yuyou was so concerned about Bai Shinan’s health that she didn’t even think about the risk of eating expired chocolate herself.

“Okay, try a piece first. If something’s off, just spit it out.” Bai Shinan broke off a piece and held it near Zhu Yuyou’s mouth.

Her face flushed. His fair, slender fingers pinched the chocolate so elegantly that they looked even prettier than a girl’s hands. Bai Shinan didn’t seem to notice this detail at all, and she couldn’t point it out without seeming too obvious. So she bit the chocolate gently, forcing herself to ignore her embarrassment.

“Well? Is there a sour taste?” Bai Shinan was fully focused on convincing her and didn’t even realize that hand-feeding someone chocolate might be crossing a line.

“No… no. It’s just sweet.” Zhu Yuyou lowered her head, her cheeks burning.

“That’s impossible. Maybe it’s the wrong piece. Try this one from the bottom.” Bai Shinan quickly broke off another piece and fed it to her before she could react.

The second time’s always easier than the first.

“It’s… it’s sweet too.”

“No way. Try the middle piece.”

“There’s really nothing wrong with it. It just tastes like chocolate.”

“I don’t believe it. Try this one. I swear it has a sour aftertaste.”

Under Bai Shinan’s relentless persuasion, he ended up feeding her the entire chocolate bar piece by piece.

Dusting the remaining crumbs off his hands, Bai Shinan felt triumphant. Now Zhu Yuyou wouldn’t pass out during P.E. from low blood sugar.

In his previous life, Zhu Yuyou had fainted during a run due to low blood sugar, even hitting her head. She had to take a week off afterward. Since then, the P.E. teacher had been too scared to make them run and always let them go early, so the memory stuck with him.

“Bai, you tricked me.” Zhu Yuyou finally caught on, her expression on the verge of tears.

“What else could I do? Blame it on someone who drinks watery porridge for breakfast and studies so hard all the time. You’re top of the grade—don’t tell me you think brainwork doesn’t need energy.” Bai Shinan shrugged.

“How much was it? I’ll pay you back.” Zhu Yuyou reached for the wrinkled pouch on her waist, unsure if she had enough money.

“Friendship is priceless.” Bai Shinan pressed down her hand and looked her straight in the eye, speaking with a serious face. “If you really feel bad about it, you can tutor me. Or… do you think a few yuan is more important than me as your friend?”

Zhu Yuyou’s heart thumped wildly under his intense gaze. He was being shameless again, but she had no way to deal with him.

“Then… promise you won’t lie to me again next time.” Zhu Yuyou said softly.

“How can something done in the name of academics be called a lie? Come on, P.E. is about to start.” Bai Shinan chuckled, brushing it off.

Zhu Yuyou thought to herself, he didn’t even promise… but Bai Shinan had already walked ahead. She had no choice but to jog to catch up, repeating the word “friend” in her mind.

If they could at least be friends… that wouldn’t be so bad either…