Despite being the one who called for haste in movement, Xiaobai was the first to get distracted in their quest for outside seating when she caught sight of a cart outside of the campus gate, along with others, with students lining up and getting what looked to be drinks from it. After all, lots of students would just go out to get lunch at a local restaurant or food stand if they didn't go to the school cafeteria. Technically speaking, the three of them with their boxed lunches were a bit out of the ordinary.

"Xingjuan, what's that?" Xiaobai tugged on Xingjuan's sleeve and pointed to the cart with great curiosity.

Xingjuan let out a hum. "That's a milk tea cart, Xiaobai. They sell, well, milk tea, fruit tea, and sometimes coffee and pastries."

"I want one."

"I thought you wanted to find a place to sit outside."

"That was until I found out these existed. I was foolish and short-sighted."

"I fail to see how this sudden change is not foolish and short-sighted."

Xiaobai pouted and turned her sights on Tingting despite her earlier betrayal. "What do you think, Tingting?"

"Well, you were the one who wanted to get outside seats before they all got taken up." Li Tingting mulled over it for a bit. "Wouldn't it be counterintuitive to get it from the stand instead of just getting something from a vending machine which would be much quicker?" Xiaobai sank in on herself a little.

Xingjuan let out a sigh. "How about this? We find a table and eat our lunches and if you still want one and the stand is still open we'll go back and get some." Xiaobai thought about it for a little, weighing the pros and cons of just waiting it out before her stomach gave a soft gurgle to voice its opinion on the matter. Loudly.

Xiaobai nodded frantically while holding her stomach, cheeks turning bright red for the nth time that day.

Luckily, there was a four seat table outside facing the school's expansive backyard where other students were playing soccer or simply sitting around on the grass chatting. With three of the seats taken up by three girls, lunch officially began. Out of all of them, Xu Xingjuan had the definitively greatest amount of food within her lunchbox with it being stockpiled with dumplings, noodles, vegetables, fruits, rice, various meat and seafood dishes, and even a thermos of soup to wash everything down with.

What was more amazing was the speed at which her food disappeared and the elegant eating that made it disappear.

"Xingjuan, can I have some of your-"

"No."

"..."

Xiaobai looked at Xingjuan in silence as she stared back, chewing on her most recently reached morsel with great joy. They both blinked. Xiaobai reached out her chopsticks to take some food anyway. Her wrist was promptly smacked with the handle ends of Xingjuan's own chopsticks before she resumed eating her food. Xiaobai tried again only to get the same result. Tingting watched with rapt attention at the silent picture being painted between the two before Xiaobai finally folded with a properly pink and stinging wrist while Xingjuan victoriously continued to feed herself, Tingting rewarding Xiaobai for her troubles with one of her scallion pancakes and a pat on the head.

The relative peace of the luncheon was interrupted by a sudden commotion coming from the sports field. Particularly a game of soccer that had seemed to take a more heated direction for some reason, enough so that it could be heard from a distance. 

Xiaobai couldn't help but take a peek while passively chewing on the scallion pancake gifted to her. "I wonder what happened, they were playing just fine up until now."

"Xiaobai, don't talk with your mouth full, it's inappropriate." Xingjuan hit her lightly on the forehead with her chopsticks. "Well, it must've been something big since we can hear it from all the way over here."

"Ah, that guy threw a punch. They're brawling now." Xiaobai watched with rapt attention while rubbing her forehead, the three student confrontation turning into an at least ten member fight.

Tingting could only blink in surprise at the scene. "Was it serious enough to warrant that sort of violence? We should call over a teacher-"

"Xingjuan, did you drink all your soup?"

"Yes, why?"

Xiaobai just took the metal thermos into her hands, shifting it as if testing its weight before nodding in approval and turning back to the field with a look in her eyes that spelled trouble.

And with that Xingjuan's thermos went flying through the air with the sort of accuracy you'd expect from a professional pitcher. 

The first proper meeting the three girls ever had with Xie Muchen was watching him get taken to the hospital on a stretcher after the thermos' impact straight to his forehead.