Cherry Miller immediately stood by Yina Yin's side, looking as if she'd rather die than leave her.
Miles Gu saw this and could only walk over to Ethan Yin.
"Hey, what did you do to the girl to make her so scared of you?" Miles Gu couldn't help but ask.
Ethan Yin answered innocently, "I didn't do anything! I just asked her to make me a coffee, fetch a file from the office, and translate a document. That's all!"
Miles Gu's red eyes flashed with surprise. "Anyone could do those things. Why did you have to make her do it? She's not a Yin family servant."
"Well, I just wanted her to do it," Ethan Yin replied with a mischievous grin. "By the way, how's your basketball game with Nora going?"
"Everything's going fine," Miles Gu replied calmly. "Nora likes basketball, so I play with her. She likes boxing, so I train with her. She doesn't like playing piano, so we don't keep one in our dorm!"
"You're pretty skilled yourself!" Ethan Yin sighed. "Seriously, Miles, all these years, you've never wavered?"
Miles Gu shot him a look. "Have you only known me for a day or two?"
Ethan Yin looked resigned. "Alright, you win."
"Listen, if you're interested in the girl, take it slow. Don't scare her off," Miles Gu whispered. "Can't you see she's avoiding you now?"
"I'm not interested in her!" Ethan Yin denied. "I just think it's fun to tease her."
Miles Gu shook his head helplessly. "Whatever you say, just don't go too far."
"Relax, I know what I'm doing." Ethan Yin grinned, showing his teeth. "Come on, let's go eat."
Miles Gu shook his head and smiled wryly, following Ethan Yin toward the dining hall.
The dining hall wasn't far from their dorm.
Otherwise, they'd have to drive there.
Cherry Miller followed closely beside Yina Yin, silent as ever.
Yina Yin felt something was off with Cherry Miller today, so she asked directly, "Cherry, what's wrong? Why aren't you happy?"
"Nothing," Cherry Miller replied, looking confused. Was she unhappy? She just didn't want to get involved with that young master, that's all.
Nora Yin threw her arm around Cherry Miller and declared bossily, "Come on, tell me—did someone mess with you? I'll go beat 'em up! No one picks on my Cherry and gets away with it! I'll knock their teeth out!"
That's the real Nora Yin in action!
Whatever it is, she always solves it with her fists!
Cherry Miller felt a bit down.
Living with three tall roommates is kinda rough!
Even Nora Yin is like, five foot nine!
And me? I'm barely five-three!
"No, really, don't overthink it. I'm your personal chief assistant now—who'd dare mess with me? Everyone knows I'm gonna be a big shot at the Yin Corporation someday! If anyone's picking fights, it's definitely not with me." Cherry Miller quickly explained, "Seriously, it's nothing. Let's hurry up, look, the two guys are way ahead of us!"
Nora Yin sighed, "I'm just looking out for your short legs! I could catch up with them in no time, but you..."
Cherry Miller turned bright red with embarrassment.
Short legs, can't help it!
"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you." Nora Yin dragged Cherry Miller forward. "Being short has its perks! You're two years older than me, but you look like a middle schooler!"
Cherry Miller looked even more embarrassed.
Is that supposed to be a good thing?
When the four of them got to the dining hall, it was just about lunchtime.
Students from all over the school started coming in for lunch.
The Saint Diana Academy dining halls are split up by age groups.
There's a separate dining hall for kindergarten, one for elementary and middle school, and another for high school and college students. Grad students and PhD candidates don't get their own—they usually cook for themselves, but they can eat with the high school and college crowd if they want.
The high school and college dining hall is the biggest and fanciest one at Saint Diana Academy.
It's got seven floors, all built to a six-star standard.
Inside, you'll find food from all over the world.
No wonder this place is packed!
No matter where you're from, you can always find a taste of home here.
Even picky eaters leave stuffed!
The moment Ethan Yin and Miles Gu walked in, every woman in the dining hall instantly transformed—everyone started eating daintily, worried about looking elegant and ladylike.
After all, the Chairman comes from the famously well-mannered Yun family!
If you want to catch the Chairman's eye, you have to be elegant!
Sure, Miles Gu is already set to be with Nora Yin, but Ethan Yin is still single!
If you could win Ethan Yin's heart—wow, happiness would be right at your fingertips!
Just look at how happy the Chairman is now, and you'll know your future could be just as bright!
So every girl over fourteen in the school is busy acting all classy and elegant...
Ethan Yin and Miles Gu didn't even glance at anyone else—they just took Nora Yin and Cherry Miller straight up to the private room on the third floor.
Perks of being the Chairman's kids!
Half the third floor is basically their own kingdom!
They've even got chefs and staff sent by the Yin family to take care of them while they eat. After lunch, they can just kick back and relax here too.
Now that's the life of the rich!
"Hey, hey, hey, who is that woman? How come she's going upstairs with Ethan and Miles? It's normal for Miss Yin to join them, but why is that woman tagging along too?" As soon as the four went up the stairs, the crowd started whispering.
"You don't know? That's Nora's personal chief assistant!" Someone who knew Cherry Miller's story started explaining, "She was handpicked by the Chairman when she was a kid and has been by Nora's side ever since. Out of all the assistants, she's top dog."
Everyone suddenly got it.
"I always thought Ethan was kinda sweet on her," someone said, sounding a bit jealous. "Guess that's the perk of being close to the boss, huh? Cherry gets first pick of all the good stuff!"
Everyone else nodded and jumped in, totally agreeing.
The explainer kept going, "Totally! Ethan dotes on his little sister. Cherry's Nora's top assistant, so of course Ethan treats her special. Still, you can't just be jealous—she's got the chops!"
Everyone cracked up.
Cherry's got talent—everyone knew it without saying a word.
In a corner, a girl paused mid-bite, glanced at the four as they left, and flashed a confident, competitive smile.
Ethan Yin, Miles Gu—I'm coming for you!
Every time you bullied me? I'm gonna pay you back for all of it!
Hmph, I'm a proud noble and you all ignored me!
I've finally made it to China!
Doesn't matter who you are—I'm gonna win you all over!
Up on the third floor restaurant, the head chef asked, "Young Master, Miss, what would you like to eat today?"
Ethan glanced at Cherry and asked, "Cherry, you're from Hudson State, right?"
Cherry nodded, "Yeah."
"Then let's get some Hudson State specialties," Ethan told the chef. "And make it quick—Cherry's been helping me all morning and she deserves a treat."
The chef nodded, "Got it, Young Master."
Cherry blushed, "You guys really don't have to cater to me. I'm not picky at all."
Miles chuckled, "It's fine, we'll eat whatever. No big deal."
Nora grinned, "Yeah, it's just lunch—who cares what we eat? Cherry, you hardly ever talk about your family!"
Cherry looked a little embarrassed. "Nothing worth mentioning. I'm good now, aren't I?"
Ethan and Miles exchanged thoughtful glances.
Honestly, everyone knew Cherry's story inside out.
She didn't want to talk about it, so nobody pried.
Back in the day, when Cherry's family lived in France, her dad was abusive—he beat her mom in the street so bad she almost lost the baby. It was Cici Grant who stepped in and saved them.
Thanks to the Mo family's threats back then, Cherry's dad finally stopped hitting her mom.
But then he ran off with someone else.
When Cherry was born, her mom was so broke she couldn't even pay for the hospital.
Cici found out and sent over $10,000, basically saving Cherry and her mom.
After that, Cherry's mom started working for Cici.
Because of all that, Cherry's mom always taught her to remember kindness and pay it back.
If it weren't for Cici, Cherry and her mom probably wouldn't have made it.
That whole story wasn't exactly something to brag about, so Cherry never talked about her family.
Everyone knew, so they just let it be.
Nora looked apologetic. "Cherry, I didn't mean it... Sorry!"
Cherry shrugged, "It's really not that serious. You guys all know my situation. Things are great now! Mom and I work for the Yin family, we've got food, a place to live, money coming in, and I can even save up for Mom's retirement. I'm grateful!"
Nora smiled and patted Cherry's head, "Don't worry, we're your family! You're never alone."
Seeing Nora do that, Ethan joined in, patting Cherry's head too. "Yeah, we're all family here."
Miles shot Ethan a look—was that really necessary?
Seriously, Ethan grabs every chance to get in on the action!
Cherry was just done. "Guys, can you give me a little personal space?"
Ethan, could you please stay at least five feet away from me?
You have no idea—the closer you get, the more trouble I'm in!
The chef worked fast, and soon the table was packed with Hudson State specialties.
Cherry's parents had snuck into France back in the day, so Cherry's basically Chinese through and through.
That's why things were so rough back then—and why Cici had to step in and save them.
So Cherry's taste buds? Totally Chinese.
Seeing the whole table loaded with food, Cherry felt all warm inside.
"Alright, alright, let's eat!" Nora grabbed Cherry's hand and pulled her over to sit down.
"But I'm just an assistant—I don't really belong at the table with you guys," Cherry protested, trying to get up.
"We don't see you as just an assistant," Ethan said. "Come eat with us—you're our friend. And thanks for all your help today."
With Ethan saying that, Cherry really couldn't say no anymore.