After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Roasted Sweet Potatoes
◎ Oh my, even a top student sneaks in replies during class ◎
On the weekend, Chen Mengyin finally got to sleep in until noon.
The night before, Li Ran had told her that she’d be going on a two-day, one-night trip organized by her work unit on Saturday. She told Mengyin to be careful at home and not to stay out too late.
Mengyin readily agreed.
She only said not to be out too late—not that she couldn’t play at home for a long time, right? So, playing on her game console should be fine?
Li Ran seemed to read her mind and casually warned, “Planning to stay up all night gaming? You’re dead meat when I get back.”
Mengyin laughed sheepishly and dropped the idea.
Come on, she was already eighteen—she didn’t want her mom spanking her with a shoe anymore.
“Sigh, I’m so bored. I really don’t feel like doing homework,” Mengyin groaned as she lay sprawled on her bed, refusing to move.
Her phone was right beside her pillow, but since Xie Zhirou was off at a tutoring class, she might not even reply, so Mengyin didn’t bother picking up her phone.
Ding dong! Her neglected phone chimed with a WeChat message.
Mengyin lazily reached over, grabbed her phone, and opened WeChat—it was her childhood friend Wang Xueling inviting her out to roast sweet potatoes.
Wang Xueling: Mengyin! Bring your girl Zhirou and come to the Huai River camping zone! Qingqing and I are gonna roast sweet potatoes~ [hooked finger emoji]
Chen Mengyin: Zhirou’s at tutoring 😭 [Screaming Big Dog meme]
Chen Mengyin: But where did you guys even get the sweet potatoes?
The camping zone was a designated area set up by the city government along the Huai River. Since nearby residents often came to BBQ, the city had cordoned off a spot specifically for grilling and camping.
Back in junior high, when academics weren’t as intense, Mengyin used to fish and BBQ there often with friends. Zhirou would sit beside her on a little stool, reading a book while enjoying the river breeze.
Wang Xueling: Qingqing’s grandma gave them to us—red heart ones! The kind that turns all syrupy when roasted 🤤
Wang Xueling: Dang, your girl’s seriously a study god—still going to class on a Saturday.
Wang Xueling: You should still come though! When we’re done, Zhirou might be out too. You could even bring her a roasted sweet potato—how sweet is that?
Mengyin didn’t want to admit it, but she was shamefully tempted by that image.
She imagined Zhirou, fresh out of tutoring and hungry, seeing her appear with a warm sweet potato in hand—and giving her a smile even sweeter than the potato itself.
Just imagining it made her grin like an idiot under the blanket.
Chen Mengyin: Ah fine, wait for me! I haven’t even gotten up yet!
Wang Xueling: It’s already noon = = Hurry up or we’ll eat it all before you arrive!
Chen Mengyin: Fifteen minutes! [Big Dog Sprinting meme]
Mengyin put down her phone, rolled out of bed, washed up quickly, and packed some drinks and fruit from the kitchen before heading out.
She was lucky—there was still a shared e-scooter parked out front. It looked kind of dirty, but after wiping it down a bit, she could live with it.
Thanks to the recent rains, the weather was cool. The river breeze was chilly enough that someone more sensitive might’ve needed a light jacket.
When she arrived at the campsite, she saw Wang Xueling and Xu Qingqing sitting on low stools with a real setup going: a stone pit and a grill net—it looked pretty pro.
“No way! I thought I could mooch some roasted sweet potato, but it’s not even done yet?” Mengyin parked the scooter and jogged over, snacks in hand. Xueling’s face was smudged with ash, and there wasn’t a single sweet potato in sight.
Xueling rolled her eyes. “You think roasting sweet potatoes is easy? Try it yourself!”
“I don’t know how~” Mengyin said shamelessly.
With another eye roll, Xueling pulled out a bag of marshmallows and tossed it at her. “At least you can roast marshmallows, right?”
Mengyin plopped onto a stool and opened the bag. “Qingqing, do you have any skewers for the marshmallows?”
Qingqing rummaged through her bag and pulled out a handful. “Here, roast them properly—we only brought one pack.”
Mengyin patted her chest confidently. “Got it.”
White, chubby marshmallows were skewered and placed on the grill net. The heat from the charcoal brought out their sweet aroma, making their mouths water.
Xueling poked at the sweet potatoes with a stick to make sure they didn’t get burned on one side.
Roasting marshmallows wasn’t exactly thrilling, so Mengyin kept checking on them while asking, “So why’d you suddenly wanna roast sweet potatoes?”
Qingqing: “We were bored. My grandma had some, so I asked Xueling to join. Then we figured it’d be more fun with you and Zhirou—but turns out Zhirou has class on Saturdays.”
Xueling dramatically stopped poking the potatoes and declared, “Respect! A true top student! Always studying!”
Mengyin rolled her eyes. “My Zhirou would still be a top student even without tutoring!”
Xueling: “…”
Qingqing: “…”
Shouldn’t have mentioned Zhirou…
“Oh right, I’ve been meaning to ask. Finals are over—why’d you two bring review materials?” Mengyin pointed at the papers near Xueling’s feet.
Xueling looked shifty and cleared her throat. “Well, they’re useless at home and just take up space. Thought I’d give them new life—y’know, fueling the sweet potato dream.”
“You used them to start the fire?!” Mengyin was shocked.
Xueling stood her ground. “Exactly. I gave those notes a second purpose! That’s called adding value!”
Mengyin: “…Brilliant. Next time can you roast some with English notes? Maybe it’ll boost my language skills.”
Xueling: “If that worked, why would we even need teachers? Everyone would just go roast sweet potatoes.”
While they were bantering, the marshmallows were done.
Mengyin took a skewer and bit into it. The surface was crispy while the inside was gooey and sweet—it practically melted in her mouth.
“So sweet,” she said, wincing. She wasn’t great with sugary stuff, so after finishing one skewer, she immediately chugged half a bottle of Coke.
“This is insanely sweet. I bet only Zhirou would like this kind of sugar bomb.”
Xueling & Qingqing, happily munching on marshmallows: …
Mengyin had no idea they were mentally roasting her—but even if she did, she wouldn’t care. Xueling had been complaining about her for over a decade.
“I also brought fruit—let’s eat some to cut the sweetness.” She placed the fruit in the center and grabbed an apple to munch on.
Xueling picked up a guava and took a bite. The soft, sweet, red-fleshed guava filled her mouth with fragrance. “Where’d your mom get this? It’s so good!”
Mengyin: “No idea, I think a coworker gave it to her? I’ll ask when I get home.”
Xueling: “Nice! My mom loves red guavas—we can’t find anything this good around here.”
Qingqing grabbed one too—just as fragrant and sweet as advertised.
Then Qingqing asked, “How’s the experimental class treating you? You getting used to it?”
Mengyin smiled. “It’s great. The classmates are super easy to get along with. My deskmate, Ye Siying—you know, the girl we played volleyball with—is super fun.”
“And if I don’t get something in class, Zhirou helps me out during evening study. You wouldn’t believe how fast we finish homework when we sit together. It’s like boom-boom-done.” She smiled blissfully, recalling her study sessions with Zhirou.
Once Zhirou was mentioned, Mengyin couldn’t stop. She launched into story after sweet story about the two of them, completely ignoring Xueling and Qingqing’s existence.
Xueling and Qingqing exchanged looks of shared suffering.
Xueling: Why on earth did I invite this love-struck fool to roast sweet potatoes?
Qingqing: Don’t remind me. We even joined her for PE class the other day! Should’ve just stayed home and done homework!
“Eh? Why aren’t you two saying anything? I’m the only one talking!” Mengyin paused mid-rant and chugged the rest of her Coke.
Xueling dug out a roasted sweet potato. “Heh, you were on a roll—didn’t wanna interrupt. Try this! If it’s good, we’ll roast more for you to take to Zhirou.”
Mengyin carefully wrapped a roasted sweet potato in a napkin. “Ow! Hot hot hot!”
Qingqing handed her more napkins. “Geez, use more layers! What are you, made of steel?”
“I thought two were enough…” Mengyin said, rubbing her burned fingers on her cool earlobes.
Xueling rolled her eyes (again): “Yeah, and now your hands are pork trotters.”
“Hehe, just a minor miscalculation.” Mengyin peeled the charred skin to reveal a shiny orange-red core. Even without tasting, you could tell it was going to be delicious.
She blew on it and took a bite. The flavor was sweet but not overwhelming—soft and comforting. “Yum! Sweet and tender, but not too much.”
Qingqing, mouth covered in ash, agreed. “It’s really good. Let’s roast more—I’ll take some home for my grandma.”
Xueling: “Sure! We’ve still got plenty.”
The second batch finished around 4 PM. Xueling packed a few into a bag and handed them to Mengyin. “Here, for you to take. The tutoring session should be ending soon.”
“Thanks! I’ll help you clean up before I go.”
“No, no, no!” Qingqing waved her off. “We wanna stay a bit longer. You go ahead.”
Xueling added, “Yeah, it’s still early. We wanna enjoy the river view.”
Mengyin didn’t suspect anything. “Alright then, I’m off. Thanks for the snacks!”
Xueling: “No worries. What’s fun without a little work? Go on, or you’ll miss her!”
After saying their goodbyes, Mengyin hopped on another e-scooter and rode toward the school.
Zhirou’s tutoring center was near the school. Her class ended at 5 PM. Mengyin arrived a few minutes early and texted Zhirou to say she was waiting under the banyan tree.
Before she could even put her phone away, Zhirou replied:
Xie Zhirou: Okay.
Mengyin grinned from ear to ear. Oh my—her top student even sneaks replies during class~