As Chen Luobai casually unwrapped one,
Zhu Ran lowered his head to use the key and open the classroom door. “We were having such a good time crushing noobs at the arcade. Why did you suddenly want to come back to school? What exactly did you forget?”
Chen Luobai replied, “Homework.”
“Homework? Homework is—” Zhu Ran’s voice suddenly trailed off as he turned back in surprise, “You forgot to bring your homework?”
How could someone who stayed up late watching a game, didn’t engage in other distractions, and even completed several test papers forget to bring their homework?
“Stop wasting time and open the door,” Chen Luobai said.
Zhu Ran turned to open the door, but thinking about the low mood Chen Luobai had been in since this morning, he couldn’t help but ask, “Did your uncle and aunt have an especially bad fight this time?”
Chen Luobai didn’t respond to his question. He pushed the door open, his profile looking particularly cold.
Zhu Ran understood the situation.
It seemed the argument was even more serious than he had anticipated.
For once, he didn’t say anything more and followed Chen Luobai into the classroom.
Chen Luobai reached out to pull open the chair and put his hand into the desk to feel for the test papers, but his palm unexpectedly touched something else.
Two small objects.
Zhu Ran noticed his sudden pause in movement and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
Chen Luobai took out what he had felt and opened his palm to reveal what appeared to be two pieces of candy.
“Is that candy?” Zhu Ran asked curiously. “How did candy end up on your desk? Is it from another girl? But that doesn’t seem right. When those girls put gifts on your desk, aren’t they always beautifully wrapped, with even the outer ribbon tied meticulously? How could someone just casually put two pieces of candy on your desk? Could it be that someone accidentally put it in the wrong place?”
This was also the first time Chen Luobai had encountered such a situation. “Maybe,” he said.
“Then let me eat them. I’m hungry anyway,” Zhu Ran said, reaching out to take the candy from his hand.
Chen Luobai’s fingers closed, avoiding the outstretched hand.
“How stingy are you?” Zhu Ran rolled his eyes. “Even if Aunt Fang told you not to waste other people’s goodwill, this obviously can’t be from a girl, right? Who would confess to you by just putting two pieces of candy on your desk? I think it’s more likely that someone put them in the wrong place, or maybe Rui Rui and the others were sharing snacks and left two pieces for you.”
Chen Luobai casually put the candy into his school uniform pocket. “I’ll ask next week.”
“Let me check if there’s any in my desk,” Zhu Ran walked to his desk and reached in to feel around. “There’s nothing. Strange.”
Chen Luobai had already taken out his test papers. “Let’s go.”
After leaving the school gate, Chen Luobai hailed a taxi at the intersection.
Zhu Ran’s home was closer to the school, so the car stopped first at the entrance of his residential complex.
With the car door half open, Zhu Ran turned his head and asked one more question: “Why don’t you come to my place tonight?”
“No need,” Chen Luobai said, with half of his face hidden in the shadows. He slightly raised his chin. “Go on, get out.”
After Zhu Ran got out, the taxi drove for a while before stopping at the entrance of another residential complex.
When Chen Luobai arrived home, he found the house unusually quiet. The housekeeper who was usually always at home was nowhere to be seen, and the kitchen was empty.
He leaned against the kitchen doorway, took out his phone, opened the call log, scrolled up and down a few times with his fingertip, and then stopped. His eyes lowered slightly, and in the end, he didn’t dial any number.
Chen Luobai carried his schoolbag into the study, turned on the desk lamp, and took out the test papers from his bag, spreading them on the desk.
After completing two sets of test papers, the sky outside had already darkened completely.
The lights that came on outside the floor-to-ceiling windows looked like stars in the night, and on the road surface below, the coming and going of cars presented a scene of unceasing prosperity.
Chen Luobai put down his pen, belatedly feeling hungry.
He picked up his phone, which had been silent all this time, and walked to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, he found it surprisingly empty as well.
Just then, his phone rang.
Glancing at the name on the screen, Chen Luobai’s motion to answer the phone paused for a beat.
After a few seconds, his finger finally slid to answer.
“You’re home, right?” A woman’s voice came through the phone. “Something came up at Auntie Liu’s house today, and she asked for leave at the last minute. She said she didn’t have time to restock the fridge either. Mom was so busy she forgot to tell you. Have you eaten yet?”
Chen Luobai leaned against the refrigerator. “Not yet.”
“Why haven’t you eaten yet?” Fang Jin asked over the phone. “Should I order a meal to be delivered to you? What do you want to eat? There’s a new place that just opened near the law firm—”
Chen Luobai, with his eyes slightly lowered, interrupted her. “Mom.”
“What is it?” Fang Jin asked.
Chen Luobai leaned against the refrigerator but didn’t speak again.
“Luobai?” Fang Jin called his name again. “Are you still there?”
After a few seconds, Chen Luobai finally spoke. “Are you planning to get a divorce?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. After a moment, Fang Jin asked, “You heard last night?”
Chen Luobai replied softly, “Mm.”
“I’m sorry, we disturbed your sleep. Next time, Mom will be more careful,” Fang Jin paused. “The divorce was mentioned in the heat of the moment yesterday, but there are indeed some issues between your father and me. Don’t worry, it’s not that either of us has committed any unforgivable mistake. It’s just some problems with personality compatibility. Give your dad and mom some time, let us both calm down. I promise you, if there’s a possibility of divorce, we will ask for your opinion first. We won’t make decisions without telling you. Is that okay?”
Chen Luobai’s hand holding the phone slowly relaxed. “Okay.”
“So, what do you want for dinner?” Fang Jin returned to the previous topic.
Chen Luobai heard what sounded like a knock on the door on the other end of the line. “You go ahead with your work. I’ll order something myself.”
After hanging up, Chen Luobai opened the food delivery app and looked at several frequently ordered restaurants, but the delivery times were all over half an hour.
He exited the app, and his left hand, now free, fell to his side, inadvertently touching his school uniform pocket, hearing a slight rustling sound from inside.
It was those two pieces of candy.
Chen Luobai reached in and took them out.
Two identical pieces of candy lay quietly in his palm.
The candy wrapper had a simple print of a few Japanese characters and a lemon.
Without even a package, just these two small candies, casually tucked into a corner of his desk.
It indeed didn’t look like a gift any girl would give him. It was probably as Zhu Ran had guessed – Tang Jianrui or someone else had put them on his desk while sharing snacks.
Chen Luobai was quite hungry and didn’t bother to think about it further. He casually unwrapped one, expecting an overly sweet taste as he put it in his mouth, but the flavor turned out to be much better than anticipated.
It tasted like lemon soda.
Whether it was because of Fang Jin’s promise or the unexpectedly refreshing taste in his mouth, the irritation that had been pressing on his heart all day seemed to dissipate in an instant.
Chen Luobai reopened his contacts and dialed Zhu Ran’s number. “Want to go out for food?”
“What kind of food?” Zhu Ran asked over the phone. “Are you treating?”
Chen Luobai pushed the hard candy to one side with his tongue and asked in return, “Or are you treating?”
On the other end of the phone, Zhu Ran hesitated for two seconds, calculated the remaining pocket money for this month, and as if making some great decision, said in a particularly mournful tone, “Fine, I’ll treat.”
Chen Luobai laughed. “I’ll treat. Take a taxi to the bottom of my building yourself.”
*
As soon as Zhou Anran got home, she regretted it.
Who gives someone just two pieces of candy as a gift?
It was too shabby.
She wondered what he would think when he saw them.
But now she didn’t dare to go back and retrieve them. If she accidentally ran into a classmate, there was a risk of exposure.
During dinner, He Jiayi noticed the bruise on her hand and her absent-minded demeanor, and asked with concern, “Anran, is someone bullying you at school?”
Zhou Anran snapped back to reality and quickly shook her head. “No, not at all.”
“Really?” He Jiayi confirmed with her. “Then what happened to your hand?”
Zhou Anran looked down at the blue mark on her hand, which she had accidentally bumped into his desk out of nervousness, feeling even more embarrassed. “I accidentally bumped it while cleaning. My classmates are all very nice, and Xianxian is always with me.”
He Jiayi finally relaxed. “Be more careful next time. Put some ice on it later.”
After dinner, Zhou Anran didn’t even stay to watch the CBA game with Zhou Xianrong as usual. She made an excuse about having a lot of homework this week, took the ice pack from He Jiayi, and retreated to her room.
But she couldn’t concentrate on her homework either. Her mind was on A, but she ended up marking B.
In the end, Zhou Anran gave up trying to force herself. She took an early shower and went to bed.
After turning off the lights, she pulled the blanket up bit by bit to cover her face, hiding underneath it, and let out a long sigh.
Zhou Anran spent the entire weekend worrying and regretting. On Monday morning, she even woke up late, which was rare for her.
Usually, it was Yan Xingqian who waited for her more often, but now that Yan Xingqian’s idol’s CD and merchandise were still in Song Qiu’s possession, she had become much more diligent than before. That day, she waited for Zhou Anran for about ten minutes at home.
After meeting up downstairs, Yan Xingqian found it strange: “Why did you wake up so late today?”
Zhou Anran linked arms with her as they walked out of the residential complex. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
It was true that she hadn’t slept well.
She had an absurd dream.
She dreamed that Chen Luobai had discovered the candy on his desk as soon as he returned to school, and he even took out those two pieces of candy and placed them directly on the desk. Zhu Ran stood beside him, cheering loudly.
“Oh, which girl gave our Brother Luo candy?”
Yan Xingqian, who was sitting next to her, suddenly stood up, climbed onto her chair, and pointed at her from above: “It was her!”
She shouted: “It was this stingy Zhou Anran who only gave him two pieces of candy!”
The entire class turned to look at her.
Recalling this, Zhou Anran unconsciously gave Yan Xingqian a resentful look.
Yan Xingqian noticed her gaze: “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
“It’s nothing,” Zhou Anran said. “I just dreamed that you scolded me last night.”
Yan Xingqian was curious: “You dreamed that I scolded you? What did I scold you for?”
“You called me stingy,” Zhou Anran also felt that her behavior on Friday was indeed quite stingy.
“Dreams are usually the opposite of reality. I definitely wouldn’t call you stingy,” Yan Xingqian removed her arm from Zhou Anran’s and instead put it around her shoulders, grinning at her. “So you’ll treat me to milk tea generously this afternoon, right?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Usually, on school days, Zhou Anran always hoped to get to school quickly so she could see him sooner. Today, before even entering the school gates, she inexplicably felt a sense of resistance. By the time they reached the bottom of the teaching building, this feeling of resistance became even more apparent.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him.
She was just a bit afraid of him discovering those two pieces of candy, and even more afraid to imagine what his attitude would be if he did discover them.
But she used to always pull Yan Xingqian to use the back door. When they got to the classroom, Yan Xingqian, almost without thinking, linked arms with her and entered through the back door.
And perhaps it’s true that what you fear most is what you’ll encounter.
As soon as Zhou Anran entered the classroom, she noticed that Chen Luobai had already arrived today.
The boy was sitting sideways on his chair, his hand resting on the backrest, stretching out his long legs to kick the desk leg of Tang Jianrui, who was sitting diagonally in front of him. “Ruirui, did you put candy on my desk last Friday?”
Zhou Anran felt her heart stop.