He held her hand.
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat.
It seemed that liking someone truly couldn’t be hidden.
Like a game of whack-a-mole, those little thoughts would pop up here after being pressed down there. Now, one had popped up, and she hesitated to press it down, as if he was about to see it.
But she didn’t know if he discovered it, would he distance himself from her like he did with other girls who liked him.
The air in the Live House seemed to slow down.
Zhou Anran trembled inside as he looked at her, but she didn’t dare to avoid his gaze. Avoiding it would make her seem more guilty. She forced herself to retort weakly, “What’s there to explain? Weren’t we just chatting?”
Chen Luobai raised an eyebrow slightly, as if not quite believing her: “Really?”
Zhou Anran’s heart was pounding, and her palm resting on the chair started to sweat a little.
Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang, like some kind of savior.
Zhou Anran felt relieved and took the opportunity to look away: “It’s probably the delivery person. I’ll go get it.”
But as soon as she stood up, her wrist was suddenly grasped.
Zhou Anran was pulled back to her seat by the force on her wrist.
He was actually still very measured, not touching her at all, just loosely holding her through two layers of autumn clothing.
But it still felt so hot.
The wrist he held was burning.
Her face also started to burn.
Zhou Anran stared at him blankly.
Chen Luobai was also looking at her.
The girl’s skin was fair, and even in such dim light, her blushing face was particularly obvious. Yet her eyes held confusion and panic.
He moved his fingers slightly and let go: “Sit tight, I’ll go get it.”
Zhou Anran let out a soft “Oh” and lowered her head again.
The gaze that had been on her left along with his footsteps.
Zhou Anran kept her head down, lightly touching the spot he had just held with the fingertips of her other hand, but quickly withdrew as if burned.
Her heartbeat refused to calm down.
Soon after, Chen Luobai returned with a large box.
Seeing that he was carrying it effortlessly, Zhou Anran didn’t get up to help.
They had stayed behind to help Yu Bingqin receive the delivery. After Chen Luobai put the package away and returned from washing his hands in the bathroom, he and Zhou Anran left the Live House together.
On the way back, Zhou Anran was afraid he would continue to ask about her earlier question.
But the young man hardly spoke the whole way.
She wasn’t sure if she felt a bit disappointed or relieved.
Halfway through, the cold wind blowing on her face suddenly carried a few chilly raindrops.
Zhou Anran stopped walking.
Chen Luobai stopped with her: “What’s wrong?”
Zhou Anran reached out to catch some drops: “I think it’s starting to rain.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the rain suddenly grew heavier.
Zhou Anran withdrew her hand and looked around. Seeing a convenience store about 40-50 meters ahead, she was about to ask if he wanted to go there to take shelter when she saw the young man in front of her suddenly start to…
Take off his clothes?
He was wearing almost all black tonight – black trousers, a black jacket, with only a white T-shirt underneath.
Now he was taking off that outer jacket.
Zhou Anran looked at him, a bit dazed.
The next second, that jacket, carrying the warmth and scent of the young man, was draped over her head.
Zhou Anran was still processing what was happening when her wrist was grabbed again.
In the night rain, the young man’s low voice sounded by her ear.
“What are you spacing out for? Run!”
Zhou Anran was pulled forward as he suddenly started running. She hurriedly held onto the jacket covering her head while she couldn’t help but look over at him.
The hem of the tall youth’s white T-shirt billowed in the wind as he ran ahead.
For a moment, Zhou Anran felt like she was back on that rainy day when she first reported to high school.
She had stood still, watching him run up the stairs, the hem of his white T-shirt fluttering.
Back then, he hadn’t even glanced at her.
But this time.
He was holding her hand.
Maybe it was her rapid heartbeat, or maybe his large strides as she ran to keep up, but by the time they stopped under the awning of the convenience store, Zhou Anran was already breathing heavily.
Chen Luobai had just turned to look at her when he heard her rapid breaths, which traveled from his ears all the way to the bottom of his heart, as if lightly scratching it.
“How can your stamina be so poor?”
It was a tone similar to that afternoon, familiar and slightly teasing.
Zhou Anran suddenly looked up at him.
The girl’s long black eyelashes fluttered like little brushes. His jacket that had been covering her head had fallen to her shoulders, hanging loosely from her shoulders all the way down to her thighs. Underneath his jacket was the sweater she was wearing today, also a loose style, but it couldn’t hide the curves of the young girl’s chest, which were clearly rising and falling with her rapid breathing.
Chen Luobai averted his gaze and changed the subject: “Let’s go in.”
Zhou Anran’s face was still a bit hot from his teasing earlier, and she softly replied, “Okay.”
Chen Luobai took a step forward, then stopped, belatedly realizing he was still holding her wrist. He turned his head back.
The girl seemed to have just noticed too, looking down at the wrist he was holding, her face clearly reddening again.
Chen Luobai let go: “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Zhou Anran replied quietly.
They both fell silent.
A second later, they spoke simultaneously.
“Let’s go in—”
“Let’s go in—”
They both stopped again.
Zhou Anran’s ears heated up: “You go first.”
“The rain’s too heavy,” Chen Luobai asked her in a low voice. “Shall we go in for a bite and wait until the rain lets up?”
Zhou Anran nodded, her gaze fixed on the water droplets on his arm, her voice very soft: “Let’s buy a towel first.”
Chen Luobai really didn’t hear clearly this time: “Hm? What did you say?”
Zhou Anran looked up again, seeing that his hair was also a bit wet, with strands sticking to his forehead: “I said let’s buy a towel first. Your arms and hair are wet.”
Chen Luobai looked at her for two seconds, then smiled: “Alright.”
This convenience store was not small, with a long table set up by the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Chen Luobai placed a bottle of cola and a bottle of hot milk on the table. Zhou Anran, holding his jacket with one hand, put down the small bowl of oden she was holding in the other hand, and sat down next to him.
Seeing that the water droplets on his hands had already been wiped dry, with the black towel casually draped around his neck, his black hair slightly messy but not at all diminishing his handsome looks, Zhou Anran handed the jacket back to him: “Put your jacket on first, don’t catch a cold.”
Chen Luobai reached out to take it.
Just as he was about to put it on, he caught a whiff of a faint fragrance. He couldn’t tell if it was the scent of her shampoo or her own scent. He paused for a moment, then quickly put on the jacket.
Chen Luobai sat down, unwrapped the straw for the hot milk and inserted it before passing it to her.
Zhou Anran took it, biting on the straw as she took a sip of milk. She saw him move the cola in front of himself, habitually using just one hand to open the tab. As his fingertip exerted force for an instant, the veins on the back of his hand stood out slightly.
Thinking about how this hand had just been holding her wrist, the tips of her ears grew hot again.
It was at this moment that Chen Luobai suddenly turned his head.
Zhou Anran’s gaze was caught by him.
The young man’s eyebrow seemed to raise slightly again: “What are you looking at?”
Zhou Anran hurriedly shook her head in denial: “Nothing.”
They were the only two customers in the convenience store.
Outside, the rain was pouring heavily with no pedestrians in sight. The store clerk contentedly watched TV on their phone, the dialogue drifting over, sounding like some TVB legal drama.
Whether out of guilt and wanting to change the subject, or because some of his actions tonight had given her a courage she didn’t have before, Zhou Anran listened to the Cantonese in her ears and took the initiative to ask him a question she had always wanted to ask: “Are you studying law because you want to be a lawyer?”
Chen Luobai: “It’s possible, I haven’t completely decided yet.”
Zhou Anran was stunned and blurted out: “You actually have uncertainties too?”
After saying it, she realized this sentence seemed to subtly reveal a bit of her inner thoughts again, but it was too late to take it back.
Zhou Anran thought he would follow up on this sentence like he did in the Live House, or tease her like he had this afternoon and just now at the door.
But the young man took a swig of his cola, then answered her question very seriously.
“I’m not completely certain yet, I might also consider the two academies,” Chen Luobai lowered his head slightly, his tone much more serious than usual. “My mom and others always say that our country’s current laws still have many shortcomings. No matter what I do in the future, I hope I can contribute to improving these deficiencies.”
Zhou Anran thought of watching him play that basketball game against Class 10 in their first year of high school. At that time, she felt the youth on the court seemed to be glowing.
But it seemed not as radiant as he was at this moment.
The rain blurred the city, turning the neon lights outside into flickering points of light.
She was trapped in a convenience store with the boy she liked, listening to him tell her about his shining dreams.
Chen Luobai finished speaking and looked down at her again.
The girl was obediently resting her chin on her arm, also looking at him. When their eyes met, she didn’t shy away and avoid his gaze like before.
“Is it too idealistic? When I told Zhu Ran before, he laughed at me for a long time.”
Zhou Anran hurriedly denied it: “How could it be?”
The convenience store was quiet for a second, with only the dialogue from the phone remaining.
Chen Luobai looked at her silently, not immediately responding.
Zhou Anran felt that just saying those three words seemed dry and unconvincing.
She pursed her lips and added softly: “If that’s idealistic, then let me tell you, I chose life sciences because I want to do research. Wouldn’t that be overreaching? My mom actually didn’t agree at first. She thought girls should choose majors like business management, so it would be easier to get a stable job or take the civil service exam in the future. It was my dad who said they wouldn’t need me to support them in their old age anyway, so I should just choose my major according to my own wishes.”
After finishing, Zhou Anran felt a bit anxious again. Apart from a few of her closest friends, she had never told anyone else these things.
Would he really think she was overreaching, and that she talked too much?
The young man’s voice fell softly in her ear, saying something she hadn’t expected at all.
“You won’t be.” He looked at her quietly, “I believe you can do it.”
Zhou Anran was stunned, somewhat incredulous, and it felt like something in her heart had been gently pinched: “You believe in me?”
“Zhou Anran.” Chen Luobai called her name softly.
Zhou Anran blinked.
“You got into one of the top universities. Even ‘one in ten thousand’ is not enough to describe how outstanding you are. You don’t need to belittle yourself, nor do you need to put too much pressure on yourself—”
Zhou Anran stared blankly, resting her chin on her arm.
The sound of rain on the window was deafening, making the young man’s voice seem especially gentle.
“We shine as brightly as the passion we have.”
*
That night’s rain finally stopped after about half an hour.
The wind after the sudden downpour was a bit cooler than before, but whether it was because of eating a bowl of oden and drinking a cup of hot milk, or because of his words, Zhou Anran didn’t feel cold at all.
They walked back to school.
Passing by the sports field, Chen Luobai turned his head to look, as if suddenly remembering something. He casually asked her, his tone sounding somewhat nonchalant.
“Can you pass the physical fitness test?”
Zhou Anran remembered his teasing at the convenience store door, and her ears secretly grew hot again.
“I can pass,” she answered him softly. “My stamina isn’t that bad.”
It might be a little bit of a struggle, but passing shouldn’t be a problem.
“Is that so—” the young man slightly elongated the last syllable.
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but turn her head to look at him.
Chen Luobai also looked over at her, his tone still carrying a hint of amusement, but also seeming a bit regretful: “Then it looks like you won’t need my help.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Was it too late for her to regret now?
Even by the time he had walked her to the dormitory building, she didn’t dare to actually regret it.
As soon as they reached the dormitory building, the gazes falling on him increased again.
Zhou Anran was a bit reluctant to part, but she also didn’t want to cause him any trouble. She pointed at the dormitory entrance: “Then I’ll go in first.”
“Zhou Anran.” Chen Luobai called her name again.
Zhou Anran blinked.
Chen Luobai had one hand in his pocket, and could still faintly smell her scent lingering on his jacket collar. He stared at her for two seconds: “Are you free tomorrow night? Zhu Ran wants to treat you to dinner.”
Zhou Anran let out a soft “Ah” and looked at him a bit dazedly: “Why would Zhu Ran want to treat me to dinner?”
Chen Luobai continued to look at her.
After a few more seconds, Zhou Anran finally heard him speak.
“In the second semester of our first year, during that basketball game, Yan Xingxi accidentally let slip that you had helped us—” Chen Luobai paused.
Zhou Anran’s heart instantly skipped a huge beat.
This was the first time he had ever mentioned high school events in front of her.
Or rather, mentioned those things that could easily expose her feelings for him.
He clearly remembered.
He remembered, yet he still added her on WeChat, invited her to dinner, held her hand.
Was it that he hadn’t guessed her feelings, or—
In the night, Zhou Anran saw his jawline tighten for an instant before his voice slowly sounded again.
“So actually, I’m the one who wants to treat you.”
Chen Luobai paused briefly again.
“It’s two years late. Will you still give me this chance?”
Author’s Note:
I’ve been going back and forth all day, but tomorrow I’ll still try to squeeze in an extra update.
It’ll still be one update at 6 AM and another at 6 PM.
Last chapter’s mention of ending was just a joke, but it really won’t be long. The main story will be about 300,000 words, so I don’t dare to add updates recklessly QAQ
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