Chen Luobai Didn’t Notice Her at All
The weather was too hot. Zhang Shuxian capped her soda bottle and pressed the bottle, beaded with cold condensation, against her face to relieve the heat.
After cooling off, she ducked under Zhou Anran’s umbrella and clung to her arm affectionately: “I’m happy about the holiday, but thinking about not seeing you all for two months makes me less happy. I’ll walk with you to the east gate today.”
Zhou Anran’s mood also cooled slightly.
That’s right.
She wouldn’t see her friends for these two months.
And she wouldn’t see him either.
Sheng Xiaowen held a parasol in one hand and used her other hand as a fan to cool herself: “Our homes are all not far from the Provincial Library, right? Why don’t we go to the library together to study during the summer break? If we leave early in the morning, it won’t be too hot.”
Yan Xingxi wailed: “Do you have to be so hardworking? I wanted to invite you all to go out and play during the summer break, but you only think about studying.”
Zhou Anran reminded her: “Your idol’s CD and merchandise are still with Aunt Song.”
Yan Xingxi immediately made a fist-pumping gesture: “It’s just going to study, right? I’ll go.”
Sheng Xiaowen added: “We don’t have to study every day. We can also make plans to go out and have fun. In a few days, it’s my birthday. I’ll invite you all to go sing karaoke then.”
“Alright,” Zhang Shuxian said, “Then it’s settled.”
After leaving the school gate, Zhou Anran and Yan Xingxi took a different bus from Sheng Xiaowen and Zhang Shuxian at the bus stop.
When they entered the residential area, Zhou Anran and Yan Xingxi parted ways downstairs, each entering their building.
During dinner that evening, He Jiayi couldn’t help but ask: “Anran, what’s up with you today?”
Zhou Anran blinked: “What do you mean?”
He Jiayi pointed at the small dimple by her lips: “You’ve been smiling since you got home. Did something happy happen today?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
With Yan Xingxi and the others, it wasn’t that she didn’t know how to bring it up, she just felt too embarrassed to do so.
Facing her parents, she didn’t dare let them know even a hint of her thoughts.
Zhou Anran randomly picked up some food with her chopsticks, using the opportunity to hastily think of an excuse: “I just feel like the exams went well today, and then Xingxi told me a joke on the way home.”
“What joke?” Zhou Xianrong asked curiously, “Tell Dad too.”
Zhou Anran recalled a joke Yan Xingxi had told her a few days ago: “Why is Doraemon’s world pitch black?”
Zhou Xianrong: “Why?”
Zhou Anran’s lips curved up again, the small dimple on her cheek faintly visible: “Because Doraemon can’t see his five fingers in front of him.”
He Jiayi: “…”
Zhou Xianrong: “…”
*
For the first month of the summer holiday, Zhou Anran spent most of her time studying at the Provincial Library with her friends. Occasionally, when Sheng Xiaowen and Zhang Shuxian were both busy, she and Yan Xingxi would stay at home to do homework together.
Zhou Anran even bought a calendar online and placed it on her desk, right next to the jar of candy wrapper flowers.
Each day she turned over a page, it was one day closer to school starting, and one day closer to seeing him again.
Zhou Anran thought the entire summer vacation would continue this smoothly.
But she forgot that life isn’t always constant, and sometimes unexpected ripples occur.
That day, with less than a month left before school started, she had planned as usual to go to the Provincial Library with her friends to study. However, at two in the afternoon, that area suddenly lost power due to a malfunction.
The study room in the Provincial Library had good natural lighting, so the lack of electric lights didn’t affect visibility.
But on a summer afternoon, an indoor space without air conditioning or fans was no different from a steamer.
The four of them didn’t even need to discuss it before unanimously deciding to head home early.
It happened to be a weekend that day.
When Zhou Anran got home, it wasn’t even 2:30 PM yet.
Usually, at this time, Zhou Xianrong would often be watching TV at home and end up falling asleep on the living room sofa. Afraid of disturbing his sleep, Zhou Anran deliberately softened her movements when opening the door.
As the door opened, explosion sounds came from inside, sounding like her parents were watching some historical war drama.
The entryway didn’t have a view of the living room, so Zhou Anran wasn’t sure if Zhou Xianrong was sleeping. She entered quietly.
Just as she was about to close the door, she heard Zhou Xianrong’s voice.
“I ran into Director Jiang from Mingsheng this morning. He said their company is planning to set up a branch in Wucheng and wants me to go there as the general manager.”
Zhou Anran’s hand paused on the doorknob.
Perhaps the explosion sounds from the TV had covered the slight noise of the door opening, and her parents in the living room hadn’t noticed she was home.
Zhou Anran heard He Jiayi’s voice: “Did you agree? If you do, it probably won’t be just for six months or a year. What about Anran and me?”
“I haven’t agreed yet,” Zhou Xianrong said. “Director Jiang said if I go, they can arrange for you to transfer your work there too, and he can also help transfer Anran to Wucheng No. 1 High School.”
“How is their No. 1 High School?” He Jiayi asked.
Zhou Xianrong said: “It’s not much worse than Fuzhong. Last year’s provincial science top scorer was from their school.”
“That school sounds pretty good then,” He Jiayi asked again, “What about the salary?”
Zhou Xianrong mentioned a figure.
“That’s quite a bit higher than your current salary, and Mingsheng is a well-known national company. What are you still hesitating about?” He Jiayi said, “I’ve put up with your sister-in-law for years now. She’s always going on about how you’re just helping your brother with his work as if you haven’t contributed at all to the company’s growth these years. It’s like we’re begging for food from their family. If it weren’t for your brother being a decent person, even if you’d earn less elsewhere, I would have urged you to quit long ago.”
Zhou Xianrong sighed softly: “But Anran is about to start her second year of high school. Suddenly changing to a different city and school, I’m worried she won’t adapt well. She’s passive by nature, so it definitely won’t be easy for her to fit into a new environment. What if it affects her studies? There will be plenty of job opportunities in the future.”
“That’s true,” He Jiayi also sighed. “Let’s think about it some more then.”
They started talking about other things.
Zhou Anran took advantage of another explosion sound from the TV to quietly leave the house, then deliberately made her movements heavier when pretending to unlock the door again, acting as if she had just returned home.
When Zhou Anran stepped into the house again, she could no longer hear her parents’ conversation in the living room.
She changed her shoes and walked around the entryway to see He Jiayi and Zhou Xianrong sitting side by side on the living room sofa.
“Why are you back so early today?” He Jiayi asked with concern.
Zhou Anran lowered her head: “The Provincial Library suddenly lost power, so we came back early.”
“There’s watermelon in the fridge,” He Jiayi pointed to the refrigerator, then seemed to remember something and stood up. “I haven’t cut it yet. Go put your things down and wash your hands. I’ll go cut the watermelon.”
Zhou Anran shook her head and quickly said: “If you want to eat now, cut it now. If not, just cut it later, Mom. I want to go back to my room and finish the test papers I didn’t complete today.”
He Jiayi sat back down: “Then we’ll cut it later.”
Zhou Xianrong watched her hurriedly walk toward her room and couldn’t help but add: “You’re on vacation now, don’t work too hard. It’s not too late to do it after taking a nap.”
Zhou Anran felt a lump in her throat but didn’t turn back as she responded: “Okay, Dad.”
Entering her room, Zhou Anran turned on the air conditioning and took out her test papers from her schoolbag, spreading them out. But she couldn’t focus on a single question.
She lowered her head and lay on her desk.
Zhou Xianrong and He Jiayi never actively told her about the frustrating things in their work or life.
But when she was younger, they didn’t avoid talking about such things in front of her, and during family gatherings, relatives would often bring up these topics.
Zhou Anran knew some of it.
When her uncle Zhou Xianji made his first bucket of gold, it was indeed due to his vision, courage, and luck. However her uncle didn’t have a high level of education, and her father had played an indispensable role in growing the business to its current scale.
Her father initially didn’t want to get involved in her uncle’s business.
It was only because they wanted to buy a house in a good school district for her future education, but were short on money, that her uncle lent them a sum without hesitation.
Because of this, even after her father helped grow the business, he never asked for a share of the company’s profits, only taking the salary he was entitled to based on his position.
Even so, her aunt seemed to think their family had taken an enormous advantage of hers.
After the company got on track, her father had tried to resign, but it seemed her uncle had always persuaded him to stay.
However, in recent years, her aunt had become increasingly overbearing, always making pointed remarks when they met to show off her sense of superiority.
So Zhou Anran just now pretended she hadn’t heard anything.
Although she was reluctant to leave the city she had lived in for over a decade, reluctant to part with her friends, and even more unwilling to lose the chance of seeing him again, she couldn’t bring herself to selfishly ask her parents to compromise themselves for her sake again.
But she had finally managed to have a bit of interaction with him, and going to another place would indeed make it harder for her to adapt. She equally couldn’t bring herself to generously give up everything and tell her parents they didn’t need to consider her at all in making their decision.
So she could only pretend she hadn’t heard anything and leave the decision-making power to her parents.
Whether to go or stay, it was entirely up to them to decide.
Throughout August, Zhou Anran lived with a sense of unease.
Every day she worried that her parents would suddenly tell her they were changing jobs, that they would be moving to Wucheng, and that she would have to transfer to a new school.
But right up until near the start of school, what she feared didn’t happen.
Zhou Anran vaguely guessed something but didn’t dare to believe it.
Keeping her heart in suspense was always uncomfortable. Two days before school started, Zhou Anran couldn’t help but test her parents’ attitude.
It was a weekend.
Zhou Xianrong had been called back to the company for overtime work, so only He Jiayi was at home.
In the afternoon, Zhou Anran absent-mindedly read for a while, but her mind was constantly preoccupied with the possibility of transferring schools. She pretended to go out to eat some fruit and walked to the living room, sitting down next to He Jiayi.
Zhou Anran took a bite of watermelon, trying to sound casual as she said, “Mom, school’s starting soon.”
“I know that,” He Jiayi glanced at her. “What, feeling tired from studying and want a few more days off?”
“No,” Anran paused, turning to look at her mother. “Am I still going to school with Xianxian this time?”
He Jiayi looked at her, amused. “When have you not gone with Xianxian?”
“The start date for No. 2 High School is so strange this year,” Anran said softly. “We’ll have classes for two days, and then it’s the weekend again.”
He Jiayi laughed. “Aren’t you happy about having a weekend off? It’s perfect timing for us to visit your cousin and see Tuantuan.”
Anran couldn’t bring herself to smile.
After this probing, she was certain about her parents’ decision.
Of course, she had hoped they would ultimately decide to stay, but knowing that her father was giving up a great opportunity because of her made her heart ache.
“Mom,” she said.
“Why are you suddenly calling me?” He Jiayi asked.
Anran buried her face in her mother’s shoulder, nuzzling against her.
She hadn’t told them that she had accidentally overheard their conversation, so now she didn’t know how to express her gratitude.
Moreover, the closer she was to someone and the more significant the matter, the more awkward she felt about expressing her emotions.
A simple “thank you” seemed insufficient to convey her current feelings.
I’ll be so good to you both in the future, Anran silently promised her mother.
He Jiayi stroked her hair, her voice amused. “What’s going on today? Why are you suddenly being so affectionate with Mom?”
*
Whether it was because the tension she’d felt for nearly a month had suddenly eased, or because she had accidentally kicked off her blanket while sleeping, Zhou Anran caught a cold the next day. Her throat was also slightly inflamed, and she hadn’t fully recovered by the time school started.
On the first day of school, Zhou Anran and Yan Xingqian walked arm in arm into the school, chatting as usual. They walked to the entrance of Teaching Building 1 before realizing they had moved to a new building.
The Teaching Building 1 in front of them was now the domain of the first-year students.
Laughing at their mistake, they turned back and headed to Teaching Building 2, where the second-year students were located.
Upon reaching the building, Anran had to part ways with Xingqian.
Anran’s new classroom was on the first floor, while Xingqian, who had switched to the liberal arts track, had her classroom on the sixth floor.
Xingqian clung to Anran’s arm, reluctant to let go. “I don’t want to be separated from you guys,” she whined. “I should have gritted my teeth and stuck with science.”
If Anran hadn’t overheard her parents’ conversation a month ago, she probably would have felt the same reluctance. But after being tormented for nearly a month by the possibility of transferring schools, she now felt blessed and lucky to still be in the same school as Xingqian.
“But you’re good at liberal arts,” Anran consoled her. “And Xiaowen is in the same class as you. I’ll wait for you to come get me for lunch after class. We’re only apart during lessons.”
“Promise?” Xingqian hugged Anran’s arm and chatted with her for a few more moments before reluctantly climbing the stairs.
When they parted, Anran felt quite disoriented as she entered the classroom alone.
Fortunately, except for a few students who had transferred to the liberal arts classes, all the faces in Class 2 were familiar. As Anran entered, she instinctively looked towards the sixth row of the second column, before suddenly remembering that they would be assigned new seats for the new semester.
Anran walked to the podium with her backpack.
She had just lowered her head to look at the seating chart posted there when she heard someone calling her from below.
“Anran.” Zhang Shuxian, sitting in the fourth row of the first column, waved at her. “Don’t bother looking, you’re sitting here, next to me.”
Anran felt it would be impolite to continue studying the chart.
She quickly glanced at it, her eyes immediately finding the name she was looking for.
Still in the sixth row of the second column.
Once or twice might be a coincidence.
But three times in the same position couldn’t be a coincidence anymore.
Had he requested it from the teacher himself?
Well, given his height and long legs, sitting in the last row where he wouldn’t be crowded by someone behind him would be more comfortable.
As Anran stepped down from the podium and walked towards the back, she glanced again at the seat in the sixth row of the second column.
Empty.
Hadn’t he arrived yet?
During the holiday, she had been looking forward to school every day.
But now that school had started, she felt a kind of emotion similar to homesickness.
His last words that day were probably just said casually, not meaning he was looking forward to seeing her again this semester.
Perhaps after two months, he might have completely forgotten about their brief interaction that day, and they would revert to being ordinary classmates, no different from strangers.
Influenced by these uneasy emotions, Anran almost walked past her seat.
It was Zhang Shuxian’s timely call that made her stop.
“I’ve wiped the seat for you, you can sit down directly,” Zhang Shuxian said with a smile.
Anran put down her backpack and sat down. “Thank you.”
“No need for thanks,” Zhang Shuxian linked arms with her. “We’re both lucky this semester. I got to be your deskmate, and Xiaowen and Xianxian are in the same class.”
Anran lowered her head and smiled. “Yeah.”
Being deskmates with a good friend seemed to ease much of her anxiety.
And besides.
This time, her seat wasn’t too far from his.
Zhang Shuxian leaned in closer, nodding towards the second column and lowering her voice to a whisper. “And I finally don’t have to be deskmates with you-know-who. It’s not that I have anything against her, but I could feel she had something against me.”
Anran glanced in that direction.
Lou Yiqi’s seat was still quite close to them.
She was in the third row of the second column, just diagonally across the aisle from Anran.
“I feel like she wants to make up with you,” Anran said softly.
Zhang Shuxian didn’t believe it. “No way. Last semester, she always looked at me like I owed her a fortune. Anyway, forget about her. Let me tell you, I found out some gossip about our school heartthrob Chen.”
Anran’s heart skipped a beat. “What gossip?”
Zhang Shuxian lowered her voice. “He probably turned down Yin Yizhen.”
Anran’s suspended heart settled a bit. “Anything else?”
“You mean about Chen Luobai?” Zhang Shuxian asked casually.
Anran nodded, then worried that Zhang Shuxian might see through her thoughts. She still hadn’t decided how to tell her friends about it.
But Zhang Shuxian seemed to think it was perfectly natural for everyone to be curious about Chen Luobai’s gossip. She continued, “Nothing else. The type of girl Chen likes is still a mystery. But I do have gossip about other people. Want to hear?”
Anran wasn’t particularly interested in gossiping about others, but seeing Zhang Shuxian’s excited expression, she didn’t refuse. “Go ahead.”
Zhang Shuxian then started chatting about other gossip.
Zhang Shuxian liked to gesture while talking. When she sat in the row diagonally in front, Anran hadn’t noticed it much. But now as deskmates, as they were chatting, Anran felt Zhang Shuxian’s hand accidentally brush against her chest.
Anran: “…”
“Wow—” Zhang Shuxian stopped mid-gesture, not embarrassed at all. Instead, she leaned in close to Anran’s ear and said, “Anran, what size are you?”
Anran was stunned for a moment before she realized what Zhang Shuxian meant. Her face turned bright red. “I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to get some water.”
She happened to not have brought soy milk today.
“Want me to go with you?” Zhang Shuxian teased, looking at her.
Anran hurriedly shook her head.
Zhang Shuxian lay on the desk, laughing loudly.
Anran took an empty bottle from her bag. As she walked towards the back door, she couldn’t help but glance again at the empty seat in the sixth row.
Why hasn’t he arrived yet?
Lost in thought, Anran almost bumped into someone at the back door.
The fresh scent of laundry detergent wafted into her nose. Anran suddenly looked up and saw the face she had been thinking about day and night.
But as they brushed past each other, Chen Luobai seemed completely unaware of her presence.
Anran didn’t feel the disappointment she had anticipated.
Because the expression on the young man’s face at that moment was almost identical to the day she had secretly slipped him candy. She could even sense that his mood was even worse than it had been then.