“I’ll walk you back.”
The group chat fell silent again for a moment.
Zhang Shuxian seemed to have processed things and tentatively asked a question: [How did you know we were looking for her? Are you two together right now?]
Even though Zhou Anran knew Zhang Shuxian was referring to being physically “together”, her breath still caught for a moment.
She didn’t dare steal a glance at his reaction like before.
A second later.
C: [Yes]
Zhou Anran’s fingertips tightened on her phone, then relaxed.
He probably didn’t think too much of it, right?
But the next second, Yan Xingqian’s message popped up.
Yan Xingqian: [You two are together right now????]
Zhou Anran had never known that reading group messages could feel like riding a roller coaster.
She knew Yan Xingqian was always blunt and worried she might carelessly say something even more chaotic, so she quickly replied: [We’re having a late night snack together in the cafeteria]
Chen Luobai’s fingertip paused on the phone screen.
He lifted his head slightly and saw the girl across from him looking down, her long curled eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings in the light. Her pink lips were pressed tightly together, as if she was a bit nervous.
Sheng Xiaowen’s message popped up in the group again.
Compared to the previous two, her question seemed relatively normal and safe: [How did you two suddenly get in touch?]
Zhou Anran pressed her lips together as she stared at the screen, thinking he would briefly explain about Yu Bingqin and the student organization.
C: [We’re at the same school now, so it’s normal that we got in touch]
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat again.
She had never imagined that one day she and he would become “we” in his words, even if there was no hint of intimacy in it.
Perhaps because they weren’t familiar with him, and didn’t want to be too presumptuous, the group fell silent again after that question.
C: [No more questions?]
C: [So you don’t mind if Zhu Ran and I join the class reunion next Saturday?]
Yan Xingqian: [Don’t mind]
Zhang Shuxian: [Welcome]
Sheng Xiaowen: [Very welcome [applause]]
C: [What about the others?]
Dong Chen: [Whatever the group owner says goes]
Yan Xingqian: [Ignore Dong Chen, his opinion doesn’t matter]
The two messages were sent almost simultaneously.
A second later.
Dong Chen recalled a message.
Dong Chen: [Although the group owner’s word isn’t final, I personally would like to see old classmates]
Zhou Anran smiled again seeing the interaction between those two.
Chen Luobai put down his phone, just in time to see the shallow dimples appear at the corners of her smile.
“Shall we go?” he asked softly.
Zhou Anran looked up and saw there was still a pile of food left on the table. “Didn’t you say you wanted to pack it up earlier?”
Chen Luobai made an affirmative sound and stood up. “I’ll go get some takeout containers.”
Knowing they would see each other again next Saturday, Zhou Anran wasn’t as reluctant to leave as before. She asked quietly, “Ready to head down now?”
“Wait a moment.” Chen Luobai glanced at his phone.
Zhou Anran blinked. “Is there something else?”
“Waiting for someone.” Chen Luobai said as he turned his head slightly.
Zhou Anran followed his gaze and saw a thin young man walking towards them. His jeans were faded from washing, but overall his clothes were clean and neat.
As he approached, Chen Luobai handed over the packed food. “We bought too much. Take this back to share with the others. It might be a bit cold though.”
The young man didn’t seem to talk much and didn’t look at Zhou Anran. He nodded and took the food. “Okay.”
After he left, Chen Luobai tilted his head slightly towards her, as if casually explaining, “My roommate.”
Zhou Anran had guessed he was probably his roommate.
A second later, she realized something. “Then aren’t you going to walk back with him?”
Chen Luobai lowered his eyes to look at her, suddenly smiling again. He nodded towards the exit. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you back.”
Zhou Anran’s heartbeat, which had just calmed down, instantly sped up again.
As she walked with him towards the stairs, she kept reminding herself:
Don’t overthink it.
Him walking you back is just good manners.
Though she managed not to overthink, as they left the cafeteria Zhou Anran couldn’t help asking the question she hadn’t dared to ask yesterday.
“Is your foot injury okay now?”
Chen Luobai paused and turned to look at her. “You knew about my foot injury?”
The young man’s pupils were also black, looking especially bright and deep in the night. Zhou Anran’s heart started racing again under his gaze. She looked away. “It’s all over campus.”
So it was normal for her to know.
It was normal to show some concern as an ordinary friend, or even just a classmate, right?
There was a moment of silence.
She saw the young man continue walking, his voice coming from beside her: “It’s fine now. I just can’t do any intense exercise for a while.”
Zhou Anran let out a small sigh of relief internally.
She actually wanted to ask how he got injured, but wasn’t sure if asking that question would be crossing a line given their current relationship, so she swallowed it back.
“That’s good then.”
*
When Zhou Anran returned to her dorm room, Bai Lingyun and Yu Xinyue had also come back.
As soon as she pushed open the door, Xie Jingyi stood up from her seat, put on a stern face with her arms crossed, and looked at her. “Explain yourself.”
Zhou Anran walked over to her and put the soda she had just bought from the vending machine downstairs on her desk.
“Bribing me with soda won’t work.” Xie Jingyi wasn’t buying it.
Bai Lingyun was holding her toothbrush about to go brush her teeth. Seeing this, she couldn’t help asking, “What’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?”
Yu Xinyue had been reading a book since she came back, but now turned to look over as well.
Zhou Anran hadn’t replied to the flood of messages Xie Jingyi had sent earlier, mainly because she didn’t know how to respond.
Hearing this, she quickly shook her head. “No, nothing like that.”
“Then why are you being fierce with Anran?” Bai Lingyun asked Xie Jingyi.
Xie Jingyi: “Was I being fierce?”
Zhou Anran continued shaking her head. “No.”
Bai Lingyun walked over with her toothbrush: “Then what’s really going on with you two?”
Even Yu Xinyue put down her book and came over.
Xie Jingyi: “Did you know Chen Luobai came to our dorm building tonight looking for someone?”
Yu Xinyue shook her head.
Bai Lingyun nodded: “I heard about it after the meeting from people in the study department. Apparently he came to our building looking for a girl, then took her to have a sweet late night snack together in the cafeteria. Everyone’s wondering if she’s his girlfriend. I was going to ask if you knew who the girl was when I got back, but then I forgot.”
Even though Zhou Anran knew it wasn’t true, her ears still inexplicably burned a little at the words “girlfriend”.
Xie Jingyi glanced at Zhou Anran: “That’s not all. He even walked that girl back to the dorm afterwards.”
“So who is this girl anyway?” Bai Lingyun’s interest was piqued. “Quick, tell us. Aren’t you usually the one with all the inside information?”
Xie Jingyi pointed at Zhou Anran: “Right here. Far and yet so near.”
Yu Xinyue looked surprised.
Bai Lingyun’s toothbrush fell.
A minute later.
Zhou Anran was surrounded by her three roommates. Bai Lingyun had also crossed her arms and put on a stern face like Xie Jingyi. Even Yu Xinyue, who was usually not very interested in gossip, had joined in the excitement. They looked ready to interrogate her.
“What’s really going on?” Xie Jingyi asked again.
Zhou Anran defended herself in a small voice: “I told you he was coming to find me before I went down. You just didn’t believe me.”
“You never told us you knew Chen Luobai. Suddenly you tell me he’s coming to find you – how was I supposed to believe that?” Xie Jingyi was still putting on an aloof act. “Come on, when did you meet him?”
Zhou Anran felt overwhelmed being stared at by her three roommates. She said weakly, “He was my classmate in 10th grade.”
“Weren’t you at Wucheng No. 1 High School?” Bai Lingyun asked, confused.
Yu Xinyue was even more confused: “Yeah, and Chen Luobai went to Nancheng No. 2 High School.”
“I’m from Nancheng. I went to Nancheng No. 2 for 10th grade, then transferred to Wucheng in 11th grade,” Zhou Anran turned to Yu Xinyue, “I thought you knew that.”
Yu Xinyue: “…”
“I only met you in 12th grade, so I just assumed you had always been at No. 1 High School.”
“You’re pretty impressive too.” Xie Jingyi’s aloof act almost broke from Yu Xinyue’s comment. She smiled a little, then put her stern face back on and looked at Zhou Anran. “So you were actually classmates with Chen Luobai, but you just listened to us gossiping about him without saying anything?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
Before yesterday, she really thought she and he would remain strangers for the rest of their lives, with no more interactions.
But hearing her roommates say that, she felt a bit guilty: “I barely knew him in high school. We hardly ever spoke.”
“Then how did you suddenly get close?” Bai Lingyun couldn’t keep up the act anymore and winked at her curiously.
Zhou Anran: “…We’re not close now either.”
Xie Jingyi: “Not close but he comes to find you at the dorm and treats you to a late night snack?”
“Really, Senior Yu’s other new club member happens to be him. I only added him on WeChat yesterday. Today I was just helping someone deliver something to him, so he treated me to a late night snack and walked me back—” Zhou Anran paused, as if explaining to them, but also continuing to convince herself not to overthink, “It’s just because he has good manners.”
“That’s it?” Xie Jingyi asked.
Zhou Anran nodded: “Like you said, I can’t hide anything from you guys, especially not about him.”
“That’s true.” Xie Jingyi couldn’t keep up the act anymore either. She grabbed Zhou Anran’s hand excitedly, “Oh right, Anran, tell us what Chen Luobai was like in high school!”
Countless images suddenly flashed through Zhou Anran’s mind.
He in high school…
She thought for a moment, carefully choosing two neutral comments: “Good grades, good manners.”
“Who wants to hear about that?” Xie Jingyi said exasperatedly. “Did he have a girlfriend in high school? Or was he particularly close with any girl?”
“No.” Zhou Anran shook her head. “In 10th grade he just studied and played basketball.”
Xie Jingyi looked disappointed: “And here I thought we’d get some exclusive gossip.”
Yu Xinyue turned back to continue reading her book.
Bai Lingyun: “Wait, where’s my toothbrush? I was holding it just now.”
*
After washing up and lying in bed, Zhou Anran took a deep breath before unlocking her phone, preparing to face another storm.
She opened the small group chat with Yan Xingqian and the others. The screen was full of question marks and exclamation points. The last message was from Sheng Xiaowen half an hour ago.
Sheng Xiaowen: [You better give us a proper explanation when you get back to your dorm]
Zhou Anran didn’t know how to explain.
She thought for a moment, then sent a sticker first: [Pitiful.jpg]
The others seemed to have been waiting for her.
As soon as she sent the sticker, several messages popped up in the group.
Yan Xingqian: [Acting pitiful won’t work]
Sheng Xiaowen: [Spill it]
Zhang Shuxian: [Confess and be lenient, resist and be strict]
Zhou Anran couldn’t help laughing.
After hesitating for a moment, she simply told them everything that had happened these two days without any speculation or bias.
Yan Xingqian also sounded disappointed: [That’s it?]
Yan Xingqian: [So you only got in touch yesterday, and tonight you were together just because you helped deliver something to him, so he treated you to a late night snack?]
Zhang Shuxian: [But still, when has Chen Luobai ever added a girl on WeChat on his own initiative, or treated a girl to a meal alone?]
Sheng Xiaowen: [What exactly does he mean by this?]
Zhou Anran still hadn’t figured out the answer to this question.
Zhou Anran pressed her lips together: [Maybe he really doesn’t mean anything by it]
Zhou Anran: [After all, it’s rare to run into high school classmates in college. There are only three people from our class at A University]
Yan Xingqian: [Adding on WeChat is understandable then, but he didn’t need to treat you to a meal alone. He could have just bought a bunch of snacks as a thank you gift, like that time after the basketball game]
Zhou Anran had thought about this on the way to the cafeteria with him earlier: [But it’s not like high school anymore where we’re all in the same classroom every day. If he wanted to buy snacks for me, it would mean he’d have to find me again, which seems more troublesome]
Sheng Xiaowen: [Well, he’s coming to our gathering on Saturday anyway]
Sheng Xiaowen: [We can see for ourselves then]
Yan Xingqian: [True]
Zhang Shuxian: [I! Want! To! See! Too!]
Zhang Shuxian: [No, I’m going to buy a plane ticket. I want to come to the gathering too]
Zhou Anran: [Didn’t you say you couldn’t finish your assignments?]
Zhang Shuxian: [Even if I have to stay up late these few days, I’ll finish the assignments early to free up time for the weekend]
Zhou Anran: [Maybe you should just come next time then]
Zhang Shuxian didn’t reply for a few minutes.
Then she posted a screenshot of a flight ticket purchase in the group.
Zhang Shuxian: [I arrive at 10:30 AM on Saturday!]
Seeing that she had already bought the ticket, Zhou Anran didn’t try to dissuade her anymore: [Then I’ll come pick you up]
Zhang Shuxian: [No need for you to pick me up]
Sheng Xiaowen: [That’s right, why do you need to pick her up? We can go pick her up]
Yan Xingqian: [We can go pick her up, but why not let Anran do it?]
Zhou Anran: [?]
Zhou Anran: [Yeah, why can’t I pick her up?]
Zhang Shuxian: [Qianqian, are you stupid? If she comes to pick me up, how can she go to the restaurant with Chen Luobai?]
Zhou Anran: “…”
Zhou Anran: [I’ve said he probably doesn’t have any other intentions]
Zhang Shuxian: [Yeah]
Zhang Shuxian: [I don’t have any other intentions either]
Zhang Shuxian: [It’s just that you’re all leaving from A University to go to the restaurant for the gathering, so isn’t it normal to go together?]
Zhou Anran was about to say that probably wouldn’t happen, when her phone vibrated again.
She exited the group chat and returned to the main screen, where she saw an avatar she had been staring at countless times these past two days jump to the top.
There was a red number 1 above it.
Chen Luobai had sent her a message. She could see the entire content without even opening the chat:
C: [Forgot to ask you earlier, want to go to the restaurant together on Saturday?]
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat.
Her fingertips suddenly tightened on the phone.
If he kept acting like this…
She really wouldn’t be able to stop herself from overthinking.
Zhou Anran stared at the topmost chat window, hesitating to open it. Suddenly her phone buzzed again, and the six-person gathering group chat jumped above Chen Luobai’s chat window.
Someone had mentioned her.
Zhou Anran opened the group chat and saw that He Mingyu, who hadn’t spoken all night, had tagged her.
He Mingyu: [Want to go to the restaurant together on Saturday? @Zhou Anran]