“I can’t let you wait for me”
Zhou Anran looked at He Mingyu’s message, and her accelerated heartbeat calmed down again.
Even He Mingyu, whom she didn’t usually keep in touch with, had invited her to depart together that day. It seemed this should be a very normal thing.
In the small group chat, Dong Chen’s message popped up after He Mingyu’s.
Dong Chen: [Did you not see the previous messages? Have you noticed we have an extra person in our group? Chen Luobai is also coming to the gathering with us next Saturday]
He Mingyu: [Is that so]
Zhou Anran pursed her lips.
She exited the group chat and reopened his private conversation.
Selfishly speaking, she definitely hoped to have another chance to be alone with him.
But He Mingyu had asked her in the group chat. If she refused He Mingyu in the group and then agreed to Chen Luobai’s request, her little thoughts would likely become as obvious as they had been that day in the director of studies’ office.
Zhou Anran didn’t know if he had put aside that high school incident and was now willing to be friends with her.
But given the rare opportunity to be friends with him, she was reluctant to retreat back to being strangers.
Zhou Anran opened the virtual keyboard, hesitated for a moment, then finally typed: [Did you see the group message?]
Send.
A few seconds later.
C: [Mm]
Zhou Anran pursed her lips: [Then shall the three of us go together?]
This time it took almost half a minute before Chen Luobai replied to her.
C: [Okay]
Zhou Anran let out a soft sigh.
She couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or not.
Zhou Anran stared at the extremely simple conversation in the chat box for a moment, not trying to find another topic to bother him.
She exited and reopened the group chat, just thinking about how to tell He Mingyu, when she saw Dong Chen had just @-ed Chen Luobai in the group.
Dong Chen: [Are you also departing from A University on Saturday? @C]
C: [Yes]
Dong Chen: [Then the three of you can go together]
Zhang Shuxian: [Yeah, sharing a taxi among three people can save some money too]
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but smile, but at the same time felt touched.
How could he possibly need to save that bit of taxi fare?
But Zhang Shuxian couldn’t possibly not know this fact. She said this simply because she didn’t know Chen Luobai had just privately asked her if she wanted to go together, and wanted to take the opportunity to help her get more chances to spend time with him.
Although it was probably unnecessary, right now her own mind was a tangled mess she couldn’t sort out. It would be better to wait until the weekend to meet and explain everything clearly to them.
Lost in thought, Chen Luobai had already replied to Dong Chen.
It was as concise as when he replied to her earlier.
C: [Okay]
Dong Chen: [By the way]
Dong Chen: [Didn’t you say Zhu Ran was coming too? Why haven’t you added him to the group?]
C: [He’s too noisy]
C: [Wanted to let you guys have some peace and quiet for a while longer]
C: [Adding him now]
Seeing him tease Zhu Ran with these few sentences in the group, Zhou Anran vaguely felt that his personality seemed to have become a bit more mature than in high school, but then again, it seemed like he hadn’t changed at all.
It was probably because she wasn’t familiar with him.
The system quickly notified that Zhu Ran had also joined the group chat.
Zhu Ran didn’t seem to have changed either.
Zhu Ran: [Hello everybody!]
Zhu Ran: [Long time no see!!]
Zhu Ran: [What are we doing for the weekend gathering? We’re not just having a meal together, are we?]
Dong Chen: [You reminded me, I almost forgot to ask you guys]
Dong Chen: [There are two options for after lunch: KTV or escape room, which one do you want to choose?]
Zhu Ran: [Let’s do the escape room]
Zhu Ran: [Going to KTV is no fun when someone won’t sing, acting like we’d cost him millions if we heard him sing once]
Dong Chen: [What about you @C]
C: [Whatever the others choose]
Dong Chen: [He Mingyu said he’s fine with anything, the girls want to go to KTV]
Zhang Shuxian: [Actually, the escape room would be nice too]
Sheng Xiaowen: [+1 for escape room]
Yan Xingqian: [Escape room is fine I guess]
Dong Chen: [Who was it that said escape rooms were boring @Yan Xingqian]
Yan Xingqian: [I thought it was boring earlier, now I think it’s interesting, is that not allowed? What’s it to you?]
Zhou Anran could roughly guess why they changed their minds, and couldn’t help but smile again.
The next second, her phone vibrated gently.
C: [What about you @Zhou Anran]
Even though she knew everyone else had already chosen and she was the only one left who hadn’t responded, seeing him actively @-ing her still made a few little bubbles rise and gently burst in her heart.
Zhu Ran wasn’t familiar with them either.
That “someone won’t sing” he mentioned earlier was probably referring to Chen Luobai.
Zhou Anran: [Let’s do the escape room then]
C: [Alright, escape room it is]
*
Zhou Anran knew that Chen Luobai coming to her dormitory to find her would definitely attract attention, but she didn’t expect that the very next morning when she went to class, someone would ask her about it.
Although their department was a science department, the ratio of males to females was not very different, almost reaching 1:1 for this year’s intake.
The one asking her was a girl named Nie Zizhen from the neighboring class. She had long curly hair and good looks, wearing exquisite and beautiful makeup even for an 8 am class. At the moment, she was sitting in front of Zhou Anran.
Nie Zizhen turned back to look at her: “Zhou Anran, I heard Chen Luobai went to your dormitory building to find you last night, and even went to the cafeteria with you for a late-night snack. What’s your relationship?”
As soon as she asked this, several people around turned to look over, both boys and girls, seeming curious.
Zhou Anran knew he had always disliked being involved in these messy rumors, and she didn’t want to cause him any trouble because of this. After thinking for a moment, she took the opportunity to explain briefly: “There’s no special relationship. He’s my high school classmate. Yesterday I helped someone deliver something to him, so he treated me to a late-night snack.”
“You’re actually his high school classmate?” Nie Zizhen’s eyes brightened slightly. “Then you must have his WeChat, right? If you really don’t have any special relationship, could you pass his WeChat to me?”
Zhou Anran was stunned for a moment.
She didn’t understand how Nie Zizhen had jumped from her previous statement to directly asking for his WeChat.
She and Nie Zizhen had never even added each other on WeChat.
But whether out of respect for him or her own private thoughts, she didn’t want to agree to this request.
Even though she knew it was impossible between her and him, she didn’t want to hand over the opportunity to pursue him to someone else.
Xie Jingyi was in the same department of the student union as Nie Zizhen and had interacted with her a few times. She knew that Nie Zizhen spoke directly and would try to seize every opportunity, sometimes appearing quite utilitarian, but she wasn’t really a bad person.
This time was no exception. She probably thought Zhou Anran was shy and easy to talk to, so she took the opportunity to make such a request.
Xie Jingyi was about to remind Zhou Anran when she saw her shake her head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t pass his WeChat to you without his permission.”
Nie Zizhen seemed unwilling to give up: “You can secretly pass it to me, he won’t know. Or you could help me ask him, just say your friend wants to add him. He’ll definitely agree for your sake.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
When did she become friends with Nie Zizhen?
And what kind of influence did she have with Chen Luobai?
She shook her head again and continued to refuse: “I’m not that close to him. I don’t have any influence with him.”
Nie Zizhen stared at her for a few seconds, as if trying to determine if she was lying: “If you don’t want to help, just say so directly.”
Xie Jingyi chimed in: “But Chen Luobai really doesn’t like people passing his WeChat to others without his permission. I heard that a few days ago, a guy in his class gave his WeChat to a girl without asking him first. He deleted that guy’s WeChat right in front of him, without any consideration.”
Nie Zizhen was stunned for a moment, but didn’t persist: “Is that so? Then forget it.”
She turned back around after speaking.
Zhou Anran was surprised by Xie Jingyi’s words and leaned over to ask her quietly: “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Xie Jingyi nodded. “You didn’t know?”
Zhou Anran pursed her lips and said softly: “I only got in touch with him the day before yesterday. If you don’t tell me these things, I wouldn’t know anything.”
“Then maybe I forgot to gossip with you guys,” Xie Jingyi said.
It was almost time for class to start, so Zhou Anran didn’t bother her further.
She stared at the textbook on her desk, slightly lost in thought.
In her impression, he had always been quite easy to get along with, having a large group of friends, seeming able to joke around casually with any guy.
But he wasn’t completely without temper either.
That time at the basketball game, he didn’t give any face to that specially recruited student from Class 10.
The boys in the class also didn’t seem to dare disturb his sleep.
The class bell rang, and Zhou Anran gathered her thoughts.
After a week of classes, on Friday evening, Zhou Anran didn’t stay too long at the library and returned to her dormitory at nine.
After washing up and lying in bed, Zhou Anran opened the gathering group chat and saw that the conversation was lively.
Zhu Ran: [Is this your first gathering since graduation? Or have you met up before?]
Dong Chen: [We had one gathering during the summer break]
Zhu Ran: [Did all of you come?]
Zhu Ran: [Didn’t Zhou Anran move to Wuchen?]
Dong Chen: [It was because she happened to be back in Nancheng at that time, staying at Yan Xingqian’s place, so we got together]
Zhu Ran: [If I had known, I would have told you to invite us too]
Zhu Ran: [I was bored to death at home during the summer break]
Dong Chen: [I thought you guys would go traveling]
Zhu Ran: [Nope, the guy surnamed Chen didn’t want to go anywhere this year]
Zhu Ran: [By the way, what time are you leaving tomorrow?]
Dong Chen: [Around 11 am, the restaurant we booked is a bit far, we’re afraid going too late might affect the escape room in the afternoon]
Yan Xingqian: [You have the nerve to say that, who told you to pick a restaurant so far away]
Dong Chen: [Weren’t you the one who said this restaurant was good?]
Yan Xingqian: [When did I say this restaurant was good?]
Dong Chen: [Sorry, I missed a word]
Dong Chen: [Weren’t you the one who said this restaurant wasn’t good? That’s why I specifically booked this one]
Yan Xingqian: [Get lost]
Yan Xingqian: [I’m not bothering with you]
Yan Xingqian: [Xiaowen and I will pick up Shuxian at the airport and won’t go back to school, we’ll go straight to the hotel to drop off our things and then to the restaurant, we should arrive quite early]
Dong Chen: [What about you @He Mingyu]
Yan Xingqian: [What about you, Anran @Zhou Anran]
Zhu Ran: [You two are quite in sync]
Yan Xingqian: [Who’s in sync with him, he’s copying me]
Dong Chen: [Look carefully, my message was before yours]
Yan Xingqian: [Who knows if it’s just network delay]
Zhou Anran finished reading this small series of messages, and He Mingyu’s message popped up right after.
He Mingyu: [Is it okay if we meet at the north gate of the school at eleven tomorrow? @Zhou Anran]
Zhou Anran: [That’s fine]
Zhou Anran hadn’t seen Chen Luobai join the chat, and after replying to this message, she was hesitating whether to take the opportunity to actively @him, when she saw Zhu Ran @him first.
Zhu Ran: [Where are you, where did you die off to @C]
C: [Meeting at eleven, right?]
C: [Okay]
*
Zhou Anran didn’t like to keep others waiting, so she set out a bit earlier the next day. When she went out of the north gate, she found that someone was even earlier than her.
The young man was wearing a green and white baseball jacket over a simple white T-shirt, paired with gray sweatpants, looking particularly fresh.
He was standing by a tree, head lowered, holding his phone with one hand. He was clearly waiting for someone, but perhaps due to his indifferent expression, although several girls kept looking back at him, no one dared to approach.
Zhou Anran walked slowly towards him.
As she got close, Chen Luobai seemed to notice her. He raised his head, put his phone back in his pocket, and left his hand there. The corner of his mouth curved slightly, and that cold aura disappeared instantly.
“Why are you here so early?”
Zhou Anran stopped two steps away from him, suppressing the nervousness in her heart and trying to make her tone as natural as possible: “You came even earlier than me.”
Chen Luobai lowered his gaze to look at her, his voice slightly low: “I couldn’t let you wait for me.”
He had fan-shaped double eyelids, with slightly narrow eyes. When he looked down at people like this, it inexplicably seemed somewhat focused. Zhou Anran knew it was just his upbringing that made him not want to keep a girl waiting, but her heartbeat still accelerated uncontrollably.
However, he probably didn’t need to say or do anything; just standing in front of her seemed to always make her heart unable to stay steady.
Zhou Anran lowered her head slightly, not knowing what to say to him.
It seemed like she wanted to talk to him about everything, yet was afraid that anything she said might be inappropriate.
Chen Luobai stood with one hand in his pocket, looking at her.
It was an overcast day, neither cold nor hot. The girl was wearing a light green knit cardigan with a long dress underneath. Her hair was braided, exposing one fair ear. Her face looked even smaller, her skin almost transparently white. The daylight was better than the previous two times they met at night, and he could almost see the fine hair on her face.
“Zhou Anran.”
Zhou Anran looked up.
Chen Luobai met her slightly round, beautiful, and harmless almond eyes.
“Zhou Anran.” Another voice came from not far away.
Zhou Anran turned her head and saw He Mingyu walking towards them.
She hadn’t seen He Mingyu since the start of the semester and almost didn’t recognize him at first glance. He had changed his glasses from the black frames of high school to gold-rimmed ones, wearing a gray sweater, tall and thin, looking very refined.
He Mingyu walked over and nodded slightly to Chen Luobai.
Chen Luobai also nodded faintly to him.
He Mingyu stopped next to Zhou Anran: “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to come out so early. You didn’t wait too long, did you?”
Zhou Anran shook her head: “No, I didn’t.”
“There’s a car,” Chen Luobai suddenly interjected.
Zhou Anran turned her head and saw that indeed, a taxi had stopped not far away and was dropping off passengers.
Chen Luobai raised his hand to hail it, and the driver drove towards them.
Zhou Anran turned her head slightly to look at the young man beside her and asked softly, “What were you going to say to me just now?”
“Nothing.” The taxi stopped in front of them, and Chen Luobai casually opened the back door, turned his head towards her, and jerked his chin towards the inside of the car. “Get in.”
Zhou Anran hadn’t expected him to be opening the door for her. The corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve upwards: “Thank you.”
Chen Luobai’s gaze lingered on the small dimple on her cheek: “No need.”
Zhou Anran bent down and got into the car.
Chen Luobai then looked calmly at He Mingyu, who was standing on the other side, his hand resting on the half-closed back door: “You don’t need me to open the front passenger door for you, right?”
He Mingyu: “…”
“No need.”
He Mingyu opened the front passenger door.
Zhou Anran had already heard this brief exchange inside the car, but when the young man sat down beside her and that faint, fresh scent, which might have been laundry detergent, lingered in her nose, her spine still stiffened slightly.
It seemed she had never sat this close to him before.
He Mingyu, sitting in the front passenger seat, gave the driver the address.
Perhaps because they weren’t all that familiar with each other, as soon as the car started, the narrow cabin fell into a subtle silence.
The driver, perhaps sensing this, didn’t try to make conversation either.
After driving for a while, He Mingyu broke the silence: “Zhou Anran, could you send me a copy of your class schedule? There are two classes I’d like to sit in on in your department.”
Zhou Anran: “Sure.”
She unlocked her phone, intending to look for her class schedule.
Chen Luobai’s familiar voice then sounded very close to her ear: “Send me another copy too.”
Zhou Anran was startled and turned to look at him.
“I accidentally deleted the one you sent me last time,” Chen Luobai said.
Zhou Anran was about to nod.
“It should still be in the chat history, right?” He Mingyu suddenly interjected. “Unless you deleted the chat history too.”
“That’s true,” Chen Luobai turned his gaze to the front passenger seat, his eyebrow slightly raised. “I almost forgot, let me check.”
Zhou Anran didn’t rush to look through her album.
The young man next to her took his phone out of his sweatpants pocket. Perhaps he had grabbed it the wrong way, as the black phone made a turn in his good-looking hand.
Zhou Anran really liked these little actions of his. It was clear that he wasn’t trying to look cool on purpose; the more unintentional it was, the more youthful it seemed.
For a moment, she forgot to look away, and he didn’t seem to be trying to hide it from her either. The phone screen even tilted slightly towards her side unintentionally.
Zhou Anran then clearly saw how he had saved her contact.
It was just her name.
She pursed her lips.
But she wasn’t surprised either.
They didn’t have many chat records. Zhou Anran saw that he seemed to just casually scroll up a bit before finding the class schedule she had sent him.
“It really wasn’t deleted,” the young man’s voice sounded lazy. “That’s good then, she doesn’t need to send it to you again. I’ll send it to the group chat for you.”
He Mingyu: “…”
A second later.
Zhou Anran saw him forward her class schedule to the group chat, his voice still lazy.
“No need to thank me.”