Chen Luobai’s Female Classmate
When Zhou Anran returned to the dorm from the balcony, Bai Lingyun had just come in from outside, with an obvious smile on her face. “Comrades, I have something to tell you.”
“You’re in such a good mood—” Xie Jingyi turned around, “Did something good happen? And Anran, why do you also look so happy?”
Zhou Anran clutched her phone. “…Maybe because I finished my homework?”
Xie Jingyi: “…”
“I shouldn’t have asked you.”
She turned back to Bai Lingyun: “What about you? Don’t tell me it’s because you finished your homework early too?”
Bai Lingyun shook her head, a slight blush appearing on her face. “No, it’s because Xie Zihan and I are together now.”
Zhou Anran blinked. “Congratulations.”
Xie Jingyi turned completely around, sitting backwards on her chair. “Wow, Xie senior has snagged one of our dorm’s great beauties. This calls for a treat, doesn’t it?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you about,” said Bai Lingyun. “He said he’d treat you all to dinner on Saturday night, but he wants to invite the guys from his dorm too. What do you think?”
Xie Jingyi: “That’s fine. Otherwise, it would be awkward for him to eat with just us four girls.”
Knowing Zhou Anran wasn’t too fond of socializing, Bai Lingyun specifically asked for her opinion: “What about you, Anran? If you don’t want to eat with too many strangers, we can ask him to just treat us separately.”
“It’s okay,” Zhou Anran shook her head. “Whatever you arrange is fine.”
“What about Xinyue?” Bai Lingyun asked. “Didn’t she come back with you?”
Zhou Anran: “She said she’d stay until closing time. She should be back soon.”
“Alright,” said Bai Lingyun. “I’ll wait to ask her opinion before deciding.”
Xie Jingyi’s gossip instincts kicked in, and she abandoned her homework, winking at Bai Lingyun: “Why don’t you tell us now, how did you and Xie senior suddenly get together? Who made the first move?”
Bai Lingyun’s face was still red, showing rare shyness: “He just suddenly confessed to me tonight, and then he kissed me.”
Xie Jingyi leaned on the back of her chair and let out another exaggerated “Wow!” “Was it a French kiss?”
Bai Lingyun: “…?”
She pounced over and pinched Xie Jingyi’s face: “What kind of nonsense is going through your mind?”
*
The next afternoon, after the last class ended, Zhou Anran went to the cafeteria with her roommates for dinner.
After dinner, Bai Lingyun was going on a date with Xie senior, Xie Jingyi had a meeting to attend, Yu Xinyue was heading to the library as usual, and Zhou Anran needed to return to the dorm. The four of them parted ways at the cafeteria entrance.
Yu Bingqin’s rehearsal location was off-campus.
Zhou Anran walked with her head down along the tree-lined path on campus, remembering that Chen Luobai had only told her “See you tomorrow night” last night, without mentioning whether they should go together today. At that time, she had been too flustered by his “See you tomorrow night” to remember to ask him.
Should she ask him now?
But if he hadn’t specifically mentioned it, maybe he didn’t plan to go with her?
Zhou Anran was caught in this dilemma when she noticed two guys in basketball uniforms approaching from the opposite direction. She didn’t pay much attention, just moved slightly to the left to make way for them.
But the person walking on the left, wearing a black jersey, also moved to the left at the same time, his tall figure once again blocking her path.
Zhou Anran assumed he was also trying to make way for her, so without looking up, she moved a bit more to the left.
The other person followed suit, moving left again, once more blocking her way.
It seemed intentional.
Zhou Anran snapped out of her dilemma and looked closely. She first saw a hand holding a basketball, with long, slender fingers, pale skin, and prominent veins on the back of the hand, exuding masculinity and strength. Beads of sweat were sliding down his arm, landing right on the small brown mole just above his wrist bone.
She suddenly looked up—
Chen Luobai was standing right in front of her, the corners of his lips slightly curved, his pitch-black eyes full of amusement. Seeing her look up, he raised an eyebrow slightly: “What are you thinking about so seriously?”
This seemed to be…
Their first chance encounter at school.
Whether it was because of the obvious teasing tone in his voice or because she had just been thinking about him, Zhou Anran’s ears immediately started to feel hot.
Fortunately, her hair was down today.
Zhou Anran quickly shook her head: “Nothing, just thinking about a problem.”
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, she quickly changed the subject: “You can play basketball now?”
Chen Luobai gave a low “Mm” in response.
The young man in front of her had wet black hair, with sweat on his forehead and neck. Even the white trim of his jersey collar had darkened significantly due to moisture. The unique contradictory charm of hormones and youthfulness was particularly alluring.
Zhou Anran felt her face might start heating up too.
The temperature wasn’t high today, and seeing him only wearing the short-sleeved, short-legged basketball uniform, she was also afraid that her blushing might reveal something. Zhou Anran said softly, “It’s quite cool, you should go back and change. I’m heading back to the dorm.”
After speaking, she tried to move to the left again, attempting to slip away.
But he blocked her again.
The distance seemed to have shortened even more because of this. Zhou Anran could almost feel the warm breath from his body.
“What’s the rush?” Chen Luobai’s lips were still curved, his gaze lingering on her reddening cheeks for a second, looking very pleased. “I was just looking for you.”
Zhou Anran was stunned and looked up again: “Looking for me?”
Chen Luobai casually spun the basketball in his hand: “A professor from our department wants to see me about something. I need to shower and then go meet him.”
Zhou Anran suddenly felt a small void in her heart. She let out a soft “Ah”: “So you won’t be going to watch the rehearsal tonight?”
Chen Luobai stared at her for two seconds, then said slowly: “I’ll go if I can make it. Are you going by yourself first, or do you want to wait for me?”
“Well—” Zhou Anran paused.
If she waited for him and he really got too busy to make it to the rehearsal, she would miss both Yu senior’s singing and seeing him tonight.
If she didn’t wait, both possibilities were still open.
She could also message him midway to check on his situation.
Besides, wouldn’t saying she’d wait for him reveal something?
Zhou Anran: “I’ll go by myself first?”
As soon as she said this, Zhou Anran felt the young man’s smile fade a bit, his narrow eyes seeming to squint slightly.
“You’re going by yourself?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Why did he seem unhappy again?
Before she could think further, the guy in the white jersey who had been standing silently beside them suddenly leaned in. He looked like the one who had come to their class on Monday. He put his hand on Chen Luobai’s shoulder and said with a grin: “Let’s go, I heard clearly. The girl said she’s not waiting for you.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
She had almost forgotten there was another person there.
But… that’s not exactly what she said, right?
Chen Luobai brushed his hand off: “Your hand is all dusty, stay away from me.”
The guy didn’t seem to mind and turned to chat with Zhou Anran with a smile: “Hello, Chen Luobai’s female classmate. I’m Yuan Song.”
This was the second time Zhou Anran had heard the term “female classmate” from him, but this time, with the added modifier, it somehow seemed more ambiguous than before.
Ignoring this small detail, she nodded somewhat stiffly at him: “Hello.”
Chen Luobai’s expression was indifferent: “Don’t mind him. So you’re going by yourself, right?”
Zhou Anran actually felt like he seemed a bit unhappy, but she was afraid she was overthinking it. Plus, it wouldn’t be good to change her mind now, so she just nodded again: “Mm.”
The atmosphere was quiet for a second.
“Alright,” Chen Luobai nodded too. “I’ll try to get there as soon as I can.”
So that meant she would probably see him again tonight?
Zhou Anran cheered up again. She pointed ahead: “Then I’ll head back to the dorm first.”
His dorm was a bit far from hers.
Zhou Anran continued forward, and he also continued in the opposite direction.
After they passed each other, Zhou Anran hadn’t walked far when she heard Yuan Song, the classmate from earlier, cry out in pain: “Ouch, Chen Luobai, you—”
It sounded like someone had suddenly covered his mouth, and his following words became muffled and unclear.
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but look back.
She saw that the young man seemed to have already let go of Yuan Song, one hand hanging by his black basketball shorts, the other still holding the orange basketball, the veins on his hand still prominent.
Zhou Anran didn’t dare to look for long and turned back around.
Yuan Song’s voice came from behind: “You just finished playing ball and your hands are all dusty, yet you cover my mouth.”
“Isn’t this what you asked for?” The lazy, amused tone suggested that after teasing someone, he was happy again.
Zhou Anran continued walking forward slowly, the distance between them growing larger, their voices gradually becoming unclear.
*
Yu Bingqin’s rehearsal location was at an empty Live House off-campus.
This Live House was originally opened by one of her rich second-generation friends. After running it for a few months, the friend found it boring and closed the shop. They hadn’t decided what to turn it into yet, so the venue was left vacant.
Yu Bingqin’s band played rock music, and rehearsing on campus would easily disturb other students’ studies. This place had all the necessary lighting and stage equipment, as well as good soundproofing, so it had become a sort of half-headquarters for their band.
The reason Zhou Anran knew all this information was that the senior who had given her the preserved plum at the KTV last time had also come to watch the rehearsal.
However, the other party didn’t stay long. After receiving a phone call from her boyfriend midway through, she returned to school.
Zhou Anran sat alone in the audience, watching Yu Bingqin’s band rehearse on stage.
Yu Bingqin was the lead singer and guitarist of their band, which had five members in total. The others were a drummer, a keyboardist, a bassist, and another guitarist.
The school had two major evening events coming up in the next two months, and they were rehearsing two songs for these occasions.
One was Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name.”
The other was John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Yu Bingqin wore a black leather jacket today. She didn’t smile once on stage, looking particularly cool and alluring. Her singing voice was even more magnetic than her speaking voice.
As the two songs were rehearsed repeatedly, Zhou Anran found herself not bored at all.
When Chen Luobai arrived, he saw the girl sitting alone in the booth in front of the stage. Her posture was always proper, with a straight back and no habit of crossing her legs. Her hands rested on her thighs, making her look particularly well-behaved.
The band was just rehearsing the slow song on stage. Although he made some noise coming in from outside, she didn’t seem to notice.
Chen Luobai walked forward a bit and leaned against the wall diagonally to her side.
The girl was still intently focused on the stage, without the slightest distraction.
One song passed.
Two songs passed.
Chen Luobai smiled and walked to the booth, pulling out the seat next to her.
Zhou Anran turned her head. The dim indoor lighting made her eyes seem to brighten for a moment. “You’re here,” she said.
Chen Luobai’s gaze lingered for a second on the faint dimple on her cheek. He made a sound of acknowledgment and sat down next to her.
Zhou Anran thought of their chance encounter in the afternoon, and her ears inexplicably heated up again. Not knowing what to say to him, she turned her head back to continue watching the rehearsal.
Chen Luobai didn’t speak either.
Zhou Anran listened to the singing on stage, and her heartbeat slowly calmed down a bit.
The band on stage rehearsed a few more times. Yu Bingqin had just sung the last two lines of “Imagine”: “You may say I’m a dreamer—”
Suddenly, someone’s phone ringtone went off, with a distinct rock flavor to its intro.
It was actually a bit abrupt and somewhat disruptive.
But the drummer, who wasn’t playing drums for this song and was only backing up Yu Bingqin’s vocals, suddenly smiled. His drumsticks cut in, matching the phone ringtone, and the other four people on stage also switched to playing this ringtone with great coordination.
Even Yu Bingqin, who had been cold-faced throughout, started smiling. Standing at the mic stand, she began singing along with the music: “This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted…”
Without her senior’s introduction, Zhou Anran didn’t know what song this was, but she somehow felt drawn into the mood.
She smiled slightly, looking at the people on stage with a bit of envy.
It must feel great to play music together with a group of friends.
After the song ended, the band’s other guitarist, who was also Cen Yu’s cousin Xu Hongliang, turned to get his phone from his bag. “Sorry, sorry, I forgot to put it on silent.”
“When did you change your ringtone back to this song?” the bassist asked.
Xu Hongliang replied, “Just changed it yesterday.”
As he spoke, he answered the phone. After hanging up, he said something in a low voice to the others, and everyone started putting down their guitars and drumsticks.
Soon, they all came down from the stage.
Zhou Anran watched as Yu Bingqin walked up to her.
She obediently called out, “Senior.”
Yu Bingqin reached out and pinched her cheek. “Not bored, are you?”
“Not at all,” Zhou Anran paused, feeling a bit embarrassed, but still couldn’t help expressing what was in her heart, “Senior, you sang really well.”
Yu Bingqin smiled again, which was rare. “We have to go back first, so I won’t have time to teach you this time.”
Zhou Anran said, “It’s okay, you go ahead with your business.”
Yu Bingqin added, “A package will be delivered here soon. Can you two stay and help us receive it?”
Zhou Anran wanted to agree, but Yu Bingqin had said “you two,” so she turned her head to look at the boy next to her who hadn’t spoken again.
Chen Luobai was also looking at her, his expression casual, as if leaving the decision to her.
Zhou Anran nodded, “Sure.”
Yu Bingqin took a key out of her pocket and tossed it into Chen Luobai’s lap, then nodded at Zhou Anran: “After you get the package, make sure to escort her safely back to the dormitory.”
Chen Luobai caught the key, his tone slightly raised at the end, with a hint of a smile: “Did you even need to say that?”
Zhou Anran felt as if something in her heart had been lightly tugged by his words.
Did he mean…
Even without Yu Bingqin’s instructions, he would have escorted her back to the dormitory?
After Yu Bingqin and the others left, the stage that had been lively just moments ago suddenly fell silent.
In the vast Live House, only she and the boy she liked remained.
Zhou Anran still felt a bit uncomfortable being alone with him and still didn’t know what to talk about. She lowered her head to look at her toes.
One second.
Two seconds.
Zhou Anran heard him speak.
“Why were you looking at my sister like that earlier?”
“Like what?” Zhou Anran didn’t understand and raised her head to look at him.
Chen Luobai tilted his chin slightly upward. “I stood there for ten minutes before I sat down next to you.”
“You stood there for ten minutes?” Zhou Anran’s eyes widened slightly. “I didn’t know.”
She wanted to ask him why he didn’t call out to her.
But if he came just to watch the rehearsal, there seemed to be no need to call her.
“You were staring at my sister the whole time, of course you didn’t know.” The boy paused slightly, his narrow eyes seeming to squint a bit. “Is she that good-looking?”
Zhou Anran felt his tone was a bit strange. She blinked, “Senior is quite pretty, and she sings well, and has a good personality too.”
Chen Luobai smiled again. “This is the first time I’ve heard someone praise her personality.”
“How can that be?” Zhou Anran was a bit surprised. “Senior is really nice. On the day I reported to school, she was helping me the whole time.”
“That’s because—” Chen Luobai suddenly stopped.
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but ask, “Because of what?”
Chen Luobai stared at her for two seconds. “Nothing. It’s just that she does like you quite a bit. You’ll understand when you interact with her more in the future. She has a bit of a cold personality and doesn’t really like to socialize much.”
Although he was talking about Yu Bingqin, hearing the words “like you” from his mouth still made Zhou Anran’s heart skip a small beat.
Hearing his last sentence, she, for the first time ever, felt a bit like contradicting him: “We’ve already interacted quite a bit. I really think Senior is great. She’s cool and generous, the kind of personality I really admire.”
Chen Luobai: “Admire?”
Zhou Anran nodded slowly.
The small incident from Monday was still stuck in her heart like a tiny fishbone.
She knew she was probably overthinking it then, and he had likely forgotten about it already, but she still wanted to explain it to him.
“Because I’m a bit introverted and timid myself, and I’m not very good at interacting with people—” She stopped, lowered her head, and her voice unconsciously softened, “That’s what I didn’t finish saying to He Mingyu that day.”
The Live House fell silent for another second.
Then Zhou Anran heard his voice.
“Zhou Anran.”
Chen Luobai called her name but didn’t continue.
Zhou Anran waited for a moment, still not hearing him speak. She couldn’t help but raise her head again, her gaze instantly meeting the boy’s smiling eyes.
“Are you explaining yourself to me?”