A Chance Encounter
As soon as Zhou Anran returned to the private room and sat in her seat, Xie Jingyi leaned over.
She pointed to the small bowl before her seat: “They just served some ribs. I put a few pieces on your plate.”
Zhou Anran: “Thank you.”
Xie Jingyi moved closer and whispered: “Lingyun asked me to tell you, that if Gong Yongliang asks you again, you can refuse directly if you want to. Don’t overthink it.”
Zhou Anran let out a small sigh of relief and quietly replied: “Okay.”
The topic in the private room had long since changed, and Zhou Anran picked up a piece of rib and slowly nibbled on it, silently hoping that Senior Gong wouldn’t ask a second time.
She still didn’t like having to refuse people face-to-face.
But her inner thoughts went unheard.
Just as she finished eating a piece of rib, Gong Yongliang’s voice sounded again.
“Junior Zhou.”
Zhou Anran looked up.
Gong Yongliang waved his phone: “Shall we add each other on WeChat?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
She sighed inwardly.
“I’m sorry.” Zhou Anran paused. Although someone’s suggestion didn’t seem very reliable, she decided to trust him this once. “Someone doesn’t allow me to add WeChat contacts of the opposite sex.”
Gong Yongliang’s expression seemed to suddenly turn unpleasant, but it quickly returned to normal.
Zhou Anran wasn’t sure if she had seen it wrong.
She had a very obedient-looking appearance.
No one in the private room seemed to doubt her words, at least the unfamiliar male students didn’t seem to suspect anything.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then Xie Zihan laughed first: “So our junior already has a boyfriend.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
…It wasn’t reliable after all.
She hurriedly shook her head, her face feeling a bit hot: “No, that’s not it.”
The guy sitting next to Xie Zihan was from their dorm and was close to him. He also laughed: “Then it’s like Xie and Bai Junior before, still in the ambiguous stage, right? I was just saying, if Zhou Junior had a boyfriend, how come there wasn’t even a whisper about it?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
“…That’s not it either.”
Xie Zihan nodded: “Let’s stop teasing Zhou Junior, her face is almost completely red. If it’s not, then it’s not. Let’s eat.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
This meant they didn’t believe her words.
Even Gong Yongliang laughed and added: “Looks like I’ll have to be quicker next time.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
Forget it.
At least she had denied it.
Zhou Anran lowered her head and slowly ate another piece of rib.
At this moment, there was suddenly a knock on the door of the private room.
Xie Zihan was startled: “Is it the waiter? Haven’t all our dishes been served?”
As he spoke, he turned his head towards the door and said, “Please come in.”
Zhou Anran remembered the phone call from earlier and quickly put down her chopsticks, grabbing a napkin to quickly wipe her mouth.
The next second, the door was pushed open from the outside.
A tall young man stood in the doorway. He was dressed all in black again today, a black hooded sweatshirt paired with sweatpants of the same color. His face was expressionless, looking cold yet handsome.
The girls’ seats were directly facing the door.
Xie Jingyi and Bai Lingyun both recognized him, and even Yu Xinyue had seen many of his photos from Xie Jingyi. Seeing him appear at the door of the private room, all three were somewhat stunned.
The boys had their backs to the door, and upon seeing this, they all turned around in unison.
With so many gazes falling on him, the person at the door didn’t seem uncomfortable at all. He didn’t even look at the others, simply releasing his hand and striding to Zhou Anran’s side. He placed the milk tea he was holding on her table, and his other hand, as if very casually, or perhaps out of habit, directly rested on the back of Zhou Anran’s chair.
His tone was also familiar.
“It’s hot, might be a bit scalding.”
Zhou Anran was truly surprised to see him come to deliver milk tea to her. She was also a bit dazed and nodded, not knowing what to say to him, so she just said dryly: “Thank you.”
Chen Luobai’s hand was still resting on her chair: “When are you going back to school?”
Zhou Anran glanced at the table where at least half the dishes remained: “Probably in a while.”
“I see.” Chen Luobai’s lips curved very slightly as he removed his hand, “Then I won’t wait for you.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
The door to the private room closed again.
The room briefly fell into silence once more.
Xie Zihan was the first to react.
“That was the famous campus heartthrob from the Law School, right?” He paused, then looked at Zhou Anran, “Zhou junior, is he the ‘someone’ who doesn’t allow you to add WeChat contacts of the opposite sex?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
This was getting more and more confusing.
The “someone” wasn’t him, though it was indeed a fiction he had created.
She hurriedly shook her head again: “No, he’s my high school classmate.”
Xie Zihan looked at her teasingly, and it wasn’t clear if he believed her or not.
However, the guy sitting next to Gong Yongliang, the other one who had come to freeload, seemed to be called Fu Xiaofeng, suddenly sneered: “What campus heartthrob? I think he looks quite ordinary.”
Xie Jingyi had been holding back from gossiping with Zhou Anran, but upon hearing this, she finally couldn’t resist: “Chen Luobai, ordinary-looking?”
Fu Xiaofeng: “He does look quite ordinary. I don’t know what he’s so arrogant about.”
Gong Yongliang chimed in with a smile: “He’s this year’s top scorer in the science stream for our province. It’s normal to be a bit arrogant.”
“This is A University. Top scorers in science are everywhere,” Fu Xiaofeng sneered again.
Xie Jingyi almost wanted to roll her eyes. Just as she was about to retort, a soft and gentle voice suddenly spoke up.
“They’re not everywhere.” Zhou Anran put down the chopsticks she had just picked up. “There are a total of 34 provincial-level administrative regions in the country. Even by this standard, there are at most 34 provincial top scorers in science each year nationwide. Our province is known for its competitive college entrance exams, everyone knows how difficult it is. This year, his raw score was more than ten points higher than the second-highest in our province. It’s certainly beyond my reach.”
Zhou Anran slowly raised her head: “But since Senior Fu says this, may I ask which province’s top scorer in science you are? What was your college entrance exam score?”
*
After the gathering ended, Xie Jingyi used buying stationery as an excuse to drag the other girls in the opposite direction of the school. As soon as they were far enough from the group of boys, she burst into laughter: “Hahahahaha, Fu Xiaofeng’s expression just now, I could laugh for a lifetime.”
“It was quite funny,” said Bai Lingyun, who hadn’t left with her boyfriend but was walking with them. “But Anran, how were you sure he wasn’t last year’s top scorer from some province? Did you follow the situations in all provinces last year?”
Zhou Anran was slowly sipping the milk tea someone had brought her, the sweet taste filling her mouth.
It was quite a coincidence.
The extra cup he bought happened to be less sweet.
If it had been full of sugar, she wouldn’t have wanted to waste it and would have forced herself to drink it all.
“I didn’t follow it. I just felt that if he were also a provincial top scorer, he would have said something like ‘This is A University, top scorers in science are everywhere, I was one last year too.'”
“Hahahahaha.” Xie Jingyi was still laughing. “That’s true. He dared to say Chen Luobai looks ordinary, his confidence is not ordinary either. I wanted to continue retorting, but I didn’t expect Anran to speak up first.”
Zhou Anran, now calm, felt a bit embarrassed. She looked at Bai Lingyun: “I couldn’t hold back at that moment. I hope it won’t affect you and Senior Xie.”
“Of course not. Xie Zihan isn’t close to him, and even if he were, if he gets angry with me over something his friend was clearly in the wrong about, then I don’t need such a boyfriend.” Bai Lingyun paused, then smiled. “Besides, being able to see your retort was worth it, even if Xie Zihan got angry.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
She hadn’t expected herself to speak up.
It seemed like… she just couldn’t bear to hear others speak about him in such a disparaging tone.
Xie Jingyi leaned over, nudging her arm with her elbow: “I’ve been holding back all evening. I couldn’t ask in front of those boys, but now can you honestly tell us who that ‘someone’ is who doesn’t let you add WeChat contacts of the opposite sex? What’s the situation between you and Chen Luobai now? It’s not him, is it?”
Zhou Anran: “…”
If only she hadn’t used the excuse he taught her.
“It’s not him. There’s no such person, I just made it up earlier. He’s just my high school classmate, as I’ve told you before.”
Xie Jingyi glanced at the item in her hand, half gossipy, half disbelieving: “A high school classmate who specially delivers milk tea?”
Zhou Anran’s ears felt slightly hot, but fortunately, her hair was down and it was dark, so it probably wouldn’t be noticed: “He was nearby with a friend, bought an extra cup, and said it would be a waste to throw it away, so he just brought it over to me.”
“Even if it would be a waste to throw away, why deliver it to you and not someone else?” Bai Lingyun didn’t quite believe it either.
Zhou Anran was silent for a moment.
She didn’t know why either.
She wanted to know why too.
“Maybe it’s—” She paused, “because I’m his only female high school classmate at A University.”
“That makes sense.” Xie Jingyi found it quite reasonable. “I wasn’t close at all with that girl from the Chinese department in high school, but in the first few days of university, when I wasn’t close with you guys yet, I felt especially close to her whenever I saw her. We quickly became good friends.”
“That’s true,” Bai Lingyun agreed. “A couple of days ago, a not-so-familiar high school classmate said they were coming to North City this weekend with another classmate and wanted to visit our school. They asked if I wanted to have a meal together. I was quite happy. We spent every day in the same classroom in high school without thinking much of it, but after graduation, I miss my former classmates.”
Even Yu Xinyue chimed in: “Meeting an old friend in a foreign land is one of life’s four great joys. Aren’t Anran and I also close friends who only became familiar in university?”
Zhou Anran slowly took another sip of milk tea.
Is that so?
Is he being nice to her now just because she’s his only female high school classmate at A University?
*
As midterms approached, the next day Zhou Anran and her roommates collectively went to the study room early. The four of them sat at a six-person table.
Zhou Anran sat at the edge, and after spreading out her books, she noticed in her peripheral vision someone sitting down in the empty seat across from her. It seemed to be a male student, but she didn’t pay much attention.
It was Xie Jingyi who nudged her: “Your classmate.”
Zhou Anran looked up to see He Mingyu standing across from her.
When their eyes met, He Mingyu smiled and said very softly, afraid of disturbing others: “What a coincidence.”
Zhou Anran also smiled and said quietly: “Yes, quite a coincidence.”
He Mingyu was never one for many words. After the greeting, he sat down across from her and began studying seriously.
Zhou Anran wasn’t a very talkative person either, so throughout the day at the same table, they didn’t exchange more than a few words.
It wasn’t until nearly nine in the evening that He Mingyu said he had a few questions he wanted to ask her.
Zhou Anran nodded in agreement.
To avoid disturbing others, Zhou Anran went out to the corridor with him. After answering the few questions he asked, she was about to go back to study when He Mingyu suddenly called out to her again.
“Zhou Anran.”
Zhou Anran blinked: “Do you have any other questions?”
“No.” He Mingyu gripped the pen in his hand tightly. “Are you free for lunch tomorrow? I’d like to treat you to a meal.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
Why is everyone suddenly wanting to treat her to meals?
“I have a full day of classes tomorrow, so I probably won’t have much time at lunch.” Zhou Anran asked him curiously, “But why do you suddenly want to treat me to a meal?”
He Mingyu pointed at the book in his hand: “From high school until now, I’ve asked you so many questions. I thought I should treat you to a meal.”
Zhou Anran felt inexplicably relieved.
So it was because of this.
“It’s fine, I’m learning while helping you with questions. You don’t need to treat me to a meal.”
“But I might need to trouble you again in the future. English questions are okay, I can ask others, but for that specialized course of yours, I can’t find anyone else to ask for now. If you don’t let me treat you, I’ll feel too embarrassed to ask for your help again.” He Mingyu pressed his lips together. “Just let me treat you to a meal in the school cafeteria. It won’t cost much and won’t take up too much of your time. Just consider it as old classmates getting together for a chat. We haven’t talked much since entering university.”
When he put it that way, Zhou Anran found it hard to refuse again.
“That’s fine then, but I don’t have time tomorrow.”
“How about Tuesday lunch?” He Mingyu asked her.
Zhou Anran nodded: “Okay.”
After returning to the study room, Zhou Anran stayed with her roommates until closing time before leaving.
The next day was full of classes, and after returning to the dormitory, they didn’t do much else.
After washing up, Zhou Anran climbed into bed and casually unlocked her phone screen, which she had tossed aside as soon as she got back. She suddenly noticed a new message inside.
I sent it twenty minutes ago.
C: [Did you and He Mingyu go to the library together today?]
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat.
Somehow, she felt inexplicably guilty.
Even though she and he didn’t have any relationship now.
He might just be casually curious, and wouldn’t care if she went to the library with another guy or not.
But she still felt guilty.
Perhaps this is what it’s like to like someone.
Even if you don’t know their thoughts, you still don’t want to give them even the slightest possibility of misunderstanding you.
Zhou Anran quickly sent back an explanation: [No, we just happened to meet]
Her fingertip hovered over the screen for a moment, and she sent another message: [How did you know?]
He had even taken the initiative to bring her milk tea.
Asking him one more question shouldn’t be too bothersome, right?
Two seconds later.
Her phone buzzed.
C: [Yuan Song saw you]
Yuan Song?
Zhou Anran thought for a moment.
It seemed to be his roommate, the guy who called her “Chen Luobai’s female classmate.”
Zhou Anran stared at the screen, not knowing how to reply to him.
Sometimes she hated how uninteresting she was, always unable to come up with interesting yet appropriate topics to chat with him.
But he had rarely initiated a conversation with her.
She was reluctant to end the conversation like this.
As she hesitated, her phone buzzed again.
C: [Are you going to the library tomorrow?]
Zhou Anran felt her heart lift as if caught by an invisible line in his hand.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asked again, “Is something wrong?”
C: “Nothing.”
Her heart sank heavily.
Zhou Anran lowered her eyes and exhaled softly.
Just then, her phone buzzed again.
C: “I’m just running into you too.”