“I couldn’t ask for more”
After Zhou Anran sat back in her seat, half of her ear was still burning intensely.
And what did he mean by “If I had seen clearly, you wouldn’t have been able to run away that night”?
Zhou Anran raised her hand to touch her ear, hearing Sheng Xiaowen lean over and whisper, “Did Chen Luobai just kiss you?”
“?”
“No!”
“If not, then just now—” Sheng Xiaowen had a look of disbelief.
Zhou Anran interrupted her: “He just leaned in to say something to me.”
Sheng Xiaowen looked at her crimson ears: “What kind of words require leaning in so close? Was it something others couldn’t hear?”
Zhou Anran: “??”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then what was it?” Sheng Xiaowen pressed.
Zhou Anran: “…”
“Nothing.”
Sheng Xiaowen reached out to pinch her cheek: “Ran Ran, you’re not being honest.”
Yan Xingqian chimed in: “When it comes to Chen Luobai, she’s never been honest. We’ll interrogate her tonight. I know her weak spots.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
There was quite a gap in strength between the two teams.
After Chen Luobai left the court, the Foreign Languages Department only managed to catch up by 5 points in the second half of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Chen Luobai only played for three minutes before coming off again. Zhou Anran observed and saw that the band-aid on his elbow was intact with no fresh blood seeping through, so she stopped worrying.
The Law School won this game without any suspense.
As the final whistle blew, the spectators behind them gradually left their seats.
Zhou Anran wasn’t in a hurry to leave. His clothes were still with her, so he would come to find her.
The two beside her seemed to have the same idea, also sitting without moving, even picking up their phones again.
Zhou Anran guessed they were probably gossiping with Zhang Shuxian again, so she didn’t bother to look over.
Who knows what nonsense they might be saying in the group chat again?
Players from both sides left the court.
Zhou Anran saw the young man stand up from his position, high-five each player returning to the sideline, and then turn towards her direction.
She quickly lowered her head, pretending she hadn’t been watching him.
Moments later, the familiar tall figure stopped in front of her again, and his voice sounded above her head.
“I’m going to have a team dinner with them.”
Suddenly, a player from the Law School team called out teasingly: “Chen Luobai, seeing how reluctant you are to leave, why don’t you invite this junior to come along with us?”
“Yeah, Chen Luobai, let your female classmate join us for dinner.”
Zhou Anran heard the somewhat familiar term “your female classmate” and slightly raised her head. Sure enough, she saw that the speaker was his roommate Yuan Song.
Her gaze moved up a little more, meeting the young man’s smiling dark eyes.
“Want to come along with me?”
Zhou Anran’s ears burned again, and she shook her head: “I need to accompany Xiaowen and Xingqian.”
Sheng Xiaowen was still chatting in the group, and without looking up, she said: “Don’t worry about us. We can handle dinner ourselves. If not, we can always find He Mingyu.”
Zhou Anran hesitated for a moment but still shook her head.
Among the Law School group, she barely knew Yuan Song and the rest were strangers. She would feel uncomfortable eating with them. With so many people, she wouldn’t be able to talk much with him anyway. Besides, she hadn’t seen Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingqian for a while and had many things she wanted to chat about with them.
“I’d better not go.”
Chen Luobai didn’t insist. He made a sound of acknowledgment and then turned to Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingqian beside her: “I don’t have much free time this week, but next time when there’s a chance, I’ll treat you two to dinner.”
Yan Xingqian said: “Ran Ran is our best friend. A simple meal won’t be enough to win us over.”
Sheng Xiaowen nodded in strong agreement.
Chen Luobai smiled: “You can choose whatever you want to eat then. We’ll eat until you’re satisfied, okay?”
“That’s more like it,” Yan Xingqian said, barely satisfied.
Zhou Anran: “…”
Afraid that these two might say something outrageous again, she quickly shoved the clothes in her hands back into the young man’s arms: “Your teammates are waiting for you. Go change quickly, and be careful with your wound.”
The clothes in his arms were full of her scent. Chen Luobai’s throat seemed to itch again, but with people all around, he didn’t tease her further. He just nodded: “Alright, message me if anything comes up.”
Only after the girl obediently nodded did Chen Luobai take the clothes and return to the sideline.
Zhou Anran stood up.
Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingqian also put away their phones.
Yan Xingqian glanced around and nudged Zhou Anran: “Ran Ran, the girl who brought water to Chen Luobai earlier seems to be going with them too.”
Sheng Xiaowen looked at her: “Are you sure you don’t want to go with him?”
Zhou Anran looked up.
The large group was walking towards the internal passage. The young man in the black jersey was carrying two pieces of clothing, turning his head to say something to someone beside him, smiling lazily.
The girl walking at the back kept her gaze fixed on him.
It would be impossible to say there wasn’t a hint of jealousy.
But—
Zhou Anran shook her head: “I trust him.”
“That’s true. If Chen Luobai were the type to be easily swayed by any girl, it wouldn’t have taken until now,” Sheng Xiaowen linked arms with her. “Since you’re not going with them, take us to eat then. I’m getting a bit hungry.”
Zhou Anran nodded: “Do you want to eat out or continue eating at the cafeteria?”
“Let’s eat at the cafeteria tonight. The food at your cafeteria is quite good,” Yan Xingqian said.
The three went to the cafeteria.
Halfway through the meal, Sheng Xiaowen suddenly remembered: “Oh right, I almost forgot. Help me ask Chen Luobai for his roommate’s WeChat.”
Zhou Anran took out her phone: “Okay, I’ll ask him.”
*
Chen Luobai and his teammates first went to the locker room to change clothes, then it took some time to get from the school to the restaurant. They had just sat down in the private room and ordered food.
He had played a game, and his stomach was empty. He reached into his baseball jacket pocket and took out a lemon soda candy.
Yuan Song was sitting next to him and was also hungry. Seeing him take out something to eat from his pocket, he reached out to grab it: “What are you eating?”
Chen Luobai slapped his hand away hard.
“Chen Luobai, you’ve become stingy,” Yuan Song grimaced in pain. “You never used to eat alone before.”
Chen Luobai casually unwrapped the candy, laughing: “I’m just that stingy.”
Yuan Song remembered that this jacket had been held by someone else all afternoon and seemed to realize something: “Did your precious female classmate give it to you?”
Chen Luobai paused in unwrapping the candy: “Not exactly given by her.”
She had only slipped two candies into his desk drawer back then.
If she had put in even a small pack, he wouldn’t have mistaken it for someone randomly putting it there and eating it without thinking.
“But it’s related to her anyway, right?” Yuan Song understood.
Chen Luobai put the candy in his mouth, played with the wrapper in his hand, and made a muffled sound of agreement.
These few candies had been in his jacket pocket all afternoon, along with his phone. When he handed them to her, he had even deliberately turned off the lock screen password. If she had just casually looked through it, she would have discovered the secret inside.
But when he gave her his things, he knew that with her personality, she definitely wouldn’t rummage through his stuff.
“Chen Luobai.”
Suddenly, one of the senior students called his name, his tone teasing.
“What’s your relationship with that junior from the School of Life Sciences?”
Chen Luobai crunched the candy in his mouth and smiled: “Didn’t you all see?”
“We just saw you stuffing your clothes into her arms and asking someone else for water. How could we tell what your relationship is from that?”
“Yeah, is she a close female friend or your girlfriend?”
Yuan Song knew the candy in his hand was related to Zhou Anran, so he didn’t dare try to snatch it again. He resigned himself to using chopsticks to eat peanuts to fill his stomach.
Hearing this, he also laughed.
The girl who brought water to Chen Luobai during halftime was called Zhao Xueke. She was in the same class as them and had often come to help during ball games and training, bringing water and snacks. Anyone with eyes could see her true intentions.
Chen Luobai hadn’t touched any of it, but these seniors from their department had eaten what she brought, so they naturally leaned more toward her. At this moment, they were more or less trying to probe for information, even helping her pursue him.
But it was all in vain.
Yuan Song took advantage of this lively atmosphere to eat a few more peanuts.
Chen Luobai crumpled the candy wrapper in his hand: “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Yuan Song saw Zhao Xueke’s eyes immediately light up. She had deliberately sat on Chen Luobai’s other side.
Yuan Song sighed inwardly.
Sure enough, the next second he heard the young master beside him drawl lazily: “I haven’t managed to win her over yet. I don’t know if she’s still willing to have me.”