He?
Zhou An’ran’s heart began to race.
Perhaps noticing she had looked up, that handsome hand tapped lightly on her desk again. Then the boy’s clear voice rang out.
“The English teacher is looking for you.”
That familiar voice was right above her head.
This time he wasn’t talking to Zhu Ran, Zong Kai, or anyone else that she happened to overhear.
He was talking to her.
Realizing this, An’ran’s heart beat even faster.
This wasn’t the first time he had spoken to her.
There were two previous times.
Once on the first day of school, when he steadied her and told her to be careful.
Another time during a long break between classes, when they were heading down to the field for exercises. The crowd of students rushing downstairs had pushed them unusually close together.
He and Zhu Ran were walking diagonally behind her, seemingly discussing some game.
Someone horsing around behind them accidentally bumped into her shoulder. He may or may not have glanced at her, lazily offering an apology.
So it was perfectly normal that he couldn’t remember her name.
He was the darling of the school, adored by all.
And she was a timid girl who didn’t even dare get close to him.
They were just ordinary classmates, barely more than strangers.
An’ran feared her eyes might be red, so she didn’t dare look up at him. She hesitated, unsure whether to simply reply “Okay” or be a bit bolder and ask what the teacher wanted.
But he had only come to notify her and didn’t need a response. Before she could decide, the hand on her desk moved away, and the boy’s figure retreated.
The fresh scent quickly faded.
An’ran felt a void in her heart.
She slumped back onto her desk, once again frustrated by her poor performance in front of him.
But fearing he might think she hadn’t taken his words seriously, she quickly collected herself, stood up from her desk, paused for a moment, and finally walked out the front door.
Halfway there, An’ran suddenly realized something.
His coming to relay the teacher’s message meant that even if he couldn’t remember her name, he at least knew who she was, right?
The tightness in her chest finally eased a bit.
But as she approached the English teacher’s office, An’ran thought of another possibility.
— The possibility that he had mistaken her for someone else.
So the office door, just inches away, suddenly seemed like an abyss. She didn’t know if stepping through would lead to heaven or hell.
An English teacher from another class walked towards her, giving her a curious look as she stood hesitating by the office.
An’ran couldn’t delay any longer. She hurriedly took a big step forward.
The office door was wide open.
The English teacher for Class 2, Lin Han, was a young woman in her early thirties. Her desk faced the office entrance.
An’ran had just raised her hand to knock when Lin Han looked up at her.
An’ran feared she might ask why she had come.
Fortunately, upon seeing her, Lin Han immediately smiled and waved her in. “Come in quickly.”
An’ran breathed a huge sigh of relief internally. She stepped into the office, her fingertips curling against the edge of her uniform pants.
She wasn’t very good at interacting with teachers either.
After An’ran approached, Lin Han seemed to study her for a moment before speaking: “Didn’t Sheng Xiaowen already tell you about your score? Why do you look unhappy after getting first in the grade?”
?
Was her unhappiness still that obvious?
An’ran shook her head, using the same excuse as before: “No, I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
Lin Han nodded: “Well, you still need to pay attention to rest. The college entrance exam is a long battle.”
An’ran obediently responded with an “Mm.”
“You did very well this time,” Lin Han said with a smile. “We deliberately hid a few trap questions in the reading comprehension. Even Chen Luobai carelessly missed one, but you were the only one in the whole grade to get a perfect score.” She looked at An’ran. “You’ve helped your teacher win half a month’s worth of breakfasts!”
An’ran had always liked this English teacher. She explained concepts in an easy-to-understand way and had a cheerful, humorous personality.
She smiled at Lin Han: “It’s because you teach so well.”
Lin Han laughed heartily: “I love hearing that.”
She then turned to brag to the other teachers in the office: “Did you hear that? My student says I teach well.”
The atmosphere in the office instantly lightened, filled with teasing voices.
An’ran pressed her lips together.
She envied the teacher’s personality a bit.
Lin Han turned back to her, gave a few more instructions about studying, and then sent her back to the classroom.
When An’ran left the office, the sky outside had completely darkened.
It seemed winter had arrived without her noticing.
The semester was also coming to an end soon.
Returning to the classroom, An’ran couldn’t help but enter through the back door again, her gaze habitually falling on his seat.
He must have said something to Zhu Ran, who had stood up from his seat looking like he was about to jump in frustration.
The boy was lying on his desk, muffling his laughter, his shoulders shaking slightly. A strip of his pale neck was visible.
As she neared her seat, An’ran heard Dong Chen comforting Yan Xingqian.
“It’s not a big deal if you didn’t do well in math again. It’s only the first semester of high school, we still have several years ahead. Don’t cry.”
An’ran sat down.
Dong Chen saw her as if seeing a lifesaver: “You’re finally back. Quick, comfort her.”
An’ran knew Yan Xingqian’s personality too well. She would never cry over poor test results. Noticing that Yan Xingqian had let down her tied-up hair, An’ran guessed what was happening.
When she turned to look at Dong Chen, she couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic: “She’s wearing earphones.”
Dong Chen froze: “…?”
An’ran reached over and pulled out one of Yan Xingqian’s earphones.
Yan Xingqian finally noticed she was back. She sniffled: “An’ran, you’re back. Wuwuwu, my idol’s live performance is so good I could cry.”
Dong Chen: “…”
His somewhat exasperated voice came from behind: “Yan Xingqian, are you a pig?”
Yan Xingqian turned back, bewildered: “Are you sick? You’re the pig.”
The two started arguing again.
An’ran lay on her desk, her gaze drifting to a corner of it.
That handsome hand had briefly rested on her desk today.
Listening to the childish argument beside her, she couldn’t help but smile again.
That’s right.
There were still several years ahead.
And today she had even received praise from her favorite teacher.
He had also spoken to her directly because of it.
It didn’t seem so bad after all.
Winters in Nan City were severe.
Southern cities didn’t have central heating, and the old teaching building where the first-year students were housed didn’t have air conditioning. So once winter arrived, keeping the classroom doors and windows tightly shut became the norm in Class 2.
Whether because of this, or because all the girls who had come to confess to Chen Luobai recently had been rejected, fewer girls were lingering outside Class 2’s door these days.
The last part of the first semester of high school thus passed exceptionally quietly.
Zhou An’ran had always been sensitive to cold.
This was the first time she had come to like winter.
The tightly closed doors and windows of the classroom sealed off a small world.
She and the boy she secretly liked were confined within it, heads down, striving for their respective futures.
Though they didn’t yet know what the future held for them.
But surely it would be full of hope.
On the day of the final exams, before leaving school, An’ran used the cover of watching Yan Xingqian and Dong Chen’s antics to secretly observe the activity in the back row.
When the boy chatted with his classmates, she slowed her packing. When she heard Zhu Ran urging him to go home, she hurriedly stuffed everything on her desk into her bag.
Finally, she got to leave school behind him.
On the way, quite a few people came over to greet him.
Perhaps because he often played basketball, he seemed somewhat familiar with many students from other classes, even upper grades.
Some came to make plans to play ball during the winter break, others casually wished him a happy new year or said they’d see him next semester.
Fortunately, almost all of these people were boys.
To this day, no girl who seemed particularly close to him had appeared by his side. His attitude towards girls seemed to be more polite and distant.
There were girls in the class who would boldly ask him questions, and most of the time he wouldn’t refuse.
But just like the two times he had helped her, it made people feel that he was helping out of good manners, not because you were special to him.
Out of the east gate, An’ran and Yan Xingqian had to turn left, while Chen Luobai and Zhu Ran went right. Sometimes his family’s car came to pick him up, sometimes he took the bus with Zhu Ran, and sometimes he took a taxi by himself, but always to the right.
Always in the opposite direction from her.
They wouldn’t see each other for over a month.
After parting ways, An’ran couldn’t help but look back once more, watching the boy’s retreating figure. In her heart, she quietly told him she’d see him next semester.
She paused.
Then added a Happy New Year.
For the first half of the winter break, the weather in Nan City was bitterly cold. An’ran only went out shopping once with Yan Xingqian, then didn’t leave the house again.
The day before New Year’s Eve, she and her parents went back to their rural hometown to spend the holiday with her grandparents, as was their custom.
Both grandparents were still in good health. As in previous years, they wouldn’t let the family help with the first meal back home. An’ran followed her parents to the kitchen to greet her grandfather, led by her grandmother.
When they came out, Zhou Xianhong was pulled away by his cousin next door to play cards.
An’ran followed her mother to the living room to warm up by the fire and watch TV.
After a while, the sound of a car approached outside, followed by the voices of her uncle and aunt greeting people.
Like Zhou Xianhong, Uncle Zhou Xianji was pulled away to play cards as soon as he finished greeting everyone. Aunt Jia Fenghua entered the living room in her high heels and sat down next to them.
He Qiaoyi subtly nudged An’ran with her elbow.
An’ran reluctantly greeted her: “Aunt.”
Jia Fenghua smiled at her, then held up her handbag in front of He Qiaoyi: “I bought this bag a few days ago. What do you think?”
He Qiaoyi glanced at it: “It looks nice.”
Jia Fenghua put the bag aside, feigning casualness: “The bag itself isn’t too expensive, just over a hundred thousand. But you have to buy another hundred thousand worth of goods to get it. These luxury stores are just troublesome.”
He Qiaoyi knew her sister-in-law’s ways and didn’t want to engage. She pushed the fruit plate towards her: “These tangerines are quite sweet.”
Jia Fenghua’s smile faded a bit. She casually took a tangerine, then turned to look at An’ran: “An’ran, how were your final exam results this semester?”
An’ran pressed her lips together, knowing without thinking that her aunt wouldn’t have anything nice to say.
She didn’t want to respond.
He Qiaoyi secretly pinched her and answered for her: “Not bad, ranked 8th in the class.”
Jia Fenghua’s smile widened noticeably for a moment before she suppressed it, adopting a concerned tone: “Has An’ran regressed? I remember she was always in the top three in middle school. But girls do tend to fall behind boys as they advance in school.”
He Qiaoyi replied calmly: “She’s in the experimental class. This time she ranked 55th in the grade. You know No. 2 High School — over 90% of students get into top universities. With this ranking, she should have no problem getting into a top school if she maintains it.”
Jia Fenghua’s smile stiffened: “That is quite impressive. But why is she still so quiet? Only knows how to study hard. Such an introverted personality won’t do. You know her uncle’s educational background, but he’s built such a successful business through his quick wit and smooth talking. But it’s fine, she’s the only girl in our family. No matter how she turns out, she can always come work for her uncle like her father does.”
An’ran didn’t care what her aunt said about her, but insulting her parents was not okay. She lowered her eyes and saw He Qiaoyi’s hand at her side tighten slightly.
“Aunt.” She wasn’t used to confrontation, and her hand at her side also tightened before she spoke softly, “Is my cousin not coming back for New Year’s this year?”
Jia Fenghua smiled again: “That’s right. His studies are intense, and there’s no Spring Festival abroad. I told him not to make the trip back and forth.”
An’ran picked up a small mandarin orange and slowly began peeling it: “Oh, is he still hanging out with that Wu De guy who lives next door to you?”
Jia Fenghua looked puzzled: “They’re playing together, why?”
An’ran handed the peeled orange to He Qiaoyi and looked up at Jia Fenghua: “You should tell my cousin to stop hanging out with him. I saw Wu De posting photos of marijuana on foreign websites the other day.”
Jia Fenghua’s expression changed abruptly: “You can’t say such things carelessly.”
An’ran wiped her hands clean: “Whether it’s careless or not, you can see for yourself.”
He Qiaoyi took the orange, feeling inexplicably pleased. She nudged her daughter sitting beside her: “Didn’t you say you haven’t finished your winter break homework? Go do your homework first.”
An’ran looked at her.
He Qiaoyi patted her: “Go on.”
An’ran nodded. Just as she stepped out the door, she heard Jia Fenghua’s voice behind her.
“I’ll go check on your uncle’s card game. I won’t keep you company watching TV.”
An’ran let out a soft sigh and returned to the room her grandparents had set aside for her.
After sitting down, she spread out her math test paper but couldn’t concentrate.
An’ran didn’t like her aunt and didn’t care how she talked about her.
She had been unable to hold back her retort earlier because of how her aunt spoke about her father because she had made her mother unhappy, and also because although her cousin was a bit of a troublemaker, he had always been decent to her, and she didn’t want him to go down the wrong path.
But An’ran knew that, putting aside everything else, Ms. He probably agreed with her aunt’s view that “such an introverted personality won’t do.”
She had mentioned it to An’ran at home several times.
An’ran had originally thought there were just different types of personalities.
But in the eyes of parents, it seemed to have become a matter of good versus bad, right versus wrong.
Extroverted was good and right.
Being introverted was bad and wrong.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t secretly tried to change.
It was just that there seemed to be an energy bar in her body. Reading, doing homework, or chatting with people she liked could sustain her energy for a long time.
But forcing herself to be extroverted, trying to socialize with everyone whether she liked them or not, would quickly drain her energy bar. Even sleeping couldn’t fully recharge it.
Waking up, even a blue sky would seem gloomy.
All attempts failed.
What about him?
A familiar, handsome face flashed through An’ran’s mind.
He probably liked cheerful, outgoing girls too.
Whether because she was worried about her son abroad or because she restrained herself somewhat in front of her uncle, Jia Fenghua didn’t make any more snide remarks over the next few days.
Zhou Anran’s New Year wasn’t too bad after all.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Zhou Anran returned home with her parents.
The next day, Yan Xingxi, who had received quite a bit of New Year’s money, dragged her out for a meal and some shopping. Along the way, Yan Xingxi kept complaining about her online argument with Dong Chen the day before.
Zhou Anran found it amusing at first but then felt inexplicably dejected.
Her social circle had no overlap with Chen Luobai’s at the moment, so she had no idea how he was spending his winter break.
For the first time, Zhou Anran found herself eagerly anticipating the start of the new semester.
However, she never expected that when school resumed, there would be a new girl by Chen Luobai’s side.