When Zhou Anran gave the soda to Zhang Shuxian, she still couldn’t bring herself to reveal her feelings for him. In the end, she only said that she had accidentally seen him injured last Friday and brought him cotton swabs and bandages, which was why he bought her a drink in return.
Zhang Shuxian probably knew they barely had any other interactions normally, so she didn’t seem to think much of it.
As for the cola he bought her, Zhou Anran couldn’t bring herself to drink it that day. She secretly tucked it into her backpack and brought it home in the evening.
The next day was Zhang Shuxian’s birthday.
Zhou Anran arrived at the classroom early with the gift she had prepared, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Chen Luobai’s group of friends were occasionally glancing at her. However, when she looked their way, Tang Jianrui and the others would avert their gaze, pretending to be chatting and joking around.
Was it because of him buying her a drink at the supermarket yesterday?
But he didn’t like people misunderstanding that he had any ambiguous relationships with girls, so he should have explained it, right?
Zhou Anran could sense that their looks towards her didn’t carry any malice, mostly just curiosity. Apart from making her a bit uncomfortable, it didn’t have any other impact. Besides, all the teachers seemed to have coordinated to drag out their lessons one after another that day, leaving barely enough time. So she didn’t dwell on it further.
At noon, Zhang Shuxian treated them to hotpot, and in the evening, the three of them treated Zhang Shuxian to dry pot in return.
After dinner, when they returned to the teaching building, Yan Xingqian and Sheng Xiaowen went up to the sixth floor. Zhang Shuxian was held up by friends outside the classroom, so Zhou Anran returned to the classroom alone.
As she entered, Zhou Anran didn’t dare to look directly at the second row, sixth seat, but from her peripheral vision, she could see he wasn’t in his seat.
Zhou Anran sat down at her desk and took out a math test paper to work on.
Not long after, Zhang Shuxian also returned to the classroom.
Zhou Anran made room for her to get to her seat.
After sitting down, Zhang Shuxian first glanced at Lou Yiqi in the neighboring group, then leaned close to Zhou Anran and said in a low voice, “My friend said Yin Yizhen has been absent for the past two days. Today, Zong Kai is also absent. I wonder if he went to accompany her.”
Zhou Anran’s pen tip paused.
Yin Yizhen hadn’t come for the past two days.
Was it because of his harsh words that day?
But it could also be for other reasons. After all, that incident also involved his and Yin Yizhen’s privacy, so Zhou Anran didn’t say much, only reminding Zhang Shuxian, “You haven’t done your physics homework yet.”
Zhang Shuxian’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh, having to do homework on my birthday is too cruel.”
But she still dutifully took out her homework notebook.
The dry pot they had in the afternoon was a bit salty, and after solving just a few problems, Zhou Anran started feeling thirsty.
After finishing the water in her cup, Zhou Anran stood up, intending to go get some more water. She glanced sideways and saw Zhang Shuxian focused on her homework, her water cup still full, so she didn’t disturb her.
The water dispenser was closer to the back door.
Zhou Anran thought that since he hadn’t returned anyway, she might as well go out through the back door.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached the back, she almost bumped right into Chen Luobai, who was just returning.
The young man also seemed surprised to encounter her at the doorway, raising his eyebrow slightly.
Zhou Anran’s heart quickened.
She still felt very nervous when facing him.
Zhou Anran gripped her cup, trying her best to act as naturally as possible, like running into any other ordinary friend. She gave him a slight nod, then lowered her head and moved to the right, making room for him to enter.
In her lowered gaze, Zhou Anran saw the young man’s long legs also shift to her right.
? Was he trying to go around to the right to enter? Or was he making way for her to go in first?
Zhou Anran moved to the left again, giving him space to enter once more.
Those long legs followed, moving to the left, and the tall young man blocked her way again.
Zhou Anran was puzzled and had to look up at him.
Zhu Ran and the rest of his group were behind him. At this moment, Zhu Ran gave her a meaningful glance, then chuckled and pushed Tang Jianrui from behind. “Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll enter through the front door. Don’t get in someone’s way here.”
Tang Jianrui and the other boys also seemed to look her way again.
Then the whole group went to the front door.
Zhou Anran’s ears heated up. She suppressed her discomfort and said softly, “You go in first.”
Chen Luobai’s gaze fell on her face. His expression looked somewhat exasperated, but the corner of his lips was slightly curved as if he was vaguely smiling. “Didn’t you notice I was deliberately blocking you?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
“Why are you blocking me?”
Chen Luobai couldn’t quite explain why he wanted to block her just now. Maybe it was because she still had that “not too familiar” attitude towards him, which always made him a bit annoyed. Or maybe it was like before – seeing her obedient and soft demeanor made him want to tease her a little.
His gaze dropped slightly, noticing the empty water cup in her hand.
“Going to get water?”
Zhou Anran nodded. “Mm.”
Chen Luobai: “Then get me a cup too?”
?
So he blocked her because he wanted her to get water for him?
Zhou Anran was confused.
He bought her a drink, and his friends were already showing signs of misunderstanding. Why was he still asking her to help get water?
Maybe he just didn’t think much of it, purely asking for help as a friend?
But regardless of what he was thinking, Zhou Anran found that she still couldn’t refuse him. She reached out her hand to him. “Then give me your cup.”
Chen Luobai’s gaze lingered on her slender white palm, and the words “Why are you so obedient” seemed to roll from his heart to the tip of his tongue again.
Zhou Anran saw that he didn’t move or respond, his gaze seeming to stay fixed on her hand. Her ears warming slightly, she blinked. “What’s wrong?”
Chen Luobai: “Never mind.”
“What do you mean, never mind?” Zhou Anran was puzzled.
The young man suddenly leaned in closer.
Just like yesterday, he was still very mindful of boundaries and didn’t exceed a safe distance.
But Zhou Anran’s breath still caught slightly, and then she heard his low voice, tinged with amusement, next to her ear: “I didn’t bring a water bottle today. I was just teasing you.”
*
The rain had been threatening all day, finally coming down in the evening and lasting for almost two days. It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that it finally cleared up.
On Thursday, Zhou Anran’s family had an elderly relative celebrating a birthday. She went out during the break time to attend the birthday banquet. On her way back, she got stuck in traffic, and then the bus had problems midway, forcing them to change to another bus. By the time she entered the school gates, it was almost time for evening self-study to begin.
Zhou Anran ran to the corner of the teaching building. Just as she turned, someone was coming from the other side. She wasn’t paying attention and almost crashed into them. A large hand reached out to steady her, and a familiar, fresh scent suddenly enveloped her.
The voice was familiar too, tinged with amusement.
“Slow down.”
Zhou Anran looked up, her gaze meeting the young man’s dark eyes.
How did she almost bump into him again?
It felt like ever since that Friday night when she tried to sneak away after delivering the medicine but was caught by him, her chance encounters with him had increased.
Probably due to running in a hurry, the girl’s chest was heaving noticeably. Chen Luobai averted his gaze, releasing his hand. A second later, his eyes returned to her face.
“Why are you in such a rush?”
Zhou Anran came back to her senses and lowered her head, avoiding his gaze. “I’m almost late.”
Chen Luobai’s voice sounded above her head, familiar and casual: “The pre-bell hasn’t even rung yet. What’s the hurry?”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
“It’s almost time for the pre-bell. How can I not hurry?” She paused, then seemed to realize something and looked up at him again. “Why are you heading out at this time?”
Chen Luobai: “What do you think?”
Zhou Anran blinked. “?”
The girl’s face was flushed, still with that obedient and pretty look.
Chen Luobai leaned down slightly, lowering his voice: “Of course, I’m skipping class.”
Zhou Anran: “?!”
She knew he wasn’t exactly a model student, having skipped quite a few school activities. During the sports meet in their first year, he was practically absent the entire time. But as far as she could remember, he had never actually skipped class before.
She couldn’t help but feel surprised. “Skipping class? Do you have some urgent matter?”
Chen Luobai saw her eyes widen, her face looking round and soft due to her baby fat, appearing soft and very pinchable. His hand in his school uniform pocket twitched but then stopped. “Do I look like I have some urgent matter?”
Zhou Anran didn’t even bother avoiding his gaze now. “If there’s no urgent matter, then why are you skipping class?”
Chen Luobai tilted his head. “Bored? Looking for some excitement?”
Looking for excitement?
What was he planning to do?
Although she knew he came from a good family and probably wouldn’t do anything too outrageous, and although she also knew that given their current relationship, prying into his private affairs might be overstepping, Zhou Anran was still worried about him and couldn’t help but ask this question.
Chen Luobai lowered his eyes, once again seeing clear concern in the girl’s clean, beautiful eyes.
It seems they weren’t so unfamiliar now.
He leaned in slightly again. “Want to know? Then why don’t you skip class with me?”
Zhou Anran: “?!”
Her, skip class?
Zhou Anran had never skipped class in her entire life. Even though it was him inviting her, she shook her head immediately without even thinking about it.
Chen Luobai slightly raised his eyebrows.
The day before yesterday, she hadn’t hesitated to help him fetch water, but this time she refused quite firmly.
It seemed skipping class was truly her bottom line.
He jerked his chin towards the nearby teaching building, “Then hurry inside, or you’ll be late.”
Zhou Anran hesitated, but still tried to persuade him once more, “Why don’t you just not skip class, or at least ask Teacher Gao for leave?”
Chen Luobai’s lips curled slightly, “Worried about me?”
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat.
“It seems more thrilling to lure a good student into skipping class.” The boy paused, then leaned a bit closer to her.
The distance seemed shorter than previous times.
The boy’s fresh scent enveloped her completely. His dark eyes locked onto hers, allowing her to see her reflection clearly within them. It seemed as if her reflection was all they contained, making his gaze appear particularly focused. Zhou Anran held her breath, her mind briefly going blank.
He lowered his voice even more, with an inexplicably appealing quality, “Why don’t you come with me?”
At that moment, the warning bell rang abruptly.
Zhou Anran suddenly came to her senses, her ears heating up. She didn’t dare look at him anymore, nor did she dare to continue persuading him. She even felt that if the warning bell had been a second later, she might have been bewitched into nodding in agreement.
Then her little crush would have been utterly exposed.
“I’m going in first.”
As she slipped past him, Zhou Anran thought she heard the boy laugh very softly.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.
Zhou Anran ran back to the classroom and sat down in her seat, head lowered.
Zhang Shuxian had messaged her earlier, knowing she had been stuck in traffic and changed buses, so she wasn’t surprised to see her face so red when she glanced over, “Did you run here?”
Zhou Anran nodded.
“Good thing you’re not late,” Zhang Shuxian said.
Zhou Anran made a sound of agreement and casually picked up a workbook to fan her burning face.
What did he mean by asking if she wanted to go with him?
Wasn’t he supposed to be good at maintaining boundaries with girls? Didn’t he know that sentence was somewhat ambiguous?
And just now, by the teaching building, he leaned in so close to talk to her. Although it was almost class time and there were few people outside the building, if a teacher happened to see them, they’d probably be called to the office for a talk.
The evening self-study bell rang, and Zhou Anran snapped back to reality. She couldn’t help but look back.
Everyone else in the class was present, making his empty seat particularly noticeable.
Zhou Anran’s heart was half suspended, half hoping that the homeroom teacher wouldn’t come to the classroom tonight, or that Zhu Ran and the others could cover for him.
But as if her fears were coming true, before she could finish hoping three times, Gao Guohua strolled into the classroom with his hands behind his back.
Zhou Anran’s heart leaped to her throat.
Gao Guohua walked up to the podium, but when he turned to face them, he acted as if he hadn’t noticed someone was missing from the class. He just smiled and said, “I won’t take up your self-study time today.”
Zhou Anran’s confusion grew.
The homeroom teacher standing on the podium couldn’t possibly miss seeing his empty seat.
But Gao Guohua’s smile remained evident as he continued, “You ranked first in the grade again for last semester’s final exams. I promised to bring you all something, and I finally bought it today. Just a notebook for each of you, don’t think it’s too little.”
Zhou Anran heard Zhu Ran chime in from the back, “How could we think it’s too little? Teacher Gao, we’ll treasure the notebooks you give us.”
Gao Guohua laughed and threw a piece of chalk at him, “You’re always so glib.”
Zhou Anran began to feel something was off.
Zhu Ran sat right next to him. Even if Gao Guohua hadn’t noticed at first, how could he not see the empty seat now?
Just then, another boy asked from the back, “Teacher Gao, where are our notebooks?”
Gao Guohua glanced towards the door, “I asked Chen Luobai to help bring them. He should be here soon.”
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the tall boy walked in through the front door carrying a bag. He turned his head slightly, his gaze falling in her direction.
Zhou Anran’s suspended heart fell heavily back into place. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze.
“Put them here,” Gao Guohua said.
The boy’s voice sounded just like it had at the door earlier, with a hint of laughter, “I’m heading back to my seat anyway. I’ll help you hand them out for this row, sir.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
He seemed quite pleased with himself for tricking her so thoroughly.
Although she knew he had a bit of a mischievous streak, often seeing Zhu Ran driven to exasperation by him, Zhou Anran hadn’t expected him to deceive her just now. She had been so worried for nothing.
She kept her head down, her cheeks puffing out slightly.
In her field of vision, a cold, slender white hand landed on her desk. There was a small brown mole on the wrist bone. He lightly tapped her desk with his knuckles, then placed a brand new notebook on it.
There was also a piece of chocolate on top of the notebook.
Zhou Anran didn’t look up.
That fresh scent quickly left along with the boy.
Zhang Shuxian leaned over and made a soft surprised sound, “Oh? How come you got a piece of chocolate?”
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped lightly, and she asked in a very low voice, “The others didn’t get any?”
Zhang Shuxian looked back.
“No, they didn’t,” she leaned in closer, seemingly worried about being overheard, and ended up writing on her draft paper and pushing it over. “What’s going on? Did Chen Luobai give it to you separately? Why is he treating you to something again? Did you help him out with something else?”
Zhou Anran lowered her gaze to look at the chocolate on the notebook.
Was it just for her?
Was he trying to make it up to her with chocolate after tricking her?
Or did he accidentally drop it?
She hadn’t seen him trying to make it up to Zhu Ran after teasing him, so it was probably the latter.
Zhou Anran pursed her lips and wrote back on the notebook, “He probably dropped it by accident.”
Zhang Shuxian seemed to think this possibility was more likely too, so she didn’t pursue the topic further.
There was a lot of homework that day. Zhou Anran spent a few minutes suppressing her unusually flustered heart, which had been disturbed by him and then lowered her head to concentrate on her homework.
After one short self-study period, Zhang Shuxian tugged at her hand, “Anran, I want to go to the bathroom. Will you come with me?”
Zhou Anran nodded. As soon as her thoughts were pulled away from the homework, that person’s face returned to her mind. She reached into her desk and took out the chocolate, “Let’s go out through the back door.”
“You’re going to return it to him, right?” Zhang Shuxian nodded, “Okay.”
Zhou Anran held hands with her as they walked towards the back door. She didn’t raise her head, but from the corner of her eye, she could see the boy seemingly leaning lazily in his seat, his gaze vaguely falling in her direction.
Her cheeks puffed out again as she passed by his seat, dropping the chocolate on his desk.
“You dropped this.”
Before Chen Luobai could say anything, the girl had already left the classroom quickly, head down, arm in arm with her friend.
“What’s going on?” Zhu Ran looked at him curiously, “Why does Zhou Anran look like she doesn’t want to talk to you? What did you do?”
Chen Luobai glanced at the chocolate on the desk, “Nothing.”
Zhu Ran didn’t believe him, “Nothing? How could you make such a good-tempered girl angry?”
Chen Luobai recalled the girl’s slightly puffed cheeks just now, and the corner of his mouth curled up again, “Really, nothing. I just couldn’t resist teasing her a little. Turns out she does have a temper.”
The last sentence was so low it seemed like he was talking to himself. After speaking, he reached for the chocolate on the desk and stood up from his seat.
Zhu Ran watched him as if he was about to leave, “What are you doing?”
Chen Luobai: “Making amends.”
*
When Zhou Anran returned with Zhang Shuxian through the front door, she couldn’t help but glance towards the back rows again from the corner of her eye.
Zhu Ran seemed to be in his seat, but his seat was empty again.
Where had he gone now?
The second self-study period was about to start. He wasn’t planning to skip class, was he?
Zhou Anran sat down with Zhang Shuxian in their respective seats.
She absent-mindedly picked up a pen.
Even if he skipped class, as long as his grades didn’t drop, the teachers probably wouldn’t dare to do anything to him. She was the foolish one, believing everything he said and worrying about him here.
Zhou Anran puffed her cheeks again.
Suddenly, someone lightly tapped on her desk again.
Zhou Anran snapped out of her thoughts, her gaze suddenly meeting a hand with distinct knuckles, the brown mole on the wrist bone conspicuous.
That hand first placed a bottle of cola covered in water droplets on her desk.
Then a box of ice cream.
Two lollipops.
…
He placed items on her desk one by one.
Finally, the chocolate she had just returned.
Then that familiar voice sounded in her ear. He seemed to have run back, his breathing slightly uneven, but because he kept his tone particularly low, it sounded inexplicably gentle.
“Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”