The apartment Chen Luobai brought her to was near Second High School, in an upscale residential complex built a few years ago.

The interior had a black and white color scheme, but unlike the empty feeling of the apartment in North City he had first taken her to, this one had visible signs of habitation, with various everyday items scattered about.

“Have you lived here before?” Zhou An’ran asked, tilting her head.

Chen Luobai nodded. “I lived here for a year during my senior year of high school.”

Hearing this, Zhou An’ran wasn’t surprised anymore.

It was common for many Second High seniors to rent apartments nearby each year.

The college entrance exam was a tough battle, and every minute saved counted.

After changing their shoes, Chen Luobai reached out to her. “Are you thirsty? Would you like some water first?”

Zhou An’ran placed her hand in his, just as she had done at the hotel not long ago. “A little.”

Chen Luobai led her to the sofa. “Sit here for a moment. I’ll get you some water.”

Zhou An’ran nodded obediently.

After sitting down, she realized she had forgotten to take off her bag.

She removed the small black shoulder bag and placed it on the coffee table, then found herself staring at it absentmindedly.

The letter was still inside her bag.

— That love letter Chen Luobai had written to her.

Before entering the classroom that afternoon, or rather, until he appeared before her in that Second High uniform, she had thought today would just be an ordinary class reunion.

She never imagined he would have her friends and his friends all change into Second High uniforms, partially recreating the scene from that day, and then cover the old love letter with a new one.

Or rather, with this second love letter, he had transformed the previous one into a sweet memory of sorts.

“Daydreaming again?” Chen Luobai’s voice suddenly rang out.

Zhou An’ran turned her head to see him sitting down beside her, his long, pale fingers holding out a glass.

It seemed to be warm water, with steam curling from the top.

Zhou An’ran shook her head and accepted the glass, taking a couple of slow sips.

Chen Luobai saw her put the glass down, but before he could do anything, the girl had already nestled into his arms, her hands wrapping around his waist, pressing against him softly.

He was startled for a moment, then couldn’t help but smile, his arm encircling her waist. “What’s this? You’re being so proactive tonight?”

Until this moment, Zhou An’ran’s heart had been overflowing with tenderness, as if there were countless things she wanted to tell him, yet she didn’t know exactly what to say.

She had never been particularly good at expressing her emotions.

Zhou An’ran stared at the man’s distinct features for a few seconds, then buried her face in the crook of his neck. After a moment of silence, she finally mumbled out a sentence.

“I like you so much.”

Chen Luobai’s hand on her waist tightened.

This was the second time he had heard her say she liked him.

The last time was yesterday afternoon, but she had been crying so hard then, and he had been focused solely on how to cheer her up, that he hadn’t had time to fully appreciate it.

This time didn’t seem much better.

He could barely handle it when she acted coy with him normally.

Let alone when she used this near-whining tone to confess to him.

Not to mention that he had brought her back tonight with less than pure intentions.

“Zhou An’ran.”

Zhou An’ran made a soft “Mm” sound.

Chen Luobai lowered his gaze, noticing how her hair had become slightly mussed in his embrace, revealing half of her neck, which was tinged pink.

“Remember what I said to you this afternoon?”

Zhou An’ran was slightly confused: “What?”

Chen Luobai reminded her: “When you said I didn’t keep my word, what I said after that.”

Zhou An’ran realized which sentence he was referring to —

“Because I’ve been trying hard to hold back.”

Her face instantly grew hot.

Chen Luobai pinched the nape of her neck lightly and leaned down to her ear: “Agreeing to come back with me, and then confessing to me in such a coy manner, aren’t you afraid —”

He paused, the latter half of the sentence whispered directly into her ear.

Zhou An’ran had never imagined hearing such words from his mouth. She instinctively seemed to forget her embarrassment, looking up at him with wide, almond-shaped eyes.

Chen Luobai appeared amused by her reaction.

He fell back laughing onto her.

Zhou An’ran was pulled down with him by the force, both of them ending up lying on the sofa.

He was still laughing, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Zhou An’ran, a beat behind, felt her already flushed face burning up, unsure whether from embarrassment or frustration.

“Chen Luobai!”

Chen Luobai barely managed to stop laughing, his hand pinching her cheek: “Didn’t I say before, don’t have any filters with me. The kinds of videos other boys watch during puberty, I’ve seen them too.”

After a second, as if remembering something, the corner of his mouth curled up again.

“Come to think of it, that night before we came back, when I asked you to call me ‘senior,’ it wasn’t wrong after all.”

“!”

It wasn’t clear whether it was due to belatedly understanding what he meant by “videos,” or if the memories from the night before the holiday suddenly replayed in her mind like a movie because of his words.

Zhou An’ran’s face burned intensely, so embarrassed that she simply turned over and buried her face in the sofa, no longer looking at him.

The young man embraced her from behind, as if comforting her, but also seeming to still be laughing: “Why are you still so shy? If you don’t like hearing it, I won’t say it anymore in the future, okay?”

Zhou An’ran’s fingertips tugged at the cushion beneath her, wanting to say it wasn’t that, but unable to voice it.

“Are you really ignoring me now?” Chen Luobai lowered his voice, his hand brushing her hair aside, revealing a small part of her earlobe.

It was even redder than in the afternoon.

Zhou An’ran shook her head.

“What does shaking your head mean?” Chen Luobai remembered her saying yesterday that her indulgence wasn’t because she was obedient, but because she liked him very, very much. The mischievous part of him seemed about to break free again. He continued to press against her ear, persisting in his questioning, “Is it that you don’t dislike hearing it, or that you’re not ignoring me?”

Zhou An’ran’s face was buried in the cushion, getting hotter and hotter. After a second, she spoke softly.

“I’m not ignoring you.”

The room was quiet, but not so quiet that he couldn’t hear her voice.

However, in the next second —

“So you don’t dislike hearing it, right?” His tone dragged out, clearly intentional.

Zhou An’ran: “…”

Now she believed that he had indeed been holding back from teasing her too much usually.

“Chen Luobai!” Zhou An’ran’s face was buried in the pillow, her voice lacking any intimidation, “Stop saying nonsense!”

As if a feather had lightly tickled his heart, Chen Luobai lowered his head and kissed her crimson earlobe.

“If you’re not ignoring me, then turn around and look at me.”

Zhou An’ran: “I won’t turn.”

If she turned to look at him, who knew what new way he would find to tease her.

“Don’t want to turn around, so you prefer lying like this?” Chen Luobai suddenly spoke again, his voice seeming a few notches lower than before.

“?”

What?

The young man behind her didn’t wait for her answer, his voice carrying an even more evident hint of amusement: “Never mind, let’s wait until you get used to it a bit more, we’ll talk about it later.”

His room must have had heating installed. It wasn’t very noticeable when they first came in, but as time passed, the temperature in the room kept rising.

Zhou An’ran felt terribly hot, her loose black hair dampened with sweat, sticking to her neck motionlessly, but she didn’t have the presence of mind to notice.

She was half-lying on the sofa, moving back a little, only to be immediately pulled back.

The cushion heavily hit the sofa armrest. The sofa was so soft there wasn’t a single point to exert force against. Zhou An’ran turned her head slightly, his hand propped beside her, seemingly also damp with sweat, the veins on his arm standing out.

Zhou An’ran grasped his wrist, unsure whether she wanted to beg for mercy or simply call out to him.

“Chen Luobai.”

But it seemed to only make him even more relentless.

This person was still as wicked as the night before returning to Nancheng.

His voice sounded, carrying a laugh, yet also like when he had just finished playing basketball that afternoon, with a slight pant: “Didn’t I tell you to call me ‘senior’?”

The living room was getting hotter and hotter.

Someone was also getting more and more wicked.

And then finally, his wish was granted again, hearing the girl’s broken cries of “senior” escape her lips.

The master bedroom had a large floor-to-ceiling window. According to Chen Luobai, from the window, one could overlook the entire Second High School.

But when Zhou An’ran was carried out of the bathroom by him, she was already so exhausted that she had no interest in admiring the night view of the school.

Moreover, it was winter break now, so there wasn’t much of a night view to admire anyway.

After lying down on the bed, Zhou An’ran didn’t even want to move a finger.

The young man lowered his head and kissed her forehead, now being very gentle: “Are you sleepy?”

Although her body was tired, somehow her mind was very clear, without a hint of sleepiness. Zhou An’ran was about to shake her head when her gaze fell on a glass bottle on his bedside table.

Although she was extremely tired, she still half-propped herself up to take a look.

The glass bottle wasn’t large, containing two cotton swabs and two band-aids.

Chen Luobai saw her suddenly wanting to get up: “What’s wrong?”

Zhou An’ran’s arms were sore, so after seeing clearly, she lay back down. Her heart seemed to start aching too, and she snuggled closer to him: “The glass bottle on the bedside table, are the things inside from me?”

Chen Luobai looked back.

This bottle had been brought over by his family during his senior year of high school and had been sitting on this bedside table for over a year.

He made an “Mm” sound, lowering his gaze to look at the girl in his arms, laughing very lightly: “It seems that although you ran away quickly that day, you still remember clearly what you stuffed into my hands.”

Zhou An’ran didn’t ask why he had put the nearly expired items, which could hardly be called gifts, into a glass bottle and placed them on his bedside table.

Because she also had a bottle of expired cola in her bedroom.

She just regretted not having the courage to give him more things back then.

Zhou An’ran wrapped her arms around the young man’s waist: “I feel like I’ve never really given you any gifts.”

Chen Luobai tucked her hair behind her ear: “Didn’t you just give me one?”

Zhou An’ran: “?”

The corner of the young man’s lips curled up, speaking suggestively: “You’ve given yourself to me.”

Zhou An’ran’s face instantly turned red, biting his chin in embarrassment and annoyance: “Be serious.”

Chen Luobai held her and laughed: “So it’s true that when a rabbit gets angry, it will bite.”

Zhou An’ran glared at him.

Chen Luobai pinched her cheek: “You’re even cuter when you glare at me like this.”

Zhou An’ran: “…?”

Chen Luobai brushed her hair aside: “You looked like you were about to cry again just now.” So he had deliberately teased her like this because he didn’t want to see her cry?

Just as Zhou An’ran finished this thought, she heard his voice low in her ear again.

“You still liking me is the best gift I could receive.”

Zhou An’ran’s heart suddenly softened again, and she said very softly: “The same goes for you.”

Your love is the best gift I’ve ever received.

“What do you mean, the same goes for me?” Chen Luobai asked.

Zhou An’ran felt a bit embarrassed to say it out loud again.

The young man leaned in close, his eyes still carrying a smile, threatening her like he did when they first got together: “If you don’t say it, I’m going to kiss you?”

Zhou An’ran’s fingertips clutched at the fabric of his clothes, taking the initiative to lean in and kiss him lightly.

When she found out in the afternoon that he had asked her friend to wait for her at the school gate in advance, she regretted not taking the initiative to kiss him when she got out of the car.

After the kiss, she wanted to pull away, but he held the nape of her neck.

Chen Luobai pinched her chin lightly, and the girl obediently opened her mouth.

He pushed his tongue in, gently entwining it with hers.

The two shared an exceptionally tender kiss.

After pulling away, Chen Luobai lightly pressed his forehead against hers: “Did you really like me at first sight on the day of high school orientation?”

The tip of Zhou An’ran’s ears were hot, but she still nodded: “Mm, but you probably don’t remember at all, right?”

“Who says I don’t remember?” Chen Luobai said.

Zhou An’ran was a bit surprised: “You remember? Didn’t you not even look at me that day?”

Chen Luobai: “Zong Kai told me about it.”

Zhou An’ran wrinkled her nose: “Then that means you don’t actually remember.”

“I just didn’t know it was you, but I do remember this incident,” Chen Luobai’s hand slid down to her lower back, “I was holding you like this, right?”

Zhou An’ran thought back.

That day when Zong Kai poked his head out from the third floor, he could see him holding her, but probably couldn’t see clearly exactly where he was holding her.

Her surprise turned to joy: “You really remember?”

Chen Luobai pinched her cheek: “Why would I lie to you?”

“But you didn’t even look at me that day,” Zhou An’ran unconsciously whined to him.

“I didn’t look at you because it was the first time I had been so close to a girl. I felt uncomfortable and thought it was inappropriate, so I didn’t look,” Chen Luobai paused, looking at her with a smile in his eyes.

“If I had known then that she would be my future girlfriend, I would have held her longer and taken a good look at her.”