As a provincial capital, Nancheng was actually quite a sizeable city.

Import supermarkets like this one were a common sight, yet by some improbable chance, the two of them had run into each other here.

Just before this, Lu Rangchen had sent Zhu Yunque a message asking if she’d eaten lunch yet.

It was right then that Feng Yanlai had asked Zhu Yunque if she was seeing someone.

Not wanting to be questioned endlessly about it, Zhu Yunque had simply chosen not to reply.

She had intended to finish her errands first and then tell Lu Rangchen she was back — a surprise of sorts. But by some twist of fate, they had ended up running into each other early, and with both their mothers present, no less.

This made it look as though she had deliberately been keeping her return a secret from him.

Zhu Yunque felt a vague, helpless unease about it, but Lu Rangchen’s gaze continued to burn into her, refusing to give her any peace.

Left with no other choice, she forced herself to look composed. “Long time no see. I’m Zhu Yunque.”

It was a perfectly measured thing to say — and it was unclear exactly who it was directed at.

When she’d finished, she turned to face Cheng Liru and said in a soft, gentle voice, “Hello, Auntie Cheng.”

The moment those words fell, a quiet, barely perceptible sound of amusement stirred in the air.

Zhu Yunque’s fingertips curled slightly. She looked up and met Lu Rangchen’s dark, playful gaze fixed steadily on her.

Cheng Liru hadn’t seen this girl in a long time, but she remembered her quite clearly, and smiled warmly in response, turning to compliment Feng Yanlai. “This child just keeps getting prettier. I remember she still had quite a youthful, unpolished look in high school — if I hadn’t run into you today, I might not have recognized her at all.”

Feng Yanlai was always happy to hear someone praise her daughter, and smiled as she drew Zhu Yunque close to her side. “She’s grown another centimeter. I even took her to have her myopia corrected — she used to have a fairly strong prescription.”

She then made sure to compliment Lu Rangchen in turn. “But your son is truly exceptional — he’s so handsome every time I see him. He must have swept a lot of girls off their feet since starting university, I’d imagine.”

As she spoke, she made a point of turning to look at Zhu Yunque. “You two are at the same school — you must know.”

Cheng Liru knew Zhu Yunque was studying in the capital, but hadn’t known she attended Jingda.

Hearing this, she was mildly surprised. “Yunque is at Jingda too?”

Feng Yanlai said, “Yes, she’s studying English Literature there.”

Something seemed to dawn on Cheng Liru. Her gaze lingered on Zhu Yunque for a moment with a meaningful look.

She was just about to say something when Zhu Yunque spoke first. “The School of Liberal Arts and the School of Economics are quite far apart on campus. I don’t really know much about his side of things.”

She said it gently, her tone light and matter-of-fact, and with that cool composure, she neatly “distanced” the two of them from each other.

Cheng Liru smiled and said, “I see.”

The probing look in Feng Yanlai’s eyes faded as well, and she seemed to let out a quiet breath of relief.

Zhu Yunque kept her expression soft and docile, carrying it off with absolute conviction.

Lu Rangchen lifted his gaze and gave her a measured, imperceptible look, his expression revealing nothing. Then he spoke up suddenly. “Mom, you all carry on — I need to step out to take a call.”

All three pairs of eyes turned toward him.

Cheng Liru asked, “What call is so important you have to go outside for it?”

“The manager of the tennis team at school — needs to talk to me about something.”

Lu Rangchen’s tone was unhurried. “The supermarket’s too noisy.”

With that, he gave Feng Yanlai a slight nod, then cast a brief, almost imperceptible glance in Zhu Yunque’s direction and turned to leave.

As he passed by, the fabric of his clothes brushed against her with a quiet, intimate rustle.

Zhu Yunque’s heartbeat tripped.

She found herself involuntarily watching his tall, upright figure until it disappeared from sight, only then pulling her gaze back.

Not long after that, her phone buzzed.

Zhu Yunque looked down — it was a message from Lu Rangchen.

He got straight to the point: 【Come out.】

Zhu Yunque: “……”

At that moment, she was pushing the shopping cart, trailing behind the two women as they chatted idly together.

She stood still for a moment, then called out to Feng Yanlai. “Mom, I need to use the restroom.”

She still wore that same clear-eyed, well-behaved expression, with not a trace of any deception in her eyes.

Feng Yanlai paused for a second, about to say something, when Zhu Yunque cut in, pressing her lips together. “I think my period just started.”

At that, Cheng Liru immediately took charge with warm concern. “Oh, you’d better go quickly then — and you’re wearing a light-colored skirt too.”

They happened to be passing through the personal care aisle. She reached over and plucked a pack of sanitary pads from the shelf, handing it to her. “Do you have tissues in your bag?”

Zhu Yunque said she did.

Cheng Liru said, well then hurry along.

Since Cheng Liru had already said as much, Feng Yanlai had nothing more to add. She could only watch helplessly as Zhu Yunque turned and walked out of the supermarket.

The National Holiday had just ended, but the foot traffic in this supermarket was still considerable.

Zhu Yunque paid at the checkout and came out, which had taken a fair amount of time. Even so, when she stepped outside, she still found Lu Rangchen waiting by the entrance.

His tall frame was unmistakable — fair-skinned to an almost unreasonable degree, his facial features sharp and attractive, the kind of face anyone would look at twice. He seemed to have been telling the truth — he was actually on a call right now.

Long, pale fingers with well-defined joints held the phone, and his gaze, which had been angled slightly downward, locked onto Zhu Yunque the instant she came out without so much as a flicker of movement.

Zhu Yunque clutched the pack of sanitary pads, quietly looked down, and turned to walk toward the less crowded side.

She had barely gone a few turns when a sudden force from behind gripped her arm. She turned — and that force had already pinned her against the wall. Lu Rangchen stood right in front of her, their bodies barely apart.

It had been a few days since they’d seen each other — he seemed to have grown slightly thinner.

But those long, narrow, clear eyes of his still had that same quality, always drawing people in.

Zhu Yunque’s heart rate spiked. She looked up at him with wide, honest eyes.

Lu Rangchen fixed his gaze on her face, then lowered his eyes and pinched her chin, applying steady, deliberate pressure — like a punishment of sorts.

The soft flesh of both cheeks was caught in his grip.

It made Zhu Yunque look unexpectedly and unusually adorable.

She had barely gotten out the word “Lu—” when that infuriating man leaned in and kissed her, like he was bullying her.

This kiss was nothing like the gentle, tender ones before. There was something of retribution in it — fierce and demanding, laden with intent, pressing in with full force, as though he wanted to swallow her whole.

Zhu Yunque’s tongue went numb from the pressure, and a soft, involuntary sound escaped from her lips.

She pushed against him several times.

It wasn’t until someone walked past that Zhu Yunque finally managed to push him away — though not entirely.

She hung both arms over Lu Rangchen’s shoulders, burying her flushed, overheated face against his chest in embarrassment, dreading the thought of any stranger catching a glimpse.

The sanitary pads she had just bought lay on the ground.

Lu Rangchen glanced down at them, the corner of his mouth curving with mischief, and deliberately kicked them to one side.

Zhu Yunque caught it out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and shot him an indignant glare.

Finally the passerby was gone. Lu Rangchen took his time, composing himself with deliberate ease as he looked her over. He said slowly, “That lie of yours was awfully convincing.”

Zhu Yunque’s lips had been kissed to a faint red.

Her slight, slender frame was still firmly held in place by Lu Rangchen.

They say even a rabbit will bite when cornered.

Zhu Yunque simply stood on her tiptoes and, without warning, bit Lu Rangchen right on the throat.

Lu Rangchen didn’t dodge.

Only at the very last moment did a husky sound escape from him.

Not because it hurt — it was because she had left another mark on him.

A fairly vivid red impression on his throat, in a very conspicuous spot.

Lu Rangchen was beginning to think this girl really knew what she was doing.

Far more than he had ever imagined.

He glanced down at her a couple of times, then touched the spot with one hand, shook his head with a helpless sort of laugh, and leaned close to her ear. “How am I supposed to explain this when I go back, hm?”

Zhu Yunque said, “Just say someone beat you up.”

Lu Rangchen laughed with a stomach full of mischief. “Sure,” he said, “I’ll say I got beaten up by Zhu Yunque.”

When he said her name, it always sounded particularly good — better than any other word.

Zhu Yunque couldn’t help it. She stood on her tiptoes and bit his earlobe.

This time Lu Rangchen wasn’t about to let her have her way. The moment he saw her coming in for the bite, his large hand cupped the back of her head and steered her, tilting to meet her with a kiss instead.

This one wasn’t quite as fierce as before.

But the lingering, drawn-out quality of it was even more maddening.

Zhu Yunque found herself responding without meaning to. Before long she felt short of breath, as though her feet had left the ground entirely.

After what felt like a long time, Lu Rangchen finally brought himself to let her go. From her lips he traveled to the tip of her ear, breathing in the clean, sweet gardenia scent of her, and murmured quietly, “I kept dreaming about you these past two days.”

Zhu Yunque’s breathing gradually steadied, though her heartbeat remained restless and fierce.

Her eyelashes trembled. She said softly, “What did you dream about?”

Lu Rangchen’s hand pressed lightly into the soft curve of her waist, and he gave a low, quiet laugh. “What do you think?”

What else would a hot-blooded young man dream about when he dreamed of the girl he liked?

A wave of heat rose to Zhu Yunque’s cheeks.

Lu Rangchen rubbed his nose lightly against hers, his voice low and rough. “Why did you suddenly come back?”

Zhu Yunque could tell his temper had softened, and her own voice followed suit. She said, “I came back to see my grandmother, and my little brother.”

She paused, then looked up and met Lu Rangchen’s eyes steadily. “And to see you.”

The light moisture in Zhu Yunque’s eyes, her guileless, gentle expression — it was the kind of look that made it impossible to tell whether her words were true or false.

But whether true or false, Lu Rangchen didn’t care.

Having her stand in front of him was more than enough.

He tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and said, “How long are you staying?”

Zhu Yunque said, “I can leave once I’ve finished what I came to do.”

She asked him, “When are you leaving?”

Lu Rangchen’s gaze settled on her and didn’t want to move. He gave a quiet laugh. “Whenever you finish your business, that’s when I leave.”

Zhu Yunque pressed her lips together just slightly — like a smile.

She really was beautiful when she smiled. Her eyes lit up, bright and clear, her teeth small and very white, a little like a rabbit.

Lu Rangchen’s throat moved. He wanted to kiss her again.

But then his phone rang.

It was Cheng Liru.

He couldn’t really do anything about that. After a moment’s thought, he had no choice but to answer. He held the phone in one hand, while the other kept its steady, unhurried hold on Zhu Yunque.

Zhu Yunque made no move to pull away.

She rested her head obediently against his shoulder, soft and gentle as a small animal, listening to the mother and son exchange words.

Cheng Liru was nothing like the warm and gentle Cheng Liru she showed to Zhu Yunque. Her tone with him was rather impatient — she asked him what kind of call required him to step outside for so long, and told him the shopping was done and he should come back at once.

Lu Rangchen replied with an easy “alright,” offering no explanation for his extended absence outside.

As soon as that call ended, Zhu Yunque’s phone rang too.

It was Feng Yanlai — probably calling to hurry her along as well.

Zhu Yunque looked down at it for a couple of seconds and didn’t answer.

Lu Rangchen laughed. “Why aren’t you picking up?”

Zhu Yunque looked at him. “Can you answer your phone in the middle of using the restroom?”

Lu Rangchen narrowed his eyes, and a suppressed laugh came low from his throat.

It rang a few more times. Zhu Yunque raised her hand to cover Lu Rangchen’s mouth, making sure he couldn’t make a sound, and only then pressed the answer button.

Her hand was warm and soft, with a faint coolness to it, and the delicate fragrance of hand cream.

Lu Rangchen looked at her with a fondness he didn’t seem to notice himself, his eyes carrying a quiet, gentle smile.

Zhu Yunque had no trouble at all spinning a story. She told Feng Yanlai she was changing her pad and had only just seen the missed call.

Feng Yanlai asked if she had seen Lu Rangchen.

Zhu Yunque and Lu Rangchen exchanged a glance. She said no.

Feng Yanlai said alright then. “Hurry back — we’re all done shopping, and we need to get to the hospital soon.”

Zhu Yunque said yes in a placid, obedient tone.

The call ended, and Zhu Yunque’s shoulders relaxed slightly. She said, “I have to go back.”

She moved to pick up the sanitary pads from the ground.

But Lu Rangchen suddenly pulled her back.

Zhu Yunque asked, “What is it?”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow. “Afraid to let your mother find out about us?”

Zhu Yunque looked away. She said, “She probably wouldn’t want me to be with you.”

Something shifted briefly in Lu Rangchen’s eyes. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but decided it wasn’t the right moment and swallowed the words back. He nodded and said fine.

Then he went ahead and bent down himself to pick up the pack of sanitary pads — right there in front of passing strangers — tore open the packaging, pulled out two pieces and tossed them in the trash, then handed what remained back to Zhu Yunque.

Zhu Yunque stood there clutching the mostly-full pack, unable to stop herself from looking at him.

That gaze of hers held what seemed like a reluctance to part.

Lu Rangchen’s mouth curved. He reached out and gave her cheek a light pinch, then leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose, his voice deep and warm. “How are you so endearing?”

“……”

A faint, feather-light tremor brushed across her heart.

Zhu Yunque felt that little deer in her chest set off at a gallop again, and said, “You and your smooth talk.”

He laughed it off with easy indifference, then leaned close once more, his voice a murmur. “You go first.”

“……”

“Tonight I’ll find a way to come pick you up.”