Lemon Soda Candy - 16

Zhu Ran lowered his head and took out the key to open the classroom door, “I was having so much fun crushing opponents at the game center. Why do you suddenly want to go back to school? Did you forget something?”

Chen Luobai: "Homework.”

"Homework, I see, that's--" Zhu Ran began, but then paused and turned around in surprise, "You actually forgot to bring your homework?”

The guy, who does several papers to calm himself down after watching a match among literally any other thing he could do, was now forgetting his homework? 

"Enough talk, just open the door." Chen Luobai said.

Zhu Ran turned and opened the door, thinking of his bad mood since this morning, he looked back again and asked, “Did your parents quarrels get more intense this time?” 

Chen Luobai did not respond, he reached out and pushed open the door, his profile appearing extremely cold.

Zhu Ran had some guesses in his mind. 

He's afraid that the quarrel might be more serious than he thought. 

So he refrained from speaking further like he usually would, and followed Chen Luobai into the classroom.

Chen Luobai pulled out his chair and reached inside the desk to grab the test paper, but his palm accidentally came into contact with something. 

Two small objects. 

Noticing his sudden pause, Zhu Ran couldn't resist asking,”What's wrong?”

Chen Luobai took out the thing he touched, and spread out his palm, it turned out to be two candies. 

"Candy?" Zhu Ran looked with curiosity, "Why do you have candy in your desk? Did some girl leave it there for you again? No, that can't be right. The gifts those girls leave on your desk are always beautifully wrapped, with ribbons and all. There's no way they would leave just two candies there, could someone accidentally put it there by mistake?”

Chen Luobai also never encountered this situation before, "Maybe."

"Let me have one, I'm hungry." Zhu Ran said, reaching for the candy in his hand.

Chen Luobai closed his fingers, avoiding the outstretched claw.

"You're so stingy." Zhu Ran rolled his eyes, “I know Auntie Fang told you to always be considerate of others' feelings, even if you don't like them. But this candy is obviously not given by those girls. Who would confess their feelings with just two candies anyway? I think either someone accidentally left them there, or Ruirui and the others were sharing food and put two on your desk.”

Chen Luobai casually stuffed the item in his hand into his school uniform pants pocket, "I'll ask about it next week.”

"Let's see if I also have any in my desk." Zhu Ran said, walking to his own desk and reaching inside it. "Nothing, that's strange.”

Chen Luobai took out his test paper, "Let's go.”

Outside the school gates, Chen Luobai hailed a taxi at the intersection.

Since Zhu Ran lived closer to the school, the car first stopped at the entrance of his neighborhood.

The car door only opened halfway, when Zhu Ran inclined his head again to ask, "How about staying at my home tonight?"

"No need." Chen Luobai's slightly raised his chin, part of his face was concealed by the shadows, "Just go.”

After Zhu Ran left the car, the taxi drove for a few more minutes before reaching the entrance of another neighborhood.

When he arrived home, Chen Luobai noticed that the house was extremely quiet today. The nanny who usually stayed at home was nowhere to be seen, and the kitchen was empty.

He stood by the kitchen, pulled out his phone, checked his call history, scrolled through it a few times, then stopped. With a slight droop in his eyes, he ultimately did not dial out any number.

Chen Luobai carried his school bag into the study, switched on the desk lamp, and took out his test papers, laying them out on the desk.

By the time he completed the two sets of papers, it was already dark outside.

The lights shining outside the floor-to-ceiling window resembled stars in the night sky, and the cars at the road below are like a constant stream of prosperity.

Chen Luobai put his pen down and only now realized his hunger. 

He picked up the quiet phone, got up and made his way to the kitchen. When he opened the refrigerator, he discovered it was empty inside.

Just then, the phone rang. 

Upon seeing the name on the screen, Chen Luobai's movement to answer the call paused. 

It took him a few more seconds before he finally touched the screen to connect the call.

"Are you home?" The woman's voice came through the phone,”Something came up at Auntie Liu's family today, she had to take a sudden leave. She also mentioned that she didn't have time to restock the fridge. Mom was busy and forgot to tell you. Have you had your meal?”

Chen Luobai stood by the refrigerator, "Not yet.”

"Why?" Fang Jin asked over the phone, "Should I order something and deliver it to you? What do you want to eat, near the law firm there's a new–”

Chen Luobai looked down and interrupted her, "Mom.”

"Yes?" Fang Jin asked. 

Chen Luobai remained silent, leaning against the refrigerator.

"Luobai?" Fang Jin asked again, "You still there?”

After a few seconds of pause, Chen Luobai said, "Are you planning to divorce?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Fang Jin responded, "You heard it last night?”

Chen Luobai whispered, "Yeah.”

"Sorry, we must've disturbed your sleep, mom will pay more attention in the future." Fang Jin paused, "The divorce thing was just brought up in the heat of the moment yesterday. There are indeed some issues between me and your dad. But rest assured, neither of us has committed any unforgivable mistakes, we just have a clash of personalities. So please give mom and dad some time to calm down first. I promise that if there is really a possibility the situation escalates to the point of divorce, we will discuss it with you first and not keep you in the dark. Will this be okay?”

Chen Luobai slowly relaxed his grip on his phone, "Okay.”

"So what do you want to eat for dinner?" Fang Jin returned to the previous topic.

Hearing what seemed like a knock on the other end of the phone, Chen Luobai said, "You go ahead and get busy, I'll order it myself.”

After ending the call, Chen Luobai opened a food delivery app and browsed through a few restaurants that he often eats at, but the delivery time would take over half an hour for most of them.

He closed the app, his free left hand fell down, accidentally brushed against the pocket of his school uniform pants, then he heard a small rustling sound coming from inside.

It was the two candies.

Chen Luobai reached in and took them out.

Two candies lay quietly in his hand.

Some Japanese words and a lemon were printed on the wrapper.

There was no packaging, just two small candies, randomly stuffed in a corner of his desk. 

Looking at it again, it really doesn't seem like a gift from a girl. Just like what Zhu Ran said, it was probably just a shared snack left on his desk by Tang Jianrui and others. 

Chen Luobai, feeling extremely hungry, stopped thinking too much about it. He opened one and put it into his mouth. He thought it would be sweet and greasy, but it tasted much better than expected.

Like lemonade.

He didn't know if it was because of Fang Jin's reassurance or the refreshing taste in his mouth, most of the restlessness he had been feeling all day seemed to vanish instantly.

Chen Luobai opened the call log again and dialed Zhu Ran's number, "Come out to eat?”

"Eat what?" Zhu Ran asked over the phone, "Your treat?”

Chen Luobai's tongue pushed the hard candy against one side of his mouth, asked rhetorically, "How about you treat?”

On the other end of the phone, Zhu Ran hesitated for two seconds, calculating his remaining pocket money for the month, then as if he had made some huge decision, said very bitterly, "Fine, I'll treat you.”

Chen Luobai smiled, "No, it's on me. Take a taxi and come downstairs at my place.”

***

Zhou Anran regretted it as soon as she returned home.

What kind of person would give just two pieces of candies as a gift? 

It was just too unseemly. 

She can't imagine what he would think when he saw it.

She could still go back and retrieve it now, but she doesn't dare to do so. What If she accidentally runs into a classmate and gets caught? 

During dinner, He Jiayi noticed a bruise on Zhou Anran's hand and saw her looking lost in thought. Concerned, she asked, "Ranran, did someone bully you at school?”

Zhou Anran snapped out of her thought and hurriedly shook her head, "No.”

"Really?" He Jiayi confirmed with her, "Then what happened to your hand?”

Zhou Anran looked down and saw the blue mark on her hand that had accidentally hit his desk out of nervousness, feeling more and more embarrassed,”I accidentally bumped it while cleaning. My classmates are all very kind, and I also always have Xixi with me.”

He Jiayi was relieved, "Be more careful next time. Get some ice and apply it later.”

After dinner, Zhou Anran didn't join Zhou Xianhong to watch the CBA game as usual. She excused herself saying she had a lot of homework this week, took the ice from He Jiayi, and retreated to her room.

However, she found herself unable to focus on her homework. Thinking to choose A, but ended up ticking B.

In the end, Zhou Anran stopped pushing herself, she took a shower and went to bed early.

She turned off the light, then slowly pulled the quilt up to cover her face, hiding her whole body under it, sighing deeply.

***

Zhou Anran spent the whole weekend in worry and regret. On Monday morning, she even got up late, something she rarely did.

Usually, she was often the one who waited for Yan Xingxi. But with her idol's CDs and merchs still in Song Qiu's hands, Yan Xingxi has become much more diligent than before now. That day, she waited for her for more than ten minutes.

When they finally met downstairs, Yan Xingxi asked curiously, "Why did you get up so late today?”

Zhou Anran linked arms with her and headed out of the neighborhood, "I didn't sleep well last night.”

She really didn't sleep well last night.

She had an absurd dream.

She dreamed that Chen Luobai found the candies on his desk when he returned to school. He put the two candies on the desk, then Zhu Ran next to him teased him loudly. 

"Yo, which girl gave our Luo ge candy?”

Yan Xingxi, who was sitting next to her, suddenly stood up at this time, climbed onto the chair, and condescendingly pointed her finger at her, "It's her!”

She exclaimed, "It's Zhou Anran, the cheapskate who only gave him two candies!”

Then the entire class turned to look at her. 

Recalling this, Zhou Anran unconsciously gave Yan Xingxi a resentful look.

Yan Xingxi noticed her look, "Why are you looking at me like that?”

Zhou Anran: "......”

“It's nothing,” Zhou Anran replied, “I just had a dream last night where you scolded me.”

Yan Xingxi was curious, "You dreamt that I scolded you? What did I say?”

"You called me a cheapskate." Zhou Anran also felt that she did act quite like a cheapskate last Friday.

"Dreams are the opposite of reality, I would never call you a cheapskate." Yan Xingxi pulled her arm out of her hand and put it on her shoulder, smiling, "That being said, you'll definitely be generous enough to treat me to some milk tea this afternoon, right?”

Zhou Anran: "......?”

Zhou Anran always looked forward to going to school early so that she could see him sooner. However, as she neared the school gate, she felt a sense of resistance in her heart. The feeling only grew stronger, when they arrived at the downstairs of the teaching building.  

It wasn't that she didn't want to see him.

She was just a little afraid that he would find out about the two candies, and even more so, she dreaded the reaction he might have when he found out.

In the past, she always pulled Yan Xingxi to enter through the back door, so when they reached the classroom, Yan Xingxi automatically led her towards the back door without a second thought.

The more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.

As soon as Zhou Anran entered the classroom, she found that Chen Luobai had already come today.

The boy sits sideways in his chair, with one hand resting on the back of the chair, stretching his long legs to kick Tang Jianrui's desk in front of him, “Ruirui, did you put candies into my desk last Friday?”

Zhou Anran felt her heart stop.

---

← Previous | Table of Contents | Next →

0