Lemon Soda Candy - 28

Chen Luobai walked to the back door of Class 3 and knocked.

It was already evening self-study time, and several students turned their heads at the sound. 

Ignoring the stares, Chen Luobai focused on Zong Kai, who sat in the last seat of the first row. "We need to talk.”

Zong Kai set his pen down, "I was expecting for you to come find me. Let's go."

They walked down the stairs in silence, Zong Kai spoke first, "Where should we talk?”

Chen Luobai hadn't thought about it. His gaze drifted to the playground across them. It was empty with no sports students training tonight.

"Let's talk on the playground."

Zong Kai agreed, "Alright.”

At the playground, Chen Luobai strolled over to the football goal and leaned against the frame. 

The weather was muggy throughout the day, as evening approached, the wind began to pick up, as if it was finally going to rain.

"Why?" Chen Luobai asked quietly. 

Zong Kai was silent for a moment, "Didn't I mention I want to help you?"

Chen Luobai looked up, "I thought we were best friends."

The playground fell silent again. 

There was only the sound of rustling leaves swaying in the wind behind them.

After a long while, Zong Kai whispered, "I want Yizhen to give up on you as soon as possible."

"You’re the one who brings her around me every day." Chen Luobai kicked the pebbles scattered at his feet,“I never approached her, not before I figured out her feelings, nor after. Why couldn’t you just be upfront with me?”

Zong Kai has been waiting for Chen Luobai to come to him ever since he heard about what happened in Class 2, or more specifically, since he slipped the ‘love letter’ into Zhou Anran's book.

He had hoped that once Chen Luobai found out about it, he would confront or even fight with him, and they might still be friends in the future. However, Chen Luobai's calm demeanor made Zong Kai realize that things might be beyond repair.

"Sorry."

He had hesitated and considered asking for help directly, but his ridiculous pride prevented him from opening his mouth.

"I was being selfish. I didn't expect——"

He imagined many scenarios.

The one he never imagined was that it would be caught by the dean.

"……sorry."

Chen Luobai thought of the girl's pale face, "I'm not the one you should say sorry to."

"How is she now?" Zong Kai asked, "Has she gone back to class? I want to apologize to her.”

Chen Luobai: "She's still with Lao Zhao."

Zhao Qiming was the Dean of No. 2 High School.

"Why is she still with Lao Zhao? This matter has nothing to do with her. You didn't explain the truth to Lao Zhao?”

Zong Kai stared at Chen Luobai in surprise.

But the light in the playground was too dim, and the boy's emotions were hard to read.

"I didn’t get the chance."

Zong Kai was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Chen Luobai didn’t answer and suddenly turned around.

From this position, he could see the spot where he had knelt to tie his shoelaces last Friday, as well as the entrance to the teaching building where the slender figure in a black skirt later ran in.

"She's the one who gave me medicine that night."

"It's her." Zong Kai didn't say he couldn't remember this time. Chen Luobai said it with certainty, and it was not a question, "She might like you."

Chen Luobai shifted his gaze back, "I know."

If he still doesn't know by now, he would be more than just a fool.

"Why didn't you stay with her in the office?" Zong Kai asked again.

Chen Luobai: "She's not in a good mood."

After saying those words in tearful voices, she really started crying.

And the moment he spoke, she cried even harder, just...

Just like that day on the rooftop.

Lao Zhao, who has taught countless students, must have also noticed and asked him to step out first.

Outside the office, he felt lost, wandering aimlessly. Once he calmed down a bit, he remembered he needed to find Zong Kai. He had to understand the situation first to figure out what to do next.

Zong Kai closed his eyes, "I'll go with you to explain to Lao Zhao. This matter has nothing to do with either of you."

"I don't know—" Chen Luobai paused.

Zong Kai had never heard him sound so hesitant and confused before, "What?” 

"Never mind.” Chen Luobai slipped his hand into his pocket as he rose to his feet. "Let’s go see her first and figure out how to explain after."

When they reached Zhao Qiming's office, they found the door closed and the lights off. 

Just then, the door of the office beside it suddenly opened.

Chen Luobai called out to the person who came out, "Teacher Li, is Teacher Zhao not in the office?"

"Dean Zhao?" Teacher Li replied, "He’s gone home for a personal matter.”

Chen Luobai: "What about the girl he just called into the office?”

"Her parents came to pick her up," said Teacher Li.

Chen Luobai was taken aback,"Her parents?"

"She seemed a bit down, so Lao Zhao called her parents over. They happened to be nearby." Teacher Li had something else to do, and didn't have time to talk to them,"I don't know the specifics; you can ask Dean Zhao about it tomorrow.”

Teacher Li hurried off towards the stairs. 

The office building is always much quieter than the teaching building. For a moment, the only noise that pierced the air was the echo of hurried footsteps 

Zong Kai looked at Chen Luobai, whose expression was still obscured by the shadows. "Don't worry. I'll come with you to meet Dean Zhao tomorrow morning and clarify everything.”

As the sound of footsteps fade away.

The office building fell to a complete silent.

After a long time, Zong Kai didn't hear his reply.

***

As expected, it rained heavily in Nancheng that night. The rain persisted until the next day, but the downpour had eased slightly.

Traffic jams are a frequent occurrence during rainy weather.

Chen Luobai deliberately left much earlier than usual, but was stuck in traffic for a long time. By the time he finally reached school, there were only ten minutes left before the morning self-study began. 

He entered through the back door, set down his umbrella, and noticed that the fourth seat in the second row was empty.

Chen Luobai had no clue what time she usually arrived at school.

Until two days ago, he hadn't even noticed where she sat this semester.

Her deskmate wasn't there either.

However, the boy seated in front of her was present.

Chen Luobai made his way to her desk.

The books on the girl's desk were meticulously organized by size and color. There is only one English book haphazardly placed in the center.

He heard that the love letter from yesterday was hidden in her English book.

Chen Luobai leaned against her desk and patted the shoulder of the boy in the seat in front of hers.

"Luo ge." The boy called Yang Hong turned around and looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Zhou Anran hasn't come yet?" Chen Luobai asked.

Yang Hong didn't expect he would ask about Zhou Anran, and was a little confused, but thinking of the unfolding scandal from the previous afternoon, he thought it made sense, "Not yet."

Chen Luobai: "What time does she usually arrive?"

Yang Hong pondered for a moment, "I'm not really sure. I'm not familiar with her, we never sat together before. But she has been coming in pretty early lately.” 

Chen Luobai lowered his eyes and said nothing, not sure what he was thinking.

Yang Hong was quite familiar with him, and was curious about the relationship between Chen Luobai and Zhou Anran. He had never seen them ever talk with each other before, so how did he suddenly reach the stage of writing a love letter to confess his love? However, seeing the grim expression on Chen Luobai's face— different from his usual smiling face, he decided to keep his questions to himself.

The boy beside him turned around, “Luo ge, are you looking for Zhou Anran?"

Chen Luobai nodded.

The boy: ”She usually comes with Yan Xingxi, but today, I saw Yan Xingxi came alone. Just a moment ago, Zhang Shuxian—Zhou Anran's deskmate—seemed to get a call when she came, and hurriedly put down her school bag. It sounded like she went to the sixth floor to find Yan Xingxi."

"Which classroom is Yan Xingxi in?" Chen Luobai asked him.

"Yan Xingxi is now in Liberal Arts Class 1 on the sixth floor, the first classroom on the right."

"Thanks." Chen Luobai stood up and was about to leave through the front door, only to find someone blocking his way. 

Lou Yiqi boldly stopped him, she wanted to explain what happened yesterday afternoon. She opened her mouth to speak, "Yesterday I—"

She had only said two words, but a frosty glare from the boy in front of her cut her off.

While hanging out with Yin Yizhen, Lou Yiqi had shared a few meals with him.

Although Chen Luobai was never overly warm towards girls and has always maintained his distance, no matter how distant he was, he was always polite.

This was the first time Lou Yiqi experienced such coldness from him, he said coldly.

"I don't remember your name, but you seem to know me better than myself."

Lou Yiqi felt her breath catch in her throat. 

Without sparing her another glance, Chen Luobai sidestepped past her, and strode out of the front door.

Zhu Ran walked to the front door and saw him striding up the stairs.

"AhLuo, where are you going?"

Zhu Ran called out, but didn't see him turn around. He hurried back to the classroom, tossed his umbrella aside and dashed after him.

Chen Luobai went up to the sixth floor. Near the first classroom on the right, he saw three girls talking from a distance with their backs leaning on the railing. The one in the middle had her head down and appeared to be crying.

He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

As he drew closer, Chen Luobai realized that it wasn’t just the girl in the middle who was crying, all three girl's eyes were red, but the one standing in the middle was obviously crying the hardest

Although he couldn't really remember the names of the girls in the class, they had shared a classroom for a year after all, he tried to recognize them.

Chen Luobai looked at the one in the middle, "Yan Xingxi, is Zhou Anran not coming today?"

Hearing him, Yan Xingxi, who was crying breathlessly, raised her head and glared at him, "She's transferring to another school, are you happy now?”

"What did you..." Chen Luobai paused, as if he couldn't understand the sentence, "Say?"

Last night, He Jiayi had picked up Zhou Anran early, and Yan Xingxi couldn't go back with her. When she got home, she made a trip to Zhou Anran's house, but He Jiayi told her that Zhou Anran was already asleep.

Feeling worried, she got up early today and instead of waiting downstairs like usual, she went to Zhou Anran's house to go to school together. However, she learned from He Jiayi that Zhou Anran was going to transfer schools, and also learned the secret that Zhou Anran had kept hidden for over a year.

Just yesterday, they agreed with Zhou Anran to have hot pot together again next time, yet today, without any warning, her best friend was suddenly moving to a school in another city.

Since elementary school, Yan Xingxi had never been apart from Zhou Anran for long.

Yan Xingxi knew that Zhou Anran family's circumstances also played part in her transfer to another school, she couldn't lay all the blame on Chen Luobai, but apart from blaming him, she didn't seem to know who to blame at that moment.

She sniffed, "I was wondering why she was so keen on helping you during the game last semester, why she suddenly decided to watch games with Uncle Zhou out of the blue.” 

"You mean—" Chen Luobai suddenly raised his eyes to look at her again, his throat slightly dry, "She was the one who helped me in the basketball game last semester?"

Sheng Xiaowen was more composed than Yan Xingxi, upon hearing this, she quickly tugged Yan Xingxi's arm. 

Yan Xingxi cried all morning, her thoughts were a bit muddled, she quickly came to her senses, "No, you heard it wrong. We're going in."

Chen Luobai stood there and noticed something fall out of Yan Xingxi's trousers pocket as she walked.

He didn’t think much of it until the little object rolled right to his feet.

Glancing down, he saw it was a piece of candy with a lemon and some Japanese words on the wrapper.

This time, it was Zhang Shuxian who tugged at Yan Xingxi, "Xixi, you dropped something."

Yan Xingxi turned her head, seeing the candy on the ground, her mood suddenly collapsed again. She crouched down, her voice trembling with sobs, "Huhuhu, Ranran bought this for me.”

Zhu Ran chased Chen Luobai to the second floor but couldn't see him anywhere. He returned to the classroom to ask around and learned that he went to the sixth floor to look for Yan Xingxi, and followed him there.

In front of the liberal arts classroom, Zhu Ran spotted Chen Luobai standing in the corridor with his head down, his expression unclear.

Zhu Ran didn't understand what was going on and could only remind him, "AhLuo, it's time for self-study. Let's head down first."

"Zhu Ran." Chen Luobai raised his head. "That day, the day before the final exam last semester, when did the rumor about me and Yin Yizhen going on a date at the arcade start circulating?”

Zhu Ran paused, taken aback, "Why are you bringing this up now? Let me think…. the person who sent me the message seemed to mention that it had been going around for a bit, probably not long after class in the afternoon. Why?"

"Nothing, just..." Chen Luobai slowly clenched his hand at his side, his voice dropped to a whisper, so low that it seemed like he was talking to himself, "I think I know why she cried that day.”

---

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