Lemon Soda Candy - 73
Walking arm in arm, Zhou Anran and Yan Xingxi stepped into the classroom just as Dong Chen was heading out the front door.
Dong Chen paused, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Yan Xingxi, you’ve already transferred out. What are you doing in our class?”
Yan Xingxi rolled her eyes dramatically. “None of your damn business. Good dogs don’t block the way, you know?”
Dong Chen: “Good dog? Talking about yourself?”
These two started bickering the moment they laid eyes on each other, even after being separated in different classes.
But Zhou Anran’s mind was elsewhere, worrying about the person who’d been called away by the homeroom teacher. She had no mind to watch them argue. Letting go of Yan Xingxi’s arm, she said, “You two chat first.”
Yan Xingxi quickly grabbed her arm back. “No way, what would I have to chat to him?”
With that, she shoved past Dong Chen’s shoulder, pulling Zhou Anran into the classroom.
Zhang Shuxian hadn’t arrived yet, so Zhou Anran took her seat.
Yan Xingxi sat in Zhou Anran’s spot. Seeing Zhou Anran’s lips still pressed together, she comforted her, “Don’t worry. That’s Chen Luobai we’re talking about. What teacher would have the heart to do anything to him?”
A part of Zhou Anran’s heart still felt heavy. “But—”
But she wasn’t sure if the homeroom teacher had called him away because of what had happened earlier.
Moreover, his every move attracted attention. Ever since that day last month when he publicly gave her snacks in the classroom to cheer her up, rumors about the two of them possibly dating had been circulating around the school nonstop.
“No buts,” Yan Xingxi interrupted, leaning onto her desk. “You’re always overthinking things. Didn’t he say it’s probably good news? If you don’t believe me, at least believe him.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
He loved teasing her, his words often half-true, half-joking. She couldn’t be sure if what he’d said earlier was the truth.
Just like she still couldn’t quite figure out his true feelings.
But Zhou Anran didn’t want Yan Xingxi to worry either, so she gave a soft “Mhm.”
Yan Xingxi pointed at her backpack. “Then hurry up and see what he gave you in there?”
Zhou Anran had been so caught up worrying about him that she’d forgotten he’d put something into her bag. Now, reminded, she unzipped it and found a small black gift box inside.
Opening it, she saw a small rabbit charm that could be hung on a backpack lay inside.
“Hey, this rabbit kinda looks like you,” Yan Xingxi said, leaning over. She poked the rabbit, then, as if hitting her own funny bone, collapsed onto the desk laughing. “So white and soft. He’s got good taste.”
Zhou Anran also reached out and poked the little rabbit, a small, unconscious smile touching her lips.
Soon after, Zhang Shuxian arrived.
Yan Xingxi squeezed in with them and chatted for a few more minutes. As the morning self-study session neared, she went upstairs back to her own classroom.
When the warning bell rang, Zhou Anran glanced back.
His seat was still empty.
Zhou Anran’s heart sank a little further.
Why wasn’t he back yet?
What exactly did the homeroom teacher want to talk to him about?
Zhou Anran turned back around, trying to focus on memorizing vocabulary, but her mind wandered. No sound came from behind her, but just a second before the morning self-study bell, she heard the faint scrape of a chair from the seat behind her—the boy who sat there must have arrived.
Then, something tapped her shoulder lightly.
Zhou Anran assumed it was someone from behind passing homework forward. She paid it little mind, reaching back without turning her head.
Only after taking it did she realize something was off. The object in her hand was heavier than the usual notebook or test paper.
Zhou Anran looked down.
What had been passed from behind was a spiral notebook, and it was open. On the page was a line of bold, familiar handwriting.
“Do you like the gift?”
Zhou Anran froze, then whirled around.
The boy who’d been called away by the teacher was now, somehow, sitting at the desk directly behind hers. The school’s blue-and-white uniform always looked exceptionally crisp on him. He was casually spinning a black pen with one hand, his chin propped in the other, his dark eyes sparkling with a smile.
Their gazes collided unexpectedly. Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly turned back.
Morning self-study had already begun. Zhou Anran didn’t dare keep turning around. She waited for her heartbeat to calm, then lowered her head. Her shoulder-length black hair hid her slightly flushed ears. Picking up her pen, she wrote below his line: “I like it.”
His handwriting was bold and vigorous.
Hers, by comparison, looked tiny next to his. It also made those two words, “like it,” seem somehow more ambiguous.
But she really did like it, and couldn’t bring herself to deny it.
Biting her lip, Zhou Anran decided to add two more questions she’d been wanting to ask: “Why are you sitting behind me now? What did Teacher Gao want?”
With this long string of characters, it finally looked less ambiguous.
Zhou Anran glanced left and right. Seeing no teacher nearby, she quietly passed the notebook back to him.
A few seconds later, her shoulder was tapped again.
Zhou Anran took it. Below her line, he had written another.
“You’ll find out later.”
Zhou Anran wrinkled her nose.
Why was he being so secretive?
She gripped the pen in her hand.
He’d even given her a gift. It was okay to ask one more question, right?
Zhou Anran bowed her head and wrote another line: “Can’t I know now?”
A few seconds later, he replied: “Nope. Ever watched a TV show? Gotta keep some suspense to hook the audience.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
Where did he get all these nonsensical, twisted logics?
He wasn’t a TV show.
And she wasn’t his audience.
But somehow, the corners of her lips still curved into a faint smile.
After morning self-study, Zhou Anran accompanied Zhang Shuxian to the restroom.
Returning through the back door, she noticed the seat in the second row, sixth desk was empty. So was the one behind her. Where had he gone now?
Zhou Anran and Zhang Shuxian walked hand-in-hand towards their seats. A boy from their class, for some reason, suddenly came rushing back in a frantic hurry, shouting “Make way!” Zhou Anran and Zhang Shuxian let go of each other’s hands and moved aside to let him pass.
In the process, Zhou Anran accidentally knocked a book off the desk behind hers. After the boy rushed off, she bent down to pick it up. As her eyes swept over the desk behind, she felt something was off.
She didn’t think too much about it, and simply picked up the fallen math textbook.
As she stood up, a low, familiar voice sounded behind her, laced with amusement. “I’ve only been gone a little while, and you’re already rummaging through my stuff?”
?
Zhou Anran, holding the math book, turned to face him. “How is this your stuff?”
Even though he’d switched to sit behind her for the morning self-study session, if he were to bring any books over, it would surely be for English or Chinese, not math.
Chen Luobai leaned casually on the desk behind, one eyebrow slightly raised. “Don’t believe me? Open it and see for yourself.”
Zhou Anran opened the cover of the math book in her hand.Her eyes immediately fell on the name scrawled in bold, flamboyant strokes on the first page—
“Chen Luobai”
Zhou Anran was stunned.
How come it was really his book?
She looked up at him, then down at the desk, finally realizing where that earlier strange sense had came from.
The books on the desk were arranged differently than usual—not too neat, but not messy either. It felt like his style.
A thought flashed through her mind, too quick to grasp, when Zhu Ran pushed Chen Luobai from behind. “If you’re gonna talk to Zhou Anran, can't you stand by her side? Why block the way?”
Chen Luobai stepped aside.
Zhu Ran squeezed past him and sat down at the desk behind Zhang Shuxian.
No need to chase that thought anymore.
The truth was right in front of her.
Zhou Anran’s heart swelled with surprise and disbelief. Looking up at him, her eyes widened. “You guys moved to sit behind us?”
Chen Luobai’s lips curved. “Told you it was good news.”
Zhou Anran’s heart gave a little jump.
Was changing seats good news?
Or was him moving to the desk behind hers the good news… for him?
Zhou Anran didn’t dare ask.
She still didn’t dare reveal her own feelings in front of him.
Zhou Anran placed the math textbook back on his desk, her voice soft. “Class is about to start.”
Chen Luobai watched her put the book down, looking like she really intended to just sit back down. His eyelashes lowered slightly. “Zhou Anran, is this how you treat your new back deskmate? So cold?”
Zhou Anran blinked. “Cold?”
What did he want her to do then?
“No way,” she said quietly, testing the waters. “Do you want me to throw you a welcome ceremony or something?”
Chen Luobai: “A welcome ceremony isn’t necessary.”
Zhou Anran let out a small breath of relief.
But the next second, Chen Luobai suddenly leaned forward, his tall frame looming over her. His dark eyes locked onto hers, his voice low and close, almost whispering in her ear. “Just say ‘Welcome, new deskmate’ for me to hear.”
His sudden closeness sent her heart racing to her throat.
Even though he maintained a respectful distance.
They were in the classroom.
Her face flushed instantly. She retreated two steps as if escaping. “Class is really starting soon.”
Without looking at him again, she sat back down in her seat. But she faintly heard the boy give a soft laugh, as if particularly pleased with himself after teasing her.
Zhang Shuxian, who had witnessed the entire exchange, couldn’t help but scribble a note and pass it to Zhu Ran’s desk.
“Don’t you think we’re especially redundant here?”
Zhu Ran replied quickly: “Not just us. Don’t you think the whole class is pretty redundant?”
Zhou Anran didn’t notice their note-passing. It was only when the warning bell rang that her heartbeat gradually steadied, and a trace of doubt finally surfaced.
The homeroom teacher had talked to him for so long this morning. It couldn’t just be about switching seats, could it?
But if it was about the school rumors regarding them, would the teacher really let him move to the seat behind her?
Zhou Anran thought for a moment but couldn’t find an answer. As the bell for class rang, she pushed down her curiosity. She didn’t plan to ask him again, knowing him, she might not yield an answer and would end up teased by him instead.
Regardless, him moving to sit behind her couldn’t possibly be a bad sign.
The first monthly exam of the new semester was scheduled for the day after they returned to school.
Zhou Anran barely had time to process what it was like having him sit behind her before she was thrown into the exam room.
Her final exam ranking from last semester was the same as her ranking in the last monthly exam, so she was assigned in the same seat as last semester’s final.
The first exam that morning was math.
Once in the exam room, Zhou Anran took out her pencil case, water, and other supplies from her backpack.
After retrieving the last item, just as she was about to zip up her bag, she heard a tap on the window beside her.
Zhou Anran turned her head.
A tall boy in school uniform stood outside the window, casting a large shadow. A clear smile played in his eyes. If not for the morning sun streaming in from the other side of the classroom, leaving his shoulders free of dancing golden light, the scene would have been almost identical to the one after finals last semester.
This time, Zhou Anran didn’t drop anything in surprise, but her heart still beat faster.
Mainly because he drew attention wherever he appeared.
Most people in the exam room were from other classes, unlike their own classmates who were somewhat accustomed to their interactions by now. The moment he stood by her window, all eyes in the room turned towards them in unison.
Trying to ignore the stares, Zhou Anran reminded him, “The exam’s about to start.”
Chen Luobai gave a casual “Mm.” “Hold out your hand.”
Zhou Anran blinked. “What for?”
Chen Luobai: “Just hold it out first.”
Zhou Anran’s ears grew warm. Continuing to pretend the entire exam room wasn’t watching, she obediently stretched her hand out towards him.
A cool sensation landed in her palm.
The boy had placed a bottle of milk in her hand.
“Good luck on the exam,” he said.
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