Lemon Soda Candy - 79

The days that followed seemed to pass more quickly.

Zhou Anran had climbed several spots in the midterm rankings, breaking into the top forty for the first time.

After that, Chen Luobai continued to explain problems to her, and she still frequently moved to sit at his desk behind hers.

Once, Zhang Shuxian, listening to the problem-solving sounds coming from behind them, glanced at Zhu Ran and said, "The two of them aren't dating, and seriously studying all day. Doesn't it make us seem like total slackers in comparison?"

Zhu Ran nodded in agreement. "I feel the same."

Zhang Shuxian: "I actually got this problem wrong too, the one Chen Luobai is explaining."

Zhu Ran: "Me too."

After saying this, he reached out and nudged his desk in the back row. "Hey, Chen. Since you're just explaining problems and not whispering sweet nothings, you don't mind if we listen in, right?"

Chen Luobai looked up, a slight lift to his eyebrow. "Listen if you want."

And so, it often became him explaining problems to Zhou Anran, Zhu Ran, and Zhang Shuxian, who sat in the front row.

Zhou Anran didn't have many problems that needed his help, and she didn't want to interrupt his own studies, so they eventually fixed the time to the twenty minutes before evening self-study began. If she had questions, he would explain them. If not, they would just sit together and do their own homework.

Later, Tang Jianrui and the others also often came over to listen in on the explanations.

Once, the Dean of Students, Zhao Qiming, passed by Class 2 and saw a large group gathered together. Thinking they were up to some mischief, he crept in quietly and eavesdropped for a few minutes, only to leave with a pleased expression, hands clasped behind his back.

Later, at a grade-level meeting, Zhao Qiming publicly praised their class for its exceptionally good academic atmosphere.

Zhou Anran secretly saw Zhu Ran below, stifling his laughter until his face turned red.

The person next to him, however, looked completely unruffled. Only when he caught her gaze did he raise an eyebrow slightly at her.

By the next monthly exam, Zhou Anran's ranking had improved again.

In the blink of an eye, the entire semester was over.

After final exams came the usual homeroom period.

When it ended, Zhou Anran no longer needed to secretly observe his packing progress like last year.

After Chen Luobai packed his own things, he leaned against her desk, waiting for her to finish.

She no longer had to follow secretly behind him either. Instead, she walked beside him, leaving the school gates with her friends and his friends, a whole large group.

After exiting the school gates, he didn't immediately part ways with her but accompanied her all the way to the bus stop.

Zhou Anran finally mustered the courage to say the words she had only dared think to him last year: "Happy New Year. See you next semester."

Chen Luobai stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly reached out and pinched her cheek.

Zhou Anran covered her cheek, wrinkling her nose as she looked up at him.

The boy still wore that especially pleased expression he got after teasing her, the corners of his lips curved in a bright, boyish smile. "Don't just see me next semester. Let's meet during winter break too."

Winter break still meant endless homework.

Before Zhou Anran could meet up with him, she first received some good news—

Zhou Xianhong had quit his job with his uncle's company and would be joining Mingsheng's headquarters next year.

The evening he successfully resigned, Mrs. He was so happy she cooked a huge table full of dishes to celebrate.

After having this celebratory dinner with her parents, Zhou Anran chatted with them in the living room for a while before returning to her room. She quietly took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to a certain someone visiting relatives in Beicheng.

Zhou Anran: [I have some good news to tell you.] 

The reply came quickly.

c: [Miss me?] 

Zhou Anran's face warmed: [Not that!] 

c: [Is that so.] 

c: [Then I won't miss you either.] 

Zhou Anran's lips curved up: [I'm being serious.] 

c: [Ok] 

c: [Go ahead.] 

Zhou Anran: [My dad is about to change jobs. It's still that company he was going to before, but this time it's at the headquarters here in Nancheng.] 

c: [Doesn't that call for a celebration?] 

Zhou Anran was just about to tell him her mom had cooked a big feast today to celebrate when his next message popped up.

c: [It's too late today.] 

c: [I'll have a gift sent to you tomorrow.] 

Zhou Anran received his gift the very next afternoon.

Opening the express box revealed a small gift box.

Inside the small gift box was another rabbit keychain.

It was somewhat similar in style to the one hanging on her backpack, but much smaller, about a quarter the size of her palm. Anything miniaturized seemed to instantly multiply in cuteness by infinite amounts.

Zhou Anran gently lifted the little rabbit from the box and was about to attach it to her phone when she saw a small card underneath the rabbit.

She set the rabbit aside and took out the card, opening it.

On it was his unmistakably familiar handwriting—

"For my heartless, unfeeling back deskmate who doesn't miss me at all."

The "heartless, unfeeling back deskmate" finally met up with him after the Spring Festival, when their large group made plans to see that year's New Year's blockbuster.

While buying milk tea with Yan Xingxi and the others, Zhou Anran specifically asked him if he wanted any. He said no.

But when the movie was about a third of the way through, Zhou Anran felt his refreshing scent suddenly draw near. His voice sounded very close to her ear, unusually low: "Zhou Anran, I'm thirsty."

Zhou Anran turned her head, her gaze meeting his dark eyes in the dim light.

She also kept her voice soft: "I asked you before the movie started, and you said you didn't want any."

Chen Luobai's gaze lingered on the milk tea in her hand for a second, his voice seemingly dropping even lower. "Will you allow me to drink yours?"

Zhou Anran's ears quietly grew warm, her eyelashes lowering, but she didn't pull her hand back.

It was a silent consent.

A second later, the milk tea in her hand was taken by that cool, pale, and slender large hand.

Zhou Anran saw the boy lower his head and take her straw into his mouth.

Her face instantly became burning hot.

That year's New Year's blockbuster was just an ordinary commercial film, maybe a six or seven out of ten. Zhou Anran forgot the plot not long after.

But the feeling of her heart racing at that moment, and the look in the boy's eyes when he bit her straw, stayed with her for a long, long time.

In the second semester of their second year, Chen Luobai wore the wrist guard she gave him and led Class 2 to win the school basketball tournament championship.

This year, Zhou Anran grew several centimeters taller. On the first day of the first semester of their final year, as soon as Zhou Anran arrived in the classroom, she discovered her new seat was right next to Chen Luobai’s, meaning she and a certain someone had officially become deskmates.

Therefore, Zhang Shuxian, who sat in front of her this semester, kept turning around on the first day of school, shooting her looks of resentment that screamed "How could you abandon me like this!"

So, early the next morning, Zhou Anran brought some of Mrs. He's homemade chilled mung bean soup from home to appease Zhang Shuxian.

But just as her new front-desk mate was appeased, her new deskmate became unhappy. The boy's voice sounded faintly by her ear: "Why didn't you bring any for me?"

Zhou Anran, long familiar with his tastes, glanced at him sideways. "You don't even like it."

"Who says I don't like it?" Chen Luobai reached over and snatched the half-cup from her hand.

Zhou Anran: "…?"

After entering their final year of high school, time seemed to pass even faster. Every day was monotonous, tedious studying, an endless sea of problems, and the numbers on the countdown calendar rapidly decreasing.

It was hard, of course.

But occasionally, when Zhou Anran grew tired from doing problems, she could just tilt her head slightly and see the boy next to her, head bowed as he seriously worked on problems, his profile handsome and beautiful—a sight that, no matter how many times she saw it, still made her heart flutter.

And then it felt like she had found a little more motivation to grit her teeth and keep going.

She had promised to get into the same university as him.

Occasionally, when she was bent over her desk, concentrating on a problem, a hand would reach over from beside her and feed a soda candy into her mouth. Most of the time it was lemon-flavored, sometimes other fruit flavors.

The sensation of the tiny bubbles popping in her mouth was also incredibly refreshing.

Perhaps because of these small moments of interaction, when she later looked back on this period, it felt like every single day was immensely worth commemorating.

By the first semester of their final year, Zhou Anran's scores had stabilized within the top ten of her grade. By the second semester, the closest she and Chen Luobai got in the exam room was with just two people between them.

Most of them took the college entrance exams at their own No. 2 High School.

Zhou Anran and Chen Luobai did too.

But because Zhou Xianhong and He Jiayi both took time off work to accompany her for the exams, Zhou Anran didn't have many chances to see him. They only managed a brief, secret meeting on the morning of the first exam day.

The two days of exams passed smoothly.

When the final exam ended, Zhou Anran walked out of the school gates and saw both parents waiting outside wearing identical expressions—wanting to ask but not daring to.

She walked over to them.

"Mom, Dad." She addressed them first, then proactively said, "I think I did pretty okay."

The two parents immediately showed relieved and happy expressions.

He Jiayi smiled and asked her, "You're sure you're not coming home for dinner tonight, right?"

Zhou Anran nodded: "I made plans with Qianqian, the others, and some other classmates to have dinner together."

Zhou Xianghong asked: "Do you need Mom and Dad to give you a ride there?"

Zhou Anran shook her head again: "No need, there are about ten of us. You should head back early and rest."

"Alright," He Jiayi added one more instruction. "Then don't stay out too late tonight, come home early."

Zhou Anran agreed: "Okay, Mom."

During the two days of the college entrance exams, parking spots big and small around No. 2 High School were in high demand.

Their family car had arrived a bit later that afternoon and was parked a few hundred meters away.

Zhou Anran stood still, watching her parents' figures slowly disappear from view.

Her test center was closest to the school gate. Thinking the others should be coming out soon, Zhou Anran was just about to turn around when her backpack was tugged from behind.

No need to turn around now.

Zhou Anran's lips curved up: "Chen Luobai, you're pulling my rabbit again."

The reply was the boy's cheerful laughter. He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder, his voice coming from the side: "How did you do?"

"Not bad," Zhou Anran said, turning to look at him. "And you?"

The sun hadn't set yet.

Golden sunlight enveloped the boy's sharply defined profile. The corners of his lips were also quirked in a slight smile, his tone as audacious as ever: "Just so-so. Probably only good enough for the top science score in the province."

The curve of Zhou Anran's smile widened. She asked him, "Should we wait for the others here?"

Chen Luobai's gaze lingered on the small dimple beside her lips for two seconds. "Let's not wait for them. Let them go have fun on their own first. Someone will take care of them over there. For now, just come with me?"

Zhou Anran blinked: "Where to?"

Chen Luobai was acting on a whim.

He had originally thought to ask her out alone tomorrow, or the day after.

But at this moment, seeing her smile so sweetly at him, he suddenly didn't want to wait any longer.

"Haven't decided."

His gaze lifted slightly, then he gestured with his chin towards the bus stop not far away. "Let's go to that bus stop. Whichever bus comes first, we'll get on it and ride it all the way to the final stop. How does that sound?"

Zhou Anran wasn't someone who liked the unknown or adventure.

But with him accompanying her, the unknown and adventure seemed something to look forward to.

"Okay."

The two walked towards the bus stop.

Before they even reached the stop, a bus happened to pull up.

"Let's take this one," Chen Luobai said.

Before Zhou Anran could even process it, or even get a clear look at the bus route number or destination, her wrist was already grasped by the boy. He pulled her along as they ran to the stop and boarded through the front door.

By the time they paid and settled into seats at the back, Zhou Anran's heart was still beating wildly.

There were only a few people on the bus.

Before Zhou Anran could steady her heartbeat and breathing, she heard Chen Luobai's voice again near her ear.

"Our luck's not bad."

Huh?

Zhou Anran turned to look at him: "What do you mean, our luck's not bad?"

Chen Luobai pointed with his chin towards the bus route map opposite them. "The final stop happens to be a park."

Zhou Anran followed his gaze, and her eyes lit up too. "Really!"

The bus's starting point wasn't far from the school, but it had over twenty stops to the final station.

The bus rattled and swayed forward.

Time passed slowly and leisurely.

By the time they reached the final stop, the sunset had faded, and the evening sky was painted in large swathes of orange, the color of orange soda.

The daytime heat had dissipated slightly. The park was densely vegetated, and the temperature was noticeably a few degrees cooler than outside.

After entering, Chen Luobai first rented a bicycle.

Zhou Anran sat on the rear rack, holding onto his white T-shirt as he pedaled her around nearly half the park.

Then the two of them ate quite possibly the worst-tasting dinner of their lives inside the park. Neither of them ended up full, so they bought two ears of corn from a vendor outside to fill their stomachs.

After eating, they went down to the lake and took a boat ride.

Zhou Anran looked up at the evening clouds.

The boy beside her looked down and took hold of her hand.

After getting off the boat, both their palms were sweaty, but neither took the initiative to let go.

Because that dinner had been truly awful, they were a bit suspicious of the park's milk tea shops too, so they went to a convenience store to buy soda instead.

Chen Luobai picked up a cola.

Zhou Anran picked an orange soda, matching the color of the evening sky.

Their still-joined hands did not let go.

Fingers interlaced, they walked all the way to the Ferris wheel.

Since they still had to meet up with the others later, they didn't queue but bought fast-pass tickets directly.

This one happened to have two-person cabins, so they didn't have to share with strangers.

The cabin slowly ascended.

The city was cast down beneath their feet.

Dusk had long since fallen, and the city's lit lights resembled stars shattered across the ground.

Zhou Anran looked down at the night scenery for a while, then felt the boy's gaze beside her seemed to be resting on her the entire time. She couldn't help but turn her head, her eyes meeting his dark, profound ones.

"Zhou Anran." Chen Luobai called her name, his voice somewhat low. "The soda got left down below today."

A seemingly random statement.

But Zhou Anran seemed to instantly understand his meaning.

Her heartbeat also suddenly accelerated at this moment.

Chen Luobai braced a hand on the seat, leaning down closer to her, his voice still soft: "Is this okay?"

Zhou Anran's breath hitched, her heartbeat growing even more riotous. But just like that day during the sports meet when he pressed her against the wall and asked if she liked him, she steadied her heartbeat and still replied very softly.

"En."

The cabin was still slowly rising.

At the moment it was about to reach the very top of the Ferris wheel.

Chen Luobai lowered his head and kissed her.

It was a very light kiss.

First, his lips gently pressed against hers, then he gently held her lips and kissed them for a moment, finally giving her lower lip a very light nibble.

Only then did Chen Luobai pull back slightly, resting his forehead against hers.

"If graduation had been any later, I would have gone crazy.”

---

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