Lemon Soda Candy - 84

Zhou Anran usually woke up around six or seven even on holidays, a bit of a biological clock.

The next day, she couldn't sleep much later either, opening her eyes drowsily at nine o'clock.

The bedroom had tightly drawn blackout curtains, making it as dark as night.

Chen Luobai was already awake.

The boy had one arm around her while using his other hand to look at his phone. The screen's glow faintly illuminated his sharply defined face.

As if sensing her movement, Chen Luobai asked softly, "Awake?"

Zhou Anran was still a bit sleepy. She nuzzled against his chest before mumbling an affirmative "Mm."

Chen Luobai tossed his phone aside casually and asked in a low voice, "Hungry? Should I order breakfast for you?"

Zhou Anran wasn't fully awake yet. She leaned against his chest, waiting for the sleepiness to pass before speaking. "Not yet. Turn on the light, though. Don't look at your phone in the dark."

Chen Luobai reached out and turned on the lamp.

The girl nestled obediently back into his embrace. The collar of his T-shirt she wore was askew, revealing a small section of her shoulder.

"Are you uncomfortable anywhere?" Chen Luobai asked her quietly.

Zhou Anran: "…?"

Chen Luobai pinched her cheek, which had instantly flushed red again, and hugged her, laughing. "How are you still so easily shy? Looks like I won't get a straight answer asking."

He paused for a second, his warm breath hitting her ear, his voice clearly amused and seemingly tinged with meaning.

"I'll just have to see for myself."

The blackout curtains were drawn tightly.

The girl's pale legs were bent before her, slowly accommodating something that wasn't her own.

The overhead light was a bit bright, seeming to illuminate everything in the room with stark clarity.

Zhou Anran had two pillows under her head, her gaze slightly downward. Ashamed, she turned her head away and saw the phone he had tossed aside lighting up intermittently.

He had probably put it on silent mode earlier to avoid disturbing her, so no sound accompanied the lights.

"Your phone keeps lighting up."

The boy's dark eyes narrowed slightly, as if somewhat displeased. His movements became fierce and heavy.

"You still have the mind to worry about a phone."

Zhou Anran's hands clutched the sheets tightly. For a moment, she couldn't speak, only fragmented syllables, half-sobbed, escaping her lips.

When the phone lit up several more times, she couldn't help but remind him again.

"It's lighting up again. Could it be someone with something important?"

Chen Luobai's gaze remained fixed solely on her, paying the phone no mind. "Nothing important. Probably just Tang Jianrui and the others chatting in the group, trying to arrange a hike for this afternoon. I didn't agree."

The overhead light seemed to sway violently.

Zhou Anran's mind felt dizzy and muddled. She looked at him and asked instinctively, "Why not?"

Because her voice unconsciously carried a hint of a sob, it sounded utterly pitiful, making him want to be even rougher.

Chen Luobai pressed down on her knees, the corners of his lips quirking up. "You think you'll have the energy for hiking today?"

Zhou Anran: "…"

By 10:30 a.m., the phone was still lighting up.

Zhou Anran lay against the pillows, calming her breathing and other reactions, her fair shoulders damp and flushed in patches.

"They seem to still be chatting. Should we check?"

Chen Luobai kissed her intermittently. "You check. The password is your birthday."

The corners of Zhou Anran's lips curved up. She picked up the phone, opened the group chat, and took a look.

"Tang Jianrui is inviting us to his uncle's place. His uncle runs a guesthouse out in the suburbs. He wants us all to go stay there overnight. Says we can go watch the sunrise from the mountain tomorrow morning since the weather's nice. Should we go?"

Chen Luobai was still kissing her. "If you want to go, we'll go."

"Don't you have to go back to the law firm tomorrow?" Zhou Anran asked him.

"I took time off," Chen Luobai said, glancing up at her. "My girlfriend finally comes back, and you think I'm going back to the office?"

"Then let's go. It's rare we all have time." His movements were so gentle now. Zhou Anran, tickled by his kisses, pushed at him. "Chen Luobai, stop kissing me like that."

"Trying to renege again, are you?" Chen Luobai lowered his head and bit the spot he had just been kissing.

Zhou Anran didn't feel ticklish anymore; she trembled lightly. "Why do you always bite this mole?"

She had noticed it the night before they returned to Nancheng.

But she had been too embarrassed to ask him then.

Chen Luobai lifted his head. "I have a bit of a grudge against it."

Zhou Anran lowered her head slightly and saw faint tooth marks next to the mole. Her face flushed crimson instantly. "A grudge?"

Chen Luobai's fingertip gently touched the spot, remembering that night not long after the start of their second year of high school.

A slender, pale hand held out cotton swabs and an adhesive bandage to him.

When he looked up, he first saw a pair of slim, straight legs beneath the girl's black skirt, a small black mole on the inner thigh, making the skin appear even more dazzlingly fair.

He had felt it was inappropriate at the time, so he averted his gaze. When he turned back, he only saw her hurried figure running into the school building.

Chen Luobai pressed down on her knees again. "Because I almost caught you that day."

It was 2 p.m. by the time Zhou Anran and Chen Luobai set off for the hotel to meet up with the others.

Most of their group had already gotten their driver's licenses. The guesthouse run by Tang Jianrui's uncle was only about an hour and a half's drive from the hotel, so Chen Luobai had someone bring two more cars over. Combined with the G-Wagen he had driven over yesterday, the twelve of them made the trip by car.

They left the hotel at 2:30 p.m. and arrived smoothly by 4 p.m.

Tang Jianrui's uncle's guesthouse was located at the foot of a mountain, a villa built by the lake with white walls and blue-gray tiles, elegant and beautiful.

It wasn't any holiday season, so the guesthouse happened to have no other guests that night. Since they were Tang Jianrui's invited guests, they didn't need to check in formally and weren't in a hurry to assign rooms. After getting out of the cars and greeting Tang Jianrui's uncle, the group scattered, eagerly exploring the guesthouse.

Some went to feed the cats, some went to see the hot spring baths in the backyard, and some just started playing with toys in the living room.

Zhou Anran was led by Chen Luobai to the lake outside the villa.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around at the moment, Zhou Anran asked him quietly, "Should I still share a room with you tonight?"

"Obviously." Chen Luobai came to a stop by the lake and pinched her cheek. "Zhou Anran, how come you always try to renege after we sleep together?"

Zhou Anran's face warmed.

"I do not."

There was a breeze by the lake.

Chen Luobai pulled her into his embrace. "Then why? Still feeling shy?"

Zhou Anran nodded.

Even though they had left the hotel together last night, and splitting up to stay in separate rooms tonight would be a bit of a giveaway, staying alone with him in one room while everyone else was in the same villa still challenged her sense of shame somewhat.

Chen Luobai looked at her for two seconds, then seemed to compromise. "Fine. Then you can stay with Yan Xingxi and the others."

Seeing him agree, Zhou Anran suddenly felt reluctant. "What about you?"

"Me?" Chen Luobai paused, his tone sounding quite helpless. "What else can I do? If my girlfriend doesn't want me, I'll just have to guard an empty room alone, lying awake until dawn."

Zhou Anran was amused by his dramatics. "Is it that bad?"

Chen Luobai lowered his voice slightly, as if trying to seduce her. "Why don't you come to my room in the middle of the night and see for yourself?"

Zhou Anran couldn't tell if she was being swayed by him or if she was genuinely reluctant to be apart from him. Her fingers fiddled with the fabric of his jacket, and she finally said in a small voice, "Then you're not allowed to do anything tonight."

Chen Luobai's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Not even kiss you?"

Of course, he could kiss her.

But—

Zhou Anran's voice grew even softer. "You're not allowed to kiss... other places."

"What are 'other places'?" Chen Luobai reached up to brush her hair aside, gently pinching her earlobe. "Your ears, or—"

He drew out the syllable, clearly teasing her by pretending not to understand.

Zhou Anran's face grew hotter. "Chen Luobai!"

Chen Luobai hugged her, laughing heartily. "Yes? Why are you calling me?"

Zhou Anran: "…"

Zhu Ran's voice suddenly sounded from behind them. "You two, pause the lovey-dovey act for a minute. There's a bit of a situation."

Feeling rescued, Zhou Anran quickly pushed a certain scoundrel away and turned to walk towards Zhu Ran at the door.

Chen Luobai caught up in a couple of strides and took her hand again.

Zhou Anran's fingers twitched, but she didn't pull away this time, just looked at Zhu Ran. "What situation?"

Zhu Ran: "Rui Rui's aunt just cut her finger while chopping vegetables."

Zhou Anran was startled and quickly asked, "Is it serious?"

"Not serious, just a small cut. It's stopped bleeding," Zhu Ran said. "But we can't very well ask her to cook dinner for us now. We're planning to make it ourselves. They sent me out to ask if you two can cook. This young master here definitely can't. Can you?"

Zhou Anran shook her head. "I can't either."

He Jiayi and Zhou Xianhong almost never let her help in the kitchen.

Zhu Ran wasn't surprised by this answer and teased casually, "If neither of you can cook, what are you going to do in the future?"

Zhou Anran: "…?"

What future?

Chen Luobai responded lazily, "I'll learn, or hire someone. I can't let her do it."

Zhu Ran wore an expression of being utterly disgusted by the display. "Yes, yes, of course. Your wife is the most precious."

"Naturally," Chen Luobai said matter-of-factly. "My wife's hands are meant for conducting experiments."

Zhou Anran's face, which had just cooled down, warmed up again.

Zhu Ran was even more speechless: "…"

"I shouldn't have opened my damn mouth."

Fortunately, Zhang Shuxian and Bao Kun had some culinary skills. Before she cut her finger, Tang Jianrui's aunt had already prepared a few cold dishes for them. Combined with the self-heating hot pots the guesthouse had in stock, they managed not to go hungry that night.

Since they had to get up early the next day for the sunrise, everyone didn't linger in the living room after dinner. Zhou Anran didn't hesitate any longer and ended up sharing a room with Chen Luobai after all.

The next day at 4:30 a.m., the group gathered in the living room.

Once everyone was confirmed present, Zhu Ran and Huang Shujie walked to the front and opened the guesthouse's main door.

The next second, they both let go simultaneously, and the door swung shut again.

"Fuck," Zhu Ran rubbed his hands together. "Who came up with the stupid idea of watching the sunrise in the middle of winter?"

Huang Shujie pointed at Tang Jianrui. "Rui Rui did."

"But since we're already up, it'd be a waste not to go—" Zhu Ran paused and exchanged a look with Huang Shujie.

Huang Shujie picked up the thread: "Then let's warm up by beating up Rui Rui first."

Tang Jianrui: "…?" Surrounded by the two on either side, Tang Jianrui dodged while wailing, "No matter how stupid the idea is, you all had to agree for it to happen! If it's stupid, then we're all stupid together! And Luo-ge didn't say anything either!"

Chen Luobai rested his arm lazily on Zhou Anran's shoulder. "Don't drag me into this. Watching the sunrise with my girlfriend in winter is called romance, understand?"

Sheng Xiaowen pushed the door open. "Forget it, forget it. Rather than watching people flaunt their love inside, we might as just head out now to hike and see the sunrise."

The group ventured out into the bitter cold.

Zhou Anran would remember this sunrise trip for a long, long time.

Watching the sunrise in the dead of winter seemed like the kind of silly thing you only did when you were eighteen or nineteen, at the most wildly youthful and uninhibited age.

The mountain behind the guesthouse was a lesser-known scenic spot in the suburbs, with a paved road leading straight to the summit.

As the group walked upward, Zhou Anran and Chen Luobai once again fell to the back.

The mountain wasn't very high, but Zhou Anran's stamina wasn't great. Before they even reached the top, her legs were already aching, and she was breathing heavily.

Chen Luobai stopped and turned to look at her. "Want me to carry you the rest of the way up?"

Zhou Anran looked at the dark path ahead.

Tang Jianrui had long since run to the front. It was her first time here, and she didn't know how much farther it was. She didn't really want him to have to carry her.

She shook her head. "I can keep going for a bit."

"But—" Chen Luobai paused.

Zhou Anran: "But what?"

"If you keep panting like that—" Chen Luobai's gaze drifted slightly downward from her face, seeming to linger suggestively for a brief second before returning to her face, his tone also ambiguous. "—I might not be able to stop myself from wanting to kiss you."

Zhou Anran: "…?"

She quickly glanced ahead again. The closest people were Yan Xingxi and the others, about two meters away, probably unable to hear him.

Zhou Anran couldn't help but glare at him.

Chen Luobai laughed again, then turned around, his tone seeming somewhat more serious. "Come on, get on. I haven't carried you on my back before."

Zhou Anran indeed hadn't been carried by him before.

Seeing that he genuinely didn't seem out of breath or tired at all, and still had the energy to tease her, she didn't hesitate further. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned onto his back.

The moment the girl pressed softly against him from behind, Chen Luobai's movement to hook his arms under her legs hesitated slightly. Earlier, he hadn't wanted her to tire herself out and had deliberately tried to provoke her, but now he really couldn't suppress certain daydreams from surfacing.

He turned his head, his gaze finding her lips in the weak beam of the flashlight. "Really can't kiss?"

Zhou Anran's eyes met his. Her face instantly warmed. She pushed his face forward again, then rested her chin on his shoulder and said quietly, "Later is fine."

"Alright then," Chen Luobai said in a compromising tone.

Zhou Anran breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then she heard him speak again. "But later won't be just about kissing you."

Zhou Anran: "…?"

The sun rose late in winter.

They reached the summit at 5:55 a.m. and had to wait until around 7 a.m., by which time Tang Jianrui had been chased and beaten by Huang Shujie and the others several times, before the first rays of light finally broke over the horizon.

When the sun slowly rose from the edge of the sky, its rays dispelling the darkness and painting half the sky in deep and shallow shades of red, the magnificent sight made the early morning rush, the wait, and the cold feel worth it.

Tang Jianrui leaned against the railing, wearing a triumphant expression. "See? I told you the sunrise from this mountain is incredibly beautiful, right?"

Zhu Ran nodded in agreement. "Therefore, son, you are spared this last beating."

"Fuck." Tang Jianrui, unable to bear it any longer, hooked an arm around Zhu Ran's neck. "I think it's you who needs a beating from your dad."

Zhou Anran, held from behind by Chen Luobai, watched as these two instantly started roughhousing again and couldn't help but smile.

Hearing her laugh, Chen Luobai lowered his head slightly.

The newly risen sunlight bathed the girl's long, curled eyelashes and fair cheeks. The small dimples near her lips were faintly visible, making her look both well-behaved and sweet.

Chen Luobai's heart stirred slightly.

"Zhou Anran."

Zhou Anran turned her head. She saw the morning glow illuminating the boy's sharply defined profile, the sunlight dancing on the shoulder line of his down jacket. Then she heard him speak three words very softly into her ear—

"I love you."

Zhou Anran froze abruptly, staring at him in stunned silence.

Chen Luobai reached up and brushed the wind-tousled hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Seeing her still looking at him dazedly, the corners of his lips quirked up. "If you keep looking at me like that, I really will kiss you right in front of everyone."

Zhou Anran's face warmed, and she quickly averted her gaze.

Not far away, Yan Xingxi and Dong Chen had somehow started arguing again.

Sheng Xiaowen raised her hands to her mouth like a megaphone and shouted towards the valley below: "I'm going to get into the foreign ministry! I'm going to win over Zhou Suiqing!"

Zhang Shuxian followed suit, shouting: "Why is studying medicine so hard ahhhhhhh!"

Bao Kun, standing next to them, copied them and yelled towards the mountain: "Lakers for the championship!"

Shao Zilin swore. "The Warriors are the fucking champions!"

Zhou Anran heard their shouts echoing through the mountain valley.

The three words Chen Luobai had just whispered in her ear were also still echoing in her heart.

Once the sun had fully risen, Tang Jianrui suggested, "Let's take a group photo."

The twelve of them stood in a row, their backs to the railing, their backs to the rising sun, their backs to the sky full of morning colors. Some looked at the camera; some looked at their girlfriend.

—The moment was captured.

After watching the sunrise and taking photos, the group began their descent.

As she walked, Zhou Anran felt a slight, sharp sting on her inner thigh, perhaps from her pants rubbing against the small mole. For some reason, she suddenly remembered Chen Luobai's words from last night: "Because I almost caught you that day."

Since their reunion, it had always been him helping to make up for the regrets of those years.

But it seemed he wasn't entirely without regrets about the two years they had missed either.

Zhou Anran lowered her head and looked at their intertwined hands.

The sunlight shone down from above, making it look as if they had caught a little bit of light together.

It seemed she had also caught a little bit of courage.

Zhou Anran suddenly stopped.

Chen Luobai turned to look at her. "What's wrong?"

Zhou Anran looked up at him. "Bend down a little."

Chen Luobai's eyebrows lifted slightly. He gave her a thoughtful glance. "Bend down for what? Do you really want me to kiss you now?"

Zhou Anran: "…"

Her ears reddened again. She glared at him.

"Of course not."

Chen Luobai: "Then why do you want me to bend down?"

Zhou Anran: "Just do it first."

The boy obediently lowered his head.

Zhou Anran: "A little more."

Chen Luobai indulged her, leaning even closer.

Then he saw the girl suddenly move closer to him. A voice, soft and slightly husky, reached his ears—

"I love you too.”

---

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