Lemon Soda Candy - 87

In the first semester of her sophomore year, Zhou Anran joined a professor's research lab.

Apart from her, all the other girls in her dormitory had also entered different labs, making their schedules even tighter than during freshman year. Zhou Anran's three roommates had each bought an electric scooter. Since Zhou Anran didn't know how to ride one, her roommates generously offered to let her hitch a ride anytime.

However, their elective courses weren't identical, and their labs were different too. Zhou Anran felt bad about having them frequently pick her up and drop her off, and she didn't want to inconvenience Chen Luobai too much either by having him chauffeur her. In the end, she decided to learn how to ride herself.

For this, Chen Luobai specifically cleared out an entire weekend.

Zhou Anran wasn't particularly talented in this area, but she wasn't a hopeless student either. She didn't waste his weekend, successfully learning by Sunday afternoon.

But come Monday morning, without him following behind, riding to the teaching building alone for the first time made her somewhat nervous. Fortunately, electric scooters on campus couldn't go very fast, and her roommates flanked her, offering protection.

After the initial stretch, Zhou Anran gradually settled down.

She rode steadily all the way to the front of the teaching building, parked her scooter, and was just about to get off when she heard Xie Jingyi call out from behind.

"Ranran, look behind you."

Zhou Anran turned her head. "What's up?"

Xie Jingyi's face held a familiar, teasing look. "Not at me. Look a bit further back. Someone's been following you the whole way."

Zhou Anran's gaze traveled further back and landed on Chen Luobai, not far behind them.

The boy's long legs straddled a black electric scooter. He was dressed entirely in black today—a black windbreaker, black pants. When he wasn't smiling, he had a somewhat unapproachable, cool aura, making the scooter beneath him look like a super cool motorcycle.

When their eyes met, Chen Luobai's brow quirked slightly.

Zhou Anran couldn't quite describe the feeling.

It just felt like her heart was overflowing.

She had once become less confident because she fell for him.

But now, he seemed to have become one of the sources of her confidence.

Because no matter when, she could always feel that he was right there, watching her back.

Zhou Anran got off her scooter and said to her roommates, "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."

"Go on, go on." Bai Lingyun's tone was also teasing. "We'll save you a seat. Just don't be late."

After over a year, Zhou Anran was somewhat used to their teasing. She pretended not to hear and walked straight over to Chen Luobai.

The boy had already gotten off his scooter.

But it was the first class of the morning, and the area outside the teaching building was bustling with people. Zhou Anran was still too shy to hug him in public, so she just took his hand. "Why did you come? I thought you were going to catch up on sleep this morning."

Because the weekend had been spent teaching her to ride the scooter, he had been up late last night finishing his assignments.

Chen Luobai reached out and pinched her cheek. "My student is hitting the road for the first time today. As her teacher, of course I had to come check the results."

Zhou Anran looked up at him. "So, how was my riding?"

The corner of Chen Luobai's mouth lifted. "Very impressive. Worthy of being my student."

Zhou Anran's lips also curved upwards. "Are you praising me or yourself?"

"Can't I praise both?" Chen Luobai said.

"Fine." Zhou Anran hooked her finger with his, but seeing the obvious tiredness between his brows, she reluctantly let go. "Then hurry back and get some sleep, or you'll be tired in class later."

Chen Luobai was indeed extremely sleepy. He nodded. "Should I pick you up for dinner this afternoon?"

Zhou Anran thought about it; she should be able to free up some time in the afternoon, so she nodded too. "Okay."

Chen Luobai reached out and pinched her cheek again. "I'm off."

Zhou Anran's fingertips twitched. Somehow, it seemed she couldn't suppress the impulse welling up inside her. She suddenly took two steps closer, then reached out and hugged him.

Chen Luobai was startled for a moment. When he recovered, he raised his arm to wrap around her waist, saying with a laugh, "I teach you to ride a scooter, and you actively hug me in public? I also accompanied you learning to drive during summer break. Should we find time to make up for that too?"

Zhou Anran: "…?"

This guy couldn't stay serious for more than a few seconds.

She immediately let go. "You should hurry back to sleep."

The reason Zhou Anran could enter this professor's lab stemmed from the second semester of her freshman year, when Yu Bingqin had asked her to come help a few times.

Near the end of the freshman spring semester, one day after leaving the lab with Yu Bingqin, who was already pursuing her master's degree under that professor, she heard the girl beside her suddenly say, "My boss asked if you want to officially join the lab next semester."

Because this professor was currently one of the top figures in the field domestically, when Zhou Anran heard Yu Bingqin's words, she felt, for the first time in ages, as if she were dreaming.

Zhou Anran took a moment to collect herself before asking, "Did you recommend me, Qin-jie?"

She knew that when Yu Bingqin said she was asking for help, it was actually to give Zhou Anran a chance to get noticed by the professor in advance and learn something along the way.

"No, I don't have that much influence." Yu Bingqin, who rarely spoke in long sentences, continued, "He asked himself. He said when you watch us conduct experiments, there's a light in your eyes. Your temperament is calm, not arrogant or impatient, and you learn quickly. You're promising material. He said the current situation in our field isn't great, it's tough and doesn't pay too well. In research, unless you have extraordinary talent or luck, what most people face are tedious experiments and constant failure. Without passion and the ability to settle your mind, it's very hard to persevere."

Zhou Anran still felt dazed, as if hit by a pie falling from the sky. "He really said that?"

"Take it as you will." Yu Bingqin gave a rare smile and pinched Zhou Anran's cheek. "He's just inviting you to do odd jobs in the lab. Whether you learn anything, whether you can get into his master's program in the future, all depends on you. Do you want in?"

Zhou Anran nodded without hesitation. "Of course."

"Alright, I'll tell him later." Yu Bingqin jiggled the keys in her hand. "Let's go. A-Luo asked me to take you to the apartment."

Chen Luobai had originally wanted to pick her up himself, but they had been delayed in the lab for over half an hour. Afraid she would be hungry, he had gone to the apartment early to order delivery and wait for her.

Arriving at the apartment, Zhou Anran unlocked the door with her fingerprint. Perhaps hearing the noise, she had just changed her shoes when she saw the tall boy come to the entryway to greet her. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt and black shorts, the muscles in his calves and arms displaying fluid, attractive lines.

Zhou Anran rushed the few steps into his arms.

Chen Luobai held her, looked down, and saw the shallow dimples beside her smile. "Run into some good news? You're so happy."

Zhou Anran: "Qin-jie said Professor Song wants me to officially join his lab next semester."

Chen Luobai's face showed no surprise, only a slight lift at the corner of his mouth, clearly happy for her. "Well, your Professor Song certainly has good taste."

Zhou Anran, her eyes curved into smiles, called his name: "Chen Luobai."

Chen Luobai: "Hmm?"

"Are you seeing me through rose-colored glasses too?" Zhou Anran looked up at him.

On the way over, they had run into Xu Hongliang and a few other seniors. Upon hearing she could enter Professor Song's lab as a sophomore, everyone looked at her with envy and praised how amazing she was. Only his wording was different from everyone else's.

Others all thought that for a freshman undergraduate to be personally noticed and recruited into Professor Song's lab was her luck and fortune.

Only he thought that Professor Song noticing her meant Professor Song had good taste.

"Do I?" Chen Luobai's gaze inadvertently fell on the pale skin visible at the neckline of her T-shirt. He paused slightly, his hooliganism both subtle and practiced. "I'm not sure. How about you let me take a closer look later to see if there really are rose-colored glasses?"

Zhou Anran's face warmed.

She pretended not to understand his meaning and changed the subject. "But after joining the lab next semester, I'll have much, much less time to spend with you."

Chen Luobai pinched her cheek. "Zhou Anran, do you think my perspective is that narrow in your eyes?"

Zhou Anran: "How did this become about perspective?"

"My future wife wants to do scientific research. How could I not support that?" Chen Luobai continued pinching her cheek.

He was becoming more and more fluent in using that term.

Zhou Anran's face grew even warmer. She let go of her hug. "I'm going to eat."

Chen Luobai, laughing, pulled her back. "Let me kiss you first."

As the end of the semester approached, both of them were busy. This past week, they had only met briefly in the cafeteria, not even having a proper hug.

Zhou Anran wrapped her arms around his waist again.

Chen Luobai lowered his head and kissed her.

The lingering sunset glow crept into the living room.

The quiet entryway was momentarily filled only with soft, heart-fluttering sounds of kissing.

After officially joining the lab, Zhou Anran's free time was halved. Chen Luobai's coursework wasn't light either, but whenever he could spare the time, he would come to the lab to pick her up. Often, he didn't come empty-handed; he would bring a bunch of food and, in her name, treat her lab seniors.

After this happened multiple times, besides Yu Bingqin, the other seniors in the lab also occasionally took the initiative to mentor her.

Even Professor Song took notice of him, joking that their lab had gained an auxiliary member.

Throughout her sophomore year, aside from participating in one competition with her roommates, Zhou Anran spent most of her extracurricular time immersed in the lab. She progressed from only being able to do odd jobs to gradually participating a bit more.

Although it wasn't much better than odd jobs, Zhou Anran knew her professional knowledge wasn't solid yet. Any small progress was enough to make her happy.

It was certainly hard work, but when you're doing something you love, you find joy in the process.

In the spring semester of her sophomore year, Zhou Anran even stayed up all night with the seniors conducting an experiment. Dawn was breaking by the time they yawned their way out of the lab.

As soon as she stepped out, Zhou Anran saw Chen Luobai leaning against the corridor wall outside the lab, holding an insulated bag.

It was spring then. He was rarely wearing a light blue denim jacket. Tall with long legs, his black hair falling across his forehead, he looked exceptionally fresh and handsome.

Zhou Anran's heart skipped two beats. She quickly walked over to him.

Chen Luobai reached out to wrap his arm around her waist but didn't pull her into an embrace.

He knew she was shy and never acted too intimately in front of many acquaintances.

"When did you get here? Why didn't you tell me?" Zhou Anran looked up at him.

Chen Luobai also looked down at her, his tone casual. "Just got here a little while ago."

Zhou Anran knew he sometimes didn't have a shred of truth in his words. She reached out to touch his hand. "Then why are your hands so cold?"

Chen Luobai: "I went to the restroom before picking up the delivery."

One of the senior sisters behind them gave a light cough. Only then did Chen Luobai look up, open the insulated bag, take out only one sealed cup of millet congee, and hand the entire bag to Yu Bingqin.

"Can you distribute these to everyone? I'm taking my person away now."

Zhou Anran heard a senior sister sigh behind her: "Being in love sure is nice."

As they walked downstairs, Chen Luobai unwrapped the straw and inserted it into the millet congee before handing it to her.

He had indeed been there for almost half an hour. But compared to the over a year she had secretly liked him from the shadows, him waiting half an hour for her was far from long.

It was just that while Zhou Anran wasn't particularly picky about dishes, she didn't have much of a sweet tooth and completely avoided wheat-based foods, making breakfast always a tricky meal. He couldn't pinpoint when she would come out, so it was hard to prepare something for her.

"Have this to tide you over. I ordered a bowl of rice noodles for you; they should arrive right about when we get to the apartment."

Zhou Anran softly uttered an "Mhm," took the millet congee, the warmth spreading from her palm all the way to her heart.

After being together for a while, she realized he actually wasn't a very meticulous person in daily life much of the time. Perhaps because they both had live-in housekeepers taking care of things at home, he often just put things down wherever in the apartment, only to not find them when he needed them.

But he remembered the days of her monthly period more clearly than she did, remembered her food preferences, remembered all her likes and dislikes, and all their anniversaries.

She didn't know if other people's relationships were good.

But being with Chen Luobai, being properly held in his heart, was truly, truly wonderful.

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