Tuesday at noon, Chen Yu let out a howl as if he had seen a ghost.
He was about to ask Lin Mo to go to the cafeteria when he saw the animal pull out a bento box.
Leaning in for a closer look, he saw it was the real deal.
The red-braised pork was glistening with oil, with a perfect balance of fat and lean meat; it had clearly been stewed for a long time. Next to it were lightly sautéed seasonal vegetables, and a smiley face had been made on the rice using sesame seeds.
Chen Yu went ballistic on the spot, locking Lin Mo’s neck in a chokehold with his arm while his eyes remained glued to the food in the box. “You ungrateful brat! You choose a girl over your brother! You’re not even human! Dammit, this is way too exquisite. Did Su Ran make this for you?”
Lin Mo responded with a calm and composed hum, not in a hurry to break free.
“She’s so virtuous… what you’re eating isn’t a bento, it’s love, you know? It’s love!”
Chen Yu’s eyes were filled with envy. Once he had caused enough of a scene, he let go of Lin Mo and added, “I guess I need to stay away from you from now on. This made me lose my appetite instantly. It’ll be the death of me.”
Lin Mo ignored him and picked up a piece of red-braised pork, putting it in his mouth.
It was soft, sweet, and melted the moment it hit his tongue.
Without a doubt, this was the best red-braised pork in his memory.
He ignored Chen Yu and took a photo to send to Su Ran:
‘It’s better than a restaurant.’
Su Ran replied instantly: ‘Really? I was afraid it would be too sweet.’
‘It’s just right. Thank you.’
‘[Smiley Face]’
Lin Mo put down his phone and realized Chen Yu was still beside him.
Resting his chin on his hand, Chen Yu studied Lin Mo and suddenly blurted out, “I want a girlfriend like that too.”
Lin Mo thought about it. “She’s not my girlfriend yet.”
“Then what is she? Would a normal friend make you a bento every day?”
Lin Mo shook his head and didn’t answer.
Actually, he didn’t know what they were right now, either.
Friends? They were too intimate for that.
Lovers? They hadn’t reached that stage yet.
What he could be sure of was that he and Su Ran had already walked into each other’s lives, and they were occupying increasingly important positions.
If things continued like this, they would likely end up together.
So, telling Chen Yu they weren’t together now didn’t mean they wouldn’t be in the future.
During physical education class that afternoon, while Lin Mo was playing basketball, Su Ran sat under the plane tree again taking notes.
This time, she hadn’t brought a notebook; instead, she was holding a small video camera.
When Chen Yu saw this, he backhanded Lin Mo with an elbow. “Look at how you’ve spoiled her. She’s recording you in broad daylight now. It’s easy for people to get the wrong idea.”
Lin Mo looked back and saw Su Ran’s lens pointed directly at him.
He was certain Su Ran was filming him, but the others weren’t so sure.
There were quite a few boys on the court, including those from other classes. Suddenly realizing that a girl of school-beauty caliber was filming them, their youthful adrenaline ignited subconsciously.
What if?
What if she’s filming me?
What if she takes a liking to me if I show off a little?
For some reason, everyone played this game with exceptional excitement and intensity.
During the halftime break, amidst the restless atmosphere, Lin Mo was the first to move, walking over to Su Ran’s side.
“Who are you filming?” he asked.
Su Ran jumped, nearly dropping the camera. “I… I’m recording your game.”
She didn’t say why she was recording, but Lin Mo already knew the answer.
“Do you need me to cooperate?”
“…No need. Just play normally.”
Lin Mo looked at the camera in her hand and suddenly asked, “Have you recorded me before?”
Su Ran froze awkwardly, then nodded guiltily. “I have… I’ve been recording you since high school.”
She kept looking up at Lin Mo, seemingly trying to observe if he would be disgusted or angry.
Lin Mo used his actions to dispel her concerns. “Can I see?”
Su Ran gripped the camera nervously, hesitating as she said, “Sure. They’ve all been edited, but there might be a lot… 900 GB.”
Even though Lin Mo had prepared himself mentally, he was still shocked.
Over 900 GB of footage, and that was after being edited. The volume of the raw files would be even larger. How many days, nights, and how much energy had she spent processing all that?
Lin Mo suddenly didn’t know how to express his current feelings. “Why did you…”
Su Ran beat him to the answer. “In the classroom, you’re always very restrained and polite. You treat everyone with a sense of distance. Only on the court do you laugh, shout, get frustrated, or get excited. It… looks very good.”
Lin Mo felt as if something had struck his heart.
In his past life, Su Ran had said something similar: “The way you look in the office is like a robot, but I remember how you looked playing ball in high school. Back then, you still knew how to smile.”
‘You still knew how to smile.’
‘You still knew how to smile.’
Those seven words were like a haunting melody, echoing continuously in Lin Mo’s mind.
Yes, later on, he rarely smiled.
His disappointment in his family, his numbness toward life, and his fear of Su Ran all ensured that he wouldn’t show the slightest hint of a smile in front of her.
But she had always remembered. She remembered that piece of his pure, natural self.
Lin Mo rubbed his slightly stinging nose. “If it looks good, watch it more. Next time I play, you can sit closer. You don’t have to stay so far away.”
Su Ran looked up in joy, but her head quickly slumped in dejection.
She glanced at the other boys on the court. “…Is that okay? They all hate me.”
Lin Mo teased, “They all call you the school beauty now. They’re all thinking about how to pursue you.”
Su Ran didn’t respond, clearly not believing him.
Lin Mo didn’t care whether she believed it or not. He leaned close to her ear on purpose and said, “Student Su Ran, I don’t want them to pursue you. So stay closer to me and let them know you’re here to see me.”
After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Su Ran sitting there in a daze.
Her face and ears turned crimson in the wind, and it felt as if steam were rising from her head.
After a short break, the second half began.
Under the gaze of numerous boys, Su Ran obediently walked over.
She put away the camera and sat down in the first row by the court.
Now the distance was very close, and everyone could see her watching Lin Mo without blinking.
Every time Lin Mo scored, she would clap softly.
Every time Lin Mo stumbled or fell, she would stand up nervously.
It was very natural and normal.
She looked like any other girl who had come to watch her boyfriend play ball.
The game ended, and Lin Mo’s team won by a large margin without any suspense.
Because the youthful dream had been extinguished as soon as it ignited, only Lin Mo and Chen Yu were still playing with high energy by the end. A perfectly good game of basketball had nearly been turned into an exclusive performance show by the two of them.
When Lin Mo stepped off the court, Su Ran immediately handed him a bottle of sports drink.
“Thank you.” Lin Mo sat down beside her.
Chen Yu tactfully didn’t come over, but the other boys cast glances their way from time to time.
Su Ran noticed.
She intentionally grabbed Lin Mo’s clothes and leaned closer to him to appear more intimate.
“You played very well today. Your left-hand dribbling has improved a lot.”
Smelling the fragrance wafting from her, Lin Mo felt a bit lightheaded. “It’s all thanks to you. Your data analysis is very effective. By the way, can you teach me how to edit videos?”
Su Ran’s eyes lit up as if she had discovered a new world. “You want to learn?”
She actually had many things she wanted to do with Lin Mo. To be precise, she wanted to do everything with him. Ideally, they would be closely linked 24 hours a day.
Lin Mo had no idea what kind of ambition was hidden beneath Su Ran’s joy. He nodded with a slight smile. “I don’t really want to learn; I just want to freeload. The kind where I don’t pay tuition.”
Freeload… freeload… off… off me?
Su Ran’s brain stalled for a moment, and her thoughts strayed toward something worse. Fortunately, her years of experience allowed her to quickly regain her reason, though her face flushed deep red.
“Okay. You can freeload off me.”
As the sun set in the west, the people on the playground gradually dispersed.
The two of them sat side by side on the bleachers, watching the sky grow darker bit by bit.
It took Su Ran a long time to calm her racing heart and pull her thoughts back. “I sometimes wonder… if I had gathered the courage to talk to you during our third year of middle school, what would things be like now?”
Lin Mo took a sip of the “girlfriend-brand” sports drink and let out a light chuckle upon hearing that. “If we had known each other in elementary school, I know exactly what we would be like right now.”
Su Ran blinked her beautiful eyes, a bit confused and curious. “What would we be like?”
The corners of Lin Mo’s mouth curled up as he said without thinking, “You would want nothing more than to kill me. In elementary school, I was a famous School Bully. I spent all day calling people to fight and specifically pulling on girls’ backpack straps.”
Su Ran actually took a moment to imagine that scene, and then she burst into laughter.
Even she was likely caught off guard by this laugh.
It was a smile from the bottom of her heart.
Lin Mo was dazed by the sight, suddenly thinking that their future daughter would definitely be easy to coax if she took after her mother.
“I don’t think so.”
With a smile in her eyes, Su Ran said, “I was always alone in elementary school, too. If you had come to bully me back then, I would have bullied you back, and then we would have known each other.”
Lin Mo made a disdainful face. “You? Bullying me?”
Su Ran brandished her small fist quite playfully. “I’ve trained, you know.”
Lin Mo feigned surprise and quickly pulled the topic back. “So you’d come to the west gate to challenge me, and we’d become friends through fighting? No matter what, I’d have no escape?”
Saying this, he let out a sigh. “So, sooner or later, it would have ended up like this. It’s just right.”
“Is that so?”
Su Ran was a bit slow to react, but after thinking about it, she didn’t feel like anything was wrong.
Lin Mo didn’t give her a chance to overthink, immediately adding, “At least the current me knows how to cherish things. The old me… was just a fool who didn’t understand anything.”
The smile in Su Ran’s eyes deepened. “The current you isn’t that smart either.”
“Hey.”
“Giggle, just kidding.”
Su Ran quickly grabbed Lin Mo’s clothes and said in a soft, moist voice, “Whether it’s the old you or the current you, you are the best person I’ve ever met.”
Lin Mo’s heart skipped a heavy beat.
Even though they weren’t very close, he still felt her warm breath blow into his ear canal, bringing a tingling sensation that spread to his heart.
He looked at her profile, which was dyed red by the setting sun, and suddenly felt like saying something.
But in the end, he said nothing.
Some words required the right timing.
His emotional cognitive impairment was like a mountain, cutting off all words except for actions. Even because of that impairment, any intimate actions couldn’t be labeled with emotions.
What Lin Mo feared most was a deviation in Su Ran’s understanding of feelings, or that she might one day misunderstand his actions. That could lead to a major disaster.
The regrets of his past life could not happen again, so in this life, he had to be extremely careful.
—