September 23, overcast, 9:25 PM.
After finishing her shopping trip, Luo Yueli walked with light, dainty steps, following the moonlight along the gravel path back to the girls’ dormitory.
“Mu Qianqian… she really is an interesting girl…”
“But she seems a bit insecure, similar to Shen Ran, right?”
Luo Yueli felt very happy after today’s meeting; her personality matched Mu Qianqian’s perfectly.
If she is insecure…
That kind of personality doesn’t seem to suit Su Yichen. A bright and cheerful girl like Tong Ya would be a better fit for him.
However…
Luo Yueli remembered how Su Yichen acted today at the dessert house.
Compared to what she said to him on the second day of school.
Su Yichen had truly changed quite a bit.
Thinking about it like that, Qianqian might not be a bad choice after all.
“I should head back to the dormitory first. I promised Xiaoya I would invite Su Yichen to dinner, so I need to get that taken care of.”
Thinking of this, Luo Yueli took out her phone. As she tapped on Su Yichen’s chat window, she felt an indescribable surge of excitement.
The young girl could feel a long-suppressed happiness bubbling up, as if she had suddenly found a beloved toy she had lost many years ago.
She felt a strange sense of accomplishment.
This comfort radiating from the depths of her soul flowed through her veins, causing her to hum a little tune unconsciously.
It seemed she was right.
This way, she could talk to Su Yichen.
As long as they could communicate, the two of them wouldn’t become strangers or drift apart.
They would always be childhood friends.
Luo Yueli felt she had found a rope.
A rope… one that could keep Su Yichen tied by her side.
[Yichen, want to grab dinner together tomorrow? I’ll come find you then?]
A very intimate text message was quickly edited by Luo Yueli’s fair, delicate fingertips.
She didn’t even need to ask if he was free; wasn’t this proof of being childhood friends?
While editing the message, Luo Yueli had already mentally gone through the clothes in her closet.
She quickly locked onto a blue floral dress.
He seemed to really like dresses that looked gentle and elegant like that.
In Luo Yueli’s mind, the image of Su Yichen repeatedly looking toward Mo Qingqiu at the Nuo Nuo dessert shop emerged.
She had a strange intuition that at the Nuo Nuo dessert shop, the person Su Yichen was paying the most attention to was Mo Qingqiu.
Could it be that Yichen liked Senior Mo Qingqiu?
Then… should she introduce Su Yichen and Mo Qingqiu to each other and let them become friends?
Anyway, Yichen didn’t have much experience dealing with girls…
It wouldn’t matter who she introduced him to.
She would definitely teach him well how to be a boyfriend.
Thinking this, Luo Yueli felt even better.
Just as she was about to press send, she caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette not far away.
“Shen Ran?”
Luo Yueli’s attention shifted for a moment, to the point that she hadn’t managed to send the message she had just finished editing.
“What is she doing?”
Curiosity followed, making Luo Yueli momentarily forget that she hadn’t sent the message to Su Yichen yet.
It looked like she was… talking to someone on the phone?
But couldn’t she do that in the dormitory, or even on the balcony? It was very quiet there.
Why would she come all the way here to talk?
The area here… was very quiet.
The path she took today was a relatively secluded gravel road, usually occupied by couples in love.
Or girls talking to their boyfriends.
Luo Yueli’s curiosity was piqued, and she quietly crept to a position very close to Shen Ran.
Shen Ran sat on a bench in the small square in front of the girls’ dormitory building, bathed in the cold moonlight, focused intently on her phone conversation.
She hadn’t noticed that there was someone behind her at all.
Luo Yueli couldn’t hear the person on the other end, but she could hear what Shen Ran was saying.
“Okay.”
“Then I’ll come find you in the morning?”
“Need to buy…”
“Buns, soy milk, is there anything else?”
“Mhm, okay, I’ll buy it and wait for you.”
“You should sleep in a bit more; I’ll just go buy it early.”
“It’s fine, I’m used to waking up early.”
“Eh?”
Shen Ran… was she such an obedient girl?
Luo Yueli was a bit shocked. Shen Ran usually didn’t like to talk much in the dormitory.
The ones who talked the most were herself and Xiaoya.
Shen Ran only chimed in when she and Tong Ya were chatting, and she only became talkative if the topic interested her…
But now…
Shen Ran seemed to have been talking to the person on the phone the whole time.
And she acted very submissive, agreeing to whatever the other person said.
Could it be…
She was talking to the person she liked?
That Jiang… something, Jiang Jingjie?
That seemed to be the name.
Zhao Shubai had said that Shen Ran had a bit of a crush on that boy.
Love?
Luo Yueli thought about it and felt that… Shen Ran was very strange.
She almost never mentioned Jiang Jingjie’s name, and didn’t even dare to speak to him.
Tong Ya was a stark contrast; she let out Su Yichen’s name every now and then.
Shen Ran, on the other hand, never made a sound. Apart from that one time with the milk tea, you could barely tell she had a crush on Jiang Jingjie.
As a girl herself, Luo Yueli felt that Shen Ran’s feelings should only stay at the level of a crush, not love.
A girl’s love… was more like Tong Ya.
If you love someone, you can’t suppress it; it will definitely show.
Something that can be suppressed…
Isn’t called love.
As she thought about it, Luo Yueli suddenly remembered the scene she saw today of Tong Ya and Su Yichen sitting together eating ice cream.
Luo Yueli slowly tightened her grip, and her phone left a red mark on her palm.
She was distracted for a moment.
After finishing her call, Shen Ran sat on the bench for a short while. She looked at the chat history on her phone and, for a moment, felt…
A very strange feeling.
She didn’t like this.
She didn’t like chatting with Jiang Jingjie like this. Compared to sending messages to Jiang Jingjie, Shen Ran preferred talking to Su Yichen.
It was tiring to message Jiang Jingjie, but chatting with Su Yichen…
It was very interesting.
Even if it was just forwarding his messages to Jiang Jingjie, Shen Ran found it fascinating.
She had been surprised at first, but later on… she had laughed until she was shaking the whole time.
To the point where her stomach hurt from laughing, and she couldn’t stay in the hallway.
She had to hide here to laugh.
Easy, pleasant, humorous, and relaxing—this was the way of chatting that Shen Ran yearned for most.
It was hard for the young girl to imagine how Su Yichen managed to play games while editing replies to Jiang Jingjie, all while having the time to chat with her.
But today’s happy time…
Was over.
Shen Ran stood up, and the moment she turned around, she saw a figure she couldn’t be more familiar with standing beside her.
“Luo…”
Looking at the faint smile, which was even brighter than the moonlight, on Luo Yueli’s beautiful face, Shen Ran’s expression suddenly froze, and she couldn’t help but step back: “Lizi?”
“Th-that, you’re back?”
“Yes.”
The night breeze, still carrying the warmth of the day, brushed against Luo Yueli’s cheeks. The young girl smoothed out her skirt, which had been ruffled by the wind, and took two light steps, coming to a position very close to Shen Ran.
“I’ve been here for a while, and saw you were on the phone.”
“I wanted to wait to go back with you, so I didn’t want to disturb you…”
“Th-that’s how it is…” Shen Ran opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.
She could only bite her lip and force out a stiff smile.
Luo Yueli tilted her head slightly, saying nothing at all.
As if she knew something, the young girl’s eyes, which were as bright as the stars, suddenly curved.
She saw the fleeting panic in her expression.