Chapter 50

Time passed day by day, and the final exams were over in two days, followed by winter vacation.

During this time, the two barely communicated except when necessary. Guan Nan reverted to her original self, silent, reserved, and taciturn. She had only grown closer to Ye Na, but still didn't talk much.

Jiang Li, as always, was polite and distant to those around him, and the trio remained inseparable.

The two of them still took the same train to and from the same train, and Lin Rui and Yu Shu seemed to have never gotten to know each other before.

During this time, Ran Mingju found a job as a librarian at the city library, and Guan Nan found a short-term winter break job, no longer following Qi Yang around doing part-time jobs.

For a long time, Guan Nan did not take the initiative to contact Jiang Li, and Jiang Li did not deliberately look for her.

The two acted as if they had never met before.

On New Year's Eve, Ran Mingju prepared the New Year's Eve dinner and waited for Guan Nan, who was working part-time, to get off work.

But then an uninvited guest arrived.

Lin Zhaozhao came to Hecangyuan and found Building 26 according to the address Guan Weimin gave her. She checked the house number again and then knocked on the door.

"Hello." Ran Mingju opened the door and saw an unfamiliar face, and paused for two seconds.

Upon seeing the people inside, Lin Zhaozhao was also stunned. "Is this building 26, number 5-13?"

"Yes, who are you looking for?" Ran Mingju asked.

Lin Zhaozhao had never been here before, and didn't know who Ran Mingju was. She assumed that Guan Weimin had given her the wrong address, so she braced herself and asked, "Does Guan Nan live here?"

Thinking that this person was Guan Nan's classmate, Ran Mingju invited her to come into her home.

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaozhao declined the invitation and went back to tell Guan Weimin what had happened that day.

Ran Mingju didn't take this little incident seriously. That evening, when Guan Nan came home, she told her that a classmate had come to visit that day, but she didn't know the classmate's name.

Guan Nan hesitated, as Jiang Li was the only one who knew about He Cang Yuan; she had never brought anyone else with her.

But after Ran Mingju explained that the other person was a female classmate, she thought about it for a long time and couldn't think of anyone else who would know about this place, so she didn't think about it any further.

On New Year's Eve, the countdown to the Spring Festival Gala was on TV.

At the beginning of the new year, Guan Nan received a New Year's gift after many years: a brand new smartphone from Ms. Ran Mingju.

On the same day, Guan Nan registered for WeChat, and the mother and daughter added each other as friends.

At the same time, a red dot popped up in Ran Mingju's few chat boxes.

00:00

-jiang-: [Happy New Year, Auntie! Wishing you good health, peace, joy, and happiness in the days to come.]

Guan Nan glanced at it; the New Year's greeting was so long, it looked like it was prepared to be forwarded at the exact moment.

Upon clicking, Ran Mingju carefully replied, word by word, thanking him for his blessing.

Guan Nan didn't take it to heart. She sat down and familiarized herself with WeChat. When she scrolled through her Moments, it was full of short videos that her mother took every day, each a few dozen seconds long. Everything was new and exciting to her.

She liked each of the photos one by one and noticed that one of them was a group photo taken at the school gate, which only showed her and Ran Mingju.

She remembers who took the photo.

Back on holiday, Guan Nan checked the half-finished test paper she had written during lunch break, and then finished the other half.

Time passed by, and it wasn't until almost the end of the New Year that she remembered QQ.

I haven't logged in for a long time, but I don't find it strange. After all, I added Qiyang on WeChat and joined a WeChat part-time job group, so I don't need QQ anymore.

But that night, she gathered her completed homework, sat down at her desk, and inexplicably opened QQ.

Seeing the nickname "Do Not Disturb" and the red dot on the profile picture, I was a little stunned.

In Guan Nan's memory, she had never added anyone's QQ account except for Jiang Li, and Qi Yang, whom she had added earlier, also had a note on his QQ.

After regaining her senses, she tried clicking into the chat box and realized that it was Jiang Li, who had no nickname.

Do Not Disturb: 【Happy New Year.】

This message was sent on February 8, 2016 at 00:00.

Guan Nan remembers that at that time, she also saw a group blessing from Jiang Li on Ran Mingju's phone.

Therefore, it's reasonable to speculate that this might also be a mass message, since he has quite a few friends.

She tried to ignore it, but subconsciously replied anyway.

Guan Nan: [Thank you.]

Before exiting the chat window, Guan Nan noticed a sudden "The other party is typing..." message under the "Do Not Disturb" nickname.

This line of text sometimes appears below the nickname and sometimes it doesn't.

Guan Nan hesitated for a few minutes, then suspected it was a system bug.

......

The second semester of the second year of high school begins.

The seating arrangement was rearranged long ago based on the students' final exam scores from the previous semester.

Seating charts, textbooks, new deskmates—everything was happening in an orderly fashion.

This time they weren't so lucky. Jiang Li and Qi Yang were moved to new seats. Guan Nan and Ye Na's seats weren't far apart, but they weren't close either, so they couldn't talk or copy homework during class.

My new deskmate is Kuang Xiaohui, a very nice person with a straightforward and generous personality. The two of us get along very well.

Everything proceeded according to her plan, step by step.

......

Spring is warm and gentle, the earth is warming up, and all things are growing.

In early April, some classmates used April Fool's Day to feign sincerity.

Those who are mutually in love get together; those who are one-sidedly in love, after being rejected, will smile and wish the other a happy holiday; those who are sincere but afraid of rejection and not even being able to remain friends will simply say "Happy April Fool's Day" to signify "I like you".

As for Guan Nan, he didn't escape this day either.

During break, Luo Haoyu gave her candy and wished her a happy April Fool's Day.

At that time, she had only half-understood the situation and focused entirely on her studies, ignoring everything else, and did not comprehend the implied meaning of those words.

During lunch break, Guan Nan took her usual nap, only to be confessed to by a male classmate she barely knew.

She was a little lost at the time, not understanding why anyone would waste their time paying attention to such an insignificant character. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jiang Li entering the classroom.

He was tall, and the zipper of his jacket was undone, revealing his summer school uniform underneath.

He didn't come in; he just stood at the doorway, his expression inexplicably cold.

The two, who hadn't seen each other for almost half a year, stared at each other across half the classroom.

Guan Nan felt a moment of guilt. After looking away, she awkwardly thanked the other person first, then politely declined in a way that did not hurt her self-esteem.

The other party didn't seem to have any hope that she would agree.

After hearing those words, the boy, who was just expressing his feelings on the occasion of the holiday, felt completely relaxed.

Life went on as usual, peaceful and fulfilling.

......

In mid-April, Guan Nan woke up from her afternoon nap to find music playing on the radio.

Just then, she received a phone call from Jiang Li. He was checking school IDs at the school gate, and he hadn't brought his.

"Guan Nan," Jiang Li called out to her on the phone.

Guan Nan stared at the stack of books on the table, listening to the long-running voice coming from the other end of the receiver, her reaction still a little slow: "Huh?"

Jiang Li said, "My school badge is in my desk drawer."

"Hmm." Guan Nan paused. "I know."

"I'm at the school gate," Jiang Li said softly. "Could you give me a ride?"

Could you please deliver this to me?

They were polite and courteous to each other, yet still felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

Guan Nan was still somewhat dazed as she listened.

It's as if things shouldn't be like this between them, yet they should be...

There was a moment of silence.

Guan Nan hummed in agreement. After hanging up the phone, she got up and sat down in Jiang Li's seat. Without even thinking or searching, ignoring the things in her pocket, she found her school ID in her backpack.

Ignoring the expressions of others, she turned and left the classroom, heading straight for the school gate.

She didn't ask him why it wasn't Yu Shu, why it wasn't Lin Rui, why it was her. Or perhaps she simply didn't want to think about it.

At the school gate, Guan Nan spotted Jiang Li immediately.

He gripped the handlebars with both hands, his school uniform outlining his hunched shoulders and back, thin yet strong.

It reveals the unique, upward vitality of a teenager of this age.

As if sensing something, Jiang Li, who had just stopped the car by pressing the handbrake, looked up and saw Guan Nan inside. He then stepped out of the car.

"Hey, student, school badge." The student on duty stopped him from entering.

Jiang Li raised his chin: "There."

Seeing this, Guan Nan quickly handed the school badge to the student on duty, who then checked the badge and the person against it.

The school badge was returned to Guan Nan's hands. Guan Nan was still a little dazed, not understanding why the student on duty didn't give Jiang Li's school badge to Jiang Li, but instead gave it back to her.

She glanced at Jiang Li, and seeing that Jiang Li's expression was unchanged, he pushed his bicycle in.

After passing through the school gate and down the slope, past the first-year high school building, and walking straight along the road past the sidewalk, we arrived at Jinbu Bridge. After crossing Jinbu Bridge, Jiang Li parked his bicycle in the student dormitory parking shed, and the two walked side by side.

Guan Nan held his school ID card as if it were a hot potato, and awkwardly handed it to him: "Your school ID card."

Seeing that he didn't answer, Guan Nan called out again, "Jiang Li."

Jiang Li turned his head away, his eyes deep and dark, and remained silent.

"School badge," Guan Nan said dryly.

"Oh." Jiang Li took it and said politely, "Thank you."

"......"

Guan Nan was a little annoyed by that tone and that posture.

I can't explain why, but I'm just inexplicably annoyed; hearing this is really irritating.

Jiang Li looked up and wrapped the school sign with a rope: "What did I do to upset you?"

His question came suddenly, and Guan Nan, still immersed in her annoyance, hadn't quite reacted yet. Her gaze swept over his hand, which was casually twirling the school badge, and his distinctly slender fingers. "What?"

“From New Year’s Day last year until now,” Jiang Li said in a low voice, “what have I done to make you so unhappy?”

After a two-second silence, Guan Nan lowered her eyes and said softly, "No."

"No?"

"......"

"Then why are you ignoring me?"

"......"

"Didn't you hear me when I called you that day?" Jiang Li stuffed the wrapped school badge into his pocket, his expression so indifferent that it was hard to tell what emotion he was feeling. "You heard me, didn't you? That's why you quickened your pace."

Guan Nan pursed her lips, not expecting him to bring this up.

On April Fool's Day, after finishing her evening self-study session, she went home alone and met Jiang Li, who was on the same bus as her.

Jiang Li called her, and she heard him. He had seen everything that happened at noon. Guan Nan didn't know how to face him at the time. Just then, a bus came by, and she got on the wrong bus in her panic.

Later, I got off the bus again and transferred to another bus to get back to Hecangyuan.

Guan Nan felt guilty about the facts and naturally couldn't deny it. She said weakly, "You didn't pay any attention to me either."

"You won't even give me a kind look," Jiang Li looked at her, his hair tie, which had been a loose black one, was now replaced with a bright-colored one with a rabbit design. His voice was low and slightly mocking. "How am I supposed to talk to you?"

Guan Nan blinked, staring at the steps on the ground, unsure how to begin.

They walked past the student dormitory, climbed the steps, and entered the seemingly endless Huangjue Road.

Just then, the school bell rang, waking the entire campus.

"Let's go." Guan Nan ignored what he had said earlier, quickened her pace, turned around and saw that he hadn't kept up, gritted her teeth, turned around and took a few steps back, "Jiang Li, I heard it that day. I'm sorry."

Hearing this, he deliberately ran away.

So, I'm sorry.

Students were running towards the teaching building on campus, and everyone who passed by saw the famous "poor student" and the "top student" face off for a moment.

Then, the attitude of the "poor student" seemed to change before anyone could react.

The "poor student" held the "top student's" wrist with his left hand.

He strode towards Mingde Building.