like
Lu Er had showered in her dormitory, her feet still wet, so she put on slippers and went downstairs. The red and green rubber track was nearly deserted, with only two or three students jogging.
She messaged Ruan Xiyan, who quickly replied, "Wait a few minutes." Lu Er strolled slowly on the playground, her towel still draped over her shoulder, her phone in her hand.
"Hey." A hand quietly covered her eyes, a playful tone in it. "Guess who I am?"
"..." The person who could ask this question, Lu Er pondered for a few seconds, and said, "Sun Yuanyuan?"
"You guessed right! Now guess whether it's the older sister or the younger sister?"
There was no way to guess that, so Lu Er simply admitted defeat: "I don't know."
The two sisters seemed extremely happy that their prank had succeeded, and they both giggled. When they let go of each other's hands, Lu'er saw two girls who looked exactly alike. She wiped her forehead and said honestly, "Actually, seeing two identical people in the middle of the night is quite scary."
“But you seem very calm.” One of them laughed, though it was unclear whether it was Sun Yuanyuan or Sun Yuanyuan. “Let me tell you, the only difference between us is that the younger sister has a mole on her neck.”
Lu Er chuckled: "Which one is 'sister'?"
"My younger sister is Sun Yuanyuan, the 'Yuan' in 'woman'." Sun Yuanyuan blinked. "Then guess, am I the younger sister or the older sister?"
“Stick your necks out.”
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you, Little Ear. I bet it was your sister." The two Sun sisters burst into laughter. Sun Yuanyuan noticed her phone screen by the roadside. "Little Ear, you actually like watching this kind of thing?"
On the screen, several cartoon animals were chattering away. Sun Yuanyuan remembered that these things were called Chiikawa, a very popular IP.
Lu Er, still holding her phone, glanced at her with a faint smile: "Because it's pretty. Why don't you look at it?"
"It's pretty, but it's like something for kids. You always look so serious, so you like these kinds of things? It's cute how you are." Sun Yuanyuan playfully poked her cheek, while Lu Er, not used to physical contact, took a few steps back.
Sun Yuanyuan spotted a figure in the distance. While trying to make out the outline, she pointed and confirmed, "That person is... Ruan Xiyan, right?"
Ruan Xiyan came over, carrying a bag: "I'm not late, am I... You guys are here too, what were you talking about just now?"
Seeing Ruan Xiyan approach, Lu Er suddenly didn't want him to know what she was looking at, so she turned her phone upside down and locked the screen: "It's nothing, just... a little joke."
Sun Yuanyuan and Sun Yuanyuan exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other. They smiled knowingly and slowly slipped away: "...Then we won't be third wheels, we're going back to the dorm to shower, goodbye!"
"..." Ruan Xiyan was completely confused. "What are they talking about?"
Lu Er rubbed her bright red ears and calmly said, "Don't worry about it."
“My roommate and I went out for barbecue and came back early, so we didn’t pack anything.” Ruan Xiyan picked up the plastic bag in her hand. “On the way back, I saw a fruit salad shop and bought some for you. It’s from Qing City. I don’t know what it tastes like, but I saw a lot of people queuing up to buy it, so it should taste good.”
Lu Er paused slightly, then took the fruit salad. "Thank you. How much? I'll transfer it to you via WeChat." She lifted the small lid, revealing round, green grapes, fragrant mango slices, and small coconut jelly pieces bathed in white yogurt. There were no peaches.
"It's not expensive. Can I deduct it from your salary?" Seeing that she was staring at the fruit salad for a long time, Ruan Xiyan felt a little embarrassed. "Because last time when we had fruit salad, I saw that you picked up a lot of coconut jelly, so I also... bought a lot of coconut jelly."
Lu Er put the lid away, saying she'd eat it when she got back. She thanked her again, saying, "Let's start the task now."
-
The two sat on the steps by the playground. One of the tasks in Ruan Xiyan's app was to read short stories. When he saw the English excerpt, he paused for a moment: "This is the one from last time, Norwegian Wood." He remembered it clearly, the dialogue between Midori and Watanabe, including the translation that Lu Er read aloud on the spot.
“Hmm.” The sentences were read aloud by one person, and Lu Er spoke first, “Midori, you have to say my name.”
Midori, you need to add her name.
Ruan Xiyan looked at her and replied, "Midori, you're cute." So adorable, Midori.
"How cute?" How exactly does "extremely cute" mean?
"Cute enough to make mountains crumble and seas run dry." So cute, indeed.
“Midori raised her face and looked at me, ‘That’s pretty original.’” Midori looked at me with her face raised, “Your choice of words is quite remarkable.”
“‘It makes me feel warm inside when you say that,’ I said with a smile.” Hearing you say that warmed my heart too.
"Give me something better."
Ruan Xiyan's eyes reflected her face: "I love you a lot, Midori." I love you the most, Midori.
Lu Er paused for a moment, without looking up: "How much?"
When she said this, Ruan Xiyan lowered her head and looked away: "Like a spring bear."
...
After reading the entire article relatively fluently, Lu Er picked up his phone and continued looking at the next task. Her hair wasn't completely dry; water droplets still glistened and dripped down, wetting her collar.
Lu Er grabbed the towel on her shoulder and used it to wrap her hair. Ruan Xiyan was right next to her, glancing down slightly, and could see the black fabric stains on her chest.
"..." Ruan Xiyan's ears were getting hot, so he quickly looked away.
Lu Er had just showered, and her whole body carried a damp scent, like a rare, gentle rainy day. A faint, sweet fragrance wafted from her hair, lingering around Ruan Xiyan's nose. He paused for a moment, then remembered it was lavender, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Do you always use lavender-scented shampoo?"
The laundry detergent smells like this, and so does the shower gel. Ruan Xiyan wondered, is it because she likes the smell?
To everyone's surprise, Lu Er raised his face, looked at him seriously, and said, "It's because this flavor is the cheapest."
"……"All right.
Having finished her task, Lu Er stood up, and Ruan Xiyan followed suit. The sky was beautiful tonight; it was a deep blue like velvet, the moon shyly hidden behind the clouds, and the stars, though dim, gathered together like a silver river.
"I heard there will be some nice celestial phenomena in Qing City these days. It will be even better with a telescope," Ruan Xiyan said, looking up. "I hope we can see the Big Dipper or something."
Lu Er looked at him: "You can watch this?"
"Yes. We're going on a picnic tomorrow and won't be back until the next day. We'll probably be setting up camp then. If there's a chance, I'll show you around."
Lights out was approaching, and the intro to "Lucky Symbol" started playing all around, urging everyone to hurry back to their dorms. It seemed Ruan Xiyan's choice of music had been successfully selected.
Let love be adorned with lucky symbols, and let smiles add spice. Ruan Xiyan kicked away the pebbles on the road with her heel: "Alright, Teacher Lu, I should go back now."
Brewing the taste of happiness. Lu Er stopped in her tracks. The outer edge of the playground was very close to the boys' dormitory. They walked quickly to the boys' dormitory: "Yeah, see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Ruan Xiyan slowly ran into the light. He turned halfway back and was still waving at her, his eyes curving up cutely at the corners, along with his little dimple. "Goodnight, Teacher Xiaolu."
Feelings slowly blossomed.
Goodnight, Lu Er said to herself.
-
[Wildfire Cannot Extinguish]: Why hasn't Ruan Xiyan come back yet? The girl has been waiting for him downstairs for ages.
[Lanzhi]: Yeah, if you don't seize such an opportunity, you deserve to be single.
【Perfect as Me】: It's almost lights out, where did he go? He left so early after having a late-night snack, I thought something serious had happened. @Ruan Xiyan
[Lan Zhi]: @Ruan Xiyan @Ruan Xiyan
【Slow Momo】: ?
Ruan Xiyan found the message on her phone while walking back to her dormitory after saying goodbye to Lu Er. Their 211 dormitory group chat was bombarded with messages, all three of them tagging him.
【Perfect as Me】: Still talking? Look up, how long has that girl been waiting for you downstairs?
【Slow Momo】: Which girl?
[Lanzhi]: You who said those words have no idea how jealous I am.
[Wildfire Cannot Burn Out]: Who else could it be but Ye Xinyu? Isn't she the only one being talked about in our dorm?
Ye Xinyu was looking for him? Ruan Xiyan frowned and typed a few words in the group: "I didn't know she was looking for me." After saying this, he scanned the streetlights for a while and sure enough, he spotted Ye Xinyu's figure.
Not long after arriving at the summer camp yesterday, Ruan Xiyan received a WeChat friend request. The request was labeled "stranger," and Ruan Xiyan wanted to decline, saying she didn't add strangers. The sender then commented that they had seen her work, liked it, and wanted to get to know her. After some hesitation, Ruan Xiyan accepted the friend request.
The next day at noon, the stranger came to her door. Ruan Xiyan learned that her name was Ye Xinyu, a student from Huai'an No. 7 Middle School next door, who, like him, studied art and specialized in dance.
Ye Xinyu told him that a friend of hers was an art student, and she had seen Ruan Xiyan in a competition her friend participated in and admired his paintings, but she had never had the chance to meet him. Now that they had met at summer camp, she didn't want to miss this opportunity.
Ruan Xiyan and Ye Xinyu only met once a week, and they didn't talk much. Their relationship wasn't exactly close. Why would Ye Xinyu suddenly come to see him without informing him on WeChat?
"Ruan Xiyan." Upon seeing him, Ye Xinyu immediately put on a smile, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, "Why are you back so late?"
"Doing missions with my partner. Do you need to contact me? It's too late now, you can tell me on WeChat."
"Because..." Ye Xinyu didn't finish her sentence. She immediately took out something from behind her back. "I had a surprise for you, so I didn't tell you. This is a ticket to the Qing City Oil Painting Exhibition that I got through someone. I heard you were interested in it, so I wanted to give it to you."
"Thank you. But I already have the tickets, so I don't need them. Thank you for your kindness anyway," Ruan Xiyan said politely.
Ye Xinyu bit her lower lip: "Then could I ask you to paint a picture of me when you have time? A portrait of me, I really like your paintings."
"I'm sorry, I'm not good at portrait drawing. You can find someone else; I have a few friends who are good at it and I can recommend them to you."
"You can paint other things too, like landscapes..."
"Ye, if you really like my painting, then I'm very grateful and happy." After the song ended, everyone quickly rushed back to their respective dormitories. Ruan Xiyan said to her earnestly, "But if you have other intentions, I'm afraid I can't keep you company."
These words cleared up the burdens in their hearts. Ye Xinyu still wanted to get an answer: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Then can't I? Or do you already have someone you like?"
Hearing this, Ruan Xiyan paused for a few seconds without replying. Ye Xinyu turned to look in the direction of the dormitory and relented: "Okay, then I won't pursue you anymore. Can we be friends?" Being friends with someone like Ruan Xiyan isn't a bad idea, since they can't be lovers.
"Okay, friend. You should go back now, it's getting late and they'll be closing soon. Thank you for your kindness today."
Ye Xinyu left, and Ruan Xiyan slowly pondered her words as she walked back to her dormitory.
Does he actually have someone he likes?
Having been single for seventeen years and receiving countless love letters and confessions, Ruan Xiyan, who had never experienced the feeling of first love, was now deeply confused.
A few fleeting moments of intense emotion flashed through Ruan Xiyan's mind, all connected to the same person.
But is that liking?
He couldn't understand it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
