Chen Yuan’s homework was indeed perfunctory, and he knew it. He had just paraphrased a few sentences from the textbook.
He never thought he’d be called to the office just to be humiliated.
This feeling... Chen Yuan couldn’t help but recall his high school days. He’d made a mistake and been called into his homeroom teacher’s office, while his mom, who was in the very same office, watched him get scolded.
The scolding itself wasn’t so bad; it was her gaze that made Chen Yuan feel like he was on pins and needles.
He took the assignment and turned to leave.
"Wait—"
Jiangg Ning suddenly stopped him.
The hairs on Chen Yuan’s arms stood on end in an instant. ’Is she really going to lecture me?’
He knew from experience that the closer someone was to you, the more harshly they tended to judge you. It was just like how his mom always used to say, "You’re my son! How can you upset me just like those other thoughtless kids?" The very thought of it was enough to make him despair.
Jiangg Ning stopped Chen Yuan. She rose from her office chair and walked straight to the door, leaving him with nothing but the sight of her lovely back.
Then,
SLAM!
The door was shut.
CLICK—
Then it was locked from the inside.
Chen Yuan took a few wary steps back, his face pale. ’This isn’t just a lecture, is it? She’s not going to resort to corporal punishment, is she?’
He said in a flurry, "Jiangg... Jiangg Ning... I didn’t mean to rush the assignment. I really didn’t know what to write, so I just adapted some stuff from the textbook. The thing is—"
"Don’t be nervous."
Turning back around, Jiangg Ning looked at him, confused. She quickly realized what he was thinking and waved her hand dismissively, her voice gentle. "I didn’t call you here about your homework. It’s something else."
Her attitude was a world of difference from how she acted in front of her students; her tone was so much softer.
Only after hearing this did Chen Yuan relax. His entire body went slack as he leaned back and sat on the sofa.
"You gave me a scare."
"You don’t have to be scared..." Jiangg Ning’s voice was low. She gently bit her lip. As she leaned forward, strands of her soft hair cascaded down both sides of her face, her delicate cheeks flushed with a hint of shyness. "I... have something I want to tell you."
"Missed me?"
If the two of them wanted to meet and talk openly at school, the office was the only place they could do it.
No matter how tender and sweet their messages on Green Bubble were, they could never compare to the blissful feeling of being close in person.
It’s perfectly normal for a couple in the throes of a new romance to want to be stuck to each other’s side at all times.
Chen Yuan figured Jiangg Ning had deliberately called him in with the other students because she must have really missed him and couldn’t wait to see him.
’Honestly...’
Looking at Jiangg Ning’s dazed expression, his heart instantly melted.
Her ever-present contrasts made her seem infinitely cuter than other girls. After spending these past few days with her, Chen Yuan felt like he was beginning to understand his "girlfriend’s" personality more and more.
"You... How did you know?" Surprise flickered in Jiangg Ning’s beautiful eyes.
"Of course I know. Even if you don’t say a word, that feeling just spills out of your eyes whenever you look at me."
Jiangg Ning instantly grew even more bashful, as if some strange switch had been flipped. Her eyes darted about, unable to meet his.
To have Chen Yuan point it out so bluntly made her want to crawl into a hole.
She didn’t even know how to get her words out anymore.
"Um, tonight..."
After a moment, she summoned her courage and said, her voice trembling slightly, "Are you free? I’d like to take you out to dinner."
"Huh?"
’That’s it?’
Chen Yuan was completely bewildered. He’d thought it was something incredibly important to require such a serious tone.
’It should at least have been something like, ’Can I come over to your place tonight?’ or ’I bought a cute new slip,’ or ’Let’s sneak a kiss in the office.’’
’There’s no need to be so nervous just to ask me to dinner, right?’
’After all, they’d been dating online for half a year and in person for almost a month.’
"You could’ve just asked me to dinner over Green Bubble. I thought it was something serious."
"Huh? Green Bubble?"
Jiangg Ning froze. She suddenly remembered asking Yaoyao to make sure she and Chen Yuan deleted each other. ’Did they not delete it?!’
’She mulled it over. ’It could also be that Green Bubble doesn’t notify you when you’re deleted; you only find out when you try to send a message.’’
’In any case, she herself didn’t have Chen Yuan’s contact info.’
Instantly putting her thoughts in order, Jiangg Ning caught herself and feigned a casual tone. "Right... Well, it’s a date, then. I’ll pick you up outside the school later, on Chengyang Street."
"Okay, I’ll head back to my dorm first." Chen Yuan was looking forward to the evening. This would be their first official date out.
It also proved that Jiangg Ning was gradually letting go of her "teacher" persona, both in private and in public, and was beginning to accept his role as her boyfriend.
"I’ll get the door for you."
CLICK—
The lock clicked open.
But just as Chen Yuan moved past Jiangg Ning and reached for the door...
A phrase as light as a feather, yet filled with unprecedented sincerity, reached his ears.
"Chen Yuan, thank you... for not holding my previous attitude against me."
Chen Yuan turned his head, and their eyes met.
A layer of mist seemed to well up in Jiangg Ning’s eyes, swirling hazily. After she spoke, she pressed her cherry-red lips together, and a blush more brilliant than ever before bloomed across her cheeks, like a slowly unfurling flower.
"What are you talking about..."
Without any warning.
The faint scent of lemon tickled her nose. Her vision was suddenly blocked by a pair of broad arms as a warm body pressed against hers, filling the space around her. It brought with it a sudden, powerful sense of security, a feeling she’d never experienced before. But,
’This hug is so warm.’
...
The Lanjing nightscape was as beautiful as a painting. The bustling city always gave off an impression of being artistic and gentle, yet with a certain elegance, like that of an impoverished noble family.
Pedestrians hurried by on the streets, and the roads were bustling with traffic.
At the end of an alley, an old man with a peculiar accent cursed at his neighbor, a single lamp flickering behind him against the winter night.
「Inside the restaurant.」
Soft light spilled down. The reliefs on the intricate wooden corridor gleamed with a deep brown hue. Simple rugs were spread across the floor. Waiters bustled back and forth, brushing past one another outside the curtained doorways as they hurried toward different tables.