“Can… can you let go of me now?”
After a brief standoff, Chen Nannan realized that the situation felt a bit off.
But with her mouth covered, her words came out so muffled that they were hard to make out. Paired with her gesturing hands, though, Shen An understood.
“Oh, sorry.”
Shen An quickly released his grip. “I was just afraid you’d end up shouting again.”
“Mm, I… I know. I don’t blame you.”
Chen Nannan shrank back a little. She said she didn’t blame him, but her guarded posture made her feelings abundantly clear.
“I, uh, I’ll go ahead and get you registered first, then tell you about some things.”
Chen Nannan pointed toward the back. “Wait here for me. I’ll go grab some stuff.”
“Mm.”
Shen An stood there with a cheerful smile as Chen Nannan took small steps and hurried to the back.
Judging by her height, she was around five foot seven.
What especially caught Shen An’s eye were her fair, rosy calves.
Her canvas shoes and white knee socks accentuated their slender shape, like tender bamboo shoots in spring.
He soon withdrew his gaze and turned toward the back of the booth.
The eye-catching Red-Clothed Senior Sister was nowhere to be seen, vanished to who-knows-where.
Shen An raised an eyebrow, a touch regretful.
About five minutes later, Chen Nannan approached, struggling under the weight of thick stacks of documents clutched in each small hand.
Thud.
She set down the hefty pile and picked up the top one, handing it to Shen An. “Fill this out first.”
“Oh, right—your file too. Hand it over now.”
“Sure.”
Shen An opened his bag, passed her his file, and took the blank form.
“Right here?”
“Yep! Once it’s filled out, I’ll turn everything in at the Academic Affairs Office, and my job for today is done!”
Chen Nannan grinned, looking at Shen An with some anticipation.
“You’re taking it all by yourself?”
Shen An pointed at the thick stack on the ground.
“Yep.”
“How about this: I help you carry it over. Then, once we get to the office, I’ll fill it out. Sound good?”
Chen Nannan thought for a moment, hesitating. “That doesn’t seem right. You’re a junior, after all.”
“Does helping out depend on whether you’re a junior or a senior?”
Shen An shrugged. “If you don’t want to, Senior Sister, I won’t push it.”
“But lugging that stack by yourself? You’d be wiped out.”
The Academic Affairs Office was quite a hike from the Library.
“No, no, no…” Chen Nannan quickly grabbed his arm and whispered, “Fine, you take this stack. It’s all the new students’ files.”
“Got it.” Shen An’s lips curved up.
And so, Shen An picked up the stack on the left while Chen Nannan grabbed the file bags on the right.
The two left the Library side by side, heading for the Academic Affairs Office.
At the booth, Zhang Qian and another senior sister watched them go in silence.
“Are they going on a date already?”
Zhang Qian murmured.
“What date?” The girl on the left swatted her irritably. “He’s just helping out. You think Nannan could carry all that alone without getting exhausted?”
“Hmph~ I wish someone would help me out too.” Zhang Qian pouted wistfully.
“Am I not a person?”
“Only hot guys count.” Zhang Qian winked.
“Pfft.”
The girl looked worried. “We should still say something to Nannan when she gets back.”
“Say what?”
“What else? Tell her to keep her distance from that junior. Wouldn’t want her getting dragged into his mess.”
“Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”
Zhang Qian grumbled, “One minute you’re saying the guy’s super nice, the next you’re telling Nannan to stay away.”
“No contradiction.”
The girl said coolly, “He might be a good guy, sure. But you know Nannan can’t handle that kind of ‘test.'”
“True~”
Zhang Qian sighed. “Such a shame. Nannan hasn’t even had a boyfriend yet, and now it’s doomed before it starts. Tragic~”
“Just shut up. You turn nothing into something.”
“Tch~ When’s it my turn for romance…?” Zhang Qian whined mournfully.
“Forget it. How many boyfriends have you gone through already?!”
“The past is past, and the future’s yet to come~”
“Pfft, total player!”
On the road, Shen An held an umbrella in one hand and the files in the other.
He looked perfectly relaxed, while Chen Nannan beside him was starting to struggle.
The file bags weighed about three times as much as a standard stack of student documents.
They hadn’t even made it halfway before sweat beaded on Chen Nannan’s forehead, her steps slowing.
Shen An glanced over and suddenly stopped.
Chen Nannan stopped too. “What’s up?”
“I’m getting tired. How about a break?” He nodded at a small pavilion nearby. “Let’s sit there.”
“We’re almost there…” Chen Nannan said softly.
“But I really can’t go on.” Shen An’s tone was firm.
“Fine, just for a bit then~”
Chen Nannan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She was on the verge of collapsing.
After setting down the files, she leaned against a stone pillar without a care for her image, panting heavily.
“Senior Sister, you’ve got some real stamina.”
Shen An picked up his stack and gently fanned her with it.
Chen Nannan shot him a sideways glance, then suddenly covered her face. “This is so embarrassing…”
“Huh?”
“Don’t ‘huh’ me. I know you pretended to be tired just to give me a break.”
With her small hands over her face and mouth, her whiny tone carried a hint of adorable grievance.
“Nope, I really was tired.”
“Yeah, right~ Not a drop of sweat on you.” Chen Nannan stomped her foot in dissatisfaction.
“I just don’t sweat easily.”
“But here, Senior Sister~” Shen An pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket and offered them. “Wipe off?”
“Aaah!”
Chen Nannan took the tissues with a heartbroken expression, her lips pursed in full-on indignation.
She wasn’t mad at Shen An—she was mad at herself for being so pathetic.
She felt like she’d utterly embarrassed herself as a senior in front of her junior.
And not just a little.
After wiping the sweat from her face, her hair was a bit messy, but her fair skin glowed even pinker.
Chen Nannan blinked her big eyes and handed the tissues back to Shen An.
“You wipe too!”
“Mm.”
Shen An had no sweat on his face, but he still pulled out a tissue and made a show of dabbing.
In that moment of handover, their fingers brushed lightly.
Chen Nannan shyly pulled back, glancing around in bewilderment—front, back, left, right—hesitant and nervous.
“You… you got here pretty late.”
She figured, as the senior, she couldn’t let the awkwardness linger.
So she racked her brain and started a topic.
“Pretty late?”
“Yep. All the other new students are here. You’re the last one—some even reported two days early.”
“Oh, Senior Sister, do you have to wait here every day for new students to check in?”
“Pretty much~ I don’t have a partner, so no rotating shifts.”
“That does sound exhausting.”
Shen An pocketed the tissues and turned to her with a light smile. “But from now on, you’re free, Senior Sister.”
“No way~” Chen Nannan hugged her knees and mumbled, “Once all the new students are in, it gets even busier.”
“Class meetings to organize, gatherings to plan, dorm visits… and oh yeah, I still have classes…”
“Uh, is that what you were gonna tell me about?”
“Yep. First class meeting’s tomorrow. Don’t forget to show up.”
“Morning or afternoon?”
“Morning, I think… Mornings are easier.” Chen Nannan paused, then turned serious. “No sleeping in! Nine a.m. sharp!”
Pfft.
Shen An couldn’t help but chuckle.
Chen Nannan blinked in confusion. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Just felt like laughing.”
“I don’t buy it. You’re laughing at me!” Chen Nannan bit her lip.
“Okay, okay, I’m not laughing at you. I was just thinking—what if I do sleep in?”
Shen An said with a grin.
“Then…”
Chen Nannan whispered, “That wouldn’t be good. First time meeting everyone, and you’re late? Bad impression.”
“So you’re saying it’s a bad look, but doable?”
“Aaah, no! You can’t sleep in!”
In her panic, Chen Nannan’s voice took on a wheedling lilt. “It’ll make things hard for me.”
“Senior Sister~”
Shen An propped his chin, staring at her intently.
His gaze burned hot, like molten lava flowing from a volcano.
“Mm?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re cute?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think so. I’m… I’m pretty serious!”
With that, Chen Nannan nodded briskly. She started to smile, then quickly schooled her face into a stern expression—but it held zero intimidation.
“I’m not actually bisexual, you know.”
Shen An smiled faintly.
“Huh…? Why bring that up all of a sudden?” Chen Nannan struggled to keep up with his abrupt topic shift.
“Because I didn’t want you actually believing it, Senior Sister.”
Shen An’s lips quirked playfully, like he was teasing a child.
“No way, I… I knew you were joking.”
Chen Nannan’s smile hid a flicker of guilt.
Inner thought: Almost got played for a fool.
“Good.”
Shen An clapped his hands, stood, and picked up the thick stack of file bags.
“Let’s go. Break’s over.”
“Hey, you…”
Before Chen Nannan could stop him, Shen An had already walked out of the pavilion, file folder in hand.
Hey~
This kid, hmph~
Chen Nannan ducked her head to hide her smile. Since he’d taken the file folder, she “had no choice” but to pick up the student information binder.
Sure enough, it felt much lighter!
She was just about to head out when she suddenly spotted the umbrella nearby.
“He didn’t even grab the umbrella, that klutz.”
Chen Nannan muttered under her breath, then bent down to pick it up for him.
The instant she lifted the umbrella, her gaze fell on its cyan canopy and the distinctive pattern etched across it. Chen Nannan froze.
This umbrella…
“Senior Sister?”
Shen An’s voice drifted back. “Want to rest a bit longer?”
“No, I’m coming.”
Chen Nannan hurriedly tucked the umbrella away, grabbed the student binder, and hurried toward Shen An.
But this time, she deliberately slowed her pace, hanging back just behind him.
Her bright eyes flicked over his figure now and then, and a complicated expression crept across Chen Nannan’s face.
This umbrella…
Was it hers?
