The North District had more than one supermarket—one in the student apartment area and one in the private apartments, both fairly large.
But this was Shen An’s first time at the North District supermarket.
He walked in and looked around. The shelves were packed with goods, dazzling his eyes, and there were plenty of customers.
Judging by their clothes and style, almost all the shoppers here were students living in the North District—in other words, mostly “rich kids.”
The ratio matched the school’s perfectly. Shen An glanced around casually and saw girls everywhere, clustered in twos and threes.
It really was like a nunnery.
Shen An muttered to himself.
Chen Nannan trailed obediently behind him. Gone was her usual spark; she seemed like a flower on the verge of wilting, her once-bright eyes now dull.
Her occasional glances fixed on Shen An’s back.
Clearly, she wasn’t fully prepared for the shift in their relationship—whether from friends to lovers, or back again.
That mix of indecision and hypersensitivity was her biggest flaw.
“Oh ho, Senior Sister, want an ice pop?”
Shen An waved her over and headed to the nearby freezer.
Chen Nannan was a bit out of it. He had to wave several times before she noticed.
“What?”
By then, Shen An had already pulled a popsicle from the freezer. He unwrapped it and took a bite. “You sure you don’t want one?”
Chen Nannan shook her head slightly. “No, thanks.”
“Aw, come on, why the long face?”
Shen An crunched into the popsicle and grinned at her teasingly. “I’m the one who got dumped here.”
Chen Nannan couldn’t handle the joke in that moment. Unease crossed her face as she hurried to explain. “That’s not what I meant.”
Shen An raised an eyebrow and sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that either. I was just trying to tease you a bit, Senior Sister.”
He took a step closer. “You used to smile all the time. Now your whole face is screaming melancholy, and I’m actually getting a little worried.”
“What’s going on?”
“Maybe… I’m just a bit tired.”
Chen Nannan forced a smile, trying hard not to tie her mood to what had just happened. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I told you about it on the phone.”
“Then let’s hurry up, finish shopping and eating, and you can catch a nap.”
Shen An chuckled lightly and nodded. He grabbed the cart and turned toward the fresh produce section.
Chen Nannan bit her lip and followed in silence.
The fresh produce area was quite a bit smaller than the others.
That made sense, though. Not many college students bothered cooking for themselves—especially not the rich kids who mostly lived in the North District.
Still, small as it was, the section had everything it needed.
“These meats look pretty fresh. What do you feel like eating, Senior Sister?”
Chen Nannan tried to pull herself together. Whenever Shen An asked, she just pointed.
They didn’t chat much along the way, but they moved efficiently.
“Oh, right—does your apartment have oil and soy sauce and stuff like that, Senior Sister?”
Shen An pushed the cart along, then glanced back suddenly.
“Huh?”
“What about salt?”
“I’m not… sure, I guess.”
“Alright, then let’s get the disposable stuff. No sense wasting it, since you probably won’t cook anyway.”
Shen An chuckled and steered the cart toward the seasonings aisle.
As they shopped, though, Shen An started to notice something off.
He kept asking Chen Nannan if her apartment had cooking tools—like knives or cutting boards.
He’d poked around the apartment earlier but hadn’t really checked the kitchen.
Chen Nannan didn’t have a clue about any of it, like the kitchen wasn’t even part of her place.
Alright then.
Shen An scratched his head, looking troubled. “Maybe we should just eat out instead?”
Chen Nannan’s spirits lifted in an instant. Her eyes sharpened. “Why?”
“Well, I bet your kitchen only has a pot or two. If we keep buying like this, we’ll end up with a ton of stuff.”
Shen An sighed. “You don’t really like cooking anyway. If we only use it once, it’ll just go to waste.”
He could get single-use portions of things like rice, oil, and salt—no problem there.
The campus supermarket stocked those kinds of options.
But knives, cutting boards, spoons? You couldn’t exactly use them once and return them.
“So we might as well eat out.”
Shen An said it gently. “No need to hassle with all this. What do you think, Senior Sister?”
Chen Nannan thought for a moment, then murmured, “Let’s buy it.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s buy it.”
Her fingers toyed with a strand of her hair. “Who knows? I might want to cook someday, and then it’ll come in handy. Right?”
“Better safe than sorry. It’s always good to have it on hand.”
“Uh… should I grab more of these?” Shen An jiggled the bag of seasonings in his hand.
“Yeah. No need for small packs—just get the full sets.”
Chen Nannan reached out and started loading bottles and jars into the cart. Shen An went along with it.
Next came the knives, cutting boards, and all sorts of other kitchen tools.
Suddenly, Chen Nannan was the one taking charge.
She wasn’t sure what she actually needed—or even if she needed anything—but she grabbed whatever looked useful off the shelves.
Shen An reminded her a few times, but she insisted she might use it someday. Same logic: better safe than sorry.
He ended up as the cart-pusher, following behind so she could toss things in easily.
They circled around a few times until the cart was piled high.
Aside from a rice cooker and some pots, Chen Nannan had pretty much bought every kitchen gadget on offer.
Plus a bunch of random snacks, all thrown in together.
There was so much that Shen An had to carry the bags of meat and veggies by hand to keep them from getting crushed.
“Anything else we’re missing?”
Chen Nannan scanned the cart and turned to Shen An.
“I think you’ve got enough to open a restaurant.” Shen An raised an eyebrow. “Though you’d need to expand your apartment first.”
“Tch.”
Chen Nannan rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s go check out, then.”
The two of them headed to the checkout counter.
A lone figure stood there quietly.
Shen An spotted her and quickened his pace. He slipped past Chen Nannan, pushing the cart right up behind the figure.
Chen Nannan blinked in surprise at first, puzzled.
But when she saw who it was, her brow furrowed slightly.
Shen Lianyao didn’t care much for takeout. She usually handled her meals at the cafeteria.
Today, her afternoon classes were light, so she’d come back to the North District early.
When the cafeteria wouldn’t do, she’d cook for herself.
Just like any other afternoon, she’d popped in her earbuds, grabbed what she needed, and now stood waiting to check out before heading back to her apartment.
She was lost in her music when someone gave her butt a light pat.
Shen Lianyao’s body tensed. She whipped around fast, on high alert.
“Yo~”
The face that greeted her was handsome—but thoroughly annoying.
It was his cart that had bumped her.
Shen An grinned wide, winking and waving at her.
“What a coincidence. You here to buy groceries too?”
Shen An nodded at the bag in her hands and spoke softly.
Shen Lianyao’s brow creased.
What was he saying?
Shen An pointed at her ears with mock exasperation.
Oh, right—her earbuds. No wonder she hadn’t heard him.
Shen Lianyao slowly pulled them out.
Shen An teased, “You wear earbuds even for grocery shopping? That doesn’t seem too safe.”
Shen Lianyao glanced at his overflowing cart. “I’m not crossing the street. No cars are gonna speed up and hit me.”
Uh…
Shen An cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, you live in the North District too, right? Which building?”
“Are all you guys this nosy?”
Shen Lianyao clearly had no intention of answering.
“That’s not nosy—that’s concern.” Shen An put on a serious face. “Do you live alone?”
“From what I know, the apartments are all singles anyway.”
Her tone carried a hint of impatience.
“Besides, whether I live alone or with someone… what does it have to do with you?”
Shen An: ???
What was her deal? Had she swallowed some gunpowder?
He knew Shen Lianyao had a bias against him—or at least, she didn’t think much of him.
But they’d always gotten along fine enough on a basic level.
Right now, though… she was coming in hot, no holds barred.
Of course, how could Shen An possibly know what Shen Lianyao had seen in the North District yesterday afternoon?
In her eyes, he was basically a scumbag now.
Not just two-timing, but a full-on con artist.
“Look, I just got out of the hospital. I’m still a patient here—cut me a little slack?” Shen An gave a wry smile, trying to play the sympathy card.
Heh.
If he hadn’t brought it up, it might’ve been fine. But now, the sarcasm curling her lips only deepened.
The hospital?
With Zhao Qingyu, right?
She was just about to call out his hypocrisy when Chen Nannan stepped up beside him. “Lianyao?” she said softly.
Shen Lianyao’s expression froze for a split second, then softened into warmth. “Senior Sister?”
Chen Nannan gently nudged Shen An aside and smiled. “Ah, I almost forgot—you live in the North District too, Lianyao.”
“You out shopping as well?”
As if. Who comes to the supermarket just to stroll around?
Shen An grumbled to himself.
But he knew girls’ conversations often included this kind of pointless back-and-forth.
Being a little long-winded was exactly right.
“Yeah, I’m heading back to cook,” Shen Lianyao said, her tone softening a bit in front of Chen Nannan.
She even took the initiative to pick up the bag in her hand.
“You know how to cook?”
Shen An was a little surprised to hear that.
Shen Lianyao acted as if she hadn’t heard him at all. Chen Nannan chuckled inwardly and chimed in, “Lianyao is really amazing. Unlike me, I can’t cook at all.”
“It’s just a personal hobby,” Shen Lianyao said with a wave of her hand. But then she suddenly realized something and pointed at Shen An in surprise. “Senior Sister, you’re with him?”
Shen An: ?
Chen Nannan nodded slightly. “Yeah, Shen An just got back from the hospital, you know. He’s been rushing around the whole way.”
“But to be honest, I’m a bit ashamed. I originally wanted to take him out for a nice meal, to show him some proper care.”
“But he insisted that would be too extravagant. He suggested letting him cook instead, and I figured it was a good chance to try his skills. He always brags that he’s no worse than a professional chef, so I want to see if he’s really that good.”
Shen An watched and listened, sneering inwardly.
Heh, women.
Shen Lianyao glanced at the cart full of goods, her mouth twitching slightly. “Yeah, it does look pretty expensive.”
Chen Nannan paused for a moment, then caught on and laughed. “These are all things I wanted to buy. It has nothing to do with him.”
“Lately, I’ve been thinking about learning to cook myself. I love good food, but I’m clueless in the kitchen. Doesn’t that seem a little ridiculous?”
“My apartment doesn’t have any of these tools anyway, so I just picked them up on the way.”
“Shen An even teased me for buying too much, but I always say better safe than sorry. It’s no big deal to get a little extra, right, Lianyao?”
What could Shen Lianyao say? She could only nod and say, “You’re amazing, Senior Sister.”
But deep down, she was a little annoyed.
This meant that Shen An and Chen Nannan were on really good terms—after all, Shen An wasn’t likely to cook in his own apartment for Chen Nannan.
In other words, they were probably heading to Chen Nannan’s place.
Sure, it was a school apartment, but it was still a girl’s home.
That was the source of her irritation.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t stand seeing Shen An and Chen Nannan getting close. It was just…
She always felt like Chen Nannan might have been fooled by Shen An.
This guy…
He looked all proper on the surface, but deep down, he was a hypocritical fraud, an incorrigible playboy.
With that in mind, Shen Lianyao shot Shen An another glare for no reason.
She needed to have a good talk with Senior Sister later, to keep her from getting deceived even more.
The question marks on Shen An’s face multiplied.
What now?
He’d been standing there quietly the whole time, not even butting in, and now he was getting glared at out of nowhere.
Talk about a bolt from the blue.
“Excuse me, miss?”
The voice of the nearby staff member pulled her attention back. Shen Lianyao withdrew her gaze and set her bag on the counter.
Once the checkout was done, she turned to Chen Nannan. “Well, I’ll head out first, Senior Sister.”
“Mm. Things are going to get busy from here on out. I hope you can adjust well.”
Chen Nannan smiled gently. “If you run into any trouble, feel free to ask Shen An for help. He’s in the same department as you, after all.”
Shen Lianyao nodded expressionlessly. “Mm.”
“Shen An, you need to take good care of Lianyao, got it?”
Chen Nannan took the opportunity to poke Shen An, who was standing there like a wooden post.
“Don’t worry, Senior Sister. I’ll take care of her every step of the way.”
Shen An winked at Shen Lianyao, who felt a chill run down her spine!
What a sleaze.
But she wasn’t the only one unhappy with his words. Chen Nannan flinched a little at that, an unnatural look flashing across her face. She even quietly stepped on Shen An’s foot.
Hiss…
Shen An turned to look at Chen Nannan. Her smile was still in place, showing no sign of anything amiss.
Shen Lianyao wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to all that. She waved and turned to leave the supermarket.
Only after Shen Lianyao had left did Chen Nannan slowly lift her foot.
Shen An frowned. “Did I do something wrong again?”
Chen Nannan narrowed her eyes. “Nope. I just saw a mosquito on your shoe and stepped on it for you.”
“Oh, got it. Thanks, then.”
“You’re welcome. It’s our turn to check out.”
Chen Nannan pushed the cart forward.
