Shen An hurried out of the classroom and headed straight down the right-hand corridor. Just around the corner, he spotted Chen Nannan, who hadn’t gone far yet.
“Senior Sister!”
He quickened his pace toward her back, calling out as he went.
Chen Nannan stopped and glanced over her shoulder. A flicker of complicated emotion passed through her eyes—she hadn’t actually expected Shen An to chase after her just as she’d hoped.
But she didn’t wait in place for him. After a quick look, she started walking again, like a girlfriend in a huff who refused to stop no matter how much you called out.
That subtle little gesture only made Shen An’s heart bubble with even more delight.
He picked up speed and easily overtook her, circling around from behind to plant himself right in front of her.
With him blocking her path, Chen Nannan had no choice but to halt. Her brows furrowed slightly, her expression displeased. “What is it?”
Her first words came out icy cold, as if she saw Shen An as nothing more than an annoying fly she wanted to swat away.
Shen An glanced around mysteriously, then placed his hands on Chen Nannan’s shoulders. “Senior Sister, hear me out.”
She shrank back, shoving him away with a mix of shyness and annoyance. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. Don’t go groping me!”
But her strength was no match for his. After a token struggle that went nowhere, Chen Nannan glared at him with eyes flashing annoyance, her stare as cold as ice.
“Come with me first.”
Shen An murmured softly.
Without giving her a chance to refuse, he grabbed her small hand and pulled her toward a nearby corner.
“What are you doing? Let go!”
Chen Nannan half-heartedly resisted as she followed him away. They ended up in a secluded nook on the other side of the teaching building, a quiet spot where no one else was around.
The moment they arrived, she yanked her hand free and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, what’s this all about?”
Only then did Shen An get straight to the point. “Why haven’t you replied to the messages I sent you?”
A faint wave of disappointment welled up in Chen Nannan’s heart. She’d thought he was going to explain himself, but no—it was about this.
Not replying was not replying. Did it really need a reason?
Of course, she couldn’t say it like that. Instead, she went with a softer excuse. “I didn’t see them.”
“How could you not? I sent them to you last night around nine.”
Shen An shook his head, clearly not buying her flimsy excuse.
Chen Nannan felt a spark of real anger ignite. “I didn’t see them, so I didn’t see them. What’s with all the questions?”
Her sharp tone made Shen An flinch back, looking a bit panicked.
Chen Nannan realized she’d come off too harsh.
She softened her voice. “Anything else? If not, I need to grab lunch. I’ve got a ton of stuff to handle this afternoon.”
“There is.” Shen An sounded like a kid who’d done something wrong, his voice small. “I wasn’t trying to skip out on class on purpose earlier. Yuqiong kept bothering me, and I figured I couldn’t just take it lying down, so I hit back a little.”
His current demeanor was a far cry from his earlier carefree attitude, giving off real “little brother” vibes.
Chen Nannan was the type who melted for gentleness but pushed back against force. Seeing Shen An looking so dejected, the anger she’d felt started to fade.
But recalling last night’s scene still left her nursing a grudge, an itch she couldn’t quite scratch.
She pursed her lips, pretending it was nothing. “Whatever. Listening in class is your business. I’m just your assistant class supervisor, not your mom. It’s you who’ll catch hell if anyone complains, not me.”
“But it feels like you’re mad at me, Senior Sister.”
Sensing that playing pitiful wasn’t fully working, Shen An raised his hands to her shoulders and said earnestly, “You’re not?”
A girl’s little sulk was easy to spot, and her denial was basically a hint.
The subtext: Yeah, I’m mad. I want an explanation.
“You say you’re not, but you didn’t even greet me when we saw each other today. You’ve been cold as ice, like a totally different person.”
Shen An curved his lips into a faint smile. “Is it something going on with the Student Union again? Some mess that’s got you all riled up?”
He couldn’t admit her anger stemmed from last night—from him!
He had to play the clueless guy, tossing the blame toward the Student Union to test the waters and nudge her into spilling it herself.
Otherwise, he’d lose the upper hand in this delicate game.
Chen Nannan’s face chilled at his words. “No!”
Perfect. Mission accomplished. Shen An backed off gracefully. “Oh. Guess I was overthinking it then.”
He scratched his head with an awkward grin. “I thought you might be dealing with something stressful and wanted to check if there was anything I could do to help.”
“If not, then great.”
Hearing that, Chen Nannan’s heart softened a touch. He was pretty thoughtful, she had to admit.
No—thoughtful my foot!
That flicker of warmth vanished, and she slipped back into her frosty mode. “Anything else?”
“Nope.” Shen An played along. “I won’t keep you from your work then, Senior Sister. I’m heading out.”
With that, he turned and walked off decisively. But after just a few steps, he glanced back and waved.
Chen Nannan stood there stunned. Seeing him actually leave so readily made her seethe inside, nearly choking on her own frustration!
Call the guy oblivious, and he’d pick up on her mood swings sharp enough to chase her down.
Call him sharp, and what did he even say once he caught up? Total bonehead moves!
But deep down, Chen Nannan knew Shen An was in the dark.
If he were clever enough to piece together the reason for her mood from a few clues, she’d have even more reason to be wary.
But… but…
She let out a helpless sigh. Did he really think carrying a girl around everywhere was just no big deal?
Look at that attitude—not a shred of guilt!
As he neared the edge of sight, Chen Nannan couldn’t hold back. She stomped her foot and called out, “Stop right there!”
Shen An turned back, looking puzzled at her.
“Get over here!”
Chen Nannan planted her hands on her hips.
Shen An walked back, still clueless. “Any other instructions, Senior Sister?”
She narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp as knives, pricking at his face until it almost hurt.
He cleared his throat lightly. “Whatever it is, just say it. If I can help, I definitely will.”
“Heh, and what do you think you can help me with?”
“Big stuff, maybe not. But fetching you some brown sugar tea? Piece of cake.” Shen An flashed a grin.
Br—brown sugar tea?
What the…?
“Uh… didn’t you start your period, Senior Sister?”
He ventured cautiously. “I know some girls get moody when that time hits.”
“By the way, does it hurt?”
“I’ll give you something to hurt about!” Chen Nannan was about to explode. She stomped in fury, words catching in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to lay out the whole story right there and roast him.
“Ah…” Shen An put on a bewildered look. “Not that? Then why the cold shoulder, Senior Sister?”
“You…”
Chen Nannan took a deep breath. Calm down, she told herself. She couldn’t let him get to her like this.
She bit her tender lip, her voice tinged with resentment. “You know exactly what you did.”
“Huh??”
Shen An took a tactical step back, feigning shock. “Me? What did I do?”
Chen Nannan leaned in close, lowering her voice. “Last night. In the South District. What were you up to?”
She finally couldn’t resist dropping a hint.
Otherwise, this “idiot” might never figure it out.
Sure, she was mad at him, but she didn’t want things to end just like that.
“South District…” Shen An acted like realization dawned. “Oh.”
Chen Nannan smirked. “Remember now?”
He nodded with a light chuckle. “Yeah, I was grabbing dinner there yesterday. With Yuqiong. Speaking of which, the place she recommended was pretty good. We should check it out together sometime.”
Chen Nannan: ……
Facing his cheeky, expectant grin, she was momentarily speechless.
She fell into a brief silence.
Was she… being too sensitive?
Getting mad at an idiot like this?
For real, she’d never felt so speechless.
She started wondering if it was her own issue…
His reaction made it seem like he hadn’t given it a second thought.
Chen Nannan rubbed her forehead, her tangled emotions nothing but her own mental tug-of-war.
Maybe she should just say it outright.
Yeah, just say it.
She sighed. “I have a friend who was eating in the South District yesterday too. She said she saw you carrying Wang Yuqiong around the streets.”
Shen An blinked, taking three seconds to process.
But his takeaway was way off.
“Who? They know me? Did you secretly tell people about me, Senior Sister?”
Chen Nannan decided she couldn’t play this guessing game anymore.
The guy was hopelessly dense in certain areas.
Gritting her teeth, she snapped, “Doesn’t it bother you at all, carrying an innocent young lady around like that for everyone to see?”
“Uh…” Shen An shrugged. “I was just doing what Yuqiong wanted. She didn’t mind, so neither did I.”
Huh?
There was actually this inside story?
Chen Nannan’s face fell. “She told you to carry her?”
“Well, how should I put it.”
Shen An briefly recounted Wang Yuqiong’s “latch onto her thigh” theory to Chen Nannan.
“Then she said that if I had the guts, I should latch onto her thigh.”
“I told her that as long as she’s willing, I’d definitely have the guts.”
“You see, I already gave her the chance, but she insisted she had the guts and mocked me for lacking any.”
“So I couldn’t let her look down on me. I picked her up, and everything after that… well, that was the scene your friend witnessed, Senior Sister.”
Chen Nannan listened to the whole story, feeling somewhat numb.
How to describe it?
She suspected her brain had been kicked by a donkey. She felt deeply ashamed of her wild overthinking.
But she was still thrilled.
After all, she’d confirmed that Shen An and Wang Yuqiong had no intimate relationship. It was just the two of them joking around, with Shen An taking it a little too seriously.
This joy welled up from the bottom of her heart, instantly washing away that lingering discomfort.
But Chen Nannan still felt it necessary to give Shen An a reminder!
Even if it was just playful banter, he couldn’t go overboard.
Without a second thought, she grabbed his ear. Though her face was stern, her tone had returned to its usual gentleness.
“Are you an idiot? She tells you to carry her, and you just do it? She’s a girl—in a situation like that, of course she wouldn’t back down easily.”
Though his ear was being tugged, Shen An’s attitude remained firm. “So what if she’s a girl?”
“You… you…”
Chen Nannan was exasperated yet amused.
She rolled her eyes and said in a coquettish tone, “Next time, watch yourself. Yuqiong sometimes says the exact opposite of what she means. Don’t let her taunts get to you.”
“Hmph. I think she just likes taking advantage of being a girl to bully people,” Shen An muttered.
“How is that bullying? It was just a little joke. You even said back then that you’d shoot all over me—did you really mean to?”
Poor Chen Nannan. To soothe the little fool in her eyes, she even used herself as an example.
Shen An arched an eyebrow smugly. “You can’t put it like that. That’s completely different. I really do want to shoot all over you, Senior Sister.”
“It’s just that you, Senior Sister, won’t agree to it.”
Chen Nannan: ?????
“Heh, looks like you need a lesson.” Chen Nannan gritted her teeth and cracked her knuckles.
Shen An tilted his head. “I meant shoot all over you in basketball, Senior Sister. If you thought of something else, that’s on you—not me.”
Chen Nannan hammered him hard. “Still talking! Don’t say it!!!”
“Easy, that hurts. Hey, hit me again, and I’ll hit back. I’m really gonna hit back.”
“You wouldn’t dare!!”
After their playful scuffle, all the knots in Chen Nannan’s heart dissolved completely.
At the same time, their relationship grew a little closer.
