Chi Nuan wanted to say she could take the bus, but then she thought of Gu Ningzi, who would probably insist on sending her.
“30th. After the exams on the 30th, I’ll head home,” Chi Nuan told Chi Qingchuan.
Just as she finished talking with Chi Qingchuan, Gu Ningzi arrived.
She carried a box of hot soup. Chi Nuan paused for a moment, took it, opened it, and the aroma hit her.
Chi Nuan’s eyes curved into smiles. “Thank you.”
Gu Ningzi smiled too.
The dorm was very quiet. A gentle breeze blew in through the window, making the curtains sway lightly. The main lights were off, only Chi Nuan’s desk lamp glowing softly.
Chi Nuan sat under the lamp and slowly finished the soup. She broke out in a sweat, but her heart felt ice-cold. She set down the spoon and said, “Gu Ningzi.”
Gu Ningzi: “Hm?”
Chi Nuan: “Don’t bring me these things anymore. If they see, they’ll ask questions again.”
Gu Ningzi leaned against the desk, looking down at her.
Chi Nuan: “Last night when I got back to the dorm, they all asked me—what’s wrong with you, what’s wrong with us… I don’t want to keep lying to them.”
Gu Ningzi: “You don’t want them to know?”
Chi Nuan said, “There’s no real need for them to know, right? …What do you think?”
Gu Ningzi didn’t say anything. She reached out to touch Chi Nuan, but Chi Nuan casually shifted her body to the side as if by accident. Gu Ningzi’s hand met empty air.
Chi Nuan pulled out her weekend homework from the desk and handed it to Gu Ningzi. “Do you want to take it back? Or just take a photo? They’re at the supermarket, but they should be back soon.”
Chi Nuan’s attitude was so natural, as if she couldn’t detect anything off about her own words. Gu Ningzi stared at her for a long time before finally taking the homework—only to place it on Du Min’s desk next door.
“I’ll head home first,” Gu Ningzi said.
Chi Nuan stared at the closed dorm door, terrified that she might burst into tears the next second.
She’d get used to it. This was the hardest time; it would get better later. It’s nothing, nothing… she murmured to comfort herself.
Chi Nuan’s attitude had changed Gu Ningzi’s mood as well. In the new week of classes, neither of them spoke to the other. It wasn’t until the afternoon PE class that Gu Ningzi teamed up with the boys to play basketball. During the break, Chi Nuan came over with a beaming smile, her eyes sparkling. “You’re so awesome.”
Gu Ningzi drank some water.
Her bangs were damp with sweat. Chi Nuan reached out to brush them aside, acting as if nothing unpleasant had ever happened.
Gu Ningzi said, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want them to know?”
“You have no idea how attractive you are, do you?” Chi Nuan smiled and walked away.
Gu Ningzi swallowed her water and slowly twisted the cap back on.
After PE class, before the last self-study session started, Chi Nuan went to the Chinese language office to pick up the classroom exercise sheets for the day. She Liwen hadn’t graded them yet. By the time Chi Nuan left the office, the bell had already rung a while ago.
The hallway was quiet. Chi Nuan held the sheets and hadn’t walked far when someone pulled her into the stairwell.
Her back pressed against the wall, she didn’t even have time to make a sound before her lips were sealed.
Gu Ningzi’s breath overwhelmed her. Chi Nuan’s legs went weak from the kiss. She decisively turned her head away and whispered urgently, “Gu Ningzi!”
Gu Ningzi raised an eyebrow.
Chi Nuan said, “I don’t like this!”
Gu Ningzi slowly let go and took half a step back.
Chi Nuan clutched the sheets to her chest, shoved past her, and hurried away.
During self-study, Gu Ningzi sent Chi Nuan messages, but Chi Nuan didn’t reply to a single one. After school, Xu Dan ran over to Du Min’s side, so Gu Ningzi came over to talk to Chi Nuan.
“…Are you mad?”
Chi Nuan was copying English words, not even lifting her head. “Nope.”
Gu Ningzi stood there for a few seconds, then took the pen from Chi Nuan’s hand. “Take a break. They’re discussing what to eat. Aren’t you going?”
Chi Nuan finally looked up, a smile playing on her lips. “Then I won’t be able to finish the study plan for this time slot.”
“It’s the first monthly exam since school started this week. It affects the grade rankings—super important.” Chi Nuan emphasized.
Gu Ningzi was about to ask if that meant she couldn’t disturb her either, but Chi Nuan closed her English book and looked at her eagerly. “…But talking to you makes me not want to study.”
As always, her voice was soft and sweet, as if the person who had shoved her aside wasn’t her.
Gu Ningzi couldn’t quite process it. Chi Nuan’s back-and-forth was making her increasingly unclear about what she was thinking. This feeling was extremely, extremely bad.
“Oh, right.” Chi Nuan opened her phone album. “Wanna see Little Wutong?”
In the photo was Little Wutong’s chubby sleeping face. Chi Nuan said, “He’s already home from the Postpartum Recovery Center. When I go back on the 11th, I can play with him.”
Gu Ningzi asked, “When are you leaving?”
Chi Nuan: “Right after the exams. Brother will pick me up on the way.”
“…” Gu Ningzi said, “I thought we agreed before school started that I’d handle picking you up and dropping you off from now on.”
Chi Nuan set down her phone helplessly. “I know, but Brother offered first, and it’s on his way…”
Gu Ningzi gripped the edge of the desk and looked down at Chi Nuan.
—It actually had nothing to do with who offered first or last. Chi Nuan’s criterion was simply whether she wanted to or not, right?
The only thing certain was that in both going to Xue Wen’s birthday and going home with Brother, she was the one Chi Nuan had given up.
