Lemon Soda Candy

As Chen Luobai sat down, he noticed that the person sitting diagonally in front of him seemed to be different from the usual; the girl looked a bit more shorter, half of her face was obstructed from view by Zhu Ran's book. 

Her soft black hair was tucked back, revealing a dazzling white ear. 

But he was far too sleepy to give much thought about it, he hung his school bag on the chair then went to lay down on his desk.

Before he got the chance to close his eyes, he heard Zhu Ran throw him such a question.

Chen Luobai looked up. 

Unable to see what was happening behind her, Zhou Anran tightened her grip on her pen, turning her fingertips white.

Since the self-study session was about to begin, all her classmates had pretty much arrived, the room became even noisier than before. 

Conversation rang out from all directions. 

"Have you done your homework?"

"Will the English teacher test our memorized words today?" 

"Ugh….how come it's already time for class again."

Various voices mixed together.

But that familiar voice was not part of it. 

She didn't hear a sound from that familiar voice. 

Those few seconds suddenly seemed to turn into a long thin string that wrapped around her heart, bringing about a suffocating and stuffy feelings. 

At last, Zhou Anran heard him speak. 

"What senior sister?" He sounded lazy, like he had no energy left for this. 

It was as if…… 

He had no idea what Zhu Ran was talking about.

Zhou Anran's grip on the pen loosened, she let out a soft breath. 

But before she could finish the breath, she heard Zhu Ran speak again, "That one senior sister who stopped and confessed to you last Thursday afternoon, who else?" 

Zhou Anran's heart did yet another somersault. 

Chen Luobai only recalled this matter after he pointed it out, he laid back down on the desk, still with the lazy tone,"Who told you that senior sister confessed to me?" 

Zhu Ran: "If not for confessing to you, then why would she need to get rid of us, saying she wanted to talk to you alone."

"Asking math problems." Chen Luobai's voice carried an apparent sleepiness.

Zhu Ran put on an astonished expression, "Math problems? Ask you?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Chen Luobai closed his eyes again, "Not like I can't do 11th grade's mathematics." 

Zhu Ran was silent for a second, "Fine, I forgot that you're actually a learning machine, not a human being."

Chen Luobai was so sleepy, didn't bother to talk to him anymore.

Sitting in the front seat, Zhou Anran's back is still stiff, but contrary wise, her heart is gradually calming down. 

He's really good at math. 

His forthright attitude showed no trace of ambiguity. 

So it must be true that the reason she stopped him was just to ask a question. 

Zhou Anran forced herself to steer clear her attention off the desk behind her, trying to memorize a few more words, however, the conversation behind her did not end there. 

After a few seconds of silence, nosy Zhu Ran asked, "That senior sister really only asked you math problems that day? She didn't ask for your contact information or anything? You really didn't chat with her last night?"

Chen Luobai, who had barely managed to sleep, was woken by his noise, "No. You go talk to your sister, you chatty!"

""I don't have a sister," Zhu Ran said with a grin,"But if I need a sister to talk to you. I'll find one and send her to you as the future-daughter-in-law of your family." 

Chen Luobai couldn't help but raise his head, stretching his long legs to not so lightly kick his seat, scorned, "Get lost! Whoever becomes your sister surely is cursed for eight lifetimes!" 

Zhu Ran held on to his seat, "If you didn't chat with that senior sister, what's that tired look on your face, what were you doing last night?" 

Chen Luobai yawned,"Watching a match." 

"So you stayed up late to watch that match, too!" Zhu Ran said this with obvious more excitement, "That final kill was amazing." 

"Amazing, my foot." Chen Luobai slumped back down on the desk, "They were trailing by 20 points in the first three quarters and only managed to take the lead in the last quarter. They couldn't even break the triangle-and-two defense. Their pacing was all over the place, and all their players were losing focus. If it weren't for that final kill, it would be considered one of the top ten worst."

Zhou Anran actually didn't mean to deliberately eavesdrop on them. 

But the distance is really much closer than usual.

And since she has never been this close to him, it was impossible for her to concentrate, his voice seemed to have automatically drilled itself into her ears.

But what does triangle-and-two defense mean? 

Looks like she should be more attentive next time she watches a match with her father. 

Zhu Ran argued, "The process is not important, an impressive outcome is all that matters. Final kill, huh? Isn't such a heroic act of one person saving a match all by himself exactly what we need? " 

Chen Luobai let out another yawn, "A hero maybe can save the match, but he can't save the disorganized team." 

"You think too far ahead², in the end, people only talk about the outcome of the match." Zhu Ran answered casually, then asked, "But the match ends at three o'clock, how did you get so sleepy."

Chen Luobai: "The disappointment kept me awake. I did a few papers before sleep." 

Zhu Ran: "...."

Zhu Ran was awestruck, "You really are amazing." 

His loud noise caused Chen Luobai a headache, "I'm going to sleep."

"You sleep." Zhu Ran was only quiet for a few seconds, "But Luo——"

Chen Luobai: "Shut up, make another noise and I'll take it as you no longer want that sneaker." 

Following this sentence, the back seat finally became quiet.

In the seat in front of them, Zhou Anran's tense back felt a little sore. 

The boy is not talking anymore, but she still couldn't bring herself to read a word.

Each letter seemed to float before her eyes.

Nevertheless, being able to sit close to him was a short-lived, small reward that will soon be taken away. 

Thus, she stopped being so hard on herself and allowed herself a little indulgence. 

When Wang Qintong returned, Zhou Anran switched back to her own seat. The moment the bell for morning self-study rang, she emptied her mind and immersed herself in study. 

The day flew by with a compact curriculum and teachers who dragged out their lessons. 

During the last math class, Zhou Anran encountered a problem she didn't understand, so she stayed a few minutes after class to figure it out. By the time she solved it, the class had already quieted down, Yan Xingxi was sitting next to her chewing gummy candy waiting for her.

Seeing her put down her pen, Yan Xingxi stuffed a candy into her mouth, "Done?"

Zhou Anran ate the candy in her mouth, nodded and responded vaguely, "Um."

The back door of class 2 faced the stairs, the students in their class often go out through the back door.

Zhou Anran tidied up her stuff, when she turned around, she found that Chen Luobai was still in the classroom at the moment. 

The boy was sleeping on his desk, face completely buried in arms, his hair was pure black, sleeves half rolled up, his arms exposed outside is white with cool undertones.

He seemed to be taking every chance he got to catch up on his sleep today.

He slept throughout the morning self-study, found an excuse not to participate in flag-raising ceremony during recess, continued to sleep during the breaks between lessons, slept through lunch break at noon, and is still sleeping during the afternoon break.

There were other people in the class, Zhou Anran didn't dare to stare at him too blatantly. She popped the gummy inside her mouth, and in an instant, the sweet taste seemed to linger and remained in her mouth for a while.

Yan Xingxi walked around and took her hand, "What shall we eat today?"

Zhou Anran shot another glance at him, hushed softly, "Speak softly, someone is sleeping." 

Yan Xingxi also turned her gaze over, mouthed to her, "Let's talk outside."

To reach the back of the room, they had to pass by his seat. 

The boy's elbow is slightly over the desk, as she approached, she felt like her uniform may or may not faintly brushed against his elbow. 

Though nobody could tell, Zhou Anran's heartbeat quietly thumped a few beats faster. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from the window, causing a test paper on the seat to make a clattering sound.

Thinking of the boy's exposed white arm, Zhou Anran halted her footsteps. 

Yan Xingxi, forgetting about the sleeping person, asked in a louder voice, "What's wrong?"

"Shh." ​​Zhou Anran reminded her, then pointed her finger toward the window, giving her an excuse in a low voice, "I feel like Zhang Yue's test paper is going to be blown away by the wind. I'll go close the window."

Once she closed the window, the two girls walked hand in hand out of the back door of the classroom.

Class 2 once again fell into silence, the boy lying on the desk raised his head before lying down again.

When they arrived downstairs, Zhou Anran felt that the wind outside seemed to be getting stronger. The fallen leaves were swirling and flying around, cold wind made its way into the loose collar of the school uniform, blowing the fingertips cold.

She zipped up her jacket, regretted not closing the back door for him just now.

Then again, since people were constantly going in and out of the classroom, even if she closed the door, someone might open it again.

Yan Xingxi was still talking about what to eat for dinner to her, she was having trouble choosing, "Ranran, do you think I should have chili-fried pork or smoked pork tonight?"

Most of Zhou Anran's mind was still left in the classroom, she couldn't think of anything she wanted to eat, "Let's have both. I'll order one and share it after."

Yan Xingxi was just about to respond when she suddenly felt something amiss and abruptly stopped in her tracks.

Zhou Anran: "What's the matter?"

"I think my period is here." Yan Xingxi said anxiously. "It's over. I don't think I brought any sanitary pads with me."

"Don't panic, I've brought some for you." Zhou Anran knew Yan Xingxi's personality well enough to know that even if she already reminded her to bring one, she would still forget, so she prepared some for her, "I'll accompany you to the toilet on the first floor to check first, if it's really here, I'll go back to classroom to get it for you."

Yan Xingxi hugged her, "Ranran, I love you so much. How am I supposed to live without you?"

Zhou Anran smiled and nudged her, "Enough with the sappiness. Why aren't you leaving yet? If it stains your pants, don't come crying to me later."

Yan Xingxi felt a tingling sensation on her scalp and quickly pulled her to turn around. "Go, go, go."

At the toilet on the first floor, Yan Xingxi confirmed that it was indeed a period. 

Zhou Anran went back to the classroom by herself to fetch that thing for her.

At the thought of being able to openly look at him when she went through the back door as well as how she can help him close the door as she left, Zhou Anran fastened her footsteps. 

It's just that the moment she reached the last step of the stairs, the face that was engraved inside her mind suddenly appeared right before her eyes.

The boy who was sleeping a moment ago, is currently leaning against the wall next to the back door with drooping eyes, appeared to have yet recovered his spirit. 

And there was another person outside the back door. 

Opposite him stood a girl, tall and slender, hair tied up high, face covered in delicate makeup, she was very stunning and pretty, looking at him with an unblinking stare. 

Like rice wine that had been over-fermented, the excitement in Zhou Anran's heart turned from sweet to sour. 

Hearing her footsteps, the girl turned her head to take a look at her, then indifferently withdrew her eyes, went back to look at Chen Luobai with another shining gaze. 

The boy seemed to have noticed the sound too, his eyelids slowly raised, appearing to look over towards her side.

Zhou Anran's heart tightened, she immediately lowered her head and made her way towards the door.

The girl's voice came straight into her ears, she was straightforward and poised³.

"I know you already rejected me last Thursday. I'm not here to confess today, I just want to ask for your contact information. I won't disturb you, just think of it as making another friend, okay?"

Zhou Anran, who had already entered the back door, unconsciously stopped in her steps.

She didn't hear any response from outside the door for quite a while. 

Zhou Anran felt as if her heart was entangled in yet another long string.

And that string is in the hands of the boy outside the door, tighten or loosen, all are controlled by his words. 

_______

¹:Here

²:Worry about tomorrow's worries when they come tomorrow.

³:Calm, dignified, and self-controlled.