In the end, Shi Niannian didn’t take her bicycle. Walking across the empty parking area, she reached the bookstore entrance, where many people were coming and going, almost all students around her age.
She walked with her head down, and Jiang Wang followed two steps behind her.
Next to the bookstore was a bubble tea shop. Shi Niannian joined the line.
Jiang Wang stood beside her. He was tall with long legs and fair skin, quickly attracting glances from the surrounding girls. Some were even more dramatic, already taking out their phones to secretly photograph him.
The two of them didn’t speak the entire time.
Shi Niannian bought two cups of pearl milk tea. Remembering that Jiang Wang had said he didn’t like sweet things, she ordered one with full sugar and another with half sugar.
She handed the half-sugar cup to Jiang Wang.
Jiang Wang didn’t move, looking at her with lowered eyelids.
He didn’t want anyone to see what had happened earlier, although such scenes had occurred almost daily at home when he was younger.
Now, he felt irritated and ashamed.
Shi Niannian looked at him calmly, as if everything just now hadn’t happened.
She held out her hand. Jiang Wang didn’t take it, his usual casual smile completely gone.
Shi Niannian lowered her head, gently took his hand, and placed the milk tea in it.
Milk tea is sweet.
Perhaps drinking it would improve his mood a little.
Shi Niannian planned to retrieve her bicycle after finishing the milk tea and sat down in a corner of the shop.
“Do you dislike me?” Jiang Wang suddenly asked.
Shi Niannian was stunned for a moment. Indeed, she couldn’t say she liked him, but that was only because he always said strange things to her and seemed bad.
But he wasn’t bad.
He had saved her twice, which Shi Niannian also remembered clearly.
“No,” she shook her head slightly, drinking her milk tea.
Another silence fell.
Shi Niannian spoke up, her voice clear and crisp: “I don’t dislike you.”
“Heh.” He scoffed lightly, “There are plenty of people who dislike me.”
Shi Niannian didn’t understand this statement. Jiang Ling had mentioned to her the sensation he’d caused on social media and the school forum yesterday—countless girls liked him.
Although she didn’t understand why one race would make those girls want to confess to Jiang Wang, he was popular.
She paused, changing the subject: “Why were you… fighting with that person just now?”
“That guy is considered my father,” Jiang Wang said.
With just one sentence, why they were fighting no longer seemed important.
Shi Niannian’s eyes widened slightly, then thinking this impolite, she quickly said: “I’m sorry, I… didn’t know.”
He shrugged indifferently.
After drinking half, Shi Niannian was full. She stood up and waved to Jiang Wang: “I’m going… back now.”
“Mm.”
She walked out of the bubble tea shop, and for some reason, suddenly recalled Jiang Wang’s smile from earlier—it was lonely.
She stopped in her tracks and looked back.
The young man sat there alone, solitary.
The milk tea in front of him was barely touched as he stared blankly with lowered eyes and no expression.
Shi Niannian took a deep breath and returned to the bubble tea shop.
She bent down and embraced Jiang Wang very gently, her palm lightly patting his back twice.
“Don’t be afraid, Jiang Wang.”
The bangs on his forehead were dark as raven feathers. When he looked up, Shi Niannian had already hastily withdrawn and run away—he could only see her back.
Shi Niannian didn’t go out to play during the National Day holiday. After all, the monthly exam would come right after returning to school, the first test since dividing into arts and sciences streams. She didn’t want to do poorly.
She was good at both humanities and sciences, so she was first in her class throughout her first year of high school. But many students in her grade were heavily biased toward one subject area, and some might perform better than her once humanities scores were excluded.
Shi Niannian knew she wasn’t some academic genius. Only by studying conscientiously could she possibly achieve good results.
“Take a break, don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” Her aunt knocked and entered with fruit, placing the plate beside her desk.
“Thank you, Aunt.” Shi Niannian closed the book she had finished reviewing. “It’s not… too much pressure, I just want to work hard and… do a bit better.”
“If Xu Ningqing were half as well-behaved as you, I’d be burning incense in gratitude.” Her aunt sighed.
Shi Niannian smiled: “Brother’s grades… aren’t bad either.”
Her aunt waved dismissively: “Just so-so.”
At this moment, Shi Niannian had no idea that while she was speaking up for Xu Ningqing, he was on the other side doing his utmost to sell her out.