Xie Xiao hesitated for a second at the bottom of the building about whether to go up or not, but ultimately pulled out his phone and sent a message to Luo Yanran, "Are you in the classroom? I'm downstairs in your building, I bought you milk tea."
The nickname 'Ranran' would be shelved for now, otherwise, already shy, she might be even less inclined to talk to him after seeing it.
Xie Xiao waited a while before he received a reply, "I'm not in the classroom, you can drink it yourself."
Where could she be at this time if not in the classroom?
The cafeteria had hardly anyone left when he walked through it earlier.
Xie Xiao looked up at the teaching building and suddenly thought of something, "You're watching the cats, right? I'm coming over, wait for me."
After sending that, he glanced at the screen, which had no reply—a silent acknowledgment—and strode toward the side door.
As expected, he found Luo Yanran at the spot where they had been feeding cats last time.
She was sitting under a big tree nearby, staring idly at the spot where those stray cats used to appear.
Upon hearing footsteps, Luo Yanran turned her head and saw Xie Xiao approaching with the milk tea, then sat down naturally on the chair beside her.
Luo Yanran initially felt somewhat awkward; it had been many days, but that day had been truly mortifying for her.
However, seeing Xie Xiao acting so naturally, she suddenly didn't feel embarrassed anymore.
Xie Xiao handed her the milk tea, "Light sugar, the weather is still a bit cool, so I got hot milk tea."
Luo Yanran lowered her eyes to look at the cup of milk tea, then took it, murmuring, "Thank you, but actually, I don't like drinking milk tea."
See, this mouth that doesn't know how to speak properly.
Luo Yanran felt a little disheartened.
But it seemed Xie Xiao didn't take it to heart, "Oh? Then shall I buy you fruit tea next time?"
"No need," Luo Yanran glanced at him, "When I want to drink, I can buy it myself."
"But I want to buy it for you," said Xie Xiao, matter-of-factly, "So why are you unhappy?"
Luo Yanran was momentarily stunned, then looked away, "I'm not unhappy."
"Really? Your silhouette would have a dark cloud over it if this were a comic," Xie Xiao said as he playfully waved his hand above her head, "Scatter, scatter~"
Luo Yanran couldn't help but laugh at his gestures, "Xie Xiao, you're so childish."
Xie Xiao looked at the smile on her face and laughed too, "Being childish is okay; look, you're laughing, right?"
Luo Yanran, unusually not avoiding his gaze, just looked at him, "Xie Xiao, why are you so nice to me?"
Milk tea, snacks, coming over on purpose, and then making her laugh...
These things made it hard for Luo Yanran not to overthink. Or was Xie Xiao just this kind to everyone?
In Xie Xiao's mind, this was finally the chance to express his feelings.
Just as he was about to speak, Luo Yanran didn't wait for his answer and said softly, "Actually, you comforted me once in our first year, although you probably don't remember it."
Xie Xiao was stunned; he had no recollection of that memory at all.
But looking at Luo Yanran, who was smiling faintly, it was clear that she remembered it very well.
A thought crossed Xie Xiao's mind; he had always been puzzled as to why Luo Yanran might like him—could it be related to that comforting moment in their first year?
"I'm sorry, I don't quite remember..." Xie Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, his tone laced with a hint of apology.
Luo Yanran seemed unsurprised and nodded, "I knew you wouldn't remember."
"Can you tell me about it?" Xie Xiao asked, "Maybe if you bring it up, I'll remember."
However, Luo Yanran shook her head, "No, that's a secret between the first-year Xie Xiao and me, I can't tell you."
Not expecting her to refuse, Xie Xiao looked somewhat puzzled, "But aren't we the same person?"
Luo Yanran smiled, of course, they weren't the same person.
The Xie Xiao who had just started his first year hadn't developed feelings for Zhou Mianmian yet, and he would say to her, "Why should people care about others' opinions when living? There will always be those who dislike you. As a dazzling senior, you should let them be helpless in their jealousy because, after all, you're the protagonist, and they can only be furiously incompetent. Why make yourself suffer? It would be much better to infuriate them~"
The young man's tone was tenderly teasing, comforting, and the sunlight made him seem very gentle, "Senior is really beautiful. You are the best, go for it!!! I'm cheering for you!!!"
Yet, in the end, the gentle gaze of that young man was fixed on someone else, sadly, it wasn't her.
Luo Yanran looked at the Xie Xiao before her, he has always been gentle.
Both in the past and the present.
Xie Xiao sighed, "Alright, I never thought I'd be jealous of myself one day."
His tone was somewhat mocking and helpless.
Luo Yanran was poking open her milk tea when she heard that; her action paused, and she looked at him, "What did you say?"
"I'm jealous, because the first-year me had a secret with you, and you speak of it so tenderly," Xie Xiao said while looking at her, "I'm a bit envious."
Luo Yanran heard her heartbeat speed up, she became somewhat flustered and looked away. Was Xie Xiao's statement what she thought it meant?
She poked at the seal a few times but couldn't break it, her heart also racing.
Seeing her obvious panic, Xie Xiao took the milk tea from her hands, pierced the seal in one go, and handed it back to her, "You seem a bit flustered? Why?"
"Not at all," Luo Yanran denied without thinking, "Just a bit weak in the hands. Didn't you ask me why I was unhappy? It's because I did poorly on the mock exam."
Right now, Luo Yanran just wanted to steer away from the conversation that accelerated her heartbeat; otherwise, she couldn't help but let her thoughts run wild.
Xie Xiao paused for a moment; indeed, they had taken mock exams in the past few days, and the results came out today.
But Xie Xiao remembered that Luo Yanran's grades were always very good.
He couldn't help but comfort her, "It's just one mock exam; I didn't do particularly well either."
After all, having slacked off for three years and picking up the books again, Xie Xiao's scores were also somewhat disastrous to behold.
Some even speculated it was because of his breakup with Zhou Mianmian that affected his performance, and he had to go to the office to see Teacher Lin later in the afternoon. Probably there was a talk awaiting him.
Only Xie Xiao knew what breakup they were talking about; they hadn't even been together.
But right now, he just wanted to comfort Luo Yanran.
"Do you really care so much about grades?" he asked Luo Yanran.
But Luo Yanran laughed, "It's our last year, who doesn't care about grades, and also my mother cares a lot about them."
She looked openly at Xie Xiao, "The most important thing is, I'm re-examining."
Brought up by this, Xie Xiao was very curious, and not just Xie Xiao, many people were wondering why Luo Yanran was re-examining.
Her scores from the last college entrance exam were not that bad; even if Xie Xiao hadn't paid close attention, he remembered that she ranked at least top three in the school, and even in the province, she was within the top ten.
Yet, she chose to re-examine. Why?
"Why did you decide to re-examine?" Xie Xiao couldn't help but ask.