Stop thinking!
\nDonât get led by the Great Masterâs words; itâs a dead end. Just pretend that you didnât hear him. You didnât hear him. Just treat it as a virus and quarantine itâŚâŚ
\nShe concentrates on hypnotizing herself and neglects the fact that her ears are already burning red. Wei Wei pretends to be calm and looks straight into Xiao Naiâs eyes, âSince we donât have much time, letâs ride on a bike thenâŚâŚâ
\nThis is not giving in to him. She just happens to realizeââwalking together will attract more attention than riding on a bike together; the longer they are together, the more people will see them. Therefore, they might as well ride a bike. Riding is much faster; people might not even be quick enough to see who she is clearly before they disappear in a dash.
\nSeriously, why did he ask to meet today when thereâs a game? They could have met tomorrow instead. Furthermore, he originally said to meet at 6pm when the game is at 7pm; was he planning to bring her directly to the gymnasium for their date?
\nThatâs not right. Itâs not a date. Itâs meeting, meeting each otherâŚâŚ
\n \nXiao Nai stares at her with his back against the sun. Her defense is too weak; should she advance or retract? Should she charge forward by impulse or take it slow and steady?
\nHe is always one step ahead of her to draw a conclusion. He calls her name calmly, âWei Wei.â
\nâHm?â
\nâMy bike riding skills are not bad.â
\nAh? Wei Wei looks him puzzled.
\nâTherefore, you donât need to look like,â Xiao Nai says slowly, âyouâre facing death with equanimity (idiom).â
\nWei Wei, ââŚâŚâ
\nDoes she have a grave expression on her face already?âŚ..
\n \nWei Wei gets onto the bike while comforting herself that âitâs just like parading the streets.â But the second she sits on the bike, she regrets it before she can even have any special feelings from riding it. Itâs because she realizes that she is wearing a short skirt todayâŚâŚ
\nThe skirt, which is a few centimeters above the knee, is now at least ten centimeters shorter after sitting on the bike. Although itâs not so short that sheâs exposing herself, it doesnât fail to attract some passer-bys. Within a couple of minutes of riding, many people are already giving them weird glances.
\nWei Wei is about to jump off the bike crying. Her legs tuck back subconsciously, but it makes no difference. The bag that she is carrying is too small, so it canât cover anythingâŚâŚItâs all the Great Masterâs fault for giving her such a shock, causing her not to think of this.
\nAnother two guys turn their heads to look as they pass them on their bikes.
\nXiao Nai suddenly makes a hard brake.
\nWei Wei hops off the bike being a little startled. Xiao Nai says with a cold expression, âIâm going to buy some things.â
\nWei Wei watches him walk into a store with a straight back. He comes out and hands her a big bag of stuff.
\nâWhat is it?â
\nThe dishes werenât salty. Even if they were, thereâs still no need to buy so much; besides drinks, there are a bunch of snacks. Wei Wei carries the big bag while feeling strange. However, she realizes the good part about it after getting back onto the bike; hehehe, it covers her legs perfectly.
\n \nWith less weird glances, Wei Wei finally eases from the embarrassment. Moreover, since sheâs not face to face with Xiao Nai right now, she can have some time to think quietly by herself for the first time today.
\nBut there really isnât much to think about.
\nThe summer night breeze blows towards them. The bike soars under the sunset, passing through large canopy trees on the wide paved school walkwayâŚâŚ
\nEverything is so perfect.
\nWei Wei thinks to herself â I need to be brave.
\nSo what if heâs Xiao Nai? He will be Xiao Nai in the future, but to her right now, he is NaiHe, and only NaiHe. And, she likes him.
\nThereâs a slope ahead. Wei Wei presses her lips, raises her hand, and lightly and firmly grabs onto his clothes.
\nThe bike slows down.
\nWei Wei starts to smile slightly while grabbing onto the big bag of snacks tightly.
\n \nOf course, it needs to be the right time and place to be brave. Wei Weiâs display of braveness at this moment does not include entering the gymnasium together with Xiao Nai under everyoneâs eyes.
\nTherefore, once they arrive outside of the gymnasium, Wei Wei says to Xiao Nai as he locks his bike, âIâm going to look for my roommates to watch the game. Iâll see you online tonight.â She flees with the bag of snacks right after, leaving the Great Master behind.
\nShe comforts herself that this is not running away; this is making a move by taking a step back! Yes, this is advancing by retreat! Itâs acceptance while rejecting on the surface!
\nAnyhow, this is the legendary battle tactic. Oh, battle tactic.
\n \nWei Wei enters the gymnasium from the side doors. Itâs already very lively and quite full of audiences; many are even standing. Wei Wei searches the stands, but canât spot her roommates. Er Xi sees her first; she stands up and waves at her, gesturing her to go over.
\nOthers in the gymnasium have also notice her arrival; the atmosphere becomes even livelier and bursts in excitement.
\nWei Wei rushes to where her roommates are sitting. There are already no more seats, so Xiao Ling tells her boyfriend Da Zhong to leave, âGo down. Let Wei Wei have a seat.â
\nDa Zhong stands up from his seat obediently. Wei Wei feels a bit embarrassed as she sits down.
\nEr Xi is delighted to see her, âWei Wei, youâre also here? Itâs so lively today!â
\nâWhatâs going on?â
\nWei Wei is a little worried after hearing the word lively.
\nâMany beauties are here,â Er Xi lists two of them and then says excitedly, âMeng Yi Ran is also here. Sheâs just sitting three or four rows behind us.â
\nSi Si adds, âWei Wei, you remember Meng Yi Ran, right? Sheâs the one who fought with you for the schoolâs beauties list top spot. In the end, she defeated you because sheâs more pure and innocent looking!â
\nWei Wei, ââŚâŚCan you not use the word âfoughtâ?â
\nShe clearly has been staying away from it like itâs the plague. In Wei Weiâs point of view, this University Aâs top beauty title is just as troublesome as the number one in martial arts that you see in WuXia dramas. When Wei Wei found out that she was dragged into such a poll, she panicked for a long time; luckily, she didnât get chosen because sheâs ânot pure and innocent.â
\nXiao Ling butts in, âIs this the first time that the two top beauties of our school appear together?
\nâEh, it does seem to be so!â
\nXiao Ling says feeling upset, âIf we knew that this Meng girl would come, Wei Wei, you should have worn that red dress. You would have overshadowed her completely!â
\nâYes, yes, yes. That Meng girl canât compare to Wei Weiâs figure.â
\nâIn actual fact, our Wei Wei is also prettier than that Meng girl. Aiya, donât know who secretly took the photo of Wei Wei on last yearâs poll. It was a bad shot. It was such a disadvantage compared to the close up photo for Meng Yi Ran.â
\nâYeah. Wei Wei didnât let us upload a better photo either.â
\nâStop! Eat some snacks!â
\nWei Wei quickly shoves the bag of snacks to them, so that they donât get out of hand talking about her. If others hear them, sheâll be humiliated, okay?
\nEr Xi takes a look inside the bag and screams, âWhoa! Wei Wei, did you become rich? Youâve bought so many snacks. How much did you spend?â
\nââŚ..â how would she know.
\nThankfully, Er Xi and the rest donât really care about her answer. They rush to grab the snacks they want. Xiao Ling says, âAiya, why did you buy this brand of chips? Itâs not as good as Layâs.â
\nEr Xi, âThereâs Layâs, but the flavor is no good.â
\nWei Wei thinks to herself: the Great Master bought this big bag of snacks in three minutes, and you expect him to pick flavors?
\nSi Si asks, âWei Wei, did you pass the interview, so thatâs why you bought so many snacks to celebrate?â
\nââŚâŚYou can say that.â
\nWei Wei starts eating a bag of potato chips speechlesslyâŚâŚ
\nNow that there are snacks, Er Xi doesnât forget to show her love for her classmate, so she asks, âYou passed the interview? How was it?â
\nWei Wei stares blankly at the ceiling. What should she say? âMmâŚâŚ.the process was a fail, but the outcome was rather unexpected.â
\nâWho cares about it being unexpected, as long as you passed it,â Er Xi is no longer interested in the matter and focuses on munching her potato chips, but continues, âThe main point is, Wei Wei, Xiao Nai will definitely be here today!â
\nWei Wei eats her potato chips quietly. I also know that heâll be here. The snacks youâre eating are bought by him.
\n \nSi Si says, âSigh, itâs computer science versus architecture department for todayâs competition. Isnât that Meng girl from the music department? What is she doing here?â
\nEr Xi says, âSi Si, thatâs not right of you. Handsome guys are shared resources in the whole universe. You cannot discriminate against different departments.â
\nWei Wei doesnât listen much of their lively chat. She gazes at the doors periodically and wonders why Xiao Nai still hasnât come in. Just as she is thinking about this, a refreshing and handsome figure wearing a simple white shirt appears at the doors.
\nEverything in the surrounding suddenly becomes silent. Wei Wei can only hear her heart beating. She thought that after seeing him so many times today, she wouldnât feel so intense anymore, but the reality is, her heart is beating faster than any other time that she sees him.
\nShe and he, are no longer the same from now on.
\nEven when she is looking at him from afar and cannot reach him, they are entangled together with a thousand ties.
\nThe instant that Xiao Nai enters the court, two guys of the same height rushes over to him. They look around and behind him; one of them even runs outside of the doors. Wei Wei giggles as she watches them. They must be the ones on the phone. Could they be YuGong and MonkeyWine?
\nSince they are at a distance, Wei Wei looks at them without any worries. Xiao Nai, whoâs talking with his teammates, suddenly shifts his gaze to the stands. Wei Wei subconsciously holds her bag of potato chips up to hide her face as she feels bad for leaving the Great Master behind at the parking lot. Of course, she doesnât really hide her faceâŚâŚ
\nXiao Nai looks around the stands and stops in her direction. He pauses for a few seconds, and then withdraws his gaze, and walks into the change room.
\nWei Wei falls into a daze for a while. She hears Si Si and the others discussing.
\nSi Si, âWho was Xiao Nai looking at just now?
\nEr Xi, âMeng Yi Ran?â
\nSi Si, âNot necessarily. There are a lot of pretty girls here today.â
\nEr Xi, âBut Xiao Nai was looking in our direction. Thereâs only Meng Yi Ran here, right? I just remember. Meng Yi Ran seems to know Xiao Nai. The only time that Xiao Nai performed at the schoolâs celebration. Meng Yi Ran was also on stage. Although they werenât in the same performance, she played an ethnic groupâs instrument, so maybe they were able to chat about music.â
\nXiao Ling says, âXiao Nai might not have been looking at girls, okay? Why do you guys have to demean him?â
\nEr Xi, âOh please, Xiao Ling, youâre too naive. When has Xiao Nai ever paid attention to the stands? He has always ignored everything around him. There must be someone he was looking at.â
\nAs they get worked up discussing this, Wei Wei suddenly grabs Xiao Lingâs wrist and says solemnly, âThere is only one truth.â
\nHer roommates look at her with full of anticipation.
\nWei Wei says even more seriously, âHeâs looking at me.â
\n \nXiao Ling, ââŚâŚâ
\nSi Si, ââŚâŚâ
\nEr Xi chokes immediately, and says weakly, âWei Wei, do you not know that you and Xiao Nai are publicly known for being impossible to be a couple?â