Zhou Xiaqing turned around, the rim of her umbrella tilting up inch by inch.
Coming into view was a dark blue hoodie, slightly pale lips, a high bridge of a nose, and eyes with sharply contrasted black and white.
There was a faint shadow at the outer corners of his lower eyes a natural feature he’d had since childhood.
His aegyosal love bands were also full, becoming even more prominent when he smiled, making him incredibly easy to recognize.
Zhou Xiaqing thought that even if she were only allowed to look at his eyes, she would still be able to successfully pick Chen Jinshan out from a massive crowd.
Chen Jinshan stood before her.
Seeing that she didn’t respond, he took a hesitant step forward and called her name softly: “Zhou Xiaqing.”
That was the second time he had called her full name today.
Staring at the two dark red stains on his clothes, Zhou Xiaqing felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.
Just like her strange heartbeat from a moment ago, her current annoyance was entirely different from her usual frustration.
What the absolute hell.
“Zhou Xiaqing.”
The third time.
There was a distinct edge of urgency and helplessness in his voice.
“Is something the matter?”
She lifted her eyes to look at him, her tone unfamiliar and cold.
Chen Jinshan had a whole stomach full of explanations he wanted to give her, but now that he was standing right in front of her, facing her distant and impatient attitude, he completely choked up like a coward.
His lips parted slightly, then closed again.
He opened his mouth once more.
“My mom said the Start of Winter is the day after tomorrow.
My dad wrapped some dumplings and is shipping them over tomorrow.
They should arrive the morning after next, so she told me to bring some over to you.”
In the end, he still blurted out the most irrelevant thing possible.
“Thank Auntie Yu and Uncle Chen for me.”
Zhou Xiaqing didn’t really want to waste time lingering here with him. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first.”
She turned to leave, but her wrist was suddenly caught in a tight grip.
Chen Jinshan looked down at her right hand gripping the umbrella handle.
The redness and swelling around her thumb caused his heart to clench.
His brows knit together so tightly they could have crushed a fly. “What happened to your hand?”
Her gaze was frigid, her tone incredibly defensive: “What does it have to do with you?”
Chen Jinshan froze, falling silent.
Zhou Xiaqing tried to wrench her arm free a couple of times, but he refused to let go.
The all-too-familiar scene instantly reminded her of a month ago.
Back then, in the campus cafeteria, he had also held onto her wrist without letting go, displaying an uncharacteristic stubbornness.
The atmosphere grew tense and volatile, neither of them seemingly willing to back down.
Watching from the side, Xu Ling chimed in at the right moment: “Xiaqing scalded her finger with boiling water yesterday, and she hasn’t applied any ointment.”
Seizing the brief distraction while Chen Jinshan listened to Xu Ling, Zhou Xiaqing switched the umbrella to her left hand and yanked her right hand with force.
He happened to relax his grip a fraction at the same time, allowing her right hand to finally break free.
“Why didn’t you apply any medicine?”
He absolutely despised the way she never took her own physical well-being seriously.
“That’s my choice.”
“Zhou Xiaqing!”
“How many times are you going to call my name? Are you trying to summon a ghost?”
Seeing that she was completely impervious to persuasion, Chen Jinshan genuinely felt at a total loss with her.
He let out a frustrated laugh, nodding as he gritted his teeth: “You’re really something.”
He had said the exact same thing last time in the cafeteria.
Zhou Xiaqing showed no mercy, firing back sharply: “You’re something too so much, so that this is the only line you know.”
Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, a couple sharing an umbrella came jogging over in a hurry, heading straight for the milk tea shop.
Once they made it under the eaves, the guy seemed a bit careless.
He didn’t pay attention to the angle as he snapped his collapsible umbrella shut, and with a sharp swoosh, rainwater sprayed off the canopy.
Chen Jinshan reacted instantly, shifting his body to block the spray for her.
It was pure reflex.
The distance between them was even closer than before.
Zhou Xiaqing’s mind went hazy for a split second; in the blink of an eye, how had his neck suddenly ended up right in front of her face?
A faint trace of body wash lingered around the tip of her nose a light, crisp, and clean scent.
It smelled wonderful.
The Adam’s apple right before her eyes looked rather sexy, too.
Her gaze gradually drifted upward.
His lips weren’t the thin, razor-sharp ones often described in novels, but possessed a certain fullness, while his jawline was sharp and beautifully defined.
His lips looked quite kissable.
So did his Adam’s apple.
What bizarre thoughts.
Zhou Xiaqing lowered her eyelashes, forcing herself to stop looking at him.
Yet why was her heart accelerating again, pounding furiously and completely spiraling out of control?
Today could easily be considered the strangest day of her entire life; so many bizarre things kept happening.
“I’m starving, let’s grab food already.”
Xu Ling, having seen through absolutely everything, tugged at Zhou Xiaqing’s shoulder before turning to address Chen Jinshan as well, “You should head back inside too.
Leaving girls waiting for too long during a mixer will only make them think you’re frivolous.”
Big Sister Xu honestly couldn’t bear to watch this painful display any longer and decided to drop the hammer.
Sure enough, Chen Jinshan panicked, instantly denying it: “I’m not.”
His emotions were slightly heightened.
He looked down into Zhou Xiaqing’s face, pausing for a few seconds.
When he spoke again, his tone was significantly calmer: “Gao Zhiyang dragged me out here. I had no idea it was a mixer.”
“Is that so?” Xu Ling offered a flat, indifferent response.
The actual recipient of the explanation, Zhou Xiaqing, didn’t say a word, nor did her expression betray any noticeable change.
She merely cast a swift glance at the guy standing opposite her and ignored him completely.
Adjusting her grip on the umbrella, she turned her head to ask Xu Ling: “Should we eat out or head to the cafeteria?”
Xu Ling ducked under the umbrella, stepping out into the rain with her. “How about we get army stew on Second Street today?”
“It’s good, but I don’t really have much of an appetite.
Let’s go in a couple of days,” Zhou Xiaqing replied. “Let’s get something light today.”
“Then let’s get the fish rice noodles on First Street.”
“Alright.”
Chen Jinshan stood entirely alone under the eaves, watching complexly as the distance widened between them.
He had still let her misunderstand.
He had still let her walk away.
His body felt increasingly drained of strength.
His consciousness screamed at him to save himself, yet he felt as though he had plunged into a quagmire, the more he struggled, the deeper he sank.
He lowered his head in silence, his eyes completely overridden with bleak defeat.
Yet the footsteps ahead suddenly halted.
“Chen Jinshan.”
He heard her calling him.
Was it a hallucination?
Lifting his head, through the curtain of rain, he clearly saw Zhou Xiaqing standing a short distance away.
He heard her state in a perfectly casual, even tone: “Message me when the dumplings arrive.
I’ll come downstairs to grab them.”
Chen Jinshan blanked out for a split second, before immediately responding: “Okay!”
Only when they had walked far into the distance and their silhouettes vanished completely did a smile finally break across his face.
Countless dumplings began to dance wildly and triumphantly in his mind.
From this very moment on, every single cell in Chen Jinshan’s body was entirely made of dumplings.