12、
That day, when Anning went out to accompany him, they actually didn’t walk much. Seeing that her legs were sore, he chose a restaurant instead.
It was a Chinese-style café located in the campus leisure district. The reason it was called Chinese-style was because they served all sorts of Chinese dishes inside, including fried rice, beef noodles, claypot dishes, and so on. Anning had been there once before with Mao Mao, after which Mao Mao posted a warning on the campus forum:
Warning Regarding the Beef Noodles at Xianghe Café on Leisure Street:
Anning thought that Mao Mao shouting about dieting was probably never serious to begin with…
“What are you laughing at?” Xu Moting asked with a faint smile.
Mm… was I laughing? She looked back at him with utmost righteousness and seriousness.
He coughed lightly, fingers resting against his lips as he thought to himself:
How could this be… Why am I actually nervous…
Xu Moting: “Want something to drink?”
Anning: “Uh… can I just have plain water?”
Moting ordered a coffee and a bottle of mineral water. As Anning drank her water, she suddenly thought hazily:
Wait… why did I come here in the first place?
Just as she was about to say something, his phone rang. He answered, listened for a moment, then hung up and told her:
“Two friends are coming over—”
Eh?
“Then I’ll—”
“Stay and meet them.”
“……”
The arrivals turned out to be one of Xu Moting’s roommates and the roommate’s girlfriend.
The moment Zhang Qi arrived, he looked Anning up and down several times before grinning at Moting. “Beautiful!”
His girlfriend beside him clicked her tongue helplessly.
“Sit,” Xu Moting said, pointing at the seats opposite them.
Zhang’s girlfriend nodded politely to Anning and introduced herself, then couldn’t help adding, “Your name suits you perfectly.”
Zhang Qi turned to Moting and got to the point. “What are you planning to tell Professor Lin? He sent me to persuade you.”
Xu Moting: “I’ll consider it, but I probably won’t agree.”
Zhang Qi laughed. “Hah. Getting you to say something definite is harder than climbing Mount Everest and carving ‘I was here’ at the summit.”
Meanwhile, Zhang’s girlfriend observed Anning for a while before asking, “You’re not from our department?”
Anning: “…Mm.”
The girlfriend quite liked this girl already—delicate-looking, gentle, slightly frail. She probably had a natural instinct to protect weaker people.
“So you’re in graduate school too? What’s your major?”
“Applied Physics.” After thinking about it, Anning still added seriously, “Actually… the summit of the Himalayas is covered in snow all year round. You can’t carve words into it…”
Zhang Qi, who had been speaking to Xu Moting, abruptly stopped.
“……”
His girlfriend burst into laughter. “She’s really adorable.”
Mm… should she say thank you?
“Why don’t we switch tables and chat? Let them discuss business.”
Anning didn’t mind and was just about to stand when Xu Moting reached out and lightly caught her hand.
“No need. Stay here.”
Under the gaze of the two people across from them—whether shocked or respectful, Anning couldn’t tell—Anning’s face inexplicably flushed red.
That day, he walked her back to the dormitory as usual, calm and composed the whole way. Anning herself felt rather dazed, mainly because he had been holding her hand the entire time…
It wasn’t until she stepped into the dorm room that she snapped back to reality.
More accurately, she was startled back to reality.
Chaoyang: “A-Miao!”
Qiangwei: “Miaow!!”
Mao Mao: “MIAOW!!!”
A room full of cat noises…
Anning: “…Has spring arrived?”
Qiangwei groaned dramatically. “I entrusted my heart to the bright moon, only for the bright moon to shine upon the gutter… Confess honestly, speak!”
Chaoyang: “Reveal the truth!”
Mao Mao: “Man!”
Anning: “Let me think.” She walked over and sat on her bed. Her feet were killing her today. “Mm… Daji was probably secretly in love with Boyikao, but as the eldest son of King Wen, Boyikao had no interest in romance—”
Chaoyang: “What are you even talking about?”
Qiangwei: “Stop changing the subject!”
Mao Mao: “Man!!”
Anning looked innocent. “‘I entrusted my heart to the bright moon, only for the bright moon to shine upon the gutter’—that line was what Daji said to Boyikao.”
Everyone: “……”
Later, Anning chatted with her cousin again, and their topic turned to mythology and history.
Anning: History is a very subtle thing. It may not be entirely true, but no matter how much you try to cover it up, there’ll always be a corner of the skirt faintly showing. It’s not that it can’t be painted over—it’s just that it can’t be completely erased. And in the end, it never really can be.
Cousin: So pretentious! I’m coming to your city on the 29th to go shopping with you!
Anning: …
Cousin: I’ve been learning how to drive these days. My test is tomorrow. Maybe I’ll drive over then?
Anning: What kind of vehicle?
Cousin: Two-wheeled!
Anning: Two-doored?
Cousin: ……
Anning mentally blacklined. A scooter on the highway would get stopped immediately, right? Besides, are you seriously planning to drive on the highway the moment you get your license?
Cousin: What’s scary about highways? The real trouble is city roads.
Anning: Especially with all the one-way streets… What if you take a wrong turn and get stuck somewhere unable to turn around?
Cousin: That is a problem.
Anning: Mm… I held hands with a guy today…
Cousin: Oh.
Anning: Nothing else to say?
Cousin: If a person has no desires, what’s the difference between them and salted fish?
Meaning… had she been salted fish before? Or was she still salted fish now? Anning became conflicted…