“2019.06.30 Light Rain”
Classmate Y, you never believed that I liked you, but I just did like you.
— Excerpt from Tao Shuran’s Diary
At the moment she stepped out of the exit, Tao Shuran turned back, looked at him, and said very lightly, “Liang Yuanjing, are you afraid that I’ll fall for you?”
Liang Yuanjing’s forward steps halted for a moment. He turned around frankly, a bright smile curving his lips.
“I’m not that narcissistic yet.”
With that, he left dashingly. His straight back dragged a long shadow under the hazy lights.
Tao Shuran tilted her head and gazed at the ground fondly.
In truth, compared to his face, she was more familiar with his shadow.
After enjoying most of the thrilling rides, during the final wrap-up time, the boys suggested going on the roller coaster one more time.
Tao Shuran and Fang Qingyi went to ride the carousel instead.
They deliberately chose seats on the second level. The pink little horses bobbed up and down as Fang Qingyi hugged the horse’s head and asked her curiously.
“How was it, Ranran?”
“What surprise did our Captain Liang prepare for you?”
Tao Shuran said, “The lights.”
“Ah, so the amusement park turned off the lights tonight for you. Liang Yuanjing went all out, booking the whole park for you?”
“Qingyi, do you know what the ultimate feeling of a secret crush is?”
“What?”
“It’s knowing he’s a really, really good person—so good that even if, in the very end, he still doesn’t like you, you won’t feel any resentment or anger.”
Tao Shuran looked up at the clouds and said warmly, “He told me I deserve the best things in the world.”
“I’ve actually started to slowly believe that I’m a really, really good person too.”
She looked at Fang Qingyi with a tone of surprise and joy. “Little Yi, I feel like I can start facing those old photos now. Even if I was fat, ugly, and bad at studies, that was still me.”
This was Liang Yuanjing’s power.
And she was merely crushing on him secretly, yet she was influenced all the same.
A whole week of exams ran from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, finally ending with the last one.
Fang Qingyi and Zhao Zhengnian slumped over the table at an off-campus café like frostbitten eggplants.
Tao Shuran had finished her exams a day earlier than them and had arrived first.
She had pre-ordered cakes and drinks ahead of time. As soon as everyone arrived, she had the server bring them out.
“Little Yi, this is your Lafuna cocoa cake. This caramel banana mille-feuille is Fu Changpei’s, and Zhao Zhengnian, yours is the raspberry latte.”
Tao Shuran looked around and turned to the server. “Oh, and one mint coconut water for Liang Yuanjing—light ice, please.”
Zhao Zhengnian chuckled and teased, “You sure know A Jing’s tastes like the back of your hand.”
“Of course. Otherwise, how could someone become his girlfriend? You didn’t manage it?”
Fang Qingyi propped her chin up and dropped a bombshell leisurely. “Let me tell everyone: Zhao Zhengnian was Liang Yuanjing’s die-hard fan as a kid. Once, he got beaten up at school, and Liang Yuanjing avenged him. He cried and hugged Liang Yuanjing’s leg, saying he wanted to marry him.”
Zhao Zhengnian said, “I was only eight then, okay?”
Fang Qingyi stuck out her tongue and made a face.
Seeing the two about to bicker again, Fu Changpei sighed helplessly. He stood between them, placing one hand on each of their shoulders, forcibly calming the mood.
“Didn’t we come here today to discuss summer vacation plans?”
“Right.” Fang Qingyi turned her head. “It’s a rare vacation when Liang Yuanjing doesn’t have training. Let’s find somewhere to hang out.”
“Where to?”
The three of them turned to look at Fu Changpei in unison.
Fu Changpei leaned against the counter and shrugged. His denim blue shirt jacket draped naturally, his loose posture casual and effortless.
“How about camping?”
Liang Yuanjing walked in from outside holding a basketball. He grabbed his coconut water from the pickup counter as if by telepathy and raised his hand toward Tao Shuran. “Thanks.”
He pulled out a high stool, straddled it with his long legs, and said casually, “A friend of mine opened a campsite at Wetland Park. The scenery’s pretty nice.”
“There are barbecue stalls at night, and I hear they’ve got singers performing. The vibe should be good.”
Everyone hit it off and decided the vacation activity would be at that campsite.
Fang Qingyi got excited and pulled them into a heated discussion about what to buy for camping.
Liang Yuanjing grew bored and sprawled over the table.
The café’s ample air conditioning dispelled the heat from his recent exercise. He propped his chin on his hand and fiddled with the straw in a daze.
Tao Shuran reached over and handed him a pack of wet wipes.
He glanced at it, pulled one out, and wiped the sweat from his face.
After a moment, he asked, “Got any candy?”
Tao Shuran let out an “Ah” and patted her pockets. “No.”
“But there’s a convenience store across the street. I can go buy some for you.”
“Too much trouble.”
Liang Yuanjing tapped his fingers on the table. With the post-exercise adrenaline fading, a hint of fatigue appeared in his eyes, and even his tone sounded listless.
“Wanna smoke.”
Tao Shuran subconsciously touched the lighter in her bag. It was a metallic one, now marked with a clear fingerprint from her fiddling.
She pushed the lighter deeper into her bag and said to him firmly, “No.”
Liang Yuanjing sighed helplessly. His folded hands pressed against his chin, his back’s spinal processes prominent.
Withdrawal was indeed tough.
Tao Shuran thought for a moment, then quietly stood up. She went to the counter, spoke a few words to the server.
A moment later, she returned clutching a big handful of plum candies.
“Eat some candy.”
Liang Yuanjing said, “Don’t wanna.”
Tao Shuran tore open the wrapper and held one out to him.
Liang Yuanjing took it slowly and popped it under his tongue. A sharp sourness shot straight to the top of his head.
He couldn’t help smacking his lips. “What kind of candy is this? So sour.”
Tao Shuran looked down at it and said apologetically, “Forgot you can’t have sour stuff.”
“But your method works. No cravings now.”
Liang Yuanjing stared at the pile of similarly wrapped candies on the table, feeling his whole mouth automatically reacting with sourness.
He crossed his arms and chuckled. His gaze slowly turned toward her—
“Did you get these candies just to coax me?”
Tao Shuran nodded lightly. “After all, you gave me your lighter.”
She was so straightforward.
Just for a lighter, she seriously supervised his quitting smoking.
Liang Yuanjing tilted his head back for a sip of water. Zhao Zhengnian, sitting next to him, leaned over and pulled a shiny lighter from his pocket, tempting him.
“Hey, A Jing, you really quit just like that?”
“Does smoking do the body good?”
Zhao Zhengnian shook his head.
“Then why not quit?”
Liang Yuanjing snorted a laugh. “Besides, I promised her.”
Suddenly put on the spot, Tao Shuran felt a bit flustered. Her legs shifted under her black miniskirt. In the cramped seating, she accidentally kicked someone’s leg and quickly lowered her head. “Sorry.”
Liang Yuanjing rested one hand on the counter edge, drawing back his extended leg slightly. His gaze dropped, and only then did he notice Tao Shuran was wearing a miniskirt set that day, with low-heeled sandals on her feet, a bow-tied strap around her ankle that made her calves look incredibly slender.
His throat bobbed. He lazily withdrew his gaze, looked up at the AC vent, took off his flight jacket, and handed it to her.
“It’s cold. Cover your legs.”
Tao Shuran said “Oh.” Only after his reminder did she feel the chill.
Zhao Zhengnian tsked there. “A Jing, the price you’re paying for Tao Meimei is too high.”
Liang Yuanjing raised a brow. His dark, sharp eyes lifted with a roguish handsomeness.
“I’m willing.”
“I gotta change your contact name.” Zhao Zhengnian pulled out his phone and started typing.
After finishing, he showed it around proudly, looking extremely satisfied.
Liang Yuanjing lazily lifted his eyes to the screen and his new name: Self-Disciplined Man Radiates Light.
He sneered coldly, too lazy to care.
Fang Qingyi raised her phone too, joining in. “Then I’m changing mine.”
“Wordy Smug Jerk King, Zhao Zhengnian—that’s your new codename from now on.”
“Ranran, what’s yours?”
Tao Shuran unlocked her phone and candidly showed them her contacts.
“Mine are simple—just everyone’s names. For people I’m not close to, I add their birthday.”
Zhao Zhengnian pointed at the bottom name. “Who’s this ‘y’?”
He tapped the profile pic and suddenly burst out laughing.
“Oh, it’s Liang Yuanjing.”
Liang Yuanjing’s gaze turned over slowly.
Tao Shuran’s heart skipped a beat. Her near-bursting secret—she was terrified he’d find out, her voice even trembling as she spoke.
She explained in a panic, “Too lazy to change it back then.”
The story behind that name continued all the way until the day they actually went camping.
It was Fuqing City’s hottest summer on record, with daytime highs reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
Tao Shuran and the group became nocturnal creatures, holing up in the hotel playing games during the day and only emerging at dusk to play.
That day, they rented a barbecue stall and drove to a nearby supermarket to buy a ton of ingredients, preparing for a barbecue feast that night.
While waiting for the barbecue, Fang Qingyi suggested a game she’d picked up from a variety show lately.
Going around in seat order, each person said a word to form a sentence. Whoever caused the break had to take a punishment.
A bunch of weird words strung together into nonsense, and Fang Qingyi got chugged several cups of soda.
She couldn’t take it anymore and fired at Zhao Zhengnian.
“Can you think of normal words? Who starts a sentence with ‘Qing’?”
“Switch seats. Next round starts with Liang Yuanjing. No obscure words.”
Suddenly called out, Liang Yuanjing lifted his head slightly. A bit of his chin emerged from the darkness. His oversized black T-shirt hung casually and lazily. He touched the brim of his cap, revealing a pair of dark, cool, narrow eyes.
“Me.”
Even his word choice was so simple that everyone froze.
It took a moment for them to realize it was his turn.
Zhao Zhengnian thought for a bit, clapped, and followed with “good.”
Fang Qingyi propped her chin, glancing at the next person. “Like.”
Fu Changpei: “Joy?”
All eyes gathered on Tao Shuran’s face. That impending word finally came, the instant Liang Yuanjing lifted his gaze toward her.
As if possessed by a ghost, Tao Shuran opened her mouth—
“You.”