Half-baked

38
The memories were like the TV screen in front of her, with the pause button pressed. Her whole body was stiff and she couldn't move.
Her mind went blank, and her whole body was burning with shame and embarrassment. Even though no one in the dormitory knew that she was the one who posted the question, the embarrassment spread throughout her body.

After an unknown amount of time, she stood up, her movements numb and stiff, like a robot Xiaomei standing in the corner of the living room, and walked to the kitchen step by step.
There is mineral water in the refrigerator.
I drank half a bottle of ice water before my thoughts came back to normal.

She brainwashed herself crazily, treating the screenshots in the group as if they were sent by strangers and had nothing to do with her nostalgia.

It was quiet for a while.
She clicked on the dormitory group message again.
We are still discussing——

Xu Fu: [His kissing skills are so good. And didn’t you see that he kissed her when he was drunk?]
Xu Fu: [I am speechless. They were already drunk, and they just kissed? Can't they be more mature? Should they just do it directly?]

Jing Yue: [If it's just a kiss, I seriously doubt that this person has the same experience as you, Dean Xu.]
Xu Fu: [What Dr. Jing said does make sense. I sympathize with her. So what if he is a cool and arrogant man? Men can be bad in many areas, but they really can’t be bad in that area!]

Fortunately, Zhu Yutong’s focus is different from theirs, and she is particularly fresh and unworldly.
Zhu Yutong: [Aloof male god, is he the aloof male god in her eyes or the aloof male god in everyone's eyes? ]
Zhu Yutong: [If he is really handsome, I think we can date him.]

Jing Yue: [But I think if a girl doesn’t like him, there’s no need to date her.]
Zhu Yutong: [Relationships can be cultivated. Think about it, if a super handsome guy appears in front of you and asks you if you want to date him, would you refuse?]

Jing Yue: [Of course.]
Jing Yue: [I am willing to marry you. ]

Zhu Yutong: [……]

Xu Fu: [You two are really cute. ]
Jing Yue: [? ]
Zhu Yutong: [? ]

Xu Fu: [This kind of question is like an elementary school math problem to me.]
Xu Fu: [Listen to Dean Xu's analysis.]

Xu Fu: [It’s very simple. Look at what she posted. She was wondering whether she should confess to the boy because she doubted his secret crush on her.]
Xu Fu: [Why don’t you think she cares about whether she likes this boy or not? ]
Xu Fu: [The answer is obvious. Regardless of whether the boy's secret love is real or fake, the girl's secret love is real. When she asked everyone if they would agree to confess, she had already made up her mind.]

When I saw this sentence, I suddenly locked my phone.
The dark cell phone screen vaguely reflected her face, and her panicked and uneasy expression at the moment.

This panic is unprecedented.
It was a secret that had been buried for a long time. She thought she had hidden it very well, but it was easily exposed.

The moonlight invaded, lengthening her figure, and the room was dark. Her face was hidden in the dark night, and her emotions could not be discerned, only her deep breathing was clear. Her heart was beating up and down, as if someone had hollowed out a piece of it, but it was filled with some emotion.
She knew what filled her empty, hopeless heart.
Always known.

As she was distracted, the cell phone in her hand vibrated.
Huai Nian suddenly came back to his senses, and there was no longer any abnormality in his expression.

It was a message from the dormitory group. Xu Fu @Huai Nian, so a new message alert popped up on her phone.
Xu Fu: [I suddenly remembered that I have to go to the counselor's office tomorrow. Are you going there too? ]

The counselor's office is together with the laboratory building, which also houses the student union office.
Tomorrow is the student union election. As the current president of the medical school student union, Huai Nian must attend and preside over the overall situation. And there is a necessary process after the election, that is, the new president will treat everyone to a meal.

Last year, Huai Nian was the new president who treated us to a meal.
In the blink of an eye, a year has passed.

If Xu Fu hadn't reminded her, Huai Nian would have completely forgotten about it.
She replied: [Yes, but the general meeting will not start until 8pm.]
Xu Fu: [It’s so late! I was thinking about having a companion for us. ]

Xu Fu always asked someone to accompany her to the bathroom during class breaks. Huai Nian thought about it and asked her: [What time will you go to see the instructor tomorrow? ]
Xu Fu: [Five o'clock in the afternoon, too early, it's too hot. ]
Nostalgia: [I can pick you up and have dinner together. After dinner, I will go to the student union for a meeting.]
Xu Fu: [okok, I love you the most, Nianbao.]

Huai Nian smiled and picked out an emoticon package to send to Xu Fu.
After sending the message, seeing that it was almost eleven o'clock, Huai Nian went to the living room and turned off the TV. When she took the remote control, she found that the campus card she had been looking for all afternoon was lying on the coffee table.

Nostalgic and puzzled, muttering to himself: "I remember when I was watching TV, there were no campus cards here?"
“Is it covered by the phone?”
She glanced at the phone that completely covered the campus card.
"It seems..." She was also confused, "Is it really like that? Right?"
-
That night, Duan Huaian did not go home.
He sent a message to Huai Nian: [I'm not going home tonight, remember to lock the door. ]
Huai Nian replied: [OK.]

Duan Huaian didn't come back until the next afternoon, when Huai Nian went back to school.
Yesterday, Huai Nian asked the dormitory manager for the contact information of the air conditioner repairman. It happened that the repairman was repairing the air conditioners of other dormitories in this dormitory this morning. After the repair, he rushed to their dormitory to repair it. Before 10 o'clock in the morning, Huai Nian saw the photo of the air conditioner running posted by Jingyue in the dormitory group.

Huai Nian thought the books were too heavy, so he went back to the dormitory to put the books down before going to pick up Xu Fu.
"Are you going back to the dormitory later?" Jing Yue was curious, "Are you not going back to your boyfriend's place?"
"I have an exam tomorrow, and it's too much trouble to go back and forth."
Huai Nian put down the book, drank a glass of water, and then got up and went to the laboratory building.

The experimental building consists of three buildings: A, B, and C. The classrooms where Huai Nian often went to class were located in Buildings A and B, and the Student Union Office was located in Building A, which was closest to the road. After passing through the long corridor of Building A, Huai Nian finally arrived at Building C, where the teachers' offices were located.

The counselor's office is on the third floor. When Huai Nian was about to go upstairs, she received a call from Xu Fu.
Xu Fu said cheerfully, "I'm done. Where are you?"
Huai Nian then retracted his foot and simply waited for her there: "I'm on the first floor of Building C."

"Which direction?"
"The stairs near the lake."
"Okay, I'll be right there, wait for me—" Xu Fu paused, a little confused, "Why do I seem to see your Duan Huai'an?"

Huai Nian said indifferently, "Did I see it wrong? How could he appear in our college for no reason?"
"I must have seen it wrong." Xu Fu looked away blankly. Then, the empty stairwell was filled with the sound of Xu Fu's footsteps, which reverberated. "I'll be down right away."

Nostalgia smiled: "I heard you coming down the stairs, slow down, don't fall."
Xu Fu: "Don't worry."

After a while, Huai Nian received a call from Xu Fu.
At this time, there were thick clouds hanging in the sky, the lake was reflecting the shimmering light of the clouds, the water was rippling, and the wind brought a hint of coolness.

Huai Nian put away the parasol in his hand and asked Xu Fu: "Where are we going for dinner?"
Xu Fu pointed to a red sports car on the main road and said, "I drove here today. Shall we go eat outside the school?"
"Where to go outside the school?" Huai Nian reminded, "I have a meeting tonight and can't go too far."
"It's not far away. There's Korean food in the shopping mall outside the school." Xu Fu said, "I'm tired of the food in the cafeteria."

This sounds familiar.
After getting on the bus, I remembered that Chi Jingting said something similar.
She remembered again that Duan Huaian said that Xu Fu and Chi Jingting were quite similar.

Now that I think about it, Xu Fu and Chi Jingting do have many similarities: living habits, personal styles, and free-spirited relationships between men and women.

They went to a Korean restaurant and ordered food by scanning the QR code on their mobile phones.
Just at this time, Duan Huaian sent a message to me, and I opened the WeChat chat window.

Duan Huai'an: [Why aren't you at home? ]
Nostalgia: [I'm back in the dormitory. The student union will hold an election tonight.]
Huai Nian thought of something and asked him: [When will your school's student union hold a new term? ]

Duan Huai'an: [Today as well.]
Duan Huai'an: [What are your plans after the election? ]

Miss: [I should have a midnight snack with everyone. 】
Duan Huai'an: [What a coincidence, baby, we are also going to have a midnight snack. ]

It's just a normal process, there's no need to say it's a coincidence.
Nostalgia smiled slightly as she typed to match his: [It’s quite a coincidence. ]

Duan Huai'an: [Where are we having a midnight snack? Maybe we can meet by chance.] At the same time, Xu Fu, who was sitting opposite Huai Nian, said faintly: "During meal time, you are forbidden to chat with your boyfriend, and you are forbidden to smile with amorous feelings."
"..." Huai Nian glanced at her and put down the phone silently, "I'm sorry."
"Admitting your mistakes proactively shows that you are a good kid."
"But I didn't laugh." Nostalgia insisted.

What he got in return was a disdainful roll of eyes from Xu Fu: "I should have taken a picture of you just now, looking like a shy little girl who is deeply in love and can't extricate herself."

Huai Nian was about to retort when the restaurant waiter came over to pour water for the two of them, interrupting their conversation.
Huai Nian lowered his head to look at his phone, pretending not to hear what Xu Fu had just said.
She silently found another common point for Xu Fu and Chi Jingting - they both liked to tease each other's good friends, especially after the other party fell in love.

On the phone, Duan Huai'an, who didn't get a reply from Huaian, sent three more messages.
Duan Huai'an: [Why don't you speak? ]
Duan Huai'an: [Just want to meet your childhood sweetheart, Ruqing? ]
Duan Huai'an: [Don't you want to run into your beloved boyfriend by chance? ]

"..."
Huai Nian thought that after one night, Duan Huai'an had forgotten about Xu Ruqing. Unexpectedly, he still remembered.

Huai Nian has a headache: [I don’t know where to have a midnight snack. Can I tell you later? ]

Duan Huai'an: [OK.]
Duan Huai'an: [Why don't you answer my question? ]

Looking at his relentless questioning, Huai Nian was silent for a while, and then typed honestly: [My encounter with him was truly accidental, and my encounter with you was intentional on your part. ]
Miss: [If we can, we won’t tell each other where we’re having supper, and then we’ll run into each other by chance.]

The other side was also silent.
About three minutes passed.
Duan Huaian sent a voice message.

The restaurant was crowded and noisy at dinner time.
Because it is a Korean restaurant, they play popular Korean songs, girl group songs are sweet and passionate, and the music is very loud.
I miss not wearing headphones, so I just convert speech to text.

Duan Huai'an said: "Baby, you know I love you and I don't want to refute you, so you can just bully me because I am kind and dumb."

"..."
Even though it was text, across the phone, Huai Nian could imagine how calm and composed Duan Huai'an's face was when he said this shameless thing, his eyebrows slightly raised, and a casual smile at the end of his eyes. He looked cold and yet very much wanted a beating.

Huai Nian was a little depressed. She really couldn't argue with him, no matter whether she was right or not.

The best solution is to ignore him.
Pretend you didn’t see the message he sent.

Not long after we finished chatting, the waiter came over to serve the food.
After Huai Nian and Xu Fu had dinner, Xu Fu considerately sent Huai Nian to the laboratory building for a meeting.
On the way over, Huai Nian asked Xu Fu: "Are you going back to the dormitory later?"
"No." Xu Fu said, "I'm going home."
"Then don't forget the test tomorrow morning."

As soon as the words were spoken, a wail was heard in the carriage.
Xu Fu: "There is an exam tomorrow morning? What exam? What time in the morning?"
Huai Nian was stunned for a moment: "Didn't I send you the exam schedule?"

"I got it." Xu Fu glanced at Huai Nian with a guilty look and cleared her throat. "So what time will the exam be tomorrow morning, and what will it be about?"

"Biochemistry, I have sorted out the review materials and posted them in the group. You probably forgot to download them and read them." Huai Nian was helpless, but also concerned about Xu Fu. "Why don't you stay at home and go back to the dormitory to review later. Memorize all the content I sorted out, and you should be able to pass the exam."

Xu Fu was like a fish out of water, and said with her last breath, "I know. I'll go back and memorize the lesson later."

When they arrived at the laboratory building, Huai Nian opened the car door and said goodbye to Xu Fu.
Huai Nian arrived at the student union office ten minutes early, but unexpectedly, everyone was already there. She greeted everyone and simply held the general meeting in advance.
The host of the conference was the Secretary-General of the Secretariat. I miss sitting in my seat and listening to everyone’s speeches.

During this period, she received a message from Duan Huaian.

Duan Huai'an: [Baby, let's make a bet. ]
Nostalgia blinked: [What bet? ]
Duan Huai'an: [If we meet later, next time we kiss, you take the initiative to kiss me.]

Huai Nian's eyebrows jumped and she subconsciously turned the screen of her phone to black. She was in a conference room, surrounded by people, and she had the illusion that she was being flirted with in public.

Fortunately, everyone around her looked up at the person speaking at the podium, and no one noticed her panic.
I miss adjusting the brightness of my phone to the lowest setting, placing it on the table, sneaking around like a thief.

She then replied to Duan Huai'an: [What if we don't meet? ]
Duan Huai'an: [If we don't meet, I won't kiss you this month. ]
Huai Nian didn't believe he could do what he said, so he hesitated for a while, lowered his eyebrows, and typed: [I bet I won't meet him. ]
Duan Huai'an: [No, baby, we will definitely meet.]

I missed him in a daze. I didn't expect him to be so confident.
She frowned and looked around the conference room. All the people sitting in the conference room were students from the medical school, and none of them had any connection with Duan Huaian. Where did he get such false confidence?
Besides, no one has discussed or decided where to go for a midnight snack.
But it is also possible that there is someone present who Duan Huai'an knows, but she just doesn't know it.

Huai Nian couldn't help but emphasize: [You can't cheat in the exam.]
Duan Huai'an: [I never cheat.]

She was lost in thought and absent-minded throughout the entire election meeting.
Until the end, she still hadn't come up with a conclusion.
Although it was an election meeting, the list of new chairpersons had already been determined, and everyone was just there for the formalities. After the meeting, everyone discussed where to go for a midnight snack.

The final result of the discussion was - "Let's walk around and see which restaurant is the busiest and most crowded, and then go to that restaurant to eat."

I miss following the crowd and listening to everyone’s lively chatter, and I can’t help but smile.
As soon as I left the laboratory building, I heard a few subtle, deliberately suppressed discussions among the crowd.
"Isn't that Duan Huai'an?"
"Looks like he's waiting for someone."
"Who are you waiting for?"
"You don't go online, friend? He must be waiting for his girlfriend to miss him."

For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Huai Nian.

It seemed to be a problem of light, as they saw the sweet girl who always smiled at them, now had no expression on her face in the dim light, and they could vaguely feel that there was resentment emanating from her.
Someone whispered, "They might have had a fight. Let's go first."
So everyone left quietly to give the quarreling couple some space to be alone.

I miss standing there, motionless.

It was Duan Huaian who walked over again.
He stopped in front of her, his brows lowered, his dark, cold eyes filled with a dandy smile of triumph.
"We met, baby."

"Isn't this cheating?" Huai Nian asked patiently and in a good temper.

"How is this cheating?" Duan Huai'an said in a casual tone, "The question was not rigorous, and I just happened to find a loophole in the question."

"..." Huai Nian said, "You asked the question."
"You are also one of the examiners, have you forgotten?"
"..."

"Or," Duan Huai'an raised his eyebrows slightly, dragging out his voice at the end, "you actually want to take the initiative to kiss me with your tongue? So, you deliberately pretended not to see the loophole in the question? Let me take advantage of it."

(End of this chapter)