Age of Legends

Chapter 209 This little thing about how to date
The two people in the car were silent for a while, but their inner thoughts were racing. A shy, sweet, yet dizzying feeling lingered in their minds.

Shen Nuoyi was the same; her face was flushed red. At school, she was the heroine Shen Nuoyi. She dared to stand up to the boys who bullied teachers and caused trouble. She could stand on the podium because of her breakthrough academic performance and receive all the stares and envy. She could walk through the crowd and ignore the slander and praise, the frivolity and arrogance.

But the courage she had mustered vanished completely when everything settled down; not a trace of it remained, and all traces of her chivalrous spirit were gone.

Her mind is now filled with thoughts like, "Oh, boyfriends and girlfriends do a lot of things, right..."

"It's about those things in novels..."

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She didn't even dare to look at the person beside her who already had a special status, and she even felt a little scared.

She was actually afraid of Zhang Chen next to her; in the past, she could have taken on ten of them.

The most crucial question now is that her stop is approaching, and she will be getting off the train soon. How should she tell Zhang Chen?

She had run out of courage and now she didn't even dare to look at him.

The car slowed down to a stop.

In a fleeting moment that seemed slow but was actually fast, she finally came to her senses, "I, I've arrived at my stop."

When they arrived at their stop, she asked him to move aside so she could walk through the space in front of him and go home. But she was even having trouble speaking clearly.

"Okay." Zhang Chen stood up and stepped aside.

The car door opened, and the aisle space became much more spacious as someone got off. Shen Nuo stood up and passed Zhang Chen, her hair almost touching his forehead. Their breaths were close, then separated. Finally reaching the aisle, still somewhat reluctant to leave, she was about to say goodbye to Zhang Chen when he didn't sit back down. Instead, he followed behind her.

"You..." Seeing Zhang Chen's demeanor, Shen Nuoyi panicked.

"I'll walk you down. It's not far from home anyway, I can walk back in a bit. Let's get off first."

"Oh."

Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen got off the bus one after the other. After the bus had gone far away, the two of them were still standing on this side of the platform, looking rather at a loss.

This is the first time, and it's the first time ever.

The two parted ways in this way, in this capacity.

“My home is right next door, and it’s very safe. You don’t really need to see me off. You just left by car, so you won’t have to go back alone,” Shen Nuoyi said softly.

“Things are different now, so it’s my duty to take you home,” Zhang Chen said. “Go inside, I’ll watch you enter the complex.”

"Oh right," Shen Nuo realized, "the situation is different now" naturally referred to their different statuses.

He is now my boyfriend.

The moment they acknowledged each other, she was now his girlfriend.

He safely delivered her home, a duty unique to boyfriends.

And what about herself... as his girlfriend, what should she give back in return?

The next moment, Shen Nuoyi seemed to realize something. She suddenly stepped forward, and as she slowly approached, Zhang Chen was startled. "Hey, no, so sudden... so fast..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Nuoyi suddenly grabbed his hand.

The touch of her fingers, as warm and smooth as mutton fat jade, came through, and she gently squeezed Zhang Chen's hand.

A tingling sensation ran up their spines.

Then she pushed slightly, quickly withdrew her hand, as if she had burned her hand and her face had turned red.

This is not far from her residential area, and no matter how you look at it, this move is too risky. If people who know her find out, it will be shocking.

"Be careful on your way home, and let me know you're safe by text or phone when you get home."

After Zhang Chen nodded, Shen Nuoyi turned and walked into the residential area.

Zhang Chen watched her retreating figure, then looked down at his own hands. Although this wasn't the first time they'd held hands, the feeling this time was far more profound. It wasn't as sudden as the first time, but it was a jolt of electric connection, a meeting of minds.

Zhang Chen watched the sunset finally sink between the rooftops in the distance. The sky briefly turned a deep blue with a sense of tranquility and solitude, as if everything in the world had frozen in that moment.

Zhang Chen felt that, starting today, the world seemed to have gained even more meaning.

……

On the 311 bus earlier, after Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen got off, the moment the pneumatic doors slammed shut, a pair of middle-aged women near the door couldn't help but start discussing it.

"Wow, that girl just confessed to that guy! Wow, she's so pretty! And the guy is good-looking too. The two young people are so sweet, how romantic!"

"Young people these days are different. They're nothing like we were back then. Now, girls will take the initiative if they see a boy they like!" "Oh, it was the same when we were born. My brother was quite handsome when he was young. The county magistrate's daughter wanted to date him, but my brother didn't want to be a live-in son-in-law, so it didn't work out!"

"Is that so..."

There were also people who had just been next to Zhang Chen and the others. As they walked out of the station, one of them picked up his phone and called his best friend: "...You didn't see it at all! That girl is just so great! I just don't understand it. There's no way she's short of suitors, yet she's chasing after that guy!"

"What does the guy look like? How could he possibly compare to Takeshi Kaneshiro! He's nowhere near as good-looking! ...He's just incredibly lucky!"

Some people were indignant, while others lamented the changing times and how different the world had become.

Someone who heard the news told a new friend, "Wow, Zhao Erwa said he saw a man and a woman confessing their love on the 311 bus today. The woman was like a celebrity, and the man was incredibly handsome! More handsome than Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. The woman confessed her love on the spot!"

When Zhang Chen returned home, unsurprisingly, neither Zhang Zhonghua nor Huang Huifen were home.

Zhang Zhonghua's company is located in a government-designated incubation zone on the edge of the city center's first ring road. It's also part of a factory renovation project, and he goes there every day to oversee things, often being the last to leave. Huang Huifen also works at the company. She usually eats in the canteen before returning home, sometimes going to the construction site, sometimes to Lanyuan, and also doing some work with local residents affected by the demolition.

Huang Huifen had called Zhang Chen earlier and knew he had eaten out, so she was relieved. "Oh, you still ate out, so I don't have to come back and cook for you. Just grab something to eat!"

That's how it is. Zhang Chen is basically left to his own devices; she doesn't remind him to pay attention to hygiene or cleanliness when eating out. These days, as long as he doesn't get food poisoning or dehydration, it's not a big deal for Huang Huifen.

Zhang Chen now receives 500 yuan a month in pocket money. That's nearly 20 yuan a day, a significant increase compared to his previous allowance of about 5 yuan a day. This is thanks to Huang Huifen starting her own business, which has given her more financial resources.

Of course, Zhang Chen might actually be richer, but he wouldn't refuse Huang Huifen and Zhang Zhonghua's allowance. Even if he said he had money, they would say, "You have a lot of money! Just save what you earn, and use the allowance your parents give you."

Ultimately, they probably still feel some guilt and aren't used to their son not asking them for money. They're using this method to gain some peace of mind as parents.

Zhang Zhonghua and Huang Huifen returned home later that evening. Zhang Zhonghua arrived first and asked, "Son, have you eaten? What did you eat?"

"The beef noodles near the school gate," Zhang Chen answered truthfully.

A moment later, the door opened, and Huang Huifen returned, wearing a coat.

That said, now that she's been following Chen Xuran, her mother has also started to dress up. It was probably because everyone said her coat looked very elegant on the day the company opened that Huang Huifen now loves wearing coats, looking like Anita Mui from the old Hong Kong movie "The Heroic Trio". If there's some smoky lighting on the street, Huang Huifen walks with a swagger.

That's just her personality.

There was an old mahogany coat rack by the door, older than Zhang Chen himself. Huang Huifen took off her coat and hung it up, then changed into slippers before saying, "Hey, let me tell you, on my way to the bus today I heard people saying that on a bus in Rongcheng, a really pretty girl confessed her love to a boy! Haha, these young people nowadays, I just wonder, how handsome does that boy have to be for a girl to take the initiative? Really... Is China really going to join the WTO? I just don't understand anymore!"

Zhang Zhonghua laughed, “Oh dear, young people these days are different. You think it was like back in our day… When your mother and I were dating, your grandfather would even secretly come to visit us!”

Huang Huifen scoffed, "Your maternal grandfather secretly observed your father a few times and thought he was decent and reliable. That's why I married him. Humph, he just doesn't know how to make money! Other husbands have been making money for ages, and your father is only just starting to see the light... If it weren't for your godfather lending us money to buy that shop, our family wouldn't have earned our first pot of gold!"

"Oh, by the way," Huang Huifen added, "I was talking about what happened on the bus today, does your school have anything like that?"

How did we get back to this point?

Zhang Chen remained calm and composed, and smiled, "Mom, you know what our school is like."

Huang Huifen nodded, "That's true! Those are definitely students from bad schools with poor grades! Your school is full of good students, and you're in your final year of high school. Your grades are pretty good now, so don't try anything funny!"

As Huang Huifen spoke, her eyes scanned Zhang Chen up and down.

Zhang Chen felt a chill run down his spine from the look in her eyes, so he raised his hands in surrender, "I'm going to do my test paper. You're just being paranoid all day long."

……

On Shen Nuo's side, her father, Shen Mingbo, unusually came home early today after a social engagement, but he had drunk quite a bit and was leaning back on the sofa drinking tea to sober up. Ning Wenjing, who was working overtime, opened the door and was still on the phone, saying, "Can't you news department stop finding all this trashy news and start reporting something valuable, meaningful, and socially significant?!"

Ning Wenjing sat down next to the coffee table, turned off her phone, and slapped it on the table.

Shen Mingbo asked in confusion, "What happened that caused such a big fire?"

Shen Nuoyi perked up her ears.

Ning Wenjing then said, "It's all because of the news department. They told me today that someone called their public news line saying they saw a young man on the bus who was prettier than Fan Bingbing and more handsome than Andy Lau, talking about dating. They were really shocked, wondering if the world has changed. The social news department even wanted to interview these two young people. I said, 'Isn't that just asking for trouble?' No wonder people say that our Rongcheng Channel 2 is all about picking up trash from the roadside for reporting. Like, someone stirred up a hornet's nest and got stung, and the firefighters have to come and deal with it. Or, 'Somewhere turned into a stinking ditch,' and they spend ages investigating! Not to mention all that, last time they did an undercover investigation into prostitution, and it turned into a real incident! That became a broadcasting accident. These people, they're always causing trouble!"

Shen Mingbo then said, "Hey, keep your voice down, our daughter is doing her homework!"

When her daughter was mentioned, Ning Wenjing recovered and lowered her voice.

In Shen Nuoyi's room, she had been listening intently ever since Ning Wenjing entered. With her mother's voice being so loud, how could she not have heard it, and she had even heard those exaggerated things.

She pulled the bunny hood of her pajamas over her head, feeling both embarrassed and amused... Is Rongcheng really that small? What kind of rumors have spread about it!

　Thank you to Feng Yueming, Da Chui Chun You Jia, Meng Miao, uyoaix, Jun Jia, Tian Xing Jian Yu Heng, Di Huo, Abu 2, Klein's Meow Meow Bug, and Book Friend 20250312224621971 for their donations.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)