There was no mood for further shopping after what happened, for Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan.
On the way back to school by car, Xia Nuannuan, sitting in the passenger seat, remained silent, gazing out the window, lost in thought.
"Nuannuan, are you okay? What are you thinking about?" Qin Tian asked.
"Mm, I'm fine!" Xia Nuannuan replied.
Qin Tian guessed she was still thinking about what had just happened and didn't say anything more.
After another period of silence, Xia Nuannuan turned her head to look at him.
"Gege."
"Mm?"
"You said... why would Lü Yanran be like that?" Xia Nuannuan finally voiced her confusion after a period of internal struggle. She found Lü Yanran's actions today difficult to comprehend.
"The world is vast, and there are all sorts of people. It's nothing strange, and there's no need to be bothered by such a person. Just keep your distance in the future." Qin Tian calmly shared his opinion.
"I understand, it's just a bit... how to put it? After all, we're in the same dorm. It will be really awkward from now on." Xia Nuannuan looked troubled.
Qin Tian pondered for a moment, then had an idea. "How about we move up the plan to renovate the house? If the dorm feels uncomfortable later, we can go out and stay for a couple of days."
"That sounds good!" Xia Nuannuan nodded, then sighed, "Sigh, haven't they been together for less than a month?" She felt a complex mix of emotions, believing that romance shouldn't be like this.
Qin Tian glanced at her and frankly said, "Actually, their breakup was just a matter of time. There's really no need to fret over this."
"Mm?" Xia Nuannuan looked at him in surprise.
"Do you think they really like each other?" Qin Tian smiled.
"Doesn't Cao Mingliang like her either? Then why are they together?" Xia Nuannuan asked, full of confusion.
"Cough cough..." Qin Tian cleared his throat awkwardly and explained euphemistically, "If you really want to put it in terms of men's baser instincts, teenage boys always have those thoughts in their minds. Since Lü Yanran was so proactive, Cao Mingliang just went with the flow!"
After hearing this, Xia Nuannuan's expression turned peculiar, and a hint of disdain flickered in her eyes. This was not directed at Qin Tian, but at Cao Mingliang.
"Isn't there a saying, 'A woman pursuing a man is like breaking through a thin veil'? That's exactly the reason. Besides, Lü Yanran isn't ugly; dressed up, she's quite beautiful," Qin Tian said with a smile.
"Cao Mingliang is truly..." Xia Nuannuan trailed off, unsure how to describe him.
"A scumbag!" Qin Tian helpfully supplied.
"Yes, a scumbag!" Xia Nuannuan nodded vigorously, her face serious. "Gege, you mustn't learn from him!"
"Don't worry, that won't happen!" Qin Tian vowed earnestly, adding, "With a girlfriend as beautiful and perfectly shaped as you, why would I look at other girls? Right?"
Xia Nuannuan felt both shy and happy, her earlier gloom and worries vanishing. She smiled radiantly, "Then what if there was a girl as beautiful as me who threw herself at you?"
"How could that be!" Qin Tian chuckled sheepishly.
"I'm talking hypothetically."
"There are many things in this world, but 'what ifs' are not among them."
"Gege..."
"Nuannuan, it's not that I'm not going along with your words. Putting aside our relationship, purely in terms of charm, in my eyes, you are the most beautiful. There is no one as beautiful as you, no one else will do," Qin Tian said earnestly.
Xia Nuannuan's face lit up with joy, completely satisfied. Qin Tian breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for his past life's extensive exposure to short video scripts, which had taught him a lot. This near-perfect answer, he thought, would earn praise even from relationship experts.
As the car neared the school, Xia Nuannuan's voice, tinged with shyness and a slight tremor, spoke up.
"I believe you. But... if you really want to, I, I can."
The moment she said that, Qin Tian, seeing the road ahead was clear, had his foot on the accelerator tremble, causing the car's speed to jump by twenty kilometers per hour. Fortunately, his driving skills were excellent, and he quickly moved his foot to the brake, leveling off the speed.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he looked in astonishment at Xia Nuannuan in the passenger seat. Her head was bowed, and the visible parts of her face and ears were flushed crimson.
"Ahhh... I didn't say anything, you didn't hear anything." Xia Nuannuan suddenly exclaimed loudly, lifting her face, as red as a burning flame, and glaring at Qin Tian with flushed annoyance. She had suddenly thought that Qin Tian was also a teenage boy! Since she had decided on Qin Tian for this lifetime, if he really, really wanted such a thing, she wouldn't refuse. And thinking of it, aside from shyness, there was also a hint of undeniable anticipation in her heart. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them immediately. How could she have said something like that? She was going crazy!
Qin Tian nodded blankly, resolutely playing dumb. "I was thinking about something just now, I didn't hear anything. Did you say anything?"
"Nothing," Xia Nuannuan said, her face still red, turning her head to look at the receding scenery outside the car window.
Qin Tian secretly took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions. This girl was increasingly testing his willpower. Sometimes he even wondered if he had been an addict in his past life to be able to endure this long.
...
...
After driving into the school, Qin Tian first dropped Xia Nuannuan off at the girls' dormitory and then returned to his own. Only Chen Zhuang was in the dorm, playing on his computer.
"Zhuang Ge, where are Cao Ze and A Zhe?" Qin Tian asked casually.
Chen Zhuang turned his head to look at him and said, "Zhuang Zhe went to the library this morning. Cao Ze just got off a call and went out. Why are you back so early?"
"Got a call and went out?" Qin Tian frowned.
"Yeah, it seemed to be Lü Yanran's call, insisting he go over immediately. He even left his game on auto-pilot, which caused me to lose a match, so I reported him in retaliation." Chen Zhuang said with annoyance.
"This woman!" Qin Tian raised his hand to rub his temples, a trace of disgust appearing on his face.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Seeing his unusual expression, Chen Zhuang immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to face him.
"Xia Nuannuan and I ran into Lü Yanran at the pedestrian street. She was shopping with the senior we almost fought with last time. She said she ran into them on the street." Qin Tian concisely explained the situation.
Chen Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then anger flared on his face. He spat on the ground. "Pah! 'Ran into them'? Jiangcheng is so big, and they could run into each other on the pedestrian street? Who would believe that? I said she wasn't a good person, and it's only been a few days?"
"Cao Ze is also an idiot. Prime Minister Cao liked to wear green hats for others, but this guy, he insists on wearing one for himself." Chen Zhuang said, getting more and more agitated, kicking over a nearby chair.
"Alright, why are you so angry?" Qin Tian comforted him with a smile.
"I just feel wronged! And it's still that same idiot from last time. back then Lü Yanran pretended nothing was going on between her and that fool, and we almost fought on the first day of school because of her. Isn't she just playing us for fools?" Chen Zhuang said angrily, his face dark.
Qin Tian didn't reply, his mind occupied with thoughts. Lü Yanran rushing back and calling Cao Ze to meet her was undoubtedly a plan to twist the facts, perhaps even to strike first. Of course, Cao Mingliang shouldn't be so foolish.