An Earlier Meeting - Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Stepping out of the library, the two of them stood in front of the tall glass doors. Outside, it was pouring rain. The curtain of water was so dense you could barely make out the shops across the street.

“What’s going on?” Huang Xiaozhi pulled out her phone and glanced at it, her voice filled with a hint of helplessness. “We’ve only been inside for an hour and a half, and it’s turned into this?” They had been so focused on their studies that they hadn’t heard the rain at all.

It wasn’t surprising, though. The sky had been overcast all day, and the forecast had mentioned a high chance of rain. She just hadn’t paid any attention.

She turned off her phone and looked at Yu Wen, defeated. “What should we do, top student? How about I carry you, and you can block the rain for me?” Her train of thought was truly something else.

Yu Wen ignored her nonsense. She reached her hand out, and the cold raindrops immediately soaked her fingertips. “We can’t go now. Let’s wait.” The rain was torrential, making it difficult to get a taxi. She turned her head to look at Huang Xiaozhi as she spoke.

Huang Xiaozhi didn’t really like rainy days. The dampness always made her inexplicably irritable.

But with someone by her side today, it didn’t seem so bad. “Then let’s wait. We can walk along this street and see if we can buy something to eat.” Her eyes lit up, revealing her true colors as a foodie.

After all, isn’t the point of living to enjoy good food?

Yu Wen had been worried the rain would sour her mood, but she was only thinking about eating. “Why are you only thinking about food all day? Where does all that food go? You don’t gain any weight,” she said, looking Huang Xiaozhi up and down. She looked slender from a distance and even more delicate up close.

She loved to eat, yet she never seemed to gain weight, probably due to her metabolism and her years of dance training.

Huang Xiaozhi heard the subtext in her words. She didn’t turn her head to look at Yu Wen, her gaze fixed on the ground where raindrops were creating bubbles.

The sound of the rain was noisy, yet it had a rhythm of its own. “I don’t know either. I think I’m just right, not too thin and not too fat, but people always say I’m skinny,” she said calmly, simply stating a fact.

The rain washed over A City, as if to cleanse it of old dust.

The reason Yu Wen knew that Huang Xiaozhi disliked rainy days was because she had mentioned it once in passing, and Yu Wen had stored it away in her heart.

When you like someone, your memory is always better. You quietly collect every little detail about them.

Huang Xiaozhi hadn’t been completely oblivious to Yu Wen’s bold stare just now.

She had also wondered if Yu Wen might have felt a flutter of a crush? Even if it was just a friendly one.

The two of them stood side-by-side, their seven-centimeter height difference still clear in the rain.

It was as if the world was filled with nothing but the roar of the rain, telling the story of the sky’s emotions.

The doorways of the stores were crowded with people seeking shelter, and their chatter buzzed.

Only the two of them stood out in the crowd, exceptionally quiet, as if they were lost in the sudden sound of the rain or surrounded by a subtle awkwardness.

Silence was fine. Listening to the rain, each was lost in their own thoughts.

Both wanted to find a topic, but neither knew where to start.

Almost at the same time, they turned their heads, and their eyes met.

“What university do you want to go to?” (Huang Xiaozhi) / “Is there anywhere you want to go?” (Yu Wen)

The shared synchronicity made them both freeze for a moment, and then they smiled at each other.

Huang Xiaozhi simply turned to face Yu Wen. “Do you have mind-reading powers? How do you know what I’m thinking?” she said playfully, teasing their perfect timing.

Yu Wen played along. “I do! I can predict the future, you know~” she said, dragging out the last syllable with a hint of mischief.

This comical tone instantly livened up the atmosphere.

Huang Xiaozhi’s interest was piqued. She moved a little closer to Yu Wen, her eyes sparkling. “Then hurry up and tell me! How do you predict it? Or predict what our future will be like? Tell me!” The girl’s curiosity and emotions were written all over her face.

Yu Wen looked at the sudden close-up of Huang Xiaozhi’s delicate features, her lively eyes shining with curiosity.

At such a close distance, she could even clearly see the relaxed lines of her brow.

Her own heart was already beating out of rhythm, and Huang Xiaozhi’s hushed voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet rain.

Huang Xiaozhi stayed close, and Yu Wen quietly looked at her, as if the eye contact itself held a thousand unspoken words.

If only I really had telepathic powers.

Yu Wen’s mouth curved into a very small smile. She reached out her index finger and gently poked Huang Xiaozhi’s forehead. “Seeing your eyes, I can predict that our future will be very good, with unlimited potential… But who knows what will happen in between?” It sounded plausible, but it was really just made-up nonsense.

Huang Xiaozhi knew she was making it up, but she also thought it made sense. Life was full of unknowns. “Oh~ Then… what about our relationship in the future?” she asked, tilting her head, looking thoughtful, but with a hint of slyness in her eyes.

Yu Wen didn’t expect her to ask that. Her heart tightened slightly.

What about our future relationship? She couldn’t predict it. She was even a little afraid to think about it.

She let out a soft sigh and raised her eyebrow. “I think it depends on fate. It’s fate that brought us together as friends. Whether we can continue to be good friends depends on whether our fate is deep enough.” This was the only vague answer she could give. There were too many variables in the future, and no one could guarantee anything.

Huang Xiaozhi had thought the question was too difficult for her and was about to say never mind, but Yu Wen had answered. Listening to her words, she nodded. It was true. The future was like a weather forecast; it was often wrong.

Fate was really a magical thing. The chance meeting when they were young, their friendship now—wasn’t it all because of fate’s pull?

“Even so,” Huang Xiaozhi said with a warm smile, “I believe that the fate between you and me can never be broken.”

Yu Wen looked at her without speaking. Huang Xiaozhi was still chattering softly, but Yu Wen felt like she couldn’t hear anything anymore. The only thing in her world was this vibrant person in front of her.

The affection hidden deep in her eyes was so well-concealed that it looked more like she was simply admiring the other person’s lively expression.

You couldn’t blame Huang Xiaozhi for being dense; Yu Wen’s “acting” was just too natural. Her gaze seemed to hold a thousand emotions.

Huang Xiaozhi kept talking happily to herself, her voice low but full of joy.

In Yu Wen’s eyes, this person was just… excessively cute.

…

The rain showed no signs of letting up; if anything, it was coming down harder, lashing at the city.

Along the streets, the awnings of the stores were crowded with people hiding from the rain.

The two of them couldn’t stand still any longer and decided to walk along the storefronts and find a supermarket to buy an umbrella.

Huang Xiaozhi went inside the supermarket while Yu Wen stayed outside to call for a taxi on her phone.

The moment she stepped into the bright light of the supermarket, Huang Xiaozhi’s gaze was caught by a familiar figure—it was Zeng Ling again!

What was going on today? What were the chances?

The person was still wearing a hoodie and a hat, with her head down, picking something from a shelf.

Huang Xiaozhi muttered to herself that maybe they just looked alike. There were tons of people wearing black hoodies on the street.

She walked straight toward the umbrella section. As she passed the person, her eyes met a pair of eyes by chance—a pair of eyes filled with fatigue and… something else.

Huang Xiaozhi’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t been mistaken. Zeng Ling had two symmetrical moles on her nose! The person on the stairwell was indeed her! The world was so big, and this “fate” was truly… speechless.

Yu Wen, standing by the entrance of the convenience store with her back to the door, was looking at her phone. She didn’t notice Zeng Ling hurrying out.

Huang Xiaozhi walked out, holding an umbrella in her hand (it was the last one left in the store) and a chocolate bar.

She walked up to Yu Wen and offered her the chocolate. “Top student, want some chocolate to refuel?” As she spoke, she naturally adjusted her position to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yu Wen.

To Yu Wen, it just looked like a chocolate bar suddenly appeared in front of her.

She was staring at the taxi’s route on her phone. She took the chocolate with her other hand. “You like sweets so much?” She was generally indifferent to sweets, especially chocolate bars.

Huang Xiaozhi’s spirits immediately lifted. She tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear and looked at Yu Wen with bright eyes. “Yeah! I love sweet things! Cake, bread, milk tea! I love desserts! My favorite is hot chocolate milk. Hot milk with melted chocolate, stir it up and drink it. It’s the best!” She got more and more excited as she spoke.

Listening to the person beside her chatter on, Yu Wen’s gaze was still locked on the moving car on her phone screen. “Liking them is one thing, but it’s better to eat fewer sweets.” Her words somehow had the tone of a mother lecturing her daughter.

Huang Xiaozhi gave a simple-minded smile. The rain was still coming down in torrents, with no sign of stopping.

“What about you? Is there anything you particularly like?” she asked casually, but with a hidden agenda. She still hadn’t figured out Yu Wen’s preferences yet! Was she too much of a glutton, only thinking about herself?

Yu Wen didn’t expect her to turn the tables. She turned off her phone screen, leaned in close to Huang Xiaozhi, and lowered her head slightly. “Me? I’m not picky. Anything edible is fine. The only thing I can’t really accept is bitterness… As for things I like, snowflake crisps are one of them. Haven’t you noticed?” The last sentence was said with a hint of a teasing smile, instantly closing the distance between them.

This distance… it was too close! Huang Xiaozhi’s head instinctively shrank back. From the side, their posture was so intimate it looked like they were about to kiss.

She didn’t dare to look up, her eyes fixed on their shoelaces, and she mumbled softly, “Maybe… maybe I also like snowflake crisps, so I didn’t pay attention…” In reality, she had noticed, or else she wouldn’t have asked her mom to make them.

Seeing Huang Xiaozhi’s innocent and flustered look, Yu Wen wanted to tease her even more. With a gentle tease, the back of her neck flushed pink. “Then why don’t you pay more attention to me? Princess Xiaoxiao~” The last nickname was intentionally cheesy.

Huang Xiaozhi flinched and immediately looked up to glare at her. “Don’t call me that when we’re outside!” She held a finger up in front of Yu Wen as a warning.

Looking at the delicate finger in front of her, Yu Wen’s gaze froze for a moment. A certain thought flashed through her mind.

She eventually backed away a little, smiling helplessly as she gave in. “Okay, okay, Xiaoxiao… Princess.” It was just too fun to tease her.

“Okay, okay, so this is how we’re playing, huh? You just wait!” Huang Xiaozhi said a little fiercely, pretending to reach out and flick Yu Wen’s forehead.

Her hand was stopped mid-air—Yu Wen’s hand firmly grabbed her wrist.

Huang Xiaozhi was slender, and Yu Wen’s palm easily wrapped around her wrist.

Yu Wen held her wrist, tilting her head, a doting smile on her face. “Wait for what? Are you going to do something bad to me?”

Alarm bells went off in Huang Xiaozhi’s head: This isn’t right! Is this the Yu Wen I know? The warm touch on her wrist and the clear pulse beat made her heart race.

She tried hard to pull her hand away. “Your grip is too strong! Do you want to crush my bones?” she complained in a low voice. How did the topic get sidetracked? Weren’t we talking about nicknames?

She deliberately put on a wronged expression.

Yu Wen fell for it, of course. Her face instantly changed to one of genuine worry and self-blame. “Did I… hurt you just now? I’m sorry.” She reached out to check her wrist.

Huang Xiaozhi quickly hid her wrist behind her. “Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine! I was just kidding! It doesn’t hurt!” She felt too embarrassed to keep acting.

Seeing her say that, Yu Wen didn’t insist. But the lighthearted atmosphere from before seemed to have vanished. She silently put her hands back in her pockets and lowered her head, looking genuinely remorseful.

Now it was Huang Xiaozhi’s turn to be at a loss. Did I overdo the acting? She bent down to peer at Yu Wen’s lowered face from below. “Are you… mad?” her voice was cautious.

When Yu Wen looked up, Huang Xiaozhi immediately caught the smile she hadn’t managed to hide completely and the slight upward curve of her lips—this person was acting!

“You! You’re toying with my feelings!” Huang Xiaozhi immediately straightened up and turned her back on Yu Wen, pouting. She wasn’t truly angry, though; it was more like a child throwing a tantrum.

Yu Wen laughed. She gently took hold of Huang Xiaozhi’s shoulders, leaned in, and her lips were almost touching her ear. Her warm breath spread across the sensitive skin of her earlobe. “You can act, but I can’t?”

Huang Xiaozhi’s body visibly trembled. She instinctively turned her head away. “No,” her voice was a little shaky, and her eyes were lowered. “It’s just… I’m acting, too?”

Yu Wen let out a soft laugh, satisfied to see the tips of her ears turn red.

Knowing when to stop, she didn’t tease her anymore. “Let’s open the umbrella. The car will be here soon. We should go.”

Under the bright lights of the convenience store, the two girls were each lost in their own thoughts.

Those indescribable flutters and secrets were still carefully buried in their hearts, just like the street washed by the heavy rain—wet on the surface, but with an inner truth known only to them.