A Slight Smile is Very Charming

Part 23: Impossible to be a Couple

The setting sun shines on him, giving him a surreal glow. Wei Wei is mesmerized just from looking at his dark eyebrows. After a long while, complicated feelings start to surge in her heart; a feeling of her heart stopping, and a feeling of inconsolable grief and indignation.

When, when have they been in that kind of a relationship?! Although she really wants to be in a relationship with him, this is definitely not the way to start……

But then again, this was her initial motive to meet the Great Master. It’s just that now that the Great Master has spoken in the leveled-up version, wouldn’t she be at a disadvantage for rejecting him?

Actually, she’ll be in a disadvantage whether she rejects him or accepts him. What is going on?…..

Wei Wei is becoming more and more confused with her logic. Seeing how her thought process is stuck in a loop, Wei Wei quickly shouts to herself——

Stop!

Stop thinking!

Don’t get led by the Great Master’s words; it’s a dead end. Just pretend that you didn’t hear him. You didn’t hear him. Just treat it as a virus and quarantine it……

She concentrates on hypnotizing herself and neglects the fact that her ears are already burning red. Wei Wei pretends to be calm and looks straight into Xiao Nai’s eyes, “Since we don’t have much time, let’s ride on a bike then……”

This is not giving in to him. She just happens to realize——walking together will attract more attention than riding on a bike together; the longer they are together, the more people will see them. Therefore, they might as well ride a bike. Riding is much faster; people might not even be quick enough to see who she is clearly before they disappear in a dash.

Seriously, why did he ask to meet today when there’s a game? They could have met tomorrow instead. Furthermore, he originally said to meet at 6pm when the game is at 7pm; was he planning to bring her directly to the gymnasium for their date?

That’s not right. It’s not a date. It’s meeting, meeting each other……

Xiao Nai stares at her with his back against the sun. Her defense is too weak; should she advance or retract? Should she charge forward by impulse or take it slow and steady?

He is always one step ahead of her to draw a conclusion. He calls her name calmly, “Wei Wei.”

“Hm?”

“My bike riding skills are not bad.”

Ah? Wei Wei looks him puzzled.

“Therefore, you don’t need to look like,” Xiao Nai says slowly, “you’re facing death with equanimity (idiom).”

Wei Wei, “……”

Does she have a grave expression on her face already?…..

Wei Wei gets onto the bike while comforting herself that “it’s just like parading the streets.” But the second she sits on the bike, she regrets it before she can even have any special feelings from riding it. It’s because she realizes that she is wearing a short skirt today……

The skirt, which is a few centimeters above the knee, is now at least ten centimeters shorter after sitting on the bike. Although it’s not so short that she’s exposing herself, it doesn’t fail to attract some passer-bys. Within a couple of minutes of riding, many people are already giving them weird glances.

Wei Wei is about to jump off the bike crying. Her legs tuck back subconsciously, but it makes no difference. The bag that she is carrying is too small, so it can’t cover anything……It’s all the Great Master’s fault for giving her such a shock, causing her not to think of this.

Another two guys turn their heads to look as they pass them on their bikes.

Xiao Nai suddenly makes a hard brake.

Wei Wei hops off the bike being a little startled. Xiao Nai says with a cold expression, “I’m going to buy some things.”

Wei Wei watches him walk into a store with a straight back. He comes out and hands her a big bag of stuff.

“What is it?”

The dishes weren’t salty. Even if they were, there’s still no need to buy so much; besides drinks, there are a bunch of snacks. Wei Wei carries the big bag while feeling strange. However, she realizes the good part about it after getting back onto the bike; hehehe, it covers her legs perfectly.

With less weird glances, Wei Wei finally eases from the embarrassment. Moreover, since she’s not face to face with Xiao Nai right now, she can have some time to think quietly by herself for the first time today.

But there really isn’t much to think about.

The summer night breeze blows towards them. The bike soars under the sunset, passing through large canopy trees on the wide paved school walkway……

Everything is so perfect.

Wei Wei thinks to herself — I need to be brave.

So what if he’s Xiao Nai? He will be Xiao Nai in the future, but to her right now, he is NaiHe, and only NaiHe. And, she likes him.

There’s a slope ahead. Wei Wei presses her lips, raises her hand, and lightly and firmly grabs onto his clothes.

The bike slows down.

Wei Wei starts to smile slightly while grabbing onto the big bag of snacks tightly.

Of course, it needs to be the right time and place to be brave. Wei Wei’s display of braveness at this moment does not include entering the gymnasium together with Xiao Nai under everyone’s eyes.

Therefore, once they arrive outside of the gymnasium, Wei Wei says to Xiao Nai as he locks his bike, “I’m going to look for my roommates to watch the game. I’ll see you online tonight.” She flees with the bag of snacks right after, leaving the Great Master behind.

She comforts herself that this is not running away; this is making a move by taking a step back! Yes, this is advancing by retreat! It’s acceptance while rejecting on the surface!

Anyhow, this is the legendary battle tactic. Oh, battle tactic.

Wei Wei enters the gymnasium from the side doors. It’s already very lively and quite full of audiences; many are even standing. Wei Wei searches the stands, but can’t spot her roommates. Er Xi sees her first; she stands up and waves at her, gesturing her to go over.

Others in the gymnasium have also notice her arrival; the atmosphere becomes even livelier and bursts in excitement.

Wei Wei rushes to where her roommates are sitting. There are already no more seats, so Xiao Ling tells her boyfriend Da Zhong to leave, “Go down. Let Wei Wei have a seat.”

Da Zhong stands up from his seat obediently. Wei Wei feels a bit embarrassed as she sits down.

Er Xi is delighted to see her, “Wei Wei, you’re also here? It’s so lively today!”

“What’s going on?”

Wei Wei is a little worried after hearing the word lively.

“Many beauties are here,” Er Xi lists two of them and then says excitedly, “Meng Yi Ran is also here. She’s just sitting three or four rows behind us.”

Si Si adds, “Wei Wei, you remember Meng Yi Ran, right? She’s the one who fought with you for the school’s beauties list top spot. In the end, she defeated you because she’s more pure and innocent looking!”

Wei Wei, “……Can you not use the word ‘fought’?”

She clearly has been staying away from it like it’s the plague. In Wei Wei’s point of view, this University A’s top beauty title is just as troublesome as the number one in martial arts that you see in WuXia dramas. When Wei Wei found out that she was dragged into such a poll, she panicked for a long time; luckily, she didn’t get chosen because she’s “not pure and innocent.”

Xiao Ling butts in, “Is this the first time that the two top beauties of our school appear together?

“Eh, it does seem to be so!”

Xiao Ling says feeling upset, “If we knew that this Meng girl would come, Wei Wei, you should have worn that red dress. You would have overshadowed her completely!”

“Yes, yes, yes. That Meng girl can’t compare to Wei Wei’s figure.”

“In actual fact, our Wei Wei is also prettier than that Meng girl. Aiya, don’t know who secretly took the photo of Wei Wei on last year’s poll. It was a bad shot. It was such a disadvantage compared to the close up photo for Meng Yi Ran.”

“Yeah. Wei Wei didn’t let us upload a better photo either.”

“Stop! Eat some snacks!”

Wei Wei quickly shoves the bag of snacks to them, so that they don’t get out of hand talking about her. If others hear them, she’ll be humiliated, okay?

Er Xi takes a look inside the bag and screams, “Whoa! Wei Wei, did you become rich? You’ve bought so many snacks. How much did you spend?”

“…..” how would she know.

Thankfully, Er Xi and the rest don’t really care about her answer. They rush to grab the snacks they want. Xiao Ling says, “Aiya, why did you buy this brand of chips? It’s not as good as Lay’s.”

Er Xi, “There’s Lay’s, but the flavor is no good.”

Wei Wei thinks to herself: the Great Master bought this big bag of snacks in three minutes, and you expect him to pick flavors?

Si Si asks, “Wei Wei, did you pass the interview, so that’s why you bought so many snacks to celebrate?”

“……You can say that.”

Wei Wei starts eating a bag of potato chips speechlessly……

Now that there are snacks, Er Xi doesn’t forget to show her love for her classmate, so she asks, “You passed the interview? How was it?”

Wei Wei stares blankly at the ceiling. What should she say? “Mm…….the process was a fail, but the outcome was rather unexpected.”

“Who cares about it being unexpected, as long as you passed it,” Er Xi is no longer interested in the matter and focuses on munching her potato chips, but continues, “The main point is, Wei Wei, Xiao Nai will definitely be here today!”

Wei Wei eats her potato chips quietly. I also know that he’ll be here. The snacks you’re eating are bought by him.

Si Si says, “Sigh, it’s computer science versus architecture department for today’s competition. Isn’t that Meng girl from the music department? What is she doing here?”

Er Xi says, “Si Si, that’s not right of you. Handsome guys are shared resources in the whole universe. You cannot discriminate against different departments.”

Wei Wei doesn’t listen much of their lively chat. She gazes at the doors periodically and wonders why Xiao Nai still hasn’t come in. Just as she is thinking about this, a refreshing and handsome figure wearing a simple white shirt appears at the doors.

Everything in the surrounding suddenly becomes silent. Wei Wei can only hear her heart beating. She thought that after seeing him so many times today, she wouldn’t feel so intense anymore, but the reality is, her heart is beating faster than any other time that she sees him.

She and he, are no longer the same from now on.

Even when she is looking at him from afar and cannot reach him, they are entangled together with a thousand ties.

The instant that Xiao Nai enters the court, two guys of the same height rushes over to him. They look around and behind him; one of them even runs outside of the doors. Wei Wei giggles as she watches them. They must be the ones on the phone. Could they be YuGong and MonkeyWine?

Since they are at a distance, Wei Wei looks at them without any worries. Xiao Nai, who’s talking with his teammates, suddenly shifts his gaze to the stands. Wei Wei subconsciously holds her bag of potato chips up to hide her face as she feels bad for leaving the Great Master behind at the parking lot. Of course, she doesn’t really hide her face……

Xiao Nai looks around the stands and stops in her direction. He pauses for a few seconds, and then withdraws his gaze, and walks into the change room.

Wei Wei falls into a daze for a while. She hears Si Si and the others discussing.

Si Si, “Who was Xiao Nai looking at just now?

Er Xi, “Meng Yi Ran?”

Si Si, “Not necessarily. There are a lot of pretty girls here today.”

Er Xi, “But Xiao Nai was looking in our direction. There’s only Meng Yi Ran here, right? I just remember. Meng Yi Ran seems to know Xiao Nai. The only time that Xiao Nai performed at the school’s celebration. Meng Yi Ran was also on stage. Although they weren’t in the same performance, she played an ethnic group’s instrument, so maybe they were able to chat about music.”

Xiao Ling says, “Xiao Nai might not have been looking at girls, okay? Why do you guys have to demean him?”

Er Xi, “Oh please, Xiao Ling, you’re too naive. When has Xiao Nai ever paid attention to the stands? He has always ignored everything around him. There must be someone he was looking at.”

As they get worked up discussing this, Wei Wei suddenly grabs Xiao Ling’s wrist and says solemnly, “There is only one truth.”

Her roommates look at her with full of anticipation.

Wei Wei says even more seriously, “He’s looking at me.”

Xiao Ling, “……”

Si Si, “……”

Er Xi chokes immediately, and says weakly, “Wei Wei, do you not know that you and Xiao Nai are publicly known for being impossible to be a couple?”