Divine Art Perfected
An Nuan didn't ask any more questions, she just carried the swaying volleyball and walked on the grid pattern on the ground.
I just don't know who invented the floor tiles. If you walk one tile at a time, your steps are too short, and if you walk two tiles at a time, you can't take such big steps.
It was extremely awkward.
Of course, the only awkward thing was stepping on the grid, and it had nothing to do with the beautiful girl she had just met. An Nuan continued to chat about the trivial things at school with her usual smile.
"Without jealousy or arrogance, without disorder or laziness, without hatred or resentment, without malice or ill will." Liu Chang'an recited a passage from a Buddhist scripture.
As senior high school students, this is the time when most people are most knowledgeable and well-informed in their lives. They have memorized the most classic Chinese texts and recorded many poems and songs. Even An Nuan, who is an outstanding student who has been exposed to this kind of learning and often reads the books that Liu Chang'an brought, cannot keep up with the sentences that Liu Chang'an blurted out, which he doesn't know where he picked them from.
So An Nuan just pouted, instead of glaring at him angrily as usual, and telling him to speak properly.
"This passage is from the Radiant Prajna Sutra, and it's roughly one of the mental states required for Buddhist practice, so..." Liu Chang'an paused, "You're trying so hard to control yourself from jealousy, anger, and possessiveness, instead of your usual self jumping up like a monkey and hugging my neck, demanding explanations... Are you going to become a Buddhist?"
"You're the one who's like a monkey! When did I ever jump up and hug your neck like a monkey!" An Nuan's pout finally blossomed naturally, and her cheeks, which had been pulled up, were flushed with the color of new lotus leaves.
An Nuan was always proud of her jumping ability. Of course, you have to jump around when playing volleyball. But Liu Chang'an liked to tease her by comparing her to a monkey and saying that her jumping ability was just average and that she only relied on her long legs. An Nuan didn't know whether to praise him or belittle her strength.
"Women are so forgetful," Liu Chang'an shook his head. "Let me tell you, once..."
"Stop!" An Nuan called out to Liu Chang'an.
"Then do you still practice Buddhism?"
"I don't!"
"That's good."
Liu Chang'an fell silent. An Nuan stared at him wide-eyed, glancing at him every now and then, but he remained silent, seemingly completely unaware of the meaning of "self-awareness." Finally, An Nuan couldn't take it anymore and pinched a piece of flesh on Liu Chang'an's waist from behind. "Speak!"
"Say what?"
An Nuan didn't care anymore. She hugged his neck and shook him back and forth, as if she could keep shaking him like this until the mountains crumbled and the heavens and earth merged, unless he took the initiative to confess.
"Alright." Liu Chang'an removed her hands from his neck. "Didn't you notice? Her bra size is the same as yours. Most importantly, she didn't receive my Zhenwei Technique."
You even know her bra size!
"I'm not blind."
An Nuan blushed and continued walking forward. In fact, how could anyone accurately tell when a girl is dressed? Just like Bai Hui, she doesn't always hop around like a little rabbit. Many times, people only discover that a girl has developed again when she's in the changing room, revealing the surging waves beneath the gentle ripples.
An Nuan couldn't determine whether her bra size was better than that of the other girl, but as Liu Chang'an said, the key point was that, in his opinion, only after receiving his incredibly absurd and vulgar gift would her bra size be large enough for her to be qualified to date him.
"You really like her so much!" An Nuan angrily punched Liu Chang'an's shoulder several times.
"Then would you like her?" An Nuan tilted her head slightly. "I think she's quite pretty."
"I have someone I like." Liu Chang'an shook his head.
An Nuan's heartbeat was like that of a lotus flower in June, a tiny bud held high, swaying frantically in the slightest breeze, as if it might break at any moment, making one worry.
"An Nuan!"
An Nuan was startled and quickly grabbed Liu Chang'an and ran. They were already near Xiangnan University, which was a relatively dangerous area.
"Your mother?"
"Yes!"
"I'd like to say hello to her."
She'll knock you out of the air!
"I've never flown before..."
An Nuan pulled Liu Chang'an and ran very fast, hiding in a small building in the teaching area.
An Nuan, panting, patted her chest. She bent over, finally allowing Liu Chang'an to see something through her collar.
It wasn't like a lotus bud just beginning to emerge; rather, it was a newly ripened melon.
Liu Chang'an looked up, hugged An Nuan, An Nuan lowered her head, resting her forehead on his shoulder to catch her breath, then pushed him away, saying, "I won't get home until very late."
The power of her mother's presence was still there, making An Nuan resist his shoulder. She knew that if Liu Chang'an didn't say anything, and she was gently held by him while he gently leaned against her, and the two of them stood there doing nothing, they would find that time seemed to fly by like a wound-up spring.
"Should I grow taller?" Liu Chang'an asked An Nuan for her opinion.
"No need." An Nuan quickly shook her head. Although she usually joked around with Liu Chang'an without any restraint, An Nuan also knew that boys must care a lot about their height when they were with girls.
An Nuan usually tries to wear flat shoes, and she feels quite comfortable walking with Liu Chang'an. But if she wears high heels, will it put pressure on him? An Nuan thinks about this question from time to time.
She doesn't seem to care about that, but just like girls care about bust size and leg length, boys do care about height, right?
"If I don't grow taller, how will you stand on tiptoe?" Liu Chang'an pointed to An Nuan's schoolbag, "The Tiptoe Happiness."
He said it was a romance novel in An Nuan's schoolbag, titled "Tiptoe Happiness," which is self-explanatory; everyone understands the meaning of the title.
An Nuan's heart pounded shyly, but it was as if a lotus bud had finally bloomed, page by page, layer by layer. It turned out to be a double-petaled variety, blooming brilliantly in the summer.
"I can stand on tiptoe and hit you," An Nuan said sweetly.
Just by listening to her voice, no one would think she was standing on tiptoe to hit someone; it would be more like she had been bullied and her lips were swollen.
"Alright then, to be fair, since I've let you cultivate the Qinwei Art, I'll cultivate the Height-Increasing Technique. The day we both master our divine skills will be the day we achieve our goal." Liu Chang'an concluded with a slight hint of doubt, "Does this count as dual cultivation?"
"Pah, go practice your own height-increasing technique!" An Nuan stomped her foot. Sure enough, boys all care about this. This fool, doesn't he know that one of them can stand on the steps and the other on the bottom?
Liu Chang'an stretched his back and loosened his muscles, but of course he wouldn't jump several inches high on the spot, as that would scare the little girl.
"By the way, why is the one you gave me called the Zhenwei Technique,' while yours is called the 'Height Increase Method'?"
"Because you put a lot of thought into it, I just picked one randomly."
"Then I'll give you a name."
"You say."
"I haven't decided yet. I'll think about it when I get back."
An Nuan's phone rang. An Nuan glanced at it and saw it was her mother calling. She quickly answered, mumbled a few words, and hung up.
As An Nuan and Liu Chang'an walked out of the teaching building, it was already dark. An Nuan was a little confused, but more embarrassed and annoyed. Why did time fly by so quickly when she was with Liu Chang'an, just talking nonsense and rambling on about random things?
"I'm going back this way." An Nuan stood on the path in the woods, with a row of towering trees, four or five stories high, behind her. Their leaves were lush and intertwined. An Nuan waved her hand, her smile no longer shy or cheerful, but warm and sweet, just like her name.
"I'll go this way." Liu Chang'an looked at her and walked backwards.
"Be careful not to fall."
"Knew."
An Nuan thought about the scene that Liu Chang'an had casually mentioned when he saw her off on her way back from his house that day, and it seemed to have come true all of a sudden.
Liu Chang'an, I really like you so much.