The wind blew in through the courtyard gate, sweeping up a few dry bamboo leaves. They spun twice over the ground before drifting elsewhere.
Yan Ruanning was, after all, someone who had seen her share of things.
She froze for only two seconds before the surprise on her face seemed to scatter in the wind, and she regained her usual composure.
She walked over to Cheng Che and naturally took the bag of fruit from his hand, still smiling as she spoke:
"You didn't have to bring fruit."
Cheng Che came back to his senses and instinctively scratched the back of his head. "It's my first visit. It wouldn't feel right to come empty-handed."
He meant it. Ever since he was little, Jiang Xue had taught him not to visit someone's home empty-handed. It was basic courtesy.
But to Yan Ruanning, those words were like a pebble tossed into a lake, setting off ripples she couldn't quite describe.
She hadn't been in quite the right state to begin with.
The boy before her seemed shrouded in a faint, soft glow, every frame of him so handsome he hardly looked real.
Besides, ever since Cheng Che had left her dizzy with his good looks that day through the lens of [Sapiosexual Boy] + [Stars Surrounding the Moon], she had been unable to face him with her usual calm.
And with his "first visit" just now added to the mix, the meaning had gone completely awry.
Her steps faltered slightly before she forced herself to remain composed and headed inside.
"Have a seat. I'll go upstairs and change," she said.
"Oh, okay." Cheng Che obediently sat down on the living room sofa.
Only after Yan Ruanning went upstairs did he belatedly realize that he seemed to be the only person in the house.
Cheng Che began to feel a little awkward.
Wait.
It suddenly occurred to Cheng Che: why was Yan Ruanning at Old Xu's house?
He frowned and pondered it for a long while.
Was she Old Xu's relative? His niece? Or... a child from his wife's side of the family? Surely she couldn't be his goddaughter.
The more Cheng Che thought about it, the more confused he became. He scratched his head.
Meanwhile, on the second floor.
Yan Ruanning closed the door behind her and leaned her whole body against it, clutching her chest and taking great gulps of air.
"Why is he at my house... why is he at my house..."
Her face burned as though she had just run five kilometers.
She took a deep breath, walked to the bedside, picked up her phone, and called Old Xu.
He answered quickly.
"Ruanning? What is it? I'm out buying groceries with your mom." Old Xu's voice came through the receiver, and sure enough, Yan Ping could be heard bargaining with a stallholder in the background. "Three yuan fifty? You were selling it for three yesterday. Give us a better price, and we'll take a few more bunches!"
Yan Ruanning lowered her voice. "Dad, did you invite someone over?"
"Yes." Old Xu sounded perfectly justified. "Cheng Che. You should know him. Didn't he shoot that... MV with you?"
Yan Ruanning closed her eyes, trying to make her voice sound normal. "He's a student in your class?"
"Hey, I haven't told you about that, have I?" A note of pride suddenly crept into Old Xu's voice. "Cheng Che is one of my top students. The one who jumped from four hundredth to thirtieth in the whole school. That's him. And he's from Pond Village next door, too. He came with his family yesterday to wish your grandpa a happy birthday. He ran into me, so I invited him over for a meal."
Yan Ruanning froze.
She knew Cheng Che attended No. 13 Middle School.
She had seen him on the sports field when she went to deliver the speech last time. But she had never imagined he was actually a student in her father's class.
After all, it wasn't as though she had never seen a flag-raising ceremony. Plenty of students went up onstage.
And now he was from the neighboring village, too.
Her own father's prized pupil.
The world was far too small.
"I... got it." She rubbed her temples, her voice muffled. "When will you be back?"
"Soon. Keep him company for now. He's a guest, so don't neglect him."
"I know, I know." Yan Ruanning hung up and tossed her phone onto the bed, then flopped down after it, lying faceup with her arms and legs spread wide.
She stared at the ceiling for five seconds, then suddenly sprang up and began rummaging through her wardrobe.
The first outfit: a floral dress. No, too formal. Like I'm going to walk the red carpet.
The second: a camisole and shorts. No, too casual, and... too revealing.
The third: a long black dress. No, too matronly.
The fourth: a pink hoodie. No, too childish.
Half an hour later, she stared blankly at the little mountain of clothes on her bed.
She looked down at herself, then at the mess covering the bed, and suddenly raised a hand to give her cheek a light pat.
"Yan Ruanning, get a grip."
Then she grabbed a pair of light blue jeans and a white T-shirt and changed into them at lightning speed.
There was no time to do her hair, so she casually tied it into a ponytail. The person in the mirror looked fresh and neat, like an upperclasswoman straight out of a university campus.
She took a deep breath, opened the door, and went downstairs.
Meanwhile, Cheng Che was looking down at his phone.
He had just sent Xiao Zhou a message.
[Cheng Che: Sister Zhou, quick question. Is Yan Ruanning her stage name or her real name?]
Xiao Zhou replied instantly:
[Her real name is Xu Ruanning. Yan is her stage surname, taken from Ruanning's mom's name. It's all in her online profile. You didn't even look her up after shooting the MV?]
Cheng Che: "..."
He opened his browser and typed in "Yan Ruanning."
An encyclopedia page popped up, stating in black and white: Yan Ruanning, real name Xu Ruanning.
Cheng Che pressed a hand to his forehead.
Even if he had seen it before, he wouldn't have paid it any mind.
Who went out of their way to memorize a celebrity's real name when following them?
Cheng Che was a little dumbfounded. Compared with having shot an MV with a female celebrity, having shot one with "his homeroom teacher's daughter" hit him harder.
Just then, a message from Guo Xin suddenly popped up.
[Guo Xin: Bring me something to eat when you come back this afternoon. I'm starving to death.]
[Cheng Che: Can't. I'm having lunch at Yan Ruanning's house.]
His phone fell silent for three seconds.
Then it exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
[Guo Xin: ???]
[Guo Xin: Are you fucking dreaming about Yan Ruanning? Wake up. Quit being a delulu fanboy. It's embarrassing!]
[Guo Xin: And I was going to treat you to grilled gluten. Gluten my ass! You're getting nothing!]
Cheng Che didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He was just about to reply when footsteps came from the stairs.
Yan Ruanning had come down.
Light blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a ponytail.
She wore no makeup, but her eyes and brows were bright and clear, her jawline as precise as though measured with a ruler. Cheng Che glanced up, and his hopeless heart skipped half a beat.
"Ruanning." He stood up. "Can I take a photo of you?"
A trace of sluggishness still lingered in Yan Ruanning's muddled mind. At his request, her body moved before her thoughts did. Her head tilted slightly, the corners of her lips lifted out of habit, and she put on a textbook celebrity smile.
Cheng Che raised his phone. Click.
In the photo, Yan Ruanning sat beside the old wooden sofa, sunlight slanting in from behind her as though gilding her outline with a fuzzy edge.
Cheng Che sent the photo to Guo Xin.
Three seconds later.
[Guo Xin: Trying to fool me with some shitty AI picture? Just you wait. I'm blocking you right now!]
[Guo Xin: No grilled gluten. No barbecue either!]
The corner of Cheng Che's mouth twitched. He didn't reply again.
At some point, Yan Ruanning had come to stand behind him. Seeing "delulu fanboy" and "AI picture" all over Guo Xin's messages, she couldn't hold back a snort of laughter.
"Your friend's pretty funny," she said.
Cheng Che looked up. "If he knew you complimented him, he'd be so happy he'd climb onto the roof."
"Then don't tell him." Yan Ruanning sat down at the other end of the sofa and picked up an apple from the fruit platter, turning it in her hand. "Why didn't you tell me you were my dad's student?"
Cheng Che paused. "Sis, you never told me you were Teacher Xu's daughter either."
Yan Ruanning choked on her words.
Such sound reasoning. Impossible to refute.
She pursed her lips and asked, "Then why didn't you accept my WeChat request?"
Cheng Che opened WeChat and scrolled for quite a while before realization dawned. "That pig-head profile picture is you?"
Yan Ruanning puffed out her cheeks. "That's my dog."
"Sister Xiao Zhou gave me a different WeChat ID for you, so I didn't think much of it..." Cheng Che explained quietly. "I thought it was someone selling tea."
Yan Ruanning: "..."
She took a deep breath. No wonder. She had waited all evening yesterday, thinking Cheng Che was deliberately acting aloof and ignoring her.
After all that, it had been a mix-up, and she had even called him "such a poser."
Yan Ruanning mentally marked a strike against Xiao Zhou.
"She thought I was going to add you with my work account. Let's do it now." She took out her phone.
The two finally added each other on WeChat.
They had only just finished when footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate, and Old Xu and Yan Ping walked in one after the other.
"Hello, Teacher Xu. Hello, Mrs. Xu." Cheng Che hurriedly stood up and respectfully gave a half bow.
The moment Yan Ping saw Cheng Che, her eyes lit up:
"Oh, so you're Cheng Che? What a handsome boy. Your teacher praises you plenty at home. He says you've improved tremendously lately. Sit, sit! Don't stand on ceremony!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Xu." As Cheng Che answered, he smoothly took a bag of vegetables from Yan Ping's hand. "Let me help you, Mrs. Xu."
Yan Ping was grinning from ear to ear. "Good, good. What a thoughtful boy."
Cheng Che followed Yan Ping into the kitchen.
He had helped out at the breakfast shop since he was little, and he was deft at everything from washing and chopping vegetables to peeling garlic.
The more Yan Ping watched him, the more pleased she became, and she kept saying:
"Not many kids these days know how to cook, much less help with the prep. Cheng Che, do you often help your mom at home, too?"
"Sometimes." Cheng Che arranged the peeled garlic on the cutting board. "My mom runs a breakfast shop, so I've been doing odd jobs there since I was little."
"No wonder." Yan Ping sighed, then smiled again. "What a good boy. Nothing like our Ruanning. She comes home and sprawls on the sofa like some grand lord."
The kitchen door was open, and every word drifted into the living room.
Yan Ruanning sat on the sofa, holding an apple she hadn't eaten. The corner of her mouth twitched.
Old Xu sat at the other end reading the newspaper. He smiled at that too, lifting his teacup and letting out a leisurely "heh."
Yan Ruanning took a bite of her apple.
"I really do hate the kid next door most," she muttered.