When You're Sad, Have a Piece of Candy

After Mo Yuqing left, she continued experiencing life, but Chen Lu no longer wanted to concern himself with any of it.

She would later discover that, after going back and forth to buy everything she wanted to eat, she would be too tired to have any appetite left.

She would discover how agonizing it was to pick up packages from all the collection points scattered far apart.

She would discover that library seats weren't so easy to reserve, and that no matter how pretty she was, getting leave approved by her counselor was still as hard as climbing to heaven...

At that moment, she was like the mermaid in the fairy tale who had just come ashore, finding every step difficult.

Chen Lu walked slowly out of the noodle shop and looked up at the sun, which had only just squeezed out from behind the edge of a dark cloud.

The sunshine felt warm on his skin, and the air was fresh after the rain.

The rain's stopped...

The scene just now seemed to have been beyond Liang Zhirou's understanding. The girl kept her head down without saying a word.

Chen Lu's mind was in a mess too. He didn't understand why Mo Yuqing had come to make a fuss in front of him.

Or rather, he had guessed why, but he didn't want to face it.

She just wasn't used to life without a simp.

Chen Lu took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling the cool breeze, and smiled somewhat self-mockingly. "That girl just now was someone I chased for seven whole years. I never got even the slightest response, but I kept at it for seven years. Pretty stupid, wasn't it?"

To his surprise, Liang Zhirou simply shook her head earnestly, then took a piece of fruit candy from her pocket. Because Chen Lu was taller than her, she deliberately raised her right hand, her delicate little hand slowly opening like a flower.

Chen Lu carefully took it and looked at her curiously.

"Why are you giving me this?" Chen Lu asked curiously.

"Because... I don't want you to be sad."

The girl's voice was soft, yet so gentle and sincere. "Someone once told me that when you're sad, having a piece of candy makes it all better."

Chen Lu froze once again.

The cold wind kept blowing against him as he stood there in a daze, yet it couldn't cool his heart, warm as it was at that moment.

Chen Lu had never imagined that, of all the things in the past two days, what soothed his sadness most would be someone giving him a piece of candy.

It was a long while before he came back to his senses. He sniffed. "By the way, why do you live off campus? The dorms at our university are pretty cheap, aren't they?"

"I have to take care of my mom."

"I see. Where are you going later? I'll take you there," Chen Lu said softly.

The green-apple-flavored candy melted bit by bit in his mouth, filling it with waves of sweetness. His heart seemed to melt along with it.

"There's no need. I'm going to my part-time job... It's far away."

Liang Zhirou lightly pinched the hem of her clothes, gazing at Chen Lu's shadow.

She didn't know why, but she just liked looking at Chen Lu this way.

This way, she wouldn't be noticed, and she didn't have to worry about accidentally meeting his eyes. It always made her feel at ease.

She felt she was already being bold enough.

The girl's wish was simple, so simple that all she wanted was to look at his shadow.

After her father died, her world had become simple.

Constantly studying and working hard to earn money had almost become instincts for survival.

She had no hobbies of her own, and unlike other girls her age, she didn't enjoy looking into makeup and skincare products. She didn't understand them, nor did she want to spend time and effort buying clothes and carefully dressing herself up.

As long as she could look like this at the young man who had brought a glimmer of dawn to her dim days, she was already satisfied.

But then Chen Lu suddenly bent down and glanced at her with a soft chuckle. His delicate features came into view again, making her lower her head a little further without meaning to.

Even so, she couldn't resist stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye.

The young man's smile was gentle. Aside from her mother, it had been so long since anyone had looked her in the eye and smiled at her like that.

The last time had been as far back as ten years ago.

Seeing that she was only looking down and wasn't unhappy, Chen Lu finally felt relieved. He smiled and said:

"I can take you to your part-time job too. I've got nothing to do this afternoon anyway. That's the joy of being a junior. You freshmen wouldn't understand."

She was just about to refuse when she saw Chen Lu looking at her coldly.

She hurriedly nodded in obedient agreement.

Chen Lu deliberately stepped in one very shallow puddle after another, making a splashing sound.

Looking at the girl walking obediently in front of him, he finally let out a discreet chuckle.

By then, the sun had completely driven away the dark clouds, and its light poured generously over the two of them.

Their surroundings instantly grew much brighter, and the scene took on warm hues, including the girl in Chen Lu's eyes who kept her head down as she walked.

The weather's so nice.

Even a walk makes me happy.

"This damned sun keeps beating down on me. Yuqing, if you're really tired, let's take a break," Liu Yan said, panting as she turned to look at the haggard girl behind her.

The long skirt beneath the girl's slender waist swayed as she walked. She bit her lip lightly, and her helpless, bewildered look inexplicably stirred a desire to conquer her.

Liu Yan couldn't help thinking how lucky she was to have a boyfriend, or she really might have been turned gay.

She's just too beautiful. But when will you understand that looks alone won't keep Chen Lu?

When will you put aside your pride?

You're not wrong to have what it takes to be proud, but you won't find love this way.

Mo Yuqing seemed not to hear her. Hugging two packages, she stared blankly ahead and walked unsteadily, like a wind-up doll.

All she felt now was the constant ache in her legs, and her mood had sunk to rock bottom.

She had spent so much of her lunch break running around, only to find herself too tired to have any appetite at all when she finally sat down before several of her favorite dishes.

She didn't feel the least bit sorry about the money she had spent, but not getting to properly enjoy the fruits of all her hard work made her feel as though her efforts had been wasted.

Only now did she realize how many things she usually bought online.

Before, she had only cared about buying whatever caught her eye, never considering how much effort it would take to pick it all up.

On top of that, her confrontation with Chen Lu at noon had left her mind in a mess, filled with thoughts of that unremarkable girl.

Is she as pretty as me? Why would Chen Lu eat with her?

Why did Chen Lu suddenly become a different person? The people I rejected several times never changed their attitudes.

Soon she pushed those thoughts aside again.

Chen Lu will come and apologize on his own anyway.

Just like he always has.

How dare he ignore my calls? I won't forgive him so easily when he does.

After seeing Liang Zhirou to her destination, Chen Lu wandered around outside for a while to clear his head. It was nighttime by the time he returned to the dorm.

The moment he put his hand on the doorknob, he heard his beloved sons talking inside.

"Do you guys think Chen Lu has a chance with that girl we met at the university gate? He still hasn't come back since they went to lunch." Jiang Chao's somewhat magnetic, raspy voice was highly distinctive.

"Have you got the wrong idea?"

"I think it's pretty insulting to Chen Lu to say that."

The other two roommates objected.

"Damn it, wouldn't it be good if he moved on sooner? I'm honestly afraid he'll hang himself on one crooked-necked tree until he dies," Jiang Chao said with a laughing curse. After that, only the clatter of keyboards remained in the dorm.

"Boss, why are you acting like an old nanny?"

Chen Lu entered with a wry smile, only to be met by three scrutinizing gazes the moment he stepped through the door.

"You bastard, staying out with a girl this late."

"It's not like that. We went our separate ways after we ate, and I was on my own the whole time after that." Chen Lu climbed onto his bed as he spoke. "There's nothing going on between us, okay?"

With that, he silently closed his eyes and paid no further attention to the others' sour, sarcastic remarks.

A little while later, he suddenly sat up and pulled out his phone, only to stare blankly for a moment.

He sighed before lying down again.

Out of habit, he had wanted to send a good-night message before bed, only to realize there was no longer anyone he could say good night to.

Then he saw that strange bubble-machine profile picture again. As if possessed, he tapped on it and hesitated over whether to say hello.

Just then, he saw that Liang Zhirou had sent a message: "Good evening."

Chen Lu paused. Just as he was thinking about what to say...

Liang Zhirou unsent the message.

"..."

What the heck are you doing?