Chapter Four: She’s Simply Too Skilled, Too Enchanting!

Now, only three thoughts circled in He Tianran’s mind—

1) Is the plot moving too fast?

2) How am I going to explain this at school on Monday?

3) Is this what a girl’s hand feels like? So soft? I’m in love—scratch that.

The two of them stepped out of the school, finally releasing their joined hands.

He Tianran showed no sign of reluctance or lingering desire, maintaining his usual imperturbable attitude: no expectations, no disappointments.

For unexpected blessings like this, he dared not hope for a second chance. Holding the hand of the school’s beauty was probably the sum total of all his high school luck.

He had originally wanted to save some luck for the college entrance exam, but well, rounding it off, it wasn’t a loss.

But before ten seconds had passed, Wen Liang took his hand again with the other one, causing He Tianran to shudder—looks like he was destined to repeat the year!

Wen Liang studied He Tianran’s expression, drawing out a long breath through her nose, and teasingly said:

“Hm—you're really nervous, your hand was sweating just now.”

As soon as she said this, He Tianran jerked his hand away, stammering:

“This… between us… it’s not good for either of us…”

An utterance like this, so reminiscent of a playboy’s excuse, was something He Tianran would never have believed he would say just an hour ago.

“Come on, let’s go to the Chongqing noodle shop on the next street and grab something to eat first. I’ll tell you, that place is going to be torn down in two years. I came back later looking for it and couldn’t find it anywhere. I thought I was mistaken until some juniors confirmed it.”

Wen Liang ignored He Tianran’s words, smiled, and left first.

He Tianran watched her retreating figure, initially wanting to make a quick escape—after all, he hated trouble the most—but somehow, his legs moved on their own, and he followed her.

So the two walked one after the other: she with her hands clasped behind her back, stepping lightly; he with his head down, shoulders hunched, too shy to look up.

Their personalities seemed to have swapped.

Inside the noodle shop, the proprietors—a husband and wife from Chongqing—were very friendly to students. Seeing Wen Liang, the plump shopkeeper greeted her warmly in the Chongqing dialect:

“Little sister, you’re back! Haven’t seen you for many days!”

Wen Liang smiled, found an empty seat, and replied in the same dialect:

“Auntie, I was at training classes. Just came back to school today. Boss, cook me three liang of pea and minced pork noodles, dry style!”

“Got it!”

From the kitchen came the boss’s voice, and through the glass, He Tianran saw the boss’s eyes crinkle with a smile upon hearing the familiar hometown accent.

Only then did He Tianran remember Wen Liang was from Chongqing and had moved to Harbor City only in high school.

“I’ll have the same,” he said, sitting down.

In Harbor City, bowls usually came in large or small sizes, but measuring portions in liang was something he only encountered at Chongqing noodle shops.

“What’s dry style?” He Tianran asked.

Wen Liang was about to explain when the shopkeeper leaned in, raising her voice:

“That means dry noodles, no soup. Little sister, is that your boyfriend?”

Wen Liang handed He Tianran a pair of chopsticks. After he took them, she explained:

“No, Auntie, he’s my old classmate!”

“Oh, young and innocent, just old classmates then.”

The shopkeeper nodded knowingly. Soon the boss brought out two steaming bowls of noodles, topped with minced pork sauce, looking mouthwateringly delicious.

“Now you can tell me why holding hands is bad for both of you.”

Wen Liang looked at the noodles, sniffed, then stirred them as she asked.

Seeing her expression, He Tianran knew whatever he said wouldn’t really matter; she just wanted to start a conversation over the meal.

“It’s just… if the teachers see, they’ll think we’re already dating…”

“So what? Are you a model student? Will dating mess up your grades?”

“I… I’m just average, not the teacher’s favorite.”

Wen Liang took a bite, chewed thoughtfully, then said, “Then I’m even less worried. The art college’s admission scores are so low that even if I lost a hundred or two points, I’d still get in.”

“But what if the classmates see? Look at Ye Jiaqi’s expression…”

Watching Wen Liang enjoy her food, He Tianran picked up a few strands of noodles and ate.

“Do you like Ye Jiaqi?”

“Eh—” He Tianran nearly choked on his noodles.

“Auntie, two bottles of Coke, please!”

Wen Liang smirked mischievously.

After sipping the Coke to soothe himself, He Tianran said, “I don’t like her.”

“You’re not telling the truth.”

“I am!”

“I mean, you’re not being honest about why. You actually like Cao Aiqing and are afraid she’ll see.”

With that, Wen Liang buried her face in her noodles.

He Tianran couldn’t see her expression but felt a slight stomach ache. He smiled wryly:

“Hey, don’t mess with me.”

Wen Liang looked up, mildly annoyed.

“Who are you calling ‘big sister’? What do you mean messing with you?”

“I’m a toad courting swans; we’re just old classmates. You’re all swans I can’t reach. But your reaction makes it sound like I’ve let you down. If I hear lines like that, I really get a stomachache, believe me.”

Wen Liang laughed, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Well then, take my advice and let me help transform you. One day, you’ll be the ugly duckling turned swan.”

He Tianran paused, a sentence stuck in his throat, then finally asked:

“From the start, I wanted to ask, why are you helping me? Reborn people like you usually prioritize yourselves first—making up for last life’s regrets, then leveraging past advantages to reach new heights this lifetime.”

Wen Liang took a sip of Coke, sighed contentedly, capped the bottle, and said seriously:

“I’m a girl, after all. This is a female-oriented story! Don’t judge me by male-oriented novel logic!”

He Tianran nodded. His understanding of girls mostly came from anime and games. Trying to guess a real person’s thoughts was probably impossible.

“Looks like in my past life, I was pretty obsessed with Cao Aiqing. You know that too.”

Wen Liang gave a dry laugh: “Yeah, that’s true.”

Suddenly, He Tianran asked:

“Hey, a question. Did I get married by 31? What kind of person was she?”

Wen Liang shook her head while eating.

“What? So miserable? Still single at 31?”

“Are you mocking me?!”

Wen Liang suddenly found the noodles less appetizing.

“What? You also…”

“Do you know what career peak means? For a female star, 31 is crucial!”

“Ah, that makes sense. Nowadays, female stars rarely marry that young.”

He Tianran pondered. If he were Wen Liang, having achieved fame, there’d be plenty of admirers waiting to be charmed. Early marriage and settling down wouldn’t be the priority.

Wen Liang clearly didn’t want to continue this topic and said:

“The reason you just gave only affects you. What about me? You’re not just saying that to fool me, right?”

He Tianran shook his head:

“No, it affects you even more. I’m okay, but you’re a girl with a bold personality—inevitably there’ll be gossip. You’re an art student, too, so dirty words like ‘tea art’ and ‘acting’ get thrown around. I know girls can talk worse than boys sometimes. I don’t want you to be talked about like that because you consider me a friend.”

Wen Liang listened, chewing steadily, then wiped her mouth and pushed her bowl toward him:

“I can’t finish it. You eat.”

She was just too good at this—too good!

He Tianran twitched at the corner of his mouth, unsure if it was joy or surprise.

“Huh? So all my words were for nothing?! Doesn’t this just cause more misunderstandings?”

“Hehe, I’m happy to!”

Wen Liang smiled brightly, carefree.

“Let me tell you, the last liang or two of Chongqing noodles is the essence—the seasoning fully absorbed, perfectly balanced softness, and temperature—just like biting into the heart of a watermelon. Don’t you dare dislike it!”

Did He Tianran dislike it? No, just a bit unaccustomed.

Helpless, he poured Wen Liang’s noodles into his bowl and quickly ate.

Wait, did she dodge my question about why she wanted to help me?

Ah, whatever, I’ll ask next time.

This noodle flavor…

Really good.