Lemon Soda Candy

It was Tuesday.

With only three days to go before the scheduled match, Chen Luobai and his crowd only came back when the class was about to begin, and Zhou Anran had given up her wishful thinking of seeing him outside the classroom. 

That afternoon, she returned directly to the classroom after having dinner outside with Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen.  

When she arrived at her seat, Zhang Shuxian was sitting in the seat in front of her, memorizing English words and eating a sandwich with her head lowered. 

Yan Xingxi blurted out a question, "Why are you eating sandwiches by yourself here, where is Lou Yiqi?" 

Zhang Shuxian did not look up, "She went to watch Chen Luobai practice with Yin Yizhen, apparently forgetting we've promised to eat together." 

Zhou Anran, who was in the middle of pulling out her chair, paused. 

Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingxi both showed surprised expressions.

"With whom?" Yan Xingxi thought her ears were playing tricks on her. 

Sheng Xiaowen also asked, "Yin Yizhen? What's going on? Since when did she hang out with Yin Yizhen?" 

Still looking down, Zhang Shuxian just sneered, visibly not in a good mood, "How am I supposed to know that?" 

Because of tomorrow's vocabulary test that their English teacher announced, as well as some homework the other teachers had given them, Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen went to their respective seats without inquiring further.  

Zhou Anran also slowly sat down and took out her math homework.

Lou Yiqi did not return to her seat until near the start of the evening study. 

Not long after, Zhou Anran heard Zhu Ran's voice complaining about how tired he was, followed by Chen Luobai mockingly saying, 'No way, how can this tire you already', then came the noise of a chair being pulled from the back row. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an undisguised excitement on Lou Yiqi's face.

She gave Zhang Shuxian a tiny box of candy, "Try this, I got it from Chen Luobai." 

At once, Zhou Anran's grip on her pen tightened. 

"Chen Luobai this, Chen Luobai that." Zhang Shuxian looked up, she sounded down, "You only have Chen Luobai in your head, don't you?" 

With the crowd of boys returning, the classroom became so noisy that it almost drowned out the sound of the evening study bell. Even though Zhang Shuxian spoke quietly and there was little chance of anyone overhearing, Lou Yiqi still anxiously scanned the surroundings. 

Zhou Anran lowered her head slightly as she heard Lou Yiqi's voice sounded in her ears once again. 

"What's gotten into you? If you don't want to eat, then don't. No need to spout nonsense. "

At that moment the self-study bell rang.

The noise from both the front and back rows of the classroom died down in an instant.

Yan Xingxi pushed over a notebook with the words: 'Did they fight?' 

Looking up, Zhou Anran glanced at the neglected box of candy that Lou Yiqi placed on the table, she lowered her eyes and wrote a reply on the notebook: 'I don't know, just focus on memorizing the words.' 

Yan Xingxi drew a funny face and pass it back to her. 

Zhou Anran smiled, but an indescribable bitterness soon filled her heart. 

She continued to memorize words with her head down, copying them over and over again into her notebook in a jumbled and messy alphabetical order.

But before she knew it, her mind began to wander again. 

What did she mean by 'got it from Chen Luobai'? 

When she regained her senses, Zhou Anran noticed that at the end of rows of English words, a conspicuous Chinese character was added at some point.

She had written the word 'Chen'. 

Zhou Anran's heart skipped a beat, she raised her hand to cover the notebook. She looked up and saw that everyone was engrossed in their own self-study, no one was paying attention to her.

Her racing heartbeat gradually calmed down. 

With her hand still covering the notebook, Zhou Anran used a pen to cross out the word. 

Stuffing the nearly-revealed little secret back into the depths of her heart. 

The icy atmosphere at their front desk still hasn't thawed. 

There was no conversation between the two people. 

The following morning, after the physics teacher left the classroom, Zhou Anran organized the books on her desk and prepared to go out for a meal with Yan Xingxi, when she saw Zhang Shuxian glancing hesitantly at Lou Yiqi. 

"I——" 

Not sure if Lou Yiqi heard it not, she heaved the pen in her hand and threw it on the desk.

Interrupting Zhang Shuxian before she could finish what she wanted to say. 

Then a sweet voice came from the back. 

"Yiqi, are you joining us today as well?" 

Zhou Anran couldn't help but to turn her head to see, Yin Yizhen was leaning against the back door of their classroom, and Chen Luobai just happened to be walking out the back door.

At a glance, it looked like the boy's arm was almost brushing the girl's shoulder.

Zhou Anran felt a burning sensation in her eyes and quickly looked away. 

"I'm coming, just give me a second." Lou Yiqi replied loudly, hastily putting her phone in her pocket and rushing towards the back door.

Zhang Shuxian buried her face in the desk. 

Yan Xingxi tugged at Zhou Anran's arms, "Ranran, let's go, I'm starving." 

"Wait." Zhou Anran said quietly, pointing at Zhang Shuxian on the desk in front of them.

Yan Xingxi turned her eyes and noticed that Zhang Shuxian's shoulder was trembling slightly. She turned back to Zhou Anran and asked in a muted voice, "She's crying?" 

Zhou Anran also mouthed back, "I think so." 

She then took out a pack of tissues from her desk, pulled out a few sheets, walked forward and gently placed them in Zhang Shuxian's hand.  

Zhang Shuxian's shoulders paused.

 Zhou Anran asked softly, "What do you want for lunch? Xixi and I will bring it to you."

Zhang Shuxian didn't answer, simply shook her head. 

Some of the classmates were already looking over in their direction with curiosity. Zhou Anran thought that if she were the one crying, she would certainly not want to be watched.

She pressed her lips together and whispered, "Then we'll go first."

After finishing their meal, Zhou Anran made a quick stop at the convenience store to buy sandwiches. As she did so, she couldn't help but think about Zhang Shuxian, who was crying at her desk earlier. Zhou Anran's hand hesitated for a moment.

Zhang Shuxian gave them candy yesterday, she should be very fond of sweets.

With this in mind, Zhou Anran decided to pick up an extra cake.

When they both returned to the classroom, Zhang Shuxian was still sitting at her desk, her head down as she worked on what appeared to be her homework. 

Zhou Anran approached her and asked, "Shuxian, have you eaten? I brought an extra cake, would you like it?"

Zhang Shuxian looked up, her eyes still red from crying. "Sure, how much is it? I'll pay you back."

"Don't mention it." Zhou Anran shook her head, "Didn't you give us candy yesterday?"

Zhang Shuxian didn't shy away either, accepting the cake from Zhou Anran's hand. "In that case, I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning."

Zhou Anran sat back in her seat and attentively explained the subject that Yan Xingxi couldn't understand in the last physics lesson this morning.  

After finishing the cake, Zhang Shuxian turned around to vent to the girls,"Actually, it was my birthday yesterday. She and I had agreed to have a meal together. Obviously it was she who stood me up, let alone apologize, she even got angry and threw a pen when I was about to give in first." 

Lou Yiqi and Zhang Shuxian had always been close. 

Zhou Anran didn't know how to respond, so she just said, "Then, Happy birthday to you, although I'm late, the cake is my gift to you, you don't have to bring me breakfast tomorrow."

Yan Xingxi also followed, "Happy birthday, Shuxian."

Fortunately, Zhang Shuxian seemed to be casually venting and had no intention of talking more about her quarrel with Lou Yiqi, she followed their conversation with another topic, "Thank you. Um, is it okay if I join you for lunch? I don't feel like eating alone." 

Zhou Anran nodded, "Sure, but we'll eat in the cafeteria this afternoon."

"Well, I happen to be running out of money." Zhang Shuxian paused and whispered, the last sentence sounding more like she was talking to herself, "I was originally planning to take her out for a meal after saving up for several days."

Lou Yiqi once again returned just before the start of class. 

She brought a bottle of milk this time, not sure if she'd bought it herself or if she'd got it from someone.

By the end of the afternoon class, Lou Yiqi still hadn't touched the milk. She closed her book and asked Zhang Shuxian, "Where are you going for lunch?" 

Zhang Shuxian: "I'm eating with Ranran. What, Yin Yizhen didn't ask you out, so you finally remembered me?" 

Lou Yiqi's face turned cold, "Whatever, eat with whoever you want." 

This cold relationship between the two continued on and didn't improve even until the day of the match. 

During which, Lou Yiqi and Yin Yizhen went to Chen Luobai's practice once more and returned with a bottle of yogurt in hand.

Zhou Anran sometimes envies Yan Xingxi's personality.

How nice it would be if she was simple-minded, not noticing every little detail, and didn't drive herself crazy with wild guesses in her head.

On Friday, the whole class was very restless.

By the time the last afternoon class arrived, even lao Gao couldn't stand their excitement. 

"Quiet." Gao Guohua tapped the teacher's podium, "I understand you guys have a match later, but it's time for class now, please concentrate. Especially you, Zhu Ran. This is the third time I've caught you talking to Chen Luobai." 

From the back of the room, Zhu Ran smiled and replied, "Teacher Gao, I can't bring myself to concentrate, what should I do? My whole mind is now filled with the aspiration for victory and the desire to bring glory to our class." 

Gao Guohua laughed angrily and threw a chalk at him, "What should you do? Figure it out yourself. What, desire to bring glory, are you so certain you'll win later?"

The whole class burst into laughter and turned around to look at Zhu Ran. 

Zhou Anran also followed along, Zhu Ran was sitting at the end of her row, so she couldn't actually see him when she turned around.

But she was able to somewhat see the person beside Zhu Ran.

Much to her delight. 

The boy was leaning against the back of his chair, sitting in a less than upright position, his head slightly tilted to avoid the chalk thrown by Gao Guohua, the corners of his mouth hooked into a smile, "Teacher Gao, if we are an army, you are our general. You shouldn't bring down our morale before a battle like this."

Knowing that he was the one who stopped the two boys from fighting last time, Gao Guohua didn't have the heart to throw a chalk and instead just smiled and pointed the tip of the chalk at him," So, you're also going to play tricks, is it? Does it count as a morale boost if I let you guys leave 5 minutes early?" 

Zhu Ran immediately jumped from his seat, "Long live, Lao Gao!" 

"Sit down, don't make any noise." Gao Guohua tapped the podium again, "I especially make a request to your dean as your reward for being the first in the grade. But I need you to do one thing for me, when you go down later, all of you should do it quietly. if any of you make any noise that disturbs other classes, I will have everyone come back, understood?" 

From a short distance away , Zhou Anran saw the boy in the back row raise his hands in a standard salute gesture with a loose smile, "Yes, sir."

True to his word, Gao Guohua allowed them to finish class five minutes early.

Chen Luobai and the others had to go to the bathroom first to change into their sports uniforms.

Zhou Anran was pulled along by Yan Xingxi to run to the schoolyard and secure a seat.

As they went down the stairs, some of their classmates ran in front of them and others walked behind them.

Everyone behaved quietly and refrained from making any loud noises.

Everyone's face was filled with unconcealed excitement and smiles.

The place where the match will take place was chosen by Chen Luobai that day when they decided on this match. He said that since it was not a formal match, there was no need to apply for an indoor venue from the school. 

Class 2 base court was located near the pathway, and most of the class 2 students had gathered on that side of the field.

Zhou Anran and Yan Xingxi stood near the first row outside the sideline of the second court, Sheng Xiaowen and Zhang Shuxian were about to join them, but Dong Chen quickly took the spot first and pulled He MingYu over by hooking his shoulder.

Sheng Xiaowen just rolled her eyes and didn't say anything.

Rather, it was Yan Xingxi who cast a disgusted look towards him, "Why do you have to stand next to me?"

Dong Chen acted as if he had just noticed her and also showed an expression of disgust, "Does this place belong to your family?"

Yan Xingxi was too lazy to care about him and moved closer to Zhou Anran.

Zhou Anran couldn't resist smiling.

This place has quite a distance from the teaching building. The excitement of getting out of class early and having a match to watch soon seemed to have exploded and the whole place was bustling.

Some boys brought two cases of water over.

Lou Yiqi walked over almost automatically, "It was agreed that Yizhen and I would help hand out water today."

The smile on Zhou Anran's face faded again. 

"That's one way to put it." Zhu Ran's voice interjected, "Didn't you two volunteer yourselves?"

Lou Yiqi's hand, which was in the process of opening the box, paused. She looked up, still wearing a smile on her face, "Well, no one objected back then."

A boy interrupted to ask Zhu Ran, "Why are you coming alone, where's Luo ge and the rest?"

Zhu Ran seemed to have just made this comment offhand, smiling as he casually moved his arms and legs while moving on to another subject, "He's dawdling at the back.

Then someone shouted, "Here they come." 

Zhou Anran looked around.

The sun was about to set, and the sky was a fading red in the distance.

The boy and his crowd entered the first court in the first row, his handsome appearance was further magnified by the fiery red jersey.

She didn't know what the person next to him said, but he was smiling, looking flamboyant and dazzling.