After dinner, Jing Li went to the balcony to collect the clothes she had washed yesterday. She folded them neatly, put them in an eco-friendly bag, and prepared to go back to school.

Jing Ran held several boxes of packed snacks and stood at the entrance, saying, “Leave your clothes here. You don’t have to bring them next week.”

“Huh?” Jing Li was puzzled. Why would she need to come next week?

Jing Ran reminded her, “Aren’t you afraid of staying alone in the dorm?”

Jing Li gave Jing Ran a glare. She had actually forgotten about that. But even if she was afraid, it wouldn’t be nice to disturb her grandmother every week, right?

Grandma was still washing dishes in the kitchen, so Jing Li whispered, “Grandma’s bed is too hard, and I can’t sleep on it comfortably.”

“In that case, you can sleep on my bed…”

Jing Li was surprised, “Huh?”

Jing Ran added, “I’ll sleep at home. My house is nearby.”

He said half of it and scared her.

“Fine.” Jing Li packed her clothes and asked, “Where should I put them?”

“Put them in my room.”

Jing Li placed the clothes in Jing Ran’s room and then went to the kitchen to bid farewell to Grandma, who was washing dishes. “Grandma, Jing Ran and I are leaving.”

“Okay, goodbye. Come visit grandma again next time,” grandma said with a smile while washing dishes.

“Okay, goodbye, Grandma.”

“Goodbye.”

Jing Li walked to the entrance and met up with Jing Ran. They walked out and went downstairs together. This side of Enning Road rarely had taxis passing by, so they had to leave this commercial area and reach the main road to catch a taxi.

Jing Ran held Jing Li’s hand as they crossed a not-so-long one-way street with antique-style covered walkways on both sides.

It was really scary getting used to this kind of thing. At first, Jing Li was a bit resistant to holding hands with Jing Ran, but now she didn’t feel anything. His hand, as that of a studious university student, was thick and large, warm. It provided warmth in this slightly chilly spring weather. Jing Li held Jing Ran’s hand with both of hers as they walked. There was an old man with a cane walking ahead on the sidewalk, and when he saw Jing Ran, he said, “Jing Ran, are you heading back to school?”

“Yes, Grandpa Chen.”

Grandpa Chen looked at Jing Li. Jing Ran always dressed conservatively, so he naturally didn’t think of her as a girlfriend. He assumed she was his relative’s little sister and asked, “Is she going back to school with you, your sister?”

Jing Ran introduced, “Grandpa Chen, this is my girlfriend, not my sister.”

“Oh, a girlfriend?” Grandpa Chen adjusted his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and took a closer look. Although the girl was small, she looked to be in her early twenties. He smiled and said, “Oh my, Jing Ran actually has a girlfriend. Old Li would be so happy if he knew.”

Jing Li felt a little guilty inside. She herself didn’t consider herself to be Jing Ran’s girlfriend, but now everyone Jing Ran knows is aware that they are dating, and they are all happy for him. After three months, they broke up. What will Jing Ran do? Actually, dating and breaking up in college is quite common, right? Everyone should be used to it, right?

Jing Ran said goodbye, “Grandpa Chen, we’re going back to school.”

“Okay, be careful crossing the road.” Grandpa Chen watched Jing Ran grow up, and in his heart, Jing Ran has always been a child. He spoke gently and reminded him.

The two of them continued walking towards the main road and met another elderly couple who greeted Jing Ran. After saying goodbye again, Jing Li, like a child, grabbed Jing Ran’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Ran Ran, do you know all the people around here?”

“Yeah, I grew up here, always with my grandparents.”

“No wonder.”

When they reached the side of the main road, Jing Li saw the subway station. There is also a subway station near their school. She said, “Ran Ran, there’s a subway here. Let’s take the subway back.”

Jing Ran shook his head and said, “It’s crowded during this time period. Let’s take a taxi instead.”

“Okay!” Jing Li agreed reluctantly. She was only concerned about the money. It cost 80 yuan for a taxi ride last night, but if they took the subway, it would only be a few yuan per person.

At the same time, Jing Li also noticed that although Jing Ran looks plain, his clothes are of particularly good quality. He even wears Bluetooth earphones while jogging to practice listening skills. He doesn’t mind spending money on taking a taxi to his grandparents’ house. The top student in college is still quite good at spending money, but his taste is a bit lacking.

While waiting for the car, Jing Li stared at Jing Ran from head to toe. If he changed his hairstyle and wore some trendy Korean or Japanese clothes, even if he didn’t have the looks of Kris Wu, he could resemble some male models, that kind of handsome-ugly type.
^[1]“Handsome Ugly” is the myth of an individual who follows all the conventional beauty standards however some people might consider them to be “ugly” or just not their type.
Source: Internet

“Ran Ran, let’s go shopping for clothes next week, okay?”

Jing Ran thought that Jing Li wanted to go shopping for clothes and agreed, “Sure!”

After returning to school, Jing Ran accompanied Jing Li to the entrance of Dormitory Building 5 and handed her several boxes of packaged pastries from a bakery, saying, “Take them back to your dorm and enjoy.”

Jing Li didn’t expect that these boxes of pastries were for her. She quickly waved her hand and refused, “No, I don’t want them. It’s too much, I can’t finish them all.”

“Grandma said it’s for you and your roommates to share.”

Jing Li was a little hesitant. She wasn’t sure if her dorm mates would like these kinds of Chinese pastries. After all, young girls nowadays prefer cakes and cookies. Would they eat things like wife cakes or mung bean pastries?

“I made them myself,” Jing Ran pursed his lips, waiting for Jing Li to respond.

Seeing his little expression, Jing Li’s heart softened. The pastries made by the top student were especially delicious. Fine, if her dorm mates didn’t want to eat them, she would eat them herself. She had a mini fridge in her dorm where she could keep them for a few days.

Jing Li returned to her dorm, and the other three girls had already come back. Li Ruihua asked, “Jing Li, where did you go? You’re just showing up now?”

Of course, Jing Li wouldn’t tell them that she spent the night at Jing Ran’s grandma’s house. She said, “I went to Jing Ran’s grandma’s house today.”

Yin Hailing just collected clothes on the balcony, and when she came in, she heard Jing Li say that she was going to Jing Ran’s grandmother’s house: “Wow, you’ve only been dating for two weeks and you’ve already met the parents?”

“No, no, Jing Ran’s grandma’s shop is a bit busy, and he went there to help out,” Jing Li explained, then raised a bag of pastry in her hand and asked, “These are snacks from Jing Ran’s grandma’s bakery, do you want to eat them?”

Xinrong Bakery’s paper box packaging design is very simple, a red paper box with four big yellow characters printed on all four sides, “Xinrong Bakery.”
“I can’t believe it, it’s snacks from Xinrong!” the quickest to react was Cheng Xue.

“What? What? Xinrong? The Xinrong on Enning Road?” Li Ruihua just lowered her head to check some information, then suddenly raised her head and asked in surprise.

Jing Li nodded, “Yes.”

“I want to eat!” Yin Hailing put her clothes on her bed and went over to take a bag of snacks from Jing Li’s hand.

The three girls in the dormitory gathered around a communal table, placed the pastry boxes, and opened them one by one. There were four boxes of snacks: wife cakes, mung bean cakes, almond cakes, and durian puffs. The girls started eating, although the snacks had been sitting for an afternoon and weren’t as fresh as when they came out of the oven, but the taste was excellent.

While eating, Yin Hailing praised, “So delicious, the taste is just like when I was a child!”

Cheng Xue nodded and said, “Yes, I never thought that Jing Ran is the grandson of the owner of Xinrong Bakery.”
“Is their bakery famous?” Jing Li, who is not a local, was not quite clear why the girls were so excited.

“It’s very famous,” Li Ruihua continued, “My dad even said that he grew up eating Xinrong’s pastries. Later, even though my dad didn’t live in Li District, he would often go out of his way to buy Xinrong’s pastries on Enning Road and bring them home!”

“I heard that a few years ago, the owner of Xinrong passed away, and the subsequent products are slightly different from what the owner used to make. However, many people still intentionally line up at Xinrong to buy pastries. Actually, there are many bakeries now that are much better than Xinrong, but some people have nostalgic feelings and still prefer Xinrong,” Yin Hailing said while eating and contemplating. “The taste hasn’t changed, it’s just like what I had when I was a child. Although I haven’t had Xinrong’s pastries for several years.”

Jing Li explained, “These boxes were made by Jing Ran today.”

“Wow, the top student in college can actually bake! He truly inherited the skills as the owner’s grandson! Will the top student sell pastries in the future?” asked Cheng Xue.

Jing Li shook her head and shrugged, replying, “I don’t know!”

Li Ruihua laughed and said, “If you marry the college top student, you’ll be the boss lady and handle the money.”

Jing Li’s mouth twitched slightly as she looked at the three girls helplessly. They were thinking too far ahead.

*

On Monday, Jing Ran caught a cold and took a day off from class. After Jing Li and her roommates finished breakfast at the cafeteria, they returned to the classroom.

The three girls entered the classroom first, and Jing Li was the last one to enter. Just as she took a step forward, a human wall suddenly appeared. It was the kind of situation where she had to look up at the other person, and her neck felt particularly sore.

Lin Suirong!
He came to block her again, he was going to confess again!