The first year of high school passed, and during that year, she lost Zhou Ran. Afterward, although they sat at desks near each other, the distance between them grew, and Qianye had become very indifferent, with little to say.

Qianye didn’t experience great joy or sorrow; she wasn’t someone who liked to be involved in the drama of love. Moreover, all her emotions were invested in Han Chao, and she never had the energy to understand or probe Zhou Ran.

With the division of the science and liberal arts tracks approaching, Qianye remained in the science class, while Zhou Ran chose the liberal arts track. From then on, the chances of running into each other among the more than a thousand students greatly decreased.

However, every time Zhao Nanzhuo came to walk her home, Qianye still felt uneasy, fearing that Zhou Ran might see them together, even though Zhou Ran had encountered them many times before. But so what? After Han Chao got together with Si Ru, she always returned home alone. Yet Zhao Nanzhuo, ever considerate, would still ask her to walk home with him whenever Han Chao went home by himself.

This was the only comfort in her long youth—how could she bear to give it up? She never told Zhou Ran about any of this. Qianye always felt that true friends, even without saying anything, would surely understand her. She was always calm and indifferent to external matters, never tirelessly discussing her love life with others. She kept it all to herself, weaving it into another world that no one else could enter or share.

After the track division, the classes and teachers were adjusted, but this didn’t affect Qianye and her classmates much. At the start of the new semester, the nearby stationery stores and eateries became bustling again. She had once run into Han Chao and some of his friends at Aunt Zhang’s noodle shop, eating egg noodles. From that day on, Qianye would always come to this shop for snacks, always ordering the egg noodles with a few tentacles of squid on top and a braised egg. She would sit there, imagining what it would be like if he were sitting next to her, savoring the quiet beauty of such a moment, separated by time and space.

When the second year started, Zhao Nanzhuo came to find Qianye more frequently because Han Chao had returned to being alone on his way home. It turned out that Si Ru had gone abroad. Her parents felt that high school was too difficult for her and feared she wouldn’t get into a good university, so they sent her to Paris to study art, planning for her to return in four years to develop her career in China. When Qianye heard this news, her emotions were mixed. It was as though the space around Han Chao had suddenly opened up, leaving room for her to dream. From then on, things returned to how they were before. They would ride home together, side by side, always parting ways at the same intersection, and seeing each other again the next day as if nothing had changed.

The first long holiday after the semester began was the National Day break. Although there were no arranged lessons, most students still voluntarily came to school to study on their own in study rooms or the library. So, it happened naturally that she, Han Chao, and Zhao Nanzhuo ended up together at a big table in the library. She sat face-to-face with Han Chao, while Zhao Nanzhuo sat to her right. The early summer weather was a bit humid, just like her heart—damp and full of emotions that couldn’t be put into words.

What surprised Qianye was that Zhou Ran also came to study. She wore an apple-green, short-sleeved dress, which seemed to attract everyone’s attention wherever she went. When Zhou Ran saw Zhao Nanzhuo, she confidently went over to ask him a question. Han Chao, upon seeing this, suddenly had an epiphany and quickly pushed Zhao Nanzhuo away, rushing to Zhou Ran’s seat. Zhou Ran gave them a look full of gratitude, as if they had brought her the much-needed help.

Qianye smiled faintly to herself.

At that moment, it felt as though it was just her and Han Chao left in the room. His breath was so close, it felt like he was whispering in her ear. She couldn’t help but glance at him every five minutes. In the school library, this was the closest she could get to the one she loved. She longed for this moment to last forever, for time to stand still. Her thoughts were all on him, as he wrote or silently read. She absorbed every detail—watching his brows and eyes, sometimes caught by him. When he noticed, he would casually look elsewhere, as though nothing had happened, until his gaze moved away from her. His gaze was calm, but it still felt like it burned her.

“Qianye, let’s go have lunch. Take a break,” Han Chao said.

She followed him out of the library, passing Zhou Ran’s table in the moment. Zhao Nanzhuo’s eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion.

“She should be happy now,” he thought. She won’t be happy, though, if he is. With this in mind, it would be wiser to decide to make her a little happier. After thinking it over, he decided it was better to let her be happy. Zhao Nanzhuo lowered his head again and returned to doing questions with Zhou Ran.