Chapter 34

The clerk was stunned and looked at Shen Siyan in surprise. She moved her lips and said softly, “Okay.” Shen Siyan didn’t say much to her and just nodded. After the clerk went inside, he continued to lean against the wall quietly.

Xu Zhilu found out that Shen Siyan had arrived during the break. They had a ten-minute break, and she didn’t look outside but went straight to where the water cups were.

“Zhilu, did you see that?” Tang Meng leaned next to her and asked, “There’s a very handsome boy outside.”

Xu Zhilu was stunned. “Ah?” She took a sip of water. “Where is he?”

“He’s outside our dance studio,” Tang Meng pointed and smiled. “Didn’t you see him? Several people noticed him while we were practicing. He must be waiting for his girlfriend.”

Xu Zhilu shook her head and smiled. “No. I wasn’t paying attention just now.”

“He seems to be about your age, tall and thin, and very handsome.”

Xu Zhilu nodded. Suddenly, she paused and asked subconsciously, “What does he look like?”

Tang Meng, thinking she was curious, said, “Well, he looks very young, with good facial features. He’s either a high school student or just graduated. He looks very fresh and clean.”

Xu Zhilu was stunned. “I’ll go out and take a look.”

Tang Meng was surprised. “Do you know him?”

Xu Zhilu thought for a moment. “Not sure, maybe I do.” She put down the cup, turned around, and walked out.

When she arrived at the dance studio, she looked through the French windows but saw no one. Xu Zhilu thought for a while but couldn’t help walking out. As soon as she stepped outside, she saw someone sitting at the end.

Shen Siyan had changed his position to a corner that couldn’t be seen from inside. After noticing her gaze, he raised his eyes and looked over. The two looked at each other.

Shen Siyan was startled, a little surprised. “Why did you come out?”

Xu Zhilu stared at him for a few seconds. “Why are you here?”

Shen Siyan said, “Ah,” and then, in a long tone, “I don’t have anything to do at the hotel, so I came to take a look.”

“…”

Xu Zhilu stared at him suspiciously. “Did you make any mistakes?”

Shen Siyan raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Xu Zhilu looked at him. “Why else would you come to a neighboring city? Why aren’t you going back now? Are you uncomfortable living at home or something? You want to stay in a hotel here and not go out to play?”

After thinking about it, Xu Zhilu could only find one answer: Shen Siyan made a mistake and was kicked out by Aunt Shen. He had nowhere to go, so he had no choice but to come to her. But then, she thought seriously, even if he had nowhere to go, he wouldn’t come to her. He should go find Cheng Song and the others.

Shen Siyan was left speechless by her analysis. He looked away, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Is your impression of me really that bad?”

Xu Zhilu pouted and said nothing, but her meaning was clear: “What do you think?” or “Don’t you have any self-awareness?”

Shen Siyan was helpless. “I didn’t make any mistakes, and I didn’t quarrel with my parents.”

“Oh.” Xu Zhilu curled her lips. “So you are just here for fun?”

Shen Siyan nodded. “Almost.”

“Then why don’t you go play?”

Shen Siyan was so amused that he laughed and patted her head. “I came here to play, right?”

Xu Zhilu: “…”

She looked back and rolled her eyes. “What’s fun here?”

“Watching you dance,” Shen Siyan said without thinking.

As soon as he said this, Xu Zhilu’s heartbeat quickened uncontrollably. She was stunned for a moment, and suddenly she couldn’t continue the conversation.

Shen Siyan looked at her with burning eyes and smiled. “Why, you don’t believe it?”

Xu Zhilu turned away, not wanting to look him in the eye. She was silent for a few seconds, then said calmly, “No.”

Shen Siyan hummed. “That’s good.” He raised his chin and gestured inside. “How long will it take? Shall we have lunch together at noon?”

Xu Zhilu glanced at the time. “The class will end in half an hour. Think about what to eat.”

“OK.”

Xu Zhilu didn’t say much to him and turned back into the dance studio. As soon as she entered, Tang Meng came over and asked mysteriously, “Do you really know him?”

Xu Zhilu nodded. “Yeah.”

Tang Meng looked over with her head stretched out, smiled, and said, “Boyfriend?”

“No.” Xu Zhilu shook her head. “Just an ordinary friend.”

Tang Meng looked at her expression for a while, a little surprised. “How can an ordinary friend come here to watch you dance for so long?”

Xu Zhilu: “Maybe.”

“Less likely.” Tang Meng muttered, “If he’s not your boyfriend, he definitely likes you.”

As someone with experience, she had a keen eye for people. “I think he wants to pursue you.”

Xu Zhilu refuted it without thinking. “Impossible.”

How could Shen Siyan pursue her? This was absolutely impossible.

Tang Meng was taken aback by her confident words. She said suspiciously, “But ordinary male friends really wouldn’t do such a thing.” She pointed out, “Just now, Xiaoyuan asked him if he was looking for someone. Do you know what he said?”

Xu Zhilu was curious, “What did he say?”

“He told Xiaoyuan that he wasn’t looking for anyone, he just came here to be an audience member.” She looked at Xu Zhilu’s expression and asked seriously, “Do you understand what this means?”

Xu Zhilu nodded, then shook her head. She seemed to understand, but also seemed not to quite understand.

Tang Meng was speechless, “Anyway, he came just to watch you dance, just understand it this way.”

“Oh.”

Tang Meng patted her shoulder and said with a smile, “If he really wants to pursue you, you can consider it carefully. He looks good and seems nice too.”

Xu Zhilu said nothing. It was pointless to refute it because she knew Shen Siyan was not there to pursue her. But during the last half-hour of dancing, she felt a little uneasy.

Xu Zhilu looked out subconsciously, and from time to time, she would catch Shen Siyan’s deep gaze. She paused and quickly withdrew her eyes, but she couldn’t calm her heart. 

In the end, Xu Zhilu forced herself to refocus and completed the last bit of morning training seriously. After finishing, she said goodbye to the teacher and left. They had a two- or three-hour break at noon and could move freely. The teacher glanced at Shen Siyan but didn’t say anything, just reminded her to be careful.

_

“Ready?”

Shen Siyan looked down at her changed clothes and frowned. “Why are you dressed like this?”

Xu Zhilu looked down. Shorts and a T-shirt—how was this unusual? She didn’t notice anything wrong.

“What?” She looked at Shen Siyan. “Do you think I look ugly in this outfit?”

Shen Siyan quickly said, “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Xu Zhilu snorted coldly, turned away, and said, “That’s exactly what you meant.”

“Really, it wasn’t.”

Shen Siyan’s eyes fell on her fair legs. Because she had learned to dance when she was young, Xu Zhilu’s legs were very beautiful, long, and straight, and her fair skin made the exposed parts particularly eye-catching. His eyes slowly moved up and landed on her waist. She had tucked her T-shirt into her pants, revealing her slender waist, which seemed as if he could hold it completely with one hand.

Shen Siyan stared for a few seconds and then slowly looked away. “Aren’t you afraid of getting tanned?”

He made an excuse. Xu Zhilu stared at him suspiciously for a while, then asked directly, “Can you check the weather?”

Shen Siyan looked at her in confusion. Xu Zhilu muttered, “It’s almost 40 degrees today. If I don’t dress like this, won’t I die of heat?”

Shen Siyan: “…”

He said, “Oh,” and turned to look at the bright sun outside. He thought what she said made sense, but he also vaguely felt that something was not right. “I’m asking about tanning.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Xu Zhilu retorted without thinking, “Why should I be afraid of getting tanned? I don’t get tanned easily, and I have sunscreen and a parasol.”

Shen Siyan admitted defeat. There was absolutely no reason for him to argue.

He nodded, looked away, and said, “Let’s go then.”

“Have you chosen a restaurant?”

“No.” Shen Siyan looked at her and said, “It depends on what you want to eat.”

Xu Zhilu was not very familiar with this area. She thought for a moment and said, “Let’s check out the recommendations on A.”

Shen Siyan had no objection. The two went downstairs. This was a large shopping mall. They were in the writing building and the work building. On the other side was the shopping mall, where many people were shopping and eating. After entering the elevator, Xu Zhilu looked down at a recommendation.

After choosing for a while, she looked at Shen Siyan and asked, “I want to eat Thai food, what about you?”

Shen Siyan said, “Hmm, then let’s eat Thai food.”

“Good.”

The two of them went straight to the restaurant. It was lunchtime, and there were quite a few people. When they arrived, they had to queue up. The only good thing was that there were only two tables waiting in front.

“Do you want to get some sun?”

“Not bad.” Xu Zhilu looked at the umbrella that was tilted towards her and reached out to take it. “I can do it myself.”

“No need.” Shen Siyan refused directly. “How was your practice today?”

“Fine.”

Xu Zhilu asked sullenly, “What are you going to do this afternoon?”

Shen Siyan thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I’ll go back to sleep.”

Xu Zhilu: “…So leisurely.”

Shen Siyan glanced at her and said, “You can still be so leisurely even if you don’t come.”

Xu Zhilu ignored him, looked down at where the two of them were standing, and, after thinking for a few seconds, said, “Aren’t you going to review or read a book or something?”

Shen Siyan: “…Look.”

“You didn’t bring your book.”

Xu Zhilu directly exposed him.

Shen Siyan was so amused that he laughed and asked helplessly, “Can you not expose me?”

“No.” Xu Zhilu said, “Who told you to pretend? If you don’t say it, I won’t expose you.”

Shen Siyan was helpless. “Okay, whatever you say.”

Xu Zhilu looked at him and said, “I really suggest that you use this summer vacation to read books carefully. Both review and preview are very important. Especially for the questions, you will become proficient if you do more.”

In terms of studying, she really hoped that Shen Siyan could make progress and get better and better. The two of them had a really good relationship as friends. Xu Zhilu didn’t have any bad intentions; she just simply hoped that Shen Siyan could make Aunt Shen worry less and have a better future.

Shen Siyan understood and became serious. “Okay,” he said softly, “don’t worry, I know my limits.”

“Um.”

After a while, it was their turn. The two of them went in, and except for the mango sticky rice, Shen Siyan let her eat whatever she wanted. Xu Zhilu loved pineapple and curry beef brisket; she thought it was especially delicious. Shen Siyan wanted to laugh when he saw her eating.

“Don’t eat so hastily. No one is going to snatch it from you.”

Xu Zhilu didn’t even think about it and said vaguely, “Aren’t you a human?”

Shen Siyan: “…”

He was human, but he would not snatch food from her. After saying that, Xu Zhilu also laughed. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant.” She looked at the food in front of her and said softly, “I’m just so hungry.”

“Didn’t you eat breakfast?”

“I did.” Xu Zhilu said, “But I used up too much energy in the morning, and I was hungry by 11 o’clock.”

Shen Siyan understood. “Then you should eat more in the morning next time.”

“Um.”

Xu Zhilu slowed down and occasionally looked up at the person opposite her. Shen Siyan ate elegantly, and every move he made was like that of a rich young master. She retracted her gaze and did not dare to look any further.

After a while, Shen Siyan asked, “Where are you going to perform this show?”

Xu Zhilu looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Just asking.” Shen Siyan said, “My dad said I can move up the graduation trip.”

“?”

Xu Zhilu looked at him in bewilderment. “When you say early, is that what I think it means?”