But before long, Jiang Nuan started to feel frustrated. Her team, which had been dominating earlier, was now getting slaughtered.
One of her teammates cursed at her: “Are you a pig? If you’re trash and can’t play, just don’t play! Go home and stew some pig brains!”
“You’re the pig! You’re trash who can’t play and blames others!” Jiang Nuan pushed her mouse aside in frustration.
“Did you die?” Lu Ran, who was sitting next to her, turned his head and asked.
“You’re the one who’s going to die for cursing me during the New Year!” Jiang Nuan replied irritably.
“Don’t swallow so much dynamite yourself. It won’t help you blow up those who cursed you.” With that, Lu Ran put on his headphones and continued watching his match videos.
Jiang Nuan’s stomach started to growl. She tugged on Lu Ran’s arm. “Do you have any food?”
“No. Next time you run away from home, remember to eat before you go.”
Jiang Nuan rolled her eyes at him.
But just seconds later, she saw Lu Ran peeling the wrapper off a White Rabbit milk candy.
“Hey! That’s the White Rabbit I gave you the other day! Give me some!”
“No more, this is the last one.”
“Impossible!” Jiang Nuan immediately reached for Lu Ran’s down jacket pocket. Besides keys and his phone, there really was no candy left. “Then give me that one!”
Does he even realize I’m running away from home because of him?
But Lu Ran had already pinched the candy wrapper and was about to pop the candy into his mouth.
“Wait!” Jiang Nuan grabbed the other end of the candy. “I want it!”
Lu Ran moved his hand to the other side, but Jiang Nuan, quick as lightning, grabbed his wrist and pulled it toward herself.
Am I really going to lose to you over a piece of candy?
Lu Ran held onto the candy without letting go, so Jiang Nuan bent down and bit down on it—directly biting his fingers.
She bit down hard in her frustration, and just as she realized she should release her teeth, Lu Ran let go, and she ended up with the whole candy in her mouth.
After she swallowed the entire candy, she realized she had one leg crossed over Lu Ran’s chair, her arm aggressively pressing against his shoulder.
“Are you being childish? Fighting over a piece of candy.” Lu Ran said, half-leaning back and looking up at her.
His gaze was soft, like something delicate and shiny had fallen into it, and even the slight curve at the corners of his mouth appeared gentle.
“And you’re even more childish for refusing to give me the candy in the first place!”
Jiang Nuan huffed and was about to get off, but Lu Ran grabbed her leg and pulled her down, making her sit on his lap.
The chair squeaked as it shifted, making Jiang Nuan’s heart race. She glanced around nervously, relieved to find everyone else still engrossed in their own activities. When she met Lu Ran’s eyes again, her heart skipped a beat.
He slowly extended the finger she had bitten. “You know this counts as harassment, right?”
His voice flowed like it came from a narrow crevice, making Jiang Nuan’s heart ticklish.
She wanted to shove him off and stand up, but Lu Ran just kept looking at her.
Unlike his usual calm and impassive gaze, this time there was a playful glint in his eyes—a kind of mischievousness that didn’t belong to someone who was always held up as a model of perfection. His dark eyes seemed to sparkle with something new.
Jiang Nuan swallowed instinctively.
She wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but suddenly, she leaned in close to Lu Ran’s face and blew hard, causing his bangs to flutter. Just as Lu Ran was caught off guard, she quickly pulled away from his grip and stood up.
“If you try to fight with me again, I’ll really harass you!” Jiang Nuan huffed, making her threat before pulling her chair back.
But her heart was pounding wildly.
Even as pop-ups and alerts kept flashing on her screen, reminding her to get back into the game, she couldn’t react.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt like Lu Ran, sitting beside her, had been frozen in place for a long time, not moving an inch. But Jiang Nuan didn’t dare look at him.
After more than an hour of distracted gaming, Jiang Nuan heard Lu Ran answer his phone next to her—it was her mom, Luo Chen, calling.
“Yeah, Auntie, don’t worry, I’m with Jiang Nuan.”
“Where are you guys? Don’t wander around outside! It’s really cold!”
Jiang Nuan’s mom probably watched too many TV dramas, imagining that runaway kids were all pitiful, wandering the streets with backpacks under dim streetlights.
“We’re at an internet cafe, surfing the web.”
Jiang Nuan nearly choked on her own saliva.
As a student, shouldn’t you at least pretend you’re studying with a friend instead of telling your parents you’re at an internet cafe?
“Oh, okay. Make sure Jiang Nuan eats something. Come home when you’re done.”
“Mm, don’t worry, Auntie.”
After hanging up, Lu Ran turned to Jiang Nuan and said, “Your mom says to remember to eat something.”
Jiang Nuan ignored him, but she was, in fact, feeling hungry.
She remembered the 100 yuan her grandma had given her and decided to buy herself some instant noodles and a sausage. But when she reached into her pocket, she realized… the 100 yuan was gone!
Jiang Nuan frantically searched her left pocket, then her right, pulling out a few firecrackers and placing them on the table. She stood up and checked her pants pockets too—nothing!
Watching her frantically searching through her pockets, Lu Ran said, “You ran away from home without any money?”
“No, I had a hundred yuan in my pocket… Where did it go?” Jiang Nuan started to panic.
“I spent all my money on the internet cafe after buying the wine. I’ve only got twenty left.” Lu Ran said.
“I’m not asking you to buy me food! I really lost my money!”
Jiang Nuan jumped up and down in frustration, but nothing fell out.
“Calm down. Where did you last put your money?” Lu Ran asked.
“In my pocket! Right here! And I even buttoned it up!”
Lu Ran reached over, pressing down on both sides of Jiang Nuan’s jacket pockets, gently squeezing to check if there was anything inside—there really wasn’t any money.
“Could it have fallen out?”
Lu Ran reached into Jiang Nuan’s pocket, pulling out the lining and found that there was a hole in it.
“Oh no! My pocket’s torn! My money must have fallen out!”
Jiang Nuan was devastated. Her mom always tightly controlled her pocket money, and just when she had finally gotten a little extra, it was all gone in an instant!
“How could it have fallen out?” Lu Ran asked, looking up at her.
“What do you mean?”
Lu Ran didn’t answer. Instead, he lightly patted Jiang Nuan’s down jacket, squeezing gently here and there. Jiang Nuan looked down and saw his slightly curled eyelashes and high nose, which, in the dim internet cafe lighting, made him look like a beautiful boy drawn by a manga artist.
This guy is like a real-life trickster.
But when Lu Ran’s hands reached her waist, Jiang Nuan suddenly remembered that she was a girl, and Lu Ran was a boy!
Just as she was about to step back, Lu Ran grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him. She almost bumped into his nose.
He looked really good, especially from the side.
It was like one of those movie scenes right before a kiss.
“Behave.” he said.
“Who’s not behaving?” Jiang Nuan retorted.
Lu Ran suddenly lifted his hand and unzipped her down jacket.
“Hey! Hey! What are you doing? Are you getting back at me for biting you?”
Lu Ran reached into the torn pocket of Jiang Nuan’s jacket, rummaging around before pulling out the 100 yuan bill like a magician.
Jiang Nuan finally understood. The bill must have fallen through the hole in her pocket and gotten stuck inside the lining of her jacket.
“Here. Buy me a Starbucks.”
“What? Starbucks costs over thirty yuan!” Jiang Nuan never expected Lu Ran to make such a bold demand. She never even splurged on Starbucks herself.
“Mm, well, who told you to bite me?” Lu Ran turned his face slightly, lifting his hand to show her the clear red teeth marks she had left on his skin.
Jiang Nuan opened her mouth in surprise. She knew it must have hurt a lot, but Lu Ran hadn’t even made a sound at the time, as if he had let her bite him on purpose.
“Fine, I’ll buy it. But you’re the one going to get it, because I’m the one paying!” Jiang Nuan declared with a proud air.
“Let’s do rock-paper-scissors. The loser goes to get it.” Lu Ran said, turning to face her.
“Fine! Rock, paper, scissors! One, two, three!”
Jiang Nuan threw a rock, and Lu Ran threw paper.
“That doesn’t count! Best two out of three!”
“Whatever you want.”
In the second round, Jiang Nuan threw paper, and Lu Ran threw scissors.
“Do you want to go for five out of seven?”
“No need! I’ll go! I hope you choke on it.”
“Caramel macchiato.”
“You’re a guy, and you drink caramel macchiatos?”
Lu Ran didn’t respond. He put on his headphones and continued to focus on the men’s Olympic sabre team final. Jiang Nuan thought to herself, Wait till I spit in your caramel macchiato!
When she returned with the coffee, she slammed it down next to Lu Ran. “Here’s your drink!”
“You drink it.” Lu Ran replied.
“Huh? You don’t want it anymore?”
“There’s probably some of your spit in there. I won’t drink it. I’ll just give you back the money when we get home.” Lu Ran turned his head, propping it on his hand as he continued watching his video.
Jiang Nuan blinked in confusion. Caramel macchiatos were actually her favorite. Was Lu Ran doing this on purpose?
But at this moment, she couldn’t read what Lu Ran was thinking at all. He just sat quietly, focused on the computer screen, his eyelashes occasionally flicking upward.
Jiang Nuan glanced at her own screen and realized that her team had somehow completed the level!
And her teammates were sending her messages.
Things like: “You’re amazing! You must be a guy playing a girl character, right?”
She had apparently responded: “You’re welcome to admire me.”
One guy even asked: “Goddess, can I have your QQ number? Let’s team up again next time!”
She had responded: “No. I’m afraid you’ll drag down my IQ.”
As for the person who had cursed at her earlier, he had also sent a private message: “Whoa, you’re so good! Let’s keep going and see if we can clear three levels today!”
She had coldly responded: “Sorry, I’m off to eat pig brains.”
And the person had replied with a long string of pleas, begging her not to be mad.
“Please, give me your QQ number! We’re all just here to have fun. Don’t let one word ruin our friendship! You must be a girl, right? I’ll make sure to keep you happy in the future, no more making you mad! I’m a pig, okay? Just give me your QQ number!”
Jiang Nuan couldn’t believe what she was reading.
She turned to look at Lu Ran, who still had a calm expression. “Did you just play a game on my account?”
“Mm.”
“You’re really good! They all worship you!” Jiang Nuan started considering whether she should get Lu Ran to play with her next time.
Lu Ran turned his head slightly, glanced at Jiang Nuan’s screen, and said only one thing: “Remember to block that pig.”
Author’s Note:
Jiang Nuan: When I blew in your face, did you think I was going to kiss you?
Lu Ran: All I could smell was White Rabbit candy.
Jiang Nuan: When you were looking for that 100 yuan, were you intentionally touching me all over?
Lu Ran: Do you have too much money?
Jiang Nuan: When you pulled me so close, were you thinking of kissing me?
Lu Ran: Your imagination is boundless.
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