Once inside the shop, she headed straight for the import section where the milk candy Lin Yanyan had given her last time was displayed. Sheng Qingxi picked up two boxes of the candy and a bottle of water before heading to the register.
Unfortunately, her total came to a round number, so no change was needed.
At that time, most of the traffic on the road consisted of parents picking up their children, with only a few vehicles passing by. But as Lin Ran watched Sheng Qingxi cross the road, it reminded him of watching Lin Yanyan—afraid that she might rush across without caution.
Sheng Qingxi waited on the other side of the road for a car to pass before running back over.
Lin Ran sat still, only slightly tightening his grip on the bags he was holding.
Sheng Qingxi, a little out of breath from running, caught her breath.
Even though it was late at night, and the streetlights by the bus stop were dim, Lin Ran’s face remained clear. His deep eyes gazed directly at her, open and unguarded.
Sheng Qingxi handed the candy she had bought to Lin Ran without a word, just quietly looking at him.
It was just like in her past life, when she would steal a glance at him from within the crowd.
Lin Ran lowered his eyes to the candy box in her palm—pink, strawberry-flavored. His earlier frustration dissipated without a trace, and he felt oddly soothed, as if someone had gently smoothed his ruffled feathers.
Lin Ran chuckled softly, “Are you trying to appease me again?”
Sheng Qingxi nodded. “Yes, I’m appeasing you.”
Lin Ran raised the hand holding the two bags and motioned to her, indicating that he couldn’t free his hands to eat the candy. Then, with a shameless grin, he lifted his chin slightly and said in a princely tone, “I want to eat it.”
It would have been easy to just set down the bags and take the candy, but Lin Ran clearly wanted to tease Sheng Qingxi.
Sheng Qingxi, only used to feeding the little kids at the welfare center candy, carefully opened the candy box, took out a piece, and unwrapped the wrapper, revealing the milky-white candy inside.
Holding onto the remaining part of the candy wrapper, she brought the candy to Lin Ran’s lips.
When Lin Ran bit into the candy, he was watching Sheng Qingxi’s expression closely. Maybe it was the dim lighting, but he didn’t see the reaction he had imagined—she just calmly fed him the candy without any particular emotion.
Lin Ran couldn’t help but wonder if she was treating him like one of the little kids from her home.
After 11 p.m., the 113 bus was completely empty except for the driver. Sheng Qingxi was used to this scene, so she walked to the same seat she had sat in that morning.
Lin Ran placed the two large bags on a nearby seat.
As he pulled out his phone to check WeChat, he remembered something he had thought about a couple of days ago.
Staring at the empty bus, Lin Ran felt a bit anxious, though he tried to make his tone sound casual. “Sheng Qingxi, should we add each other on WeChat? That way, I can message you when I head out.”
Sheng Qingxi didn’t have her phone with her, so she simply gave him her phone number.
Lin Ran didn’t immediately search for her on WeChat. Instead, he saved her number first. When he finally searched for it later, he found the account under the name “Shengkai Welfare Home.” Hesitating for a moment, he clicked into her Moments.
The profile picture was a small yellow flower, and the posts were all about the welfare home.
He frowned instinctively. “Is this your personal account?”
Sheng Qingxi nodded. “Aside from Shiman, not many people contact me. Most of the people on my WeChat are volunteers, donors, or people interested in adopting.”
Those people had known Sheng Qingxi long enough to know she had started school again, so they rarely bothered her.
It was only then that Lin Ran realized Sheng Qingxi didn’t have much of a social circle.
He thought back carefully to the events of this period in his previous life, but he couldn’t recall any memories involving Sheng Qingxi. However, because he had been reborn, many things had changed this time around.
He couldn’t be sure if Sheng Qingxi’s presence was a result of the butterfly effect from his rebirth.
But one thing he couldn’t deny—Sheng Qingxi made him feel a bit better.
Whether it was her gentle hugs or her selfless love.
Lin Ran couldn’t stop himself from getting closer to her. It was selfish, but he couldn’t control it.
He let out a soft sigh, thinking to himself, I’m really not a good person.
—
Saturday, 8 a.m.
As soon as the morning reading class ended, Lin Ran rushed to another building to bother the school’s computer teacher. He didn’t want to ask Teacher Qu to check the security footage, because then he’d have to explain what he had lost, and Lin Ran didn’t want to reveal such an embarrassing secret.
So, he turned to his aunt instead.
That’s right, his aunt worked as a computer teacher at the same school.
He Yi Ling had been woken up early by a phone call from her nephew. She had been looking forward to spending a peaceful Saturday at home, but that plan was clearly ruined.
When Lin Ran walked into her office, he saw his aunt lounging in her chair in what looked like pajamas—long-sleeved and baggy. Her carefully styled curly hair was now a messy tangle on top of her head.
Lin Ran suspected that his aunt had barely washed up after waking before heading out.
Seeing him, He Yiling lazily greeted, “Yo, little flame. So, what do you need? Hurry up and tell me; I need to get back home and catch up on sleep. You know, age gets to you.”
Lin Ran greeted her and directly told her the time frame he needed to check.
Modern youth communication is straightforward—time is precious, after all.
He Yiling pulled up the security footage and let Lin Ran search through it himself without asking him what he was looking for. It wasn’t until Lin Ran was sifting through the footage that she casually asked, “How’s it going, living with little Yanyan?”
Lin Ran replied, “It’s alright. That little girl’s pretty happy.”
Lin Yanyan had always been introverted, especially when their step-mother, Xu Yirong, was around. While she was more comfortable when it was just Lin Ran and Lin Youcheng at home, her words would become scarce the moment Xu Yirong appeared. A decade together hadn’t really brought them closer.
Not to mention Xu Yirong, it had even distanced them from Lin Youcheng.
He Yiling knew her nephew was mature for his age and figured he would eventually take good care of Lin Yanyan, so she didn’t ask further.
As Lin Ran watched the footage, he saw that shortly after he left, the bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats. No one approached his desk. He fast-forwarded to the end of class.
During the break, no one went near his desk either, except for a few students passing through the aisle.
Then, as the bell for evening self-study rang, and everyone started packing their bags and tidying their desks to head home, two boys doing cleaning duties passed by with a trash can. Someone brushed past them, causing the two boys to move closer to Lin Ran’s desk.
One of them accidentally knocked Lin Ran’s notebook into the trash can, and the two coins had been sitting on top of the notebook.
Because the trash can was full, the coins fell silently into the corner. The boy quickly retrieved Lin Ran’s notebook and even used a tissue to carefully wipe it off. As for the two coins, they disappeared into the depths of the trash.
It was purely an accident.
Lin Ran: “…”
With a dark expression, he shut off the footage.
He Yiling glanced at him and asked, “Did you find what you were looking for?”
Lin Ran muttered a “yeah,” and as he was about to leave the office, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Turning back to He Yiling, he asked in a low, gloomy voice, “Auntie, do you know when they take out the trash at our school?”
He Yiling was taken aback. What kind of question is that?
Scratching her head, she tried to recall. “There was a meeting about that last week, I think. The trash gets taken out right after morning reading class, starting with the middle school. For your building, it’s probably right after the first class.”
Lin Ran nodded, indicating he understood, and waved, “Auntie, I’m heading out.”
…
Ten minutes later.
Lin Ran, He Mo, and Xie Zhen.
The three of them stood solemnly in front of eight trash bins outside their building, their expressions grim, eyes resolute, ready to face their mission with a “do or die” attitude.
Lin Ran, calm and collected, asked, “Ready?”
He Mo and Xie Zhen replied in unison, “Ready!”
Lin Ran: “Begin.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the three of them pulled out gloves and masks from their pockets, synchronizing their movements as they geared up for the task ahead.
Thanks to garbage sorting, their target was narrowed down to just two bins. Otherwise—
Better not to think about it.
He Mo and Xie Zhen each took one trash bin, while Lin Ran tackled the other. The three of them skipped class, focused entirely on sifting through the trash, each with a frown on their face.
He Mo, unable to contain himself any longer, asked, “Brother Ran, are those two coins really that important to you?”
Xie Zhen perked up, eager to hear the answer.
Lin Ran replied coldly, “None of your business.”
He Mo: “…?”
His expression changed, filled with concern. “Brother Ran, Ah Zhen and I are here digging through trash for you, and you’re still keeping secrets from us? Just tell me the truth, is your family bankrupt?”
Xie Zhen: Huh? What did he just say?
Lin Ran glanced at He Mo. “If you want to think that, I won’t stop you.”
Time ticked by, and when the garbage collector arrived, he found three boys crouched in front of the trash bins, diligently digging through them. The scene puzzled him.
Scratching his head, the collector stood nearby for a while before realizing they were looking for something. Moved by their effort, he joined in, kindly helping them search for the missing two coins.
Finally, they found Lin Ran’s precious coins—2009 and 2018—inside an empty potato chip bag.
With no time to spare, they located the coins just before the first class ended.
Xie Zhen ran to the supermarket to buy some drinks for the garbage collector as a token of appreciation, but the collector, smiling, politely declined before slowly driving off with his trash collection.
Lin Ran tightly gripped the two coins, taking a moment to sniff them.
He Mo and Xie Zhen mimicked him, also sniffing themselves.
Realizing the need for a good wash, the three of them hurried back to the boys’ dorm to shower.
That afternoon, when Lin Ran went to pick up Sheng Qingxi after school, he didn’t say a word, just handed her a face mask and gruffly ordered, “Today, no hugging me on the bus.”
Sheng Qingxi, puzzled, glanced at the mask he handed her.
Lin Ran offered no explanation, turning his head awkwardly as he mumbled, “Just put it on.”
Obediently, Sheng Qingxi unwrapped the mask and put it on, leaving only her eyes visible as she looked up at him. She softly reminded, “Lin Ran, Shiman is coming to my house today to work on some papers, so you don’t need to take me home.”
Lin Ran: What?
Why was Song Shiman always competing with him?
But today, Lin Ran didn’t argue with Song Shiman. In fact, he discreetly sighed in relief, as even after two or three showers, he still felt like there was a strange smell lingering on him.
Without showing his discomfort, Lin Ran simply said with a hint of regret, “I guess I’ll have to wait until Monday to pick you up again.”
Sheng Qingxi waved goodbye to him.
After she left, Lin Ran had the nagging feeling he had forgotten something. He furrowed his brow, trying to remember, but nothing came to mind.
After Sheng Qingxi got on the bus, Song Shiman stared at her for a while before curiously asking, “Xiao Xi, why are you wearing a mask today? Do you have a cold?”
Sheng Qingxi shook her head. “Brother Ran asked me to wear it.”
Song Shiman: ???
Is Lin Ran out of his mind?
Angrily, Song Shiman mentally updated her score for Lin Ran: -99.