Pfft!
Ran Qiuye couldn't hold back anymore and covered her mouth, giggling.
Sitting next to Chen Jianye, she feigned anger and said, "Alright then, I won't fuss over your flippancy."
"Let's read."
"Okay." Chen Jianye nodded and lowered his head to read.
Ran Qiuye's mouth moved; she had originally wanted to say a few more words to Chen Jianye.
It would have been nice to hear Chen Jianye praise her a few more times too.
Who knew Chen Jianye would actually start reading.
She didn't want to disturb him.
Remembering what her mother said, Ran Qiuye felt a headache coming on.
Did she really have to invite Chen Jianye to her house for dinner?
How was she going to bring it up?
Ran Qiuye opened her book, her eyes on the first page, but her thoughts drifted far away.
After a while.
Chen Jianye took out a water cup from his cloth bag.
Ran Qiuye watched him.
"Is something on your mind? You seem a bit distracted today."
Chen Jianye asked with a smile.
"Ah? Am I?"
Ran Qiuye's cheeks felt a bit warm, and she wondered if her expression was that obvious.
"Maybe I misread it."
Chen Jianye changed the subject.
"Hey, Comrade Jianye, I..."
Ran Qiuye hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.
Chen Jianye didn't speak, waiting for Ran Qiuye to say what was on her mind.
"Do you want to come to my house for lunch today?"
Ran Qiuye lowered her head and whispered, "My parents tasted your sweet potatoes and said they were delicious, so they want to invite you to our house for dinner."
A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Jianye's mouth: "Alright."
Ah, he agreed just like that?
Ran Qiuye was a bit stunned, looking up to see the smile on Chen Jianye's face, as if her little secret thought had been seen through by him.
Her cheeks flushed at a visible speed.
"You look quite surprised, do you not want me to come?"
Chen Jianye deliberately teased her.
"No, no."
"Then we'll leave around 11:30. It's about half an hour by bus to my house."
Ran Qiuye waved her hands repeatedly.
"No need for the bus, I bought a bicycle. How long would it take to cycle there?"
Chen Jianye said calmly.
He felt a little secretly pleased.
Sure enough, a man's first big purchase must be a vehicle.
It really does boost one's confidence.
"Ah? You bought a car?"
"You're that amazing?"
Ran Qiuye looked surprised.
"It's alright. We'll go to your house together later, and you can give me directions."
Chen Jianye's lips curved slightly.
"Mm, having a bicycle is indeed very convenient."
"My family also has a bicycle, which my parents usually use for work. I never get to use it."
"Even if I wanted to buy one, I couldn't, there are no tickets."
Ran Qiuye said with a hint of envy.
"You'll have one in the future. You're a university student, you'll definitely have good prospects later on."
Chen Jianye comforted her.
"I hope so."
Ran Qiuye smiled.
Chen Jianye lowered his head and continued reading.
Ran Qiuye also read, and this time she was clearly able to focus on the content of the book.
Time flew by, and it was 11:30 AM.
"Comrade Chen Jianye."
Ran Qiuye whispered a reminder.
"Ah, it's time, isn't it?"
Chen Jianye emerged from the sea of knowledge and closed his book.
The two of them returned the books to their original places, picked up their cloth bags, and walked out of the Library.
Chen Jianye went straight to his bicycle, unlocked it, and straddled it.
Ran Qiuye sat on the back seat of the bicycle, her legs together, her shoulders against Chen Jianye's back.
"Comrade Ran Qiuye, if the bicycle hits a pothole and sways, just hold onto my back."
Chen Jianye tilted his head to look at her and reminded her.
"Mm."
"We'll take that road, just keep going straight, and when we need to turn, I'll remind you."
Ran Qiuye nodded.
Chen Jianye pedaled the bicycle, and the wheels began to turn.
"Turn left up ahead."
"Turn right at that intersection, and we'll be at my house."
Throughout the journey, Ran Qiuye was very quiet.
She only spoke to give directions at crucial intersections.
"We're here. Those two large mahogany doors are my house."
Ran Qiuye pointed at the two doors and said.
Chen Jianye arrived in front of the mahogany doors and squeezed the brakes.
The bicycle jolted forward heavily, and Ran Qiuye's shoulder also bumped against Chen Jianye's back.
If Ran Qiuye had been sitting with her legs apart on the back seat, the bump would have been her chest, not her shoulder.
"Thank you, Comrade Chen Jianye."
Ran Qiuye, holding her cloth bag with both hands, got off the back seat.
"Thank me for what? I should be thanking you for inviting me to your house for a meal."
Chen Jianye gave a hearty laugh, his cloth bag slung over his shoulder.
Inside were a few catties of sweet potatoes.
Coming to Ran for dinner, he certainly couldn't come empty-handed.
However, he hadn't put too many sweet potatoes in the bag; if he had brought ten or eight catties, it would have seemed like he had prepared for it beforehand.
Ran Qiuye pushed open the main door and called out to the house, "Dad, Mom, I'm home!"
"Oh, our eldest daughter is back."
A kind-faced middle-aged man wearing glasses came out of a small room.
His gaze fell on Chen Jianye: "Ah, this must be your good friend, Little Chen?"
"Hello, Uncle Ran, my name is Chen Jianye."
Chen Jianye bowed slightly.
"Good young man, he's really good-looking, no wonder my Qiuye is willing to be friends with him."
Ran Father spoke very casually.
Ran Qiuye secretly glared at him.
"The main reason I invited you over this time is to thank you for the sweet potatoes you exchanged with my Qiuye last time. They tasted really good."
Ran Father quickly got to the point.
"If Uncle likes to eat them, I still have quite a few here."
Saying that, Chen Jianye opened his cloth bag and took out a few already steamed sweet potatoes.
"Hey, you kid, you came prepared!"
Ran Father was very surprised.
"These sweet potatoes are my lunch."
"Since I'm coming to Ran for lunch today, I don't need to save my midday rations."
Chen Jianye took out the sweet potatoes and placed them on the table.
There were three cooked sweet potatoes and three uncooked ones.
"What about these uncooked sweet potatoes then? Are you planning to eat them raw?"
Ran Father asked curiously.
"Before I came, I thought that if Qiuye Comrade liked them, I would give these three to her."
Chen Jianye smiled.
"Young man, you're really good. You think of my daughter in everything you do."
Ran Father said with great satisfaction.
"Dad, where's Mom? Why don't I see her?"
Ran Qiuye felt that Ran Father's words were strange and worried that Chen Jianye might misunderstand, so she quickly changed the subject.
"Your mom is in the kitchen. Go take a look. Just in time, Comrade Jianye and I can chat for a bit."
Ran Father said casually.
Ran Qiuye simply left, out of sight, out of mind, to avoid hearing anything else that would make her feel awkward.
"Oh, girls grow up, they have their own ideas, they're hard to handle."
Ran Father sighed.
"Really? I haven't spent much time with Comrade Ran Qiuye, but I thought she was the more docile and obedient type of personality."
Chen Jianye asked in confusion.
"When Qiuye was little, she was indeed very well-behaved and obedient. Now that she's grown up, her mother and I worry about her marriage, so arguments are inevitable."
"A grown daughter cannot be kept, keeping her too long will lead to resentment. This balance is very difficult for her mother and me to grasp."
Ran Father sighed.
"Parents always have endless worries."
Chen Jianye echoed.
"Hey, young man, what you said is absolutely right."
Ran Father praised him, then asked, "What's your family situation like?"
"My family? My family..."
Chen Jianye hesitated slightly, then began to talk about his family.