Chapter 126

The KTV private room was bustling with people coming and going. After Song Anan and Pei Kuang added each other on WeChat, they barely chatted before Pei Kuang was called away by another senior brother.

Coincidentally, the senior sister who had been sitting next to Song Anan earlier came back with some snacks. The two of them sat there eating and chatting.

After briefly chatting with that senior brother, Pei Kuang saw that Song Anan had company, so he went back to his previous seat.

As soon as he sat down, Li Xiang came over too. He squeezed Pei Kuang further into the sofa, then winked at him suggestively.

Pei Kuang glanced at him indifferently, "Looks like there's something wrong with your eyes. Don't forget to go to the ophthalmologist tomorrow."

Li Xiang ignored him and went on, "Tsk tsk, are my eyes deceiving me? Our Pei, who only ever has people asking for his WeChat, actually took the initiative to ask for someone's WeChat?"

Pei Kuang leaned back against the sofa and lazily replied, "If I remember correctly, I was the one who took the initiative to add you on WeChat."

Li Xiang rolled his eyes at him in irritation. "Cut the crap, you know what I'm talking about."

Pei Kuang's long eyelashes drooped as the corners of his lips unconsciously curved up slightly. He didn't say anything.

Seeing his reaction, Li Xiang tactfully didn't continue pushing the matter. After knowing each other for so many years, he understood Pei Kuang's personality very well.

If it was something he didn't want to talk about, no one could get it out of him.

Still, Li Xiang instinctively glanced in Song Anan's direction, then back at Pei Kuang.

This is getting interesting, he thought to himself.

After eating some food and chatting with the senior sister for a while longer, Song Anan saw that it was after 10 pm. She got up to tell Zhang Han that she was leaving.

Zhang Han was easygoing about it. He only exhorted her to be safe before letting her go.

Song Anan bid farewell to several familiar senior brothers and sisters before getting ready to leave.

Just before walking out of the private room, she glanced once more at where Pei Kuang had been sitting earlier, but didn't see him there. He must have gone to the bathroom or left early already.

After leaving the KTV private room, Song Anan called for a car on her phone. When she got to the entrance, she checked the app and saw that the car was still some distance away.

She decided to wait at the entrance for a bit.

It was already very hot in June, but the nights were better than the days.

A night breeze blew by, carrying a hint of coolness that felt very comfortable. As Song Anan waited boredly, her mind wandered to other matters.

Just as she was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly spoke up beside her, "Are you leaving?"

Song Anan turned to look. At some point, Pei Kuang had walked over.

Coming back to her senses, she replied, "Yeah, it's getting late and there's a curfew at the dorms."

"Is senior brother leaving too?"

Pei Kuang lightly murmured in affirmation, the corners of his lips curving up slightly. "I still have work tomorrow, can't stay out too late."

Song Anan nodded.

Since they weren't close in the first place, she didn't know what else to say after unexpectedly running into him again here.

Pei Kuang looked down, smiling gently. "It's on my way, so let me give you a ride?"

Song Anan quickly waved her hands in refusal. "No need to trouble yourself, senior brother. You go ahead, my cab will be here soon."

He didn't seem surprised by her rejection.

Pei Kuang smiled and replied, "Alright, be safe. It's a bit late now, remember to give your roommate the license plate number after getting in the car."

Song Anan obediently acknowledged him, "Thank you, senior brother. Drive safely too."

Pei Kuang chuckled lightly and nodded before turning to walk towards the parking lot.

As Song Anan watched his retreating figure, she couldn't help feeling that this was somewhat surreal.

She had just been thinking earlier that they probably wouldn't run into each other again so soon.

But who could have imagined that they would meet again that very night!

Not only met, they even exchanged WeChats. And somehow, she now owed him a meal.

Thinking about the owed meal, Song Anan felt a bit glum again.

When would be a good time to treat him? She wanted to settle this debt soon.

Just as she was worrying over it, her called car arrived.

After getting in the car, Pei Kuang's reminder flashed through Song Anan's mind. She hesitated for a few seconds before sending the license plate number to her dorm roommate chat group.

She also shared her real-time trip location.

He was right, it really was late. Better be cautious.

But what Song Anan didn't know was that a black SUV had been following not too far behind them the whole time.

Only after seeing her get off at the school gate and enter the campus did the SUV make a U-turn at the next intersection, merging into the traffic.

The person driving was none other than Pei Kuang.

When Song Anan entered her dorm building, it was just past 11 pm. She had barely made it back before the auntie at the front door locked up.

That was close.

As soon as she opened the door, ready to remark on her close call, she saw Li Sirou, Cheng Ke, and Cai Xiaodi standing in a row inside.

All three had their arms crossed, posed identically, even their facial expressions were the same.

Song Anan was confused. "What's going on? What are you guys doing?"

Li Sirou humphed, "A lenient confession leads to a lighter punishment, resistance leads to a harsher one!"

"Little Anan, I advise you to come clean!"

Cheng Ke and Cai Xiaodi chimed in, "That's right, confess this instant!"

Song Anan was utterly bewildered.

Confess what?

Li Sirou tilted her chin up. "You met someone tonight, didn't you?" she prompted.

It suddenly dawned on Song Anan. "How did you know?!" Cheng Ke put on an air of mystery. "I divined it with my fingers. Not only did you meet Pei Kuang, you even exchanged WeChats."

Song Anan's eyes widened.

How on earth did they even know that!

Seeing that she was no longer playing coy, the three told her how they found out.

Turns out Li Sirou knew a senior sister who was friends with Zhang Han and had also been in the KTV private room tonight.

"We have pictorial evidence in our group chat. Come on, confess everything, you can't pull the wool over our eyes," said Li Sirou.

Song Anan was amazed. "You guys even have a group?!"

What group?

If she didn't see wrong, the group name seemed to have her and Pei Kuang's names!

Li Sirou giggled. "Of course, we're professional shippers."

As for how the group came about, there was some background to it. The people in the group were basically the earliest ones to ship the two of them on the forums.

And why was Li Sirou in it? Naturally because she was also one of the first batch of shippers.

Wahhh, she couldn't help it! It wasn't that she wanted to ship them, but their looks just perfectly matched her aesthetic!

Song Anan: "..."

She couldn't believe this.

Before Song Anan could recover from her astonishment, Cheng Ke slung an arm over her shoulders.

Gossiping eagerly, she asked, "Come on, little Anan, tell us quickly, what's Pei Kuang senior brother like?"

Song Anan thought about it and replied, "I feel he's pretty nice and easy to get along with."

The three looked at her woodenly, their eyes full of accusation.

Not understanding their reaction, Song Anan asked puzzledly, "What's wrong?"

Why were they looking at her like that?

It was a bit creepy.

Li Sirou smiled drily. "Little Anan, you're doing this on purpose right? Who wants to hear that?"

Cai Xiaodi vehemently nodded in agreement. "Right, nice and easy to get along with, what's that supposed to mean? We just want to know if Pei senior brother is as handsome as the rumors say!"

Is he much more handsome than in those photos on the forums!

Song Anan honestly nodded. "Very handsome."

Pei Kuang did look more handsome in person than in those photos online. After all, most of those were candid shots, so the image quality was more or less compromised.

Apart from his looks, his temperament was also very unique - gentle yet with a hint of briskness. These were things that couldn't be seen from the photos.

Hearing Song Anan's answer, the three girls silently exchanged a glance, each detecting a whiff of gossip from the other.

Very handsome!

Goodness, to get such high praise from bookworm Song Anan.

How extraordinary!

Undoubtedly, the three girls then proceeded to grill Song Anan, not letting any details slip by.

Song Anan had no choice but to honestly recount the whole story from beginning to end. However, when she finally mentioned owing Pei Kuang a meal, the other three suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Li Sirui slapped the table and concluded decisively: "I dare bet my head that Pei Kuang must be trying to pursue our Anan!"

Cheng Ke and Cai Xiaodi agreed without hesitation and nodded.

It could still be explained away as Pei Kuang being an outgoing person if he had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation.

But making a lunch date and adding her on WeChat? Who would believe he didn't have an ulterior motive?

Seeing their obvious misunderstanding, Song Anan quickly explained: "It's not what you think. He didn't actually want to add me on WeChat or ask me out to lunch. He probably just saw that I was embarrassed."

She felt this was a very reasonable explanation, but Li Sirui and the other two were still skeptical.

"Really, I kept apologizing to him at the time, and he probably had no choice but to say that to make me feel better." She continued explaining.

But now that she thought about it, Pei Kuang did seem to be joking at the time when he offered to take her out to lunch.

Offering to treat her was probably just something he said to make her feel less awkward, and he likely didn't really intend for her to take him up on it, Song Anan thought.

The next morning at the cardiology department of B University's affiliated hospital.

Pei Kuang had just finished rounds and returned to the ward when he was intercepted by someone.

"I heard you got Song's number the other day?" Guo Ya had a gossip-hungry expression on his face.

Without even thinking, Pei Kuang knew exactly who he had heard it from.

Other than Li Xiang and his big mouth, there was no one else.

He glanced at Wu Shan and casually asked, "Do you have a problem with it?"

Guo Ya clicked his tongue and said, "That takes the fun out of it. We're brothers, why would I have a problem with it? I'm just curious about you."

Pei Kuang was too lazy to entertain him. Concerned about him?

It sounded nice, but he just wanted to watch the show.

Seeing Pei Kuang's attitude, Guo Ya was not annoyed either. He kept chattering, "What's the point of going through all this trouble? If you want Song's number, I can give it to you. I'm pretty close with her."

It was true that Guo Ya was quite close with Song Anan.

Last year's hot search incident, Song Anan had conveyed her apology to Pei Kuang through Guo Ya. He was the intermediary.

Speaking of which, Guo Ya suddenly recalled, "That's right, when I was setting you two up last year, you didn't have any intentions. How did you make advances now?"

Pei Kuang frowned slightly and glared at him, "Don't talk nonsense."

What advances? Using words like that made it sound indecent.

He didn't care, but it was disrespectful to the girl.

Guo Ya also realized he had used inappropriate words and immediately gestured zipping his lips, "My bad, I need to watch my mouth."

Pei Kuang knew he meant no harm. After warning him a few times, he didn't say anything more.

The matter was dropped. The two chatted about other things. "You haven't been back in a long time. Let me know when you get time off, and I'll show you around." Guo Ya said.

Hearing this, Pei Kuang laughed, "If I remember correctly, we were university classmates, right?"

Except for the last two years he spent abroad, he had been here for six years. And Guo Ya wanted to show him around?

But Guo Ya didn't think so at all: "Including the four years you were away for your overseas project, you've been gone for four years. Don't underestimate that time. Our school has changed a lot!"

"Oh right, the food street by the east school gate was also renovated. The shops there have changed hands who knows how many times. You definitely need someone familiar to guide you, or you'll be stumbling around."

Pei Kuang paused. He wasn't worried about stumbling around.

But having someone show him around did sound like a good idea.

"How about next weekend when we're both off? We can swing by the school and walk around then." Guo Ya suggested.

Pei Kuang glanced at him, "No need. Go spend time with your girlfriend. I'll find someone else."

Guo Ya realized it made sense. With Pei Kuang's popularity, he surely wouldn't have trouble finding company.

Speaking of which, his girlfriend had complained just the other day that he didn't spend enough time with her.

The matter of meeting up with Pei Kuang was soon forgotten from Song Anan's mind.

At first, Li Sirui still said that if Pei Kuang really had ulterior motives, he would definitely contact Song soon to collect on their lunch appointment.

But after he remained silent for a whole week, the three of them finally gave up hope.

And Song Anan became even more certain that Pei Kuang was just being polite and didn't really intend for her to take him out for a meal.

So afterwards, she didn't bring it up again either.

Of course, it wasn't that Song Anan was reluctant to buy him lunch, just that she felt it would be intrusive to disturb him again since he was merely being polite. She figured she would wait for another opportunity in the future.

Besides, exams were coming up soon. She had been busy studying in the library every day, and soon forgot about the matter entirely.

One day, Song Anan had just returned to her dorm from the library and was about to go pour a glass of water when her phone on the desk buzzed.

It was a WeChat notification.

She picked it up and saw it was from Pei Kuang.

Pei Kuang: "Junior sister, are you free now? I have a favor to ask you."

Song Anan was stunned for several seconds before replying: "I'm free. What is it, senior brother?"

Pei Kuang's reply came very quickly: "It's like this - I haven't been back in a long time and am really craving the food from our school cafeteria. But I just got here and realized I don't have a meal card. So I wanted to ask, could I borrow your meal card if it's not too much trouble?"

Song Anan was a bit surprised by this request.

But she didn't think too much of it, and was about to ask which cafeteria Pei Kuang was at so she could bring him her card right away. But then another message came from him.

"Or, could we fulfill our lunch appointment from the other day today?"

Song Anan: "......"

I guess that works too.

When Song Anan arrived, she saw Pei Kuang standing outside the cafeteria entrance from afar.

It was just after dinnertime, so there weren't too many people in the cafeteria yet, but he still stood out remarkably just standing there.

Several girls who had just walked by kept glancing back at him even after they had gone some distance away.

"Senior Brother Pei," Song Anan called out.

Pei Kuang nodded slightly. "Sorry to trouble you, junior sister."

Song Anan shook her head. "No trouble."

She handed over her meal card, but Pei Kuang looked at it and didn't take it.

"If junior sister isn't rushed for time and doesn't mind, could you come in with me for a bit? I'll return the card to you after." He said.

Song Anan figured that was reasonable too. "No problem, I didn't have anything planned anyway."

The two entered the cafeteria together. Pei Kuang ordered a small stir-fried dish that was one of the cafeteria's specialties, along with a bowl of rice, for twenty yuan.

Song Anan thought that was too little for her to treat someone to a meal, so she urged him to order some other things too.

But Pei Kuang insisted that was enough - he had just come over craving that particular stall's food and didn't have much of an appetite for anything else.

Song Anan was at a bit of a loss.

Seeing her reaction, Pei Kuang smoothly suggested again, "How about this - I remember there's a pretty good milk tea shop at the third cafeteria. We can head over there afterwards, and you can treat me to a cup of milk tea?"

Of course Song Anan wouldn't refuse. She was just worrying that treating him to so little would be awkward.

Adding a milk tea would be better than nothing.

She remembered there were also many other specialty snack stalls around the third cafeteria. She could bring him to look around later and see if they could get something else too.

And so, Song Anan accompanied Pei Kuang as he ate in the cafeteria.

Although she had just eaten dinner not long ago, just watching him eat would be a bit awkward, so she went and bought herself a bowl of porridge from a cafeteria stall too.

The two of them sat face to face, eating together.

But they couldn't just eat in silence either - they still needed some conversation to avoid awkwardness.

"Senior Brother Pei, are you very close with Senior Sister Zhang Han?" Song Anan was completely making small talk.

Pei Kuang shook his head lightly. "Not that close."

Song Anan let out an "Ah" sound, not having expected that response at all.

Not close but you went to her birthday party?!

Although she didn't voice this thought aloud, her facial expression said it all.

Pei Kuang smiled and explained, "It was a last minute decision to go."

A last minute decision?

That was even more baffling, but Song Anan didn't feel it was suitable to pry further, and could only lamely respond, "Oh, what a coincidence."

Pei Kuang looked at her, seemingly puzzled as he asked, "What's the coincidence?"

Song Anan blinked blankly.

As for what was coincidental, she didn't know either. She had just blurted that out randomly just now.

"It's nothing, I just feel that it was quite a coincidence we ran into each other that day," Song Anan said with an awkward laugh.

Pei Kuang's mouth quirked slightly as he calmly murmured in agreement.

"Not really a coincidence - I knew you'd be there that day!"