Chen Nan widened his eyes, looking at Sheng Qian, hoping for some sort of explanation.
Sheng Qian: Do I look like I want to answer you?
After that subtle tension passed, things went back to normal for the time being.
Originally, Liu Yanyan had been next to Zhou Le, helping with the flower stall, but later Lu Jingran moved over, standing close to Zhou Le.
Chen Nan and Sheng Qian leaned against the back of the tricycle, watching over the goods—the roses, hair clips, and other items that hadn’t sold yet.
The two of them, tall and good-looking, dressed well, didn’t look like they were there to man a stall at all; instead, they looked like they were there for a photoshoot.
With Liu Yanyan and Lu Jingran, both campus beauties, helping Zhou Le, sales went incredibly fast.
They kept hearing notifications for [WeChat Payment Received: 10 yuan].
“Hi, this bag is torn. Could I get a new one, please?”
“Sure thing, let me wrap that for you!” Zhou Le said, quickly heading to the cart to get a new bag.
This left just Liu Yanyan and Lu Jingran at the stall.
Realizing this, Liu Yanyan’s heart started racing.
“Hello, I’d like three roses, please. Could you put them in a bag? Thanks.”
“Ah, sure.” A bit flustered, Liu Yanyan looked around. “Um, which colors would you like?”
“Hmm, which colors do you have?”
“These are all of them.” Liu Yanyan lowered her arm to indicate the area.
Unexpectedly, she brushed against Lu Jingran’s forearm.
In that brief touch, Liu Yanyan froze, her face flushing as she lowered her head shyly.
She looked up at Lu Jingran, only to find that he hadn’t noticed at all; he still wore that aloof expression, even subtly shifting back, keeping his distance. Yet before… just being touched by Zhou Le, even just on his sleeve, had made him stare intently.
Liu Yanyan felt like her warm gesture was met with a cold response, and the little bit of shyness she’d felt was quickly replaced by disappointment.
“Hi, excuse me, when will my flowers be ready?”
“Hello?!”
Liu Yanyan snapped out of her daze, realizing she needed to focus, and hurriedly reached for the flowers beside her. She tripped over something on the ground and nearly fell toward Lu Jingran.
Just as she was about to crash into him, Lu Jingran suddenly stepped aside.
Liu Yanyan: ???
She didn’t fall; at the last second, she steadied herself by holding onto the stand.
Where she was standing, she could easily reach the table on the stand—she didn’t need anyone to catch her.
Liu Yanyan looked up, seeing Lu Jingran’s indifferent expression.
So… he’d known all along she wouldn’t fall…
Zhou Le returned after wrapping up some flowers and saw Liu Yanyan in an awkward stance. He hurried over to help her up. “What happened? Are you okay? Did you fall?”
Liu Yanyan lowered her head, her eyes a little red, her mouth turned down, not saying a word.
She looked so upset, like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Zhou Le, thinking she might have hurt herself badly, quickly asked, “Are you alright? Really, are you hurt anywhere? Don’t cry, let me see.”
This was Zhou Le’s stall to manage, and Liu Yanyan had only come to help out, so if she got hurt here, Zhou Le would feel terrible.
As Zhou Le leaned in to check on her, Lu Jingran’s gaze grew colder.
Liu Yanyan choked out that she was fine, and Zhou Le gently comforted her.
His attention remained fixed on her as though she were the only person at the stall.
“We’re out of flowers,” Lu Jingran suddenly said, his voice a bit loud. “We need to bring more over.”
The sound startled Zhou Le, who instinctively looked up.
Lu Jingran met his gaze with a slight frown.
Only then did Zhou Le realize that the stall had a lot of customers, and Lu Jingran had been handling them all alone.
He’d left Lu Jingran there by himself.
Zhou Le felt embarrassed. “Hold on, class rep, I’ll go get more flowers.”
After reassuring Liu Yanyan and helping her to sit by the tricycle, Zhou Le finally returned with the flowers.
“Class rep, I’m here.”
In his hurry, he didn’t watch his step and stumbled forward, about to fall.
He was doomed—
But the expected pain never came.
Instead, someone caught him, holding him close.
Lu Jingran had grabbed his waist, pulling both him and the flowers firmly to his chest.
Zhou Le opened his eyes carefully, his eyelashes just brushing Lu Jingran’s nose.
Their eyes met.
Time seemed to freeze.
In a daze, Zhou Le caught a faint, cool scent, like winter frost, wrapping around him layer by layer.
It smelled really nice.
Impossible to resist.
A hint of distraction appeared on Zhou Le’s face.
…
From the tricycle, Liu Yanyan witnessed the entire scene.
She frowned, her pretty eyebrows drawn together, biting her lip tightly.
Lu Jingran frowned, letting go of Zhou Le first.
After making sure Zhou Le was steady, he stepped a bit to the side.
The pleasant scent was gone, and it took Zhou Le a moment to come back to his senses.
Seeing Lu Jingran standing a little farther away, he quickly followed and asked, “Class rep, are you okay? Did I bump into you just now?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going…”
Lu Jingran didn’t look at him, only turning his face slightly. “…I’m fine.”
If one listened carefully, they’d notice his voice was a bit lower, slightly hoarse—definitely not his usual tone.
Lu Jingran himself realized it.
So he instinctively put a little more distance between himself and Zhou Le.
Why…
Why did he, an Alpha, instinctively react this way to a Beta?
When he held Zhou Le just now, he had unconsciously released his pheromones.
That had never happened before.
Even during his susceptible period, Lu Jingran could control his emotions well. As for his pheromones, he had never once unintentionally released them while in contact with others.
Except just now… when he held Zhou Le.
Lu Jingran licked his dry lips, his gaze skimming over a certain busy figure at the stall in front of him.
—
Thankfully, they finished their stall without any major issues.
When the last bouquet of roses was sold, Zhou Le let out a long sigh of relief.
“Finally, we can go home.” Lin Xiaoxiao bent over, looking dejected like a zombie that had just come back to life.
Xia Linchuan was equally exhausted. “Done and done. Let’s go home. I’m beat. I need to get online as soon as I get back.”
Just then, Liu Yanyan got out of the car and offered, “I… I had my family’s restaurant prepare some food. We can go eat as soon as we’re ready. It’s all set, and it’s all the signature dishes. You all must be hungry, right?”
Hearing this, Zhou Le paused mid-cleanup.
Right, they had come out tonight to run the stall, and none of them had eaten. He, who had suggested this money-making endeavor, hadn’t even thought to buy them a meal.
Zhou Le felt incredibly guilty.
He wanted to say he’d treat them, but if they were going to Liu Yanyan’s family’s restaurant… he wasn’t even sure if his yearly expenses would cover the bill.
Caught in a dilemma, Lu Jingran suddenly spoke up, “No need. I’ll eat at home later.”
Chen Nan patted his stomach. “I had a bunch of sushi earlier, so I’m stuffed. I’ll skip it too.”
Sheng Qian added, “We’re together on this.” Meaning he wasn’t going either.
Everyone knew what Liu Yanyan was hoping for—she wasn’t really offering a meal; she just wanted to have dinner with Lu Jingran.
Sure enough, after hearing Lu Jingran decline, Liu Yanyan’s head drooped.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xia Linchuan understood, so they didn’t make things more complicated.
“Thanks, but I’ve got to head home for dinner. My mom’s waiting for me.”
“Same here. My game console’s starving for attention.”
Zhou Le couldn’t go either; he had to get the tricycle back since Uncle Zhou needed it to haul vegetables later tonight. He had to head home soon.
The school beauty offering to treat them, only to get turned down by everyone, made things a bit awkward.
An uncomfortable silence fell over them.
Liu Yanyan looked a bit down. “Then… I guess I’ll head home too…”
As she finished, she shot a reluctant glance at Lu Jingran.
She looked so heartbroken that Zhou Le noticed.
After thinking about it, he unexpectedly suggested, “Well, why don’t we have the class rep give you a ride? His car’s already on its way.”
Zhou Le’s suggestion immediately lit up Liu Yanyan’s face.
Sheng Qian glanced at Lu Jingran’s expression and let out a cold scoff. “Dumb.”
After Sheng Qian spoke, Zhou Le noticed he cast a quick look his way… but he didn’t understand why.
“If it’s on your way, could you give her a lift?”
“Lu Jingran…”
Liu Yanyan turned to him, her eyes filled with hope.
The atmosphere fell quiet and tense, all eyes on Lu Jingran, as if waiting for his answer.
Zhou Le, too, was watching him.
After a long silence, Lu Jingran glanced at Zhou Le.
That look left Zhou Le frozen in place.
Then, Lu Jingran turned and walked away, brushing past Liu Yanyan.
Whatever he whispered to her, Liu Yanyan suddenly smiled brightly.
She nodded to Zhou Le before hurrying to catch up with Lu Jingran.
Lu Jingran had agreed.
“Wow,” Xia Linchuan said sourly. “The school beauty’s charm really is something.”
Even though Lin Xiaoxiao was Lu Jingran’s biggest fan, she couldn’t help but yield to Liu Yanyan’s allure.
If there were anyone in the world who could match Lu Jingran, it would indeed be Liu Yanyan. With her family background, academics, and looks, she was the perfect match for him.
Lin Xiaoxiao sighed, “I just hope the class rep won’t rush into a relationship. Give us some time to prepare ourselves, sob sob sob.”
“So, the ones shooting themselves in the foot here were us. If we’d known, we wouldn’t have let Liu Yanyan come along.”
“Don’t you think so, Zhou Le?”
When there was no response, Lin Xiaoxiao turned to look.
“Zhou Le? What are you thinking about?”
Zhou Le still hadn’t come back to his senses.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that, in that glance just now, Lu Jingran had been blaming him for something.
And also… Lu Jingran and Liu Yanyan’s back, looking at them, it made him feel…
