Missed You While Waiting in the Rain - Chapter 8
But later, they didn’t appear for quite a long time.
My experiments and thesis had reached a critical stage, and coupled with the final exams, I was completely immersed in the ocean of academia, with hardly any energy left to deal with other matters.
By the time these finally came to an end, the semester was about to conclude.
Undergraduates have their holidays much earlier, yet Jiang Xingran, whose home is in this city, did not leave the campus. He continued, as he did before the holidays, to escort me to the library and laboratory every day.
In the afternoon, the last batch of experimental data was finally recorded. I turned off the equipment, picked up my phone, and instinctively sent Jiang Xingran a message: “I’m done.”
Seeing the words “typing” flashing at the top of the screen, I suddenly realized that I had completely gotten used to his presence.
Half of the songs in my playlist are ones he shared, and every day after finishing experiments, I habitually send him a message and then wait for him in the laboratory.
Even because Jiang Xingran went home today and was late coming to the laboratory to pick me up, my mentor teased me with a question: “Where’s your little boyfriend?”
I opened my mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed: “…He’s a junior brother.”
She winked at me, a hint of mischief in her expression: “Alright, a junior brother, and more handsome than the previous one.”
Just as she finished speaking, Jiang Xingran stepped through the door.
My mentor, accustomed to big scenes, remained calm and even greeted him: “Xiao Jiang, I heard you also plan to pursue postgraduate studies at this school?”
Jiang Xingran nodded: “Yes.”
“Have you considered joining my group? You could be senior sister and junior brother with Xia Min.”
My face flushed slightly, but Jiang Xingran laughed: “I’d be delighted.”
As we walked side by side out of the experimental building, I asked him softly, “Did you hear what my mentor said…?”
“Which part are you referring to?”
He turned his head to look at me, a smile curving at his lips: “The part about being a little boyfriend, or the part about me being more handsome than Han Ze?”
The latter part sounded quite bold, yet he said it so calmly that it seemed perfectly natural.
I avoided his intense gaze and whispered, “Not just the face… You and Han Ze are different in every way.”
“So, do you prefer Han Ze’s type?”
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head: “He is indeed… very passionate, but like a spoiled child, even without bad intentions, he still ends up hurting others.”
Jiang Xingran nodded: “Senior sister, do you remember? When Han Ze came to find you, I mentioned that the night before, he gathered people from two dormitories for a meeting, actually to discuss how to win you back.”
“He disclosed everything, including… your grandpa’s situation.”
At this point, he paused, his gaze lingering on my face.
“So actually, before that day, that night, I had already fought with him. People from both dormitories were trying to mediate, and he kept asking me if I had feelings for you since two years ago.”
“And I told him, yes.”
I looked at him in surprise.
It was midsummer, at dusk, and the sky was painted with rich golden-red hues, enveloping Jiang Xingran’s face, softening his sharp brows and contours.
“Senior sister might not remember, but when we first enrolled, you were delivering food for the fast-food restaurant at the school gate, and you forgot to pack chopsticks. That guy was in a bad mood and insisted you go back to get a pair of chopsticks for him.”
“Ah?” I looked at him in shock, “You were that guy?!”
This face, doesn’t quite match.
“…” Jiang Xingran was silent for two seconds, then suddenly leaned closer, laughing near me, “Xia Min, don’t you remember? I was the one who gave him chopsticks from my own meal.”
Memory suddenly flooded back.
It was raining that day, and I was wearing a helmet, barely able to see the furious face of the person in front of me.
Seeing that apologies were useless, I was about to ride back to get chopsticks when suddenly a hand reached out from the side, holding a pair of brand-new disposable bamboo chopsticks.
“Use mine, they’re new.”
He put his arm around that guy’s shoulder, the rain was too heavy, I couldn’t see his face, only hear his voice,
“You lost a game and are in a bad mood, why make things difficult for the girl? It’s raining so hard.”
…
Turns out I met Jiang Xingran on a rainy day too.
He sighed lightly as he said this: “Later, when I heard you were with Han Ze, I felt a bit unwilling, clearly I was the one who noticed you first, how come he got ahead?”
“It was a coincidence, really. During the school sports meeting, my period came early, and Han Ze asked a junior sister to bring me sanitary napkins and secretly remind me. Because of this, we started interacting.”
After I finished speaking, I waited for Jiang Xingran’s response, but it didn’t come. Feeling puzzled, I looked up at him.
His gaze towards me was filled with a mix of shock and regret.
I was about to ask what was wrong when he exhaled deeply and changed the subject:
“There’s a music festival in the Southern Suburb in three days, Fulushou will be performing. Senior sister, would you like to go together?”