Chapter Thirty: Quite a Good Match After All

The ancients valued every moment more than precious jade.

This was a saying that Cao Aiqing’s grandfather, who taught history, often repeated to her when she was young, guiding her in reading and writing. Such early influence played a major role in shaping her disciplined character. Whenever she made plans with someone, she never arrived late; she would even come early on purpose. Her grandfather had said that this was a form of respect in dealing with others. Although the younger generation’s sense of time has loosened nowadays, this habit had become second nature to her through years of teaching and example.

Cao Aiqing thought that classmate He probably wouldn’t come early like she did. After all, boys like him were usually night owls who loved playing games. It was rare to have a weekend like this; he might just have woken up.

“I’m heading out now. Are you up yet?”

After entering the mall, Cao Aiqing sent He Tianran this message, implying that if he had arrived early or was on his way, all the better; if he hadn’t gotten up yet, there was no need to rush.

After a while, seeing no reply, she assumed it was the latter.

Thinking it over, she decided to browse the mall.

Just then, she heard someone singing on the second floor in a guitar shop. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, though the song was in Japanese, and she couldn’t recall who it was. Curiosity piqued, she decided to investigate.

This mall was quite large and winding on the second floor. As she leisurely approached the guitar shop, with only a dozen steps left, she suddenly heard a somewhat stiff voice behind her.

“Classmate Cao... the restaurant is on the third floor.”

She turned around in surprise to see He Tianran standing behind her, though she hadn’t noticed when he arrived.

The boy was dressed all in black—a black hoodie, black joggers, and a black baseball cap covered by the hood of his sweatshirt, as if deliberately hiding in the shadows. If he had suddenly said something like “Three years and then another three years,” Cao Aiqing wouldn’t have been too shocked.

Well... it really suited He’s personality perfectly.

After saying this, He turned and headed toward the escalator. Fortunately, the girl was used to his taciturn nature and followed his pace. After a moment’s hesitation, she mustered courage and said:

“Classmate He... you kind of look like an undercover agent today.”

“???”

“Isn’t that so? You walked here silently, your outfit matches, and you appeared out of nowhere. I was half-expecting you to say something like ‘There’s a bomb in the mall, we need to evacuate quickly!’”

Watching the girl frown and lower her voice, mimicking a line from a drama, He Tianran suddenly realized that she might not be as hard to approach as he had thought.

“Ahem, no, it’s just a habit to dress like this. By the way, why are you so early?”

“Hmph, classmate He, you’re no different!”

Cao Aiqing shot back. The two rode the escalator up and found a seat tucked away in the restaurant.

Without Wen Liang’s help, He Tianran was admittedly poor at making conversation with girls. Cao Aiqing lowered her head, her gaze flickering between the menu and her phone, seemingly comparing online meal deals with the restaurant prices.

Today, the girl wore two braids hanging over her chest, with two longer strands framing her forehead naturally. She had a gentle and charming aura. He thought to himself:

“I haven’t seen you wear your hair like this at school before. It looks nice...”

Another quick attempt at small talk. Thinking that Wen Liang had dressed up today to help him shoot a video, he wondered if Cao Aiqing had done this hairstyle just to go out to eat with him.

That thought was immediately cut off by his rational mind. Such fantasies were not suitable for him.

Cao Aiqing laughed and said:

“Really? I recently learned this from my mom and tried it out today. But it’s too troublesome to do regularly; I don’t have time to style it for school. But you, classmate He…”

She suddenly glanced around, then lowered her voice to a volume that made He lean forward involuntarily:

“We’re indoors now. Could you maybe take off one of your two hats? It probably won’t reveal you!”

He Tianran felt awkward. He cleared his throat and pulled down the hoodie’s hood, revealing most of his face.

Cao Aiqing found He Tianran quite interesting. At school, he was silent and mysterious; outside, he maintained the same enigmatic air. But his online persona was completely different.

It was often said that introverted people expressed a different side of themselves online. Could he be one of them?

Seeing Cao Aiqing scroll through her phone while waiting for the food, He felt like a failure. At times like this, the guy should take the initiative.

“Buzz~”

His phone vibrated in his bag. He thought it might be from Wen Liang. Leaning back, he opened the message—

“(≧▽≦)/ Chatting like this, do you feel better?”

He looked up to see Cao Aiqing smiling and holding up her phone, fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard.

“You seem a bit preoccupied today, He. Not saying much!”

He replied with a meme that read: “I’m a straight guy; I don’t get this, sis.”

All his tangled feelings were summed up in one image. Cao Aiqing giggled, and the subtle awkwardness between them began to fade.

Even though she was right there, accommodating her by chatting this way—was he too hopeless?

He put down his phone and recalled what the short-haired girl had told him:

I can,

I can chat well with classmate Cao.

Encouraged, he spoke slowly:

“Classmate Cao... you’re actually quite easy to talk to.”

Cao Aiqing still smiled and put down her phone, folding her hands on the table.

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me.”

“To be honest, your invitation to lunch was a bit sudden. I was just joking at first.”

He tilted the brim of his cap, but Cao Aiqing feigned indignation:

“Even if it’s a joke, I’m eating! I spent my hundred-yuan voucher! This isn’t a joke!”

“Eat! Definitely eat! If I’d known, we could’ve gone next door for the buffet—48 yuan per person at noon, seafood and lobster included. Forget a hundred, I’d pay a thousand to have you eat!”

“Ah? Why didn’t you say so earlier…”

Just then, the waiter brought their set meal. Both Cao and He instinctively shut up, exchanging glances. After the waiter left, the girl covered her face and they laughed together again.

The two-person set was actually quite a deal: signature pineapple seafood fried rice, curry prawns, charcoal-grilled pork neck, and coconut sago dessert.

At 68 yuan for all this, even He admired Cao’s thriftiness.

“How did you get that hundred-yuan voucher?”

Even He himself was surprised that, at such an important lunch with his crush, the question foremost on his mind was this.

But perhaps by chance, they both had a knack for spotting deals, and this topic naturally continued.

“He, you really are a Capricorn straight out of an astrology book!”

Cao Aiqing spooned a mouthful of sago, shrugged happily, and closed her eyes in delight.

“Really? There’s such a thing?”

“Yes. Capricorns usually appear serious and silent, with rational minds and cautious money management. You’ve got all those traits!”

“And what about your Taurus sign?”

“Hey, you just said you’re Capricorn. How do you know I’m Taurus?”

“…My former deskmate Ye Jiaqi told me. She’s the class monitor.”

He laughed it off, thinking that although she was the school’s belle and kept her info private, some things could be learned from her followers.

“Ah, well, Taurus are famously thrifty money-savers…”

Cao Aiqing spoke without suspicion, launching into a lengthy explanation about zodiac signs. He listened attentively, even though he wasn’t really into astrology, he found it quite interesting at the moment.

Meanwhile, he noticed Cao loved sweets—she barely touched the savory dishes but was almost finished with her sago dessert.

“Buzz buzz~”

Suddenly, He’s phone vibrated again. Answering, it was Wen Liang calling.

“Hey, Tianran, are you okay? It’s been half an hour.”

Wen Liang’s worried voice tightened He’s heart. He glanced at Cao Aiqing, who had stopped talking, and gave an apologetic smile.

“Ah, I’m coming back soon. Don’t worry.”

He made a feigned excuse and ended the call.

“You’re leaving?” Cao Aiqing asked.

Looking at the barely touched dishes on the table, this meeting had come about only because he’d lost his phone. Who knew when the next one would be?

Was he just going to leave so abruptly?

He Tianran wrestled with himself but finally relaxed his expression and said:

“No, I’m just going home for a bit. Someone at home forgot their keys, so I’m taking them over. My place is very close, just across at Dongyuan Community. Just a few steps.”

Cao Aiqing suddenly understood. “Oh, no wonder you’re so early. Then you’d better come back quickly! I can’t finish all this alone; it would be such a waste!”

He promised, “Don’t worry, I skipped breakfast just to eat this meal with you!”

She laughed at his words. He got up and took a few steps, then suddenly turned back.

“By the way, could you finish this for me? I’m not really into sweets.”

He pushed his portion of sago dessert toward her and added:

“You said not to waste food. Eat it slowly—I’ll probably be back by the time you finish. It’s 32 yuan a serving, not cheap…”

Fearing a refusal, he hurriedly finished speaking and dashed out of the restaurant like a gust of wind.

Staring at the untouched dessert, Cao Aiqing thought to herself: Where did I leave off talking about zodiac signs?

Ah, right!

Capricorn and Taurus actually make a pretty good match,

whether as friends or… something else entirely.