Near the end of the period, Bai Ziren is very busy. In addition to reviewing professional books, she also needs to continue to help her tutor translate. The personal time is getting less and less. Even so, she still finds time to go to the library and luckily finds Cheng Books recommended by Jing Bo.
During the lunch break, under the century-old camphor tree on campus, Bai Ziren's concentrated reading was interrupted by a certain voice.
"What are you looking at?"
Zhou Bibi sat next to her, saw her subconsciously close the book, immediately lost interest in knowing the answer, and joked about other things: "You dare to ask for leave for Mr. Fu's birthday party, do you still want to live?"
"I have something to do that day."
"What can be bigger than your supervisor's birthday? If you don't have a good relationship with him, you will know that you will suffer after the second year of research. You can only do odd jobs on key topics, maybe you don't even have a name, and you can't succeed in your thesis for three years. Publish an article, have you thought about the result? If so, you might as well drop out of school early and marry someone as a housewife."
"Thank you for reminding me." Bai Ziren stood up, ready to read somewhere else.
"Don't rush to hide." Zhou Bibi smiled a little boringly, "I'm going to sleep in the big classroom, and I'll let you here."
After he left, Bai Ziren felt very strange. He came here specially to remind her that there is an important connection between interpersonal relationships and future? But they didn't get to know each other to this extent, she was deeply puzzled.
In the evening, everyone gathered in the small conference room and devoted themselves to translating Fu He's works until the bell rang in the evening.
Zhou Biran put down his pen and said to everyone: "Let's go to eat supper together later, we, Xiaobai, will treat you."
Bai Ziren, who was arranging his schoolbag, turned to look at him when he heard the words, and asked silently with his eyes, "What treat?"
Zhou Bibi turned around and smiled very softly: "Is that so? You told me so quietly just now, but you were afraid of being rejected by everyone, so you dared not speak."
Huang Xiaoling in the front row fluttered her long eyelashes, with an expression of "seeing a ghost", trying to confirm: "Bai Ziren, do you want to treat me? Is it real or not?"
The other seniors and seniors also stopped their movements one after another, their eyes were all focused on Bai Ziren's face, and they didn't dare to ask easily, for fear of making a mistake.
"She has already acquiesced." Zhou Bibi was the first to get up and said, "We don't want to pick any more, so we'll go to the newly opened restaurant on Siwei Road."
"That restaurant is very popular, do you still have a seat?" Senior Sister Zhao asked.
"Does that one serve boiled fish? I like tomato pot." Senior Sister Luo said.
Tang Xuechang shook his head: "No, no, the specialty of that restaurant is the spicy pot, and the tomato is not tasty enough."
Huang Xiaoling said coquettishly: "Spicy food will cause acne, I want pork bone soup, it is very nourishing in winter."
"We'll discuss the details when we arrive, and we're leaving now." Zhou Biran simply picked up his schoolbag, not forgetting to urge Bai Ziren, "Big sponsor, hurry up."
Bai Ziren was speechless, and silently squeezed the purse in his pocket. Fortunately, he brought enough money today.
Walking all the way to Siwei Road, Bai Ziren, who was treating guests, fell to the end. Zhou Biran turned back to check if she had followed after walking a certain distance, as if he was afraid that she would run away temporarily.
"Zhou Biran, is your family related to Vice President Zhou?" Huang Xiaoling suddenly asked Zhou Biran.
Zhou must have ignored her.
Huang Xiaoling felt a little wronged. After getting along with Zhou Bi, she had complicated feelings towards Zhou Bi. On the one hand, she hated his arrogance, but on the other hand, she couldn't help paying attention to his every move.
"Xiaoling, I don't dare to ask this kind of thing face to face, you are quite courageous." Senior Tang has always been tolerant of Huang Xiaoling, and now he came out to make a rescue.
"I'm just asking casually, it's fine if I don't answer." Huang Xiaoling took the initiative to walk next to Senior Tang, talking and laughing with him.
Zhou Biran slowed down, and waited for Bai Ziren to come forward, and whispered, "Have you brought enough money?"
Bai Ziren nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll pay the bill first while everyone is eating."
Bai Ziren refused solemnly: "Since it is my treat, why should you pay the bill?"
"Because I tricked you."
"I know you're trying to get me closer to them."
Zhou Bibi felt relieved after hearing this sentence: "It turns out that you are not so uninspired."
"Thank you, but don't do this in the future, I will solve my own problems."
If Bai Ziren's last sentence made Zhou Biran feel a little ecstatic, then this sentence made him feel awkward again. Why is this woman always acting like a stranger? Does he look that annoying
When we arrived at the restaurant, everyone sat down and discussed for nearly 20 minutes just choosing the bottom of the pot. Finally, when everyone agreed, Huang Xiaoling ordered some extra stir-fried dishes and a snack. Zhou Biran gave her a cold look. Received his eyes, understood that he was unhappy, but couldn't guess the reason.
While waiting for the food to be served, Senior Tang took the initiative to ask Bai Ziren: "Xiao Bai, did you grow up here?"
"right."
"I haven't heard you speak your native dialect."
"She doesn't even speak Mandarin." Huang Xiaoling said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Even we are in the same class, and we only spoke a few words after one semester."
"I don't like talking in class either." Zhou Biran said indifferently, "Everyone is here to study, not for a spring outing."
When Huang Xiaoling heard that it was aimed at her, he frowned, as if his heart had been pricked by a needle.
When the boiled fish pot was served, the atmosphere naturally became lively. Senior sister Zhao picked up a piece of fish and asked Bai Ziren: "Xiao Bai, what are your hobbies?"
"She often goes to the library." Zhou Biran replied instead.
"anything else?"
"It's gone." Zhou Biran said.
Sister Zhao didn't believe it, and shook her head: "No way? The little girl must have a lot of things she likes."
Zhou Biran asked back, "Why are you inquiring so much detail? Do you want to introduce someone to her?"
Huang Xiaoling took the opportunity to refute: "Zhou Biran, why are you always rushing to answer for others?"
Bai Ziren also felt that something was wrong, looking at Zhou Biran, he said to Huang Xiaoling with a half-smile, "I am willing."
"..."
In the steaming heat, Huang Xiaoling put down his chopsticks and kept staring at Zhou Bibiran with wide eyes. The two got into a confrontation. The two seniors sat on the side and laughed secretly. Senior Tang came out to smooth things over again, and moved the topic elsewhere.
Absent-minded, Bai Ziren's eyes fell on the door, and a group of people came in, and the second familiar figure among them made her unable to take her eyes off for an instant. It was Cheng Jingbo, with a coat on his arm, walking in front The man turned his head back to talk to him frequently. He seemed to smile and said something, but the distance was a bit far, and Bai Ziren couldn't see, let alone hear.
The group of them sat at a square table at the door, and Cheng Jingbo sat at the seat outside.
Bai Ziren's distraction quickly caught Senior Tang's attention, and he asked her, "Xiao Bai, why did you only take a few bites?"
Only then did she regain her senses, and lowered her head to eat the fish in the bowl.
About half a minute later, she heard a voice from the mobile phone in her bag, took it out and saw a short message: "You and your classmate?"
The sender is Cheng Jingbo.
She subconsciously looked in his direction, but he didn't turn his head deliberately, his eyes were still on his friends, listening to them talking patiently.
"Yes." she replied.
Then nothing happened.
Because there were people around each other and it was inconvenient to disturb, Bai Ziren didn't come forward to say hello, but this didn't affect her secretly paying attention to him. She found that he didn't seem to have any appetite, barely moved his chopsticks, and just drank water.
"Why do you keep looking at the man over there?" Zhou Biran noticed that something was wrong with Bai Ziren's gaze, and nudged her with his elbow, "Be careful that he turns around and accuses you of harassing eyes."
"Which guy?" Senior Zhao looked over, and smiled quickly, "It's the table by the door, there are just four guys, let me guess who Xiaobai is looking at."
"Is there still a need to guess?" Tang Xue answered her humorously, "Even if it is me, I will only look at the man in the shirt with the straightest back."
"I saw it too, Xiaobai, you have a good eye." Senior Sister Luo sincerely praised, "The man in the shirt is really very temperamental, with a perfect side profile, I don't know what the front looks like."
Hearing them openly discuss Cheng Jingbo, Bai Ziren was a little surprised, and slowly remembered the fact that with Cheng Jingbo's appearance and temperament, it was impossible for him to be silent in the crowd.
But Cheng Jingbo just didn't turn his face away, which made the two senior sisters very anxious.
"Actually, if you really want to look at handsome guys, there's nothing to say about Junior Zhou's looks." Senior Tang deliberately complimented Zhou Biran.
Huang Xiaoling answered: "It's too superficial to look at looks alone. In this era, handsome guys need to have demeanor in addition to their faces to get high marks."
Zhou Bibi didn't care about this little girl, and chuckled indifferently. This smile made Huang Xiaoling blush. Fortunately, the whole table was steaming, and for a while, no one could tell whether their faces were red from the smoke or from the rapid heartbeat.
They continued at that table until the table was finished. When Cheng Jingbo got up, she glanced in Bai Ziren's direction by the way, took that short glance, and walked out of the restaurant with her friends after taking it back.
"It turned out to be him, a teacher at the University of Finance and Economics. He is quite famous. When he first entered the school, the girls went crazy and lined up to listen to his class. Later, the large classroom was paralyzed by the crowd. What is his name?" Look, I forgot, the surname seems to be Cheng."
Zhou Biran listened to Sister Luo's statement and thought about it.
"Really?" Bai Ziren took the initiative to chat with Sister Luo for the first time, "He is very popular among students?"
"It should be, after all, people grow up like that."
"You seem to be really interested in him." Zhou Biran asked Bai Ziren seriously, "Why, which type do you like?"
Bai Ziren was silent for a while, just when everyone thought she was embarrassed, she said, "That's very good."
"..."
Zhou Biran's smile faded slowly, he clasped the glass with his fingers, and analyzed slowly: "It's a pity that your chances are slim. If you don't mention whether you will meet again in the future, even if he is standing in front of you, I think you will even open your mouth to talk to him." I don't even have the courage."
Huang Xiaoling was dissatisfied: "Zhou Biran, what you said is too mean."
"People who can't adapt to my speaking style can only show that they are too fragile and have poor resistance to stress. It is recommended to go back to the furnace and rebuild."
Huang Xiaoling gritted his teeth, the hand holding the chopsticks was shaking.
When Bai Ziren returned to the dormitory, he sent a text message to Cheng Jingbo, basically saying that he was sorry for not coming up to say hello just now.
"It's okay, you should go out with your peers more, but don't go back too late."
Bai Ziren inexplicably felt a little strange, which could not be described in detail, it seemed to be a very faint alienation.
Knowing that he couldn't possibly mind this trivial matter, she just had such an illusion.
On the weekend, Cheng Jingbo could no longer accompany Bai Ziren to the psychiatric clinic because of something. This fact in front of her eyes deepened her illusion.
After the one-hour visit, Dr. Chen closed the record book: "I'm going on a business trip in the next few weeks, and you just have an exam, why don't you come back after the holiday."
Bai Ziren said no problem, then bid him farewell, walked out of the clinic, and found that it was raining outside, she trotted across the corridor, went to the front hospital lobby to hide from the rain, found a place to sit, and began to think about certain issues after sitting down , she noticed that her thoughts were becoming more intense, she seemed to be caught in an unprecedented contradiction, and it was an emotional issue that had nothing to do with academics, and she was struggling to figure it out.
After some time, she inadvertently raised her eyes, and found that a familiar person got off the elevator, and he was not alone, and there was a woman in a cashmere coat beside him.
Bai Ziren saw that the woman kept her head down, as if she was crying, and her shoulders kept trembling. Cheng Jingbo was talking to her. Suddenly, the trembling of her shoulders increased with the sound of crying, and she seemed to be unable to bear it. He fell on him in a second, and without pushing her away, he helped her up, put his hand on her shoulder, and patted her lightly and solemnly.
Such a picture made Bai Ziren's thoughts still, and she immediately decided to leave here, picked up her bag and walked forward quickly.
When she arrived at the door, she was about to run out in the rain when she was stopped by a voice behind her: "Bai Ziren."
Hearing his voice, she turned around, and before she was ready to face him with any expression, she met his peaceful and focused eyes.
"A friend of mine was hospitalized, and the test result he just received was bad news. His wife was very sad." He looked at her and said slowly, "They were newly married not long ago, and their relationship has always been very good. When something like this happens to one of them, It's a heavy blow to the other side."
After he finished speaking, he looked at her quietly and didn't explain anything else.
Just such a sentence is enough for her to walk out of the darkness and see the bright world again, and an answer hidden in her heart quietly emerges.
She is liking him.
Maybe she fell in love with him the first time she saw him, and it hasn't changed until now, but there is no need to distinguish whether the strong emotion that arose just now, is jealousy, she knows that she likes him, this is the point .
"Wait for me, I'll take you back." After a while, he said to her, "It's raining outside, it's inconvenient for you to go alone."
"No, you should go to accompany your friends now, that's more important." Now that she understood what was going on, she had returned to normal and said sincerely.
On the one hand, she was just going back in the rain, but on the other hand, it was his friend's life-and-death hurdle, and everyone could tell which was more important. What she should do at this moment was to leave alone, and let him concentrate on his own affairs without disturbing him.
"It's okay." He stretched out his hand and pulled her back persistently, and placed her in a safe corner, away from the splashing raindrops. The approaching voice reassured her, "Stand here and wait for me."