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On the way back, Ye Nanzhi held her long-awaited McFlurry in her hands, yet she wasn’t as happy as she had imagined.

She kept staring at the cookie crumbles on top of the ice cream, lost in thought.

Beside her, seeing this, Chu Ran didn’t rush her, letting her be.

By the time the ice cream had mostly melted, they finally arrived at their destination.

The moment the car stopped, Ye Nanzhi bolted out, jogging toward the elevator. She vanished from Chu Ran’s sight in an instant.

She moved so fast it was clear she had no intention of waiting for the other.

Chu Ran’s hand, which was unbuckling her seatbelt, froze in place.

It seemed she had pushed too hard earlier.

But she simply couldn’t stand the sight of the radiant smile on Ye Nanzhi’s face the moment the girl learned she could leave.

Yes, she had initially promised that she would let the little rabbit go once Professor Song returned. But that was merely a stopgap measure.

Currently, the two of them were getting along better than ever.

Ye Nanzhi no longer hid from her as she had before; she waited for her to come home from work every day. After a meal was prepared, she ate like a little hamster every time, giving a thumbs up to praise her cooking.

In truth, Chu Ran’s culinary skills weren’t great. At the very least, she wasn’t skilled in the types of dishes Ye Nanzhi liked.

Her own palate was light, and her meals were relatively simple.

But Ye Nanzhi liked dishes with stronger flavors, so Chu Ran had to learn as she went.

Once, because she hadn’t mastered the heat, the roasted sturgeon that Ye Nanzhi had been looking forward to for days came out of the oven with a large charred section.

“Don’t eat it.” Chu Ran planned to rely on takeout to fill the girl’s dashed hopes.

But Ye Nanzhi didn’t mind. She used her chopsticks to pick away the burnt skin, took a piece of the snowy-white fish underneath, dipped it in the sauce, and popped it into her mouth.

“It’s delicious! Try it if you don’t believe me!” Ye Nanzhi picked up another piece, this time holding her chopsticks out to Chu Ran.

The burnt fish still had a bitter aftertaste, but the girl was very happy, eating two whole bowls of rice that day.

Her thoughts returned to the present, and Chu Ran pinched the bridge of her nose.

Everything had been going so well. Yet, at this most critical moment… everything was about to return to its original place.

Now, it seemed they were back at square one; the little rabbit was starting to hide from her again.

When she entered the apartment, Ye Nanzhi was rummaging through a kitchen cabinet for something.

“What are you doing?”

“Where is the plastic wrap?”

“In the second drawer.”

Having found her target, Ye Nanzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly pulled off a piece and wrapped the nearly melted ice cream before putting it into the freezer.

“Great, I can freeze it and eat it next time.”

Chu Ran watched the little rabbit’s smug, smiling face. “So the reason you ran back so fast was for this?”

It wasn’t… because you wanted to avoid me?

“What else?”

“Nothing.” Having received the answer, Chu Ran couldn’t suppress the joy in her heart.

Meanwhile, Ye Nanzhi was thinking about using the McFlurry as a spread for toast tomorrow morning. However, she wasn’t sure if Chu Ran would allow her to eat something cold first thing in the morning.

Forget it, better not challenge her stomach. Maybe she’d make honey toast tonight instead.

Rarely, now that her injury was healed, she would be the one to cook this dish for Chu Ran.

Seeing the girl looking happy and wondering what strange thing was going on in her head, Chu Ran waved a hand in front of her eyes to bring her back to reality.

“What are you thinking about? You’re spacing out.”

“Nothing. I’m making a dessert for you tonight.”

“Oh? You know how to cook? How come I didn’t know you could do that? Don’t you only know how to cook instant noodles?”

“Dessert and cooking aren’t the same thing!” Speaking of cooking, that was a hurdle Ye Nanzhi had never quite cleared. Every time she saw the flames on the stove, an uncontrollable sense of fear would cloud her heart.

Chu Ran had a class in the afternoon, and Ye Nanzhi hadn’t been to Professor Song’s lab in a long time. Now that her old injury was healed and she needed to submit her revised proposal, she had to make a trip to the university as well.

So, the two decided to take a quick trip to the nearby supermarket first to buy the ingredients needed for dinner in advance.

At the supermarket entrance, Chu Ran proactively grabbed a shopping cart. “You walk in front, I’ll follow you. Just take whatever you need.”

This wasn’t the first time the two had gone to the supermarket together. Four years ago, though the occasions were limited, Chu Ran had always followed quietly behind Ye Nanzhi, just like this.

Usually, it was Ye Nanzhi who proactively followed Chu Ran. It seemed that only in the supermarket was the tall woman willing to follow her lead and slow her pace.

As Ye Nanzhi walked, she used her phone to search for a recipe for honey toast.

She needed a loaf of bread, butter, honey, assorted fruits, and chocolate sauce.

However, remembering that Chu Ran didn’t like overly sweet things, Ye Nanzhi decided to swap the chocolate sauce for yogurt.

Passing through the fruit section, red apples were piled up one by one, looking exceptionally tempting under the warm yellow lights.

“They’re apples today.”

Ye Nanzhi had intended to buy a few as well, but then she heard the person beside her speak.

“Probably because it’s almost Christmas.”

Chu Ran deliberately drew out the final note, her tone full of teasing. “I didn’t expect that in the South, people give apples for Christmas too.”

Hearing this, Ye Nanzhi pulled back her hand.

“I don’t want to eat apples anymore. Let’s look at something else!”

The deliberate avoidance couldn’t have been more obvious. But Chu Ran was in a good mood today and didn’t want to argue. She turned to another matter. “Now that you’ve recovered, what do you want to eat tonight?”

“Anything is fine.” Ye Nanzhi waved her hand, then suddenly remembered that Chu Ran had studied abroad for so long, so she must be good at making Western food. She hadn’t eaten Western food made by Chu Ran yet and was curious to see if her German style was authentic.

German cuisine focuses on meat, and since Ye Nanzhi was a meat-eating rabbit, it was right up her alley.

“Let’s have German food tonight!” Ye Nanzhi smiled. “Let’s taste the skills Teacher Chu has accumulated over the years. How about roasted pork chops?”

“Oh? You even know about German roasted pork chops? It seems you’ve done quite a bit of homework!”

Their time together recently had made Chu Ran more certain that during her absence, Ye Nanzhi had searched for information about Germany more than once.

The little rabbit just kept putting on a front and wouldn’t admit it.

Chu Ran wasn’t in a hurry; she just waited quietly for her to slip up bit by bit.

And here it was, another slip.

“That’s just common knowledge!” Ye Nanzhi stopped mechanically and saw Chu Ran leaning against the shopping cart, looking at her with great interest. She deliberately moved behind Chu Ran. “You walk in front!”

“Then you push the cart?”

“I’ll push it then!” Just as Ye Nanzhi was about to take the cart, Chu Ran swung the handle away. “Forget it, I’ll do it.”

“So this is what it feels like to follow someone. No wonder you used to like following me back then.”

At the mention of the past, Ye Nanzhi stopped in her tracks. She held a carton of yogurt, rolling it back and forth in her palms.

“Chu Ran. I remember you saying that you don’t like following behind others.” This was one of the few times Ye Nanzhi proactively brought up the past.

“Mhm.”

“Then why… why do you follow me?”

“Then what about you? Why did you follow me back then?” Instead of answering, Chu Ran threw another question back at Ye Nanzhi.

“Because I was curious about you. I wanted to know things about you, but I didn’t dare ask, so I could only follow quietly behind you and discover things for myself.” Ye Nanzhi honestly confessed her state of mind from back then, then raised her shimmering eyes. “What about you? Have you ever followed behind anyone else?”

“You,” Chu Ran answered without a second thought.

“I don’t count. Is there anyone else?”

“I don’t easily follow behind others,” Chu Ran said. “Unless I want to.”

Just like I want to follow you right now.

Hearing this, Ye Nanzhi didn’t respond. She put the yogurt into the cart and walked forward with her head down.

In the afternoon, inside the research lab. Guo Peng and Zheng Xiaorou were looking at each other, both wearing expressions of deep worry.

Ye Nanzhi’s sudden appearance broke the heavy atmosphere.

“Guo Peng! Xiaorou! Long time no see! Did you miss me?”

“Xiao Ye!” Seeing that Ye Nanzhi had recovered and was moving freely, the two were filled with pleasant surprise.

“Why do you two… look like you aren’t very happy?”

Guo Peng waved his hand. “Sigh, don’t mention it. The second defense is coming up soon, and I don’t know what difficult questions the Dean will ask me this time!”

“Don’t worry!” Ye Nanzhi comforted him. “Last time, the Dean only said you weren’t fully prepared, not that your topic was bad. Besides, haven’t you been preparing for a long time? There surely won’t be a problem.”

Guo Peng tossed the pen in his hand forward. “Sigh, I really envy Xiao Ye. You passed so smoothly! If it doesn’t work this time, I’ll have to delay my graduation. When that happens, forget about Christmas; my family will be adding a new dish to the New Year’s table—cane-thrashed meat!”

“Not really. It’s just that the questions those teachers asked were ones Teacher Chu had helped me prepare for in advance, otherwise I wouldn’t have been so lucky,” Ye Nanzhi said truthfully.

“Oh, Xiao Ye, it looks like you two are getting along well!”

While Guo Peng was teasing, Zheng Xiaorou sat alone, watching the two of them chatting and laughing while she looked troubled. Especially when she heard Guo Peng mention Christmas, her expression became even more pained.

“Xiaorou, what’s wrong?” Ye Nanzhi asked proactively when she saw Zheng Xiaorou’s expression was off.

“Xiao Ye, can I ask you for a favor?” Zheng Xiaorou said. “Are you busy on Christmas? Can I take up a little bit of your time?”

Previously, Zheng Xiaorou’s cat had fallen ill. It was currently in a critical recovery phase and needed to be watched carefully to ensure it drank water, took medicine, and ate on time every day.

However, Zheng Xiaorou had been assigned to go on an out-of-town inspection. Setting aside the inconvenience of bringing the cat, the stress of the journey would surely worsen its condition. The best way was to find someone trustworthy to help feed the cat its medicine on time.

Having explained the situation, Xiaorou pleaded, “Xiao Ye, Guo Peng already promised to help me look after the cat usually, but he has something on Christmas and really can’t get away. Could I trouble you to go to my place that day and check on my kitten? It won’t take much of your time. Just watch it take its medicine and leave some water and cat food.”

“Christmas…”

Seeing Ye Nanzhi hesitate, Zheng Xiaorou grew a bit flustered. “What is it, Xiao Ye? Do you already have plans for Christmas?”

She did have plans. Chu Ran, relying on the “claw machine bet,” had proactively claimed her schedule for Christmas.

But… Ye Nanzhi didn’t want to pass up such a great opportunity.

This time, she wouldn’t exactly be stood up Chu Ran. She had never agreed to that bet from the beginning. Now, she was acting out of a spirit of “helping others” to assist her classmate.

Besides, kittens were so cute; how could she bear to see one suffer through illness!

“Don’t worry, Xiaorou, leave it to me! I promise to take good care of the kitten and stay with her all night!” Ye Nanzhi patted her chest and guaranteed.

“Really! Xiao Ye, thank you so much!” Zheng Xiaorou was so excited she almost picked Ye Nanzhi up. She quickly pulled out the house keys she had prepared and sent her the GPS location of her home.

Once she finished her business there, Ye Nanzhi went upstairs to the teaching secretary’s office to submit her proposal.

Watching her receding back, Guo Peng asked Zheng Xiaorou, “Xiaorou, don’t you think that after staying at Teacher Chu’s for a while, Xiao Ye’s personality has changed?”

“Mhm! I have that feeling too!”

“Right! Xiao Ye used to be the most timid; she wouldn’t even dare to speak loudly. Today she actually asked us… if we missed her? This is too abnormal!”

Guo Peng thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. Logically, staying with a teacher every day should result in a lot of mental pressure, so why was Xiao Ye getting more and more lively?

Zheng Xiaorou said realistically: “There are only three possibilities for a girl’s personality to change: the first is puberty or menopause; the second is that a major event occurred in her life; if it’s neither of the first two, there’s only one possibility left~”

The corners of Zheng Xiaorou’s mouth curved up, as if she had seen through to the truth. She smiled and said, “She’s in love.”