The Blacklist

In the Jiangzhou University canteen, the newly opened stall served Shanghainese cuisine, which was primarily light and delicate. Chu Ran quickly selected what she wanted and reached for her card to pay.

Ye Nanzhi was one step faster, calling out to the canteen auntie, “I’ll take the same as her, paying together,” as she swiped her meal card first.

This made Chu Ran feel a bit self-conscious. It wasn’t just about a few bucks for a meal; she was a Southerner with a preference for light flavors, and Ye Nanzhi had ordered the exact same thing without even looking. This…

“You don’t have to accommodate me,” Chu Ran said, noticing the regretful expression on Ye Nanzhi’s face as they passed other stalls. “I eat very little in the evening anyway. You don’t need to eat the same thing as me.”

In campus canteens, you typically bought food at a stall and carried it to a communal dining area. Theoretically, Ye Nanzhi could have bought something else and brought it over. But she glanced at Chu Ran’s right hand—the one she had bandaged herself.

Forget it. If she didn’t eat with her, it would be inconvenient for Chu Ran to carry a tray with one hand. This way, Ye Nanzhi could quietly carry both their meals at once.

Besides, as the one treating, she should follow the guest’s preferences.

“Isn’t this place new? I wanted to try it too,” Ye Nanzhi smiled, placing both their meals on one tray and carrying it to the dining area.

But once they started eating, Ye Nanzhi regretted it.

The stuff looked entirely green—a pile of vegetable leaves with a pitiful, tiny amount of minced meat, and the flavor was incredibly bland. After two bites, Ye Nanzhi couldn’t go on.

In contrast, Chu Ran sat opposite her with a dignified posture. A bite of vegetables, a sip of soup, a mouthful of rice—she chewed slowly and swallowed gracefully, perfectly composed.

Ye Nanzhi stared blankly at the leaves in her bowl, poking them aimlessly with her chopsticks.

“Stop daydreaming,” Chu Ran said. “Why don’t you go buy something else? My treat.” She pushed her meal card toward Ye Nanzhi.

“Then this would go to waste,” Ye Nanzhi sighed, not taking the card. Turning her head, she spotted the condiment jars on the table, and her dull eyes instantly lit up.

Right! If the flavor was bland, she could fix it herself!

Ye Nanzhi grabbed the jar of chili oil, dug out a large spoonful, and dropped it into her bowl. The clear vegetable soup was instantly covered in a layer of red oil, giving it a festive look and a much sharper scent.

Ye Nanzhi began eating spoonful after spoonful. While it still wasn’t exactly her favorite food, at least she could swallow it without wasting anything. Across from her, Chu Ran watched the previously dejected girl suddenly start feasting and shook her head with a smile.

“You look small, but you can really handle spice. If I hadn’t heard your Northeast accent, I’d suspect you were a girl from Sichuan.” When they left the canteen, Chu Ran noticed Ye Nanzhi’s naturally pink lips had been turned a watery red by the chili.

“Senior Chu, do all you Southerners eat so lightly?” Ye Nanzhi bought two bottles of juice and handed one to Chu Ran. After taking several large gulps, she finally screwed the cap back on with satisfaction. “It seems I am destined to stay in my Northern home forever!”

Ye Nanzhi truly couldn’t imagine how sad it would be if she were forced to give up a life surrounded by skewers and braised pots.

But even as she thought this, she felt an infinite curiosity about that distant place she had never visited.

“Senior Chu, do all Southern girls only eat vegetable leaves like you? Are they all as thin as you? People say Southern girls have amazing skin, so tender it could leak water. Senior, I think your skin is great—are all the girls back there like you…?”

Winter was approaching, and the days were getting darker earlier. It had been sunset before dinner, but now twilight had quietly set in. The light was dim, and the campus streetlamps had flickered to life.

Under the lamps, their shadows walked side by side. Ye Nanzhi was as lively as a rabbit—one moment walking backward in front of Chu Ran just to look at her, the next standing by her side, walking shoulder to shoulder.

“Senior Chu, are you afraid of mice? I’m terrified of them! I heard Southern mice are huge, and the cockroaches are giant too. Is that true?”

“Xiao Ye, what’s wrong!” Guo Peng’s voice snapped Ye Nanzhi back to reality. Seeing her staring blankly at the vegetable leaves in her bowl with a poor complexion, he whispered, “You haven’t eaten much, and you don’t look well. Are you feeling sick?”

Ye Nanzhi finally snapped out of it and shook her head, claiming she was just a bit carsick from the ride and couldn’t eat.

By the time they finished dinner, it was already nine o’clock.

Zheng Xiaorou and Guo Peng were locals and were going back to their respective homes, but Ye Nanzhi still lived in the school dormitory.

“I see it’s getting late. Let’s call it a day; we all have work and classes tomorrow,” Professor Song said, glancing at the time.

Once they reached the entrance, they began to arrange the commute.

Zheng Xiaorou and Guo Peng both lived downtown. Professor Song was about to suggest that Guo Peng take Zheng Xiaorou home while he drove around the University Town to drop Ye Nanzhi off before heading home himself. However, Chu Ran, who had been standing at the back of the group, suddenly spoke up.

“I live near the school. I can take anyone going back to campus on my way. Professor Song, don’t trouble yourself.”

Hearing this, Professor Song was delighted. His home and the school were in opposite directions; a round trip would take nearly an hour.

–That’s perfect! Then I’ll trouble Teacher Chu to take Xiao Ye back. Xiao Ye, hurry up and thank Teacher Chu.–

“No… it’s no trouble,” Ye Nanzhi quickly waved her hands. “I can just take a taxi. I don’t want to bother Teacher Chu…”

Chu Ran ignored Ye Nanzhi’s excuses entirely, gesturing for her to come over with a look that was exactly like the old days.

–It’s late, and it’s not safe for a girl to take a taxi alone. This is a good chance for you to get better acquainted on the way,– Professor Song laughed.

Recalling their earlier group chat, Guo Peng and Zheng Xiaorou immediately cast looks of pity and helplessness toward her.

Ye Nanzhi stared at the two of them, pleading for help with her eyes.

Guo Peng was quick-witted and tried to smooth things over.

–Xiao Ye, haven’t you always said you wanted to see Zheng Xiaorou’s cat? Why not take this chance to stay over for the night?–

Zheng Xiaorou didn’t catch on at first.

–My cat was sent to the hospital today…– Seeing Guo Peng blinking at her frantically, she finally realized his intent and quickly changed her tune. –But it’s okay! Xiao Ye can come stay with me. My family isn’t home today anyway. We can talk and share a bed tonight!–

Hearing the words “share a bed,” Ye Nanzhi’s footsteps faltered. Right then, Chu Ran’s voice, previously calm, took on an insistent edge as she signaled Ye Nanzhi.

“Hurry up.”

The tone was so cold it brooked no argument.

Ye Nanzhi could tell that Chu Ran had moved one step closer from “unhappy” toward “angry.”

Even after all this time, when Chu Ran got angry, Ye Nanzhi would still get nervous and immediately move in a direction that would appease her.

It was like a long-held habit, an almost subconscious reaction.

Ye Nanzhi thanked Zheng Xiaorou, said a quick goodbye to the others, and trotted to catch up with Chu Ran. When they reached the car, her hand, which was about to open the front passenger door, suddenly retracted. Instead, she opened the rear door.

Under Chu Ran’s gaze, Ye Nanzhi climbed into the back seat, deliberately maintaining a safe distance.

However, seemingly because Ye Nanzhi had followed obediently, Chu Ran didn’t press the matter and silently got into the driver’s seat.

The wheels began to turn as they finally started the journey back.

Ye Nanzhi sat alone in the corner of the back seat, her posture stiff and straight. Her knees were pressed together, her bag rested on her thighs, and her head was lowered as she stared at her phone. she switched between two home screens repeatedly, but she couldn’t decide which app to open.

“Stop looking at it,” Chu Ran’s voice broke the awkward silence. “Looking at a phone in a car makes it easy to get motion sickness.”

Ye Nanzhi froze for a moment. On the dinner table, “motion sickness” was what she had whispered to Guo Peng. Chu Ran saying this was her way of telling her that none of those small movements at the table had escaped her eyes.

Pressing the lock button on her phone, Ye Nanzhi shifted into a slightly more comfortable position and turned her gaze toward the window.

They were at a major intersection; the traffic was heavy, and pedestrians were hurrying along. It was past nine, and presumably, everyone was rushing home.

Being in a foreign city, Ye Nanzhi felt a ripple in her heart whenever she saw such scenes. In this unfamiliar city, there seemed to be nothing left that she absolutely had to aspire to every day.

The moment she stepped off the plane, Ye Nanzhi had forgotten what belonging felt like.

While she was dazed, Chu Ran’s voice pulled her thoughts back.

“Li Huan is that cousin of yours who wants to study architecture, right?”

Bringing up the morning incident instantly spiked Ye Nanzhi’s anxiety.

The traffic light turned green, and Chu Ran’s car moved forward again.

The surrounding neon lights were colorful, and the light and shadows flowed across the glass. Ye Nanzhi was in no mood to appreciate them. She rarely looked directly at Chu Ran, but now she watched every movement of the person in the driver’s seat, waiting for the “sentencing.”

But Chu Ran acted as if she couldn’t see her anticipation, remaining silent on purpose to keep Ye Nanzhi hanging.

It had been four years; it had been a long time since Ye Nanzhi had looked at her with this kind of gaze. The feeling was both foreign and familiar.

After turning at the third intersection, Chu Ran finally spoke.

“Skipping class once means her participation points will definitely be deducted. Tell her to work hard for the final exam and get a good grade so she doesn’t fail the course.”

Chu Ran’s handling of the result was strictly professional. She neither showed favoritism nor imposed an excessive punishment based on personal feelings.

As for Ye Nanzhi, she figured the reason she had escaped a disaster was that she hadn’t spoken the whole time; as for the word “Li Huan,” it was the “accomplices” who had coordinated that. “The law doesn’t punish the masses,” she thought.

Even so, she couldn’t help but sweat for the students in Li Huan’s class.

“Okay. Thank you, Teacher Chu.”

The moment the words “Teacher Chu” were uttered, Chu Ran’s gaze swept lightly across the rearview mirror before she flicked on the turn signal.

“You and those two fellow students of yours have a good relationship. Especially that boy; he’s quite considerate of you. It’s truly not easy to meet several ‘good friends’ when you’re alone in a new place.”

Chu Ran emphasized the words “good friends.”

She recalled them sitting together, picking up their phones at the same time, exchanging glances, and putting them down together.

Even when they left, the silent exchange of glances between them showed they knew each other’s thoughts perfectly.

This touching “friendship” was truly enviable.

Ye Nanzhi didn’t want things to get too tense with Chu Ran. After all, she still had to be in the same research group. Whether she could successfully graduate with her master’s degree was directly related to this. Angering Chu Ran would not end well.

“It’s okay,” Ye Nanzhi said with her head down. “I wasn’t very used to it when I first came here, and they took good care of me.”

Hearing this, Chu Ran’s expression softened slightly. She raised a hand to undo the top button of her shirt collar to relax a bit, then asked as if casually:

“Speaking of which, didn’t you say you wanted to stay in the North forever? Why did you come to study at Shen University?” It happened to be a red light. After stopping the car steadily, Chu Ran looked up and fixed her gaze on Ye Nanzhi’s reaction in the mirror. “Southern vegetable leaves, Southern mice, Southern cockroaches—didn’t you hate the South the most?”

Ye Nanzhi: “…”

Fortunately, she could see the large, illuminated characters of the Shen University gate in the distance.

As expected, there was always a way out.

“Teacher Chu, please pull over wherever it’s convenient for you at the school gate. You can just drop me off anywhere!”

The method of changing the subject was incredibly clumsy, making her goal of avoidance obvious at a glance. The University Town was in the suburbs, and it was already nine-thirty at night; there were almost no cars or people on the road. In terms of parking—anywhere was convenient.

Chu Ran didn’t press further. The car moved forward slowly and came to a steady stop at the school gate.

“Thank you, Teacher Chu,” Ye Nanzhi whispered. She turned and ran out of the car, her movements smooth and seamless, giving the other woman no chance to continue speaking.

Just as she was about to step into the school gates, thinking she had escaped, she was stopped by a voice from behind.

Her back stiffened, and she turned around mechanically.

Chu Ran had already stepped out of the car. Her long black hair was lightly tossed by the wind. With the first button of her shirt undone, she leaned lazily against the car, looking Ye Nanzhi up and down. Her voice took on a hint of leisure.

“Ye Nanzhi.” Chu Ran’s eyes were brightened by the lights behind her. “So, do you still not plan to take me off your WeChat blacklist?”