78

 After the two returned to school, for the next few days, Xiang Ran stayed in the art studio with the school beauty, working on the competition piece.

In their studio, there was actually a day when a laptop appeared—something you’d never expect to see there.

That afternoon, just as the two were about to take a nap, Teacher Lin's phone call came through.

"Hello, Teacher Lin."

"Little Ran, come home for dinner tonight."

Hearing this, Xiang Ran first glanced at the school beauty resting her head on his lap. Seeing her nod, he replied, “Okay.”

After hanging up, Liu Shuyao raised her head and changed her position, now leaning on Xiang Ran.

“Teacher Lin?”

“My mom.”

“Oh, but haven’t your parents both become professors?”

“I'm just used to calling her that.”

Xiang Ran finished his sentence, then realized something was off.

“How do you even know what titles my parents hold?”

“Isn’t it normal to start winning over the future mother-in-law early?” Liu Shuyao playfully replied, biting her tongue.

“Teacher Lin is easygoing, not one of those rigid scholars.”

“But what if your mom doesn’t like me?” Liu Shuyao looked up at him with her head tilted, her neck forming a graceful curve. She lay there obediently, like a little kitten.

“You're so cute—who wouldn’t like you?”

“Then why were you so cold to me when you were mad at me before?!”

Liu Shuyao, as if remembering something, pouted angrily, tugging at her boyfriend’s collar, ready to settle scores with Xiang Ran.

“That was a time when my mind was muddled. It was all my fault! I was being petty! I overthought things!”

Feeling guilty, Xiang Ran quickly apologized.

“That’s more like it!”

Liu Shuyao was only venting a bit and didn't think much of it.

In less than a minute, she snuggled back into his arms, the two of them sticking closely together.

“So when are you leaving this afternoon?”

For the past few days, the two had spent almost all their time together, only heading back to the dorms at the last minute. Now that they had to be apart for a bit, Liu Shuyao wasn’t quite used to it yet.

Her tone was full of reluctance.

“I’ll head back just before dinner. It's not far anyway.”

Xiang Ran didn’t think much of it.

“And what about your dinner tonight?”

“Hmm~”

“What do you think I should eat tonight?” She had been spoiled by her boyfriend these past few days, doing nothing but painting. She didn’t need to think or do much else.

“How about I buy you some cold noodles later? Something sour and spicy to whet your appetite?”

“No need, I’ll walk you out later and then come back to buy a portion of cold noodles myself~”

“That works too.”

In the end, Xiang Ran was reluctantly pushed out of the studio by the school beauty.

“I’ll come back after dinner.”

“Remember to eat. And send me a picture after you’ve eaten.”

“Then…”

Before he could finish, Liu Shuyao silenced him with a kiss.

Her lips brushed softly against Xiang Ran’s mouth, tender and fleeting, like a light kiss meant to appease.

For Xiang Ran, it was brief, but it felt like a feather brushing across his heart—ticklish.

The rest of his reminders went unsaid, his smile fading into something more gentle.

Xiang Ran had taken the family car out to drop Liu Shuyao off, and today was the perfect chance to return it.

By the time he got home, it was just in time for Teacher Lin to bring out the last dish.

"Be home by six for dinner, but you’re usually back by four."

"This time you didn’t come home for the holiday, fine. But when I called earlier to invite you for dinner, it took two calls before you agreed."

Teacher Lin, holding a plate of freshly steamed crabs, was analyzing her son’s unusual behavior as she spoke.

"And now it’s already six-thirty."

Mr. Xiang sat on the couch with a book in hand.

"Busy at school? Didn’t you say you wanted to start your own business?"

"There was some traffic on the way back."

Xiang Ran changed into slippers and went straight to wash his hands.

Teacher Lin smiled, watching her son’s sneaky demeanor. He didn’t look like someone who had been focused on coding. It had been a while since Xiang Ran had come home, so Teacher Lin, feeling concerned, had prepared seven or eight dishes for dinner.

"What’s been keeping you busy at school lately?" Mr. Xiang asked, taking a bite of stir-fried pork while glancing at his son.

"…"

His father was a professor in the computer science department. In the past, Xiang Ran might have talked about coding projects, but now...

For the past couple of weeks, aside from dating, he hadn’t done much of anything else.

"I helped the art department with a digital display."

"Still not finished?" Mr. Xiang asked, a bit surprised, as he had heard about it last month.

"The leadership asked for some changes."

"Hmm."

Xiang Ran’s response was casual as his eyes kept drifting to his phone, checking if he had received any messages from Liu Shuyao.

Who knew that by the time dinner was almost over, the usually clingy school beauty, who wouldn’t miss a chance to video call, had gone completely silent.

"Is your phone broken?" Teacher Lin asked, noticing how fixated her son was on his phone.

"What?"

Xiang Ran didn’t quite catch what she meant and was about to ask when he heard:

"After dinner, play a game of chess with me."

"Oh."

Xiang Ran instinctively agreed, but then, as if remembering something, he quickly raised his head.

"Dad, uh, I need to head back to school later."

"You’re going back tonight? Not staying home?"

Teacher Lin was surprised.

"Yeah, there’s some school stuff," Xiang Ran replied as he quickly sent a message to Liu Shuyao, telling her he had finished dinner.

"Oh, well, your studies are important, you can…"

"Xiang Ran, do you have a girlfriend?" Teacher Lin finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked.

"Huh?"

Xiang Ran didn’t expect his mother to be so direct.

"Well… yeah."

"Is your girlfriend at school? You seem eager to leave!"

"She’s at school."

Xiang Ran answered truthfully.

Teacher Lin’s curiosity was immediately piqued.

"What’s her name? Which department is she in? How long have you been dating? What are your plans for the future?"

"Why didn’t you tell us you were dating? Were you afraid we’d disapprove?"

"You know, I should probably light some incense for the fact that you even found a girlfriend with your personality!"

"Can you stop being so hasty!"

Mr. Xiang interrupted, trying to maintain the stern image of a father, but quickly turned to his son, leaving his half-eaten crab aside.

"Let the boy talk slowly!"

"…"

Although both of Xiang Ran’s parents were teachers, their family wasn’t particularly strict. Teacher Lin, especially, had been worried about her son’s lack of romantic prospects since childhood. The last time he came home, he even had a photo of Turing as his phone wallpaper, which almost drove her mad!

"Well…"

"She’s from the art department. We went to high school together."

"Art! That’s great! Someone in the arts will balance out this family. You’re always staring at cold, lifeless code; no sense of human warmth at all."

"Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried!"

Teacher Lin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling so cheerful that she even ate an extra bowl of rice.

"Why didn’t you invite her over for dinner today?"

"What’s wrong with you?"

"…"

Xiang Ran had guessed that Teacher Lin wouldn’t be opposed to the relationship, but he hadn’t expected her to be this enthusiastic.

The real issue was…

It’s not that he didn’t want to bring her over or make their relationship public.

It’s just… what position was he in right now to do that?

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