5 Chapter 5: Movie

Since Qiao An and Amy Shen made a plan, Qiao An volunteered to drive to the mall.

Different from her working outfit, Qiao An wore skinny jeans and a yellow shirt with black loafers. The outfit Qiao An wore for the outing was much casual, and it showed much of her body shape.

Qiao An went down to D1006 and knocked on the door. Amy Shen came out from the house followed by Shen Jun Shan. Qiao An was curious as of why Shen Jun Shan went out from the house too, but since she thought it would sound rude, she walked down the stairs hoping that he won't be joining them for the outing.

To her disappointment, Amy Shen told her that Shen Jun Shan would be joining them for watching the movie so he will drive them around in return for that. Qiao An figured out that it could work too since she was lazy to drive.

Inside the car, Qiao An was sitting at the backseat. She was observing the interior of the vehicle. Qiao An was not into car, but she knew that Shen Jun Shan's car must be expensive.

"An, you lose a lot of weight compared to high school. Please give me some tips" Amy Shen turned her body to face Qiao An. Qiao An smiled and then she told Amy Shen about her weight loss journey.

Shen Jun Shan was quiet the whole way because he couldn't understand the girls' topic. It ranged from weight management, makeup, foods and handsome guys. Shen Jun Shan knew his sister liked those things, but it surprised him that despite the cold demeanour portrayed by Qiao An, she was actually into those kinds of things too.

Since Qiao An was indifferent towards things, Shen Jun Shan thought that she would find those things insignificant. He was wrong. Therefore, Shen Jun Shan put more attention towards what Qiao An said throughout the whole journey.

Amy Shen is naturally a curious person. She asked a lot of things until they stumbled upon the topic of a boyfriend. Shen Jun Shan was naturally curious about it too.

"An, I want to ask this when we made this plan. Don't you have a boyfriend? I mean, you know. If you have a boyfriend, I would feel bad about always inviting you to hang out with me". Amy Shen was considerate. If Qiao An has a boyfriend, then she shouldn't ask Qiao An to spend a lot of time with her.

"I used to have one but not anymore" Qiao An spoke calmly and without any emotion in her voice.

"Why, though?" This time it was Shen Jun Shan who asked the question. Amy Shen threw a curious glance at her brother. She thought that her brother was not paying attention to their conversation; it turned out that he did.

"Towards the end of our relationship, he said that I don't spend time with him like I always do and that he didn't know me anymore. At that time, I was in my third year at university. So, I was busy with research and projects. So, we broke up" Once again, Qiao An spoke stoically.

Amy Shen was about to offer her sympathy, but Qiao An continued talking.

"But that wasn't the real reason why he wanted to break up with me, I guess. A few days later, after we broke up, one of my best friends told me that she saw him holding hand with another girl from the science department. But I was glad. I thought it would be better to end a relationship if the feeling is not mutual anymore. When I evaluate my feeling towards him at that time, it wasn't that deep, so I was able to move on easily. My life is happier after that. He is the kind of man who needs to see his girlfriend every day as an assurance of love. I couldn't abandon my time for my projects and research for him. So I was glad that we broke up."

Amy Shen changed her mind. Qiao An didn't need her sympathy. She was perfectly alright.

That was the longest sentences uttered by Qiao An so far. Shen Jun Shan was impressed that Qiao An took the initiative to explain it herself without being asked.

"But you must be hurt even for a little bit, right?" Amy Shen asked again.

"Kind of" Qiao An shrugged.

"Is that why you don't want to have anything with a guy anymore? Like how you brushed off my friend last time" This time, it was Shen Jun Shan who asked.

"As for your friend…" Qiao An paused as if she was thinking hard before she completed her sentence. "As for your friend, I am merely uninterested in him. So, I don't wish to involve myself with someone I'm not interested in. I don't want to burden myself to reject him if he ever confesses to me later on".

While saying the word 'confess', Qiao An specifically stared at Shen Jun Shan.

Amy Shen looked at her brother and Qiao An alternately. The topic shifted into something she was not familiar with. "What friend are you talking about?"

Shen Jun Shan didn't mean to involve Wallance in the conversation, but he was curious whether Qiao An was hurt to the point of refusing to engage herself with the opposite gender as he did.

"It's nothing. Wallance and I saw her in the restaurant the other day, so he asked for An's number, but she said no".

Amy Shen frowned when she heard the name. She was not fond of that name or that person. So, she was glad that Qiao An said no.

The three went to have lunch first before watching their movie. While eating lunch, the three bumped into Wallance and a kid around ten years old in the restaurant. Shen Jun Shan said hi, but the girls did not.

After the movie, once again, the three bumped into Wallance and the little girl outside of the cinema. This time, even though Qiao An and Amy Shen didn't say hi to Wallance, Wallance came over to Qiao An.

"HI, miss Qiao An. We meet again. People say that if we meet someone for the third time, it means that we have some kind of fate. Can I have your number, please?"

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Ten years ago.

Mrs Lee asked Qiao An to get an aloe vera from the mini garden behind the laboratory building. Mrs Lee trusted her the most because Qiao An will pick up the leaves and returned immediately, unlike some other students.

Qiao An walked towards the back of the building when she saw a girl, a popular senior in her school talked to a boy. Qiao An couldn't see the boy's face, but he was tall, and his shoulders were broad.

It appeared as if the girl was confessing to the boy. Knowing that she came at the wrong time, Qiao An wanted to walk away from there, but the aloe vera leaves were only five steps away. While contemplating whether to get the aloe vera or not, the girl who confessed saw her, and she was giving Qiao An the coldest stare she could muster.

Qiao An wanted them to get the hint that she had something to do there, but when the boy turned towards her, Qiao An felt nervous. Therefore, she had to retreat and gave up the idea of picking the aloe vera leaves for the time being.

While walking away from there, Qiao An whined inside her heart; like why would people confess a tranquil place or why would she the one who had to run away from there. Qiao An waited at the side of the building for a few minutes so that she could get the aloe vera.

Qiao An did not mean to eavesdrop on the confession, but Qiaa An pitied the girl as the boy was rejecting her. Qiao An tried to recall the name of the boy.

Shen Jun Shan.

She remembered it now. Her classmates have been talking about him a lot, so she knew. Qiao An thought that Shen Jun Shan must be used to getting a confession from girls. It was easy for him to reject them. As if he didn't have to think about other's feeling.

Qiao An aspired to be someone like him who is brave to reject other people and not dragging them along with him.

When she saw that Shen Jun Shan came out from the other end of the building, Qiao An went to the pot to pick the aloe vera she wants.