Date

"I think we got a little too excited."

Jiang Shen laughed as she hugged the plushies tight to prevent them from spilling out her arms.

Qing Yao smiled. He could barely see her face from all the plushies. The variety of them from size to design made it a little difficult to talk.

"Here."

Qing Yao took a few of them in his arms, mostly the little ones.

Jiang Shen burst out laughing at the sight.

"The great genius from the STEM department known for always being so serious is now clutching cute egg plushies."

Qing Yao then frowned. He looked down at the plushies he was holding and said, "I think it suits me. Don't you think?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

Jiang Shen nodded, the smile on her face made Qing Yao's heart soften.

"Let's stop for today. We've had enough fun."

He rubbed the top of her head and headed outside the arcade.

There, both their companions were waiting with mischievous smiles on their faces, making her blush.

"Well— I— uh, should go now?"

Jiang Shen spluttered, feeling her face grow slightly hot. It was only now that she noticed how she spent the entire time hanging out with Qing Yao.

An amused smile sprang up on his face, shocking the rest of them silly. But it quickly disappeared, as if it was an illusion.

"Here, i'll give it back to you now."

As Qing Yao was about to return the plushies, she grabbed his arm.

"You — should keep it."

The small plushies were really cute that to outsiders, it was really strange that he held onto it tightly. Qing Yao looked at Jiang Shen with furrowed brows.

"Are you sure?"

He had caught them for her in the first place, after all. It wouldn't feel right for him to keep it from her.

Jiang Shen nodded.

"You caught them all for me with your money, it technically belongs to you." She smiled.

"Then..."

"Just treat it as you're keeping it for me."

Jiang Shen regained her composure, not at all obvious from her previous flustered expression.

"Okay."

"Well, I should get going now."

It was getting late as dusk approached. If Jiang Shen went home after dark, she was sure to be drowned in her grandfather's scoldings.

"See you next time. Get home safely."

Qing Yao pat her head one last time before catching up to his friends.

Jiang Shen tried to wave, but the large plushies held her back. In the end, she could only watch his receding figure disappear from the crowd. A sense of contentment filled her.

"How was your little date?"

Cao Wei teased while she snickered behind Kang Shu.

All of them knew that it had been awhile since they hung out together and thus, did not disturb them.

Kang Shu also nodded with the rest, which came as a surprise to Shi Fen, who expected her to remain calm. Alas, he could never understand the way a girl's mind works. She may be uninterested in others, but Jiang Shen was her best friend, thus she had to know what they talked about. Love can be a pretty sight.

Jiang Shen coughed, trying to calm herself down.

"We didn't do anything special. He just got me a bunch of plushies from the claw machines. He had to play a bunch of times before he got it."

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

". . . I did," Jiang Shen honestly answered.

The day was well spent, almost making her forgot that exams were coming.

Cheng Muyi held hands with Ju Sheng and said, "As much as I hate to be a downer, but we got to go. Night is falling and i'm sure Jiang Shen wouldn't want to waste any more time here."

"Fine..."

Cao Wei rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. She wanted to ask more questions but didn't want to face Jiang Shen's parents if ever they found out where they've been.

Jiang Shen arrived home just before dinner started. The gate was still open as she rushed inside, eager to avoid the eyes of her grandparents. Thankfully enough they weren't in the main hall, allowing Jiang Shen to pass through quietly with ease.

In any case, even if she did get heavily questioned, all she had to say was that she helped out at the student union. Which was neither true nor false as she did help out yesterday.

Dinner also ended swiftly, much to Jiang Shen's confusion. Usually her grandfather never failed to say some things to her. Before she went to bed she went to ask Nanny Yue the reason.

"Old Mr. Jiang's joints are hurting again. Ms. Cho went with him to the hospital to get a checkup. It seems that he won't be joining dinner for a while."

Jiang Shen thanked her and returned to her room.

It seems that she won't be seeing the old man for awhile. The though of being free from his scoldings made her smile. At least now het mood won't be spoiled every time they faced each other.

The next morning, Jiang Shen walked to school with a smile all throughout her classes, making Shi Fen and the others give her weird looks. Although she did smile, it was different in the sense that it also appeared in the way she walked.

Some students even saw her happily skipping to and fro the administration building. Although such a mood was not new to the eyes of the students, a lot of them already began speculating behind the reason for her sudden burst of happiness.

A certain boy, perhaps?

While Jiang Shen busily wrote down on her notebook, she didn't notice the commotion by the door.

"Classmate Jiang! Someone's calling for you," a student yelled as he held open the door.

Shi Fen almost fell off his chair, while Yang Mu looked on with a rare frown. The person who arrived stood in front of Jiang Shen's desk as he tapped on the table.

Hm?