Chapter 21

The lock screen lit up, showing a new WeChat message.
Luo Zhuowei felt her heart tremble.
The preview clearly showed Chen Hang's name.
[Chen Hang: Do you like aquariums?]
Followed by an ugly yet cute puppy emoji.
Of course she normally liked them. Very few girls would dislike this: [Yeah]
Luo Zhuowei's originally pursed lips unconsciously lifted into a small curve. Realizing she was smiling, she quickly fixed her expression. Although she knew no one else could see her like this, she still felt slightly embarrassed.
The other side seemed not to have expected her to reply so quickly. The "typing" indicator flashed, then two more messages appeared.
[Chen Hang: Then Saturday]
[Chen Hang: Can we go to the aquarium?]
Luo Zhuowei replied that of course they could. After confirming the time with Chen Hang, she picked up the pen she had set aside and circled Saturday's date in her schedule book.
When she picked up the pen and was about to write the itinerary, Luo Zhuowei paused, belatedly feeling a delayed sense of embarrassment.
Although she had been the one to invite Chen Hang to meet on Saturday, Luo Zhuowei actually hadn't had many romantic thoughts. For the imposing highland flower, her experience going out alone with boys was pitifully scarce. Her original thought had just been to get closer to Chen Hang.
Aquarium.
...This location practically screamed two words from between the characters: Date.
Luo Zhuowei closed the book and looked expressionlessly toward the wardrobe.
For her first date in her first love, Luo Zhuowei couldn't not take it seriously. She even woke up before her alarm, stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then got up to wash up.
She was a bit nervous when leaving, afraid her mother would notice something: For convenience helping at the flower shop, Luo Zhuowei's casual clothes on rest days were always simple long pants. But today she was wearing a long dress that had been hanging in her wardrobe for a long time, rarely taken out.
If Mom asked, should she say it was a friend, or tell the truth?
Although Luo Zhuowei didn't like lying, high school relationships were right on the boundary of "puppy love"—most moving, but also most contradictory. She didn't want to deceive her mother, but also didn't want her parents to think of it as improper.
Fortunately, the flower shop was very busy at this time. When Luo Zhuowei left, her busy mother only had time to hurriedly tell her daughter to be careful.
She breathed a sigh of relief. The slight guilty relief in her heart was then filled with another kind of soft anticipation.
There were still almost thirty minutes until the agreed time. Luo Zhuowei glanced at her watch, gently exhaled, and thought in her mind about what to say when she met Chen Hang.
These past two days at school had been uneventful. Because midterms had just ended, there were many things in the teachers' office that needed student help. Luo Zhuowei, who was entrusted with important tasks, was very busy. In the classroom, besides when passing papers, the two of them had barely spoken.
This actually alleviated some of Luo Zhuowei's earlier nervousness. She couldn't help but look forward to the upcoming meeting. She wanted to talk more with Chen Hang, about anything.
The meeting place was at the light rail station entrance.
The reason was that the aquarium they were going to wasn't in the city center. The famous aquarium, which needed a large area, was near the suburbs at the city's edge. She and Chen Hang needed to take the light rail together.
Chen Hang had been a bit embarrassed at the time, asking if she would find it too troublesome. Even just through the chat, Luo Zhuowei could imagine his puppy-like tone and couldn't help but smile as she typed "no" on the keyboard.
Thinking this, the subway had already shown it was arriving. She followed the crowd out of the car.
Today was good weather, with plenty of light, sunny almost as if matching her mood. Luo Zhuowei arrived at a good time—ten minutes early, not too much, not too little.
She unconsciously looked around, searching for Chen Hang's figure. At the same time, she felt a bit amused at her own behavior: How had she so easily judged that Chen Hang would also arrive early?
For boys, they might also arrive right on time or be slightly late—
"Luo Zhuowei."
How did he always manage to do things that seemed to respond to all her expectations so easily?
Luo Zhuowei turned around. Her long dress just happened to swing out a pure arc with her turning movement. What met her vision was Chen Hang's smile when he saw her.
He definitely didn't know his tear mole had an indescribable charm. As his eyes curved with his smile, it almost made one mistakenly think there was a tail wagging wildly behind him. His originally soft hair had also been styled into a small side part. The part's gap happened to be on the same side as the tear mole, highlighting something eye-catching at first glance.
Chen Hang's outfit reminded Luo Zhuowei of when she first saw him, except the gray hoodie suited Chen Hang, who had a big dog temperament, better. His originally long legs, hidden under the relatively loose Western-style school pants, were now clearly wrapped in ripped, washed jeans. When he jogged over, the silver chain work dog tag swayed on his chest.
But unlike their first meeting, now he was her puppy.
"Good thing I came early." Chen Hang scratched his hair, looking relieved. He naturally took the small bag from her hand and walked half a step ahead to lead the way: "Let's go. It's almost time to board."
"Okay." Luo Zhuowei looked at the back of Chen Hang's head, where his hair had become fluffy and slightly raised from jogging over. She smiled and followed.
Chen Hang seemed to still have something he wanted to say. While paying attention to whether Luo Zhuowei had been separated by the crowd at the entrance, he met Luo Zhuowei's gaze, which had been quietly watching his back.
His eyes flickered a bit. Meeting Luo Zhuowei's slightly puzzled gaze, he then seemed to have made some resolution and said gently: "You... look very beautiful today."
Although Chen Hang's face showed a relatively calm expression, his ears clearly betrayed his embarrassment. Even the ear cartilage with earrings was almost burning red.
Actually, politely complimenting women wasn't difficult for him, but this wasn't a relaxed, easy-to-say social occasion. Luo Zhuowei was indeed always beautiful, but her beauty right now was different from usual, different from those unconscious beauties. This was something she was showing him alone.
Purity that belonged only to him.
Just thinking about this layer was enough to make a high school boy's heart race to arrhythmia.
Seeing him like this, Luo Zhuowei actually lost her shyness. She deliberately didn't expose Chen Hang's feigned ease, smiled gently, and reached out to tug his hoodie sleeve: "Thank you."
"Hey, do you think that girl is pretty?"