EAY Chapter 13

Shi Ran in His Eyes

Shi Ran in His Eyes

13

As an apology, after leaving the hospital, Qi Ye treated Shi Ran to dessert at their family’s favorite cake shop.

Ever since Qi Ye’s mother ordered Qi Ye’s birthday cake from that shop, every year thereafter, the Qi Ye family’s birthday cake was ordered from that shop.

Besides cakes, the shop also sold drinks like coffee and juice. Shi Ran still ordered pearl milk tea, while Qi Ye asked for a hot latte.

“Actually, I’m also at fault. I was the one who handed you that bowl of sauce,” Shi Ran didn’t want Qi Ye to be so reserved about the matter. Allergies weren’t really anyone’s fault. He changed the subject, “Are you allergic to anything else besides that?”

“I haven’t discovered anything yet,” Qi Ye said. “It’s strange, too. I was fine eating peanuts when I was little, but I suddenly found out I was allergic in middle school.”

Shi Ran nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ve even heard of cases where people are allergic to something at first, and then they eat it and the allergy disappears.”

“I hope my allergy can disappear one day too.” Qi Ye was still regretting the hotpot they had just started eating. It was the first meal Shi Ran had treated him to, and it was ruined by his annoying allergy. But there was no use regretting it. Qi Ye perked up and asked Shi Ran, “Do you have any allergens?”

Shi Ran shook his head. “I haven’t found any yet.”

The milk tea and coffee were served, and Qi Ye also ordered taro and matcha cakes. Because he didn’t like sweets, he pushed the cake towards Shi Ran.

Seeing the satisfied expression on Shi Ran’s face after eating the cake, Qi Ye felt a special sense of satisfaction inside.

“When we were eating hotpot, you didn’t finish what you were saying, right?” Qi Ye naturally wanted to know what Shi Ran had been thinking about lately.

“Do you still want me to talk about it?” Shi Ran’s mood wasn’t as depressed as before, even though the problem hadn’t been solved.

“I want you to talk about it.” Qi Ye nodded.

Shi Ran realized that Qi Ye seemed to have a great personality and be okay with everything, but sometimes he had a little stubbornness.

“Uh, well, recently, I said some harsh words to some people, roughly meaning that I have the ability to take care of myself and stuff like that.” Shi Ran stirred his milk tea with a straw, looking troubled. The words he had said to his parents that night had made him feel very uncomfortable. He had hardly slept all night, feeling lost and disoriented. “When I said those harsh words, I thought I was so cool, but after I calmed down, I felt like I was too impulsive. It’s not that I regret saying them, but I doubt myself, can I really do it? I just, thought about a lot of things.”

Qi Ye said with a firm expression, “Yes, you definitely can!”

“Although I don’t know where your inexplicable trust and admiration for me come from, but, take an objective look at me,” Shi Ran stretched out his hand and began to count. “My grades aren’t great, I don’t have any special talents to show off, I haven’t won any major awards to help me with the college entrance exam, and, I don’t have any artistic talent either, so it’s too late to switch to art now. But art school is so expensive, I wouldn’t even consider it.”

“Aren’t you good at business?” Qi Ye’s eyes lit up. “You can calmly talk to customers and sell all your products. I won’t be able to learn that skill even when I’m thirty.”

“It’s just selling some little girls’ accessories, don’t exaggerate it so much. Besides, I was just lucky that day, I’ve never sold so well before.”

“Not everyone can catch luck, so there’s a saying that luck is also a kind of strength.” Qi Ye seemed to have turned on some kind of talking switch and began to talk non-stop. “I think, Shi Ran, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. You are good at fighting, but you never bully the weak, and you will always stand up for what is right. When there are problems at home, you will take the initiative to solve them. You are very filial and responsible. You are very popular, the teachers and classmates in the class all like you. As for what you just said, you also realized that something was wrong and started to think of a way to fix it, didn’t you?”

Shi Ran was completely stunned. Besides being surprised by Qi Ye’s sudden eloquence, he also deeply suspected that Qi Ye was talking about another Shi Ran.

Was he really that good?

But the things he had done could be matched one by one.

But it still didn’t seem like him at all.

“Think of a way, but there’s no way now.” Shi Ran smiled wryly. That’s the trouble with being a bad student. He took a bite of cake and tilted his head to study Qi Ye. “Have you always been this eloquent?”

Qi Ye: “……”

A belated sense of awkwardness spread over him again, and his face became even redder than when he was having an allergic reaction.

“Are you okay?” Shi Ran put down his fork and reached out to touch his forehead, frowning. “Are you allergic to coffee too? Why are you so hot?”

“No, I’m fine.” Qi Ye turned his head and coughed. “I just blurted out what was on my mind.”

“You’re a friend who’s good at comforting people.” Knowing his embarrassment, Shi Ran took his hand back.

The redness on Qi Ye’s face hadn’t faded yet, and he stammered, “My, my grades aren’t very good either, but, that what……”

He was afraid that offering help would make Shi Ran feel embarrassed.

Shi Ran didn’t care and said, “Don’t be shy, your grades are pretty good, you’re a genius to me.”

“No, they’re just average.” Qi Ye recognized himself as the type of student that teachers wouldn’t pay attention to, and no classmates would think of him when they couldn’t solve a problem and ask for his help, so he felt very unsure of himself when he said he wanted to help Shi Ran. “If you want to improve your grades—”

“You want to help me?” Shi Ran said with a cake fork in his mouth, his eyes full of cunning.

He had thought too highly of himself, so Qi Ye could only smile and say nothing.

Unexpectedly, Shi Ran didn’t mean that. He said easily, “It’s already the second half of the second year of high school, what genius would give up their valuable study time? I know, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Qi Ye stammered, “I, I’m not a genius.”

If his grades could be considered those of a genius, then he would have more confidence in helping Shi Ran.

But that was the current situation, so Qi Ye had to take a deep breath and completely reveal what he really wanted to say, “If you are willing to let me help you, I will do my best.”

Warm light shone through the glass, adding a special color to the teenager’s earnest expression.

If Shi Ran had some experience, or if he could perceive certain emotions earlier, his heart would have felt differently.

But at that time, he didn’t know anything, he didn’t notice anything, and he only felt pure gratitude in his heart.

It was the first time that someone other than his grandfather had taken his affairs so seriously.

Sure enough, he had made the right choice in befriending Qi Ye.