Chapter 41: Xia Xiqing
Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Xia Xiqing
It was too hard. This was just too hard for Zhang Yan.
Xia Xiqing was practically a conversation killer! In the vast majority of cases, no matter how interesting the topic was, their exchange would never exceed three sentences before dying out.
Zhang Yan finally understood how the rumors of her being super aloof came to be. With her way of chatting, there was a one hundred percent chance others would think she didn’t want to continue, thus bringing the conversation to an end. Even Zhang Yan would have likely given up and walked away a long time ago if it weren’t for Brother Tongzi dangling a metaphorical one-million-yuan carrot in front of him. It was basically torture!
Of course, another tiny reason he could hold out was because he was smelling Xia Xiqing’s unique scent from such close proximity. The more he breathed it in, the more intoxicating it became. Zhang Yan had once heard an explanation for this kind of phenomenon, something about it being a genetic attraction. This reminded him of an urban legend he had heard about Xia Xiqing, and he couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Senior Sister Xia, I heard that in the summer, whenever you walk past a flowerbed, you attract a huge flock of butterflies that flutter around you endlessly. Is that true?"
"It’s true."
"I knew it, how could something like that be... Wait, what? It’s actually true?!" Before this, Zhang Yan had always assumed it was a rumor fabricated by her mindless fanboys, borrowing from the historical legend of the Fragrant Concubine. He never expected it to be real!
Seeing his astonished gaze, Xia Xiqing thought for a moment before adding, "It’s because of a special perfume."
Zhang Yan recalled hearing that some perfumes could indeed attract butterflies to a certain extent, depending on their alcohol content and fruit scent profiles. He had even seen it with his own eyes in one of Director Hu’s videos, where a cup of liquor had attracted butterflies to land on it. Maybe the principle was similar?
"Is it the perfume you’re wearing right now?"
Xia Xiqing nodded.
Zhang Yan suddenly leaned in, stopping just a few centimeters away from her, and gently sniffed. Mm, so fragrant.
Caught off guard by this, Xia Xiqing grew noticeably tense. She was not used to being this close to the opposite sex. Fortunately, Zhang Yan only lingered for a few seconds before pulling away again. Before she even had time to react, Xia Xiqing was able to relax.
"This scent is really unique. It has hints of fruit and woodsy notes, along with an indescribable, subtle elegance. It smells really good."
Having grown up hearing all sorts of praise, Xia Xiqing was basically immune to compliments and didn’t have much of a reaction. She merely glanced at the space between them, which had somehow shrunk a bit. She silently shuffled a short distance away from Zhang Yan before speaking again. "It seems to be related to the peculiar effect it creates when mixed with my natural body scent."
Body scent? Zhang Yan’s understanding of body scent was that it was a combination of a person’s habits, living environment, skincare products, makeup, and so on—a unique aroma blended from all these elements. That was the logic behind the saying "Scent of a Woman"; every woman’s fragrance was different. But according to Xia Xiqing, she actually seemed to have a natural body scent. However, according to netizens, a person’s natural "body scent" was usually just body odor...
He was completely clueless when it came to this area and planned to look into it later. Of course, the best way to verify this would be for Senior Sister Xia to wash herself completely clean with pure water and let him smell it for himself. But at the very least, achieving that goal was impossible for now.
"Senior Sister Xia, I heard another rumor. They say that on your way to class every day, upperclassmen and underclassmen would get so distracted looking at you that they’d crash into trees. Is that true too?"
"That only happened a few times." After a moment’s thought, she added strictly, "And it wasn’t because they were looking at me."
Zhang Yan could somewhat understand this. It was perfectly normal for college boys to shove each other around. If a group of guys happened to be horsing around and one got shoved into a tree or a streetlight, that was entirely plausible. If Xia Xiqing happened to be nearby at the time, some busybody could have easily connected the two events and exaggerated the story. It was no surprise such rumors would spread.
Xia Xiqing looked icy and aloof, but to his surprise, she was actually quite easy to talk to and answered almost every question he threw at her. Zhang Yan’s gossipy soul was ignited, and he wanted to ask about every single rumor concerning her in one go.
"Senior Sister Xia, there’s another rumor. They say you once smiled during a painting class, and it left your professor dazed for a long time. Is that true?"
Xia Xiqing fell into her memories for a moment. "That was Professor Yang. He knows my mother."
From those few short words, Zhang Yan had already mentally drafted a hundred-thousand-word novel. It seemed Xia Xiqing’s mother might have been the professor’s unattainable first love when he was young. Xia Xiqing’s similar appearance and demeanor must have reminded the professor of the old memories buried deep in his heart. It was understandable that he would lose his composure like that.
"Senior Sister Xia, there’s one more rumor..."
Under the guise of casual chatter, Zhang Yan inched closer and closer to Xia Xiqing. That fragrance became clearer and clearer. Upon noticing his subtle movements, Xia Xiqing didn’t say anything, but she also inched away in the opposite direction. They remained relatively static.
But the path was only so wide, and she eventually ran out of room. Finally, as she shrank to the edge of the road, she tripped over a low stone step. Suddenly losing her center of gravity, Xia Xiqing frantically tried to regain her balance, but she couldn’t stop her momentum from falling.
"Careful!"
Zhang Yan hadn’t expected this sudden turn of events either. Subconsciously, he reached out and grabbed one of Xia Xiqing’s soft hands, which was flailing wildly in the air. It was very soft and had a faint sheen of sweat.
In her panic, Xia Xiqing couldn’t control her strength. Faced with a sudden anchor point, she could only grip it with all her might. On Zhang Yan’s side, he was already leaning out with an unstable center of gravity. Because of this, not only did he fail to pull her back, but he was dragged down along with her in the same direction.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yan didn’t possess the heaven-defying skills of an anime protagonist, where a random fall would result in face-planting into a girl’s chest, looking up a skirt, or accidentally locking lips... One of his hands pressed against the ground near the area just above Xia Xiqing’s waist, still a bit of a distance away from her curves, while his other hand kept a firm hold on hers. However, his face was only about ten centimeters away from hers. They could almost feel each other’s breath. Their eyes met for a single second.
Zhang Yan pushed himself up, pulling her to her feet as well. He naturally released her hand and chuckled. "I’m not some terrifying monster. Why do you keep running away?"
"When guys get close, they always want to get handsy."
Zhang Yan could only remain speechless at her words; there was clearly a black sheep among the male population!
"I’ll ask you out again at noon. I’m heading home first. Goodbye."
He had only walked a hundred meters when his phone chimed with a DING DONG. Amused, Zhang Yan pulled it out again.
Gentle Evening Breeze: "Goodbye."
Zhang Yan didn’t turn his head. He simply waved a hand behind him. This time, he truly left. Seeing him wave, Xia Xiqing also tried raising her hand to wave back, even though he couldn’t see her.