Stealing a Taste

Chapter 176

The dim yellow streetlights stretched their shadows long.

Ye Zhenzhen held onto Gu Ran's arm. Her small face revealed a soft, beautiful shade of pink under the light. The heat in her cheeks hadn't faded yet, and it felt like she was stepping on cotton; every step was light and floaty.

As they walked, Gu Ran's footsteps suddenly slowed down again.

"What's wrong?"

Ye Zhenzhen turned her head in confusion, her watery eyes glowing with innocent bewilderment in the night.

Gu Ran didn't speak. He just stared at her unblinkingly, his gaze so deep it felt like it could suck a person in.

Ye Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively wanted to step back, but her heel hit a protruding tree root.

This was a blind spot for the streetlights. A massive, leafy banyan tree blocked out the sky, completely obscuring the moonlight.

It was a natural crime scene.

"Ye Zhenzhen."

Gu Ran's voice was a bit husky. "Was the game we just played fun?"

"Huh?" Ye Zhenzhen's brain couldn't quite keep up with his jumping train of thought. "It was... pretty fun. Everyone was really happy..."

Gu Ran chuckled lightly, then suddenly took a step forward, completely sealing off all her routes of escape.

"I meant, the game the two of us just played."

Ye Zhenzhen's breath hitched. !!!

Didn't this guy just eat?

How is he hungry again?!

With nowhere left to retreat, her back hit the rough tree trunk with a soft thud.

Before she could react, two arms were already planted on either side of her ears, trapping her seamlessly between the trunk and his chest.

The boy's clean, crisp scent overwhelmed her, instantly throwing her breathing rhythm into chaos.

"What... what are you doing..."

The young girl raised her small hands to press against his chest. Through the thin T-shirt, beneath her palms, she could feel the boy's strong and rapid heartbeat.

Gu Ran lowered his head, his nose lightly brushing past the shell of her ear. His warm breath fanned over the sensitive hollow of her neck, sending a series of fine shivers down her spine.

"Dr. Ye, since you chose clinical medicine, why don't we preview our anatomy class ahead of time... what do you say?"

Ye Zhenzhen's face flushed so red it looked like it was bleeding, as if a pinch could wring water out of it.

P-preview what?

Oral anatomy?!

"Gu Ran, you... hooligan..."

She closed her eyes in embarrassed annoyance. Even as she scolded him, her eyelashes fluttered like tiny brushes, tickling Gu Ran's heart.

Looking at the girl's appearance, looking so ripe for the picking, the darkness in Gu Ran's eyes grew even richer.

His fingers slowly traced the line of her jaw. His fingertips were slightly cool, yet they ignited a fiery heat on her skin.

Finally, he stopped at the plump tubercle of her upper lip, pressing down lightly to feel that jelly-like softness.

After waiting a long while with no movement, Ye Zhenzhen quietly opened her eyes a crack.

She crashed right into a pair of eyes full of teasing.

Realizing she had been played, the girl flew into a flushed rage, opening her mouth to bite his finger.

"Mmph..."

Gu Ran was quick. He flipped his hand to cup the back of her head, lowering his head to directly block all her movements, sealing away that unspoken coquettish complaint.

This dog!

Sneak attack!

No martial ethics!

Ye Zhenzhen's fingers, clutching his collar, suddenly tightened, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Under the shade of the tree, the two silhouettes tightly overlapped.

The chirping of the cicadas seemed to fade away at this moment. The world was left with only the sound of their rapid breathing, and the moisture between their lips and teeth.

There was no cool sensation of ice cream, only the scalding heat of the summer night, and the unresolvable, fluttering thrill between a boy and a girl.

The air was so thick it felt like it could be pulled into strings.

Ye Zhenzhen felt as if her soul was being sucked away. Her mind went completely blank, and she could only cling instinctively to this single piece of driftwood.

A long time later, just when she thought she was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen, Gu Ran finally released her slightly.

The girl felt as though her bones had been pulled out. She slid down softly, relying entirely on Gu Ran's arm scooping up her waist to keep from sitting on the ground.

At this moment, the corners of her eyes were tinged with red, and her eyes looked like they held a pool of spring water, rippling with light, lethally pure and alluring.

Her previously neat collar was slightly messy, revealing a section of delicate, pale collarbone that was blindingly white under the dappled shadows of the tree. A suspicious little red mark was faintly visible on it.

"Haa... haa..."

Ye Zhenzhen gasped for fresh air, her chest heaving violently. Her lips burned, feeling as though they had swollen a size larger, and the root of her tongue was a bit numb.

Gu Ran looked down at her thoroughly bullied appearance, his Adam's apple bobbing unconsciously.

But he didn't continue.

Going too far is as bad as falling short; a steady stream flows the longest.

He reached out, his movements gentle as he helped the girl tidy her slightly messy hair, then smoothed out her somewhat disheveled collar.

His fingertips inadvertently brushed across her warm skin, causing the person in his arms to give a light shiver.

"Dr. Ye, your lung capacity still needs improvement. Otherwise, how will you keep up with the rhythm in the future?"

Gu Ran leaned close to her ear, whispering wickedly, "For future morning runs, I suggest adding an extra two kilometers."

Ye Zhenzhen didn't even have the strength to glare at him right now.

She buried her burning cheeks in Gu Ran's chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, the heat in her face refusing to fade.

After a long while, she finally squeezed out a muffled sentence.

"...Bad guy."

So embarrassing!

Just now she had actually... gone weak in the knees.

Gu Ran chuckled lightly, his large hand gently patting and stroking her back to soothe her breathing, his movements incredibly gentle.

He waited until the breathing of the person in his arms had mostly calmed down before taking her slightly damp hand and walking out of this romantic shadow.

The two flagged down a taxi.

On the way back, Ye Zhenzhen kept her head turned toward the window, pretending to count the streetlights, but in reality, she was using the reflection in the window to secretly check her lips.

Oh no, they really do look swollen.

Meanwhile, the main culprit looked completely unbothered. One hand rested casually on his knee, while the other accurately clasped her hand.

Their fingers intertwined, palms pressed together, and from time to time, he would rub his thumb against the back of her hand.

Ye Zhenzhen struggled for a moment, but failing to break free, she just let him be.

The driver in the front glanced at the backseat through the rearview mirror.

The little girl's face was as red as a tomato, and the young man had a satisfied look like a cat that had successfully stolen a fish.

As someone who had been there, a flash of understanding passed through the driver's eyes, and he silently changed the song.

The intense rock music abruptly stopped, replaced by a soft, sweet, and sticky folk song, Meeting in This World.

The taxi pulled up to the entrance of Binjiang Garden.

After getting out, the two walked hand in hand along the familiar neighborhood roads.

The evening breeze blew away a bit of the sweltering heat, but it couldn't blow away the sticky sweetness between them.

The streetlights stretched their shadows long, occasionally overlapping, occasionally separating.

In the dead of night, Gu Ran didn't make any more out-of-line moves. He just held her hand, swaying along at a leisurely pace.

"Right."

Ye Zhenzhen was the first to break the silence. Her voice lacked a bit of the shyness from earlier and carried a bit more seriousness.

"Gu Ran."

"Hmm?" Gu Ran turned his head to look at her. Under the streetlight, the boy's side profile was sharply defined, so handsome it made her heart skip a beat.

"What do you think... college life will be like?"

The girl's voice carried a trace of longing for the unknown, as well as a subtle hint of confusion.

Lately, they weren't just practicing driving and going on dates; they were standing at a crossroads in life.

Their university acceptance letters had already arrived, one for clinical medicine, the other for economic management.

Gu Ran squeezed her soft palm and asked in return.

"Why ask this all of a sudden? Are you losing confidence in your clinical medicine major?"

Ye Zhenzhen pursed her lips and looked away, dropping her gaze to her toes as she kicked a small pebble by the side of the road.

"It's not that I don't have confidence... I just feel a bit uncertain."

She paused, her voice dropping a few pitches, tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"I chose science because I was good at it. I chose medicine because my mom said being a doctor is a stable and respected career, and my test scores were just enough to get into the top program at Qingda University. Everyone seemed to think I should study this, so I just went with the flow."

As she spoke, her voice gradually trailed off, sounding somewhat lacking in confidence.

"But... I don't think I've ever stopped to wonder if I actually like it. What if I study for years, only to realize I'm completely unsuited to be a doctor? What if I mess everything up?"

This was the typical dilemma of a Chinese straight-A student.

From childhood, they follow a rigid, step-by-step path: getting high test scores, getting into prestigious schools, and picking popular majors. It is only when they are about to truly step into that field that they realize they have no genuine, heartfelt passion for it—only the inertia of being pushed forward.

Scores determine the destination, and parents determine the major.

As for passion?

That is a luxury reserved only for those with money and free time.

......