It's raining, shall we walk together

After class, Gu Niannian sat in the classroom, staring blankly out the window. It was a little daily habit of hers.

The boy sitting in front of her suddenly turned around to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, the teacher just said we need to form groups for the assignment. Do you want to be in a group with me?"

Faced with Zhou Yi's handsome and gentle face, Gu Niannian found herself lost in a daze for the very first time.

The same question lingered in her mind.

Why her?

Group assignments were very common in college, but she was always the one left out. No one ever thought of her.

Only when the very last group was short a member would she be forced into it, becoming a non-existent background decoration for the group, or perhaps just free labor.

She never took the initiative to ask to join any group because she had no friends, and naturally, no one would invite her.

Actually, her grades were quite good in the class. She could even be considered a top student. However, her hidden appearance and introverted, silent personality made her seem a bit weird to the rest of the class. To this day, hardly anyone could even remember her name.

Some classmates would gossip about her in private, saying she was reclusive, eccentric, and a freak.

So, Zhou Yi's proactive invitation seemed exceptionally bizarre in Gu Niannian's eyes.

Her eyelashes fluttered. Adjusting her glasses, she asked, "We don't seem to know each other very well."

As soon as Gu Niannian said this, her heart leaped into her throat.

She seemed to regret it a little, though she didn't know why.

She saw a hint of disappointment flash across Zhou Yi's eyes, but he still smiled faintly and said:

"I'm sorry, I was being too forward. My name is Zhou Yi. If you're short on people, you can call me. I'm not very familiar with the other classmates."

[Does she hate me?]

Hearing Zhou Yi's inner voice, Gu Niannian almost couldn't hold back from explaining.

No.

She didn't hate him at all.

Gu Niannian originally wanted to say something to ease Zhou Yi's mood, but the boy had already turned his head back around.

Many people came over to invite him to join their groups, and Zhou Yi didn't refuse.

Gu Niannian held her pen, absentmindedly poking the back of her hand with it.

She couldn't understand what she was feeling upset about.

He was just a good-looking guy, that's all. Why would she care so much about his feelings?

At this time, a pretty girl who had invited Zhou Yi to join her group said:

"Our group is still missing one person. Is there anyone else who hasn't joined a group yet?"

Zhou Yi turned around and looked at her again, smiling as he said, "There's still this classmate. Do you want to join us?"

With Zhou Yi's second invitation, Gu Niannian's heartbeat instantly accelerated.

[She shouldn't reject me this time, right?]

[I want to be in the same group with her. I feel like this girl is kind of cute.]

Hearing Zhou Yi's thoughts, Gu Niannian was almost stunned.

Cute?

To think there would actually be a day when this word was used on her.

Gu Niannian suddenly looked at Zhou Yi. She couldn't understand for the life of her what kind of reason Zhou Yi had to come up with such an absurd thought.

Gu Niannian never thought of herself as cute. She felt she didn't even deserve to have that word used to describe her.

But upon hearing Zhou Yi's inner voice, her long-frozen heart was ultimately moved just a little.

[Gu Niannian's Heartbeat Value +5]

Another girl, however, asked in an astonished tone, "Her?"

Li Kexin didn't expect Zhou Yi to actually invite that freak of the class to join their group. She felt a bit disgusted, but she couldn't well show it.

It seemed Zhou Yi had invited her simply because he knew absolutely nothing about this girl.

Li Kexin smiled awkwardly, looked at Gu Niannian, and said, "Do you want to join us?"

Gu Niannian could sense it; she wasn't welcome.

She said softly, "If you can't find anyone else in the end, I'll join."

Anyway, she was always the one left over every time. It was just that with Zhou Yi in this group, it probably wouldn't be her turn; the group would likely fill up very quickly.

Gu Niannian's attitude made Li Kexin's face look a bit ugly. Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, she turned around and said to Zhou Yi:

"Zhou Yi, you don't know, but the classmate sitting behind you is very aloof and looks down on everyone in the class. I'm afraid she won't join us anyway."

The people next to her chimed in, "She pulls a long face all day, acting like everyone owes her money. It's really bad luck."

"How come I didn't even know there was such a person in our class? I have absolutely no impression of her."

"She's like a ghost. She likes to sit in the corner and doesn't interact with anyone in the class. Who could possibly remember her? If it weren't for the last group assignment, I wouldn't have known she existed either."

"Her? What was her name again..."

"I don't know. I think people just call her 'Hey'. I really can't remember her name."

"We've been classmates for two years and haven't even seen what her full face looks like. She dresses like some emo kid."

"She's probably ugly. Otherwise, why would she dress like that?"

...

Gu Niannian heard all the gossip.

This wasn't the first time she had heard it, and of course, it wouldn't be the last.

Having heard it so much, she didn't seem to care as much anymore.

But she suddenly wanted to know what Zhou Yi would think of her after hearing all this.

[So she's an introverted girl.]

Zhou Yi's inner voice consisted of only this one sentence.

There was no unnecessary mockery or any disgusting, vicious words. He only used one word to describe her eccentric personality.

Introverted.

Zhou Yi was truly different from these people.

He didn't hate her. Gu Niannian could feel it, even though she had just rejected him with a bad attitude.

Zhou Yi even helped Gu Niannian explain to Li Kexin:

"Maybe she's just a bit introverted, that's all. I used to be like that too, just not good at expressing myself. Don't misunderstand her, Kexin."

[Gu Niannian's Heartbeat Value +5]

The girl kept her head down, looking as if she hadn't heard anything, but her attention on Zhou Yi never wavered for a single moment.

The bell rang for class, and once again, only Gu Niannian and Zhou Yi were left in the corner.

She saw Zhou Yi secretly take out a small piece of candy and pop it into his mouth.

Gu Niannian's eyes widened slightly. To think that someone like him would actually sneak candy during class...

It was... surprisingly cute.

Gu Niannian rested her chin on her hand, watching Zhou Yi's hand as he played with his pen. Those hands, with their distinct knuckles, were also ridiculously good-looking.

Fortunately, Gu Niannian's bangs blocked her eyes. No matter how she sized Zhou Yi up or how much she zoned out during class, no one noticed.

Her gaze wandered unscrupulously over Zhou Yi's body. She couldn't help herself, so she had no idea how burning the stare behind her glasses was.

The bell for the end of the last class in the afternoon rang, signaling the time to leave school.

Gu Niannian was used to waiting until everyone in the classroom had left before she did.

The classmates left one after another.

Although it had started raining outside, getting caught in the rain wasn't a big deal for college students. People just held books over their heads to act as umbrellas.

Zhou Yi seemed to be waiting for the rain to stop, or perhaps for something else.

After sitting for a while, they were the only ones left in the classroom.

He finally stood up.

Gu Niannian quickly lowered her head.

But that gentle voice came from above her once again: "It's raining. Do you want to walk together? I brought an umbrella."