Chapter 261: Invitation

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Invitation

When Gu Nuan Nuan only offered a faint smile without replying, Lin Qiao didn’t think much of it. After all this time, she was used to Gu Nuan Nuan’s shy and quiet nature. From experience, she couldn’t attribute this behavior from her classmate and roommate to anything other than a lack of self-confidence. She’d had a classmate in elementary school who was too timid to speak up or socialize, and back then, she hadn’t liked associating with such an insecure person—she’d looked down on them.

Even now, deep down, Lin Qiao still looked down on Gu Nuan Nuan for this.

Unfortunately, looking down on her or not, there was nothing to be done about it.

These days, Lin Qiao had no other choice besides Gu Nuan Nuan. The other girls in their class were all incredible snobs. They either flaunted the fact that their families lived in the city proper or that they were well-off. They looked down on "country girls" like her and Gu Nuan Nuan, who lived on the urban-rural fringe and had to take the bus to get to and from school. They had their own cliques, and she had tried to fit in, but it wasn’t easy. Even if you managed to get in, you were just a background character, treated like a little servant girl to be ordered around at their whim. Their high-and-mighty attitude was infuriating. So, by comparison, Lin Qiao was much more willing to develop a "friendship" with Gu Nuan Nuan.

’After all, you can’t just walk around campus all by yourself without any friends. Wouldn’t that make me seem too pitiful, too antisocial? And for a girl, it’s always better to have someone with you, no matter what you’re doing. Anyone who’s experienced both knows that there’s a world of difference between having company and being all alone.’

Lin Qiao hated the feeling of being lonely. So, even though hanging out with Gu Nuan Nuan was actually quite tiring—since most of the time she had to be the one to accommodate her—she gritted her teeth and persevered.

She had long ago discovered that Gu Nuan Nuan, likely because she was an only child, wasn’t just "solitary" but also had a bit of a "princess" attitude. Even if she was too timid to speak much to others, she was definitely not the type to be a pushover and accommodate people.

’Sigh, she’s just a spoiled kid who never grew up. Being an only child must be nice.’

Lin Qiao felt rather resigned, but thankfully, she had two younger sisters at home. As the eldest, she was used to giving in to them, so accommodating Gu Nuan Nuan as well was no big deal.

Of course, Gu Nuan Nuan had no idea what Lin Qiao was thinking. Even if she had known that she was being labeled "timid and shy" simply because she didn’t like to talk much, she would have found it both exasperating and amusing. Then she’d just go on being herself, completely unbothered.

The two walked together from the City No. 1 Middle School campus toward the bus stop at the entrance. While waiting for the bus, Lin Qiao hesitated for a moment before asking Gu Nuan Nuan, "Nuannuan, this Saturday—I mean, tomorrow—are you free?"

"Tomorrow?" Gu Nuan Nuan thought for a moment and realized she didn’t really have any plans for the weekend. She had just gone back to her town to visit her grandfather last week, so she wasn’t planning on another trip. She shook her head. "I don’t think so. What’s up?"

"Well, if you’re free, you should come to my house for the Bandan festival. This Saturday, our village is celebrating it, and this year my parents decided to host a few extra banquet tables to liven things up. They told me I could invite any good classmates or friends over. But, as you know, it’s not like I have a lot of good friends in our class, do I?"

Lin Qiao bit her lower lip. She had been quite happy at first when her family told her to invite classmates over for the Bandan festival. If only one or two people agreed to come, she was sure everyone’s opinion of her would change. But unfortunately, when she invited the few girls in class she was on decent speaking terms with, nobody accepted. They all turned down the offer of a free feast, complaining that it was too far, inconvenient, or that their parents wouldn’t allow it. No one was willing to come.

She remembered her friends from the village asking her last week if she was going to invite any classmates, and she had replied with a confident "yes." To have failed to invite a single person was humiliating. Her spirits sank, and she looked at Gu Nuan Nuan with hopeful eyes. Seeing the hesitation on Gu Nuan Nuan’s face, she began to plead, "Please, Nuannuan? If you’re free, just come and hang out, okay? We’ve known each other for so long, and you’ve never even come over to my house."

Gu Nuan Nuan raised an eyebrow, puzzled by how desperate Lin Qiao seemed for her to accept.

"Oh, it’s just... last week, my friends in the village asked me about it, and I told them I’d be inviting classmates over. But when I actually asked a few people from our class, they all refused to come, complaining that it was too far and my home was in the countryside..." Feeling as if Gu Nuan Nuan could see right through her, Lin Qiao blushed and explained herself.

"Oh." Gu Nuan Nuan acknowledged, but before she could nod yes or shake her head no, the bus they were waiting for arrived. Forgetting everything else, Lin Qiao quickly nudged her. "The bus is here! Get on, quick."

The bus wasn’t crowded, so they easily found two seats, one behind the other. Lin Qiao didn’t sit. Instead, she placed the things she was carrying onto her seat, then set the folded quilt from her back on top of them. Leaning against the side of the seat to guard her belongings, she turned to look expectantly at Gu Nuan Nuan in the seat behind her. "Nuannuan, you’ll come on Sunday, right? There’s a bamboo forest near my house, and the spring bamboo shoots are delicious this time of year. I can even take you to dig for some. It’ll be fun!"

’Is she playing the pity card and trying to tempt me at the same time?’

Gu Nuan Nuan found the situation both funny and exasperating. It was her first time hearing of the Bandan festival, so she didn’t really know what it was, but she understood that Lin Qiao was inviting her to a banquet at her home. ’I’m a little hesitant, though.’ She had never felt that she and Lin Qiao were particularly close. ’Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to just accept an invitation to a family banquet like this?’

However, seeing Lin Qiao’s pitiful expression and remembering she didn’t have any other plans, Gu Nuan Nuan felt a pang of sympathy. She considered that for the past semester, while they weren’t exactly friends, they were still classmates and roommates who usually went everywhere together. For the sake of Lin Qiao having "patiently" accommodated her for so long, she finally nodded.

"That’s great! Thank you, Nuannuan." Seeing Gu Nuan Nuan nod, Lin Qiao instantly relaxed and beamed at her. If it weren’t for the pile of things on the seat between them, Gu Nuan Nuan suspected she might have come over for a hug. ’This is the first time I’ve ever seen her so openly emotional and childlike,’ Gu Nuan Nuan thought. ’Yeah, it’s much more interesting than her usual act of pretending to be a grown-up.’ She couldn’t help but smile back at Lin Qiao. "You look really pretty when you smile like that."

"...It’s just because I was so happy you agreed to come," Lin Qiao said, blushing as she realized she had lost her composure. Feeling a little embarrassed, she also found that, for some reason, Gu Nuan Nuan seemed much more likable than usual. She smiled, pressing her lips together. "Then it’s a deal. On Sunday morning at ten o’clock, wait for me at the bus stop where I normally get off. I’ll be there on time to pick you up. You have to come, okay?"

"Okay, I’ll be there on time," Gu Nuan Nuan agreed with a nod.