NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 69
The day after Mid-Autumn Festival, Song Anan went to work as usual. Once she got busy, she quickly forgot about what had happened that night.
But she never expected that a few days later, the events of that night would end up trending online.
It started because on Mid-Autumn night, someone posted on the B University forum with a photo of a guy riding an electric scooter with a girl sitting behind him on campus.
The post said: Just ran into this couple on campus out on a date on the holiday! Which lovebirds are out here trying to make us single dogs jealous!
[Wow! Just from their silhouette you can tell they look like a fairy tale couple!]
[Wahhh why do some people look good even from behind! That must be the aura of beauty that comes with being super attractive.]
[I'm curious, are they students from our school?]
[They probably are. Who else would be randomly strolling around campus on a big holiday?]
[Going off topic! OP your photography skills are great, this shot of them on the scooter under the streetlamp feels so atmospheric...]
[Gotta admit, the mood of this pic is amazing. And it's so rare to capture such a cinematic moment!]
[Yes exactly, the storytelling vibe! Just one look and your imagination starts running wild!]
...
The OP did get an amazing shot, which contributed to the high engagement on the post from the start.
Soon someone in the thread shared another photo:
What a coincidence OP! I also happened to catch them that Mid-Autumn night. Just thought it was a beautiful moment at the time, it felt like something straight out of a college romance drama!
This photo showed the girl riding while the guy sat behind, lazily resting his long legs.
Slowly more and more people started replying, and some picked up on clues about their identities.
One photo in particular showed side profiles of Pei Kuang and Song Anan. The pic wasn't super clear, but those familiar with them could make out who they were.
It showed them standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, each holding a milk tea, chatting happily.
[Wait I think I recognize who these two are!]
[I know too, the girl is Song Anan from the medical school. The guy looks like that celebrity...Pei Kuang I think, saw him on a show before.]
[No way, I saw them on campus that day too I think. Only thought they looked kinda familiar, can't believe it's actually celebrities! If only I took a pic!]
[What's going on, are they dating?!]
[Shouldn't be right? I read online before that Song Anan's nephew Song Linchuan is really good friends with Pei Kuang, like sworn brothers.]
[Nothing to make a fuss about, Song Anan is a student here after all, normal for her to be on campus. And Pei Kuang probably just visited the school or something.]
[Yup that's right. No wonder the blurry silhouette already looked good, it's them after all, makes sense now!]
[That's right. I've seen Song Anan around before, she's as gorgeous as the rumors say, totally campus belle material!]
...
Once their identities were recognized, more and more people started discussing the thread and it quickly went viral, not just among B University students but public netizens too.
Soon the gossip marketing accounts took notice, and the photos got spread to Weibo where they started trending.
The accounts didn't sensationalize though, just posted the three pics directly with time and place context, leaving the internet to go wild.
[Ahhh the first silhouette shot is too atmospheric!]
[This happened on Mid-Autumn but is only coming out now from their school forum, tsk tsk, these paparazzi are slipping.]
[So the auntie spent Mid-Autumn with Pei Kuang huh.]
[Wait! I remember Song Linchuan posted a Weibo that day, said he video called his auntie for the holiday and it was fun. So Pei Kuang was there too!]
[Their relationship seems so close, some people online used to say Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang's friendship was fake, but from an outsider's view all these years, doesn't seem fake at all!]
[Right exactly! With everything Pei Kuang went through recently, the auntie publicly stood up for him, I'm crying.]
[And Song Linchuan too, even though they're both celebs who normally can't just take sides, he still did. Nothing but respect for this aunt-nephew duo!]
[As a Pei Kuang fan myself, finding out about his difficult childhood recently broke my heart...but at the same time I'm relieved he has unconditional support from friends like the auntie and Song Linchuan.]
[Wahhh my OTP is finally being fed, this is too sweet!]
[Ahhhhh the Song Anan x Pei Kuang ship is real, I won't hear otherwise!]
[Damn, if auntie was an entertainer she could star in her own campus idol drama!]
[I have a bold prediction...you don't think they're secretly dating behind Song Linchuan's back do you? They seem so compatible!]
[Gasp! Plot twist of the century!]
[Lmao the bromance becomes an uncle-in-law situation, Song Linchuan's gotta go beat up Pei Kuang now!]
Of course, there were also shameless netizens who went and @'ed Song Linchuan.
[@Song Linchuan quick look, your auntie is playing favorites! She took Pei Kuang around campus but not you!]
[@Song Linchuan your auntie bought Pei Kuang milk tea but never for you right?]
[@Song Linchuan your auntie gave Pei Kuang a ride but never you right?]
...
Gotta say, netizens sure know how to poke at Song Linchuan's sore spots. Each and every poke was perfectly aimed.
And as expected, Song Linchuan immediately blew up when he saw it all.
It happened just as Song Anan got off a long night shift and returned to her dorm to sleep. She had just finished washing up and was about to go to bed when Song Linchuan called.
"Auntie, how could you take Pei Kuang to your school?!" Song Linchuan complained indignantly.
Song Anan let out a confused "ah", not expecting him to know about that incident and asked "Which time are you talking about?"
Hearing this made Song Linchuan even more upset. "So it happened more than once?!"
Song Anan quickly explained, "Weren't they filming a show near our school last time? So we just took a quick look around."
Song Linchuan huffed, "If I didn't see it on Weibo, I wouldn't even know!"
Song Anan frowned, Weibo?
Song Linchuan continued accusing, "You gave Pei Kuang a ride but never me! And you didn't treat me to milk tea from your cafeteria either!"
Now Song Anan knew he must've seen pics from Mid-Autumn night. "You weren't around, I'll take you next time you visit?" she offered.
As expected, Song Linchuan shamelessly made more demands. "On top of milk tea, I want to eat in your cafeteria too!"
Song Anan obediently smoothed things over. "No problem, I'll treat you to the most expensive meal!"
This kind of interaction was the norm ever since the two were little. Not real anger, just playful bickering.
Song Linchuan used to be jealous over his own mom, accusing Song Anan of playing favorites. Now it was Pei Kuang, just a change in target, but the core never changed.
Competing for his auntie's favor was a daily task for this nephew.
Successfully placated, Song Linchuan happily went on Weibo to brag.
@SongLinchuan: When filming wraps up next, going to eat at B University cafeteria. Auntie said she'll treat me to the most expensive meal! *Thumbs up emoji*
Netizen: Song Linchuan you're so childish, do your fans know this?!
Fan: We're used to it already!!
Not long after Mid-Autumn came National Day.
Song Anan had started rotating through different departments, and was recently assigned to one with Li Sirui, which made them both happy.
Their supervisor gave the interns three days off for the National Day holidays, no on-call duties, and everyone was thrilled.
In the dorm, Li Sirui had her suitcase open on the floor, packing for her trip home since her family lived out of town. She planned to take advantage of the long weekend to visit.
Song Anan helped out here and there as she packed. Song Anan wasn't going back this time since Song Linchuan was away filming and her parents were also out of town for work.
"Your flight tomorrow is so early, come back to the dorms early tonight alright?" Song Anan said.
Song Anan had bought a plane ticket for 5 am the next morning, but Chen, a doctor in her department, was having a birthday party that evening. Chen had invited everyone to go out and have fun, and there was no telling how late they would stay out.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just not sleep tonight and catch up on the plane," Song Anan said with a wave of her hand.
She didn't have much luggage, so Song Anan packed up in just a few minutes.
Then she pushed her suitcase to the side and pulled up a chair to sit next to Li Sirui.
She had a gossipy look on her face.
"What are you doing?" Song Anan was a little confused.
Li Sirui giggled twice. "We were so busy the last couple of days that I didn't get a chance to ask you - did you bring Pei Kuang to our school?"
Song Anan replied, "Yeah, it was Mid-Autumn Festival. We were celebrating it together, and after dinner when we still had time, we came to walk around the school."
That day, Song Anan had wanted to invite Li Sirui to celebrate the festival together, but it turned out she had already switched shifts with the other local interns in the department.
Li Sirui opened her mouth as if to ask something, but hesitated for a few seconds without saying anything.
Song Anan thought she wanted to meet her idol, so she said, "If you want to see Pei Kuang, I can arrange it if there's a chance." For example, if Pei Kuang came to their school again, she could call Li Sirui over.
Li Sirui waved her hand firmly. "No need. As a fan, I should keep my distance from my idol's life. That's my principle for following celebrities!"
Then she patted Song Anan on the shoulder and earnestly said, "Anan, I'm leaving Pei Kuang to you. You have to treat him well!"
Song Anan: "..."
That sounded so awkward.
"Oh, that reminds me," Li Sirui suddenly seemed to think of something and turned to look at Song Anan. "Jing Fan will be going tonight too. Did you know?"
Song Anan was taken aback. "He's going too?"
Li Sirui nodded. "Yeah, I heard he's pretty close with Dr. Chen, and he's off duty tonight, so if nothing unexpected happens, he should go."
Their medical school was a small circle, and many of the doctors at their hospital were alumni, so it was common for everyone to know each other directly.
"In my opinion, you shouldn't keep avoiding him. We'll all be at the same hospital in the future, and you can't really avoid him forever."
On the day Jing Fan confessed to her, when he couldn't find Song Anan at first, he had called Li Sirui, so she knew about it.
Song Anan lowered her eyelashes. "I'm not avoiding him, I just don't know how to face him."
She had intentionally been avoiding Jing Fan ever since he confessed to her. She really didn't know what attitude to take towards him.
Being too cold seemed inappropriate after their years of friendship, but being too close made her afraid he would misunderstand.
It really was a headache.
"What's there to not know how to face? He confessed, you rejected him, after that just act however you're supposed to. What's the big deal?" Li Sirui said.
Song Anan sighed. "You don't understand."
Li Sirui thought to herself that it was because the girl was too kindhearted, so she was overthinking things.
A little after 7 pm, Song Anan and Li Sirui arrived at a bar near their school.
There were several bars around the college town, mostly catering to students from nearby schools. Prices weren't too high and the environments were decent. People from their hospital would often choose to come here for small gatherings.
Song Anan had come a few times before with her roommates.
When they arrived, quite a few people were already sitting there, all people from their hospital that they were more or less familiar with.
The two of them were arranged next to a couple of senior sisters [feminine term for female colleagues], and they started chatting idly.
Song Anan was always quiet in these kinds of situations, but fortunately Li Sirui was talkative. No matter what others said, she could chime in with a few sentences. Song Anan was actually quite envious of her social skills sometimes, since she couldn't do that herself.
Song Anan was a little bored, so she picked up a drink from the table and started sipping. This happened to be noticed by a senior sister sitting next to her.
"Oh Anan, why are you drinking soft drinks at a bar? Here, try this cocktail. I just tried it and the taste is pretty good."
Song Anan hesitated. "Is the alcohol content high?"
The senior sister laughed. "Not high. Look, I've already had several glasses and I'm totally fine."
Song Anan was still hesitant.
She really didn't have good alcohol tolerance and rarely drank. She was afraid of getting drunk.
But the senior sister was so enthusiastic, she directly shoved a glass into Song Anan's hand. Refusing now would be a bit of a damper.
Li Sirui knew her concerns. In the past when their dorm mates had come here together, Song Anan had said her tolerance was poor and only drank soft drinks.
"Drink less. If you really can't, just take a sip to try it out." She said softly to Song Anan.
Song Anan nodded lightly, then took a small sip.
The liquor wasn't too strong, and had a hint of sweetness to its flavor. The alcohol content didn't seem high.
Such a small glass shouldn't be enough to get someone drunk.
Song Anan didn't want to waste it, so she finished the whole glass in small sips.
Halfway through, Li Sirui glanced at her and didn't notice anything off, so she didn't pay too much attention.
But not long after, Song Anan suddenly felt dizzy, and her face seemed to be flushed.
Based on her past experience, this meant she was drunk.
Song Anan lightly tugged Li Sirui's clothes. "Sirui, I think I'm drunk."
At first Li Sirui thought she was joking, but looking at her visibly blurry eyes, she was stunned.
Could she really be drunk?
The next second, Song Anan slumped straight onto the bar counter and closed her eyes.
Li Sirui was instantly at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She really hadn't expected that Song Anan would get drunk so easily.
By now, the people around them had noticed the situation. Everyone was quite surprised when they learned what had happened. No one had seen someone with such low alcohol tolerance before.
Especially the senior sister from earlier, who was full of remorse and kept apologizing profusely.
Li Sirui helped adjust Song Anan's position so she was leaning on her shoulder, planning to let her sober up a bit before taking her back.
Being this drunk, there was no point in staying any longer.
Everyone came over to ask if they needed help with anything. Li Sirui quickly waved them off, but she was also extremely anxious inside.
Of the people who had come today, although they all knew each other, there weren't many who were close. She wouldn't feel assured leaving Song Anan with any of them.
But her flight was at 5 am tomorrow morning, so she had to leave from school before 3 am. Leaving a drunk person alone in the dorm wasn't feasible either.
The main issue was she didn't know what Song Anan was like when drunk, so leaving her alone was risky, in case something happened.
Oh well, she could go check if she could change her plane ticket, but after looking through the booking app, all the flights were full.
What to do now?
Just as Li Sirui was at a complete loss, Song Anan's phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and looked - the caller ID displayed: Pei Kuang!!