LABICTTS_ARCHIVE C8: CHAPTER 8:First Meeting — You Actually Didn’t See Me?

 LIKE A BOAT IT CIRCLES TO THE START

Chapter Eight

First Meeting — You Actually Didn’t See Me?

It was a bright, sunny afternoon.

Zhao Fanzhou was studying in the library, seated near the windows—his favorite spot. The tall floor-to-ceiling glass let in soft sunlight that filtered through the tree leaves and scattered across the concrete floor in a mosaic of shadows. Reading with a cup of tea in that peaceful light—it was the kind of quiet he truly enjoyed.

But that peace didn’t last long.

Two girls took the seats across from him. An oddly perfect contrast: one was tall and slender with delicate features; the other, petite and slightly chubby, had a playful look on her face—playful? He wasn’t sure why that word popped into his mind, but in hindsight, it turned out to be pretty accurate.

Fanzhou lowered his head, trying to get back into his book.

Rustle, rustle… the sound of a plastic bag.

Splash, splash… water being poured.

Click, click… a pen tapping on the table.

Even someone as patient as Zhao Fanzhou was starting to lose it. He finally looked up and stared long and hard at the short girl.

But it was pointless—she wasn’t even looking at him.

Instead, the tall girl next to her noticed his glare and gave the other a gentle nudge. “You’re being loud,” she whispered. The petite girl looked up in his direction, gave an apologetic smile, then bowed her head and quietly returned to her book.

Zhao Fanzhou followed suit—but just as he lowered his gaze, he caught her sneaking a silly face at him.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or be mad. What kind of girl is this?

Things finally quieted down.

But then—bang! Something hit the table. He looked up instinctively.

She had knocked over her cup and was now scrambling to clean it up.

Great, he thought. There goes my afternoon.

He pulled a packet of tissues from his bag and handed it over. She gave him a grateful smile before quickly trying to contain the spreading water.

Once she finished cleaning, she suddenly slumped forward, her shoulders shaking.

Fanzhou was startled. Crap—did she actually start crying?

But when she lifted her head, her eyes were sparkling, and she was trying really hard not to burst out laughing.

Was it really that funny?

As expected, for the rest of the afternoon, she just kept doing things—dropping pens, going to the restroom, borrowing books, pouring water. Each time she made a sound, she’d sneak a guilty glance around, then quietly behave for the next ten minutes.

His phone buzzed softly. A message from Jia Yichun:

“Fanzhou, want to grab dinner tonight?”

As he looked at the message, he heard the petite girl whisper to her friend:

“Vibrating phones sound like someone farting, don’t they?”

Her friend elbowed her, and the two of them cracked up, covering their mouths as they laughed.

He replied, “Sure. Meet you by the cafeteria.”

Then he packed his things and left.

Before walking away, he stole one last glance at the noisy girl—

She had her head down, looking completely focused, not even noticing he was leaving.

At the cafeteria, he met Jia Yichun.

“You keep studying like this, you’re gonna turn into a total bookworm,” she teased with a smile. “Did you finish Technical Analysis of Securities, the one I lent you?”

He’d completely forgotten about it.

He’d spent the entire afternoon watching that girl across the table, barely reading a thing.

He gave a self-deprecating smile and shook his head.

Two days later, at the school’s English Corner, Zhao Fanzhou saw her again.

 

She was deep in conversation with a foreign student, gesturing animatedly as she spoke.

Next to the tall foreigner, her small frame made her look a little ridiculous—but she seemed totally unfazed. She always seemed to be surrounded by taller people.

At one point, she turned her head—perhaps sensing someone looking at her.

Her gaze swept the room briefly, passed right over him, and went back to her conversation.

That tiny moment left Fanzhou a little disappointed.

He wasn’t vain enough to think she should remember him—but still, it had only been two days.

He’d endured her noise all afternoon, she made a face at him, he even gave her tissues—and she didn’t spare him two seconds of recognition?

Was he really that forgettable?

It was a strange phenomenon.

Once you start noticing someone, you suddenly start running into them everywhere.

At such a big university, he somehow kept bumping into her:

In the cafeteria, she’d be sitting just a few tables ahead of him.

 

In the library, she happened to be third in line right in front of him returning books.

 

At the newsstand, she stood next to him flipping through magazines.

 

In the supermarket, she walked past pushing her cart.

What frustrated him most was—

She never once noticed him.

He wasn’t invisible, was he? He was decent-looking, got plenty of attention growing up, had even received his fair share of love notes.

But to her, he might as well have been air.

 

EUNIE HERE: HE FELL FOR HER FIRST....HE LOST AND DID NOT EVEN NOTICED THE GAME HAS ALREADY STARTED, POOR GUY AND THE CULPRIT? SHE DID NOT EVEN KNOW THE EXISTENCE OF HER VICTIM! 🤣

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