Age of Legends

Chapter 208 A Cool Breeze Brings News
"Now... I don't like him anymore."

These words were too direct, revealing a young girl's inner thoughts. These were things that might otherwise have been kept buried deep inside, things that even her best friend might never have known.

But now, Shen Nuoyi said it in front of Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen's hand holding the bowl of noodles was very steady. Then he calmly used his chopsticks to pick up the noodles and continued eating.

Shen Nuo glanced at him, and then Xuan'er picked up a spoon and scooped up some wontons to eat.

The two continued eating.

There was no further dialogue during the conversation.

As if that were the case, Shen Nuo told him the whole story, answering Zhang Chen's heartfelt question from back then: "You say the innocent are innocent, but in reality, you don't even have the courage to make a clean clarification."

"Perhaps sometimes, you don't even realize it yourself, you don't understand yourself."

Now, after so much time to reflect and ponder, she even for the first time to tear away the veil of shame she herself was unwilling to shed, to find the answer... and finally to present it to Zhang Chen.

Young Mu Ai shares common interests and a mutual attraction with her best friend. They like to eat the same food, watch the same movies, and are even influenced by her to develop feelings for Pei Yan, whom she previously found cold and aloof.

These were the paths she had taken, and she had no need to deny them to Zhang Chen. Perhaps she had decided to stop hiding them from him and be honest with him.

After finishing his noodles, Zhang Chen wiped his mouth with a tissue.

Almost immediately afterward, Shen Nuoyi also put down her spoon and finished eating the wontons.

She eats pretty fast. Wasn't she supposed to be eating in small bites, seemingly slow and methodical? But I didn't expect her speed to be almost the same as mine.

Hmm, it must be because she had fewer small bowls... What's with this damn competitive spirit?

After Shen Nuo put down her spoon, her bright eyes stared at him. Then, remembering something, she waved to the shopkeeper and paid.

After Shen Nuo paid, Zhang Chen said, "I understand."

He got it.

She answered his question at the time... For someone as aloof as Shen Nuoyi, being able to do this was already quite embarrassing, and she had taken a big step forward.

She wouldn't say such things to Han Zhouxuan, Zheng Xue, or anyone else.

But he spoke to Zhang Chen here.

So why did she need to clarify?
……

"After you finish eating, how will you get home?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Drive the car."

"Shall we go together?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Okay." Shen Nuo nodded.

Her lips formed a straight line, steady and even somewhat dignified and composed, which complemented her meticulously drawn phoenix eyes, making her exceptionally beautiful. No wonder she was famous far and wide in the Three Departments, Four Academies, and Yude.

Many beautiful girls from high schools have emerged in later generations, some of whom gained popularity and entered the entertainment industry as popular young actors. But Shen Nuoyi is not suitable. Even if she appears on screen, she might be a younger version of Wu Zetian, or even a handsome young man dressed as a man in Yue Opera who is more beautiful than the female lead.

But at this moment, Shen Nuoyi's cheeks were illuminated by the sunlight shining obliquely into the small shop. Her dark eyes were like a deep pool of ink jade under the warm sun, and you could see her dark brown pupils. She turned her head to look at the printed menu pasted on the mud brick wall in the shop and said, "Let's eat here together tomorrow afternoon."

"Huh?" Zhang Chen was stunned. Tomorrow was a normal day with classes, nothing out of the ordinary. For senior high school students, holidays were rare, and full-day classes were the norm.

An ordinary day means going to school in an orderly fashion, coming home in an orderly fashion, having dinner with Wang Shuowei, and then strolling back to the classroom in the sunset, regardless of whether it is a sweltering rainy season or a cool autumn breeze.

Now, some invisible boundaries seem to have been broken.

Shen Nuo said, "You eat wontons, and I'll try some beef noodles."

He said before that beef noodles are their signature dish, so why don't you eat them?

She said the wontons were good too, would you like to try them?
That's good too; we can exchange ideas and make up for any regrets.

Zhang Chen snapped out of his reverie, his gaze lingering on her eyes, and said, "Okay."

That's why he likes watching Shen Nuoyi.

Her eyes seemed to hold all the cool breezes he had blown through the sweltering summers of Fuzhou over the years.

The two then left the store together and headed to the bus stop. In fact, their directions and routes were similar, but Shen Nuoyi had to get off first, while Zhang Chen had to go two more stops before returning to Nanguang Company on Zhengheng Street.

The third-to-last row on the bus is usually Zhang Chen's favorite spot, the so-called "main character's seat." Small buses only have single seats, but now there are two of them. The starting station of the 311 bus is not far away, and it's not the usual rush hour after evening self-study. There are plenty of empty seats, so the two of them walk to the double seat in the third-to-last row.

Shen Nuo said, "You'll sit inside? I need to get off the bus first."

“There will be a lot of people and the aisle will be crowded later. You should sit inside. I’ll let you out later,” Zhang Chen said.

Shen Nuoyi hummed in agreement, placed her hand on the back of the seat in front of her, and stepped into the double seat. Her hair and body carried a faint, fresh fragrance and a vibrant aura in front of Zhang Chen, who then sat down next to her.

This appears to be the first time the two have come this close.

With a hiss, the bus door closed, the engine started, and Shen Nuo gripped the backrest armrest in front of her, her eyes fixed straight ahead, seemingly unconcerned about what Zhang Chen was doing next to her.

But Zhang Chen noticed that the back of her hand, which was gripping the handrail, was so tightly clenched for some reason that the blue veins were visible through it.

She seemed preoccupied, deliberately gazing out the window at the scenery, her eyelashes fluttering gently in the golden dust of the setting sun, clearly revealing a depth of emotion that lacked the composure she projected. Sensing Zhang Chen's gaze, her ears flushed slightly. Shen Nuoyi thought for a moment and said, "Oh, right."

She then took the long box out of her crossbody bag.

These were souvenirs she bought when she and Han Zhouxuan traveled together.

It still came with its packaging, but it wasn't covered in dust from lying somewhere for a long time.

Zhang Chen took it, and with a rustling sound, the wrapping paper was torn open, revealing the Xiangfei bamboo folding fan.

As the car became more and more crowded, there was no way to open it like that, so it was folded open, revealing the inscription on it: "Clouds dismantle the East to reveal the Jade Palace".

The girl's presence up close, the belated fan gift with a poem inscribed on it that subtly alludes to her name—a few subtle thoughts linger within.

"Received. Thanks." Zhang Chen shook the fan in his hand. The fan was in a velvet bag, which Zhang Chen put back in and put in his hand. Because the people standing next to him were squeezing in, he tightened his grip slightly.

Having witnessed everything, Shen Nuoyi calmly raised an eyebrow at him and said, "I haven't said I'd give it to you yet."

Zhang Chen was stunned.

What do you mean?
This is clearly a belated gift, and you still haven't said you were going to give it to me? Are you asking for a beating? Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble? While I'm still in a good mood, say it again.

Zhang Chen heard Shen Nuoyi's voice, "If you want my things, you have to accept my conditions."

What the hell?

Zhang Chen clearly felt the person next to him who had been squeezing him loosen their grip. The constant squeezing had annoyed Zhang Chen, and he really wanted to yell at the person next to him, "What are you squeezing me for?!" when they moved closer again.

But this sudden relaxation felt strange. Realizing that people were listening to them, they thought, "You want to keep your distance so you can observe, huh?"

However, it's not fair to say anything about others. When Shen Nuoyi is on the bus, she inevitably attracts a lot of attention. After all, who doesn't like to look at beautiful women? Even Zhang Chen would glance at her on the bus. It's not that he'd stare, but he could easily spot her. This is perfectly normal; the human desire for beauty is universal. It's just that in this era, aside from direct harassment by thugs, there wasn't the kind of situation we see in later years where people would take a picture and post it on forums or social media.

It wasn't the era of smartphones yet...

Zhang Chen tilted his head and tapped the bamboo fan in his hand. "Tell me about it?"

"Let's continue studying together at the bookstore this weekend."

Zhang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. "That's it?"

Thinking that there would be some harsh conditions for rebelling against the Heavenly Gang, he said, "I can agree to your request in advance without approval."

Finally, she saw Shen Nuoyi staring at her, her face visibly flushed, her phoenix eyes filled with clouds and stars, as if she had an aura of recklessness and disregard for herself.

Then I heard her soft voice from the side: "Zhang Chen, let's date."

Ugh! The guy next to me seemed to be choking on his own saliva, it was stuck in his throat and he didn't dare to cough it out loud, he was just holding it in.

There was a slight pause in the front row of people, like a programmer who got stuck on a bug and froze for a moment, then leaned forward, like a bus driver slamming on the brakes. Then, taking advantage of the moment when they were leaning against the front seats, they quickly turned their heads to check the situation behind them. What kind of frontline battle was this?!

Zhang Chen felt it even more strongly; the compressed feeling that had been crowding in the aisle suddenly disappeared... Goodness, everyone has switched to gossip mode, right?

The conversations on both sides immediately quieted down, replaced by a chorus of breathless silence.

Then, Zhang Chen's heart, which had been pounding uncontrollably through both his past and present lives, saw Shen Nuoyi's eyes.

A phoenix in meticulous brushwork, a celestial being descended to earth.

Zhang Chen thought to himself, "I felt like she had something on her mind all along, so this is what she was thinking."

Even with his impenetrable defenses, fate's bullet still struck the reborn Zhang Chen at this moment.

So Zhang Chen was almost choked by a breath, feeling as if a bag had been tied shut with a rope in his chest, leaving him in a state of shock and unable to breathe.

But after a moment of hesitation, Zhang Chen casually laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? It's not funny."

He sensed the atmosphere around him was heating up; it seemed like the people around him wanted to kill him.

Shen Nuoyi's face remained flushed, and she feigned composure. Her hands were clenched tightly, providing her with the last bit of support and energy. Her whole body was clearly starting to feel hot and weak.

So her cheeks flushed, and she was just a hair's breadth away from burying her sharply defined chin, which she refused to lower, and her courage was about to dissipate completely.

Her voice, though trying to remain calm, was somewhat unsteady and trembling, "...What do you think?"

"I think..." Zhang Chen finally exhaled heavily from his chest.

"it is good."

This was a routine shuttle bus traveling on the same route in Fuzhou that day.

This bus carried them back and forth between school and home countless times, and even existed throughout their entire childhood and student years, witnessing their growth. They looked at each other and glanced back countless times when getting on and off the bus.

However, in that particular time and space, these existences gradually dissipated into the years and time.

And on this old-fashioned bus, swaying and bumping along the uphill and downhill sections, the paths of two people intersect and collide once again. Together with this bus, they travel along Sunset Boulevard.

　This chapter took a while to write, sorry! It took me a long time to come up with the idea. The story only really came to fruition at the end, but it was still quite interesting.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)