Chapter 7, Invitation

"Come on, my language skills are not good, so don't nitpick on my words," Cui Yanan pressed on, "Was it when we went to watch a movie last time? I remember Ma Hao was still 'seriously ill' at that time, acting as if someone owed him something. It made me want to hit him. How is it that just a few days have passed and he has recovered? What have you two been up to?"

You first tell me how you know this

"Mr. Wang, please buy one for me." This was interjected by Anran's middle school classmate, Luo Xiaohui, "Didn’t you buy a mobile phone for Lin Jiao from Class 3 on her birthday?"

What did he say

Just as Ma Haochuan was about to help An Ran open the door, he exclaimed: "Fang Zhe?"

After physical education class, An Ran and her classmates returned to the classroom. As they entered the teaching building, Ma Haochuan called out to them from behind, and the accompanying girls discreetly walked away together.

After a few people left, Wang Lei leaned over to Ma Haochuan and asked, "Who is it?"

"Indeed, classmate, a friendship purer than plain water!" Wang Lei patted Ma Haochuan, "Anyway, An Ran knows now, right? You are classmates, aren't you? Then An Ran must know as well. Think about how to explain this."

What does 'reuniting a broken mirror' mean? It has never been whole, okay, sister

Seeing that the situation was somewhat awkward, Cui Yanan stood up and said: "I am hungry, I want to eat salmon! Let's go, let's go! Get the fish! It will be snatched away again in a little while!" As she spoke, she pulled Anran, Luo Xiaohui, and two other girls along to get something to eat.

We are all classmates, how can we not be familiar with each other? We are still in the same group! Cui Yanan will definitely go, you can go with her...

Yang Yang ... ... is it a male or a female ... ... " Luo Xiaohui muttered while flipping through Ma Haochuan's information records, " Sun Tiantian ... ... so sweet ... ... must be a girl ... ... "

And then? How did you deceive him?

Wang Lei smiled and did not deny it. Wang Lei is widely recognized as a rich second generation, as evidenced by the brand new sneakers on his feet. He spends money extravagantly and has always been generous when pursuing girls.

Then there was nothing more to say, he is no longer avoiding me and is now speaking to me

On the other side, Anran returned with two large plates of salmon that Cui Yanan had swept up. When she reached the door of the single room, her hands were occupied, so she had to lift her elbow and push the door with her side. At that moment, someone reached out from behind and helped her push the door open over her head. Anran instinctively turned to look, and before she could utter the word "thank you," her heart skipped a beat, and the plates in her hands nearly tipped over onto the ground

An Ran saw that Luo Xiaohui was actually going to read aloud. Thinking about how Sun Tiantian and Ma Haochuan had gotten together not long after the start of their senior year, there must be some stories by now. If it were to be read out loud in public, it would indeed be quite awkward. Therefore, without considering whether it was appropriate or not, she hurriedly spoke up to stop it: "Alright, enough of this, just give it to him."

Is that so? Then I should also get a new phone. You are thinking of others who are not even in the same class, but we are classmates, aren't we? Don't you think it would be appropriate to show us some consideration? Let's each have one first.

What happens next

Anran, you should hurry and buy a phone; it’s really difficult for me to reach you. If it weren’t for Cui Yanan, I wouldn’t have been able to find you at all. Wang Lei started with a round of pleasantries, and from the tone of this sentence, Anran felt that he would definitely do well in society in the future

I suppose I won't go, as I am not well acquainted with him either

"It's over, it's over!" Wang Lei and a few other boys, including Tian Li, interjected to intervene.

Ma Hao asked me today whether I would go to Wang Lei's birthday on Sunday. I replied that I wasn't invited, so why would I go? Therefore, I suspect it is him.

Is he still using deception against me? I told him, 'Are you going to tell the truth or not? If you don't, not only will I not call you Anran, but I also won't go.'

Ah? Cui Yanan felt somewhat perplexed

"Who would believe that! Why are you, an ordinary classmate, in such a hurry?" Wang Lei chuckled, "Are you the kind of person who flirts with girls and doesn't delete the messages? What is that about? Keeping them for nostalgia?"

"On Sunday, Wang Lei's birthday, he invited a few classmates from our class to get together. Are you going?" Ma Haochuan caught up with An Ran and walked up the stairs side by side, completely unconcerned about the gazes of others, as if he had already forgotten the little incident that occurred during gym class.

Anran understood Cui Yanan's reaction. These days, she had also been perplexed by Ma Haochuan's attitude. She carefully recalled that on Valentine's Day, apart from asking him those two questions, she had not said anything else. She was unsure which nerve those two questions had touched in Ma Haochuan, causing his attitude to change a complete 180 degrees.

Ma Haochuan clicked his tongue and reached out to grab it

"Hey! Who told you to look at my phone?" Although Ma Haochuan said this, he did not appear to be in a hurry to stop it

Alright, I know. If I wanted to ruin you, I would have just had Luo Xiaohui read your messages.

Wang Lei raised his eyebrows at Ma Haochuan's pocket and said, "Who are you talking about, who is that sweet one?"

Then she must have forgotten. Ma Haochuan insisted, "I will call Wang Lei tonight to ask."

"Are you going on Sunday?" Cui Yanan asked

"I didn't do anything," Anran recalled, "It was just on the day we watched the movie that I asked him why he kept avoiding me, wondering if there was some misunderstanding."

"It's nothing..." In the second year of high school, in the academic class on a different floor, when they reached the stairway on the second floor, Ma Haochuan pulled An Ran to the window. "It's impossible that I wouldn't call you; maybe I just haven't had the chance yet. Don't you not have a phone? He doesn't have your home number either. Whether he looks for you or not might depend on whether Cui Yanan mentioned it; didn't she tell you?"

What do you mean?" Ma Haochuan said in a low voice

It is your turn now, how do you know that it was Ma Hao who asked him to call you

Ma Haochuan frowned and clicked his tongue, turning to An Ran and saying, "Anyway, you should go. Besides Cui Yanan, there are several other classmates from our class as well, so it's a good opportunity to gather together."

Upon hearing this, Ma Haochuan felt somewhat reluctant to take it back, and naturally, An Ran also found it inappropriate to accept it. Seeing this, Cui Yanan snatched the phone away and intervened for An Ran, saying: "An Ran doesn't want it, I do."

He didn't say it directly, just mentioned that he was entrusted by someone, and since the person didn't allow him to speak, he had to keep his word and so on. His exact words were, 'Anyway, it's not about harming Anran, it's about facilitating a good deed.' With his words being this clear, how could one not understand? It is evident that it was Ma Hao who asked him to do this, given how close he is with Ma Hao.

When did he tell you this? Anran asked

Wang Lei raised his hand and teased, "What’s the matter, are you reluctant?"

An Ran did not respond, quickly ascending several steps. However, when she turned the corner, she deliberately slowed her pace, peering towards Fang Zhe and Lu Yao's direction. It was unclear whether he heard someone calling him from behind or sensed her gaze, but Fang Zhe suddenly turned his head to look towards the stairs. An Ran hurriedly leaned forward to look downstairs, pretending to search for someone. By the time she raised her head again, Fang Zhe and Lu Yao had already left.

We are all classmates, so why is there so much fuss...

"I guessed it," Cui Yanan said, "Wang Lei called me last week and just now he called to ask me to bring you along. If he wanted to invite you, he should have said so last week, why wait until now? Besides, you don't usually hang out with him. I asked him what his intentions were, and he just laughed it off, saying he wanted to invite you last week but forgot or something... Does he think I'm foolish?" I asked him what his intentions were, and he just laughed it off, saying he wanted to invite you last week but forgot or something... Does he think I'm foolish?"

Wang Lei's birthday dinner was held at a buffet restaurant near the Second Middle School, which had only one large private room that Wang Lei had reserved. When An Ran arrived with Cui Ya Nan, most of the attendees had already gathered. There were more than ten people in total, with five or six girls who were An Ran's classmates from middle school. Among the boys, besides her classmates Tian Li and Zhang Peng, there were a few boys who looked familiar to An Ran, also from the same middle school, and two others who were Wang Lei's high school classmates from the Eighth Middle School.

"Can I buy it for you? With your sister Nan's charm, many people would be eager to offer it to you," Wang Lei said with a smile. "Besides, isn't it easy for An Ran to get it? Ma Hao!" Saying this, he pulled Ma Hao Chuan, who was talking to someone, over without a second thought, took the phone out of his pocket, and handed it to An Ran, saying, "Isn't this ready to go?"

Go ahead ... ... Since they have asked you to call me ... ... " An Ran said this with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. The main reason she decided to go was not because they asked her to call him, but because she did not want to disappoint Ma Haochuan

"What do I mean, what do you mean?" Wang Lei said, "You have me calling Anran over here, and over there there's this thing called Tiantian. You should at least let me know, are you playing tricks on me?"

"What did he say?" Cui Yanan asked curiously

He is really my classmate

"Ma Haochuan! Old Liu wants you to go to her office." A student from Class 7 interrupted the conversation between the two.

"Ah..." Cui Yanan asked curiously, "By the way, when did you and Ma Hao reconcile?"

"Let's see what secrets he has on his phone." Luo Xiaohui also leaned in and took Ma Haochuan's phone to browse through it

He does not admit it. He says it is not true, so since he has said that, I have nothing more to say

That evening, while Anran was doing her homework, she received a call from Cui Yanan. Sensing it was likely about Wang Lei's birthday, she was not surprised when Cui Yanan got straight to the point: "Wang Lei's birthday is on Sunday, and he doesn't have your number, so he asked me to let you know to join us."

Classmate

"What did Ma Hao ask you to call him?" An Ran said directly

Ah, what happened

"No, no!" An Ran hurriedly blocked the way, "If they didn't invite me, it means they don't want to. Why should I go out of my way to do that?"

"Just now. Didn't I call you right after hanging up the phone? Do you know why Wang Lei is calling you?" Cui Yanan said mysteriously, lowering her voice as if she were privy to a great secret

Regardless of her current feelings towards Ma Haochuan, she actually feels quite gratified about the possibility of reconciling with him. Perhaps the regrets of the past have had too profound an impact on her, as she always senses that her relationship with Ma Haochuan is precarious. It seems that if she inadvertently displeases him, everything will revert to how it was before. An Ran does not believe that she still has feelings for Ma Haochuan, but she indeed cherishes this long-awaited reconciliation after more than ten years.

If Yanan is going, it must be because someone invited her; they didn't invite me, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to just show up uninvited.

Ma Haochuan glanced outside and saw An Ran carrying something back. He turned to Wang Lei and whispered a warning: "Don't talk nonsense."

"It's settled, then, Sunday!" Ma Haochuan rushed upstairs, and An Ran shouted this loudly before hurriedly leaving.

At the moment of hesitation for Luo Xiaohui, Ma Haochuan hurriedly snatched back the phone, his expression not looking very good

"Who is it?" asked Ma Haochuan

No

"Classmate? Ordinary classmate?" Wang Lei curved the corners of his mouth

Anran feels that the relationship with classmates is truly a wonderful one. Even after not seeing each other for more than ten years, there is no sense of strangeness when they meet again. Even if they were not particularly close classmates in the past, seeing each other again after many years can evoke an inexplicable sense of familiarity

How did you know? Cui Yanan was somewhat surprised

"Alright, you should hurry and go now." An Ran turned and went upstairs, just as she bumped into Fang Zhe and Lu Yao coming up from downstairs, the bottle of cola in their hands still seemingly unopened.

"Really looking at it, bring it here!" Ma Haochuan stepped forward to take it, but was sidestepped by Luo Xiaohui, who smiled and said, "What’s the rush? Being anxious means there’s a problem, oh dear! Let me read this message that 'Sun Tiantian' sent to Ma Haochuan to everyone." As she spoke, she pretended to clear her throat.