Chapter 192: The Whole World is Dating ①
When Huang Yan, trembling, was helped out of the roller coaster by Zhang Haiyang, Li Kai and Huang Yan walked up to them.
The hair tie Huang Yan used to tie her ponytail was nowhere to be found. Her hair was messy and disheveled, her face pale. Pointing at the roller coaster, she stammered, “I swear… I’ll never ride this roller coaster again!”
Nie Qiu smiled and said, “So you know what it’s like to suffer? Why did you ask me to ride it earlier!”
“Nie Qiu, you’re not being fair!” Huang Yan snapped out of her fear and glared at Nie Qiu. “We’re good sisters, we should have ridden this together. This counts as sharing hardships!”
“Alright, alright, let’s sit for a while first, and then we can continue exploring after we’ve rested,” Zhang Haiyang mediated, then looked down at Huang Yan with concern. “How are you? Are you okay now?”
“No need to rest, let’s go ride the Ferris wheel now!” Huang Yan, who had been a mess moments ago, was now full of enthusiasm. “I just saw it, that Ferris wheel isn’t fast, it’s very, very, very slow… it shouldn’t be too scary. There are four of us, so we can take two cabins. Zhang Haiyang and I will be in one cabin, and Nie Qiu, you and Li Kai will be in another.”
Almost all girls have a special fondness for Ferris wheels, and Huang Yan was no exception. Ferris wheels hold so many beautiful stories, romantic, aesthetic, and sad… Whether it was the past trends or the current non-mainstream, Ferris wheels have appeared in almost every aspect. If there was the most beautiful prophecy, it would be the legend that kissing at the very top of the Ferris wheel would lead to a lifetime of love. As someone who often read novels, Huang Yan had naturally seen many scenes set on Ferris wheels, and had fantasized about riding one with her future partner, overlooking the city’s scenery.
She looked at Zhang Haiyang beside her. She didn’t know if this person would be the one to accompany her for a lifetime, but she knew… at least now, he treated her very well. Their relationship, like many relationships of people their age, involved inexplicable anger and quarrels, but when they needed to be good to each other, they were the best.
Zhang Haiyang also knew that Huang Yan was creating an opportunity for Li Kai. Seeing that the Ferris wheel was moving very slowly and shouldn’t be dangerous, he agreed immediately and said to Nie Qiu, “Nie Qiu, you can’t be a spoilsport this time.”
Nie Qiu looked up at the tall Ferris wheel. It was huge and very high, almost much higher than the tallest building in the vicinity. From her distance, it naturally seemed slower than a turtle crawling. However, she knew that although the Ferris wheel was slow, it wasn’t as slow as it appeared; it only seemed that way because she was far away. It was like airplanes we see in the sky, they look slow, but in reality, their speed is twenty times that of a train. Even knowing this, the Ferris wheel couldn’t be that slow, so she nodded at Huang Yan. “Okay, let’s ride the Ferris wheel together! But… can the four of us ride in one cabin?”
“No!” Zhang Haiyang took Huang Yan’s hand. “Of course not. Nie Qiu, you don’t want to be a third wheel to Huang Yan and me, do you?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Huang Yan nodded repeatedly, winked at Li Kai, and then said to Nie Qiu, “Nie Qiu…”
Li Kai smiled at Nie Qiu and said, “Let’s two ride in one cabin! Let them two ride together.”
Nie Qiu nodded. “Alright then! Let’s go buy tickets! When this round stops, we’ll go ride.”
As the four spoke, they walked towards the Ferris wheel, chatting and laughing. Li Kai and Zhang Haiyang queued up and bought four tickets. Zhang Haiyang handed the tickets to Huang Yan, and Li Kai handed his tickets to Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu took the ticket and took out thirty yuan from her purse, handing it to Li Kai. “Thank you, here’s this for you…” She had seen that the Ferris wheel ticket price was thirty yuan per person. Nie Qiu knew that Li Kai liked her, but she couldn’t spend Li Kai’s money just because he liked her. Not to mention they weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, but even if they were, she wouldn’t spend her boyfriend’s money.
Perhaps many girls who date in junior high and high school think that dating means spending the boy’s money. However, Nie Qiu knew that only by learning to pay for the person you love can you achieve a true love. It’s not that spending the boy’s money gives him face, but rather… no one can always pay for someone in a relationship. And girls who always let the boy pay will only make the boy feel that you don’t love him enough.
Among the girls who dated in junior high school, some dated because they wanted to date, and some simply liked the boy paying for them. Of course, there were also those who were genuine, guarding that pure affection and hoping it would blossom.
Li Kai was stunned for a moment, then took it. For some reason, he wasn’t angry. Instead, he felt that this was how it should be. He and Nie Qiu were not boyfriend and girlfriend now, they weren’t dating. If Nie Qiu hadn’t given him the money, he would have had some thoughts.
There’s a saying: “He who takes a hand is soft-mouthed, and he who eats a mouth is soft-hearted.” Every small action can lead many people to have many thoughts, even if no one speaks them out.
The previous round of the Ferris wheel stopped. They lined up and, under the guidance of the staff, one by one they got off. Those going up for this round, under the staff’s arrangement, boarded the Ferris wheel one by one.
The Ferris wheel climbed very slowly, with a slight feeling of being suspended and a little bit still on the ground. The view gradually opened up.
Li Kai looked at Nie Qiu, who was sitting opposite him, and smiled. “Nie Qiu, I have something to give you.”
Hearing Li Kai’s words, Nie Qiu withdrew her gaze from the window and looked at Li Kai with confusion.
Li Kai took out a notebook from his clothes and handed it to Nie Qiu. He had kept this small notebook with him from the beginning, intending to give it to her when they were alone.
Nie Qiu took the notebook and opened it suspiciously. As soon as she flipped to the first page, her eyes widened. A small cartoon girl appeared on the first page’s preface. Judging by her demeanor, this girl was indeed her. In the blank space on this page, some monologues were also written.
Nie Qiu… you are Nie Qiu, yet you are not Nie Qiu. Now, you are the Nie Qiu that I like.
The words seemed contradictory, but Nie Qiu understood them clearly.
The drawings on each page were different, sketches, doodles… page after page.
The notebook had rainbow pages, with different colors every few pages.
I’ve always wondered why I like you, but after thinking for a long time, I can’t find any reason. I only know that seeing you standing on the lectern, talking confidently with your colorful hair flying, that confident look was so beautiful, so beautiful.
When you went to Class 1 to lecture, I stood outside the classroom door of Class 1. I listened very carefully as you said, “No regrets.”
I’m wondering, if I continue like this, will I regret it? If I continue like this, will you look down on me when we meet again years from now?
