Back Then, I Adored You

Lu Bancheng had been listening to the girl talking in the car. When he heard a noise, he reflexively turned around and looked out the window in the direction the noise had come from.

Upon first seeing a woman’s torso, he knew immediately it was Xu Wennuan without even looking at her face. He immediately fixed his eyes on her as his tall, muscular frame stiffened. The girl smiling next to him in the car tilted her head while she was talking to him and, noticing that something was wrong, stopped her chatter and asked him, “Bro Bancheng, what is it?”

When he didn’t respond to her question, she realized that he was staring out the window. She followed his eyes and looked out the window, too, and for the third time that day she saw Xu Wennuan. She appeared calmer than she had appeared the two previous times, and she pressed her lips together and smiled with her eyes at Xu Wennuan before subconsciously turning to look at Lu Bancheng, who looked as though he had lost his soul. He had not moved—not even blinked—since she had asked him what was wrong. Finally, the girl quietly nudged him and softly called his name. “Bro Bancheng.” Lu Bancheng then moved his eyes down to her waist again and back to her face, where he gazed at her small, delicate chin.

The girl now saw that Lu Bancheng’s hands had gripped into fists on the car seat and started to shake, yet the look on his face remained so calm that no one would have guessed that his hands were so out of control. He gazed softly at Xu Wennuan’s thin lips and perfect nose before he locked his eyes with hers, at which point Xu Wennuan was shocked. Her whole body trembled before she regained her composure, stared directly back at Lu Bancheng with her dark, clear eyes, and then smiled and said, “Hi.”

The corners of Lu Bancheng’s mouth curled up when he heard her greeting. He nodded at her. “What a small world.”

“Yeah.” Xu Wennuan looked down and saw the cake she had dropped on the ground. It had slid out of its box and broken into pieces—nothing edible was left of it. Embarrassed, she bent down to pick it up and threw it into the trash can next to her. She then moved closer to Lu Bancheng’s car and asked, “When did you get back from America?”

“A few days ago,” Lu Bancheng responded casually. The girl sitting next to him looked shocked when she heard his response.

He didn’t go to America! Why’s he lying?

The girl subconsciously said, “Bro Bancheng—” when Xu Wennuan also responded with an “oh.” Before she went on to say something else, Xu Wennuan stopped herself from speaking and saw Lu Bancheng turn to the girl and smile. He then whispered something to her, whereupon she blew out her cheeks and said “oh.” Looking unhappy, she looked down. Lu Bancheng reached his hand out and caressed her on her head before turning back to Xu Wennuan and deeply gazing at her.

Who is she?

Xu Wennuan could not help but grip her clothes after seeing the interaction between Lu Bancheng and the girl. It made her sad, and a strand of pain crept out of her heart; it didn’t hurt too much, but she couldn’t dismiss the feeling.

“How have you been?” Lu Bancheng sounded so casual, as if she was just an acquaintance from school.