Chapter 389: Chapter 389: Proud of Being Old
Seeing the "Student Council" sign, both of them simultaneously relaxed their guard.
Ariana Grant spoke first: "Yeah, is there another convenience store on campus? My throat’s practically on fire! If I don’t drink something soon, I feel like I could be preserved in formalin as a specimen."
The boy chuckled and said, "There are no other convenience stores on campus, just this one."
Ariana’s face immediately drooped.
But the boy quickly continued, "Although there isn’t a convenience store, there are plenty of vending machines with drinks."
Ariana instantly perked up.
"Where are they?"
The boy said, "Over there by the west sports field. I can take you there."
Ashley Shaw said, "That’s too much trouble for you. Just point us in the direction, and we’ll go ourselves."
Ariana nodded in agreement.
"It’s no trouble at all. I was assigned by the school to come early and show new students around. It’s my job, not a hassle."
Since he put it that way, the two agreed.
While pushing their shared bike, they listened to the boy introduce The Medical University.
He talked about how many renowned medical experts have come from here and how excellent the teachers are.
His official-sounding words made them completely lower their guard.
It was clear he had indeed been sent by the school to welcome visiting new students.
Moreover, his accent identified him as being from Westcroft, making them feel at ease.
"Are you from Westcroft too? Which part?" Ariana, being naturally friendly, asked after he finished his official speech.
The boy pulled a somewhat helpless smile.
"Don’t you remember me? We’ve met before."
Ariana was taken aback.
"We’ve met? Where?"
"The Nocturne. I asked for your WeChat there, see." As he spoke, the boy held up his phone.
On the phone screen was indeed Ariana’s WeChat Moments.
Seeing this, Ashley and Ariana both recalled that when they were on the first floor of The Imperial Hall at The Nocturne Palace, a guy had asked for Ariana’s contact information.
However, the hall was too dimly lit at the time, so they hadn’t really noticed what the guy looked like; they only knew he was around their age.
And after a few days, their memory of his appearance had faded.
But now, with the boy’s reminder, the memory came alive again, and it did seem to be this face after all.
Just in daylight, the boy looked younger than when he had been in costume that night.
Ariana immediately felt awkward.
Trying to maintain a calm expression, she said, "I remember now, your name is Charles, right?"
The boy’s smile turned even more helpless, "My name is Tyler."
"..."
The air was filled with awkwardness.
Yet Tyler didn’t seem to mind and continued, "I kept sending you WeChat messages for several days, asking you out to play, but you never replied. I didn’t expect to run into you here; it must be fate."
Ariana scratched her head and laughed dryly, "Yeah, it’s really... fate."
What twisted fate!
Ashley held back her laughter, keeping a straight face. "I see the vending machine. Thanks for bringing us here. Go ahead and get busy; we can meet for a meal another day."
Just as Tyler was about to say he wasn’t busy, someone came over to ask for directions.
"Excuse me, are you with the Student Council? Can you take me to the new dormitory to ask about something?"
Tyler had no choice but to nod, "Sure, I’ll take you there."
After he finished, he regretfully said goodbye to the two and added that if they wanted to go anywhere later, he could accompany them once he was free.
Ariana felt grateful towards the student who asked for directions, giving Tyler a polite and enthusiastic smile.
"Okay, see you when you’re done."
"Alright, I’ll be leaving now."
Tyler waved at them and turned to lead the new student away.
As soon as he left, Ariana visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning her head, she saw Ashley looking at her with a gossipy expression.
"Why is it that just after summer leaves, spring arrives?"
Usually, it was Ariana making such teasing remarks about her; now Ashley found a chance to turn things around.
Ariana scolded her with a glare, "I just have one flower. Look how many you have!"
Ashley feigned a sigh, "Indeed, the closest people know where to stab the knife for the greatest pain."
"Are you afraid?"
"I’m not afraid, why should I be? The one who should be afraid is Leon."
Ariana blushed and stopped arguing with her, stepping away to buy two bottles of water.
Ashley reminded from behind, "Thinking of silencing me with a drink? Fine. I want a flavored beverage."
A flavored drink means cola, doesn’t it?
Ariana bought a cola, and Ashley took a sip, finally dropping the topic of Tyler.
But though Tyler wasn’t mentioned, Leon still had to be brought up.
"Have you watched the live stream these past two days? How’s he doing?"
Ariana’s face looked a little uncomfortable, her cheeks reddening as she said, "I have. He’s doing well."
"Is his leg better?"
"Yes, he knows a lot of things; he knows which plants are poisonous and which are beneficial to the body. He quickly had the team help him gather the medicines. This morning he didn’t even need a crutch."
"That’s great news!"
"Mmm..."
They drank their water and wandered around the campus for another hour before starting to look for a well-reviewed nearby restaurant.
"This one looks good, what do you think?" Ashley pointed at a hotpot place and asked.
"No, let’s have something lighter. I just found a popular light food restaurant."
"Oh, are you determined to lose weight for your crush’s return?"
"Stop teasing me. It’s mainly because we’ll definitely feast tonight, so let’s eat something simple for lunch."
"Feast?"
"Yeah, you forgot? We arranged to have dinner with Actor Sinclair tonight."
Ashley slapped her forehead, she really had forgotten!
Speak of the devil; just then, a call came in from Owen Sinclair.
"Ashley, are you up yet?"
Ashley felt like it was Ms. Shaw asking, because during weekends, when Ms. Shaw called her after work, that was her first question too.
Her heart inexplicably warmed.
"I’m up; we got up early. We’re currently exploring the campus."
Perhaps thinking of Ms. Shaw, her voice was especially soft, with a hint of a girl acting spoiled with an elder.
"Good, good. As long as you’re up, I was worried I’d disturb your sleep."
"Not at all."
"I’m just afraid you’d forget, so I wanted to remind you, we booked a dinner tonight."
"I didn’t forget..." Ashley guiltily replied.
"I knew you wouldn’t forget. I was actually worried that you’d find Aethelgard new and exciting, and have such fun that you wouldn’t have time to eat with this old man."
"How could that be? And, what do you mean, old man? You’re in your prime."
For some reason, Ashley always felt like Owen liked to mention how old he was to her.
Isn’t everyone afraid of getting old?
Why does Owen seem proud of "being old"?
Indeed, everyone has their own nature.
The more he mentioned his age, the less Ashley felt Owen had any other intentions towards her.
"Haha, as long as you’re willing to spend time with this old man, I’m happy. I’ll have my assistant drive to your hotel to pick you up at four. Traffic in Aethelgard can be bad, but it should be a bit better at that time."
"Okay, no problem." Ashley agreed.