novelraw Chapter 57 Liking
Chapter 57 Liking
Jiang Ran and Nan Xiuxiu looked at each other, falling into silence.
For a moment.
He found that he didn’t know how to refute Nan Xiuxiu.
Or perhaps, precisely because he carried prejudice, he always wanted to argue against this strange girl no matter the matter at hand.
Even though… many times, she wasn’t wrong at all.
“Alright.”
Jiang Ran closed the book.
“I admit my thinking is narrow-minded. Since you have so many things you like, then go do them—youth like this shouldn’t be wasted.”
“Obviously, studying isn’t something you like, and the library isn’t a place you like either. So right now—why are you insisting on staying in a place you don’t like, doing something you don’t like?”
“Because you’re here.”Nan Xiuxiu answered bluntly.
“Of course I don’t like the library. What I like is you.”
Jiang Ran leaned back.
That direct?
He turned his gaze aside.
“Then do you have anything else you like?”
“Archery!” Nan Xiuxiu’s eyes lit up.
?
“Archery?”
Jiang Ran was completely caught off guard.
“The kind of archery I’m thinking of?”
“Of course! What other kind would it be!”
Nan Xiuxiu giggled.
“You used to watch me shoot all the time, remember? It’s been a long while since I last shot—want to go watch again, like old times?”
Bang!
The recurve bow snapped back. A carbon-fiber arrow whistled through the air and struck the target thirty meters away with a sharp bang.
The arrow shaft vibrated at high speed, then gradually settled.
Jiang Ran’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Thirty meters…
From that distance.
Nan Xiuxiu’s very first arrow went straight into the bullseye!
And not just barely—the true bullseye. Dead center of the yellow ten-ring zone!
That accurate? No warm-up at all?
“Shoot again.” Jiang Ran didn’t quite believe it.
“Hehe~”
Sure enough, when people do what they love, they’re always happy and energized.
Nan Xiuxiu looked smug as she drew another arrow from behind her back and nocked it on the recurve bow.
Straighten up, draw, aim, release!
Bang!
Another arrow hit the bullseye.
So precise it actually knocked the previous arrow aside. There was no deviation at all where it pierced the target.
“Is this for real?”
Jiang Ran had watched the Olympics before. Though he didn’t know whether there was a qualitative difference between Olympic competition and this archery activity room…
From an amateur’s perspective, hitting the ten-ring bullseye twice in a row was a bit too outrageous, wasn’t it?
“Once more.”
Jiang Ran pulled the two arrows out of the target, staring at the single small hole left behind.
He didn’t quite believe… that Nan Xiuxiu’s third arrow could hit the same spot.
“Hehe, I can do it as many times as you want!”
Nan Xiuxiu was brimming with excitement. She drew another arrow and set it on the recurve bow—
Bang!
Murphy’s Law.
Whatever you fear will happen—will happen.
No matter how small the probability, an event is bound to occur.
Just as expected, Nan Xiuxiu’s third arrow once again struck the ten-ring bullseye.
Three arrows, one hole. Not a hair off!
“You should be competing.”
Still stunned, Jiang Ran had already accepted reality.
“Even though I don’t know what level this puts you at, I don’t think even Olympic athletes can hit the ten-ring every single time…”
“With your level, you’d definitely place in competitions. At the very least, you could qualify as a first- or second-tier athlete.”
“As long as you get the certificate, you’d only need a cultural score of around three hundred to get straight into a key undergraduate university.”
Nan Xiuxiu puffed out her cheeks.
“See? You’re saying this again.”
She set the bow down and loosened her hair tie.
“I just like archery. It’s not for competitions, and I’ve never thought about relying on it to get into a good university.”
“Honestly, I simply enjoy the process of shooting. I have zero interest in rankings, certificates, or any of that.”
“Maybe, like you said, I could use this specialty to get into a good university and trade it for a nice diploma. But…”
She lifted her head, waterfall-like hair cascading down, and smiled faintly.
“[If I don’t like it, then I don’t like it—why force myself to do something I don’t like?]”
…
The bright lights of the archery room reflected in Nan Xiuxiu’s pupils.
That was youthful confidence. Genuine joy. A carefree spirit unconcerned with gains or losses.
In that instant, Jiang Ran suddenly felt a little envious of Nan Xiuxiu’s freedom.
Even though he didn’t agree with many of her views.
At the very least…
[Nan Xiuxiu’s life—every single second of it—belonged to herself.]
“Thank you for coming to shoot archery with me. I’m really happy today.”
Nan Xiuxiu walked over.
“To be honest, I’ve been really uneasy these past few days. I kept feeling like you were different from before—very cold toward me.”
“Even though Wang Hao also said you’ve been busy lately and told me not to overthink it, I’m your girlfriend. How could I not overthink?”
“But… hehe, now I’m relieved. Jiang Ran, you’re still the same as before—still like watching me shoot, still like teasing me and making me happy.”
“Making you happy?”
Jiang Ran chuckled.
“When did I ever make you happy?”
“See? You’re pretending again!”
Nan Xiuxiu pointed at Jiang Ran, her eyes curving into shallow crescent moons as she smiled.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve watched me shoot. You’ve long known that my archery is good.”
“But just now, you still acted like it was your first time seeing me shoot! Making a huge fuss, full of disbelief, insisting I shoot a few more arrows… Isn’t that deliberately trying to make me happy?”
…
Jiang Ran looked at the girl’s face, blooming like a flower, and said nothing.
There hadn’t been a shred of pretense in his reaction just now.
Because, for him—someone who had crossed worldlines—this truly was the first time he’d seen Nan Xiuxiu shoot.
He just hadn’t expected Nan Xiuxiu to be so easily satisfied.
No matter how much he’d ignored her before, given her the cold shoulder, or even bullied her—she didn’t even need to ask anything. She could comfort herself all on her own.
“Mm, since we’ve already left the library, let’s not go back.”
Nan Xiuxiu tugged at Jiang Ran’s sleeve.
“Let’s go out for a walk. How about eating together?”
Jiang Ran slowly raised his head.
His gaze followed the sleeve upward, meeting the girl’s expectant eyes.
“Nan Xiuxiu.”
He said softly.
“I have something very important to tell you.”