Chapter 11: The Date
Time flew by, and before long, Saturday arrived.
Although he still did not know what An Ran'er wanted to ask of him, Li Nuo got up early that morning.
After all, this was the first time in his life he was going on a date with a girl, so he took it seriously.
The problem was that he did not have any formal clothes. After thinking about it for a while, he chose to wear a white short-sleeved shirt, a loose yellow hoodie over it, and a pair of dark navy cargo pants.
He had always liked a casual style, and this outfit also helped him avoid looking too short.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw neat facial features and slightly chubby cheeks. Aside from looking a little young, he was actually somewhat handsome.
Combined with the ear-length hair he had kept for half a year to save money on haircuts, it was no wonder people often mistook him for a girl before.
But that would not happen anymore, because he had cut his hair two days ago.
With his short messy hair, youthful face, and casual clothes, he looked less like a girl and more like a young boy.
"Roubao, do I look handsome?"
As he spoke, he made a victory sign with his fingers.
"...Meow..."
Roubao looked at him with dull eyes, yawned, then turned around and went back to sleep.
Feeling like he had just been looked down on by a cat, Li Nuo pretended to be angry.
"You little brat, did you go out and have fun again last night?"
Since he had never raised a pet before, he let Roubao roam freely. He never locked the cat inside. Anyway, once it had enough fun outside, it would come back on its own.
Besides, apart from going to school, he also worked at a noodle shop in the evenings. Keeping the cat locked inside all day would not be good for it.
Fortunately, his rented room was on the second floor, so he did not have to worry about the cat getting hurt when jumping out of the window.
After putting on his shoes, Li Nuo called out to the still-sleeping Roubao.
"I'm heading out."
"Meow."
The weather today was quite nice, with gentle sunshine and a pleasant breeze.
Since Huarong Park was located in the city center, it would take him over half an hour by bus to get there.
Because it was the weekend, the morning bus was not very crowded.
When there were plenty of empty seats, he liked sitting by the window, putting on his earphones, and quietly listening to music.
Just as he was about to arrive, An Ran'er sent him a message.
"Have you arrived yet?"
"Almost."
The moment Li Nuo got off the bus, he immediately spotted An Ran'er standing at the entrance of Huarong Park.
As he got closer, he realized she looked quite different from how she usually did at school.
Instead of her usual long straight hair, she had fluffy, slightly curly orange hair today, with a small braid on the right side. It gave her a playful and cute appearance.
She wore a blue-and-white long-sleeved dress with a high waist, which perfectly showed off her fair and slender legs. Hanging at her waist was a pink rabbit-shaped shoulder bag.
With this outfit and her beautiful face, it was hard not to look at her.
And that was exactly what happened. Passersby could not help staring at her. Even after walking past, many of them would turn around for another look.
Then again, she had once been a member of a girl group, and she had even been one of the group's visual members.
At that moment, she was looking down at her phone and had not noticed that Li Nuo was already standing in front of her.
"H-Hello, A-An..."
Li Nuo was extremely nervous. Even his voice was shaking slightly.
Hearing him, An Ran'er looked up and stared at him in surprise.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"Huh? Is that a problem?"
Li Nuo never expected her first comment to be about his hair.
"Yeah. Kind of."
Having his confidence crushed on his very first date, Li Nuo lowered his head.
But soon, he shook his head and looked back at her.
"Can you tell me now? Why did you want to see me?"
Instead of answering directly, An Ran'er turned around.
"Come with me somewhere."
Not knowing what was going on, Li Nuo simply followed behind her.
As he walked, he occasionally caught a faint sweet scent coming from her.
After walking for a while, An Ran'er led him into a training center.
After saying a few words to the receptionist, she brought him into a piano practice room she had rented.
Once she locked the door, she sat down at the piano and said,
"I'll play the accompaniment. Can you sing a song for me live?"
"So that's why you asked me to come?"
"Umm... more or less."
When Li Nuo learned that the reason she had called him out was simply because she wanted to hear him sing in person, he felt much more relaxed.
"What song?"
"Pleasant to Hear."
As the piano accompaniment began, Li Nuo started singing along.
"I believe every word you say..."
"The words sound so nice, so sweet..."
………………
His clear and pure voice echoed throughout the piano room together with the piano music.
In fact, the moment he sang the first line, An Ran'er became one hundred percent certain that he was the singer known online as [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold].
After the song ended, she sat silently at the piano with her back facing him for a long time.
Just as Li Nuo found it strange and was about to walk over to check on her.
An Ran'er suddenly stood up, turned around, and said,
"Let me ask you something. Would you be willing to become the lead singer of my band?"
"What?"
Her words hit Li Nuo like a bolt from the blue.
He froze completely.
What was this?
Was today April Fool's Day?
Seeing that he remained silent for so long, An Ran'er's expression became gloomy. She lowered her head and softly muttered,
"You don't want to...?"
Coming back to his senses, Li Nuo looked at her.
She was biting her lip, and her eyes looked slightly wet.
Unable to bear seeing her like that, he said,
"But isn't [The Girls] a girl group? I'm not exactly..."
The moment she realized he had not rejected her outright, An Ran'er knew there was still hope.
She quickly interrupted him.
"If you're willing, I have a way to solve that problem."
"Uh... if that's the case, then I guess it's possible."
"You agree?"
"I... think so."
"That's great!"
After confirming that he had truly agreed, An Ran'er became so happy that tears appeared in her eyes.
She ran over and hugged him tightly.
Li Nuo froze.
The faint fragrance coming from her body and the soft feeling against his chest made his entire face turn red all the way from his neck to his ears.
"Y-You... d-don't... do that..."
Realizing she had gotten carried away, An Ran'er quickly let go of him.
Her face was slightly red as well.
"S-Sorry... I got too excited."
After leaving the training center, they went to a restaurant for lunch.
In the afternoon, they wandered around the shopping district in the city center, walking here and there, and even bought some milk tea.
Throughout the day, An Ran'er kept talking about what would happen after he joined her band, what they would do, and all kinds of future plans.
Li Nuo did not really know how to respond.
All he could do was keep saying things like, "Okay," "Sounds good," and "That's pretty nice."
It was not until evening was approaching that they finally parted ways.
Sitting on the bus home, Li Nuo watched An Ran's figure slowly become blurry in the distance.
He felt a sense of loss.
He had never expected that the first date of his life would end just like that.
Just before he arrived home, he received a message from An Ran'er.
[I had a great time today. Thank you.]