Chapter 19: The Morning of the Aquarium Date

After waking up and finishing his morning routine, Chen Lin began choosing the casual clothes he would wear for the day.

Since he wasn’t particularly picky about his attire, there weren’t many casual clothes in his wardrobe, leaving him with limited options.

Remembering that today’s plan was to visit the aquarium, Chen Lin directly selected a blue long-sleeved T-shirt as his top, slung a single-shoulder bag over himself, and headed out.

Near the station where they had arranged to meet, there was a convenience store. Chen Lin bought two bottles of mineral water and placed them into his shoulder bag.

His previously empty bag suddenly felt heavy.

This was precisely why Chen Lin carried the shoulder bag – to hold the mineral water. Since he didn’t know what drinks Shihan preferred, mineral water was always the safest choice.

After buying the water, Chen Lin arrived at the station and immediately headed for the most conspicuous platform. This way, Shihan would be able to see him the moment she arrived.

He took out his phone to check the time. The agreed meeting time was nine in the morning, and it was now eight twenty-three. That meant he was seven minutes earlier than the thirty minutes he had planned to be early.

Considering that most girls tend to habitually be late, sometimes by as much as half an hour, Chen Lin felt he should wait at least twenty minutes here.

Yet, unexpectedly, as soon as he walked up the steps, Chen Lin found Shihan sitting on a wooden bench.

She was wearing a high-quality white knitted sweater paired with a wasp-waisted gray plaid skirt, which accentuated her already slender figure, making her look even more delicate and charming.

There were traces of makeup on her face – a fresh, light look that wasn’t the least bit vulgar, but instead exuded elegance.

Shihan was Meiyue-senpai’s younger sister and naturally inherited excellent genes. Although she was still only a middle school student, one could sense that she would grow up to be as enchanting and alluring a beauty as Meiyue-senpai.

Because she had been too excited to sleep in the morning, Shihan had arrived a full hour earlier than the agreed time and had already been sitting here for a while.

Although waiting around was dull and hard to endure, the thought of meeting Chen Lin later made the difficult time pass more easily.

Seeing Shihan sitting there, Chen Lin was also very surprised. He had thought he came early enough, but he never expected Shihan to arrive even earlier than him.

This situation was something Chen Lin had never anticipated.

“Good morning, you’re really early,” he said. Since he had already spotted Shihan, Chen Lin coughed lightly, took the initiative to greet her, and walked toward her.

Hearing Chen Lin’s voice, Shihan didn’t stand up immediately. Instead, she nervously twirled her index fingers around each other. “Do I look a bit odd?” she asked Chen Lin.

This was the first time Shihan had gone on a date with someone she liked. Because she took this date very seriously, she was extremely nervous right now.

Although she had carefully matched her outfit, she didn’t know if Chen Lin would think she looked good in it.

And since she had specially put on makeup before leaving home, would it look unsuitable for her?

Hearing Shihan’s question, Chen Lin scratched his head in confusion. He didn’t know what she meant, so he tentatively said, “Odd? How could that be? You look very cute right now. I almost couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

These words weren’t flattery; for a moment, he truly couldn’t look away.

In Shihan’s autumn-water-like beautiful eyes, he vaguely saw some traces of Meiyue-senpai, glimpsed the shadow of the person he liked – how could he possibly look away?

However, Chen Lin was also very clear: Shihan was Shihan, and Meiyue was ultimately Meiyue.

Although they were bound by blood ties, they were ultimately two different people. Once he realized this, Chen Lin quickly snapped back to reality.

Since he liked Meiyue-senpai, could he also like Shihan? Chen Lin had no such thought.

Casually treating Shihan as a substitute for Meiyue-senpai would be very rude to both Shihan and Meiyue-senpai, and would also go against his true feelings.

Shihan heard very clearly that Chen Lin had just called her cute. In an instant, her face flushed pink.

Her fingers, which had been circling endlessly, finally stopped.

That’s right. What was she so worried about? She had beauty no less than her sister’s; she should have confidence in herself.

So Shihan stood up from the bench, smiled, and said to Chen Lin, “Since we’ve met, let’s head to the aquarium now.”

Chen Lin naturally had no objections and nodded to Shihan.

The reason they chose to meet at this station was that it had a direct free shuttle bus to the aquarium.

Perhaps because they arrived early, the usually crowded shuttle wasn’t crowded at all, with many empty seats.

Chen Lin found two seats together and, being the gentleman, gave the window seat to Shihan, while he sat on the aisle side.

Soon, more and more people boarded. When the bus had standing room only, it departed.

Since the adjacent seats on the bus weren’t very spacious, and people were standing in the aisle, Chen Lin had to lean inward. As a result, Shihan’s shoulder and Chen Lin’s arm touched.

Because of this intimate contact, Shihan felt a bit dizzy.

Although she thought leaning against a boy like this wasn’t ladylike, she couldn’t control herself enough to move away.

She liked Chen Lin so much that as long as Chen Lin didn’t intend to move, she would just pretend not to notice.

To avoid awkwardness, Shihan turned her gaze out the window. On the surface, she was looking at the scenery, but in truth, she wasn’t seeing anything.

Chen Lin, on the other hand, hadn’t paid any attention to the minor matter of his arm touching Shihan’s shoulder. On a bus ride, there was bound to be some physical contact between seatmates, right?

What Chen Lin was concerned about now was the atmosphere between him and Shihan. Since they got on the bus, it seemed a bit stifling.

In Chen Lin’s imagination, the two of them going out to the aquarium together should be a cheerful, laughing atmosphere.

But now, the atmosphere was completely different. From the moment she boarded, Shihan hadn’t spoken a single word to him.

Moreover, she had turned her head toward the window, not looking at him at all, as if she saw him as a stranger.

This situation made Chen Lin feel uneasy. Could it be that Shihan disliked him?

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