A face suited both for frowns and smiles, her goose egg shaped face with eyes not particularly large but complemented by the natural epicanthic folds highlighting her round, bright, and sparkling almond eyes which formed crescents when she smiled, intoxicating the beholder with a single glance. A straight and delicate nose with a just right bridge gave her a very gentle appearance.
Her unpainted lips, a bright and charming red. Her fair and exquisite skin seemed poreless. Unlike those overtly glamorous internet celebrities, everything about her was so natural and heartfelt, free from any trace of artifice, so pristine that one would only want to handle her with utmost care, like a piece of fine porcelain at risk of being chipped.
At that moment, the underclassman, wearing oven mitts, held a large baking tray with a cute demeanor and greeted Bai Zhongqi with a smile.
"Senior, haha, you didn't go out during the vacation after all, perfect, I baked quite a lot of cookies, and definitely can't finish them all myself, so I'm counting on you to help me eat some of them." Her voice was crisp and tender, and just hearing her speak seemed to carry the brightness of her smile.
What kind of girl is more attractive than a pretty girl?
The answer is a particularly virtuous, baking-loving pretty girl.
Bai Zhongqi somewhat embarrassedly reached out to take it, and the underclassman cried out, "It's hot, don't take it with your hands, I'll bring it in for you."
Bai Zhongqi felt slightly awkward and stepped aside to let the underclassman in from the doorway, his nose immediately catching a whiff of a fragrant breeze.
The underclassman carefully placed the baking tray on the stove, which was made with a heat-resistant surface. Then she took off her mitts and casually glanced around Bai Zhongqi's living room. Her crescent eyes curved into a smile as she said, "Senior, your place is really clean, not like a guy's place at all."
Even with all his wits about him, Bai Zhongqi could barely keep up a conversation in front of the girl he liked, managing only to reply, "Oh, I clean whenever it looks dirty."
There was no then. Bai Zhongqi found himself at a loss for words, and the underclassman wasn't much of a talker either. An awkward silence of about four or five seconds ensued until the underclassman said, "Senior, you should eat them while they're hot, I'm heading back now."
"Ah, sure, thank you, Kathy," Bai Zhongqi expressed his gratitude. It's more common among international students to call each other by their English names than their Chinese ones. The underclassman's name is Han Jiaxue, her English name Katherine, with the nickname Kathy.
The underclassman smiled and walked out the door, and Bai Zhongqi saw her off, still quite unsophisticated. They were truly neighbors, living on the second floor of a low-rise apartment building, with connected balconies, so they would run into each other often.
Seeing the underclassman enter her apartment, Bai Zhongqi's feelings of regret immediately overflowed. It wasn't a day or two that he had fancied Han Jiaxue, but every time he lacked the courage to ask her out.
In his view, Han Jiaxue had good looks and a good figure, and even her family background was quite decent, able to afford some luxury goods that weren't outrageously priced, while he himself was just an average guy from a middle-class family, not particularly tall or handsome, so it seemed to him that Han Jiaxue would never take an interest in someone like him.
Bai Zhongqi looked at those still-steaming cookies, shook his head and thought to himself, "In the end, I just like her because she's pretty, claiming she has a gentle nature, a good temper, and can cook, those are just excuses. A girl like her is out of my league, it's better not to disgrace myself."
With these somewhat disheartening thoughts, he reached for a hot cookie and stuffed it into his mouth, only to feel even worse.
Because the cookies were delicious, and the underclassman's culinary skills were genuinely impressive. Realizing he had no chance with such a wonderful girl was truly more disheartening than anything else.