I keep thinking about the Oriental Leaf tea and how it represents so much more than just a drink. Jiang Ran buys it once for Xia Chu and suddenly the entire school thinks he likes it. Girls start bringing him bottles, Hong Yue shows up with it hoping to win him back, and he has to publicly deny it. But the truth is—he already bought it for her. He remembered her preference without her telling him. The drink becomes this symbol of his quiet devotion that everyone misreads. Even Lin Yuqing lies and says Jiang Ran likes it himself just to protect the secret. There's also the light imagery throughout—Xia Chu seeing Jiang Ran as 'a beam of light in the darkness,' the dim streetlights, the overlapping shadows. It's like the author is building this whole visual language around visibility and hidden feelings. Jiang Ran is this publicly visible 'scumbag' legend but privately he's the one paying attention to what tea someone likes. Hong Yue represents the loud, obvious, performative version of affection while Xia Chu gets the quiet, real kind. The contrast is the point.
