“Of course I know! Chen Shimei, the heartless man! His wife took care of his parents, and after he passed the imperial exam, he abandoned her!”
Why bring up Chen Shimei out of nowhere?
“At least you know how to pronounce zao kang (糟糠).” Lu Ran said. “Now hurry up and finish your test paper.”
“Lu Ran, the only reason you’re watching over me like this is to make my dad happy, right? Why don’t we switch places? You become my dad’s son, and he’d be over the moon, smiling ear to ear every day.”
“My dad wouldn’t want you.”
“…”
“Then why don’t you become my daughter?” Lu Ran propped his chin on his hand, glancing sideways at Jiang Nuan.
“Ugh!”
As Lu Ran left Jiang Nuan’s room, she lowered her head, feeling a surge of joy—finally, the warden was leaving.
But then, out of nowhere, she felt a light pinch on her neck.
“Sometimes I feel like putting a dog-head guillotine on you.”
“Huh?”
Only after Lu Ran left did Jiang Nuan realize that Chen Shimei was beheaded by the dog-head guillotine!
The next afternoon, Jiang Nuan met up with Cheng DouDou and Rao Can at the entrance of the cinema, just as she had hoped.
“Hahaha! My dear Nuan, what on earth are you wearing?” Rao Can asked.
Today, Rao Can was dressed stylishly in a wool coat, jeans, and snow boots, looking both trendy and slender, with no hint of bulkiness. Even DouDou looked adorably cute in her outfit. In contrast, Jiang Nuan wore an old camel-colored coat with a bit of fuzz around the collar.
“Ugh, don’t even mention it! My down jacket fell into the pond and got completely ruined. I haven’t had a chance to buy a new one yet!” Jiang Nuan tugged at her collar, never one to care much about her outfits.
“It’s okay. The sales at the mall are great right now. We’ll help you pick out a new one.”
Jiang Nuan forced a smile. “Don’t bring it up. I still have to go home and finish my chemistry test tonight.”
“What? Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve! Why are you still doing test papers?”
“Because my ‘cheat code’ is way too powerful.”
“What cheat code?” Cheng DouDou asked, confused.
“Lu Ran, of course! He actually volunteered to help me review the basics for my dad! Now every day, I’m like a wind-up toy—I don’t even get an extra minute of sleep.” Jiang Nuan sighed in despair.
Rao Can laughed. “I told you, if anyone can save you, it’s Lu Ran.”
“Wait a minute… has Lu Ran finished his winter homework? Can you borrow it for us to look at?” Cheng DouDou’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Do you really think Lu Ran is the kind of person who’d lend out his winter homework?” Jiang Nuan shot back.
Cheng DouDou shook her head.
“Then just take the problems we can’t solve and ask Lu Ran for help. Once you understand them, we’ll all understand them.” Rao Can said with a wink.
“Alright, alright. Send me the problems you can’t solve tonight. Does that work?”
“Now that’s the Nuan I know!” Rao Can hugged Jiang Nuan’s face and gave her a big kiss. “The buffet at Babylon is on me tonight!”
“Seriously? Babylon again? That’s not a buffet—it’s a torture feast! If you’d told me earlier, I would’ve taken some Motilium beforehand!”
“Stop whining! There’s food, so just eat!” Rao Can playfully smacked the back of Jiang Nuan’s head. “And think about it—how much do New Orleans wings cost at KFC? Babylon’s buffet is only 45 yuan per person. If you can eat eight pairs of wings, you’ll have gotten your money’s worth!”
“Eight pairs? We always get sick of them by the fifth!” Jiang Nuan shrugged.
“So, are you coming or not?” Rao Can tightened her grip around Jiang Nuan’s neck.
“Fine, fine! I’m coming! Just stop squeezing me! I don’t want to throw up before we even start eating! And don’t take too many wings! If I can’t finish them, don’t force them on me!”
“Oh please, that’s what boyfriends are for, isn’t it?”
“I’m not your boyfriend!”
“But you’re our beloved Nuan-ge!”
Rao Can, who was half a head taller than Jiang Nuan, leaned affectionately on her shoulder.
Even though they had set some ground rules beforehand, once they were seated at Babylon, they naturally fell into the rhythm of anticipation and competition over the wings.
Each time the wings were brought out, they were gone in under a minute. The three girls sat there, with Cheng DouDou eyeing the spot where the wings would be served, her fork poised and ready.
As soon as the chef, wearing a tall white hat, brought out a fresh tray of wings, Cheng DouDou was the first to rush over.
“Hey! DouDou! Don’t take too many!”
But before Cheng DouDou could reach the wings, two tall guys blocked her way. Seeing the wings about to be devoured again, Rao Can nudged Jiang Nuan, signaling her to go help DouDou out so she wouldn’t suffer alone.
Jiang Nuan took a deep breath, rolled up her sleeves as if she were about to start a fight, and approached one of the guys from behind. She patted him on the back.
“Hey, bro, you dropped your cash.”
“Really?”
The two guys, who were in the middle of grabbing wings, immediately looked down. Cheng DouDou didn’t waste a second and scooped up a whole plate of wings without even using the tongs.
Jiang Nuan watched DouDou in amazement. She hadn’t expected such a slick move.
When the two guys realized there was no cash on the ground and looked up again, most of the wings were already gone.
“Hey, that wasn’t very fair, was it?” one of the guys said, looking at Jiang Nuan and Cheng DouDou.
“Huh? What wasn’t fair?”
“First come, first served! We were here at the wings first, so we should have taken them first.”
Babylon always served plenty of wings, but the regulars knew that wings were the best value, so everyone rushed to grab them. Those who were slow often didn’t even get a wing tip.
“This isn’t a 100-meter sprint where the first one to the finish line wins. Whoever gets the wings, gets the wings.” Jiang Nuan said, shrugging. “Are you really going to argue with a couple of girls about it?”
The two guys glanced past Jiang Nuan’s shoulder and saw Rao Can.
Rao Can smiled gracefully and nodded, her demeanor elegant and commanding, and just like that, the guys’ irritation melted away.
“What’s going on?” A familiar, cool voice rang out.
That familiar voice, like the sound of a cello playing in her mind, made Jiang Nuan turn around. There, standing tall and slender, was Lu Ran.
He was still wearing that simple, unadorned sweater, but the simplicity only made him stand out even more.
“Lu Ran? You… came to Babylon too?”
One of the guys looked at Lu Ran. “Lu Ran, do you know them? Are they classmates?”
The other guy, who had a baby face, added, “They practically cleaned out the wings…”
“Then let them eat. As long as they can finish them.” Lu Ran said, glancing at Jiang Nuan with that faint, almost imperceptible smile again. He turned around and tapped the wall lightly with his fingers.
On the wall hung a sign: “Wasting food incurs a fivefold fine.”
Seeing that sign, Jiang Nuan felt full before she even started eating.
Back at their table, Cheng DouDou started to regret her actions.
“Oh no, oh no, those two guys are with Lu Ran! We took all the wings… Do you think Lu Ran will be mad at us and stop helping Nuan?”
“Don’t worry about it. He won’t be mad. If my dad is stressed about whether I can stay in the second year of high school, Lu Ran feels it even more. In all of Nanshi, he couldn’t find a better coach than my dad.”
Even though Jiang Nuan said that, she couldn’t help but focus on the table behind her. The sound of their conversation, the clinking of their utensils against the plates, and their toasts all seemed to echo in her mind.
Xu Zitian leaned over to Lu Ran and whispered, “Lu Ran, are those three girls from your school? They’re pretty bold! Who could afford to feed them with the way they eat?”
“You can’t even afford to feed yourself.” Lu Ran replied without looking up.
“What’s the name of that long-haired girl?” Mu Sheng asked, occasionally glancing in Rao Can’s direction.
“Go ask her yourself.”
“What about the one who scooped up all the wings with a plate?” Xu Zitian openly stared at Cheng DouDou, who now sat with her head down, looking miserable.
“Didn’t you hear our Master Lu say, ‘Go ask yourself’?” Mu Sheng laughed and pretended to stand up as if he were really going to approach them.
Just as Mu Sheng was about to walk over and strike up a conversation, Lu Ran suddenly dropped a casual remark.
“Coach Jiang’s daughter is sitting over there.”
“What? You mean… the daughter of our master is here too? Which one?” Xu Zitian immediately turned around to look at them.
“Don’t stare at them like that! It’s embarrassing!” Mu Sheng knocked Xu Zitian on the head. “Let me guess, our master’s daughter must have the aura of a fairy. She’s definitely that long-haired girl!”
“But I think it’s the round-faced one who scooped up all the wings!” Xu Zitian countered.
At that moment, Rao Can took half of Cheng DouDou’s wings and got up to bring them over to Lu Ran’s table.
“Alright, DouDou, don’t be so down. You two messed up the strategy, so let me handle the PR. Lu Ran won’t get mad at you. It’s just wings, after all.”
Rao Can walked over to Lu Ran’s table with the plate of wings. Mu Sheng immediately stood up, and Xu Zitian followed suit, while Lu Ran remained seated.
“Sorry about earlier. Our DouDou absolutely loves wings, but she can never grab them in time. This time, she got excited when she saw the fresh batch. If we’d known you guys were with us, we wouldn’t have needed to compete.”
Rao Can’s use of the phrase “with us” made Mu Sheng beam with delight.
“Thank you, junior sister!” Mu Sheng said as he accepted the plate.
Rao Can laughed. “Junior sister? When did I become your junior sister?”
“Well, you said ‘with us’… Aren’t you Coach Jiang’s daughter?”
“Me?” Rao Can paused, then quickly realized what was going on. “You’re all training under Coach Jiang, right? I’m Rao Can, and that’s Cheng DouDou. As for your junior sister…”
“Ah… that would be her—Coach Jiang’s daughter.”
Even though Jiang Nuan hadn’t gone over, she could hear their conversation clearly, including the hint of disappointment in Mu Sheng’s voice.
Since they were all her dad’s disciples, there was no reason to be shy. Jiang Nuan turned around and made a throat-slitting gesture toward them.
Xu Zitian scratched his head. “Now that I look at her, she does kind of resemble Coach Jiang.”
“How so?”
“She has that fierce look, just like him.”
Mu Sheng laughed along with Xu Zitian and nudged Lu Ran with his elbow. “Master Lu, does our junior sister inherit our master’s fine tradition of being fierce all the time?”
“There’s always a silly cat that thinks it’s a tiger,” Lu Ran said casually.
Mu Sheng and Xu Zitian burst into laughter.
Author’s Note:
Jiang Nuan: Who are you calling a silly cat?
Lu Ran: Whoever is talking to me right now is the silly cat.
Jiang Nuan: Are you being childish or what?
Lu Ran: Silly cats are always the ones who show their claws, only to be swatted down by the tiger.
Jiang Nuan: I’m not going to waste my time with you!
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