The three of them boarded the bus together.
It was crowded at this hour, and with the bus swaying, Jiang Nuan held onto the handrail with Cheng Doudou, who wasn’t tall enough and whose arms were too short, swaying along with her.
“Hey, Xiao Nuan, are you really going to try your best to make it into the second exam hall for the monthly test?”
“What else can I do? Even if I’m not baking buns, I still have to fight for some dignity. I’ve already said it out loud…”
“But it’s good to wait and see how your results turn out after this monthly test before deciding whether to switch to the humanities class. The difficulty of math, physics, and chemistry has stepped up a notch this semester compared to the last. And with your illness giving you a chance to reconsider your choices, make the most of it.”
Rao Can’s words calmed Jiang Nuan’s restless mind.
Unfortunately, as soon as she started doing her homework, she became restless again.
She kicked out her legs and tossed the physics book over her face.
“What’s all this talk about fighting for dignity… If I don’t have any buns, how can I even have the energy to fight…”
It seemed like making buns was more practical after all.
At that moment, her mom came in with a cup of milk. Seeing her daughter in such a state, she could tell Jiang Nuan had hit a roadblock with something.
“Xiao Nuan, why don’t you take your homework upstairs and ask Lu Ran for help?”
“Mom—stop mentioning his name!”
It’s because of him that your daughter almost got stripped of her pants after class! And he even threatened to strip me completely!
“What’s wrong with Lu Ran? I remember him saying before that if you couldn’t figure out a problem after thinking about it for twenty minutes, you should go find him. Because when your thoughts are blocked, sitting here won’t unblock them by itself.”
Jiang Nuan lowered the book and gave her mom a side-eye, “Mom… do you think your daughter is a toilet?”
“Huh?”
“And Lu Ran is like one of those ads for plumbing services?”
Luo Chen burst out laughing, “What kind of silly comparison is that? Are you insulting yourself or making fun of Lu Ran?”
“Forget it, I’ll figure it out on my own. I can’t wait for Lu Ran to coach me during the exam.”
Besides, she didn’t want Lu Ran to keep infiltrating her life.
Today it was wearing Lu Ran’s pants and almost getting targeted. Who knows what tomorrow would bring?
The next day, as soon as Jiang Nuan put her bag down, Rao Can came over and sat beside her.
“Xiao Nuan, let me see your physics book. I couldn’t finish the last two questions yesterday.”
“Huh? I got halfway through the second-to-last question, but I couldn’t solve the last one at all.”
“No way, but you live right upstairs from the school genius. You used to ask him for help all the time!”
“I have to be self-sufficient…”
At that moment, Lin Mixia walked past Jiang Nuan and Rao Can, glancing at Jiang Nuan’s physics book before letting out a small laugh.
“The second-to-last question is a key question type, and you couldn’t even come up with an answer. I wonder if you’ll be lucky enough to stay in the third exam hall for the next monthly test.”
Lin Mixia put down her backpack and sat down.
Not long after, Lu Ran arrived. Jiang Nuan could hear Lin Mixia talking to him.
“Lu Ran, could you check if I did the second-to-last question correctly? And I only finished half of the last question.”
“Sorry, I’m really sleepy.”
With that, Lu Ran simply laid his head down on the desk and went straight to sleep.
Jiang Nuan glanced back and saw the awkward look on Lin Mixia’s face.
Lu Ran’s face was half-buried in his arm, and from Jiang Nuan’s angle, she could only see his forehead and the tip of his nose.
“Hey, you didn’t have any training yesterday either! My dad was home watching TV!” Jiang Nuan remarked.
Lu Ran remained lying down, stretching his hand out toward Jiang Nuan.
“What’s up?” Jiang Nuan thought, had he changed his mind? Did he want his “sponsorship” money back?
“Forty yuan. Give it back to me. Otherwise, I’ll never know if you’re spending the extra money on some ‘From Far Away’ manga or eating spicy hotpot.”
With so many people around, Jiang Nuan really didn’t want her classmates to know that Lu Ran had lent her money. Those who liked Lu Ran might start looking at her with even more disdain.
Sure enough, Lin Mixia was glaring at her with a cold expression, as if silently saying, “You took money from Lu Ran?”
“I’ll pay you back! Okay!”
She desperately wanted to drop the topic.
“You don’t have to pay back the three hundred sixty, but you have to return the forty yuan.”
This was a sure way to let Lin Mixia know he had given her three hundred sixty yuan. That was quite a “fortune”!
“Fine! I’ll pay you back all of it!”
“No need. If you pay me back, do you think anyone else would lend you money?”
Jiang Nuan suddenly realized that money relationships really aren’t good relationships!
She fumbled around for a while and finally found eighteen yuan in her bag, which she slapped onto Lu Ran’s desk, “Here, this is all I have. I’ll pay you the rest when I can break a bill!”
Owing anyone money was bad, but owing Lu Ran money was even worse!
Morning reading started, and when the English class rep, Ling Jia, came to organize the group for a spelling quiz, Lu Ran was still sleeping on his desk.
As one of the top students in the class, Ling Jia didn’t feel comfortable calling him out, so she walked over to him, intending to tap him on the shoulder, but Lin Mixia blocked her hand.
“These words—Lu Ran definitely knows them all. Let him sleep for a while.”
Since Lin Mixia was the class president, Ling Jia had to give her some face, so she pretended not to see anything and moved on.
Jiang Nuan had battled with her physics book last night, so she had only glanced at the English vocabulary list on the bus to school. She could only guess most of the words based on their phonetic spelling.
The rules were that after spelling the words, they had to be passed up by group, and then Ling Jia would distribute them to another group for grading. Anyone who didn’t get at least ninety percent correct would have to redo the spelling quiz during English class.
Jiang Nuan had no desire to show off on the blackboard, but she couldn’t remember if the last word ended with “se” or “ze.” In her nervousness, she dropped her pen, which rolled and rolled, ending up far behind her.
Jiang Nuan bent down to pick up her pen, but Lin Mixia, in a hurry to turn in her spelling quiz, directly included Jiang Nuan’s paper and passed it up with hers.
After searching for a while, Jiang Nuan finally realized that her pen had rolled to Lu Ran’s feet.
Lu Ran had been woken up by the noise, and as he moved his foot, he stepped on Jiang Nuan’s pen, cracking it with a sad “snap”
Lu Ran glanced at his foot and picked up the broken pen.
“Here’s your pen.”
“Don’t need it.” Jiang Nuan didn’t even turn around.
“Take it.”
Something poked Jiang Nuan from behind.
“I said I don’t need it—it’s broken.”
Jiang Nuan really didn’t want to look back at Lu Ran. Her head still hurt from bumping into the desk.
“It’s mine.” Lu Ran said again.
“If it’s yours, I definitely don’t dare take it.”
Otherwise, she’d be surrounded by people trying to snatch it from her. It was so childish. They said she was childish, but wasn’t Lin Mixia the same?
“Then give it to me. My pen isn’t writing well.” Lin Mixia said.
Suddenly, Jiang Nuan turned around and snatched the pen.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to use it.”
She couldn’t let Lin Mixia have it!
Rao Can laughed helplessly beside her.
During English class, the teacher called out the names of those who hadn’t scored above ninety percent on the morning spelling quiz. There weren’t many—just three students. The last one was Jiang Nuan.
Jiang Nuan exhaled, knowing this was inevitable.
The teacher asked, “Is there anyone else who didn’t take the spelling quiz this morning?”
Lu Ran raised his hand slightly, “Teacher, I didn’t take the quiz.”
“Lu Ran? Did something come up? Well, come up here and do the spelling with the others.”
Jiang Nuan and Lu Ran both walked down the aisle to the blackboard, but Jiang Nuan deliberately avoided standing next to him and moved over to He Zheng’s side.
Just as she was about to take her spot, He Zheng grinned and said, “Hey, Brother Nuan, can I lean on you for support?”
He Zheng was notorious for goofing off, reading extracurricular books and chatting with classmates during class. The teachers couldn’t control him and had only one requirement for him—either sleep or read extracurricular books, just don’t talk to others.
But He Zheng couldn’t help it; he had to gather the students around him for small meetings. In the end, the teacher couldn’t stand it anymore and made him sit next to the podium.
“Did you swear allegiance to me?” Jiang Nuan whispered.
“Huh?”
“If you didn’t, then how can you lean on me?” Jiang Nuan smirked.
He Zheng immediately burst out laughing.
“No laughing! The spelling quiz is starting now!”
Luckily, Jiang Nuan had anticipated that she might be called up, so she had reviewed the vocabulary thoroughly during the break. This time, she passed.
As she left the blackboard, He Zheng called out, “Brother Nuan…”
“What?” Jiang Nuan shot him a sidelong glance.
“Your handwriting needs some work! It’s so big and messy—I could barely read it!”
Even though He Zheng’s voice wasn’t loud, the students in the front rows heard him and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pay me, and I’ll go practice!”
Jiang Nuan returned to her seat and looked up at the blackboard… She had to admit, her English handwriting was the worst—fat, wiggly like a worm, a fat worm.
Even though He Zheng’s handwriting wasn’t much better, it was at least thin and long, resembling English.
And the best-looking handwriting of all was Lu Ran’s—perfectly proportioned, with an elegant, aristocratic flair.
The teacher went through the spelling quiz, and Jiang Nuan only missed one word. She breathed a sigh of relief. He Zheng got about half correct, looking a bit embarrassed. As for Lu Ran, of course, his answers were the model of perfection.
If getting called up to the blackboard for the spelling quiz in the morning was bad luck, then in the afternoon, Jiang Nuan’s luck got even worse.
They usually didn’t go home for lunch. Jiang Nuan, Rao Can, and Dou Dou would go to a nearby restaurant for a quick meal.
When Jiang Nuan returned to her seat, she was just about to lay down for a nap when she lowered her head and felt something wet.
“Ah! Who spilled water on my chair?”
Rao Can quickly handed her a napkin, but it couldn’t stop the cold, wet sensation on Jiang Nuan’s butt.
Jiang Nuan stood up, accidentally bumping her desk, and water started dripping from her drawer as well.
She quickly pulled out her bag, then took out her books and practice papers. They were all soaked.
“Who did this? So childish!” Rao Can helped Jiang Nuan spread out her books and papers, carefully blotting the water with napkins.
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