Jiang Nuan opened her physics notebook, but the ink had smudged due to the water. The first class in the afternoon was physics, and if the teacher asked questions, how would she respond?
At that moment, He Zheng, who had been napping in the front row, turned around, glanced at her, and chuckled, “Nuan-ge, you girls sure have a lot of drama!”
This guy really kept his promise. Ever since Jiang Nuan scored ten points against Lu Ran during a practice match at the club, He Zheng had started calling her “bro.” But this “Nuan-ge” was full of schadenfreude.
“What did you see?” Jiang Nuan asked.
“I didn’t see anything. I was sleeping the whole time.”
“Then why are you talking nonsense?”
“Because it’s obvious someone poured water into your bag. Us guys don’t mess around with childish stuff like that. If we have a problem, we settle it by rolling up our sleeves and dealing with it directly.”
Jiang Nuan turned to glare at Lin Mixia’s desk but somehow felt it wasn’t her. Lin Mixia was the type who liked to be upfront. If she wanted to go after Jiang Nuan, she’d want the whole world to know.
She thrived on that feeling of superiority, where she could say, “You know I’m the one messing with you, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Rao Can sighed, “Alright, Xiao Nuan, whoever did this waited until everyone went for lunch. It’s hard to explain this to the teacher.”
“I really don’t want to let this slide…” Jiang Nuan glanced at her soaked notebook. “I need to avenge my poor notebook and books! I spent so long last night working on those physics problems. My youthful efforts were soaked away!”
“What happened?” A cool voice rang out. It was Lu Ran, who had just returned to the classroom with his backpack.
As soon as Jiang Nuan realized it was him, she didn’t feel like talking anymore.
Rao Can answered for her, “Someone poured water into Xiao Nuan’s backpack.”
Lu Ran frowned but didn’t say anything.
Jiang Nuan, who wasn’t originally that angry, was now upset.
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had water poured into my bag in the first place!”
Lu Ran walked over, opened her backpack, and took everything out, placing it on his desk.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ll give you mine.”
“I don’t want it!” Jiang Nuan was fuming, and the last thing she wanted was anything from Lu Ran.
“The person who poured water into your bag did it because they were upset about you being close to me, right? If they find out that you’re now using my stuff because of it, won’t that just piss them off even more?” Lu Ran responded calmly.
Jiang Nuan froze. Wait… this was an option?
Rao Can whispered, “Yeah, if I were the one who poured water into your bag, I’d definitely be mad.”
Jiang Nuan immediately moved all of Lu Ran’s books over to her desk.
Looking at Lu Ran’s neat and tidy textbooks in front of her gave her an odd sense of satisfaction.
As she flipped through them, she noticed that although Lu Ran didn’t take many notes, the ones he did were incredibly neat, almost like they were printed on the page.
“I’m really taking these! Physics and English textbooks! And your exercise book too!”
“Mm.”
Lu Ran lay down, ready to sleep again.
For some reason, he seemed tired all day.
Jiang Nuan turned back and added, “But I’m still mad!”
“Mm.” Lu Ran continued to lie down, tossing his physics notebook onto Jiang Nuan’s face. “Take this too.”
“Hey—you hit my nose!”
“If it’s bent, go get it fixed.”
“Enough! Focus!” Rao Can pulled Jiang Nuan’s head back to the desk, and the two of them started studying the last two problems from Lu Ran’s notes.
“Don’t you think Lu Ran’s explanations are incredibly detailed? Every step is crystal clear!” Rao Can whispered, noticing how seriously Jiang Nuan was studying the solutions.
“Mm…”
Rao Can leaned closer to Jiang Nuan’s ear, speaking in a voice only they could hear, “I bet Lu Ran’s been sleeping all day because he stayed up late last night.”
“Stayed up late for what?”
Lu Ran was a disciplined person and never got addicted to anything. Most students stayed up late for things other than studying—usually playing video games—but Lu Ran wasn’t into that.
“He stayed up waiting for you!”
“Huh?” Jiang Nuan had no idea where this theory came from.
“My guess is that last night, Lu Ran already figured out you wouldn’t be able to solve the last two problems in the physics notebook. So he meticulously crafted the solutions just for you, waiting for you to come ask him. But instead, our dear Jiang Nuan stubbornly decided to try solving them on her own, and Lu Ran ended up waiting and waiting, unable to sleep.”
Jiang Nuan’s shoulders twitched from the warmth of Rao Can’s breath.
“You’re making things up. You should be writing scripts instead of studying accounting!”
Jiang Nuan glanced back at Lu Ran, worried that he or others might overhear and spread more rumors.
Fortunately, Lu Ran was still asleep.
He really must not have slept well last night—his slow, deep breathing indicated he was truly asleep.
Not long after, Lin Mixia arrived.
She glanced at Jiang Nuan, surprised to see her doing physics exercises instead of taking a nap, and suddenly noticed something. “Why are you stealing Lu Ran’s homework?”
“Huh? I’m not. He gave it to me.” Jiang Nuan replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“No way! Lu Ran would never let someone else look at his work!”
He Zheng, still lying down, turned his head and spoke up, “I personally heard Lu Ran say he gave all his books and notebooks to Jiang Nuan. Who asked someone to pour water into her bag?”
“He Zheng, you’re no good either. Go back to sleep!”
He Zheng shrugged, “I just don’t get it. Why do you girls like to make things hard for each other? Wouldn’t it be better to unite? Fifty years from now, you’ll still need to dance in the square together.”
“You go dance in the square!”
He Zheng added, “Jiang Nuan’s approach with Lu Ran is spot on. You could learn a thing or two from her about being smart and playing dumb, instead of fussing over every little thing.”
After that, He Zheng went back to sleep.
Jiang Nuan nodded seriously, “Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be a good student? A good student should focus on studying hard, aiming to soar high and reach for the stars.”
“You…”
Rao Can raised her finger to her lips, signaling for Lin Mixia to keep her voice down.
“Lu Ran’s still taking his afternoon nap.”
Lin Mixia finally held back, staring longingly at Jiang Nuan flipping through Lu Ran’s physics notebook.
In the afternoon physics class, the teacher began explaining the problems from the notebook. But ten minutes before class ended, he received a phone call—his wife was about to give birth, so he had to rush to the hospital. Before leaving, he said, “Lu Ran, please explain the last problem to everyone. Make sure you all listen carefully! If you don’t understand, I’ll go over it again when I get back!”
With that, the physics teacher left.
Lu Ran only had the water-damaged physics notebook that belonged to Jiang Nuan. When he stood up to go to the podium, Lin Mixia tried to hand him her own reference book, but Lu Ran simply said, “Thank you.” without taking it.
He stepped onto the podium. Everyone expected him to pick up the chalk and start solving the problem, but instead, he stood there looking at the class. His tall frame made him appear even more imposing.
And his eyes…
Like mountains, like the sea.
“Before I explain this problem, I want to make something clear.”
As soon as Lu Ran spoke, the entire class fell into a strange silence.
“From now on, no matter who it is, if anyone pours water into Jiang Nuan’s bag, I will give her my books. If anyone breaks her pen, I’ll give her my pen. If anyone thinks tearing up her notebooks and papers would be fun, I’ll give her all of mine. Whatever someone damages, mine becomes hers. I’m tired of this sneaky, underhanded nonsense. Whoever is doing this, or whoever thinks they can get away with it, better hope I don’t catch you in the act. If you’re a girl, I might not be able to hit you, but I will make sure you can’t graduate from Affiliated High.”
His voice was clear, without a hint of hesitation, so firm that it carried the power of someone who meant what he said.
Jiang Nuan stared at him in disbelief. The classroom remained silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The students looked at each other in shock. This was something they had never expected to happen.
Lu Ran never got involved in other people’s business.
Let alone make a public statement like this in front of the whole class.
Jiang Nuan instinctively turned to look at Lin Mixia, only to see her lips trembling, tears already falling.
Sighing, Jiang Nuan looked back. Some students in the front row had their heads down, not daring to meet Lu Ran’s gaze.
Jiang Nuan snorted to herself. It definitely wasn’t Lin Mixia. She was like a peacock, flaunting her superiority and making it obvious when she bullied others. Doing something sneaky like pouring water into someone’s bag? That would only be done by someone insecure.
At that moment, He Zheng, sitting in the front row, started clapping, and the boys in the class followed suit.
“Hey, Lu Ran! What if someone messes up Jiang Nuan’s head? What will you do then?” He Zheng’s joking tone broke the heavy atmosphere.
“Then I’ll give her my brain.”
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