OHHACOM Chapter 2

The word “clingy” once again hit Jiang Nuan right in the heart.

It made her inexplicably think of a child in a supermarket, lying on the ground, throwing a tantrum, kicking their legs, and shaking their head. They wouldn’t get up unless their parents bought them something they wanted.

How did she ever tolerate Lu Ran’s comment that “kindergarten is easier for you”? And how did she manage to cling to Lu Ran to teach her?

“Stop thinking too much! Right now, you’re not in the right condition to overthink!” Rao Can comforted her.

Before the New Year, many patients were discharged from the hospital. Jiang Nuan had undergone a full-body examination, including her brain. Even an MRI was done, but nothing was found. Her pneumonia was completely cured, and she was ready to be discharged.

Jiang Nuan’s parents packed up her things and took her home.

Sitting in the car, Jiang Nuan looked out the window. Everything outside was so familiar, but there was a small part of her memory that had been lost.

She sighed.

It was just a small part. Life is long, and the brain has limited capacity. Forgetting is just a way to remember more important things.

Jiang Nuan’s mother, Luo Chen, wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and comforted her, “Are you worried that you’ve forgotten everything from the first semester of sophomore year? It’s okay. Maybe once you look at your books, it’ll all come back to you. Your dad and I discussed it, and we’ve arranged for a tutor. If you still have some memories left, maybe you can catch up. Before the next semester starts, your homeroom teacher will give you a test. If you do well, you can continue with your class. If not, we can repeat the second semester of freshman year to solidify your foundation.”

Jiang Nuan glanced at her father, Jiang Huai. She knew deep down that, as a former fencing athlete, he always hoped she could get into a good university, not like him, who only graduated high school. After retiring, he lost the glory of being an athlete, and his life choices became much more limited.

“You have to eat your food bite by bite, walk your path step by step. Since you’ve fallen back to the starting point, if you can’t catch up by running, why not walk steadily from the beginning?” Jiang Huai said.

Jiang Nuan turned her head to look out the window and muttered, “I don’t even like studying. I think going to a sports school and becoming an athlete sounds pretty good.”

Her mother shot her a look, signaling not to bring up the sports school again. Her father had the highest hope for her to get into a proper university.

Back home, Jiang Nuan took a hot shower and sat down at her desk. She suddenly remembered something Cheng Doudou had said about a swan she had written about on her blog and rushed to her parents’ study.

In their household, the computer was strictly controlled. Afraid that Jiang Nuan would get addicted to the internet and affect her studies, her parents usually locked the study door. They never thought that there was such a place outside called an “internet café.”

Her mom, busy preparing hotpot in the kitchen, shouted, “Hey, you little rascal! How come you went straight for the computer as soon as you got home?”

“Mom—! I have to check something! Otherwise, I won’t be able to rest in peace even with Buddha’s blessing!”

Jiang Nuan tried to log into her blog, but to her horror… the password didn’t work!

Her birthday plus the house number, wrong.

Her student ID plus her birthday, wrong.

Her parents’ birth months, wrong.

Nothing worked!

“Forget it! Forget it!”

She’d try the password again tomorrow! Today, she just wanted to see what she had posted!

Jiang Nuan searched for herself and was immediately confronted with a blog post so embarrassing that it made her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys want to explode—*You are a white swan, but I can’t bear to eat swan meat. How about sharing a feather with me?*

Oh my god!

This wasn’t just an eyesore! It was a complete denial of her fierce life for the past ten-plus years!

She couldn’t read anymore!

If she continued, she’d lose the will to live!

Luckily, only DouDou and Rao Can knew about her blog, and they both had left comments below.

GabangGabangDouEr: Hehe, when Nuanye makes a move, she plucks the swan bald with one swipe!

NileRiverFairy: Only toads eat swan meat. Let’s have roast duck instead.

And then, there was a comment from an ID she had never seen before: *I’d rather you always stay an ugly duckling that never grows up.*

“What the heck! Never grow up into a swan? Does this person have a grudge against me?”

If an ugly duckling never grows up, it will never become a swan.

It’s like cursing a caterpillar to never break out of its cocoon… Of course, even if it does break out, it might just be an ugly moth.

Jiang Nuan immediately shut off the computer. She didn’t even have the mood to retrieve her password.

Just then, her mom shouted from the kitchen, “Xiao Nuan, come help set the table.”

Jiang Nuan turned off the computer, collected herself, and came out. When she saw the table full of lamb slices, beef slices, tofu, fish balls, and vegetables, she was stunned.

“Mom! It’s just the three of us, why did you prepare so much food?”

Even if they wanted to make her feel better, this was overdoing it!

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Lu Ran came back from the capital today. His dad has to work overtime to prepare for the club fencing tournament, and his mom won’t be back from her training until tomorrow. So, Lu Ran is having dinner with us tonight.”

Jiang Nuan almost dropped the bowl she was holding.

“Lu… Lu Ran is coming to our house for dinner?”

“What’s wrong? You used to be so happy when Lu Ran came over for dinner.”

“Me… Happy?”

How happy was I exactly?

—Her mind conjured up the image of “rubbing hands with excitement”…

“Also, Lu Ran was the one who pulled you out of the pond this time. The doctor said that if it had been any later, you really wouldn’t have made it.” Luo Chen brought over a pot of simmering bone broth, which would be their hotpot base, and then looked at Jiang Nuan seriously. “You have no idea how terrifying it was. The kids on the shore were crying, and the adults were in a panic, not knowing where you were. Only Lu Ran jumped in without a word and found you.”

“But the pond isn’t that deep… I remember it being about 1.8 meters?”

“Not deep? It’s deeper than your height! You couldn’t even climb out! By the time Lu Ran pushed you up, you were already unconscious. He was supposed to head to the capital for training that afternoon, but you ended up with pneumonia, and the hospital said if your fever didn’t come down, your brain could be damaged. Your dad and I were completely overwhelmed. Lu Ran stayed with us for two days. He helped with everything from standing in line to pay bills, to bringing food and water. For a teenager, Lu Ran is really mature.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nuan was shocked.

She had always thought Lu Ran was the kind of guy who was indifferent to others’ affairs, but she didn’t expect him to save her. Of course, saving a classmate’s life was one thing, but staying at the hospital for two days with her parents was beyond her expectations.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Jiang Nuan’s heart skipped a beat. She saw her mom rush to the door, greeting warmly, “Lu Ran’s here! Come on in! You made it back from the capital just in time for the New Year. Are you tired?”

“Thank you, Auntie. I’m fine, not too tired.”

In the warm, humid atmosphere of the hotpot, Lu Ran’s voice carried a maturity that didn’t match his age. It was like wind blowing through treetops in winter, bringing the cold, crisp sound of ice shards breaking. But once those shards cracked, warmth from another world would flood in.

“Where’s your luggage?”

“I dropped it off at home.”

Lu Ran stood at the entrance, changing into slippers, and Jiang Nuan could only see the top of his head.

Because of his fencing training, he was taller than most boys in their grade. He had long arms and legs, the kind of figure that made girls who loved Korean dramas fantasize about his legs.

He was bending down, putting his shoes into the shoe cabinet. From this angle, Jiang Nuan could see his sharp nose and slightly upturned eyelashes.

Lu Ran’s eyelashes were long, but they didn’t make him look feminine. Instead, they softened his sharp features, giving him a more approachable appearance.

“Oh no! I almost forgot about the rice wine with eggs I was making!”

With her mom out of the way, there was no longer anything between Jiang Nuan and Lu Ran.

He was wearing a dark, knee-length coat. Even in casual pants, Jiang Nuan could imagine the smooth and powerful lines of his calves.

The ash-gray and white knitted scarf around his neck seemed a bit short, wrapping around his neck just once, with his strong jaw buried within it, adding a hint of youthful charm to him.

Suddenly, the words from her blog flashed through her mind—You are a white swan, but I can’t bear to eat swan meat. How about sharing a feather with me?

Jiang Nuan took a step back, just as Lu Ran lifted his head. His clear eyes held no particular emotion as he calmly removed his coat and hung it on the rack by the door.

“Are you feeling better?” His voice still carried the coldness from the North.

“Ah… yeah, I’m better…”

“Have you done your winter homework?” Lu Ran asked, his back turned to her, his tone indifferent.

“Nope. I returned everything I learned in sophomore year to the teachers.” Jiang Nuan licked her lips nervously.

But after a few seconds, Lu Ran still didn’t respond.

When Jiang Nuan glanced up, she realized that Lu Ran had leaned closer to her.

In the backlight, his eyes seemed to shimmer faintly, making them hard to read.

“No teacher can teach you.”

“What?” Jiang Nuan instinctively took half a step back.

Lu Ran leaned in even closer, his cool voice brushing past her ear, “Except me.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not the teachers you returned the knowledge to—it’s me.” Lu Ran glanced at her, then walked toward the kitchen. “Aunt Luo, let me help you bring out the rice wine.”

It felt like a dream, and the tension in her heart slowly began to unwind.

It seemed that Rao Can wasn’t exaggerating when she said that Lu Ran was Jiang Nuan’s secret weapon for surviving in the science class.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about this. Go take a seat. I made meat pies for you; have one to fill your stomach.”

Jiang Nuan rubbed her chin. Could it be that she was just an add-on? She had just recovered from a serious illness and was discharged from the hospital, yet her mom didn’t make braised pork for her but instead made meat pies for Lu Ran?

Lu Ran helped Jiang Nuan’s mom bring the pot of rice wine to the table.

Jiang Nuan’s dad also finished his phone call and came over from the balcony to join them for dinner.

“Oh! Lu Ran is here! I heard you almost beat Jian Ming in the practice match this time! That’s impressive, very impressive. The younger generation is truly amazing.”

Jian Ming was Jiang Huai’s first student and also his most proud one—he was the champion of the National University Fencing Sabre Tournament and was selected to participate in the Youth Olympic Games.

Jiang Nuan kept her head down and muttered softly, “Almost beating him still means losing. Why is it so impressive?”

“Jian Ming’s speed is very fast, and his control over retreating and counter-attacking distance is something I need to learn.”

“He has more experience in actual combat than you. I watched the video of your practice match. You being able to suppress him for so long already exceeded my expectations.” Jiang Huai poured a cup of rice wine and clinked glasses with Lu Ran. “And your father? Did he put more pressure on you?”

“It’s not really pressure. He just asked me to analyze why I lost to Jian Ming.”

“Analyze every strike, right? In this world, many things aren’t just about effort and seriousness. Timing is also important.”

The two began to chat, which made Jiang Nuan a little envious. Lu Ran trained fencing with her father, so they had a lot to talk about, while her dad didn’t really teach her much. This feeling made Jiang Nuan a bit sour.

When she was younger, her dad was someone she boasted about. He had won a world championship and even earned a bronze medal at the Olympics.

But as she grew up, she stopped bragging because her dad refused to teach her fencing. He insisted she focus on her studies, work hard, and get into a good university, while he put all his effort into teaching Lu Ran.

Jiang Nuan knew that part of her resentment towards Lu Ran was also due to jealousy.

Turning her head, she saw that even Lu Ran’s way of eating hotpot looked graceful. His brows and eyes, as if dipped in ink, added to his seemingly aloof and indifferent appearance, yet there was a subtle allure hidden within his features.

Enough! No matter how good he looks, it’s not like I’m the one with that face!

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