Liu Ma glanced at the departing boy, then turned her attention back: “I made corn and pork rib soup today. Get in the car quickly.”
Jiang Rong smiled obediently: “Thank you, Liu Ma.”
Liu Ma turned on the air conditioning and served Jiang Rong a bowl of pork rib soup, then set out the dishes. She said apologetically: “This morning I meant to have you take an umbrella. I brought it to the car but forgot to give it to you.”
“It’s fine,” Jiang Rong smiled at her, then added, “The pork rib soup is delicious.”
Hearing that she liked it, Liu Ma’s smile lines deepened: “If you like it, have some more.”
She remembered the boy from earlier: “That boy who came with you, is he your classmate?”
Jiang Rong nodded: “He’s my current desk mate.”
Liu Ma smiled: “Your new desk mate seems nice, even walking you to the door.”
She had noticed that the boy had tilted the umbrella toward Jiang Rong’s side, letting his own arm get wet.
“Mm, he is quite nice,” Jiang Rong agreed. Though he could be a bit fierce sometimes.
When Jiang Rong returned to class with the umbrella, someone suddenly called out to her.
“Jiang Rong.”
She turned around to see a tall, thin boy standing at the doorway. He had delicate features and wore black-framed silver glasses. He smiled at Jiang Rong: “How was the milk this morning?”
He had heard others say that Class 17 had a new transfer student who was exceptionally beautiful. He had been skeptical at first – how beautiful could she be? Until the day Jiang Rong walked past him.
Though they all wore the same uniform, it looked different on some people. The girl had clean features, with bright almond eyes clear as autumn water. Her skin was fair, her nose delicate, and though she simply wore her hair in a ponytail, her slim figure and fair arms made her stunningly beautiful. Just one glance made it impossible to look away.
Jiang Rong tried hard to remember, but was certain she had no impression of this boy. She recalled the milk that had suddenly appeared on her desk that morning: “Was it you who left the milk on my desk this morning?”
Lin Shiyue nodded: “Yes.” He held out some snacks to Jiang Rong: “These are for you.”
Jiang Rong said to him: “Wait a moment.”
Many of the boys in Class 17 were watching the boy at the door with wary eyes. They had just gotten a pretty new classmate, and already someone was trying to steal her away.
Jiang Rong walked back out with the bottle of milk and politely said to the boy: “I didn’t know who left the milk on my desk. I haven’t touched it, so here it is back. Thank you for your kindness.”
Lin Shiyue wasn’t embarrassed. Instead of taking the milk, he said: “I don’t mean anything by it, Classmate Jiang. I just thought you were special and wanted to get to know you, to be friends.”
Yang Shikun watched from afar as Jiang Rong talked with a boy at the door, immediately feeling like someone was trying to steal his brother’s potential girlfriend.
Jiang Rong pulled out twenty yuan from her pocket: “Fine, I’ll buy the milk from you.”
She stuffed the money into the boy’s hand and turned to enter Class 17, leaving Lin Shiyue staring at the twenty yuan in confusion.
“Excuse me,” came a cold male voice. Lin Shiyue snapped out of it and moved aside. He looked at Jiang Rong inside the classroom, thinking she really was different from other girls he knew. Quite interesting.
Yang Shikun interpreted the “excuse me” from Xu Si as meaning: “Get lost if you’re trying to steal what’s mine.”
Having witnessed everything, he returned to his seat and couldn’t help whispering to Hao Ming: “Hahaha, Classmate Jiang is hilarious. I’ve never seen such a unique way of rejecting someone. If I understood correctly, that guy gave her milk, she refused, but he insisted she take it, so she just gave him twenty yuan! I bet she basically told him ‘take my money and get lost’, hahaha, I’m dying of laughter!”
Hao Ming couldn’t help laughing: “I’ve never seen anyone reject someone like that before.”
Though the most outrageous rejection he’d seen was from Xu Si – once when a girl tried to confess to him, his expression was so fierce that the poor girl couldn’t even speak.
Luo Xing waved Jiang Rong over and whispered: “That boy was quite handsome. Was he trying to pursue you?”
Jiang Rong thought for a moment, then shook her head: “Not really. He said he thought I was special and wanted to be friends, so I returned the milk he gave me this morning. When he insisted on giving it to me, I just gave him twenty yuan to buy it.”
“Pfft!” Luo Xing couldn’t help laughing. She’d wondered what Jiang Rong had said, but it was just that. No wonder the boy had looked so confused standing at the door.
“You shouldn’t casually accept things from others,” especially from boys – that’s what A’Xu had told her.
Luo Xing couldn’t help saying: “You’re so obedient! Your clothes aren’t very wet at all.”
Jiang Rong answered honestly: “I shared an umbrella with someone.”
“That’s good,” Luo Xing said, then suddenly remembered something: “I don’t have your contact information yet.”
Jiang Rong asked: “WeChat or QQ?”
Luo Xing giggled: “Both!” She handed her notebook and pen to Jiang Rong.
After writing down her information, Jiang Rong returned the notebook: “I’ll head back now.”
“Okay, I’ll add you tonight.”
When Jiang Rong returned to her seat, she started working on problems. Someone lightly tapped her desk, and she looked up to meet Yang Shikun’s gaze: “What is it?”
Yang Shikun asked with a grin: “What did you say to that boy at the door earlier?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, what did that boy want? What did you say to him?”
Jiang Rong repeated what she had told Luo Xing.
Yang Shikun noticed Xu Si lift his head slightly, then declared righteously: “What’s this about finding you special and wanting to be friends? That’s clearly what a player would say. Classmate Jiang, stay away from guys like that.”
“A player?”
“Yeah, just listen to how he talks. Isn’t it obvious he’s a player? Not clearly expressing his feelings for a girl, just saying he wants to be friends. And listen to his tone – it’s so practiced. You can tell he’s definitely experienced at pursuing girls.”
Yang Shikun felt his reasoning was extremely sound.
Jiang Rong nodded somewhat uncertainly, then smiled gratefully at him: “I understand. Thank you.”
Who wouldn’t like a girl who was both well-behaved and pretty? No wonder Si-ge had shared his umbrella with her today.
Si-ge’s territory had been successfully defended.
Leave a Reply