Meng Xinglan had other matters with Liang Yiran, so she didn’t ask Ruan Mian to go with her to the liberal arts class to find him. The two separated at the stairs on the second floor.
Ruan Mian walked to the classroom door, reached out to push it open. Coincidentally, someone was coming out from inside at the same time. They both pulled and pushed the door without noticing each other, bumping into each other unexpectedly.
The cup in the girl’s hand wasn’t held steadily and fell to the ground with a clatter, the little remaining water splashing onto Ruan Mian’s shoes.
Ruan Mian took a small step back, bent down to pick up the cup and lid and handed it over, “Sorry, I didn’t notice someone was coming out just now.”
The girl was called Liu Jingyi, and was the Chinese language representative of the class.
She took the cup from Ruan Mian’s hand, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, her expression and gaze both showing naked disgust, and her tone wasn’t very good either, “Pay more attention when walking next time.”
Before leaving, she deliberately bumped Ruan Mian’s shoulder with her own shoulder.
Ruan Mian rubbed her shoulder as she watched Liu Jingyi’s back as she walked away, feeling somewhat baffled, but didn’t think much of it. She lifted her foot and entered the classroom.
After sitting for a while, Liu Jingyi came back after getting water, followed by a laughing and chatting Zhao Shutang. Only then did Ruan Mian realize what had happened, understanding that Zhao Shutang must have caused trouble.
Ruan Mian didn’t care for such silly tricks at all. She twirled her pen in her hand and withdrew her gaze indifferently.
Not far away, after listening to Liu Jingyi’s words, Zhao Shutang also glanced over at Ruan Mian, and then indifferently said, “That’s just how she is. She usually pretends to be a little innocent white rabbit, but actually has a bellyful of dirty water just like her mom. That’s how my dad was tricked.”
Liu Jingyi sighed, “I really feel bad for you.”
Back in the summer vacation, Liu Jingyi had already heard from Zhao Shutang about the bad things her stepmother and stepsister had done, so naturally her impression of Ruan Mian wasn’t very good.
She patted Zhao Shutang’s shoulder and comforted, “Alright, don’t think too much. No matter what, I’ll always stand with you.”
Zhao Shutang chuckled lightly, “Luckily I have you.”
Ruan Mian was oblivious to all this. She lowered her head to finish half a page of physics exercises before resting her head in her arms on the table to take a nap.
In her daze, she felt the chair next to her being pulled away, and a tall figure walked over and sat down. His breath smelled refreshingly clean like shampoo.
Her motion of rubbing her arm slowly stopped. Just as she was hesitating whether to say something, the boy suddenly placed a cup of milk tea on her desk.
Ruan Mian was stunned.
Chen Yi leaned over to put another cup on Meng Xinglan’s desk before speaking, “Jiang Rang bought them.”
“Oh, thanks.”
This time Ruan Mian reacted quickly, not missing the chance to speak again. She even glanced up at him after speaking.
This one glance mesmerized her again.
The boy’s short hair was trimmed thin. With no bangs to obscure his forehead, his features were distinct and angular, his brows hard and sharp.
The vigorous youthfulness was forcibly suppressed by the emerging unruliness and defiance.
Chen Yi looked over, and a deep wrinkle appeared on his thin eyelids. He replied casually, “You’re welcome.”
As he spoke, Teacher Zhao walked into the classroom. Ruan Mian pressed down her racing heart, reached out to put the milk tea into her drawer, and absentmindedly joined the class in greeting the teacher.
Perhaps because she had scolded them once in the morning, Teacher Zhao didn’t pick on Ruan Mian this lesson. She just slowly walked over and tapped on Ruan Mian’s desk when she caught her spacing out, “Pay attention in class.”
Ruan Mian’s ears grew hot as she lifted her test paper higher.
Chen Yi also hadn’t been listening to class earlier. Hearing Teacher Zhao’s voice, he glanced to the side.
The lush autumn sunshine shone through the transparent and clean glass. In the faint light, it outlined the girl’s slender figure.
She didn’t actually look as “plain” as Jiang Rang had described. Her skin was fair, and her eyes were clear and clean, like a shallow pond reflecting the moonlight fireflies.
It was just that her personality was a little too gentle and introverted. They had been deskmates for so long, yet the two had barely exchanged more than ten sentences.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of him, but it didn’t seem to be the case either. In the end though, her personality didn’t have much to do with him.
Chen Yi flipped open his book, once again with his indifferent attitude that nothing mattered.
Outside the classroom, the sky was windy and cloudy, leaving behind faint trails from the planes passing by. With a gust of wind, they dispersed into fleeting clouds and smoke.
During the evening self-study period, the overall rankings for this monthly exam were released.
Chen Yi’s total score was 704, ranking first in the class and first grade. The second place was a girl from Class 2 with a score that was neck to neck with his.
Affected by Chinese and English, Ruan Mian’s total score was 621. She ranked 46th in the class, exactly 100th in the grade, an average placement.
After getting the results, Ruan Mian was called to the office by Teacher Zhou. She had signed up to participate in a biology competition when school had just started, and it was going to begin in a few days.
Teacher Zhou handed her the exam permit, “The timing of this competition is good. When you come back, it’ll be the school sports meet. I heard from the PE committee members that you signed up for the 50m and 3000m races, so don’t go train these few days. Study well and strive to get a good result for the exam.”
Ruan Mian nodded, “Okay, I understand.”
After explaining the matters about the competition, Teacher Zhou flipped open the grade rankings on his desk, “Have you seen your ranking for this monthly exam?”
“I saw it.”
Teacher Zhou looked up, “What do you think about it?”
Ruan Mian thought seriously for a while, “My weaker subjects are quite severe. Chinese and English are both ranked very low in the top 100.”
“That’s right. Chinese is probably the lowest here. English is a little better but still near the bottom. I called your mother this afternoon. She said you already had severe weaker subjects at No.8 Middle School. I want to ask, is it that you don’t want to study, or is it that you can’t grasp it?”
“I want to study, but studying doesn’t seem to help much.”
Ruan Mian pursed her lips, “I also attended remedial classes during the summer vacation, but the effect wasn’t very obvious.”
“I see… ” Teacher Zhou sighed, “The school has always organized a composition tutoring class for first year high school students. It’s free and if you want to go, I can sign you up too?”
Ruan Mian hesitated for a few seconds, “Okay.”
“Alright, that’s it for now. As for English, I’ll discuss with Teacher Song later to see if there are any targeted learning methods, and we’ll talk about it then.”
“Okay, thank you Teacher Zhou.”
After just the first monthly exam, Ruan Mian had already been counseled by teachers a few times because of her weaker subjects. When she returned to the classroom, her spirits were somewhat low.
Meng Xinglan sat in Chen Yi’s seat, “What’s wrong? Did Teacher Zhou scold you again?”
“He didn’t scold me, but he plans to sign me up for the first year high school composition tutoring class.”
Ruan Mian put the exam permit into her drawer, “Did you go to this tutoring class in your first year? Was it effective?”
“So-so. After all, it’s not a paid tutoring class, and the teachers don’t manage it strictly either. We stopped going later on.”
Meng Xinglan leaned in, “Didn’t Teacher Zhao say this morning to have Chen Yi tutor you more? Why didn’t you ask him?”
Ruan Mian pressed her pen and shook her head, “Didn’t dare to ask.”
“Then forget it. It’s better to just go to the tutoring class than have him tutor you.”
The class bell rang and Meng Xinglan stood up, patting her shoulder, “Don’t worry too much. It’s only the first monthly exam, there’s still plenty of time left.”
“Mm.”
At 9:30pm, accompanied by the final bell for self-study, the long and busy Monday finally came to an end.
As soon as Ruan Mian returned home that night, she saw her mother sitting in the living room, looking as if she had been waiting for her.
She changed her shoes and walked over, calling out “Mom.”
Fang Ruqing snapped back to attention, putting down the remote control and looking up at her, “You’re back.”
“Mm.”
Ruan Mian took an orange from the table and peeled it open, “I heard Teacher Zhou say he called you this afternoon, right?”
Fang Ruqing nodded, “He told me about your grades for this monthly exam, praised you for doing quite well, just some weaker subjects.”
Ruan Mian stuffed an orange slice into her mouth without responding.
Fang Ruqing glanced at her, “How did Shutang do this time?”
“Okay, a few ranks above me.”
Ruan Mian lowered her head to spit out the seeds.
Fang Ruqing said, “I heard from your Uncle Zhao that Shutang’s physics and chemistry isn’t great. You’re free during the holidays at home, help tutor her more too.”
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard.”
Ruan Mian picked up her schoolbag, “Lots of homework today, I’ll go upstairs first. No need to bring me milk, I don’t really want to drink it these two days.”
Back in her room, Ruan Mian took out the exam permit for the competition. The exam time was this Friday. She hadn’t told Fang Ruqing about it, and went to school from home on the exam day as if going to school normally. She took the school bus to the exam location.
This biology competition was jointly held by No.8 Middle School and several other key high schools. The exam site was finally set at the two-campus No.10 Middle School.
No.10 Middle School’s two campuses were only separated by a road. The third grade’s building, track field, cafeteria and dormitories were south of the road, while the rest of the first and second grade buildings and offices were north of the road. For this competition, No.10 Middle School gave the first and second grades a day off, emptying out the north campus.
The exam finished close to noon. Ruan Mian hadn’t eaten in the morning and was starving after the intensive exam. She bid the teacher leading the team farewell, choosing not to take the school bus back.
Since it was a holiday in the afternoon, many people didn’t take the bus. While Ruan Mian was lining up outside the noodle restaurant, she saw only a few people on the school bus.
The noodle shop was crowded. Ruan Mian had gotten her noodles but didn’t get a seat. She was about to ask the server to pack it for takeout, when someone suddenly patted her shoulder from behind.
She turned around and saw the boy, pleasantly surprised, “Li Zhi!”
Li Zhi reached out to help stabilize her almost spilled bowl of noodles, smiling as he asked, “What are you doing at our school? No classes today?”
“I’m here for an exam, the inter-school biology competition.”
Ruan Mian rubbed her neck, “Didn’t expect there would be so many people eating here at your school cafeteria.”
“That’s because the food in the cafeteria is terrible. Come with me first, I have seats over there.”
Li Zhi brought her to a table in the corner where three other boys were already sitting.
Seeing Li Zhi return with a girl no less, the three boys all had gossipy looks. “What’s going on, Brother Zhi?”
Li Zhi placed the bowl on the table and had Ruan Mian sit inside before casually explaining with a faint smile, “Just the little sister from next door. She’s here at our school for an exam today, what are you guys thinking?”
They were all older than Ruan Mian, so addressing her as little sister was appropriate. After getting acquainted, Ruan Mian ate her noodles while listening to them complain about the heavy workload and lack of time as third year high school students.
Although Ruan Mian had started eating first, she was the last to finish. Li Zhi told the other three boys to go back first while he sat there playing on his phone waiting for her to finish eating. Afterwards, he also sent her to the bus stop.
The autumn wind at this time was just right, dry and refreshingly cool. Ruan Mian stood under the stop, fiddling with her jacket zipper. “Is high third grade really that busy for you?”
“No, they just have a lot to do because their studying isn’t good.”
Li Zhi put away his phone, “I heard from Chen Yi your class had a monthly exam earlier?”
“Mm.”
Ruan Mian looked at him, “Your next line wouldn’t be asking me about my grades right?”
“Why, can’t I ask?”
Li Zhi leaned against the advertisement board behind the stop. The boy was tall and skinny, with outstanding looks and temperament. Passing girls kept looking back.
“Oh no, it’s just I feel like when people hear exam, the next thing they ask is always about grades, as if there’s nothing else that can be asked.”
“Then what else do you think can be asked?”
Ruan Mian thought for a few seconds, “Looks like there really is nothing else that can be asked.”
Li Zhi pressed his lips in a faint smile, “With your personality, you’re actually quite suited to be deskmates with Chen Yi.”
Ruan Mian didn’t have the courage to tell him that she had been deskmates with Chen Yi for over a month now, and they had exchanged less than ten sentences the whole time.
Later, the bus arrived. Ruan Mian got on the bus and from the window, saw Li Zhi’s back as he walked away, tall and slender.
The sunshine was clearly ahead, yet he seemed restricted by something, appearing a little absentmindedly decadent and dispirited.
The sports meet was that weekend at No.8 Middle School. The weather was perfect, with moderate temperature without wind or cold.
The 50m race and 3000m run Ruan Mian participated in were scheduled for the afternoon and morning of the same day. Right after the opening ceremony ended, the broadcast called for the high first grade girls’ 50m race to begin registration, asking the high second grade girls’ group to get ready.
Meng Xinglan’s weakness was PE, and didn’t sign up for any events. She joined the volunteer group and became Ruan Mian’s exclusive volunteer, running around for her, just short of competing for her.
Ruan Mian wore a black and white tracksuit today. For the 50m race, she took off the jacket, only wearing the white T-shirt inside.
After registration, she stood in front of the track and did some perfunctory warm up exercises, while Meng Xinglan stood at the side of the track hugging her clothes.
Not only that, but most of the people Meng Xinglan could call over from their class had come, even Chen Yi was standing at the back of the crowd.
He wore a white baseball cap, the brim pressed low, unable to see his expression clearly, only a sharp and prominent jawline and Adam’s apple were revealed.
Ruan Mian’s heart pounded rapidly.
Crouching down to get ready, she closed then opened her eyes, raising her head to look at the finish line ahead. Never had there been any moment where she wanted to win more than now.
With the gunshot, Ruan Mian charged forward almost uncontrollably. The shrieking wind and excited shouts filled her ears.
She ran towards the light, towards the youth hidden in her heart, forging ahead relentlessly.
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