There was a difference in impact between her dealing with the issue and Song Xingyu stepping in. After all, she couldn’t resort to violence, and she was still young. The boy might not take her seriously. If Song Xingyu handled it, things would be different. He was more rational compared to Lin Ran, although not by much.
Yes, Sheng Qingxi knew that Song Xingyu wasn’t as harmless as he appeared on the surface.
In truth, he was just as strong-willed as Lin Ran, but his relationship with Lin Yanyan wasn’t close enough yet for him to lose control.
After thinking for a moment, Sheng Qingxi decided to ask for Lin Yanyan’s opinion.
Turning her head, she asked, “Yanyan, what do you think? If you’re not comfortable with it, I’ll handle it myself.”
Lin Yanyan hesitated for a moment before softly replying, “Okay.”
Seeing that the little girl had agreed, Song Xingyu smiled slightly and said in a low voice, “I’ll contact you later. For now, go home with your brother.”
Lin Yanyan obediently nodded.
At the entrance, Lin Ran, noticing that Sheng Qingxi and the others hadn’t caught up yet, glanced back. When he did, he saw Sheng Qingxi looking up and talking to Song Xingyu, and Song Xingyu was smiling as they spoke.
Lin Ran: ?
Lin Ran knew he was possessive, and he was perfectly fine with it.
Once Sheng Qingxi caught up with the rest of the group, Lin Ran, without hesitation and in front of everyone, firmly grasped her hand, making it clear she was his.
Sheng Qingxi: “…”
She gave a small struggle, but Lin Ran held her hand tighter than usual, though not enough to hurt her.
Song Xingyu had driven, and he was responsible for dropping off Lin Yanyan and the others at the garage. As for sending Sheng Qingxi home, he definitely wouldn’t get involved—Lin Ran was clearly already jealous.
Shaking his head helplessly, Song Xingyu drove off.
Once they left, only Lin Ran and Sheng Qingxi remained on the roadside. The night wind was strong. Lin Ran bit his collar, pulled down his zipper with one hand, and quickly tucked Sheng Qingxi into his school jacket.
Her view instantly darkened, and Lin Ran’s scent enveloped her.
Sheng Qingxi gently poked him as a reminder, “Lin Ran, we’re still outside.”
Lin Ran chuckled lightly, “So what if we’re outside? Does that mean I can hug you when we get home?”
Sheng Qingxi hesitated. “…We’re still in our school uniforms.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lin Ran teased, “You want to take them off?”
Sheng Qingxi: “…”
Forget it, she really shouldn’t have said anything.
—
Monday, at dawn.
In front of the bulletin board at the Minxue Building.
He Mo and Xie Zhen had never gotten up this early before. It was their first time coming to school so early. They arrived so early, in fact, that the teachers hadn’t even posted the exam results yet, so the two brothers sat crouched in front of the board, eating buns and waiting.
The teacher coming downstairs with the results was startled to see the two boys crouched there.
What were these kids up to?
When He Mo and Xie Zhen saw the teacher, they immediately stopped eating and didn’t even let the teacher post the results. They grabbed the paper from him and began searching for their ranks. Xie Zhen’s small eyes had never been so sharp, scanning the list at lightning speed.
Two minutes later.
He Mo and Xie Zhen were huddled together, crying in despair.
It was too tragic.
The teacher, who was used to seeing this sort of thing, sighed and tried to comfort them. “Studying is all about balancing pressure and urgency—it’s a good thing, but overdoing it becomes a bad thing. You have to find the right balance.”
He Mo and Xie Zhen didn’t listen.
They didn’t care about studying at all; they were just about to lose all their face.
—
At 7:30, when Lin Ran and Sheng Qingxi walked into the classroom, they immediately noticed something unusual.
Early in the morning, Class One was unusually lively.
A crowd had gathered around He Mo and Xie Zhen’s desks, both boys and girls alike, and the sound of laughter was constant. Some students were even sitting in their seats, laughing to the point of tears. The scene was both comical and chaotic.
Curious, Sheng Qingxi glanced over.
Seeing her interest, Lin Ran walked over to He Mo’s desk and lightly tapped on it. The crowd turned around to see who it was, and the moment they saw Lin Ran, their laughter instantly froze on their faces.
Within three seconds, the crowd dispersed.
Sheng Qingxi blinked. It seemed like everyone was quite afraid of Lin Ran.
Once the crowd cleared, both Sheng Qingxi and Lin Ran could see He Mo and Xie Zhen’s current state. Each of them had a white cloth tied around their heads, with large words written in marker.
On Xie Zhen’s headband, it said: “Brother Ran is our great father!”
On He Mo’s, it read: “Father, we don’t want to go to the field!”
Sheng Qingxi pressed her lips together, stifling a small laugh.
Lin Ran stared at the writing on their foreheads with amused curiosity, raising an eyebrow, “How long do you two plan on wearing those?”
He Mo responded with a serious expression, “Dad, that’s up to you!”
Xie Zhen nodded solemnly, “That’s right. As long as you’re happy, Father!”
Lin Ran let out a chuckle. “Alright, everyone’s had their laugh. Let’s not distract the teachers from class.”
He Mo, pretending to be deeply moved, wiped away a fake tear. “Brother Ran! All these years of calling you ‘brother’ weren’t in vain!”
The chubby Xie Zhen clung to Lin Ran’s arm, nuzzling it affectionately. “Brother Ran, just for that, next year I’ll make sure to get you a bike even cooler than the one you have now.”
Lin Ran didn’t pay much attention to their words. Instead, he gently pinched Sheng Qingxi’s cheek. “I haven’t seen you smile for days, but now you’re suddenly this happy?”
Sheng Qingxi shook her head.
She was just feeling better since her period had ended.
The lively atmosphere of morning reading didn’t last into class. As soon as the bell rang, Old Xu walked in holding the exam papers and the grade reports.
The previously lively students suddenly looked downcast. Life was just too hard.
Unlike Mr. Jiang Mingyuan, who would hand out individual grade rankings, Old Xu didn’t go name by name. He just gave a general overview of Class One’s performance within the whole grade, mentioning average scores and general trends.
Of course, Old Xu couldn’t help but specifically praise Sheng Qingxi. After all, it had been two years since he last saw the phrase “top of the grade.”
With a smile, Old Xu glanced in Lin Ran’s direction and remarked, “Lin Ran, I used to think you were only good at causing trouble for the teachers. I never expected to see the day you’d actually do something good.”
Lin Ran: “…”
The whole class couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Sheng Qingxi quietly lowered her head.
Although everyone knew the reason she transferred to this class, it still made her feel embarrassed to hear the teacher say it so openly.
Lin Ran, knowing how easily embarrassed she was, found it amusing to see her little face flush, her ears turning red.
He exchanged a glance with Old Xu and lazily replied, “You should hurry up and explain that math exam. I’m still stuck on that last multiple-choice question.”
Old Xu laughed, “Well, well, look at that! Lin Ran actually interested in studying for once. I suggest the rest of you learn from him. Of course, don’t take his ‘free-spirited’ exam approach as an example.”
He didn’t continue teasing, though, since teaching was still the priority.
After class, Sheng Qingxi ran up to the podium and asked Old Xu for a copy of the grade report. Old Xu knew immediately that she wasn’t asking to check her own results. After all, someone who consistently ranked first in the grade didn’t need to check—they already had a pretty good idea of their performance.
Lowering his voice, Old Xu leaned closer and asked, “Sheng Qingxi, be honest with me. How do you think Lin Ran’s doing? What kind of university do you think he could get into at this rate?”
Sheng Qingxi looked down at the report and quickly found Lin Ran’s scores.
Lin Ran placed tenth in the class this time, ranking fifty-third in the entire grade. Based on these scores, he was well within reach of meeting the minimum requirements for a university.
His improvement was astonishing, progressing at a rate that surprised even the teachers in the office. They were all hoping Lin Ran could achieve even better results and secure a bright future.
Old Xu knew that it was Sheng Qingxi who had been tutoring Lin Ran. No one understood his potential for improvement better than she did.
After thinking for a moment, Sheng Qingxi responded seriously, “Teacher, I think Lin Ran can get into any university he sets his sights on.”
Old Xu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really?”
Sheng Qingxi nodded. “Really.”
Lin Ran noticed Sheng Qingxi standing at the podium, whispering with Old Xu for quite a while before returning. Old Xu kept looking in their direction, and Lin Ran could tell from the teacher’s lip movements that they were talking about him.
Since Sheng Qingxi sat by the window, she had to pass Lin Ran’s seat to get to hers.
As she approached, Lin Ran quickly scooted his chair back, blocking her way.
Sheng Qingxi glanced up at him, silently asking what he was doing.
Lin Ran tilted his head toward Old Xu, his eyes narrowing as he leaned closer to her. “Come clean.”
Sheng Qingxi pressed her lips together and whispered softly, “Lin Ran, Teacher Xu asked me what university you want to go to. I told him you want to go to Ningcheng University because you love our country and have wanted to study in the capital for a long time.”
Lin Ran: “…”
When had he ever said that?
After a moment of silence, Lin Ran asked, “Do you want to go to Ningcheng University?”
Seeing how serious he looked, Sheng Qingxi couldn’t help but smile. She bent down closer to him, whispering, “I want to go to whichever university you’re at. Anywhere is fine.”
The girl in front of him had a smile tugging at her lips, and there was a playful gleam in her dark eyes.
Her words, however, left Lin Ran speechless. Her feelings were as intense as a wildfire, sweeping over his heart and making his blood boil.
Lin Ran gritted his teeth. If they weren’t in the classroom, he would’ve kissed her right then and there.
He stiffened, moving aside to let her pass, staying silent as he tried to keep his composure.
As Sheng Qingxi passed by, she gently flicked his earlobe.
His ears turned bright red.
So cute.
…
Lin Ran thought the day would end just like that.
At two in the morning, his phone suddenly started buzzing uncontrollably.
Frowning, he reached out from under his blanket, grabbed his phone, and checked the screen. The group chat had been blowing up, and it seemed their only purpose was to wake him up.
Group Chat: Share the Joy, Drop the Pain (3 members)
99+ unread messages
[Sea of No One: Do you think Brother Ran’s awake? If he’s not, what are we even doing up in the middle of the night?]
[PandaDadada: Doesn’t matter if he’s awake or not, why are you texting me when you’re sitting right next to me?]
[Sea of No One: I’m out of breath from all the shouting, man. Talking is exhausting.]
[PandaDadada: Are we just torturing ourselves? Brother Ran already said that was enough.]
[Sea of No One: What kind of brother breaks a promise?]
[PandaDadada: Sending it again.]
[PandaDadada: Video, video, video.]
Lin Ran scrolled through the messages and then clicked on the video.
The screen was pitch black, and it took a moment to notice two vague figures in the darkness. The camera shook slightly.
Mixed with the sound of the wind were the shouts of He Mo and Xie Zhen, along with the muffled laughter of whoever was filming.
“Lin Ran!”
“Dad!”
“Brother Ran!”
“Father!”
In the middle of the night, Lin Ran suddenly found himself wide awake, amused. He hadn’t expected those two idiots to actually go to the field. Too concerned about saving face but also wanting to keep their word, they could only sneak out in the dead of night.
Lin Ran’s response was simple and direct. He sent a red envelope with 20,000 yuan.
Then he saved the video.
[Firegun: Go home and sleep.]
The high school field was still shrouded in darkness.
He Mo and Xie Zhen, sitting in the cold wind, were furiously tapping the red envelope to claim the money. They weren’t cold, though—they had run several laps and were practically sweating. Next to them was the helper they had dragged from the garage to film the video, who was still laughing his head off.
Xie Zhen grinned, “Brother Ran didn’t even yell at us!”
He Mo smacked him on the head, “No shame, you even called him Dad!”
Xie Zhen, pulling He Mo to his feet, was still quite pleased with himself. “It’s fine. We lost the bet, so we accepted the consequences. Let’s go back and sleep. We still have practice tomorrow, and I saw Fairy looking over our test papers all evening.”
He Mo threw an arm around Xie Zhen’s shoulder. “Alright, let’s head back.”
The little helper from the garage asked cautiously, “Bro, can I save this video?”
Both He Mo and Xie Zhen responded in unison, “In your dreams!”
What nonsense!
Normally, the day when exam results were posted was the most boring for them. They didn’t care about their grades, and the tense atmosphere in class never affected them. But this time was different.
The once mundane days had suddenly become exciting.
For the first time, they were looking forward to tomorrow.
Lin Ran, half-reclined in bed, replayed the video over and over again, a smile tugging at his lips.
He didn’t know how those two fools fared after his death in his previous life. At the age of eighteen, their paths had diverged from his. They each moved forward, while he remained stuck in that year.
After a long while, Lin Ran put down his phone and lay back on his bed.
He stared blankly into the darkness.
This life would definitely be different, right?
Lin Ran wanted a future.
A future with Sheng Qingxi, with family and friends.
A future he had never dared to dream of before.