Zhuang Yan merely said blandly, "Let's go."
It didn't seem like he intended to ask what had just happened. Since he did not ask, Xu Lu couldn't very well speak to herself and pull the topic back to Wen Qiao.
In the end she was left perplexed—why did Wen Qiao suddenly turn into an entirely different person?
Her greatest fear was that Wen Qiao would enter the Central Conservatory of Music with her. She was afraid that when they entered a higher institute of learning, Wen Qiao would shine brighter than her. She had originally succeeded in convincing Wen Qiao to get a job after graduating from high school. Now, it seemed like her efforts were in vain. How had things started to go wrong? She had no idea…
In the lecture room, Wen Qiao carefully verified her identity number, student number, and those few words she filled in as her first choice.
With her sights set on only one school, she had only filled in one choice—the Central Conservatory of Music's Traditional Instruments Department.
Lu Youyou's first choice was the Central Conservatory of Music; second was the Harbor City Conservatory of Music; and her third choice was the Xinghai Conservatory of Music.
They were ranked in order of decreasing prestige, for she wasn't sure of her chances of getting into the Central Conservatory of Music, and so she had to leave herself other routes of retreat.
Wen Qiao and the rest sat near the window of the lecture room. Sunlight shone through a Camphor tree outside and sprinkled onto the desks.
Having filled in her choices, she waited for Lu Youyou, feeling bored.
From where she sat, she could see Zhuang Yan and Xu Lu sitting in the second row. From time to time, Xu Lu would gingerly edge closer to Zhuang Yan in the manner of a demure lady, her smile and posture flawless after having been rehearsed countless times before the mirror.
Wen Qiao thought to herself, how was she Xu Lu's match in front of Zhuang Yan? It was clear Xu Lu only encouraged her to write him a love letter so that she would make a fool of herself.
As the saying goes 'those closely involved cannot see as clearly as those outside'. Now that she extracted herself from within, she could see that Xu Lu had played her for a fool.
Yet, she saw Zhuang Yan suddenly turn around, as though he had sensed a pair of eyes on him. Wen Qiao didn't shy from his gaze and looked right back into his eyes.
A few moments later, Zhuang Yan bowed in defeat and retracted his gaze.
Xu Lu sensed it, and turned around to glance at Wen Qiao. There was a hint of contemplation in Wen Qiao's smile.
Her laid back manner gave off such a mesmerizing charm, so much that it startled Xu Lu. She turned her head back and said in a hushed voice, "Eh, I'm really worried about the relationship between Wen Qiao and Uncle Wen."
"What about them?"
"Two days ago Wen Qiao ran back to the Wens and kicked up a big fuss, making Uncle Wen fly into a rage. Out of kindness I had helped to try and appease Uncle Wen, and he also agreed to make some concessions. But I don't know what's wrong with Wen Qiao. For some reason she's suddenly being so unreasonable."
"What was she kicking up a fuss about?"
"She came and asked Uncle Wen for money. What's more, she demanded two million yuan with a justified attitude. Plus the way she spoke… was kind of harsh."
Zhuang Yan capped the lid on his pen and glanced at her. It was unclear from his expressionless face what was going on in his head.
Xu Lu ran a hand through her hair in a seemingly casual way and gently bit the corner of her lip. "I don't mean to badmouth others. But Wen Qiao's attitude truly wasn't too good that day."
"He's her father. She's not wrong in asking him for money."
Xu Lu's pupils trembled. Was Zhuang Yan… speaking up for Wen Qiao?
Adept at reading someone from their body language since a young age, she knew that if she continued to speak poorly of Wen Qiao at a moment like this, it would do nothing but smear her own image. Hence she hurriedly added, "Mm. That's why I helped her to convince Uncle Wen. But she… seems to have some misunderstanding of me."
However, Zhuang Yan simply said blandly, "Done filling up the form? If you are, let's submit it."
When Wen Qiao and Lu Youyou passed by their desks, Wen Qiao's gaze no longer trailed after Zhuang Yan. Now that she had let go of certain people in her heart, she felt much more relaxed.
At present, she only wanted to change her own fate and focus on grooming her two younger brothers. As for matters of the heart, it wasn't something she would consider for now.