"Let's go, pack up and head home."
The words that Lu Chuan had said countless times echoed repeatedly in Liu Ruyan's mind.
"What's wrong, Ruyan? Why is your face so red? Was it too stuffy in the gym?"
On the way back to the classroom, An Ran noticed that Liu Ruyan had suddenly gone silent, with a flushed face, and thought she might have gotten heatstroke.
"Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all." Liu Ruyan quickly shook her head and skipped a few steps to show that she was perfectly fine.
Ha, maybe it was just me getting caught up in the idol drama after hearing An Ran's words. Lu Chuan is obviously just a buddy of mine, and helping a buddy out is normal. Liu Ruyan told herself that the pink bubbles she just saw were merely illusions.
When she saw Lu Chuan again, everything went back to the way it was before. He only seemed like a passionate youth when he was playing basketball; once back in the classroom, he turned cold and unapproachable again.
Today was a windless day. The fan above the classroom continued to spin rapidly but did little to help, and the room was filled with a strong smell of sweat, not much better than in the gym.
At this moment, Ye Ziming and Lu Chuan were changing their basketball shoes at their seats and had no intention of putting them away.
"Playing basketball after the exam is so refreshing, right Lu Chuan?" Ye Ziming said as he set his shoes aside and started chatting with Lu Chuan.
"Yeah, let's play again next week if we can get enough people."
"You guys are happy, but us girls are suffering. Can you not change your shoes at your seats? And don't just leave them lying around. It stinks!" Liu Ruyan said bluntly to the two of them.
Wow, the handsome guys' homey and eye-catching side of changing shoes was actually criticized by Liu Ruyan.
"Alright, alright, I'll stay away. Thank you, Miss Xie." Ye Ziming, not wanting to argue, simply moved away, and Lu Chuan silently moved his shoes to the side.
An Ran nudged Liu Ruyan with her elbow and gave her a thumbs-up, saying, "Well said, Ruyan. I think it smells awful too."
The two of them laughed, their shoulders shaking, and Lu Chuan couldn't help but tug on Liu Ruyan's braid, "Let's go, I'm hungry."
On the way home, Liu Ruyan watched as Lu Chuan devoured a chicken burger and couldn't help but applaud him, "Aren't you the school heartthrob? Don't you need to pay attention to your image?"
"In front of you, what image should I pay attention to?" Lu Chuan looked around and answered without much thought.
"Well then, are you going to eat more later?"
"Of course." Seeing Liu Ruyan's worried expression, Lu Chuan thought she was afraid he would eat all the food, so he added, "Don't worry, I'm not coming over to your house to freeload today."
With such an eating habit and still so thin, Liu Ruyan felt even more heartbroken.
Recently, in preparation for the mock exam, Liu Ruyan had stayed up several nights. If it weren't for having to go to school the next day, she would have slept the entire day away.
Since childhood, waking her up was always the biggest headache for Shen Bing. This child would wake up as if she had fainted, no matter how hard she was pushed. Recently, Shen Bing had found a new method: pulling open the curtains and playing her favorite idol songs by her bedside.
Liu Ruyan had never been interested in the young stars of the entertainment industry, but after getting to know An Ran, she was introduced to a new world.
An Ran was a fan of a domestic idol group called "T Times." Under her constant persuasion, their posters, small standees, and support banners quickly filled Liu Ruyan's room. With their "supervision," Liu Ruyan's motivation to study improved significantly.
Accompanied by the songs of her idols, Liu Ruyan finally got out of bed, stretching and saying, "Another beautiful day."
In the past few days, some people were anxious, fearing their grades might decline again, while others were eagerly anticipating to see if their efforts had paid off.
Every time a teacher came in, Liu Ruyan would stretch her neck, hoping for the announcement of grades.
Thus, Friday arrived. Before the first class in the afternoon, Liu Ruyan returned from the restroom to find Lu Chuan's seat empty. The bell rang, and he still hadn't come back. Ten minutes later, he was still absent.
"Ye Ziming, where is Lu Chuan? Where did he go?" Liu Ruyan finally couldn't help but ask Ye Ziming.
"Oh, he's helping the teacher with grading."
"Grading?"
"Yeah, to get the grades out before the weekend, he, the class monitor, and Liu Meina went to help the teacher with grading."
Helping the teacher with grading? And with the annoying Liu Meina? Liu Ruyan pouted and turned away, losing interest in doing her work.
In the teachers' office, the teachers were passionately and quickly grading the papers. They usually left the last exam's papers for last because it was the most complicated and hardest to grade.
"This kid wrote nonsense here, totally irrelevant." Mr. Zhang, with his red pen, angrily made a mark.
"Look at this one: 'Teacher, please give me some points, I really can't do this question,' and he even tried to be cute." Math teacher Chen Weijun also shook his head with a smile.
"Hey, here's a talent, and not the kind that needs quotation marks." The biology teacher smiled with satisfaction, making big check marks and nodding as he graded. "The paper is neat, and the thinking is clear. This must be from the last exam. I need to see who this person is."
Lu Chuan, standing by, listened silently, feeling a bit proud. He chuckled softly, which Liu Meina happened to overhear.
"Who else could it be? Didn't you forget? Liu Ruyan just transferred to our class, and she was in the last exam room."
At this moment, Mr. Zhang was prouder than Lu Chuan. No matter how he scolded or was angry with the students in class, they were always good outside, especially Liu Ruyan, who was usually well-behaved and never caused trouble. This time, she had brought honor to Mr. Zhang.
While Lu Chuan and the others were tallying the scores, the papers were still sealed, but that didn't make much of a difference to Liu Ruyan.
145, Lu Chuan wrote Liu Ruyan's math score in the center of the paper, nodding in satisfaction, happy that his time hadn't been wasted.
After enduring two self-study classes, Liu Ruyan finally saw Lu Chuan and Mr. Zhang return.
After the class monitor and Lu Chuan helped Mr. Zhang put a stack of papers on the podium and returned to their seats, Mr. Zhang slowly began to speak: "Everyone, put your pens down. The mock exam results are out, and we're starting to distribute the papers."
Although she knew her performance wouldn't be too bad, Liu Ruyan still felt a bit nervous. Her palms were slightly sweaty, especially when Lu Chuan returned and gave her an ambiguous smile, making her even more anxious.