CH 53.1

After a long kiss, Qin Juran eventually pulled away, reaching to pull Ruan Nan up from under the table. Once Ruan Nan sat up on the seat, a student who seemed to recognize Qin Juran just happened to walk by. Ruan Nan quickly faced the other way and laid her head on the table as she heard the underclassman girl come over to greet Qin Juran: “Juran, you’re also starting here?”

Qin Juran folded her legs and leaned lazily against the sofa, replying in a cool manner: “Mhm, you too?”

The underclassman student nodded eagerly, brandishing the exam papers in her hand: “I’m also partaking in this weekend’s qualification exams; I’ll try my best so that I can be in your team!”

Qin Juran laughed and replied that she looked forward to it.

The student noticed the girl by her side who was laying on the table, and asked in a hushed voice: “Juran, is this Ruan Nan? Is Sister Nan okay, is she feeling unwell?”

Qin Juran smirked and glanced at Ruan Nan, laughing affectionately. She straightened her collar in an exaggerated gesture: “It’s all good. She just happened to win the lottery just now, and is secretly having fun by herself.”

The student quickly nodded and walked away. Qin Juran looked at the time; it was already dark outside on this winter evening, and just about approaching dinner time. She began to collect her belongings into her backpack, tugging on Ruan Nan’s sleeve once she finished: “Ah-Ruan, time to go.”

Ruan Nan lifted her head, her face flushed. She glared at Qin Juran: “Who did you say is secretly having fun?”

Qin Juran brushed a finger against the corner of her lip, drawling out: “Oh really, the expression on your face before seemed to say so.”

“You!” Ruan Nan blurted out, before remembering that they were in a library.  However, the heat in her face would not cool down. She gritted her teeth, stood up, and leaned by Qin Juran’s ear, saying the words that she’d been thinking for a long time: “Qin Juran, you’re such a flirt.”

Qin Juran laughed disdainfully, leaning even closer before sweeping a glance over the room to make sure no one was watching, then nimbly reached out a hand to gently slap Ruan Nan’s butt. She whispered into her ear: “You’re just realizing that?”

It was early December, and the weather had chilled rapidly. All the students walking around campus were wearing thick down coats, and every word that they spoke came out in a foggy, white breath. The yellow hue of the street lamps looked especially warm, and the smell of freshly baked sweet potatoes emanating from the small food stalls outside the campus attracted many students. Qin Juran waited in line to buy Ruan Nan one. When she came back to find Ruan Nan rubbing her hands together, she promptly placed a warm sweet potato in the palm of her hand.

The two then proceeded to share a steaming bowl of wontons in a small restaurant by the gate of the school. They sat in the booth by the window, and Ruan Nan reached out to draw a little heart on the thin layer of frost on the glass.

Qin Juran laughed as she watched. “Ah-Ruan, didn’t today feel like such a stereotypical ‘college student’ type of day?”

Ruan Nan nodded, her eyes glinting with a sensation of novelty.

“I think so, too. I didn’t know that such simple experiences like attending class, studying, and eating lunch could be so warm and comforting, as long as it’s with you.”

After they finished eating, Ruan Nan pulled Qin Juran into a small roadside gift shop. After assessing the various scarves and hats hanging up on the wall for a long while, she finally picked out a bright red scarf and wrapped it around Qin Juran’s neck. “You look very good in red.”

“If Ah-Ruan says it looks good, then it’s good.”

Seeing that Ruan Nan wanted to continue browsing, Qin Juran tugged at her sleeve: “Isn’t that enough?”

Ruan Nan raised an eyebrow: “You’re not going to help me pick out one?”

Qin Juran froze for a moment. She originally assumed that these scarves wouldn’t compare to the likes of brand names such as Gucci or LV for Ruan Nan, so she didn’t take the initiative. As the two looked at each other, they both understood each other’s thoughtful intentions.

The corners of Qin Juran’s lips curled high upwards, and she joined Ruan Nan to browse by the walls, then picked out a white scarf. They walked over to a mirror and Qin Juran helped wrap the scarf around Ruan Nan’s neck. The thick, white velvet scarf was stacked high up Ruan Nan’s neck, making her face appear especially small. Qin Juran stared at the reflection of her little wife in the mirror:

“White also suits you. Even though you’re obviously the little white rabbit, you still want to pretend to be the big, bad wolf.”

Qin Juran led Ruan Nan to the checkout counter. The manager was a middle-aged auntie who kept gushing about how good the two of them looked. Once they left the gift shop, Qin Juran fetched her electric bike and dropped Ruan Nan off outside her apartment complex, wished her good night, then drove off towards her dorm by herself.

For Wednesday’s class, Qin Juran once again picked up Ruan Nan to ride to the campus together, then went to the library afterward. As the clock ticked closer and closer to the weekend, there didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to memorize all the answers in the question bank. Qin Juran tried to study with her nightlight at her dorm desk at first, but not wanting to disturb Huang Ying, she eventually went to the study room downstairs where she studied all night.

It wasn’t like she was completely lost; she had no problem with questions about general finance knowledge, and she had a decent grasp of the humanities. However, she was unsure of just how good the original owner of this body was, and how good the other students were.

But looking at the videos from previous competitions, it seemed that they were about a match. Qin Juran paid special attention to the original protagonist’s behavior on television. Although the breadth of her knowledge was very wide, she spoke rather quietly, causing the host to prompt her to speak louder every time she announced an answer. When there was a question that she was unable to answer, tears began rolling down her face.

As expected, “S University’s Team Member Qin Juran” had become a hot topic of discussion. While some praised her for her beauty and talent, others dismissed her, saying that she was obviously just a white lotus.

Qin Juran had just returned by the time Huang Ying woke up early Friday morning. Seeing Qin Juran’s dark eye bags and haggard face, she immediately asked what was wrong, to which Qin Juran briskly responded a few words. Sensing her stress, Huang Ying quickly shut her mouth and gave her some space to rest.

On Sunday, the competition’s qualification exams were held as scheduled. As Qin Juran arrived at the exam hall, she saw that Ruan Nan had already been waiting there for her, and she felt a warm sensation in her chest. Most of the other participating students there recognized Qin Juran, although they assumed that she had arrived to help the teachers proctor the exam instead of taking it herself.

Qin Juran crossed the mass of people and walked towards Ruan Nan, pulling her to the side of the hallway: “You came? It’s just the qualification exams.”

“Just qualification exams that were worth pulling two all-nighters for?” Ruan Nan raised a brow.

Huang Ying, that snitch.

Qin Juran let out a laugh, spreading her hands across the railing. Playing along, she pouted: “That’s right, Older Sister is very nervous, and what will Ah-Ruan do about it?”

Ruan Nan ignored her teasing, furrowing her brows: “What can I do to make you less nervous?”

Qin Juran angled her body towards Ruan Nan: “I’m sure Ah-Ruan already knows?”

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Before she could continue flirting, around the corner walked three underclassmen boys who chanted in unison: “Good morning, Seniors!”

Their sudden thunderous voices nearly made Qin Juran jump up in shock. She turned to look at the three harbingers of misfortune, then when she turned back, the romantic mood had already dissipated. Qin Juran pursed her lips, reaching out to caress Ruan Nan’s hair: “I’m going in now, you should head back if you’re tired. I’ll go look for you when I’m done.”

“Where are your glasses?” Ruan Nan asked.

Qin Juran didn’t realize what she meant. She reached into her bag for her glasses case. Ruan Nan took the case from her and opened it, taking the glasses out: “Bow your head.”

Qin Juran laughed, lowering her head as instructed.

Ruan Nan raised her hands and carefully donned the glasses atop Qin Juran’s nose bridge, like the coronation of a king. In a single movement, she brushed the stray locks of hair behind her ear. In the split second that the bell signaling the start of the exam rang, Ruan Nan looped her arms around Qin Juran’s neck and murmured softly:

“As long as you’re wearing the glasses, you’re Professor Qin. Then there won’t be any question that you can’t answer.”