CH 57

Huang Ying was just in the bathroom washing up, face still covered with foam cleanser, when she heard the sound of a phone ringing from the room. Worried that Qin Juran may have run into some trouble, she barely wiped her face dry before rushing out of the bathroom to pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“Huang Ying, I have something to discuss with Qin Juran. She’s not picking up her phone – is she asleep?”

“Sister Nan?” Only then did Huang Ying notice the caller ID on the screen. She walked over to where Qin Juran’s coat hung on the rack, feeling inside the pocket: “Sister Nan, Juju just left to send Chi Ying home. She must’ve forgotten her phone when she changed into her other coat.”

“Chi Ying? The girl she was competing with? She went to you guys’ place?”

Huang Ying froze. Since she saw that Qin Juran and Ruan Nan were just texting a while ago, she assumed that Qin Juran had explained the situation to her. But it seemed from Ruan Nan’s tone that she didn’t know anything……

Huang Ying wiped at her face, quickly explaining:

“Sister Nan, so it’s like this – that girl came knocking on our door earlier, saying that she wanted to exchange study guides with Juju. But Juju was sleeping at the time, and I thought that they were pretty familiar with each other, so I let her in. Then after she came in, she said that she wanted to exchange study guides on the condition that Juju explained a few questions to her. Don’t worry, Sister Nan, I was there the whole time, and Juju treated the girl very distantly and coldly. Then, since it was getting late, I offered to give the girl a ride back home, but Juju said that I wasn’t good enough of a driver and might fall, so she had to go and send her herself. I…..I swear……”

From the other end of the phone, Ruan Nan let out a soft laugh: “What are you so anxious about?”

Huang Ying let out a loose breath, agreeing: “That’s right, why would I have any reason to be anxious…..”

“I sent Qin Juran an email earlier with some good questions to review, so I was worried that she’d go to sleep early tonight and not have time to read it over tomorrow morning. But since she hasn’t slept yet, I’m guessing that she’ll see it herself later.”

“Okay, okay, then is there anything else, Sister Nan?”

“That’s all. Oh right, you don’t need to tell Qin Juran that I called you. I don’t want her to get distracted before the provincial competition tomorrow. Make sure that the temperature inside the dorm is warm tonight; don’t let her catch a cold.”

Huang Ying hung up the call, and before long, Qin Juran returned. Since she had slept throughout the day, she wasn’t very sleepy then. She quickly organized her belongings and then went on her phone to browse. However, Huang Ying noticed that she merely ignored her email inbox, so she made a show of frowning at her phone screen and grumbling:

“Our school’s student forum is seriously annoying. There’s always someone sending weird advertisement emails. Juju, be very careful so that you never click on those suspicious links.”

Qin Juran checked her emails to look. It turns out that her inbox also contained a new unread email, but when she clicked it open to see, it wasn’t the junk email that Huang Ying had mentioned, but rather, a question guide that Ruan Nan had sent her.

Qin Juran glanced at Huang Ying inquisitively. Under her discerning eye, Huang Ying felt a bit unnerved and rubbed her nose awkwardly: “What is it, Juju, are you still mad at me for shutting off your alarm?”

“The reason you turned off my alarm – it was because you were worried for my health and wanted me to get more sleep?”

Huang Ying nodded desperately.

“But to me, with the amount on the line, preparing for this competition is a much higher priority than getting any sleep today.”

“Huang Ying, sometimes taking the initiative to do something for others might not always be in their best interest, you understand?”

Qin Juran spoke very gently, with no intention of blaming her, only wanting Huang Ying to fully understand her side of things. Hearing this, Huang Ying was a bit embarrassed, and her face reddened while she nodded in understanding. Qin Juran laughed softly, adding that she was grateful for her concern. She bid her good night, mentioning that she would also be sleeping early soon.

The next morning at 6 a.m., Qin Juran woke up promptly. She had finished packing her small suitcase last night, so she ate a light breakfast of bread, then prepared to get to the bus that they were traveling on.

As Qin Juran walked to the meeting spot, she received a message in the group chat that the West Gate was blocked off, so they would have to get on the bus at the South Gate. Qin Juran began walking there, suitcase in tow, and when she saw the coach bus in the distance, she sent Ruan Nan a text: 【I’m off, babe. See you in three days. 】

Ruan Nan didn’t respond immediately. Qin Juran was just about to tuck her phone back into her pocket when she felt it vibrate with a notification. She pulled it out to see a message from Ruan Nan: 【Are you guys meeting at the West Gate today?】

Qin Juran: 【West gate has been blocked off, so the meeting spot just changed to the South gate. What’s up?】

【Nothing really. Lin Wei was just passing by, saying that he wanted to drop off some snacks for you.】

【Tell him that it’s fine. The school will be providing food, so I won’t go hungry. Go back to sleep now, I’ll text you once we arrive.】

Qin Juran’s lips unconsciously twitched into a smile. At 6 a.m. on a dark winter morning, the feeling that someone was thinking about you before the sun had even risen felt very warm.

When she got closer to the coach bus, she saw that Chi Ying hadn’t got on yet and was standing in front of it, staring at her. Chi Ying waved at her from afar, pointing to an empty spot in the luggage compartment at the bottom of the bus: “See, I went out of my way to save a spot for you to put your stuff.”

Qin Juran simply nodded and passed her suitcase to the bus driver, who helped her place it in the compartment.

“I don’t even get a single thanks?”

“You were standing out here in the cold for so long just for my ‘thanks?’” Qin Juran side-eyed her.

“What, you think that you don’t deserve that much?” Chi Ying fluttered her eyelids at her.

Qin Juran was amused by her antics. She sneered: “I don’t think you deserve it.”

“……”

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As Qin Juran moved to step onto the bus, Chi Ying strut forward in an indignant huff at the same time, causing the two of them to bump right into each other. With her quick reflexes, Qin Juran managed to steady herself by grabbing onto the railing, but Chi Ying wasn’t fast enough and fell right smack onto her buttocks.

The chubby girl who was sitting in the first row of the bus noticed her senior fall and quickly rushed to help her out. However, Chi Ying fully ignored her, remaining sprawled on the ground covering her head with her hands: “Help me up, Qin Juran! How could you bite the hand that feeds you!”

Qin Juran initially intended to extend a hand to help her, but after hearing her words, she immediately turned away and got onto the bus without a word. The teacher who was attending the competition with them watched this encounter from beside the bus door. Seeing that Qin Juran was the one who knocked her down, she smiled derisively: “Qin Juran, why don’t you go help her out? We’re all fellow classmates, after all; we need to support each other.”

Hearing the commotion, the other students also began turning to see. The sky was gradually getting brighter as the dawn broke as well. Qin Juran frowned, but in the end, she got off the bus and stretched out a hand toward Chi Ying.

“Can you help me up? Is one hand enough to pull me up? I think—”

Before she could continue, Qin Juran stepped behind her, squat down, then dragged her up by the shirt collar. Chi Ying felt slightly choked in the neck and quickly stood up before she’d be suffocated.

Cough cough cough….She was choked up by the cold gust of wind she swallowed when Qin Juran dragged her up.

Qin Juran couldn’t help pursing her lips as she watched Chi Ying. She got what she asked for. In response, Chi Ying reached out and shoved her; whether out of feigned or legitimate anger, it was unclear.

The two girls continued going back and forth in this little fight as they climbed onto the bus. In the eyes of the spectator who had just rushed over from the West Gate and was currently watching from afar in her Porsche, it looked as if Qin Juran had first playfully pushed the girl down, then extended a hand to help her back up.

That girl student was even wearing a coat that looked strikingly similar to one that she herself owned.

Ruan Nan had parked her car by a cluster of withered tree trunks not too far from the bus. As she silently watched this scene unfold outside through the windshield, her fingers clenched the steering wheel tightly, until she eventually shifted the gear into reverse and slowly drove away.

The bus ride took up the majority of the day before they reached their destination.  After eating a light lunch, the group of six, including two male students and four female students, arrived at the hotel. As the teacher stood in the lobby to collect their ID cards, she explained that the accommodations the school had reserved for them were all luxury rooms.

“Chi Ying, Qin Juran – here you go.”

“We’re rooming together?” Qin Juran frowned. Once she got on the bus, she had been texting Ruan Nan constantly throughout, but she only received a reply once every few hours. Although her messages didn’t sound too different from usual, Qin Juran felt that something was off.

She couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was, but it was gnawing at Qin Juran.

Especially whenever she looked at the haughty Chi Ying. And the coat that she was wearing.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

Without waiting for the teacher to continue, Qin Juran reached out and plucked her ID card from her hands: “I’m rooming by myself.”

“Qin Juran, this is university policy. We’re here for a competition, not a vacation! Without a justifiable reason, I cannot allow you to breach policy.”

“The reason?” Qin Juran glanced at Chi Ying who was standing nearby: “I’m worried that in the interest of my personal glory, I might not be able to stop myself from doing something to sabotage my fellow competitor tonight, alright?”

The teacher was shocked into silence. Before she could say anything, Qin Juran retrieved her ID card and went to the front desk to check out a single room. All the while, Chi Ying stared at her backside, silently gritting her teeth.

After settling into the hotel room, Qin Juran took a shower and was about to put on her clothes, when she suddenly changed her mind and wrapped herself in a bath towel instead. She applied some lipstick, then stood in front of the mirror for a long while fixing her hair, even tugging her bath towel lower so that it sensually framed her body. Afterward, as she studied, she messaged Ruan Nan:

【My little lazy kitten, have you eaten yet?】

After a half hour, Ruan Nan sent a picture of the two dishes that she’d casually prepared at home.

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【Oooh, I want to eat it.】Qin Juran purred.

Ruan Nan: 【Are you eating well over there? Should I order you food?】

Qin Juran: 【The food’s really good, though the company is boring. I want to eat Ah-Ruan’s food, with Ah-Ruan.】

The other party is typing……

【Study hard, don’t get distracted.】

【Then let’s video call so that I can see you, then I won’t think about anything else anymore, okay? 】

After a long while, Ruan Nan finally replied with a single word: 【Ok.】

Qin Juran smirked, then once again fixed her hair in the hotel mirror before pressing to dial Ruan Nan. In an instant, Ruan Nan’s face appeared on the screen; she was sitting on the sofa in her living room.

Qin Juran purposely covered the camera with her finger and called out a few echoes of “Hello?” while holding her phone afar. She waited until Ruan Nan leaned closer and remarked, “I can’t see your video,” then Qin Juran let go of her phone with the headphones attached.

“Aiya!”

The phone that was hanging by the headphone wire hovered midair for a few moments before Qin Juran slowly pulled it back up. The video on the screen first landed upon her tender pink toes that were standing on the brown carpet of the hotel room floor. The camera then slowly traveled up her slender white legs, illuminating the phone screen.

Then the camera lingered upon her thigh, where it met the edge of her bathrobe. Qin Juran crossed her legs, revealing a trace of black lace in her special place.

As the camera continued traveling up, Qin Juran twisted her waist alluringly, and the movement seemed to cause the bathrobe to slip out of place and flutter onto the ground.

“Ah~”

From the phone screen, Qin Juran let out a soft gasp of alarm followed by a charming moan as the entirety of her pale figure was reflected in Ruan Nan’s eyes.