"This isn't like taking the CET-6 exam, where you can pass as long as you try your best."
"How could I have been so shameless as to fawn over him when he didn't want me to? ...Even though he had a nice, perky butt."
"Shin-chan, his butt is even perkier than yours. You'll get to touch it next time you have the chance."
Shin-chan: "..."
Xiao Xin originally planned to leave after You Ran got drunk, but under You Ran's constant nagging, who had turned into Tang Sanzang, Xiao Xin also picked up a beer and prepared to get himself drunk.
The two of them took turns drinking bottles, and quickly finished two cases.
No matter how much beer they drank, they wouldn't get too drunk, so they ordered some baijiu (Chinese liquor), and started drinking it down, one cup after another.
Drinking parties are a great place to cultivate friendships, and You Ran and Xiao Xin deeply understand this. After half a bottle of baijiu, their revolutionary friendship index soared like a bull market stock.
The two patted each other on the shoulder and laughed. Before long, they confessed to each other all the bad things they had done in kindergarten.
"Shin-chan, I was wrong before. I did things that I was sorry for. But if you have to blame someone, blame yourself for being too cute. It made me unable to resist teasing you."
"It's okay, just remember to delete my photo."
"Sure, sure, I'll delete it when I get back."
"Good brother."
"Good sister."
The stall owner: "..."
When they were completely drunk, You Ran suddenly reached out and grabbed Xiao Xin's chin, making him look at her directly—although she herself couldn't see which pair of eyes Xiao Xin had—because he had drunk too much, Xiao Xin had a total of eight pairs of eyes on his face.
"Shin-chan, scold me now."
"What did I say to you?" Xiaoxin felt as if his tongue had grown larger, and his speech was becoming unclear.
"You called me stupid, you called me dumb, you called me blind, you called me without any womanly self-respect, you called me a lowly follower who clung to him like a leech, and he couldn't get rid of me no matter what!" After saying that, You Ran downed another small glass of white wine. The hot liquid made her cough.
"Actually..." Xiaoxin looked at You Ran with blurry eyes, and after a long while said, "I quite like your indomitable spirit. How should I put it, it would be a very happy thing if you liked me."
"You're so sweet-talking." You Ran was quite pleased and reached out to pinch Xiao Xin's cheek.
"It's true." Xiao Xin was probably quite drunk, and didn't mind You Ran's blatant teasing: "In this society, very few people would give everything so selflessly and without reservation. Even married couples are always wary of each other, it's so boring."
Although You Ran was drunk, she still vaguely sensed that Xiao Xin was implying something, and it seemed that everyone was heartbroken.
Since she could still recall sad things, it meant she wasn't drunk enough. She shook her head leisurely and said, "Today, I'll teach you a new way to drink."
Baijiu (Chinese liquor), beer, and Sprite.
The effect was excellent. After two drinks, You Ran and Xiao Xin looked at each other and smiled foolishly, then collapsed on the table, unconscious.
You Ran fell asleep just like that. At first, she felt a little cold, so she curled up. Before long, she seemed to be suspended in the air, surrounded by warmth.
Her senses came and went, and soon she seemed to feel herself lying on a very soft bed, covered with a comfortable blanket.
Then something warm and soft touched her forehead, like a kiss.
You Ran tried to open her eyes, but the alcohol was too strong. She struggled for a moment, then gave up.
Finally, his consciousness dissipated, as if he had fallen into an abyss, and he knew nothing more.
She woke up with a splitting headache, as if something was pounding in her temples, and the sunlight stung her eyes like boiling water.
She curled up in bed and slept for half an hour before You Ran finally came back to life.
I tried to open my eyes and found myself lying alone in my dorm room.
I checked the time; it was almost 11:50, which meant… she skipped class!!!
You Ran glanced at the class schedule posted behind the door. This morning, there were four classes taught by the academy's infamous "Extinction Master." Last semester, a student was late once, but she remembered it and failed the final exam. This time, she blatantly skipped four classes; she would definitely be utterly humiliated!
As she was wailing, her roommate came back from get out of class and the first thing she said to her was, "You Ran, are you feeling any better?"
The second sentence was: "Why didn't you tell us you were sick?"
The third sentence is: "Come, come, I made you some red bean porridge. Drink some while it's hot."
You Ran blankly took the lunchbox, drank a mouthful of hot porridge, and unconsciously chewed and swallowed before asking, "Are you sick?"
"Yes, we were wondering why you didn't come home all night. It wasn't until today, when Counselor Qu gave your sick leave certificate to Miejue, that we found out you had acute gastroenteritis and had been receiving IV fluids at the hospital all night."
"You mean I didn't come home all night?" You Ran asked.
“You’re delirious from your illness. How could you possibly come back while you’re in the hospital? We didn’t see you when we went to class this morning. I guess Counselor Qu brought you back. He’s quite responsible.”
Qu...Yun.
Why him...? It was Shin-chan who was drinking with me last night.
You Ran wanted to figure out what had happened, but her head was throbbing so badly that she couldn't think straight.
Later, You Ran heard from the drama club that Xiao Xin had gotten drunk at a liquor stall one night and caught a bad cold after being exposed to the cold wind all night.
If it were the old You Ran, she might have made things clear and transparent.
But now... You Ran thought, Qu Yun and her chapter are over, there's no need to review it.
Nothing about him matters anymore.
Without even thinking about it, I simply let the matter pass.
After drinking and pouring out her heart to Xiaoxin that night, You Ran felt that the child was not a bad person at heart, just a bit short-tempered, a common problem among only children. With proper guidance, he could be corrected.
With the attitude of rescuing lost lambs, You Ran began to approach him. The two bickered and teased each other, and gradually became acquainted.
Xiao Xin has a stubborn temper and can't accept his enemy suddenly becoming a friend. He resisted at first, but You Ran would always take him out for drinks. After drinking to a certain extent, the past grudges would disappear from his mind.
After getting to know him better, You Ran discovered that Shin-chan's popularity was lower than she had imagined.
Logically speaking, Shin-chan is good-looking and comes from a wealthy family. Even if he's not the school heartthrob, he should still receive a ton of love letters every day. But Yu-ran looks at him coldly and says that Shin-chan is like soil contaminated by radioactive elements, where not even a single peach sapling has grown.
Upon closer inspection, the reason became clear – Shin-chan's personality was unbearable.
Putting aside everything else, just looking at his performance when rehearsing plays, if the female lead mispronounces a line or makes a wrong expression, he immediately criticizes her harshly, showing no mercy and no tenderness whatsoever.
A few months ago, a girl who joined the drama club because she had a crush on him was scolded by Shin-chan and cried because of her poor performance during rehearsals, and then disappeared.
Over time, the members of the drama club became hesitant to act opposite Shin-chan. However, You Ran, with a heart full of compassion, took the initiative to take on the task of acting opposite Shin-chan.
When she makes a mistake, Shin-chan won't hold back just because of her different status.
"Are you stupid? Can't you tell the difference between retroflex and alveolar consonants? How did you become the president with such terrible delivery of lines?"
You Ran's way of dealing with Xiao Xin is to fight fire with fire. She simply grabs a hammer and stool and hits him on the head: "Since you know I'm the club president, you should be nicer."
"Ugly girl, that hurts!"
"Why would I hit you if it didn't hurt?"
So the two started fighting on stage, pulling each other's hair and gouging out each other's eyes, fighting fiercely.
The following members: "..."
The two fought quite seriously, and you could often see bandages on their faces and hands. The most serious time was when Shin-chan had a bandage wrapped around his calf.
In response to the incident, You Ran sincerely made a self-criticism: "I admit that it was wrong of me to carry a fruit knife with me."
Shin-chan: "..."
After the fight, the two would meet up for drinks and forget their grudges in a drunken stupor.
Before long, some dissatisfied people came to the door.
"Li Youran, so you never considered me a friend at all. I misjudged you." Xiao Mi said angrily, her voice laced with rage.
You Ran was completely bewildered.
"You were getting involved with that Long Xiang and you didn't even tell me!" Xiao Mi was very dissatisfied with this.
You Ran quickly explained that she and Xiao Xin were just ordinary friends.
"Why did I see Long Xiang personally deliver a big bowl of tofu rice from a snack shop near the school to your dormitory last time? After all this, are you still just ordinary friends?" Xiao Mi came after collecting evidence.
You Ran swore that it was because Xiao Xin pushed her down and twisted her ankle during the fight that she served her tofu rice as an apology.
After repeated explanations, Xiao Mi finally believed her: "Actually, I also think it's unlikely. You and Qu Yun just broke up, how could you recover so quickly?"
"Qu Yun?" You Ran shook her hands and feet, then smiled blankly: "Who is Qu Yun? I don't know him."
Xiao Mi sighed, "Deceiving oneself is a good trick, isn't it?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore, I have an appointment with Xiaoxin at the basketball court, I'm leaving now." You Ran said, and started running towards the basketball court.
During lunchtime, the basketball court was empty, so You Ran and Xiao Xin unceremoniously claimed it.
"It would be so embarrassing if you lost again today," You Ran said while dribbling the ball.
"Don't forget that I let you win by thirty points last time." Xiaoxin suddenly stepped forward, snatched the ball from her hand, turned around, and shot a beautiful three-pointer.
"But I still won." You Ran took the ball and started running towards the basket.
"Okay, this time whoever loses has to stand on the platform and shout, 'I'm so thirsty!'" Xiaoxin suggested.
You Ran agreed, and so the competition began.
But just a few minutes later, You Ran, frustrated by falling behind by eight points, ripped off Xiao Xin's basketball shorts. Then she gave up on basketball and started fighting.
After a fierce and exhausting fight, the two sat down to drink canned beer, gathering their strength to continue playing basketball or fighting.
After finishing the can, You Ran crushed it and threw it on Xiao Xin's back.
Shin-chan thought it was a signal to start a war, so he jumped up and got into position.
But You Ran seemed a little dejected: "Xiao Xin, something happened to me today. I should be very angry, but I can't be angry."
"Could it be..." Shin-chan shifted his gaze to Yu-ran's lower body and uttered two words slowly: "Hemorrhoids."
You Ran: "..."
One second later—
"Grandma Li, why did you throw beer at me?!"
"How could it be hemorrhoids!"
"Angry people are more prone to developing hemorrhoids."
"You were born first!"