According to the housekeeper in charge of the project, the renovation should be basically completed in another week. Formaldehyde levels will be tested then, and if better deodorizing materials are used, Ruan Yu could move in as early as the end of December.
Upon hearing this news, Wen Yun even began to imagine the relocation plot at the end of December.
When Ruan Yu moves to the second floor, it will be more convenient for her to ask math questions without having to run up and down the stairs.
That day, Ruan Yu was practicing solid geometry sketching in the art studio.
Because Ruan Yu's basic skills had been assessed, the private tutor who taught her sketching spent most of the time drawing on her own, only offering guidance after Ruan Yu had finished.
Wen Yun placed two geometric shapes and a green apple on the small table for Ruan Yu, then sat down beside her, set up her easel, and casually began to sketch the outline of the girl.
In her previous life, she had studied sketching for a few years when she was in school. Unfortunately, once she entered high school, she devoted herself to studying and had little opportunity to draw except for creating blackboard newspapers and participating in the anime club activities.
Her family never demanded any particular level of drawing skill from her. She learned freely and drew whatever she liked, from plaster casts to life drawing, to sketching real people and objects, or even popular anime characters.
The pressure on senior high school students is relatively singular, but still quite significant, and they need to relax appropriately.
After holding back for two weeks, Wen Yun finally figured out the sketching tutor's temperament and habits, so she applied to draw with Ruan Yu and let herself go on the drawing board during the weekend.
She smoothly switched between 4B, 5B, and 6B pencils, and soon a girl with shoulder-length short hair and a silver butterfly hair clip appeared on the drawing paper.
After finishing the drawing, Wen Yun thought for a moment, then took a sharpened 2B pencil and drew several narrow grids in the blank space. She filled the grids with words she had seen in her previous life, such as "smiling face," "crying," and "unpleasantness." She then extended the grid lines and drew Ruan Yu's cartoon head one by one.
She was engrossed in her drawing when she suddenly sensed a familiar presence approaching. Before she could turn around, a soft laugh drifted into her ears.
Why are you drawing me?
The voice was deliberately kept very low, almost whispered in her ear, so that only she could hear it.
The moment the voice entered her ears, Wen Yun felt a strange tingling sensation and involuntarily shuddered. Then she thought the girl's soft and light voice was quite pleasant to listen to, and suddenly wanted to hear it again. Looking up, she realized that her tutor was not in the music room, and couldn't help but ask, "What did you just say?"
“I said, ‘Who are you drawing?’” But this time, Ruan Yu’s words changed.
Wen Yun was both amused and exasperated, and quickly turned to reply, "I'm drawing you."
Seeing Ruan Yu's confused expression, she circled the large cartoon heads with a pen. "This is called a cartoon, so the facial features and limbs will look exaggerated. Here, this is your cartoon image, it has all your features."
"What are my distinguishing features?" Ruan Yu asked, blinking her eyes.
"Big, bright, dark eyes; shoulder-length short hair; a silver butterfly hair clip; various light-colored clothes, or the school uniform of Langying School." Wen Yun said, twirling a pencil. "If you're interested in cartoons, I can recommend some excellent animations to you. You can log into my account to take a look when you're tired of doing practice problems. There are both domestic and international ones."
According to the original setting, before coming to the Wen family, Ruan Yu's life consisted of studying, farm work, and reading the classics assigned by the school. After coming to the Wen family, various "respectable" parts such as etiquette of a wealthy family, piano, and painting were added. In short, she was always learning new things and could only relax when reading books and searching for information online.
Entertainment activities like watching animations, TV series, reading online novels, and playing games have absolutely nothing to do with Ruan Yu in the book; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she never even touched them until her death.
"Okay," Ruan Yu obediently agreed, then asked, "Do you also have a cartoon character like that?"
Wen Yun paused in her pencil-twirling motion, and after two seconds replied, "Yes, do you want me to draw it for you?"
She didn't really want to draw her current self. Although she discovered as soon as she arrived that her original appearance was exactly the same as Wen Yun's, most of her current physical features were arranged according to Wen Yun's preferences. Otherwise, too many changes would easily arouse suspicion.
So, is the person depicted on paper her or Wen Yun?
But after receiving Ruan Yu's affirmative answer, Wen Yun still started drawing in another blank space.
Long, straight hair reaching her waist, brown eyes, slightly furrowed brows...
As she drew, she found it difficult to continue. The cartoon figures on the paper were far less lively than when she drew Ruan Yu, and even looked a bit dull.
"...Sigh, I don't think I can draw myself." Wen Yun had no choice but to admit it, and picked up the eraser to erase.
"Don't wipe it!" Ruan Yu quickly stopped her. "Isn't this painting very good? Can I have this painting?"
Wen Yun reasonably suspected that Ruan Yu just wanted to collect her paintings. Although she didn't know why, since the protagonist wanted them, she gave them to her directly, watching Ruan Yu solemnly place the painting in the easel.
The tutor hadn't returned for a long time and was nowhere to be found. Wen Yun got up to stretch her neck and strolled over to Ruan Yu's easel.
When she was learning to paint, her teacher once said that people who are good at math should also be good at painting, as they have stronger spatial imagination and can easily get proportions right. Now that she sees it, it seems to be true.
In her opinion, Ruan Yu's outlines and shading were almost flawless, and even her hatching was quite elegant, confident, and aesthetically pleasing.
That's probably why the tutor dared to slack off for so long.
-
The monthly exams at the end of September were fast approaching, and this was the first full-subject exam Wen Yun would face after transmigrating into the book.
Although her grades weren't bad in her previous life, she always had pre-exam anxiety, and on the first day of the monthly exam, she would even go out with dark circles under her eyes.
The butler was very worried and couldn't help but suggest as soon as he got into the car, "Miss, why don't you take a nap on the way?"
"It's okay, I still got a full six hours of sleep." Wen Yun waved her hand, opened her phone and started browsing the current affairs news app that her political science teacher had asked her to download, as usual, to see the latest news from yesterday.
While I was scrolling, a WeChat message popped up.
Adorable Little Seven: [The first thing I heard when I opened my eyes was that someone surnamed Zheng had been expelled from school! Let's celebrate! The whole world rejoice!!]
After reading the message, the sleepy-eyed Wen Yun immediately sat up and hurriedly asked, "Where did you hear that from?"
Cute Sweetheart Little Seven: [A new class group chat, Zheng herself mentioned it last night! Sister Sun should announce the results of the investigation in class this noon. If all goes well, there will be a public apology and a school-wide reprimand during Monday morning assembly! Pretty impressive!]
Cute and sweet Xiaoqiqi: [Don't tell anyone except Xiaoyu yet! I finally managed to sneak into the group! [hehe]]
After hearing the good news, Wen Yun was no longer sleepy. She gently nudged Ruan Yu and handed her the phone.
After the incident last week, the busy Mr. Wen immediately sent two lawyers to negotiate with the school and the Luo and Zheng families.
Because the three families have always been enemies, even with overwhelming evidence, the Luo and Zheng families still struggled several times, which is why it took so long to reach a conclusion.
Ruan Yu quickly returned the phone. Since the housekeeper and driver were present, she didn't ask directly. Instead, she took out her own phone and edited a message for Wen Yun.
Hesitant to speak: [What about Luo Qin's punishment?]
Cloud: [Haven't heard about it yet, but we should know by noon, right?]
After hesitating for a few seconds, Ruan Yu finally spoke her mind: "I think Z, like 7, is a tool in someone else's hand, not the mastermind."
Wen Yun thought so too. When Ruan Yu revealed the truth in public that day, she saw Luo Qin make a token attempt to stop her, and guessed that this person probably had two plans in mind, so that she could extricate herself if things were exposed.
The person who abandons their teammates at a crucial moment is far more terrifying than the villainous supporting character who is abandoned.
"Let's take it one step at a time," she reassured Ruan Yu. "I'm here for you, don't worry."
As long as the villainous supporting character's antics are confined to the school campus, the incident is controllable.
Although she understood the reasoning, when she and Ruan Yu took the exam separately today, Wen Yun still couldn't help but imagine some terrible scenarios, fearing that as soon as Ruan Yu left the exam room, she would be kidnapped by the delinquent students waiting in the corridor and locked up on the rooftop for the entire afternoon.
She even handed in her Chinese exam paper early and went to wait outside Ruan Yu's exam room.
Only when the exam ended and Ruan Yu came out did she feel relieved. She walked beside her casually and asked, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
A note from the author:
Chinese Language Exam Paper: ?
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The second update is here!
Chapter 23
“Anything is fine.” Ruan Yu replied, then looked at her with surprise, “You handed in your paper early?”
Because there were other people around, she didn't use honorifics.
Wen Yun was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "How did you know?"
“I’ve checked the exam venue. Yours is a bit far from here, and it’s downstairs.” Ruan Yu walked with her down the stairs. “If you hand in your paper on time, I should be the one coming to find you.”
She paused. "Is there something urgent that requires you to see me sooner rather than later?"
Wen Yun had only intended to take precautions quietly, but when asked about it, she felt she had made a mountain out of a molehill and said awkwardly, "It's nothing, I just saw those messages this morning and was worried about you."
Ruan Yu was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm not a child, and you're not an adult either."
“Why am I not—” Wen Yun blurted out, but stopped herself halfway through her sentence.
Having lived a second life, Ruan Yu is very familiar with school bullying, and it could even be said that she knows better than Ruan Yu how to fight back and ruin the other party's reputation. She is definitely no longer a child.
On the contrary, she was constrained by her current identity, and the things she could do were very limited. She was unable to protect Ruan Yu like an adult would.
"...I'm sorry, it was my oversight." After realizing what she had done, Wen Yun said apologetically, "I won't hand in my paper early for the next exam."
After spending more than a month together, she could no longer treat Ruan Yu as a two-dimensional character. Her mindset would sometimes unconsciously revert to that of her previous life, and she would protect Ruan Yu from the perspective of an "older sister".
But in Ruan Yu's view, they were all just students who were not yet adults and had not yet entered society.
Once an inequality arises in experience or psychological age, the so-called "generation gap," much communication becomes one-sided.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers, and Wen Yun turned her head to meet Ruan Yu's scrutinizing gaze.
"You didn't just write anything in your essay, did you?" the girl asked earnestly, changing the subject.
"No, no!" Wen Yun hurriedly explained, "It's just that I wrote it quickly, so my handwriting is a bit messy. As for the content, I originally wanted to use five examples to illustrate my point, but I only used four."
She couldn't possibly have written anything randomly! She simply used a prop card that doubled her concentration, allowing her to hand in her paper early!
Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Wen Yun specially treated Ruan Yu to a plate of spiced beef slices as an apology, considering the matter closed for the time being. As long as her Chinese score was within expectations, Ruan Yu probably wouldn't bring it up again.
Before the lunch break began, the homeroom teacher indeed came to the class to announce the results of the "ID card slander and theft case".
"Zheng Jiafei has been expelled from school, and Luo Qin received a serious warning and has been sent home to reflect on her actions. We hope everyone will take this as a warning and not think that the school is above the law!"
Luo Qin was not a key participant and insisted that she was only verbally aggressive and had stopped Zheng Jiafei's behavior more than once, which can be seen in the video. When the truth was revealed, everyone at the scene did see her pull Zheng Jiafei back when she was angry.
Since she voluntarily paid compensation afterward, she only received a severe warning and was not expelled. However, she will still have to apologize to Ruan Yu in public at the morning assembly next Monday, together with Zheng Jiafei.
Wen Yun understood the result, but she was still somewhat unwilling to accept it.
If we compare Wen Yun and Lin Qiqi, Luo Qin is barely on the same level as Wen Yun as a vicious supporting character, except that her viciousness is more outward and not as subtle as Wen Yun's.
"It's good that you've changed, my deskmate," He Sheng suddenly said after the homeroom teacher left.
Ever since she was recognized as not being the original owner of this body that day, Wen Yun hadn't dared to talk to her much. Upon hearing this, her heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously cast a puzzled look at her.
He Sheng didn't elaborate, but smiled at her with narrowed eyes and continued working on the problem.
Wen Yun: "..."
If the system hadn't emphasized that she was the only transmigrator in this world, she might have even thought that He Sheng also knew the original plot.
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The monthly exam results came out quickly. After dinner, Wen Yun saw many people in the "secret observation team" discussing their scores in Chinese, history, and biology.