In fact, she knew that the answer to this question was beyond doubt.
Mr. Wen usually keeps quiet about such trivial matters, but Mrs. Wen will definitely take the opportunity to make sarcastic remarks about Ruan Yu.
"It's just a matter of words, nothing serious," Ruan Yu said, then squatted down, put the cat in the litter box, and softened her voice, "Good boy, remember to go to the toilet here from now on."
"If it's a metaphor, it's better to retort," Wen Yun couldn't help but remind them. "Who are they looking down on?"
“Since they didn’t name names, there’s no need for me to jump on their bandwagon,” Ruan Yu said softly. “Otherwise, if I let them control my emotions, I’ll be the one who suffers.”
It's not that she can't resist, but there's no need at this stage; it would only exacerbate the conflict and bring her no benefit.
This is actually the point of contention between her and this person. She doesn't know what this person's background is, but she vaguely senses that their experiences are very different. Some things that she cares about, this person doesn't care about, and might even consider them a burden.
Unfortunately, she didn't know how to express it, so she could only try to explain her views to the other party.
Fortunately, this person always respects her choices, and after hearing her explanation, usually lets it go.
With the addition of a cat to their household, their already hectic lives have become even more fulfilling.
Fortunately, although the black and white cat is active, it seems to realize that its current life is hard-won and should not be disturbed. Therefore, it has been very well-behaved in the past few days since it came home. When Wen Yun and Ruan Yu go to see it, they can always see it lying on the cat tree by the window, squinting its eyes and lazily sunbathing.
Due to the large number of orders during the National Day holiday, the pillow that Wen Yun ordered was not delivered until the 8th.
When the package arrived, Ruan Yu was still taking chemistry lessons. Wen Yun instructed the housekeeper to clean and disinfect the cushion first. By the time the tutor left, the cushion was dry, so she carried the cushion and the test papers and cheerfully knocked on Ruan Yu's door.
As soon as Ruan Yu opened the door, a long, chubby Shiba Inu came into view, followed by a familiar voice: "Ding! Your pillow order has been delivered, please receive it promptly!"
She was already a bit tired from doing practice questions. In order to get an A+ grade in the academic exam, the tutor had been giving her increasingly difficult practice questions these past few days, and even she felt that her brain was not up to the task.
But as soon as she came into contact with the overflowing kindness of the person she cared about, she felt all her weariness vanish and couldn't help but smile, hugging the pillow tightly.
"Thank you for the pillow." She expressed her sincere gratitude, then stepped aside, closing the door as she asked as usual, "Did you do well on today's basic questions?"
-
At 11:15 p.m., Ruan Yu finished washing up and returned to her room. Hugging the Shiba Inu plushie that smelled faintly of lavender laundry detergent, she checked the logistics of the plushie she had ordered.
They bought the pillows on the same day, and since the other person's pillow has already arrived, theirs should be arriving soon.
When she checked, she found that the product was still in the "not shipped" status, which made her a little anxious, so she contacted customer service to inquire about the delivery time.
The customer service representative said that there were a lot of packages coming in recently, and that they would be shipped out in a day or two, so she shouldn't be impatient.
Ruan Yu thought she would just wait, but five days passed and the selection exam was almost here, but there was still no sign of logistics!
This time, no matter what the customer service representative promised, she insisted on a refund. After getting the money back, she went to another store with high sales volume and many real-time reviews and chose the same product. She confirmed again and again that the package would definitely be delivered to her home within two days before placing the order and paying.
The elective exams in mid-October were fast approaching. On October 14th, the first exam was history. During the morning self-study period, the history teacher came to the classroom and repeatedly reminded the students of several important points. Only when the exam bell rang did the teacher watch the students leave the classroom and head to their respective exam rooms.
Before leaving the classroom, He Sheng walked to Ruan Yu's desk, stretched out his right hand, and exaggeratedly said, "I'm here to absorb some of the academic genius's aura!"
Ruan Yu smiled and gave her a high five. As she watched her skip away, she noticed another person standing in front of her table.
"I want to get involved too." Wen Yun raised her right hand and shamelessly begged her, "God of Studies, please mentor me, please help me pass."
Ruan Yu paused for a moment, then quickly came to her senses and gave her a high five, but reminded her, "Don't be satisfied with just 'passing by'."
"Definitely!" Wen Yun nodded vigorously, picked up her transparent pencil case, and walked out of the classroom.
To facilitate some students retaking their academic proficiency test subjects, there will be no classes or homework during the three days of the exam. Students will be free to study on their own during the non-exam period. However, teachers of the elective subjects will take turns to be available to answer questions.
Even with teachers on duty, there was still an inexplicable restless atmosphere in the classroom. Coupled with the frequent rain and low air pressure these past few days, people were easily agitated.
Wen Yun was easily influenced by this atmosphere, and even though she was surrounded by a group of good students, they couldn't pull her out of it.
She simply told the class monitor and went straight to the book cafe to study. She ordered a cup of coffee and sat there for an entire afternoon, her study efficiency as high as when she worked in a certain bar in her previous life.
Ruan Yu never liked studying in the classroom. When Wen Yun went to the book cafe, she went too, sitting face to face with Wen Yun. From time to time, she would ask Wen Yun for notes and practice papers to help her check for any missed knowledge points.
The first exam on the morning of the 15th was chemistry. Ruan Yu went to the exam venue at 7:30. Since the second exam was at 10:30, Wen Yun didn't go to the book cafe. Instead, she sat in the classroom with her headphones on and memorized the political questions.
She buried herself in her studies these past few days, feeling that she had enough time to survive, and hardly engaged in any more teasing talk. Her teasing level remained at "0 points" for a long time, and the system never urged her to stop.
Wen Yunyi gets distracted when studying due to the restless atmosphere.
When her mind wandered, she couldn't help but think that once she got through the bad ending of the original story next year, she would be able to break free from this system and no longer have to say those cheesy, tea-talking things she hated so much.
But she quickly realized that as long as she diligently engaged in witty banter and plot development, her survival time would eventually overflow as she progressed through the game. The system's restrictions on her were not actually that great. But when that time came, would there be other restrictions waiting for her?
She also thought of Abbot Huiheng's advice when she went to the countryside, and the opportunity to "get away" that time. She had a vague guess in her mind, but she couldn't confirm it, and the system also said that it knew nothing about it.
I finally made it to the third day of the exam. In the afternoon, during the English exam, a torrential downpour started outside, with thunder rumbling that could still be heard through the soundproof glass.
The proctor had no choice but to turn the listening volume up extremely high. After the listening test, Wen Yun felt her head buzzing. When she did the subsequent reading comprehension questions, she couldn't help but think of her cat at home.
...and another "cat" that is taking an exam.
The original text clearly states that because Ruan Yu was kicked out of the Wen family during a thunderstorm, and Ruan Yu was particularly afraid of thunder, Wen Yun would stay by Ruan Yu's side beforehand when she was at home, trying to distract her.
Although the important English exam has distracted her from Ruan Yu's attention, she still can't help but worry about Ruan Yu's exam performance.
Two hours later, the exam ended. As soon as the proctor announced the end of the exam, Wen Yun grabbed her pencil case and rushed out of the classroom, quickly heading to another exam room.
The students came out one after another, some checking their answers, others excitedly discussing the school sports meet that would be held in two weeks.
Wen Yun walked against the flow of people, observing as she went, until she reached the entrance of Ruan Yu's examination room, where she saw the girl carrying her schoolbag and silently leaving the room.
"Are you alright?" Wen Yun hurried over and asked, her heart sinking as she looked at the girl's pale face. "Don't worry, it's just a thunderstorm. I checked the weather forecast, it'll be over in half an hour at most!"
Ruan Yu responded very softly, quickly lowered her head, and the next second, she grasped Wen Yun's hand.
“I’m afraid of this kind of weather…” she said softly.
She was initially very anxious, even fearful, and unwilling to go out at this time, much less be swept away by the crowd and deepen her loneliness.
But after leaving the exam hall, when she found that person waiting at the door, most of the unknown fear and loneliness that had haunted her for two lifetimes dissipated.
It was then that she suddenly realized that every time there was a thunderstorm, this person seemed to be there to accompany her, whether at home or at school.
Even when a teacher comes to class, this person will greet Su Manying in advance and find a suitable reason to move in front of her.
Even if she didn't say a word, just sat near her, Ruan Yu felt inexplicably at ease.
A note from the author:
The first update is here!
Chapter 38
Feeling the coolness on the back of her hand, Wen Yun quickly squeezed back and put her arm around Ruan Yu's shoulder.
"I'm here with you, don't be afraid."
She maintained this posture as she walked with Ruan Yu through the elevated corridor between the experimental building and the teaching building.
The corridor windows were not all closed, and there were puddles of water everywhere on the ground. They carefully walked around them. When they passed an open window, Wen Yun subconsciously stood in front of Ruan Yu and closed the window behind her.
“Let’s stay in the classroom until the rain stops,” she said to Ruan Yu. “The rain is too heavy; even with an umbrella, we’ll get soaked.”
Ruan Yu had no objection, but looked at her right arm with concern.
When closing the window, this person was clearly soaked from the rain, and their school uniform had turned dark, but they seemed not to care at all.
Upon returning to the classroom, Ruan Yu noticed that He Sheng was not there. After putting down her schoolbag at her seat, she immediately took the tissue box and went to Wen Yun's seat. She quickly took out two tissues and used them to wipe the rainwater off Wen Yun's school uniform.
Wen Yun had intended to wipe it herself, but she never expected someone to be faster than her. She was stunned for a moment, and when she came to her senses, she found three wads of wet tissues on the table. The words of polite refusal stuck in her throat, and she said instead, "Thank you..."
Because it was still raining, even though they could go to the cafeteria for lunch earlier, there were at least twenty people in the class, chattering away about their questions, and not many people noticed what was going on with them.
Wen Yun's classmates at the desks in front and behind her hadn't left, and they were stunned by what they saw. Then they heard Ruan Yu deliberately lower her voice and say, "When you were shielding me from the rain, didn't you think about getting wet yourself?"
The girl's voice was still soft, sounding not at all like a complaint or blame, but rather more like... the joy of being protected?
The top students sitting in front of and behind them didn't quite understand, but were greatly shocked.
Wen Yun didn't quite understand either, and casually replied, "You still have to block it a bit, otherwise your backpack will get wet."
"Is a schoolbag more important than a person?" Ruan Yu asked back.
Wen Yun:? ? ?
She was stunned by the question and didn't know how to respond for a moment. After a few seconds of hesitation, she shook her head and said, "No, people are the most important."
Preventing her schoolbag from getting wet was just a side effect; her main concern was that Ruan Yu wouldn't get wet in the rain.
But how come she can't keep up with Ruan Yu's divergent thinking?
An "Oh" came from beside her ear, and another tissue was pulled out and gently pressed against her arm.
"The rain is about to stop." Less than ten seconds later, she heard Ruan Yu say, "Going home?"
-
On the way home, Wen Yun vaguely sensed that Ruan Yu's emotions were somewhat subtle.
She couldn't tell if it was joy, anger, or both, which left her very confused.
When I first saw her after leaving the exam hall, Ruan Yu seemed so happy. How come her mood changed so much just because she closed a window and got a little rain?
Wen Yun wondered if it was because she had a cat at home, but she felt that the protagonist's personality was becoming more and more like a cat's.
The weather is unpredictable and changes are hard to foresee.
—But they're also very easy to coax.
She merely offered a tentative apology, saying, "I won't neglect myself next time," and a smile returned to the girl's composed face.
With so many examples of this "easy-to-please" behavior, Wen Yun couldn't help but hope that the protagonist was only like this to her, and that he was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing, still full of vigilance towards outsiders deep down.
Otherwise, they would be too easily fooled, which makes people uneasy.
Although the October elective exams have ended, senior high school students have not relaxed their study pace too much before the results are released.
In the words of the homeroom teacher: "This is the first time most of you are taking the elective exam. No one has any experience, so you must be prepared to take it again in April!"
However, since the school sports meet at the end of October was still going to be held as usual, and the senior students also had to participate, the day after the elective exams ended, the sports committee member started taking the registration forms and asking each student one by one during breaks.
Although Wen Yun enjoys exercising, she has always refused to participate in sports meets. When asked, she would say that she might have her period during those days and would have a stronger reaction.
The sports committee member, a girl, understood immediately, nodded, and went to ask the next person.
As soon as she left, Wen Yun continued to lie on the table, trying to catch up on sleep.
Before she had been asleep for long, she heard Ruan Yu's calm and composed voice coming from behind her: "I want to sign up for the 3000 meters."