Shen Xingruo didn’t sleep well all night. Every time she closed her eyes, thoughts of her and Lu Xingyan’s first night sharing a bed discussing Zhujiabao’s ghost fire and the missing livestock kept her wide awake. Unfortunately, after Lu Xingyan casually chatted about the ghost fire and the livestock, he simply went to sleep without a care in the world.
The more Shen Xingruo thought about it, the more she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned until she found herself facing Lu Xingyan.
Sensing her movement, Lu Xingyan furrowed his brows slightly in his sleep, and his hand around her waist tightened involuntarily.
Undeniably, Lu Xingyan was handsome, the kind of guy who had the looks but not much else going on in his head. He was the epitome of “beauty without brains,” effortlessly attractive without needing any extra flair or personality to complement it. Unfortunately for Shen Xingruo, she had a soft spot for this type of appearance, which often made her feel shallow.
Staring at his sleeping face for five seconds, Shen Xingruo couldn’t help but realize how difficult it was for her to stay angry at him.
Lu Xingyan’s breathing was steady, and in his dreams, he seemed to be murmuring her name softly.
It might have been her imagination, but even though they were officially a couple, they still addressed each other by their full names that night. Shen Xingruo found Lu Xingyan calling her “RuoRuo” surprisingly endearing, a term of endearment he had never used before. If he had, it would have felt awkward.
Shen Xingruo hadn’t misheard. In the past, she had only called him “brother” while wearing a tank top, but Lu Xingyan’s dreams tended to wander into strange territories. Now, nestled in his arms, with only a thin bathrobe separating them, his dreams took an even stranger turn, seeming almost natural.
In his dream that night, Shen Xingruo was obediently soft.
He held her and did as he pleased, feeling particularly liberated.
But somehow, the scene shifted to the outdoors. Shen Xingruo leaned against a tree trunk while he toiled behind her.
It started quite intriguing, but suddenly, ghostly lights flickered all around… ghost fires.
Then villagers from Zhujiabao surrounded them, demanding they return the pigs and sheep. No matter how he explained, they wouldn’t listen, and eventually, he had no choice but to shield Shen Xingruo from the flying rotten tomatoes and stinky eggs.
Before waking up from his dream, he heard someone in the crowd loudly shouting, “Quick, boil some water! Let’s make them into tomato and egg soup!”
Then he was awakened by scalding hot water—
He was awoken by the intertwined embrace of two people.
Shen Xingruo had stayed up very late, so she was still sleeping deeply in the morning.
When Lu Xingyan woke up, he found himself covered in sweat, and Shen Xingruo was sweating profusely too.
He lowered the air conditioning by two degrees and helped wipe the sweat off Shen Xingruo, then pulled her back into his arms.
Actually, a man should have had a strong reaction in the morning, but he was tossed around by this dream, and for a while, he really couldn’t respond.
He held her like this for nearly half an hour before Lu Xingyan felt completely awake.
Seeing Shen Xingruo still sleeping soundly, he quietly picked up his phone and scrolled through it.
The post-exam friend circle was very peaceful and loving, he couldn’t resist a little teasing, so he skillfully blocked a series of relatives and friends like Pei Yue, Lu Shanjiang, etc., and posted a dynamic—
It feels really good to have a girlfriend.
By the way, he added a picture of driving at seventy miles per hour, feeling carefree.
Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming had just finished eating chicken all night, the moment when their hearts were pounding and they were on the brink of sudden death, they stepped off the internet and opened WeChat to check, still wanting to see Lu Xingyan going crazy on the friend’s circle.
If you can’t stand your foolish friends, you can’t stand it anymore, so one by one they automatically lined up to diss below—
Li Chengfan: I see you struggling even at twenty miles per hour.
Zhao Langming: Waking up so early, obviously no sex life.
Bian He replied to Zhao Langming: Maybe there is, I heard virgins only need a few seconds.
He had smirked at the comments congratulating him on finding a girlfriend, but by the time it reached the three of them, his lips quickly flattened.
Lu Xingyan replied to Bian He: You’re spreading rumors and reporting people.
During this wonderful summer vacation time, with no summer homework or countdown to the college entrance examination, there were naturally few people waking up so early.
Lu Xingyan returned from the friends circle to the WeChat group for a little teasing, but didn’t chat much. He thought he should take a shower, appear fresh and clean in front of his dear girlfriend, and also bring her some breakfast to show his gentleness.
Lu Xingyan didn’t know that at this moment, in another budget hotel in the city, He Siyue, who had finally charged his phone, also saw his friends circle.
Ruan Wen also saw it.
She sat quietly in the corner for a while, then asked softly, “Class… Class leader, are you okay?”
Siyue’s voice was still gentle despite his fatigue, “I’m fine, just tidy up a bit, I’ll go downstairs to buy some breakfast.”
With that, he got up and walked out.
Ruan Wen kept staring at He Siyue’s back, and when he left, her gaze fell on the gift box on the TV cabinet.
Then she concluded, he should… not be doing well.
Siyue wasn’t as upset as Ruan Wen thought he was. He did prepare a birthday present for Shen Xingruo last night and even considered confessing, but deep down, he knew the chances of success were slim.
And he couldn’t quite explain his feelings towards Shen Xingruo, whether it was more about liking or appreciating her.
So, when he saw Lu Xingyan’s friends circle early in the morning, his emotions seemed to lean more toward resignation.
If we’re being honest, it was the chaotic and unfortunate experience with Ruan Wen last night that had a greater impact on him.
Life is truly difficult.
After Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo’s relationship spread in the class circle, nobody was really surprised; instead, there was a sense of “finally being together” settling the dust.
However, there were also gossipmongers whispering behind their backs, thinking that the gap between the two would surely be hard to sustain.
Like those two spiteful girls, Li Ting and her companions.
The three of them, along with a few other girls, were in the same group chat. As soon as the news of Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo dating came out, the group chat became lively.
They said the two would definitely not make it to a good university and wouldn’t last long; they even said they might end up in a long-distance relationship, and relationships in the study abroad circle are chaotic, very few long-distance relationships last.
In short, their words and expressions all implied they were eagerly anticipating the breakup of the two.
Li Ting now finds all this very boring.
Their parents don’t oppose it, they have money and good looks, and they’re comfortable in their on-off relationship. Li Ting doesn’t know what these people are fussing about. Instead of wasting time on others, they should focus on which university they can get into.
She quietly exited the group chat.
After Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo’s relationship was confirmed, there wasn’t much change in their interactions at home. After all, they still had Aunt Zhou and Pei Yue at home.
They exchanged fewer glances than before, afraid of revealing any clues.
Most importantly, now that there was no longer a reason for tutoring sessions to openly stay in the same room, Lu Xingyan felt that life was getting harder.
After staying at home for two days, he started using his friends as excuses to go out, reporting to Pei Yue every day that this one called him out to play, that one called him out, so he could also take Shen Xingruo out.
Both of them were in their first relationship.
It wasn’t until they were together that Shen Xingruo realized that being in a relationship didn’t necessarily mean doing things to prove how much they loved each other.
As long as they were together, they were happy and having fun.
Watching boring art films was fun, taking the subway or bus was fun, even waiting in line to eat was fun, and accompanying Lu Xingyan to play games with Li Chengfan and, she found it all interesting.
The days of being together passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was late June.
This year, the announcement of the results in Xingcheng was on June 25th. On the night before the announcement, after dinner, Lu Xingyan quietly slipped into Shen Xingruo’s room.
Because Pei Yue had called a beautician to come to the house, they couldn’t find her for a while.
When Lu Xingyan entered the room, Shen Xingruo had just finished taking a shower and was lying on the bed watching a Korean drama.
Since she was young, she had never lived a very relaxed life. When she was young, Song Qingzhao arranged for her to learn this and that, and she always had high standards for herself. The novels and Korean dramas that little girls loved to watch, she rarely watched them.
But since they were in a relationship, she should brush up on some theoretical knowledge.
Lu Xingyan particularly liked to hold her. Seeing her lying on the bed watching the drama, he went over as usual, lifted her into his arms, and then helped hold the tablet as they watched together.
Recently, Shen Xingruo had been wearing very conservative pajamas, she hadn’t worn a nightgown at all, and her clothes were all sets of cartoon-style pajamas.
After all, she didn’t have much confidence in Lu Xingyan’s character.
As the drama progressed to the female lead preparing for their country’s college entrance exam, Lu Xingyan casually asked, “Are you nervous? The results will be out tomorrow.”
Shen Xingruo replied, “What’s there to be nervous about.”
She hadn’t received any calls from the admissions office these past few days, and no one had come to the house either. She felt like she hadn’t done… particularly well on the exam.
Lu Xingyan also vaguely felt that Shen Xingruo might not have achieved the top score.
He had heard before that if you scored top in the province, T University would usually come to recruit you.
Thinking of this, he kissed Shen Xingruo and then tried to distract her attention by gently massaging her soft body.
While they were being affectionate, there was suddenly a rapid knock on the door.
Aunt Zhou shouted from outside, “Ruoruo, Ruoruo! Come out quickly, a few people are claiming to be from the admissions office looking for you! They’re currently blocked outside the villa area. Do you think they’re scammers?”
Both Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan were stunned.
This couldn’t have come at a worse time.
They hastily got out of bed.
Shen Xingruo tried to remain calm and replied, “I’ll be out in a moment.”
The only fortunate thing was that Lu Xingyan had locked the door when he entered the room, and Aunt Zhou couldn’t open it even after trying several times.
Fifteen minutes later, the admissions office people were brought into the villa, and with Lu Xingyan’s help, Shen Xingruo hurriedly changed her clothes.
They walked downstairs together, and on the way, Shen Xingruo also received a call from Shen Guangyao.
It turned out that T University’s admissions team had also rushed to Huize overnight to recruit students.
Upon seeing Shen Xingruo, the admissions team was slightly taken aback.
Shen Xingruo, with a raw score of 712, still managed to secure the top spot in the liberal arts total score in Xingnan Province this year, without any bonus points.
Documents regarding this year’s college entrance exam were strictly withheld until the results were officially announced.
The entire admissions team had been stationed in Xingnan Province for a week in advance, gathering information about the top students from various prestigious schools who had the potential to compete for the top spot. However, it wasn’t until this evening that they received the rankings for Xingnan Province.
Fortunately, they had thoroughly researched Shen Xingruo. With outstanding grades, a privileged background, exceptional looks, and perfect extracurricular skills, her application was very eye-catching.
Originally, they were also planning to rush to Huize like T University to find students, but luckily, there was a member of the admissions team who was a former student of Wang Youfu.
Wang Youfu inadvertently revealed that Shen Xingruo was not currently in Huize, so they didn’t go to the wrong place.
Seeing a person in real life was different from seeing their documents because this girl was truly… too beautiful.
Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan already felt flustered as if they had been caught red-handed in bed, and seeing this group of people downstairs also made it hard for them to regain their composure.
When Aunt Zhou mentioned “a few people,” they both naturally assumed it would be two or three.
But they didn’t expect to see eight or nine people standing downstairs, with three teachers leading the way and the rest being senior alumni who had previously been admitted to prestigious universities.
It was also the first time the admissions team had visited the home of a top scorer, so they were somewhat unaccustomed.
This family was wealthy.
The lakeside villa was probably the best location in this area. It seemed like Shen Xingruo’s mother had just been getting a beauty treatment, as when she came out to greet them, she was followed by three elegantly poised beauticians, making for quite a grand scene.
These ordinary conditions might not impress this top scorer.
With the room quiet, Pei Yue, feeling elated, lightly patted her face and stepped forward to greet them, “Please, everyone, have a seat. Ruoruo, Luyan, you two come down too.”
After she finished greeting them, she turned to Aunt Zhou to prepare tea and fruit, then led the guests to the living room sofa.
Shen Xingruo sat on the sofa.
Upon hearing that she had scored 712 points and become the top scorer in the liberal arts in Xingnan Province this year, she still appeared calm, simply saying, “Oh,” as if becoming the top scorer was just a casual endeavor.
But in reality, she felt very surreal.
When she heard the news about the admissions team coming, she had put on her clothes the wrong way around, and it was Lu Xingyan who reminded her to fix it.
The members of the admissions team didn’t know how to continue the conversation when they saw Shen Xingruo’s calm demeanor.
Only one of the senior sisters who had recently been in a relationship noticed the unusual intimacy between Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan. She wasn’t sure if she was mistaken, but this fresh top scorer… did she have strawberry marks on her neck?
Pei Yue’s observation skills weren’t that sharp. She was delighted to hear that Shen Xingruo had scored the top and, to liven up the atmosphere, she cheerfully turned on the TV.
Coincidentally, the TV was airing the mystery of the Zhujiabao ghost fire that Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo had watched on the night they stayed in the room together, but it was already at the end.
Lu Xingyan noticed Shen Xingruo’s tension and distraction, so he suddenly patted her shoulder and lazily said, “Hey, look, turns out that Zhujiabao ghost fire is just phosphor.”
“But they still haven’t said where all those pigs and sheep went.”
Shen Xingruo: “… “