novelInterlude A Hodgepodge of People of All Sorts 4
| ← Ch.519 | Ch.521 → |
Five little children, Little Youning, Xicheng, Youjin, Muche and Muran, were dismissed from school early. Little Youning and Little Xicheng did not want to go home so early since they had no one to play with at home.
Their daddies were at work and although their mommies were home, they were both busy working on designs and should not be disturbed. Hence, the two of them wanted to stay out and play instead.
Qi Youxuan and Wen Xu were not around so Little Muran was the eldest in the group. All the little fellas wanted to play—Little Muran did not feel like going home alone either. Thus, she decided to stay with them.
Little Youning furrowed her brows, forming old-lady wrinkles on her tiny face. Suddenly, she clapped her hands and proposed, "Let's go to A University to see Aunty and Uncle!"
"You're only suggesting that because you want them to treat you to some meat, right?" Little Youjin exposed Little Youning's true intentions without hesitation.
Little Youning was enraged. With her hands on her hips, she puffed up her cheeks at Little Youjin."If you keep telling the truth like this, I won't bring you out to play anymore!"
"..."
What kind of logic was that?!
"Actually... Actually, there's also Youning's grandpa. He gives us yummy food too, " Little Xicheng added.
Thus, the five little kids agreed to head to A university to see the three food-givers. The children called home to report their little excursion, and then they all got into Chang Lai's car. As for the other children's drivers, they followed behind Chang Lai with empty cars.
On the way there, Little Youning called Ruan Zeer. Unfortunately, Ruan Zeer was in class so his phone was switched off. Thus, Little Youning called Chang Jingwan instead.
Coincidentally, Cheng Jingwan was in Ruan Zeer's class!
Luckily, Chang Jingwan was not that interested in maths. She sat in a corner of the room—a place her good friend, Xu Lele, saved for her.
Previously, the two of them stayed in the same dorm while studying at the university. Nearing their graduation, two of their other dormmates found jobs and moved out, leaving only them in the dorm.
Chang Jingwan was local. Moreover, she did not have many classes—there were even days where she had none. Thus, she did not live on campus anymore.
Xu Lele, on the other hand, was interning part-time. Therefore, she moved out too and rented a room outside the campus.
Although they did not live together anymore, they were still as close as ever. They would go out together during weekends and still sat together in class.
Sometimes, Xu Lele would be so busy with work that she would not make it to class. Chang Jingwan would mark Xu Lele's attendance for her and note down important notes for her. Whenever she was absent, Xu Lele would do the same.
Further maths was a dry and boring subject—no one would attend these classes if not for the exams. Nonetheless, Ruan Zeer's classes were always packed. Moreover, more than half of the class were girls.
Chang Jingwan was not trying to be stereotypical, but ever since young, girls had always done relatively badly in maths and were generally uninterested in the subject—with some genius female students as exceptions.
Other further maths lecturers never saw such high attendance rates as Ruan Zeer's class. Evidently, all the girls were under the spell of the alluring Ruan Zeer. They all loved to tease and flirt with him.
When Ruan Zeer first joined A University as a student, the news spread like bushfires across the school. Before he graduated, he was already famous in A University even though he never joined any clubs or societies, applied for student council or done anything that drew attention to himself.
Nevertheless, the genius-kid vibe he gave off and his exceptionally attractive appearance attracted a large horde of fans. Chang Jingwan was confused as to why these ladies preferred boys like Ruan Zeer over those hot boys in the football and basketball team.
Back then, Xu Lele had already pointed out the extraordinary vibe Ruan Zeer emitted. He seemed like someone with a pledge of abstinence, tempting the girls to flirt with him even more—a forbidden fruit.
Many girls in the university admitted that they often fantasized about what it would feel like to kiss Ruan Zeer.
This uniquely elegant vibe was not something those ordinary sportsmen possessed.
According to Xu Lele, the vibe he gave off was that of a studious man dressed in long white robes as seen in dramas set in ancient China.
As a result, on the first day Ruan Zeer started teaching at the university, it became an exceptionally grand occasion. No one knew who was the original source of this information but nonetheless, the classroom was packed early in the morning. Unfortunately, the students who were actually interested in the subject were forced to sit at the back.
From that day on, Ruan Zeer's class had been packed, with most of the students being girls who simply wanted to stare at him.
Boys in school would often mock, "Other teachers have to be considered skillful to be a good teacher while Ruan Zeer only has to look pretty."
Ruan Zeer had an odd way of taking attendance—he only called out three random names each day. Hence, even if the student was not present, their friends could just reply 'present' for them. After all, there was no way Ruan Zeer remembered who was who.
However, he had another weird practice—when he called out the three names, the first name would always be Chang Jingwan. Always.
The class had already grown accustomed to this. Each morning, he would call out, "Chang Jingwan, XXX, XXX."
Moreover, the sequence never changed.
Hence, to the other students, it meant Ruan Zeer only checked the attendance of two students among them.
In the beginning, everyone thought it was merely a coincidence, but after a few more classes of Ruan Zeer doing the exact same thing, they knew that something was up.
Not long after that, rumors about Ruan Zeer and Chang Jingwan began to spread, taking Chang Jingwan by surprise.
Luckily, no one knew about their connections outside of school. Additionally, besides calling Chang Jingwan's name every class, Ruan Zeer never made any other explicit moves.
While Ruan Zeer speaking in front of the lecture hall, Chang Jingwan's phone vibrated.
To avoid embarrassing herself during Ruan Zeer's lectures, Chang Jingwan had always taken extra precautions to ensure her phone was on silent mode. Nonetheless, she rarely received any calls. Despite being the daughter of the Chang family, Chang Jingwan was quite the introvert and did not socialize much. Besides taking pictures and surfing the web, her phone had pretty much no other uses.
When she saw Youning's name on her phone screen, she could not help but smile. She glanced at the front—Ruan Zeer was not looking at her direction.
Besides, the hall was gigantic so Ruan Zeer probably could not see the students at the back clearly. Thus, Chang Jingwan bent down, hid her face behind her hair and picked up the call."Hey, Youning."
"Aunty! We're on the way to your school right now. Let's have lunch together! Invite Grandpa too! Is there anything good near your university? Let's eat there!"
"I heard that there's some amazing street food near A University!" Little Xicheng added excitedly.
Chang Jingwan could not help but chuckle. What a gluttonous little bunch!
"It's only noon, don't you have classes this afternoon?" inquired Chang Jingwan.
"We had sports day today so school ended early. No classes in the afternoon, " Little Youning explained.
"How many of you are coming?" Chang Jingwan asked.
"Er Cheng, Muche, Sister Muran, my brother, and me, " Little Youning counted with her fleshy fingers."Five! There are five of us!"
"Where are you guys now?" asked Chang Jingwan as she tapped Xu Lele's phone to check the time.
Little Youning asked Chang Lai where they were but in the end, she decided to hand him the phone instead and let him tell Chang Jingwan.
"Alright, I'll be done with my classes too by then. I'll see you at the school gate, " Chang Jingwan said, smiling gleefully.
Through the phone, Chang Jingwan could hear Little Youning shouting for her phone back. Not long after, Chang Jingwan heard her voice again."Aunty, why are you speaking so softly?"
"I'm in class right now, " Chang Jingwan whispered. She felt extremely guilty for picking up a call in Ruan Zeer's class.
Suddenly, Xu Lele grabbed her elbow. Chang Jingwan turned to her perplexedly. Suddenly, an arm reached out from behind her and she felt a warm sensation on her back as if someone was standing close behind her.
A shadow was cast down on her and she felt warm breaths landing on the top of her head.
Chang Jingwan's heart raced. A familiar scent surrounded her—a fresh lemony fragrant that Ruan Zeer usually possessed.
Then, she saw his fair and slender hand reaching for her desk, knocking his knuckles on her desk.
"Aunty? Aunty, why aren't you speaking?" Little Youning asked persistently through the phone.
At that moment, Chang Jingwan's expression can be summarized into the emoticon: w(ﾟДﾟ)w
"Student, who are you talking to over the phone?" Ruan Zeer asked in his cool, emotionless voice, yet Chang Jingwan trembled as if she was being interrogated.
She yearned to reply, 'I was talking to your niece!'
However, before she could utter a word, Ruan Zeer grabbed her phone.
| ← Ch. 519 | Ch. 521 → |