Zhang Qiaozhi took a deep breath, cast a cold glance around, and her eyes lingered on Lin Jinran for a few seconds. Then she softened her tone and said,
"Although it's break time and you have the freedom to talk, there are so many students in the class reviewing. You can see that. Could you please think about them?"
She was clearly insinuating.
Seeing that Lu Youchuan was easy to talk to, she took her anger out on him.
Lin Jinran slightly lifted the corners of her eyes and casually looked at Zhang Qiaozhi.
She hadn't looked closely at her during the grade meeting.
Now, she could see the girl clearly.
Like most of the female students, Zhang Qiaozhi had a ponytail and a natural face. Only her eyes were especially bright, as if studded with stars all over the sky.
Maybe due to the natural vanity of girls and the strict school regulations, Zhang Qiaozhi had put a lot of effort into her school uniform to show her uniqueness.
For example, there was a four - leaf clover embroidered on the inside of the collar of her school uniform.
"Zhang Qiaozhi, you're right. Sorry, everyone. We won't talk anymore," Lu Youchuan was indeed easy to persuade. He apologized to everyone sincerely.
Then he pointed to his seat for Su Qinian and scurried back to his seat like a flash. He slumped on the desk like a lazy fish.
Tao Wan and Jiang Xiubin in the front row also turned back to study hard.
The next class was English. Lin Jinran took out the textbook she needed.
"Lin Jinran," someone beside her called.
Lin Jinran was lowering her head to get her book and casually replied, "What's up?"
"Sorry," were the simple three words.
Lin Jinran paused in her action of getting the book. She looked up, one hand on the desk and the other holding the textbook she had found. Her glass - like eyes were full of confusion, as if waiting for him to say more.
The heat at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn was blocked outside by a window, and the cicadas were singing non - stop. The air - conditioner at the back of the classroom was blowing up and down, and a layer of cold air just landed on the two of them, sweeping away the heat.
"Yesterday morning when we were standing in detention, even though I knew the grade director wouldn't believe it, I should have explained," Su Qinian said seriously. He lowered his eyes and his head slightly. There seemed to be a lot of emotions flashing in his eyes, which finally turned into frankness as he looked directly at the person in front of him.
Only a little thought was carefully wrapped in a hard shell and buried deep inside, waiting for the best time to break out.
He was also afraid at that time... of losing her.
There were so many students in the school, and their daily life was so regular.
If he wasn't careful, he might never see her again.
Later, Su Qinian reflected on his actions at that time and felt even more sorry for Lin Jinran, making her suffer misfortune for no reason.
It was his first taste of young love, and he had no experience in matters of "love", almost causing a big mistake.
Su Qinian... was actually apologizing?
Lin Jinran's eyes widened slightly. Her mind went blank. Her hand on the English textbook unconsciously tightened. It took her a while to come to her senses.
The boy's originally cold eyebrows softened a lot because of his guilt. He was looking at her, the corners of his eyes drooping with his tone of speech. His long eyelashes cast a shadow under his eyes like a small fan.
"It's okay. It's not a big deal," Lin Jinran took out the English textbook and put it on the desk. She gave a hearty laugh. "I almost forgot about this. Why do you still remember?"
The boy's jet - black eyes were carefully sizing her up. Lin Jinran maintained her smile, but she didn't understand why he cared so much.
After all, she should even thank Su Qinian for giving her such a good opportunity.
She wondered if her step - mother and step - sister in the imperial capital would be so angry that they would be fuming if they knew.
"You may have forgotten, but I remember. So I must apologize and say sorry to you," Su Qinian said stubbornly.
People only care about the hard tip of the iceberg and never notice that after it melts, the iceberg turns into a gentle stream of water and nourishes all things after vaporization.
Lin Jinran couldn't help but let out a "puff" of laughter, her eyes and eyebrows curving.
Su Qinian was a bit annoyed. He said fiercely, "What are you laughing at? Do you accept my apology? Give me a definite answer."
"What if I don't accept it? What will you do then?" Lin Jinran's mischievousness came up again, and she deliberately teased him.
"If you don't agree..." Those beautiful phoenix eyes showed distress. "I'll tutor you. Yes, I'll help you with your weak subjects."
"However, if you agree, it would be the best. Anyway, if you have any questions in your studies, you can come to me."
The soft morning sunlight leaped onto the boy's shoulders, revealing his red ears.
Lin Jinran lay on the desk. It was as cold as her calm heart at the moment.
She looked at the inspiring quote pasted above the blackboard in front.
"Strive hard for six months in ten years to win a splendid future in the cold window."
"Su Qinian, I accept your apology. But..." Lin Jinran turned her head and gave a soft laugh. "If I have any questions and ask you, I'll trouble you a lot."
She still had a long way to go to get into Tsinghua University and Peking University.
There is no step in life that is taken in vain; every step counts.
She wanted to prove her strength to gain some pride, to slap the faces of Yang Jinzhi and Lin Tingnian, and more importantly, for her mother.
If she could successfully get into Tsinghua University and Peking University, her mother might wake up. Anyway, she would go all out.
There was less than a year left, only the last ten months.
Su Qinian finally let out a sigh of relief. His eyebrows and eyes were smiling, and the smile on his lips carried a gentle look that was hard to notice.
"It doesn't matter," he said.
The class bell rang, and the English teacher came in with the textbook in her arms.
This was Lin Jinran's first time seeing the English teacher. Her initial impression of the English teacher was that she was neat and efficient.
Later, she found that this style also suited the English teacher's teaching method, which Lin Jinran liked.
Lin Jinran's English score was always mediocre, stuck at around 130. There were many outstanding students in Class One, and there were plenty of students with excellent English scores.
The English teacher opened the test papers she had asked the students to do yesterday and wrote the answers on the blackboard.
Lin Jinran opened her paper. After checking the answers, she found that her main points of loss were in the cloze test. She had made mistakes in three places.
She glanced at Su Qinian's paper beside her. It was clean with almost no red circles.
Lin Jinran didn't say a word. She lowered her eyes and began to listen to the English teacher explain the wrong questions.
The English teacher spoke very quickly. Soon, she came to the cloze test.
"Has anyone not understood this question?" The English teacher knocked on the desk and asked everyone. "If you haven't understood, please raise your hand now. I'll explain it again."
"Why is it the past perfect tense instead of the present perfect tense?" Lin Jinran frowned and stared at the cloze question just explained. She whispered, "I always get these two tenses confused. I made a mistake again."
Su Qinian slightly turned his head and asked, "What are you muttering about?"
"Nothing. I... I didn't say anything," Lin Jinran was stubborn.
Su Qinian leaned closer and saw the last cloze question circled on the girl's paper. He understood immediately and asked, "Didn't you understand the last question?"