When the monthly exam was mentioned, she started to act like a deadbeat. Su Qinian looked at her amusedly and repeated, "I said, the monthly exam is coming in a week."
"You've ruined my good mood this time!" Lin Jinran pointed at him and moved her lips to accuse him of such a shameless act. "I don't care. You must compensate me."
Compensate? What kind of compensation?
Su Qinian didn't say a word. He just raised his eyebrows slightly and waited for what she would say next.
"Compensation... compensation means..." In fact, Lin Jinran hadn't thought about what kind of compensation she wanted. After wracking her brains for a while, she said weakly, "Compensation means buying me a milk tea."
She sounded so listless.
"Sure. I'll buy you one. You can have as many as you want. I guarantee you'll have a great time drinking them." The smile on Su Qinian's lips couldn't be held back any longer. It spread out, making his shoulders tremble slightly.
He had thought she'd come up with something after thinking for so long.
It turned out to be just a cup of milk tea.
...
It was extremely cold after winter set in. There had been light snow for several consecutive days. The whole city was like a world wrapped in silver, looking extremely beautiful.
The snow stopped on the day when the monthly exam ended.
Lin Jinran packed up the pens and scratch papers on her desk. Just as she was about to get up, Su Qinian's voice came from beside her, "Let's go. Let's go back and get ready for the self - study class."
The examination rooms in No. 1 Middle School of Wannanshi were arranged according to the grade rankings. When she ranked among the top 50 in the grade, she and Su Qinian were in the same examination room.
She sat at the back of the classroom. When she got tired of writing and looked up, she could see the boy's cold and handsome eyebrows, which were different from his usual look.
The two of them walked downstairs with the crowd. Su Qinian walked in front of her to clear the way.
"After this exam, the next one will be the final exam, right?" Lin Jinran asked.
"Yes. It'll be in half a month. Chinese New Year is earlier this year. Lin Jinran, where will you spend the New Year, in Wannanshi or the imperial capital?"
Wannanshi or the imperial capital?
Lin Jinran didn't know. She didn't want to go back to the imperial capital to find Lin Cheng either.
"Let's see how it goes." It was a vague answer.
Su Qinian still walked in front, chatting with her off and on.
After they returned to the classroom, the classmates surrounded them and asked about their answers.
Wails rose one after another.
Lin Jinran looked at this group of friends and felt warm in her heart. Suddenly, someone gently tugged at her arm. She looked down and saw it was Xie Wanyu.
Xie Wanyu pointed at the back door of the classroom.
Lin Jinran suddenly understood and followed her to the back door.
The two of them came to the corridor. The wind in the air was sharp, and it hurt when it hit the skin.
Lin Jinran shrank into her collar and asked, "Is there something important? Can't you say it inside?"
"Yeah, it's a big deal." Xie Wanyu grinned. She looked around to make sure there was no one around, then leaned over and whispered, "I heard from Jiang Xiubin a few days ago that the monitor's birthday is coming soon. It's on the second day of the first lunar month, just during the Chinese New Year."
"Is it that soon?" Lin Jinran thought carefully. She really didn't know when Su Qinian's birthday was.
There was still nearly a month until the Chinese New Year. It was still in time to prepare a gift during this month.
"Hey, wait. How's your relationship with Jiang Xiubin? Why are you chatting so much with him?" After the exclamation, Lin Jinran's attention fell on the former.
She smiled with her eyes bent and reached out to pinch Xie Wanyu's waist. "Confess honestly, or you'll be in trouble."
Xie Wanyu dodged while scolding with a laugh, "Lin Jinran, how could you bite the hand that feeds you? I'm kind enough to tell you this, and this is how you treat your benefactor? Have you no conscience?"
"We're just ordinary friends. Can't I ask about my friend's birthday? Don't ship us randomly."
Lin Jinran didn't hear the answer she wanted. She reached out to pinch Xie Wanyu's waist again and unexpectedly found that Xie Wanyu seemed to be more ticklish.
She got even more excited. They chased each other on the corridor. The howling wind blew up the girls' black long hair, looking so vivid.
A few days later, the results came out. Lin Jinran still ranked third in both the grade and the class.
It was the same as the result of the last monthly exam.
That night, Lin Jinran didn't go home. Instead, she went to the hospital first.
The smell of disinfectant filled her nose. When the hired nurse saw Lin Jinran coming, she went outside to sit.
Lin Jinran stood in front of her mother's hospital bed, smiled, and then sat down.
"Mom, do you know that my monthly exam result this time is the same as last time? I'm third in the grade and third in the class. There's no change. In fact, I know that it's extremely difficult to move up one more rank from my current position."
"It's okay. I'm confident that I can move up further. With my current results, if I can keep it stable, I can get into Tsinghua University or Peking University. I'm really, really happy. Every step I've taken is so solid."
"When the college entrance examination results come out and I get the admission notice, Mom, you should wake up then. I believe you can wake up. You won't let me down."
"Here, there are the best medical facilities and the best doctors specializing in treating vegetative patients. I can wait for half a year. By that time, we won't have to be restricted by Lin Cheng anymore. We can go wherever we want."
"We can also go back to Grandpa and Grandma's home. Although I don't know the specific situation back then, Aunt Ying has been helping me. She always misses you and hopes you can wake up. If Aunt Ying thinks so, do you think Grandpa and Grandma think the same way?"
"..."
Lin Jinran sat beside the hospital bed. She laughed while talking and then cried while talking.
The night outside the window was thick and surging. The glory of the bright moon would eventually fall on its most devout believers.
I don't know how much time had passed. Lin Jinran got up, bent down to tuck the quilt for her mother, called the nurse outside in, and asked about her mother's condition during this period.
"Don't worry. During this period, except for your aunt who often comes to visit your mother, there's no one else. Doctor Duan also said that your mother's condition is good and is getting better."
That's good. Lin Jinran smiled tiredly. "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's my duty. But you're just a student. You have to go to school on one hand and take care of your mother on the other. I've never seen such a hard - working child." The nurse sighed and shook her head.
"Your mother will surely be proud of you if she wakes up."
The school uniform of No. 1 Middle School of Wannanshi was the classic black - and - white style, with the school badge on the upper left corner of the clothes, which could be seen at a glance.
The nurse felt really sorry for the girl in front of her.
It had been almost half a year. Except for Aunt Ying who had appeared recently, she hadn't seen any other family members of this girl come.
Lin Jinran said it was okay. She turned her head slightly to look at her mother and whispered, "Mom, I'll leave first. I hope you'll be better when I see you next time."
Then she turned around and left. The nurse also followed her out to see her off.
In a place where no one could see, the finger on the hospital bed moved slightly.