Su Zаi Zаi уаwned, her еуеs glistеning with mоisture as she lооked at him, аppеаring rаthеr lаzу.
Zhang Lu Rang сouldn’t help but curve the соrners оf his mouth, sауing:
“Lеt’s gо baсk.”
Сhарtеr 46 (Mаjor Revision)
Is sоmеonе always tеaching hеr bad things?
—Zhang Lu Rаng
Тhе summеr in Сitу Z wаs exсеptiоnаllу hot, thе heаt rising frоm the cеmеnt ground.
Тhe planе trees in the distаnсе seеmed to melt intо grееn watеr, mоtiоnlеss undеr thе scоrсhing, windless sun.
Оcсasionаlly, а fеw studеnts pаssеd bу оn a nearbу path, holding umbrellas аnd whispering amоng themselvеs as thеу glanсed in this direction.
University military training lasted half a month, and the intensity was much higher than in high school.
Standing amidst a sea of green uniforms, Su Zai Zai felt time dragging on unbearably.
Sweat on her forehead fell like rain, drop by drop, trickling down her hair and into her eyes.
The alkaline liquid stung her eyes, causing a sour, painful sensation.
Su Zai Zai resisted the urge to wipe it away.
Soon, plop—
Another drop fell.
Su Zai Zai couldn’t hold back any longer. Just as she was about to ask for permission, she heard a distant whistle blow.
She breathed a silent sigh of relief in her heart.
When the instructor announced a break, she sat directly on the scorching ground, pulled a tissue from her pocket, and wiped her face.
Her classmates swarmed over to the side to drink water.
Her roommate, Cui Yu Xuan, brought Su Zai Zai’s water bottle over and sat in front of her to chat.
“Damn, I’m exhausted, and it’s only been a week…”
Su Zai Zai lifted her tired eyes slightly and said softly, “Thank you.”
Another roommate, Zhang Ke, leaned over and, looking into the distance, said, “But the deputy company commander is really handsome!”
“He is handsome! But he’s too strict…”
Su Zai Zai didn’t join the conversation.
After drinking her water, she stood up and put the bottle back.
Su Zai Zai rubbed the back of her neck and looked up, just meeting the deputy company commander’s gaze.
His features were sharp, his lips pressed tightly together, looking very stern.
…He did seem rather intimidating.
Su Zai Zai averted her eyes and slowly walked back.
Her three roommates were still talking about the deputy company commander.
“—The deputy company commander is also from our department, a sophomore in journalism.”
Amidst their chatter, Su Zai Zai inexplicably drifted off.
…I wonder if Lùràng applied sunscreen.
The one she bought for him was even more expensive than the one she used herself.
But there didn’t seem to be much of it. I wonder if it’s enough.
I’ll buy another bottle online tonight…
The afternoon training was a bit easier than the morning’s.
Su Zai Zai’s sweat glands seemed to have been activated by the heat. With just a little warmth, sweat kept pouring down.
Taking advantage of the instructor’s inattention, Su Zai Zai quickly reached out and wiped her sweat with her sleeve.
She managed to wipe the sweat away without the instructor noticing.
The feeling was incredibly refreshing.
Her secret delight didn’t last long before the deputy company commander from nearby walked over unhurriedly.
The deputy company commander’s lips curved into a smile, looking oddly mischievous.
He stopped in front of Su Zai Zai without saying a word.
This silent pressure made Su Zai Zai break into a cold sweat.
Soon, the deputy company commander chuckled softly and said, “Who told you to move?”
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the rest of the class and the instructor in the distance to hear.
Noticing the instructor walking over, Su Zai Zai gritted her teeth and admitted her mistake.
“Reporting, Instructor, I moved just now to wipe my sweat.”
The instructor scolded her sternly with a stern face but didn’t punish her much.Su Zai Zai breathed a sigh of relief, no longer daring to hold onto any wishful thinking.
After the military training ended, Su Zai Zai joined the New Media Department of the Student Union in her department, planning activities for the freshman welcome party.
The department head happened to be her deputy platoon leader during military training, Xie Lin Nan.
Zhang Lu Rang didn’t sign up for any departments. Every day, aside from attending classes and spending time in the library, he would look for Su Zai Zai.
On this day, after finishing the final edit of the last activity video, it was almost time for class.
Su Zai Zai leaned back in her chair, her gaze sweeping around the room.
Her three other roommates were still in bed, taking their afternoon nap.
Having stayed up late the night before, Su Zai Zai was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
Su Zai Zai’s class schedule was different from her roommates’.
In the afternoon, she had an Ideological and Moral Cultivation class, but her roommates didn’t have any classes at all.
Su Zai Zai remembered being marked absent the previous week for skipping class, and she felt deeply conflicted about whether to go this time.
If she didn’t go, it was unlikely anyone would cover for her during roll call.
And if she skipped too many times, would the teacher start calling her name every class from now on…
After hesitating for a long time.
Su Zai Zai covered her conscience and decided to skip one more time.
Once she made up her mind, Su Zai Zai stopped overthinking it and immediately climbed into bed to sleep.
Before sleeping, she first messaged Zhang Lu Rang on WeChat to arrange dinner together and complained about the roll call situation.
Su Zai Zai: Sigh, it’s so frustrating.
Su Zai Zai: When I go, the teacher never calls my name.
Su Zai Zai: The moment I don’t go, she always calls me.
Zhang Lu Rang stared at her messages, quickly understood what she meant, and frowned.
—You’re skipping class again.
Su Zai Zai had already made up her mind and wasn’t afraid of his lecturing.
Su Zai Zai: Lùràng, think about it.
Su Zai Zai: You only fail directly after skipping three times.
Su Zai Zai: I’ve already been marked absent once anyway.
Su Zai Zai: Thinking about it this way, not skipping two classes would really be doing myself a disservice.
Zhang Lu Rang on the other end seemed to be left speechless by her reasoning, not replying for a long time.
The more Su Zai Zai thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. She reminded him again about dinner and placed her phone aside.
Pulling the blanket over her head, she instantly fell into a deep sleep.
On the other side.
Zhang Lu Rang sighed, pulled up Su Zai Zai’s class schedule on his phone.
He happened to have no class during the first period in the afternoon.
Zhang Lu Rang packed his things, grabbed a textbook for his major, and stuffed it into his backpack.
In the dorm room, the curtains were tightly drawn, and the steady, gentle breathing of his roommate filled the air.
The air conditioner hummed softly, the temperature slightly cool, making the sweltering summer day exceptionally comfortable.
Zhang Lu Rang opened the dorm room door.
The door was old and creaked loudly.
With a “bang,” he shut the door, cutting himself off from the quiet, cozy atmosphere inside.
On a scorching hot day, he was heading to a large classroom without air conditioning…
To cover for his girlfriend during roll call.
Zhang Lu Rang couldn’t quite describe this feeling.
He used to dislike this kind of enabling behavior the most.
Even though Su Zai Zai was saying this now, if she ended up being marked absent later, she’d probably be upset again.
…Well, better to enable her then.
Once there, Zhang Lu Rang found a seat in the back corner.
He pulled his earphones out of his backpack and placed them aside.
Planning to put them on after roll call and focus on studying.
Two girls in the back row were chatting in hushed voices, their words clearly reaching his ears.
“Look, Xie Lin Nan is here again…”"Yeah, why does he keep coming over? Is he retaking the class?"
"Impossible, he got a scholarship."
Soon, the class bell rang.
A slightly plump female teacher stood at the podium and opened the attendance system.
Zhang Lurang immediately stopped writing, listening intently as she called out names.
Before long, she called Su Zaizai's name.
Zhang Lurang rubbed his neck, lowered his head, and raised his right hand.
His expression seemed a bit uneasy.
At the same time, a boy sitting two rows ahead and to the side also raised his hand.
The teacher, who had been looking down while taking attendance, seemed to sense something and lifted her head at that moment.
She quickly scanned the room and immediately noticed the two boys with their hands raised simultaneously.
Frowning, the teacher said with a half-smile, "Do you two have the same name in this class? I don't think so."
Zhang Lurang turned his head, expressionlessly staring at the back of the boy in front.
"Besides, Su Zaizai—I remember her being a girl, right?"
"She's not here? Then I'll mark her absent."
"This is the second time. If she misses one more class, she'll have to retake it."
There was nothing Zhang Lurang could do about the gender issue.
He sighed irritably, quietly picked up his earphones, and put them on.
The boy who had also raised his hand for Su Zaizai suddenly turned around.
Looking at Zhang Lurang, he suddenly smiled.
His strong, handsome features relaxed slightly, the corners of his mouth curling up with a hint of provocation.
As if sensing something, Zhang Lurang glanced over.
Their eyes met.
The next second, Zhang Lurang casually lowered his gaze and continued reading.
Xie Linnan found his reaction rather dull and shrugged before turning back around.
By the time she woke up from her afternoon nap, it was almost dinnertime.
Su Zaizai immediately grabbed her phone from beside the pillow and checked Zhang Lurang's latest reply.
—Not eating.
Su Zaizai was confused and asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
Su Zaizai: "Don't you have time? I can bring food to you."
Su Zaizai: "Are you in class?"
Thinking of this, Su Zaizai pulled up Zhang Lurang's class schedule from her phone's photo album.
He had a class during the second period in the afternoon, but nothing after that...
Su Zaizai scratched her head, feeling a bit anxious.
—What do you want to eat? How about I get you pork rib rice?
—No appetite? Then maybe some congee?
After waiting a while, she still hadn't received a reply.
Su Zaizai simply got up, changed her clothes, and headed out.
Before she even reached the cafeteria, Su Zaizai received a call from Zhang Lurang.
His voice was low and deep, betraying no emotion.
"Where are you?"
Su Zaizai blinked and replied cheerfully, "I'm heading to the cafeteria. What do you want to eat?"
There was a pause on the other end, followed by an unexpected question: "Last time, you mentioned your department head's name. What was it?"
Though unsure why he was asking, Su Zaizai answered honestly, "Xie Linnan."
Zhang Lurang lowered his eyelids, his heart aching with a sour, suffocating feeling.
He ran his fingers through his hair, grabbed his phone and meal card, and left the dorm.
"I'll come find you."
Su Zaizai arrived at the cafeteria first and ordered two meals from one of the counters.
She wasn't sure how long Zhang Lurang would take.
Hesitating for a moment, she joined the line at a milk tea shop inside the cafeteria.
Thinking about Zhang Lurang's earlier refusal to eat, she felt a bit down.
On such a hot day, maybe some lemon water would help whet his appetite...Su Zai Zai was still deep in thought when someone suddenly patted her shoulder and greeted her.
She instinctively turned her head—it was a female classmate.
Coincidentally, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
At the same time, the girl spoke up, "You didn’t go to the Ethics class today?"
Hearing this, Su Zai Zai guessed she had been marked absent.
She didn’t mind too much and admitted directly, "Ah, yeah..."
However, what the girl said next felt like a bolt from the blue.
It struck her like a thunderclap, leaving her utterly stunned.
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