Chapter 3

The next day, Bai Lu and Jiang Ru both were informed to meet the head teacher.

Jiang Ru was scared.

The previous night, she was like a tigress with extraordinary power. But when the sun came out, her courage became as small as a bean….

An essay with a thousand words to review what they have done the previous night. Not to mention, after writing, they have to read it in front of the class, this was their punishment.

Jiang Ru’s skin was as thin as a piece of paper. Her face would turn red just telling a lie. So when she was writing the review, her whole face was burning in embarrassment.

“Forget it.” Bai Lu stopped writing, looked at Jiang Ru, and said, “I’ll write it for you later, you just have to read it.”

Jiang Ru lowered her head, “How can I……I already dragged you down.”

 “It’s okay, writing the review for both of us is very easy since the contents are same.”

Jiang Ru bit her lips, her eyes looked outside the window in a daze.

It was the afternoon physical education class, the P.E for senior students were equivalent to free activities. If students want to play, they can play on the playground, if they want to study, they can stay in the classroom or go to library to study.

Bai Lu sat on the desk and followed Jiang Ru’s gaze and found her staring at the glass window in a daze.

She shook her hand in front of Jiang Ru which made her snap back to reality.

“Ah …… sorry.”

Looking at the young girl with a sad face and Bai Lu said, “He doesn’t understand your feelings. Don’t feel the loss. He is not worth it”

Jiang Ru bowed her head in shame and whispered, “I don’t want to …… either.”

“Then forget about him. Thinking about him or feeling sad for him is not worth it.”

Jiang Ru looked at the desktop and got lost in thought again.

Bai Lu: “……”

Shaking her head in disappointment, Bai Lu lowered her head to write her own review.

In the course of a study session, Bai Lu finished writing two reviews. Jiang Ru looked at her dumbfounded, “You, you write so fast ah.”

Bai Lu smiled, “Not that fast.”

Jiang Ru read the review twice. The review was filled with unfamiliar content, most of which wasn’t understandable to her. She looked at the review with pursed lips before saying slowly.

“Bai Lu …… your make-up nonsense is very believable.”

Bai Lu looked at her with raised brows, Jiang Ru was frightened thinking that she must have misunderstood her so she quickly waved her hands, “I didn’t mean it that way.”

Bai Lu nodded and laughed, “I know.” She rested her elbow on the table as she said a little proudly, “I’m really good at making up nonsense.” To distract Jiang Ru, she added seriously, “The most important thing in making up nonsense is logic, logic that is strong enough to make people believe. Others will believe the truth, but you can’t also rely solely on logic, logic is not enough when you have to add the feelings. So while making up nonsense, you have to make it between the lies and truth.”


Jiang Ru was really dumbfounded by her nonsensical logics, “you would make up lies until even you believe ah.”

“Of course not.” Bai Lu waved her hand, “if I make it to exaggerating, people won’t believe it. To let people believe, I have to have a limit on how much I can speak nonsense. If they still don’t believe it, it will be a mystery to them.”

Jiang Ru was amused so she laughed.

Bai Lu looked at her and said softly, “It’s better for you to smile more often.”

Jiang Ru shook her head, pressed her two small hands on her face and said, “What are you talking about? My cheekbones are too high, many people have said that I look like a monkey when I laugh.”

Bai Lu frowned as she defended her, “They’re talking nonsense.”

Jiang Ru sniffed, her eyes turning red as took Bai Lu’s hand, “Bai Lu you are so nice.”

Bai Lu gave her an amused stare and said, “Don’t give me nice people card for nothing, ah.”

Jiang Ru smiled, lowered her eyebrows and said, “It’s true, I think you’re a good person.”

Bai Lu exaggeratedly shivered and pulled her hand away, “Don’t scare me, I wouldn’t let you take the first place even if you flatter me.”

Jiang Ru punched Bai Lu, “You know that’s not what I’m talking about at all!”

Bai Lu relaxed her shoulders seeing her friend back to her usual self. Jiang Ru suddenly said in a serious tone, ” What I mean is, we have been at the same table for a year. I have never seen you genuinely nervous about anything, and you are willing to help others, I feel so comfortable around you.”

“The two of us are probably more alike, I don’t talk much and I’m also very introverted, so I get along with you.”

Jiang Ru suddenly sighed, “Introverts always lose when they meet extroverts.”

Bai Lu knew she remembered her previous experience with Xu Hui.

The wind blew outside the window. The rainy season was on its way so the wind was a little chilly. And because the sun was about to set, it became even chillier.



Bai Lu suddenly said, “Win or lose depends not on the character, but the means. You think too highly of him, that’s why you find everything about him so difficult.”

Jiang Ru caught off guard by her sudden advice, “What?”

The end of class bell rang timely.

Bai Lu looked at Jiang Ru and suggested in a serious tone, “Get ready, you’ll have to read the script later.”

Jiang Ru was like a little bird of again. She hurriedly picked up the review and read it over and over again, looking serious, her cheeks slightly flushed with tension.

However, all the hard things are painful in the process of waiting, just started to do it, and time passed quickly.



After hearing the standard Mandarin and pronunciation, everyone in the classroom gave applause.

Now, it was Bai Lu’s turn to read.

Bai Lu was smaller than her peers, had a small voice, wears big spectacle, often gives people the illusion of a dull and inconspicuous person. She belonged to the kind of group who if the teacher does not call out her name, she will never take the initiative to answer questions.

After reading the review, the class teacher, Mr. Bao, called Jiang Ru out alone. Because the teacher initiated a weekly test on the class, he let Bai Lu go and talked to Jiang Ru alone.

When Bai Lu returned to her seat, the girl in front of her turned her head and asked her, “Is Jiang Ru doing better?”

Another girl also turned around and asked curiously, “Did you go out with her yesterday to find that boy from Service Arts?”

Bai Lu pushed their head and turned them to the front, “turn around, turn around. You don’t have to know what happened .”


“Hey you, who are you kidding.” The two girls in front also wear glasses. They pushed the frame and said to Bai Lu, “Who does not know that she was charmed by that boy to the point of obsession ah. She, a well behaved girls now have learned how to skip class.”

Bai Lu looked down and didn’t say anything.

The girls talked for a while and turned back to their exam papers.

Just when Bai Lu was also ready to turn over the test paper, a male voice came from behind her.

“You should persuade her well.”

Bai Lu turned her head.

“Wu Hanwen.”

Wu Hanwen was a little thin, civilized-looking, cheerful, but also a little short than other teenage boys.

He was the president of study committee member of the class, in this school where students who fight for grades are as fierce as a tiger, he served as a study committee member for three years in a row, which shows his extraordinary merit.

Wu Hanwen’s desk was stacked with mountains of test papers. He was preparing for the National High School Chemistry League in a few months, and if he won the gold medal, he will be directly guaranteed to go to Tsinghua University.

 Bai Lu just looked at him and turned back, but Wu Hanwen from the back spoke again, “I know the guy she likes.”

Bai Lu’s half-turned head stopped.

“What?”

Wu Hanwen looked at her, next to him was his tablemate Li Siyi, who was hunting a math problem from the book in a relaxed manner and was not at all moved by the gossip beside him.

Wu Hanwen said, “his name is Xu Hui, right?”

Bai Lu asked in surprise, “You really know him?”

Wu Hanwen’s face remained unchanged, “I used to be in the same school as him in the middle school division, but not in the same class.”

 “Then?” Bai Lu asked curiously.

Wu Hanwen said indifferently, “What then? You can advise Jiang Ru to have less contact with him.”

After hesitating for a moment, she asked “Is he bad?”

Wu Hanwen frowned and hesitantly said, “He is not very bad, right …… He is, can’t say. In fact, he used to study well around junior hight school but doesn’t study much now. Anyway, you bring Jiang Ru away from him, service art students from vocational highschool who has good looks aren’t actually good.”

Next to them, the buried head of Li Siyi finally pulled up itself after solving a proof problem. He let out a long breath, shook his head and lamented, “this is the time for us, the children to have personal feelings, but it is not wise.” After saying this, he gave Wu Hanwen a thoughtful glance and said, “Isn’t that right, study committee president?”

Wu Hanwen bowed his head, “…… Do your own thing.”

Jiang Ru walked in from outside.

The people in the class couldn’t help but look at her.

The matter of Jiang Ru was quite a big deal, especially in an environment like Sixth Highschool. She was followed by a serious-faced class teacher, Mr. Bao, who entered the room and the whole class started to do their own work again with their heads down.

Bai Lu gave Jiang Ru a look, but Jiang Ru didn’t seem to notice her, she sat down and quietly opened her books.

Bai Lu took a look at her expression and knew it was bad, and sure enough, once school was over, Jiang Ru fell on her desk and started crying.

The girls who were previously advised not to comfort her were not coming to gossip either. It was a critical period for them, gossip was far less important than study. The students of Sixth Highschool were ignorant of feelings, but sensitive to academics.

“The teacher told me not to influence others.” Jiang Ru covered her face, she looked surprisingly sadder than yesterday.

Bai Lu sat beside her and comforted, “Don’t cry.”

Jiang Ru said in a sad tone, “He said that I’m giving the class a bad influence like this and told me to tell my parents if I can’t adjust my mind again.”

Bai Lu was still comforting her, but Jiang Ru couldn’t listen to anything.

“How can he say that about me, who am I influencing …… it’s not me to who likes to joke for nothing.”

The more she said, the more sadder she became. Bai Lu took a deep breath and said, “Let’s go back to the dormitory.”

“I’m going to find him.”

Bai Lu: “……”

She was a little confused, “What did you say?”

Jiang Ru turned around and packed her school bag, “I’m going to look for him.”

Bai Lu was rarely surprised, “Now? Yesterday we just went there. Isn’t it over already?”

Jiang Ru shook her head, tears still hanging on her eyelashes, stubbornly refusing to fall.

Bai Lu advised, “Don’t go.”

Jiang Ru said nonchalantly, “You don’t have to accompany me today. I’ll go there myself.”

Bai Lu frowned, “How can you be so stubborn? If you get caught once more they will certainly have to notify your parents. You are now senior, and will be a candidate of college entrance examination. In the last test your results have fallen out from top 10 to top 100, you have to get a hold of yourself.”

Jiang Ru put the school bag on her back, and carried them on her small shoulders, ignoring everything Bai Lu said.

Bai Lu turned her head to look out the window. The day was fine, but just before the school ended, the wind was blowing with a wet smell.

She looked at the girl who was about to step out the classroom and asked “Did you bring an umbrella ……”

Jiang Ru paused before replying, “No.”

“It’s going to rain soon.”

“I’ll go and come back quickly.”

“Why don’t I go back to the dormitory and get my umbrella first?” Bai Lu walked over to her and suggested. Jiang Ru shook her head patted her(Bai Lu) hand, “Really, I will come back soon.”

Bai Lu watched Jiang Ru run away from the classroom, just like that night, a little clumsy and a little persistent.

She sighed as she packed her own things to go back to the dormitory.

After returning to the dormitory and drinking a cup of hot water, she started doing the exercises.

Time passed, and finally the time of closing the dormitory door passed. But Jiang Ru didn’t return.

Bai Lu let out a long sigh.

The hostess aunt came to check the dormitory and asked, “Still hasn’t come back?”

Bai Lu did not reply, it was obvious.

“Lawless.” The hostess aunt wrinkled her brow. Her ballpoint pen was like a knife, and drew a big cross on the record book.

Bai Lu waited late that night, but there was no shadow of Jiang Ru.

She listened to the rain outside all night, she has covered herself with two layers of quilt so she was feeling very warm. But her hands were still cold, just like Jiang Ru’s before she left.