I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 40 - 37 Discovering Clues to a Failed Exam

Chapter 40: Chapter 37 Discovering Clues to a Failed Exam

Tan Xiaobing didn’t come to class the next day.

It was evident that she couldn’t withstand the rumors and gossip on the school forum, her resilience seemingly even less than Qingran’s.

The students in Class Seven all knew why, and they silently looked at Tan Xiaobing’s empty seat.

Sun Xiaoping pushed up her black-framed glasses and whispered to Su Chan Yi, "Xiao Bing usually loves gossiping, but she’s not as bad as what people say on the school forum, right?"

Su Chan Yi was writing with a pen, she paused briefly upon hearing this and retorted, "Based on what you’re saying, do people deserve to be harmed by her rumors?"

"No, no," Sun Xiaoping hastily waved her hands, "I... I didn’t mean that."

Su Chan Yi obviously knew that wasn’t what Sun Xiaoping meant; she was just accustomed to playing the good Samaritan.

Ma Qingsheng behind them was turning back, talking with Song Shize.

Song Shize was still his listless self until Ma Qingsheng mentioned that someone had been spreading rumors on the school forum recently, claiming Li Qingran was stringing him along, which suddenly made him raise his eyelids.

"Since when?"

Ma Qingsheng was startled by his reaction, "Just, just a few days ago, Brother Ze, while you were hospitalized."

Song Shize suddenly sat up straight, "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

"I..." Before Ma Qingsheng could finish his words, Song Shize had already dashed out of the classroom.

There was a certain distance from Class Seven to Class One, and it was nearly time for class, so there were hardly any people in the corridors. Song Shize quickened his pace, moving forward.

Approaching the staircase to Class One, he saw Ruan Ruan eating something as she climbed the stairs.

Song Shize disdainfully turned his head, but Ruan Ruan had already spotted him.

"Song Shize!" Ruan Ruan hurried up the remaining stairs toward Song Shize, her soy milk spilling a few drops from the straw as she ran.

Tsk, Song Shize averted his gaze, feeling it wasn’t a sight worth seeing.

A girl who could live life so crudely was indeed a rare sight around him.

"Song Shize," Ruan Ruan called out as she approached, "what are you doing heading to Class One? Are you going to look for Ranran again?"

Song Shize stepped back, eyeing the soy milk in Ruan Ruan’s hand warily, "I warn you, stay away from me, and don’t let that stuff splash on me."

Ruan Ruan glanced at the hot soy milk in her hand, took a big slurp through the straw, and looked at Song Shize with disdain: "Stop pretending, I refuse to believe you’ve never had soy milk."

The corner of Song Shize’s mouth twitched, "Not this kind, it looks cheap."

"Cheap?" Ruan Ruan replied irritably, "It’s three yuan for this small cup, Young Master Song."

Ruan Ruan actually came from quite a good family background, but she had inherited her grandmother’s frugality as a traditional virtue and seldom splurged on anything besides her meals.

This wasn’t a good place to talk, so Song Shize headed toward Class One.

Pitter-pattering, Ruan Ruan chased after him, "Song Shize, keep away from Ranran, nothing good happens when she’s around you."

Song Shize, annoyed, quickened his step.

Qingran has been arriving at school quite early recently. Xie Ying’an used to show up just in time, but ever since he started sharing a desk with Qingran, he began arriving significantly earlier.

A test paper was laid out between their desks, Xie Ying’an’s pen gliding over it as he encircled two characters on a problem, explaining in a low voice to Qingran, "...given 3s3 = a4 - 2, and 3s2 = a3 - 2, then the common ratio..."

Qingran had stumbled into a blind spot regarding the problem-solving approach to mathematics, and God Ji had been her beacon of light the day before. Using the problem-solving formula he had provided, she reattempted the calculations and indeed felt a sudden enlightenment.

Xie Ying’an’s explanation of the problem-solving process was crystal clear, and Qingran followed his logic to bypass the intentionally confusing conditions and swiftly determined the correct answer.

Xie Ying’an looked at Qingran with an approving smile in his eyes, "Good, just keep practicing."

The boy’s voice was very soft; the cool scent of mint pleasantly and invasively wafted into Qingran’s nostrils.

Clutching her pen, Qingran started to verify the solution on the scratch paper, while Xie Ying’an leaned slightly to watch the formula she was writing down.

Huang Qianyu, who was at the front right, looked at the two individuals getting close together, her eyes reddening with anger. Her deskmate, Chu Rong, quietly tugged at her arm.

Huang Qianyu shook off the hand and yelled at Chu Rong, "Don’t touch me with your dirty hands!"

The classmates glanced over at the commotion, and Huang Qianyu paid special attention to Xie Ying’an’s reaction. The young man maintained a placid expression, never once raising his head to look in her direction.

Qingran couldn’t have cared less about Huang Qianyu’s outburst; she quickly solved the math problem at hand.

"Li Qingran, come out!"

A familiar male voice came from the back door of the classroom, and Qingran didn’t need to look to know who it was.

Xie Ying’an’s expression turned grim in an instant.

Then they heard Ruan Ruan’s voice from the same direction: "Ranran, don’t pay attention to this lunatic."

The two people by the classroom’s back door began a mild argument, but it was too far for Qingran to hear clearly.

"Don’t mind him." Xie Ying’an stood and walked out. "I’ll go have a look."

Several students pretended to read their books while they sneakily peeked outside. They were teens with raging hormones, eager for a thrill. With all the recent gossip about Qingran and the spoiled rich kid, witnessing it firsthand was even more thrilling.

Qingran didn’t go outside. Ever since she became deskmates with Xie Ying’an, her once serene life had turned chaotic, and now even her grades were beyond her control, which somewhat distressed her.

Xie Ying’an had just left for a few minutes before Ruan Ruan came in.

Two almost equally tall youths were reflected on the glass window; Xie Ying’an was talking, while Song Shize kept his head down, silent.

The classroom fell so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, with some students in the back nearly pressing against the wall to hear the voices outside.

The warning bell rang.

Soon after, Old Wu’s voice could be heard, "Song Shize, Xie Ying’an, what are you two doing here?"

Whatever the two said was unclear, but they heard Old Wu again: "Classes are about to start, whatever you have to say can wait until after school."

Xie Ying’an and Old Wu walked in together.

Old Wu hated students who talked during class. Xie Ying’an could tell that Qingran wanted to ask why Song Shize had suddenly come over.

He grabbed a piece of draft paper, swiftly wrote a line, and pushed it to Qingran.

Two lines of strong and square regular script shone through the paper, reading: He found out about the school forum thing, came specially to apologize to you.

Qingran’s gaze lingered on those two lines before she took the pen to reply: Haven’t you always written in cursive?

Referring to what’s known as his grass script handwriting.

Xie Ying’an was visibly taken aback when he read her reply. He continued writing: Cursive is hard for you to read.

Qingran’s pupils contracted slightly. She stuffed the small note into her desk drawer and sat up straight, focusing on the lesson.

Old Wu was extremely efficient. He had collected two chemical test papers yesterday, and by today, he had already graded them.

After taking a sip of water, he said, "Consider this test paper a minor gauge of your current standing..."

The papers were distributed by the class monitor. As Qingran received her paper and looked at the scores, her heart rate involuntarily accelerated.

The two test papers had scores of 97 and 98, respectively.

Qingran let out a deep sigh of relief.

Xie Ying’an’s performance was even more outrageous; the several long questions which he copied from her even resulted in a perfect score on one test.

Both papers were done by Qingran at home over the weekend. Actually, before the papers were handed out, she was slightly unsure if the answers might change like the last two times, but it seems they had not.

So, what was the reason then?

Could it be that only when she maintains a certain distance from the heroine will her grades not be affected by the plot?

Qingran looked at Wen Shiyi’s back in front of her, wondering just how far away from the heroine she needed to be for her answers to remain unaffected.

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