Chapter 31

【Major Gossip: Ji Ran has joined the school Sudoku team and will represent the school in the upcoming competition!】

This post early in the morning set the previously quiet forum on fire. Previously, Ji Ran had competed with members of the school’s Sudoku team, and under the scrutiny of the onlookers, the news had spread throughout the entire school.

If there were still people who didn’t know Ji Ran’s name before, now her popularity in the whole school is approaching that of Shen Zhi.

“Wow, the teacher from the Sudoku team is so amazing. If you can’t beat them, just recruit them. Impressive.”

“I heard that the teacher from the Sudoku team went directly to Ji Ran and invited her to join. Xue Yirou really lost face this time.”

“Xue Yirou challenged Ji Ran on her own initiative; she must be upset that Ji Ran took away her school flower title.”

“I declare from now on that I am a loyal supporter of Ji Ran. This girl is simply a script for a refreshing drama. But with her Sudoku skills, how did she only score 22 in mathematics?”

As soon as this post came out, even Wen Qianxia couldn’t help but ask Ji Ran about it.

Finally, when the morning self-study was over, Wen Qianxia immediately turned her head and said, “Ranran, are you really joining the Sudoku team?”

Ji Ran nodded.

Obviously, Wen Qianxia did not see the heavy expression on her face, but instead, she patted her desk and said excitedly, “Wow, Ranran, you are really amazing. A versatile talent; even Sudoku, you can handle it.”

That day, Wen Qianxia saw Ji Ran win against two people in person.

For someone like her, who was bad at mathematics, she had never even seen a basic Sudoku. That day, she looked at the problems on the white board once, but in the end, she didn’t even understand the questions.

“Are you representing the school in the competition?”

Ji Ran nodded. Teacher Xu had told her directly that this competition started at the city level, followed by the provincial level, and if they made it to the end, there would be the national level. Unlike other competitions, winning in Sudoku didn’t guarantee much; at most, the Sudoku team might sign a preferential agreement with top domestic universities.

For example, if you reach the first-tier level, you can enter a top, prestigious school unconditionally.

Even if it was so, it still provided students with a guarantee—enough to compete once.

The Sudoku team trained twice a week during evening self-study, so it didn’t take up much time. Ji Ran already liked Sudoku, and in her previous life, Pei Yuan didn’t let her touch Sudoku again after high school, fearing that it would affect her studies.

Ji Ran didn’t continue participating in competitions, but privately, she bought a lot of exercise books and practiced when she was bored.

When it was time for evening self-study, Ji Ran packed up her things and prepared to go to the activity building.

Just as she closed her backpack and was about to get up, suddenly the boy next to her reached out and gently tapped her desk, whispering, “Ji Ran.”

Ji Ran turned her head to look at him.

Shen Zhi felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart. She had always sat quietly next to him during her evening self-study, reading her books with her head down. She rarely spoke, and occasionally Wen Qianxia would turn around and ask her a question.

But even though she was always quiet, she had always been there.

Shen Zhi couldn’t help but smile at his sudden sentimental thoughts. It hadn’t been a whole night, and he already couldn’t bear to be without her.

He said, “Give me your hand.”

The girl froze for a few seconds, and after her curled long lashes blinked innocently twice, she slowly reached out her hand, her snow-white and delicate palm open in the air.

Seeing her obediently following instructions, Shen Zhi’s lips gently curled, revealing a hint of a smile.

Then he placed his palm above hers, finger by finger, spreading them apart until the last piece of candy gently slipped from his palm and fell into Ji Ran’s hand.

She lowered her head and saw a cute little white rabbit on the milky white candy wrapper.

Ji Ran didn’t expect Shen Zhi to give her a piece of candy.

Shen Zhi reached out and ruffled her hair, whispering, “Little student, keep it up.”

He lowered his voice, and his tone was deep and silky, like a feather pen gently stroking the heart, causing an inexplicable tingling sensation.

With her backpack on her back, Ji Ran arrived at the entrance of the training room. The noise inside hadn’t completely subsided yet. When Ji Ran stood at the door, she gently pushed it open.

The training room, which had been noisy just a moment ago, suddenly became quiet.

The students inside thought that the guidance teacher had arrived, and they all sat up straight. However, when they saw the girl standing at the door, they instead exchanged awkward glances, feeling speechless embarrassment.

After all, just a few days ago, Ji Ran sternly reprimanded the entire Sudoku team.

Especially for Xue Yirou and Zhou Jing, there was a trace of embarrassment on their faces.

The team members were aware of the news that Ji Ran was joining the Sudoku team. Xue Yirou’s reaction was the most intense, considering she had initially wanted to humiliate Ji Ran but ended up being scolded instead.

Now everyone was saying that Ji Ran deserved the title of school flower.

Not only was she beautiful, but she was also so versatile.

Xue Yirou even considered quitting the Sudoku team to resist the teacher. However, Teacher Xu insisted, and Ji Ran’s demonstrated skills surpassed everyone on their current Sudoku team.

Therefore, Ji Ran’s addition was a matter of course.

In the end, Xue Yirou didn’t quit the Sudoku team, especially since she was about to represent the school in the competition. At this moment, she scrutinized Ji Ran with envy and resentment in her eyes.

Ji Ran scanned the training room. The Sudoku team’s training room was slightly larger than their classroom.

However, there were only a dozen team members in the entire Sudoku team because each person had their own table, and it wasn’t as neatly arranged as in the classroom. Some tables were placed more casually, with considerable distance between them.

Seeing an empty table, Ji Ran prepared to walk over when a voice came from behind.

“Ji Ran has arrived.”

Today’s class happened to be conducted by Teacher Xu, who saw Ji Ran standing at the door and warmly asked her to come forward for a self-introduction.

After Ji Ran quietly stopped, she said, “Hello, everyone. I am Ji Ran, Class 8 of Grade 2.”

She didn’t say much, just a brief introduction. Teacher Xu didn’t mind and instead smiled, saying to the students below, “From now on, Ji Ran will train with all of you. You could say you’ve just met.”

Everyone: “…”

Teacher, are you sure we’re not here to be tortured?

The training time of more than two hours passed quickly. When Ji Ran looked up, she heard Teacher Xu mention the end of class. Since it was already after school hours, everyone quickly packed up their things to go home.

Just as Ji Ran finished packing, Xue Yirou suddenly stood up and said to her, “Ji Ran, it’s your turn for duty today.”

She glanced at Xue Yirou, her gaze calm and indifferent.

Did she look like someone easy to bully?

Xue Yirou was obviously a bit stunned by her gaze, and then she whispered, “The training room also needs to be cleaned. Before you came, we all took turns doing it.”

Another boy next to her whispered, “Ji Ran, you just need to erase the blackboard, organize the markers the teacher used, and tidy up the whiteboard.”

Ji Ran finally nodded slowly and said, “I understand.”

After all, it was her first day, and Ji Ran didn’t intend to turn the tables right away. Anyway, she had plenty of time to let Xue Yirou get to know her character.

After Ji Ran tidied up the training room a bit, she immediately put on her backpack and left.

Even though it was only a few minutes before the end of evening self-study, the whole school had a deserted feeling, with only the dormitory area in the distance still lit.

Ji Ran walked all the way to the school gate before seeing people again.

The last bus across the street from the school came at half past ten, so it was around nine now. She casually walked to the bus stop.

Since the bus hadn’t arrived yet, she sat on a bench and took out her earphones from her bag, planning to listen to music while waiting for the bus.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she put on her earphones, someone lightly tapped her shoulder.

Ji Ran looked up and saw an unfamiliar boy. He was wearing the uniform of No. 4 middle school, looking delicate, somewhat thin, and not particularly tall—a typical well-behaved student.

Ji Ran reached for one side of her earphones, about to ask what the matter was.

However, the boy in front of her suddenly seemed as if someone had grabbed him from behind, losing his balance. The next moment, Ji Ran saw Shen Zhi standing behind the boy.

He directly grabbed the back of the boy’s collar with both hands, half-dragging him aside and slamming him against the advertising board next to the bus stop.

With a ‘bang,’ the muffled sound of the person hitting the advertising board startled Ji Ran.

But Shen Zhi had no intention of letting go easily. He pulled the boy, who was now sitting on the ground, up again and pressed him against the advertising board. The light from the board shone on Shen Zhi’s face, and his pitch-black eyes exuded an extremely cold and dangerous aura. His face was terrifyingly expressionless, and even his jawline was tightly strained.

Shen Zhi stared fixedly at the boy’s face, his fingers still gripping the boy’s collar, appearing to exert all his strength. The veins on the back of his hand slightly bulged, and he lowered his voice as he said, “What the hell do you want? Huh?”

His voice was filled with danger and an indistinctly unrestrained fierceness.

The boy didn’t speak but struggled a bit. However, his struggle was like the helpless and frantic struggle of prey in the hands of a powerful enemy on the verge of death. Instead of breaking free from Shen Zhi’s restraint, it made him look even more disheveled.

Until he whispered softly, “I didn’t…”

However, Shen Zhi didn’t believe his words. His voice became even colder. “Did I not tell you to be honest and not fall into my hands again?”

Ji Ran stood in place, feeling an indescribable sensation.

She had seen Shen Zhi’s fighting demeanor before, as well as his provocation of the vocational school delinquents at Luoying Mountain. Although he appeared fierce, there was a lazy tone that indicated he didn’t take the opponent seriously.

But this time, facing this boy, Shen Zhi exuded an extreme coldness from head to toe, an icy indifference.

as if he might really kill the boy in the next second.

Finally, she softly said, “Shen Zhi, he really didn’t do anything.”

The boy had just patted her shoulder. Ji Ran didn’t sense any malicious intent, so she didn’t understand why Shen Zhi suddenly acted this way.

However, Shen Zhi remained silent, just coldly looking at the boy.

At that moment, a bus approached from a short distance away, slowing down in front of the bus stop. It was the bus Ji Ran took to and from school every day.

Ji Ran turned her head to look, hesitating whether she should board the bus.

Just then, Shen Zhi sneered and, with a forceful movement, threw the boy on the ground again, as if he were discarding trash. The next second, he walked over, directly grabbed Ji Ran’s hand, and got on the bus.

Ji Ran stood on the bus, unable to help but glance back at the bus stop. The boy was still sitting on the ground, huddled up, with a huge backpack on his back.

Whether he was too small or the backpack was too big, there was an indescribable sense of desolation.

Ji Ran gripped the handrail on the bus, lightly pulling with her fingertips, questions swirling in her mind like a tumultuous sea.

Although there were various rumors about Shen Zhi in school, Ji Ran had been with him for the past two months and knew that, despite his reputation as a senior, she had never seen him bully classmates in school.

Even when there was a commotion between male and female students in the class, it ended with a book being directly thrown onto him while he was sleeping.

Everyone’s hearts stopped for a moment in that second.

But he leisurely straightened his waist, glanced at the book on his desk, picked it up, and casually threw it back, saying somewhat helplessly, “Keep your voices down.”

After that incident, the classmates in the entire class became much more comfortable around him. Therefore, Shen Zhi is definitely not the type to casually bully classmates.

Ji Ran licked her lips, wanting to speak but instead not knowing what to say.

Shen Zhi, with his eyes lowered, looked at her and said softly, “What do you want to ask?”

Ji Ran immediately said, “Who is he?”

Shen Zhi was a bit surprised. He thought her first question would be about why he had fought the other person. He calmly uttered a few words, “Just a nobody.”

“Do you have a grudge against him?” Ji Ran asked softly.

Unexpectedly, Shen Zhi immediately replied, “No.”

Ji Ran widened her eyes. If there’s no grudge, why treat him like that? It seemed quite strange.

Perhaps Ji Ran’s surprised expression was too obvious, as Shen Zhi sighed. “In the future, stay away from him when you encounter him.”

“Why?” Ji Ran couldn’t help but ask, as the boy seemed harmless.

Shen Zhi said indifferently, “Just keep your distance.”

Ji Ran didn’t want to bother with him, but Shen Zhi asked again, “Why did you leave so late?”

When it was time for the evening self-study to end, Shen Zhi was waiting for her under the teaching building. Thinking she had already left after waiting for a long time, he went to the activity building. Somehow, they both missed each other.

Anyway, when he arrived at the activity building, the entire building was in darkness.

When he walked back to the school gate, he saw the girl sitting next to the bus stop, not far from the person he disliked.

Especially when he saw the other person walk up to Ji Ran and pat her shoulder.

Neither of them spoke until Ji Ran got off the bus.

Ji Ran looked at him and whispered, “I’m home; you should go back early too.”

Shen Zhi nodded. Unexpectedly, just as Ji Ran turned around, he suddenly remembered something and reached out to stop her.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Ran turned around to look at him.

Shen Zhi’s fingers lightly touched her shoulder, and he said in a low voice, “Don’t wear this uniform tomorrow.”

Ji Ran blinked, not understanding why he said that.

However, in the next second, Shen Zhi said sternly, “That guy just touched your shoulder.”

Thinking about the fact that the guy dared to touch her shoulder, Shen Zhi suddenly regretted not breaking the guy’s fingers just now. Damn bad luck!

Ji Ran was dumbfounded. “Shen Zhi, don’t be ridiculous.”

The other person just touched her clothes. Did that mean she had to change her entire outfit? Moreover, there were only two sets of uniforms for No. 4 middle School, and she had just put on this uniform this morning.

But Shen Zhi didn’t let go; instead, he persistently looked at her and asked, as if coaxing a child, “Are you changing or not?”

Ji Ran felt he was a bit unreasonable. Of course, she would change her clothes, but it shouldn’t be for such a boring reason.

But the next moment, Shen Zhi suddenly took a step forward. Before Ji Ran could react, he lowered his head and lightly kissed her shoulder.

The boy’s lips touched the soft fabric and the faint fragrance on the clothes.

There was always a faint fragrance lingering around her, which was very pleasant.

When he kissed her,he couldn’t help but close his eyes, his expression devout and serious. Until he lifted his head, opening his eyes again and staring directly at Ji Ran.

Shen Zhi’s lips curled slightly, and he said softly, “Alright, now this is my scent.”

Ji Ran felt extremely embarrassed. Why was he like this!