Chapter 36-Part 2

In front of the competition venue, there was a giant timer displaying red digits that had a striking and unsettling feeling. It wasn’t until a girl in the field suddenly raised her hand high that the referee walked over to her.

Following the referee’s signal, the girl slowly stood up.

The previously quiet surroundings suddenly buzzed with discussion.

“Is this little girl giving up?” someone wondered.

“Impossible; she must have finished the test.”

“How is that possible? It’s only been this short a time; can you finish it in half an hour?”

“Really, look, the referee took her answer sheet. With this speed in solving puzzles, she must be a Sudoku genius.”

“Don’t be fooled by the girl’s young age; these genius girls are actually the most formidable.”

Discussions were in full swing, with everyone talking about the white-clad girl who submitted her paper early. Only Shen Zhi smiled faintly; she had always been a genius, but she also worked very hard.

In a place hidden from their view, she had always worked hard.

After the turn of the millennium, various strange tutoring classes emerged. At only nine years old, Ji Ran had been studying Sudoku for three years, and she loved this numerical game.

For her, it wasn’t tedious training, but a game.

However, this year, she switched from her original tutoring class to this training center known as’youth palace’, where the city’s best Sudoku young players gathered for training, helping each other improve.

“What are you all looking at? The teacher is coming soon,” a little girl beside Ji Ran asked.

At this moment, two boys in the class were leaning against the window, watching the excitement outside. It wasn’t until one of the boys said, “There’s a kid outside picking up trash. Just now, Xu Le and I made a bet that if he threw away half a can of cola, whether the person picking up trash would drink it or not.”

“You guys are so boring,” the little girl said with a smile.

Ji Ran glanced at them, her eyes casually falling on the street. Sure enough, there was a boy on the roadside, appearing to be the same age as them. At the moment, he was bending over to pick up the cola can.

Then he gently shook it, and there was still quite a bit of cola left inside.

Ji Ran should have continued to work on the Sudoku problems in her workbook, but she seemed to be drawn to the scene, staring at the boy.

Afterward, the boy quietly poured out the cola from the can, flattened the can underfoot, and put it in the large bag he was carrying.

“Tch, he doesn’t care about your stinky cola.” Ji Ran’s deskmate said it happily.

Zhou Jiaqi complained, “He doesn’t care about the cola, so why bother picking up our cola cans?”

Xu Le nodded. “He’s just a smelly garbage collector. He must smell bad, hanging out with trash every day.”

Ji Ran was a bit annoyed because she felt they were talking too much nonsense. So, the young girl sternly said, “If you keep talking, when Teacher Liu comes later, I will definitely tell him the truth.”

Teacher Liu was especially strict, and the kids in the Sudoku class were all afraid of him.

He only liked Ji Ran because she was the best student in the class.

The Sudoku class ended at four in the afternoon, and every day the driver would come to pick her up. So Ji Ran walked to the door early, getting ready to wait for the driver.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached the door, she heard an adult scolding, “What’s wrong with you? You parked the garbage truck here and crashed into my car. Let me tell you, you have to pay at least five hundred.”

“So unlucky.”

Ji Ran looked over and saw a man berating an elderly sanitation worker who was cleaning. The old lady looked very frail, probably due to her advanced age, as her hair was completely white.

The man continued to scold her, pointing fingers. “Let me tell you, don’t think you can escape by pretending. Old hag, stand up.”

Suddenly, a little boy rushed out from the side without saying a word. He swung the bag he was holding at the man.

The man was initially hit a bit, not dodging in time. When he turned around and saw it was just a child, he immediately became angry and embarrassed. He grabbed the bag and pulled the boy over.

“You little brat actually dares to hit me. Today, I’ll teach you a lesson, you motherless thing.”

The man didn’t expect that a casual curse would provoke such a furious reaction from the little boy. Though only around seven or eight years old, the boy fought back against the man like a raging little lion.

He growled low in his mouth, “Don’t bully my grandmother, don’t.”

His desperate attempt to protect his grandmother left Ji Ran somewhat stunned. How could he be so powerful, daring to fight an adult?

Seeing the man about to get angry, Ji Ran, for some reason, rushed forward. She shouted loudly, “Let him go.”

“Get lost; today I will teach this little brat a lesson.”

“If you don’t let him go, I’ll call the police to arrest you.” Ji Ran shouted loudly.

The man paid no attention to her words. Just as Ji Ran noticed her family’s car had arrived, the young girl shouted at the top of her lungs, “Uncle Han, come quickly; someone is going to hit me. Hurry and save me.”

The young girl’s clear voice echoed, and it wasn’t small at all.

In no time, a man came running from a nearby Mercedes-Benz. He approached and nervously said, “Miss, what’s going on?”

Ji Ran pointed at the man and said, “He cursed at me and wanted to hit me.”

“Young lady, don’t falsely accuse people.” The man, seeing an adult male arrive, especially one driving such a luxurious car, and calling this little girl ‘Miss,’ thought that this was a child from a wealthy family.

Ji Ran blinked her big eyes and pouted, saying, “He said I was born with a mother but raised without one.”

Upon hearing this, Uncle Han, the driver, immediately became angry. His little lady was strict about manners; who dared to speak nonsense in front of her? If it weren’t for the fact that this man had really insulted her, how could this little girl possibly know such words?

So the driver immediately stepped forward. Seeing that the man still hadn’t let go of the little boy, he said, “What’s wrong with you, a big man, bullying a child?”

Seeing the situation, Ji Ran added, “He also knocked down this grandmother while riding a motorcycle.”

“You shameless person, bullying children and even injuring this sanitation auntie. Fine, don’t leave. I’ll call the police and let them talk to you properly.”

The man immediately panicked. He pushed Han away, got on his little motorcycle, and quickly fled, leaving a trail of smoke.

Ji Ran made a face at his retreating figure.

Humph, coward.

When she turned around, she saw that the little boy had already run over and was talking to the sanitation grandma. Ji Ran walked over slowly. She noticed the grandma’s pale face and asked softly, “What happened to her?”

The little boy glanced at her without saying anything; he just opened the cloth bag beside him and took out a water bottle.

The bottle was one of those street-corner one-yuan bottled waters, and the shape of the bottle looked a bit odd.

It seemed like it had shrunk from being scalded with hot water inside.

The little boy carefully fed his grandma some water. After drinking a few sips, the old lady’s complexion seemed much better. However, the bottle only had a little water, and the old lady took another sip, but the water was gone.

At this point, the little boy finally spoke. He said, “Grandma, wait a moment; I’ll go get some water.”

“I… I have some.” Ji Ran saw him getting up, apparently about to borrow water from a nearby shop, and immediately said.

She took off her backpack and pulled out a delicate water bottle from the side pocket. It was a Winnie the Pooh water bottle her mom had bought for her at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Ji Ran loved it, and nobody was allowed to touch it normally.

She gently unscrewed the water bottle and handed it over, her big black and white eyes looking at the little boy, her voice sweet and soft. “I have water; you can feed your grandma.”

Driver Han, on the side, was a little hesitant. No one could touch the lady’s things at home.

However, he didn’t say anything to stop it. After all, the old lady seemed to be in bad condition.

After drinking a few more sips of water, the old lady looked much better. Only after finishing half a piece of chocolate did she see the old lady’s face improve significantly.

“Thank you, little girl.” The old lady looked at her apologetically. If it weren’t for her rushing out to protect the little boy just now, the child might have suffered.

Ji Ran immediately shook her head. “No need to thank me, Grandma.”

At this point, driver Han said in a low voice, “Miss, since the old lady is fine now, shall we go home?”

Ji Ran wanted to say something, but driver Han had already come over and held her small hand. So, she could only follow along slowly. After walking a few steps, she turned back to look at the little boy again.

His eyes were so beautiful.

But why didn’t he talk to her?

The next day at the ‘Youth Palace’, Ji Ran looked around the street before entering. However, she didn’t see the old lady or the little boy.

She felt a bit disappointed, as she didn’t know why she wanted to see him in the first place. Perhaps she just found him impressive, and he spoke so little, unlike other boys of his age who were annoyingly talkative. Besides, he was… so good-looking.

The teacher arrived soon, and the young girl sat on the floor, paying full attention to the class.

However, unintentionally, her eyes glanced outside.

It wasn’t until the end of the class that Ji Ran was packing her things with her head down. The chatty Zhou Jiaqi and Xu Le, who were beside her, were joking around. Suddenly, Zhou Jiaqi pointed outside and said, “That little trash is here again.”

Ji Ran’s eyes brightened, and she immediately looked outside.

It really was him.

So, she quickly packed up her things, put on her backpack, and walked outside. When she got there, she saw the little boy cleaning.

She walked over quietly and called out, “Hey.”

The little boy turned around quietly. His beautiful eyes, calm as obsidian, looked at her. Ji Ran suddenly felt a bit shy about being stared at.

She said, “Where’s your grandma?”

The little boy pursed his lips, seemingly unwilling to answer that question.

Ji Ran felt a bit wronged, wondering why he wouldn’t talk to her.

Until suddenly, an annoying voice came from behind: “Ji Ran, how could you talk to this garbage collector? He’s so dirty.”

Zhou Jiaqi stood behind, looking unhappy. The boys in the Sudoku class all liked Ji Ran because not only was she the most beautiful girl in the class, who came to class every day in a car, but she was also exceptionally smart, solving problems faster than anyone else.

She was the girl secretly admired by all the boys in the class.

Seeing her talk to a boy who collected garbage, Zhou Jiaqi felt particularly angry.

Seeing Ji Ran turn her head, he immediately said, “He collects garbage every day; he must be very dirty. Why don’t you dislike him?”

Children’s malice is always so direct and clear, even if it is said in front of the other party. The little boy on the other side tightened his lips even more, his fair little face tense.

Ji Ran glanced at Zhou Jiaqi, feeling very angry. She said, “You’re so ugly and talk so much. I haven’t despised you yet.”

The little girl looked a bit spoiled, causing the little boy behind her to be stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his small face.

In fact, he also wanted to talk to her, but he was afraid she would treat him like those who despised him.

But she didn’t.

She even spoke up for him.

Zhou Jiaqi didn’t expect to hear such words. Wasn’t this considered not despising him?

As a result, the fragile heart of the child suffered a blow, and he actually covered his eyes and ran away.

After he left, Ji Ran turned around to face the person behind her and whispered, “Ignore him; he’s just talkative and annoying.”

“I’m Yuan Jing,” the little boy said softly.

Yuan Jing.

Shen Zhi suddenly chuckled mockingly. How many years had it been since he thought of that name? He almost called himself that name.

He used to be a little boy who picked up garbage on the streets to supplement the family income.

As he looked up at the girl in white walking towards him, Shen Zhi suddenly felt a slight ache in his eyes.

Ranran, it is good that you forgot about Yuan Jing.

At least, let the current Shen Zhi in your eyes always be a proud and arrogant young man.