Chapter 53: Don’t Talk About Her

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Don’t Talk About Her

The next morning, he felt sleepy the moment he got to the classroom.

On Tuesdays, classes without Teacher Bai were bland and utterly tasteless.

Chen Yuan felt that if this kept up, he’d really be in danger of failing his finals. ’Do I really have to go pray to Huang Daxian?’

He barely listened during his morning classes. He understood some of what was covered in the first ten minutes, but only some. After that, his mind started to wander.

"This is for you!"

Arriving at his afternoon class, Li Yingying placed a cup from Shanghai Auntie in front of Chen Yuan.

"For you."

"Our Arts Rep is so generous."

Chen Yuan wasn’t picky about the flavor. Just getting a free drink was nice enough.

"Is there anything else you want to drink? I can go buy it for you."

Chen Yuan looked at Li Yingying warily. "What are you trying to do? This fruit tea can buy my body, but it can’t buy my soul."

"I have good news for you. You’ve advanced, so you can participate in the Top Ten Campus Singers competition."

"Huh? I advanced with a children’s song? There has to be some sort of foul play!"

"But you really did sing well. It’s just that your song choice wasn’t great. If you choose your song carefully this time, you might have a chance to make it into the top 30."

Chen Yuan scratched his head, an image already forming in his mind: singing a children’s song in front of all the students and teachers of the university...

Things were starting to get surreal...

"There are 70 people in total? How will the next rounds of the competition work?"

"Two colleges will be grouped together. The 10 contestants who advanced will compete, and four to six people will be chosen. They’ll do this until there are 30 people for the next round."

"And from 30 to 15?"

"Same thing. The final 15 will perform in the auditorium."

"Just tell me the time and place when it’s decided."

"OK."

During his afternoon class, Chen Yuan spent the whole time searching for a song in his music library. There were so many that his eyes glazed over.

If it were just a matter of pulling a surreal stunt, Chen Yuan wouldn’t be afraid.

He wouldn’t care even if he had to sing "Gonna Pinch Your Thigh" or "My Pee Turned Yellow After We Broke Up".

It’s all about absurdist humor, just for the fun of it.

But a children’s song was different. It wasn’t quite surreal, but it wasn’t exactly serious either.

It was like seeing a beautiful girl in a cute JK uniform, but paired with a pair of pig-kidney shoes. It was just hard to judge.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was Wednesday, and he had Bai Yueran’s class.

Her perfume today was a bit pungent, and her stockings were now nude-colored. Her overall look and makeup were far from being as good as on Monday.

’A bland Wednesday. School offers nothing to look forward to.’

Before class ended, Chen Yuan received a message from Song Jianye.

Song Jianye: "Let’s have lunch together. We can go to the driving school to practice this afternoon."

Chen Yuan: "OK."

The moment class was over, Chen Yuan bolted for the cafeteria. If you were late, not only was the food cold, but there wouldn’t even be any seats left.

After saving a table, Song Jianye ordered a bowl of wontons, and Chen Yuan got a bowl of hui mian, also grabbing two cups of two-yuan plum juice.

"I’ll transfer you two yuan," Song Jianye said, holding her phone.

"Why are you giving me money?"

"I have to spend my own money this week. I can’t use your money to buy things."

"You’re actually taking this seriously?" Chen Yuan said while eating his noodles.

"You have to be true to your word. Besides, if other people can do it, I can too."

Song Jianye put her phone away and looked at Chen Yuan.

"Sent it to you."

Seeing Song Jianye’s earnest expression, Chen Yuan didn’t dwell on the trivial matter.

After they finished eating, Song Jianye picked up her bag, and the two of them walked out of the campus together.

"Is Uncle Zhang taking us, or are we going on our own?"

"It would be against the rules if Uncle Zhang took us. We can walk or take the bus."

Chen Yuan discovered that Song Jianye was more stubborn and resilient than he had imagined.

"It’s a bit far to walk. Let’s take the bus."

"Your call."

When they got to the bus stop, the bus came quickly.

They got off after two stops and still had to walk another 200-plus meters to get to the driving school.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the camphor trees, scattering flecks of gold. Song Jianye’s cotton skirt swayed gently in the wind as they walked side-by-side, their shadows silently overlapping on the ground.

Before they knew it, the pair had arrived at the driving school with half an hour to spare.

They sat under the shade of a tree. The wind rustled the budding leaves on the branches. As they looked out at the empty training grounds of the driving school, neither of them felt bored.

"Wait for me, I’m going to the restroom."

"Mm."

Song Jianye got up and left. As Chen Yuan sat in the shade, he realized he’d forgotten something. Thinking back on their route, there didn’t seem to be any proper convenience stores nearby.

He took out his phone and ordered two lemonades from Xuezi.

After a rider accepted the order, Chen Yuan sent a message.

Nancun Qunluo Qi Wo Lao Wuli: "Bro, can you help me buy three packs of Yuhua Stone?"

Rider (Wang Xiangqian): "Not even if you call me ’Dad’. No time."

Nancun Qunluo Qi Wo Lao Wuli: "I’ll give you a pack."

Rider (Wang Xiangqian): Got it, Dad.

Miyue Ice City (Tongjiang Branch): ▷︎ı||ııı|1

Nancun Qunluo Qi Wo Lao Wuli: "Buy four packs then. Give one to the shop."

Miyue Ice City (Tongjiang Branch): "I’ll add some extra lemon slices for you."

Soon, Song Jianye returned and took out her gear from her bag.

It was a sun-protection jacket and a sun-protection face mask that, when worn over her head, revealed only her eyes.

"Look at my new getup. Isn’t it terrifying?"

"If we came here at night, you could wear that outfit and go steal the driving school’s engines."

Song Jianye held up her phone, opened the front-facing camera, and took a picture of her "new skin."

"A little flower for you."

After taking the picture, Song Jianye plucked a small dandelion that was growing from a crack in the stone and held it out to Chen Yuan.

"You can pluck the petals to predict whether you’ll pass Subject Two," Chen Yuan said as he took it.

"But I think I made a mistake."

"What mistake?"

"There were three little flowers here, and I plucked the smallest one. Now the daddy flower and mommy flower have lost their child."

’The weather is so nice, why is she suddenly so gloomy?’

Chen Yuan plucked the remaining two and placed them in Song Jianye’s hand.

"There, that’s better. Now the whole family is happily together again."

Song Jianye paused for a moment. That seemed to make a lot of sense, too.

One after another, other people started arriving to practice driving.

They all had young faces, probably students from the nearby University City.

About twenty-something minutes later, the delivery guy also arrived. Money was exchanged for cigarettes.

He had two lemonades and gave one to Song Jianye, who stubbornly transferred four yuan to him.

At one in the afternoon, the Subject Two practice began on time.

Under the canopy on the training grounds, the instructors for Subject Two gathered one by one. There was a sign next to them with their names written on it.

After passing Subject One, they had both received a text message with their assigned instructor, so all they had to do was find the right name.

Their instructor was a man in his forties with a three-seven part hairstyle and dark, tanned skin. His name was Zhou Jianye.

Since it was a Wednesday, there weren’t many people practicing. Chen Yuan’s group had four people; the other two were also guys.

After they gathered, the instructor led the four of them toward the training car.

Chen Yuan deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside Zhou Jianye.

"Coach, Liqun is a bit too strong. Smoke this instead."

Seeing the Yuhua Stone cigarettes Chen Yuan was offering, Zhou Jianye knew exactly what was up and smoothly accepted them.

"You two can stay a bit later. I’ll let you practice a few extra laps."

"Thanks, Coach."

Chen Yuan pointed at Song Jianye. "She’s my classmate. She’s a bit introverted, thin-skinned, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. If she doesn’t practice well, please don’t be hard on her."

...

Thanks to my readers [Jin Ye Da Yu], [Huan Wo Xin Wei Ni Xin], and [Mei Xin Mei Fei t] for the book coins.

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