Chapter 2: 2

Qin Juran’s statement had the effect of a pause button on the entire class. Ruan Nan was frozen in place, her face flushing as her body was enveloped by a fresh floral scent. She felt as if Qin Juran could see right through her.

There was a plop as the professor standing in the doorway dropped her teaching materials on the ground.

Qin Juran’s lips twitched and she lazily twirled a curl of hair in her fingers. Ignoring Ruan Nan’s burning face, she glanced towards the doorway where a student was helping the teacher pick up her papers. Standing behind them was a male student with his bag slung over his shoulder.

His appearance was quite standard: his gold wire-rimmed glasses glared in the light and his hair was brushed in a mature, adult-like manner.

Qin Juran tactfully assessed him.

The author’s writing skills must be quite lacking, huh. Perhaps they tried too hard to emulate the feeling of a rich, powerful businessman that they forgot the context of the story. The male lead, who’s supposed to be a third year in college, looked more like an expressionless stone than a person. He was handsome enough, but he looked even older than the professor beside him!

The male lead…was supposed to look that old? Qin Juran knitted her brows, and before she could hide the look of disdain on her face, Fan Chuan’s eyes met hers.

Qin Juran casually strolled back to her seat while the class broke out of their shocked state. Some students began whispering to each other on the spot, others began tapping away on their cell phones. Ruan Nan’s minions, realizing that their leader had just been offended, rushed to comfort her.

Qin Juran’s phone also buzzed a few times. She pulled it out to see three new messages from Feng Jing:

【Qin Juran are you INSANE? 】

【How did you dare to speak to Ruan Nan like that? 】

【 And what do you mean by jealous? 】

Qin Juran shut off her phone without responding. In the original novel, Ruan Nan fought fair and honestly, but Feng Jing was different. She couldn’t compare to Qin Juran in terms of looks, nor to Ruan Nan in terms of family background, so she acted as a spy, trying to benefit from both sides.

It was Feng Jing who let the love letter end up in Ruan Nan’s hands in the first place.

Qin Juran tidied her notes and began to pay attention to class. In her past life, she had studied abroad since high school; although she was still a finance major, listening to the classes taught in Chinese was quite unfamiliar. Qin Juran straightened her posture and focused all of her energy. The original Qin Juran character was a top student, and since she already transmigrated here, no matter what happened down the line, she was determined to live well.

Finally came the end of class. Qin Juran checked her schedule to see that she had no afternoon classes. The classroom began to empty, and as they were leaving, Ruan Nan and Fan Chuan shared a meaningful glace, ignoring Qin Juran.

Feng Jing walked over, asking, “Are we eating at the cafeteria today?”

Qin Juran thought for a moment, then replied, “I’m going back to the dorm and ordering takeout, I need to organize my things.”

Feng Jing said that she would accompany her, and the two left the class. As soon as she stepped outside the building, Qin Juran was taken aback by the lavishness of the campus. Deep-green colored classical-styled architecture surrounded the premise; the campus seemed to extend for acres, it was nothing like the aristocracy of the universities abroad.

The power of fiction indeed had its perks.

Upon walking out, Feng Jing asked, “Are you getting your car?”

Car? The original Qin Juran struggled financially, since when did she buy a car? Maybe it was implicit in the story?

Qin Juran let out a sign and feigned forgetfulness, saying, “Hey, do you remember where I parked my car?”

Feng Jing regarded her strange behavior suspiciously, then moved towards the parking lot behind the school building in exasperation. She walked inside and pointed towards a blue Mercedes parked within. “Isn’t it right here?”

Qin Juran gulped. This car is worth at least 3 million yuan, she couldn’t even bring herself to justify buying it in her previous life, but now it’s here, just like that??

Qin Juran wavered, pretending to search through her bag. Aside from what appeared to be house keys, the car keys were not there. “Um, have you seen my keys?”

Feng Jing rolled her eyes, pointing at the keys in her hand. “Aren’t they right there?”

Before Qin Juran could finish, a foreign teacher in sunglasses walked up to the car, opened the door and rolled down the windows, slammed on the accelerator, and zoomed out of the parking lot in a whiff.

That’s when Qin Juran saw the small, florescent green motor scooter parked behind.

“Damn.”

——-

Qin Juran never drove anything of the sort, but Feng Jing was already looking expectantly beside her. Although Qin Juran intended to give her a ride, she didn’t even know where the dorms were to begin with, and after a while of fumbling, she finally figured out how to work the bike. Feng Jing was a bit on the heavier side, and the bike shook with her weight when she sat on. Qin Juran rubbed her eyes and asked hesitantly, “Why did I end up buying this thing?”

In the sweltering summer heat, Feng Jing spread her arms wide to enjoy the cool breeze that the ride provided. “Didn’t you say that this was a birthday present from your dad?”

“…then why did I paint this green?” Juran tightened her grip on the handles.

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“Didn’t you say that your little brother was afraid that you’d getting hit, so green was a good eye-catching color?”

“……”

After a slow and cautious ride, Qin Juran finally arrived and steadily parked by the dormitory entrance. The dorm buildings were just as luxurious as the rest of the campus; the exterior was of gothic European design, and each room had four beds along with a bathroom and balcony. Qin Juran was almost afraid that she wouldn’t be able to tell which bed was hers, but as she walked further in, there in the back was a bed covered in white lotus floral print.

……

After ordering some takeout from MeiTuan 1 with Feng Jing, Qin Juran checked her account balance while she was on the app. There was hardly 10,000 yuan left, and that was after 3 years of frugal spending on the original character’s part.

Hm…

One step at a time.

One of the beds in the room was bare, the owner seemed to have moved out a while ago. The third roommate was also nowhere to be seen. As they were all third-years, everyone must’ve been busy doing their own thing. After tidying her belongings, Qin Juran went to shower, and was finally able to take a good look at herself in the bathroom mirror.

The face that looked back at her was the same as ever.

Not only her appearance, but her height and voice were unusually similar to that of her past life. The reflection in the mirror was a spitting image of a 5-year-younger version of herself: dewy jet-black hair, porcelain white skin, and a naturally high nose bridge that created an unforgettably beautiful impression. Apart from the original character’s poor taste, Qin Juran began to suspect that the author of the novel met her in her past life.

Qin Juran stood dazedly in the shower as the mirror fogged up with steam. The end of one world turned out to be the start of a rebirth in another. She didn’t know what kind of world this novel took place in or how different it was from her other, but she was determined to face any obstacles in her way.

Thankfully, she hadn’t found herself forced into any plotlines, like some omnipotent system that would compel her to fall in love with the male lead. So, it seems that she had free will – she just needed to deal with the trivial problems encountered in the original novel.

Suddenly, the image of Ran Nuan appeared in Qin Juran’s mind. Her fingers subconsciously caressed her skin.

Indeed, anything was possible.

Qin Juran got dressed and began to clean and familiarize herself with her belongings. The closet was full of simple and plain clothes in varying shades of white. The bed and desk were all neatly organized; at the head of the bed was a cabinet full of everyday objects and accessories. As Qin Juran tried to pull open the third drawer, she found that it was locked shut. She frowned and fumbled around for the key.

Pop. The lock clicked open and Qin Juran pulled open the drawer to find laying inside a few pictures of Fan Chuan.

There were shots of varying angles and facial expressions, and even some with his school uniform, all seemed to be taken rather long ago. Qin Juran regarded these photos with as much interest as any other person, then letting out a sigh, she stood up, placed the photos in an envelope, and tossed them in the trash bin.

Noticing Qin Juran’s usual behavior from the side, Feng Jing abruptly grabbed Qin Juran’s elbow and asked, astonished, “Qin Juran, what are you doing?”

Qin Juran’s gaze landed on her arm where Feng Jing was grasping her.

Realizing her manners, Feng Jing let go of her elbow and repeated defensively, “Well, what are you doing?”

“Throwing some pictures out.”

“You’re just going to toss Fan Chuan’s pictures like that??”

“Should I burn them instead? That’s not so nice, isn’t it…”

“….…How could you throw out pictures of Fan Chuan? You liked him for so long, and you worked so hard to take these!”

Qin Juran dusted her hands off and pat Feng Jing’s shoulder regretfully. “I was foolish.”

“……”

“Trying to play hard to get again,” Feng Jing muttered under her breath, although Qin Juran heard, nonetheless.

Qin Juran laughed coldly without responding, returning to her cleaning.             After going to the market downstairs to buy a bottle of water, she came back to find that the photos had disappeared from the trash.

Qin Juran peered at Feng Jing as she drank, but the other girl was looking away guiltily.

Before she had a chance to cap her water bottle, Qin Juran’s phone rang with two chimes. She swiped it open to find a message sent by a contact named “Friend.”

【Tonight at 9, BLUE HOUSE. Be there or be square. 】

Qin Juran furrowed her brows, clicking on to the sender’s profile. Nine out of the ten photos posted were taken at the nightclub.

She couldn’t recall any mention of which friend this may be from the original novel. She was about to disregard the message when another popped up:

【 If you don’t show up, then tomorrow the entire Finance department will see that thing you gave Young Master Chuan last time. 】

Footnotes

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