Chapter 38: 38

38.1 - I'm Just Worried That You're Up to No Good (Part 1)

Even without heavy makeup or tall heels, Qin Juran easily stood out in the middle of the crowd.

The simple windbreaker draped over her shoulders emphasized her fashionable style, and the bouquet bursting with gypsophila in her arms glimmered under the bright lights, backed against the night sky.

The soft “Sorry” that she muttered was smothered by the wind, leaving only an out-of-tune sigh echoing from the crowd.

Qin Juran held the bouquet before her, smiling as she approached Ruan Nan.

While Ruan Nan stood in place, for some reason, she had the urge to open her arms wide to receive the large bouquet. But right when Qin Juran was in front of her, she shifted the flowers into a single hand, and instead of the bouquet, she brought in her own body to meet Ruan Nan’s open arms.

The chill of the autumn night hit Ruan Nan’s chest as Qin Juran wrapped her arms around her. The familiar scent of bluebells intermingled with her own raspy breathing.

“Did you wait a long time for me?” Qin Juran spoke just loud enough for the people around them to hear.

A loud gasp came from the surrounding crowd, and many students took the opportunity to whip out their phones to take pictures and videos. Even the remaining media reporters joined in on the commotion. The bright lights focused on them so that everyone else seemed to disappear in the background.

As if in hindsight, Ruan Nan suddenly felt as if she’d been wronged, and the longer they hug, the stronger the sensation became. She even felt the urge to drop her head on Qin Juran’s shoulder and ask why she took so long to come.

Ruan Nan raised her hands to push away Qin Juran.

Feeling the force against her, Qin Juran only tightened her embrace. She leaned close to Ruan Nan’s ear and whispered: “Everyone’s watching right now. You want to go ‘out of character’ now?”

Just then, Gu Xiaoxue, who hadn’t left very far, noticed the commotion and followed the crowd over. Upon seeing the scene, she nearly fainted in her boyfriend’s arms out of excitement. She chanted zealously: “Confess!”

The people around them also began to chime in. Although the forum post had certainly hinted things, the two hadn’t publicly declared anything. Qin Juran had brought such a large bouquet of flowers in such a romantic fashion, what else could it possibly be for besides a confession of love?

“Confess! Confess! Confess!”

As the cheers and chanting grew, Qin Juran’s lips curled into a bright smile. She asked Ruan Nan in a low voice: “How do you feel about this kind of public confession? I don’t mind saying it again.”

She continued, “It doesn’t matter whether you accept or not.”

Her voice was gentle and every word flowed out with ease. Ruan Nan felt that no matter how she answered, she would fall right into this fox’s trap. Her face reddened, and she pressed her face into Qin Juran’s elbow, afraid to look at the crowd. In a small voice, she replied, “Not here.”

Qin Juran laughed softly, then raised her head towards the side and declared: “Ah-Ruan said that she wants to hear the confession privately.”

Ruan Nan: ???

Another cheer erupted from the onlookers. However, Gu Xiaoxue realized that she hadn’t asked the right question. She pinched her boyfriend’s arm and stomped her feet, then finally mustered up her courage and shouted, “Senior Qin Juran, so were you here to confess?”

Her question had a deeper implication.

Instead of directly replying, Qin Juran first let go of Ruan Nan, then carefully straightened the loose strands of dreadlocks that had tousled over her shoulders. She placed the bouquet of gypsophila into Ruan Nan’s arms, then plucked out a few stems and strode over to where Gu Xiaoxue stood.

Meanwhile, all Gu Xiaoxue could think of was, “My OTP is walking towards me…” She was so excited that she nearly collapsed over her own feet – Qin Juran was actually approaching closer and closer, and even held the few flower stems out to her.

“Hey, Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue – take it.” Gu Xiaoxue’s boyfriend quickly muttered, nudging her from her daze.

Gu Xiaoxue didn’t understand why Qin Juran decided to perform this flower-giving gesture in public. After receiving them hesitantly, she saw Qin Juran break into a smile and wink at her: “Take this as an apology to the student who guessed incorrectly.”

“Ah!!!” Gu Xiaoxue screamed internally. So this was Qin Juran’s response to her previous question!!!

By asking whether Qin Juran had come to confess, she was actually trying to clarify whether it was supposed to be “Nan-Ju” or “Ju-Nan.” Qin Juran didn’t want to reply explicitly and make it awkward for anyone, so instead, she gracefully used this gesture of flowers as her response.

What a mystical campus belle, woah! How is it possible for one person to be so clever!!

After watching Qin Juran guide Ruan Nan away from the crowd, Gu Xiaoxue immediately took a photo of the gypsophila flowers and sent it to a group chat with her close girlfriends.

【Sorry Nan-Ju shippers – the dream shatters tonight.】

Right away, a response popped up: 【I also saw that picture!!】

【Qin Juran really came to personally deliver flowers as a confession!! So smooth! That smile and face…I’m crying out of jealousy, girls.】

【Hold up – what if it’s just a facade?】

【……】

【……】

【Whatever – whether it’s Nan-Ju or Ju-Nan, it’s fine with me. I’ll be on whichever team so that I can get a happy ending.】

Gu Xiaoxue: 【That’s right, it’s so sweet no matter what. You guys don’t know how cool Qin Juran was just now, ahh~ I’d die for these kinds of love rivals turned lovers pretty girls pairings!】

Meanwhile, Qin Juran was escorting Ruan Nan to the parking lot. Right when she was about to leave, she heard Ruan Nan say, “Get in the car.”

The activities center was right on campus and wasn’t very far from Qin Juran’s dorm, so she was about to pass up on the offer. But when she noticed Ruan Nan’s resolute expression, she quickly climbed into the passenger seat.

Ruan Nan carefully placed the bouquet onto the backseat, even securing it with the seat belt.

The Porsche drove out of the parking lot and cruised along the neon streets. Soon, they arrived at a clearing behind Qin Juran’s dormitory.

Unlike the front entrance, where there were always lovers hugging and kissing goodbye, this area was empty. Ruan Nan slowly eased the car to a stop under a streetlamp, then turned to ask: “Why did you show up just then?”

The lamplight shone through the car window onto Qin Juran’s face. She replied honestly: “I heard about what happened with the flower delivery backstage.”

“So you purposely came to help me save face?”

Before Qin Juran could answer, Ruan Nan seemed to remember something, and let out a frustrated laugh. “I always knew that the campus flower had a high IQ, but I didn’t think that her emotional IQ would be just as high.”

“And her acting skills are just as remarkable.”

Qin Juran hesitated, “I also wanted to personally deliver flowers to congratulate you on the performance.”

A heavy silence fell upon the car.

Ruan Nan rolled the windows down halfway, allowing the chilly air to fill the car. She didn’t look at Qin Juran as she spoke, “Lin Wei told you about the performance beforehand?”

“Mhm.”

Qin Juran then asked a question of her own: “Were you really waiting for me?”

As soon as the question left her mouth, Qin Juran sensed that she was being a little too aggressive. Noticing Ruan Nan’s hands tightening around the steering wheel, avoiding the question, Qin Juran leaned back a bit. She wanted to clarify that she was unable to arrive any earlier because of some important matters she had to take care of, but in the end, she didn’t say anything more.

The relationship between the two of them was far too subtle and delicate for that.

After a heavy silence, Ruan Nan nodded: “In any case, I still need to thank you for today.”

Qin Juran glanced at Ruan Nan from the rear-view mirror. Although her voice carried a tone of gratitude, her face did not show it.

Qin Juran let out a soft laugh: “Today was the first time I gave you a bouquet of gypsophila.”

She turned to face Ruan Nan, a sincere expression on her face: “Ah-Ruan, I hope to be able to give you a hundred more bouquets of gypsophila in the future.”

“As long as you’re willing to accept.”

 

 

T/N: Sorry guys, looong time no update — I’ve been so busy getting my butt kicked by my last semester of university and job apps and such >.< but I will try to get back into my translation groove soon! probably…

 

 38.2 - I'm Just Worried That You're Up to No Good (Part 2)

Once she finished speaking, Qin Juran got out of the car. Meanwhile, Ruan Nan sat alone under the streetlamps for a long time. The breeze carried the fragrant scent of the gypsophila from the backseat, while every word that had just been spoken in the late autumn night hammered on her heart.

For another week, Qin Juran continued to practice for her driving test. The midterm exam results soon came out; turns out Qin Juran not only maintained her first place, but she was also able to beat the second place by 0.2 points.

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Ruan Nan and Lin Wei both passed as well, and they were even able to achieve 70s in the subjects that Qin Juran had tutored them in.

Once all the departments’ grades had been released, Lin Wei immediately began chiming in the group chat:

【Guys, guys, guys – what grades did you all get?】

The four of them had an ongoing arrangement – aside from Wang Ruanruan, whose grades were already good, whoever got the highest scores would treat the others for a meal.

Lin Wei and Zhou Ziqing both shared their evenly-distributed scores of 60, 61, and 62, then began discussing potential restaurants.

Meanwhile, Ruan Nan stared at the singular ‘7’ written on her paper. Despite everything, this was a new, almost refreshing sensation for her.

After the midterm exams came the scholarship award ceremony. The entire campus was crowded within the activities center, which was brimming with music, dances, and speeches.

The awards were conferred in reverse order. At the height of the ceremony, an image of Qin Juran flashed upon the large screen in the front. Unlike the tearful, lengthy speeches that she gave in the previous years, this time around, Qin Juran merely spoke a few sentences regarding the exam institution and thanked the secretary, counselor, and professors. Finally, she glanced around the crowd and focused on the direction where Ruan Nan stood: “I want to continue to strive for excellence, for us.”

The fellow students from their department cheered from the audience.

The awards were based on the most recent exams rankings. Even in the original story, Fan Chuan was one of the top students. Although he was generally ranked amongst the top five, this time, he scored the second-highest.

He’d just come back from his study abroad and seemed to still be jetlagged, as dark circles surrounded his deep, begrudged eyes. The two of them sat in the same row backstage waiting to receive their rewards. When he suddenly called out to Qin Juran from her behind, she nearly jumped in surprise.

“Qin Juran, I just saw the forum post recently – what’s that all about?”

Despite his strenuous efforts to hide it, the boy’s voice betrayed a sense of pain, and an unfamiliar expression was plastered on his handsome, noble face.

Qin Juran didn’t know why she suddenly thought back to the original novel’s events. Now, looking at Fan Chuan’s current expression, she couldn’t help laughing: “Whatever you think it is, it’s probably that.”

“What kind of game are you trying to play?” The boy’s voice came out in a low and angry tone.

Qin Juran furrowed her brows: “Are you some kind of monkey that I’d have time to play games with every day?”

“…..”

She waved her hand in dismissal: “Whatever, I owe you for the Feng Jing situation, anyways, so take this as my thanks. From now on, whatever happens between Ruan Nan and me is none of your business. You don’t need to think any more of it.”

“So you’re saying that you’re really giving up? After all those years of obsession, you really think I’d believe you?”

Qin Juran felt that she was speaking to an NPC, the way he was so dense. Thankfully, her name was just announced from the podium, so she only frowned and walked towards the stage without replying.

She had scheduled a practice with the driving instructor at 5 p.m., so as soon as the award ceremony was finished, Qin Juran picked up her bags and left.

Lin Wei had wanted to invite Qin Juran to attend Ruan Nan’s 70-point celebratory feast, so he tried to catch up behind her after noticing her hurry past. However, as soon as he made it out of the building, he watched as Qin Juran jogged right up to a black Volkswagen.

It didn’t look like a ride service vehicle…

Just then, Lin Wei recalled what Wang Yuanyuan had mentioned.

In the middle of his confusion, Ruan Nan drove up to him in her car. She rolled down her window and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Wei shook his head, but replied honestly in the end: “Qin Juran just got into a car and left.”

“And I don’t think this was the first time.”

Ruan Nan frowned. “What car?”

“A black Volkswagen.”

There were many speed bumps in the surrounding area of the campus, so they couldn’t have gotten very far. Ruan Nan gripped her steering wheel and hesitated for a solid three seconds, then finally stepped on the gas to follow after them.

Qin Juran soon arrived at the driving school. She originally assumed that she could begin practicing subject 3, but the instructor informed that there were strict regulations such that she could only practice subject 2 until she passed the road test. 1

Although she had gone to a private driving instructor with alternate policies in her previous life, she had heard about these kinds of practices. It was only because they were afraid that she wouldn’t pass subject 2, so they didn’t want to waste the instructor’s time in doing it a second time.

Qin Juran let out a cold laugh and replied to the instructor: “I know what you’re worried about, but I’m telling you, these precautions are unnecessary. Whether I pass subject 2 or not, I won’t waste any more of your time.”

“Furthermore, there’s no way that I won’t pass.”

The bald instructor acted as if he hadn’t heard her, plucking out a few cigarettes to pass to his fellow instructors, then lighting one and taking a long drag: “It’s not so easy said and done. I’ve taught many of you S University students; no matter how good you might think you are, you follow my rules as long as you’re in my instruction.”

The other instructors chuckled. One of them even chimed, “Don’t scare away the poor girl!”

Qin Juran ignored them: “Are you the director?”

The instructor peered at her: “What?”

Instead of replying, Qin Juran simply walked over to sit down before his desk, glanced at the list of phone numbers taped on the table, and called the first number on top.

The instructors immediately became visibly nervous, beginning to walk towards her to hang up on the phone call, when the sound of footsteps was suddenly heard from the doorway. This was followed by the men’s echoes of “The director is here.”

Qin Juran raised her brows at the instructors: “Perfect.”

As the people outside approached, Qin Juran and the others walked closer to the doorway. As the curtains lining the doorway parted, Qin Juran exclaimed in surprise: “Ah-Ruan?”

Before her stood Ruan Nan and a middle-aged man. The man peered at Qin Juran, then asked Ruan Nan: “Nannan, is this the classmate you were talking about?”

Ruan Nan nodded: “Yes, Uncle.”

Suddenly, Qin Juran recalled what Huang Ying said about Longteng Driving Schools’ director having a relative who attended S university – so that student must’ve been Ruan Nan.

After introducing themselves, Qin Juran tried to provide an objective explanation of the situation. In response, Ruan Nan’s uncle, a.k.a. the director, took off a few points from the instructor’s performance rating, then thanked Qin Juran for reporting this kind of unfair behavior. He then proceeded to assign the best instructor in the school to her and even remarked that since Ruan Nan’s driving was pretty good, she was free to have Ruan Nan instruct her if she preferred.

Qin Juran felt a bit sheepish upon hearing all this. She graciously accepted the thanks, then bought two bottles of soda and walked over to Ruan Nan’s side, offering her one. “Thanks for that, Miss Ruan.”

Ruan Nan took the soda bottle: “It was just a coincidence; don’t worry about it, Campus Flower Qin.”

Looking at her hardened, proud expression, Qin Juran couldn’t help letting out a laugh. She leaned closer and spoke, “So Miss Ruan following right behind the Longteng Driving School instructor in her Porsche was just a simple coincidence all along?”

“You saw that?” Ruan Nan suddenly became flustered at being exposed.

“Nope, I guessed.”

“You…I didn’t mean to snoop in your personal business, I was just worried that you were up to no good.”

Qin Juran rested an arm on Ruan Nan’s shoulder, answering thoughtfully: “Oh—worried that the black Volkswagen and I had some secret dealings going on, or worried that I had someone on the side?”

“Does Ah-Ruan really think that I’d give up a Porsche for a Volkswagen?”

Ruan Nan glanced through the window at her uncle, currently sitting in a meeting. She dodged away from Qin Juran’s elbows and replied, “My Uncle can see.”

At the mention of her uncle, Qin Juran chuckled again. It hadn’t registered for her before, but now she asked in a mysterious tone: “Ah-Ruan, is your uncle also named Ruan?”

Ruan Nan regarded her with disdain.

“Then is your uncle called Longteng?”

“Mhm.”

“Ruan Longteng, Ruan Longteng…”

For some reason, Qin Juran found this name very amusing. It’s not like “Longteng” was particularly strange, nor “Ruan” itself, but together, it sounded like the word for “Soft Tiger.” 2

Ruan Nan peered at Qin Juran, who, for some reason, was choking back a laugh. “What is it?”

Ruan Nan, Ruan Longteng…Qin Juran used all her might to hold back her laughter, nudging Ruan Nan with her elbow: “Ah-Ruan, do you happen to have another uncle named ‘Ruan Huyue’”? 3

Ruan Nan looked at Qin Juran with a strange expression, then finally pursed her lips and spit out: “My dad is Ruan Huyue.”

 

Footnotes

The driving test in China is split into three subjects, with subject 1 being the theory test, subject 2 the field driving skills test, and finally, subject 3 the road driving skills test. The name ‘Ruan’ is pronounced the same as the word for soft, and the name ‘Longteng’ means flying dragon. The name ‘Huyue’ means jumping tiger, together, the phrase ‘longtenghuyue’ is an idiom that describes the strong and vigorous movements of running and jumping, like a ‘dragon flying and tiger jumping’ 

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