Chapter 28

Qin Youran spent five minutes washing up as quickly as possible. The speed at which she buttoned up her shirt was so fast that Jun Zishu didn’t even get to see her body before she had finished dressing up.

By the time Qin Youran got dressed, there were 20 minutes left before classes began. If she took into account the time needed to travel from the dormitory to her classroom, she only had 15 minutes to waste in her room.

“Fifteen minutes isn’t enough for me to put on makeup and eat breakfast. But I don’t want to eat in class, either.”

Qin Youran fell into a predicament as she stood before the mirror. She wasn’t willing to be late for class, either. Otherwise, all the hurrying she went through to wash up and dress up would be for naught.

“Don’t put on makeup, then,” Jun Zishu said. By now, she had already packed her school bag and was waiting for Qin Youran to get ready.

“But…”

“You can do your makeup in class. Also, you look just as good without makeup on.”

Qin Youran usually only wore light makeup. If others didn’t pay close attention to her eyelashes, they wouldn’t even notice that she was wearing makeup.

“Fine.”

Qin Youran’s heart fluttered with joy when she heard Jnu Zishu’s praise. Immediately, she sat down in front of the coffee table and began eating her breakfast. Then, after spending five minutes wolfing down the congee and steamed buns, she picked up her school bag and left with Jun Zishu.

Yunying High occupied a large plot of land. The scale of the school rivaled that of university campuses. Although the large campus allowed for the creation of various clubs, it also created an inconvenience for students when traveling from building to building. To facilitate this problem, the school allowed students to travel using bicycles and one-person electric tricycles.

After getting on their respective tricycles, Jun Zishu and Qin Youran made their way to the teaching building, ran up to the second floor, and entered their classroom.

Most of the class was already present by the time the two arrived. After hanging her school bag off of the back of her chair, Jun Zishu took out a textbook and began reading it.

Classes were about to begin, so everyone in the classroom had more or less started looking through their textbooks to prepare for their upcoming lessons. Qin Youran was no exception, though she would occasionally look around and inspect her classmates’ actions as the class representative.

Jun Zishu hadn’t spoken a word since she sat down, choosing to focus all of her attention on her history textbook.

“You still hadn’t answered my question yesterday,” Qin Youran suddenly said.

“What?” Jun Zishu asked without looking up.

“Why weren’t you paying attention to any of the teachers yesterday? I saw you flipping through your textbooks without listening to any of their lessons. Don’t tell me you know everything already?”

“Mhm.”

Jun Zishu nodded. Yunying High’s curriculum was no trouble to her whatsoever. It was the same even for essay compositions. Although she wasn’t capable of writing beautiful essays with flowery descriptions, she had no problem when it came to writing argumentative essays.

When tackling argumentative essays, all she needed to do was read the topic correctly, pinpoint the point of discussion, find a few usable examples from her memory, and figure out how to phrase these examples in an acceptable manner. Once she did all of that, she would have an excellent argumentative essay in her hand.

As for subjects other than language, Jun Zishu only needed to read through and memorize the provided textbooks. Students would have to choose a major once they entered their second year of high school, and Jun Zishu had already decided to major in the sciences. Thus, she only needed to make a token effort for liberal arts subjects for now.

“Are you sure you’re not boasting?”

Qin Youran felt her confidence shaken when she heard Jun Zishu’s answer. She believed that she was plenty smart for someone her age already. However, she didn’t expect anyone to be smarter than her.

In reality, there were plenty of such people. Jun Zishu was one such example. However, what Qin Youran did not expect was for Jun Zishu to be so perversely intelligent.

Qin Youran fell into deep thought. If what Jun Zishu said was true, wouldn’t she be slapping herself in the face by stating that she would beat Jun Zishu in the upcoming exam?

“Not necessary,” Jun Zishu replied while reading line after line of texts.

In reality, when Jun Zishu was at this age back in her original world, she wasn’t capable of achieving such amazing results. However, she had been studying for many years now, and she also possessed foreknowledge of the curriculum high schoolers would go through. Thus, she had a relatively easy time tackling high school studies.

“What kind of brain do you have?” Qin Youran muttered.

“Read more, study more.”

Be obsessed with learning. Be happy with learning.

Qin Youran decided to halt her conversation with Jun Zishu for now. Then, as if whipped up by Jun Zishu’s words, she began earnestly studying as well.

“About 2070 BC, Emperor Yu established the first dynasty in our country…”

Amidst Qin Youran’s mutterings, Jun Zishu resumed reading her history textbook, carefully looking through every line and page.

Out of all the subjects taught in school, the one Jun Zishu disliked the most was politics. There was simply too much to read, and everything was written in an official manner. The subject’s tests were also the most troublesome in Jun Zishu’s opinion since she needed to do a lot of writing.

On the other hand, the subject Jun Zishu liked the most was mathematics. Not only did she need to do very little writing, but she also loved the process of making calculations. If done correctly, every step would interlock with each other and eventually lead to a definitive result.

Qin Youran had never paid as much attention to class as she did now. Although she knew that her deskmate was an immovable mountain, she had determined herself to cross this mountain. So, she was currently brimming with fighting spirit.

Meanwhile, seeing their class representative and study committee member studying so seriously, the other students in the class were also motivated to study. Thus, a wonderful learning atmosphere had formed in the class.

…

Jun Zishu discovered that Qin Youran liked drinking juice a lot.

Of course, the juice Qin Youran liked wasn’t the type of powdered drinks that shops typically sold. Instead, she liked drinking freshly squeezed juice sent by her family. After morning studies every day, someone from the Qin family would bring a beautiful glass bottle holding freshly squeezed juice to Qin Youran.

One day, after morning studies ended, the elite class did not become noisy like the other classes. Instead, it retained its quiet and peaceful environment.

When Qin Youran returned from the restroom, she wiped her wet hands with a napkin and filled herself a glass of juice.

Just as Qin Youran was about to drink the juice, Jun Zishu noticed something through the corner of her eyes. With no time to give a verbal warning, Jun Zishu hurriedly snatched the juice from Qin Youran’s hand. However, because she used a little too much strength in the process, she ended up spilling the juice all over Qin Youran.

“Jun Jiayao! What are you doing!?” Qin Youran demanded as she glared at Jun Zishu.

“I’m sorry. I saw a bug inside your juice,” Jun Zishu said as she shook the glass in her hand, pointing out the small insect corpse that was floating on the surface of the leftover juice.

Qin Youran had left the bottle storing the juice open before she left for the restroom, so the bug must’ve fallen into the juice during her absence.

“Can’t you just tell me about it? Why did you need to scare me like that?”

Qin Youran’s complexion lightened up a little. However, when she felt her wet clothes sticking to her body, her mood immediately soured again.

“I only noticed it just now. You would’ve drunk it already by the time I spoke up.”

“Whatever, whatever. I’ll tell the teacher that I’m going back to change my clothes. You come with me,” Qin Youran said as she stood up. Then, she put on her jacket to cover the wet patch on her chest.

“I’m going as well? But my clothes aren’t dirty,” Jun Zishu asked in confusion, her face giving off a dull look.

“You’re the culprit of this mess. I dare you to not follow me,” Qin Youran threatened with a sinister smile on her face.

“I’ll go.”

Jun Zishu stood up and pushed her glasses. Then, she followed Qin Youran out of the classroom.

Qin Youran snorted in delight when she saw Jun Zishu caving to her threat. Unfortunately, this thought of hers lasted no more than a few seconds before she heard Jun Zishu saying, “I forgot a book in the dormitory, so I can go get it on the way.”

The expression on Qin Youran’s face vanished, and she silently made her way to the teacher’s office.

At this moment, Qin Youran had made herself a temporary goal—to make Jun Zishu shiver under her might!

After informing their form teacher about their temporary leave, Qin Youran dragged Jun Zishu back to their dormitory. Then, she quickly undressed and disappeared into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu grabbed a book from her bedside and waited for Qin Youran.

Qin Youran took a quick shower and wiped herself dry. Then, she left the bathroom and dressed herself in front of the wardrobe. When she put on her shirt and lifted the hair caught inside the shirt, her long fluttering hair paired with her soft and healthy body lines creating a beautiful sight to behold.

“Are we not going back to class?” Jun Zishu asked when she saw Qin Youran throwing herself onto the bed.

“We rarely get to leave class at this hour, so why must we return so soon? Let me put on some makeup first.”

Young Miss Qin’s playful behavior started acting up again. It had already been a long time since Qin Youran put on makeup, so she suddenly had the urge to do so.

Because Qin Youran couldn’t wake up early every day, and neither did she wish to have breakfast in class, she had no choice but to abandon the activity known as makeup.

Jun Zishu wondered how Qin Youran managed to get up in time for class and have the time to put on makeup when she was attending middle school. And in response to Jun Zishu’s curiosity, Qin Youran said that she had only started learning how to apply makeup during the summer vacation after the High School Entrance Examination.

In Jun Zishu’s opinion, Qin Youran looked beautiful even without makeup since she had healthy skin and a naturally pretty face. However, Qin Youran stated that makeup made her look different and cool, making Jun Zishu judge that Qin Youran had eighth-grade syndrome.

“Mhm.”

Since Qin Youran wanted to put on makeup, Jun Zishu wouldn’t leave, either.

“Hey, there are only two classes left, so how about we skip classes for the rest of the day? The teachers won’t say anything about us, anyway.” Qin Youran suggested after looking at the time. She couldn’t find the motivation to travel back to class.

“Mhm.”

“Huh? You actually agreed?”

Qin Youran was a little surprised. She thought that the bookworm would at least hesitate a little.

“I already know everything that’s being taught, so there’s no need to listen to class,” Jun Zishu calmly stated. It wouldn’t matter even if she skipped classes for an entire semester. So long as she read through all of the textbooks before the semester exam, she was confident she could score well.

“Show-off.”

Qin Youran clicked her tongue. Then, she sat in front of her vanity mirror and began applying cream and powder to her face.

While applying lipstick, Qin Youran saw Jun Zishu reading a book through the mirror’s reflection, and her eyes wandered for a moment before she asked, “Jun Jiayao, have you ever put on makeup before?”

Though, the answer was obvious even without asking.

“No.”

Sure enough. Qin Youran smiled. “I’ll do it for you then, okay?”

“Huh? No need.”

Jun Zishu shook her head and pushed her glasses. She had a hunch that Qin Youran was up to no good.

“Come on, come on~ Let me give you a try~ I promise you’ll look prettier~” Qin Youran said, coquettishly blinking her eyes while doing her best to tempt Jun Zishu with her cosmetic products.

“No need.”

Jun Zishu firmly refused.

“If you think of me as your friend, then let me try putting makeup on you. If you don’t like it, I’ll remove it for you after we’re done, alright?”

“Are we…friends?”

Jun Zishu’s face froze in surprise.

Qin Youran squeezed the lipstick in her hand, a thousand curses appearing in her heart.