Chapter 35

After a long while, Yan Can finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked her cheap dad, “Dad, are you serious?”

The original Yan Can was the only child of Yan Qing and Ying Liu. She had assumed that, given how much the original’s parents doted on her, there wouldn’t be any of that powerful alliance nonsense from the novel; unexpectedly, she still couldn’t escape an arranged marriage.

She was still a high school student. Wasn’t it a little too early to start planning her marriage?

Besides, that so-called second young master of the Zhou family—she hadn’t even seen what he looked like yet. To settle a marriage contract just like that was way too hasty!

Did the Zhou second young master even agree?

Thinking of that, Yan Can couldn’t help asking her cheap dad, “What’s the Zhou second young master’s position on this?”

If he was unwilling too, that would be even better; at least then she’d have a reason to refuse.

She had even already thought up her next line: a melon forced off the vine isn’t sweet; look, the two of us don’t like each other, so let’s not put ourselves through this.

However, cheap dad looked at her kindly and said with a smile, “He’s quite satisfied.”

Yan Can…

She swallowed the rest of her protest. “He agrees, I don’t! I don’t like him!”

When Yan Qing didn’t speak, he naturally had an air of authority that didn’t need anger to be intimidating. Right now, he was simply looking at Yan Can expressionlessly, and that alone made her a little scared, even though he had sounded so gentle over the phone.

Yan Can subconsciously licked her lips; her earlier defiance was gone completely, and she said softly, “Our Yan family isn’t some small company. We shouldn’t need to rely on marriage to form a powerful alliance and integrate resources.”

Yan Qing took a sip of tea, as if it were novel that she would say something like that.

He watched her quietly until Yan Can started to feel uneasy. “Wh-what is it?”

Yan Qing looked at her and smiled. Before Yan Can could even breathe a sigh of relief, she heard him say, “I just think you seem to have changed a little somewhere.”

Not just her tone; other things too.

Yan Can’s scalp tingled. “Ah? I-I have?”

Yan Qing glanced at the broccoli on her plate, half bitten. “You used to never eat brassica vegetables. Even if your mother forced you, you wouldn’t touch them.”

The hand holding the spoon paused; cold sweat broke out across Yan Can’s back.

“After the last incident, the doctor said eating more would be good for my recovery, so…” Yan Can said.

“I see.” Yan Qing adjusted the bridge of his glasses. “The second young master of the Zhou family—wasn’t it you who used to chase after him everywhere? I thought you gave up the guaranteed admission spot so you could take the entrance exam for the university he attends…”

As he spoke, he looked at her. “Your mother and I both misunderstood?”

The lenses of Yan Qing’s glasses reflected a bit of light, and Yan Can couldn’t make out his expression; she could only hear the faint edge of displeasure in his questioning tone.

She inexplicably grew nervous.

Was there really such a thing?

Yan Can searched the original owner’s memories in her head, but she had no impression of this so-called Zhou second young master at all.

“Dad, people’s tastes and preferences can change,” Yan Can said. “Liking someone back then doesn’t mean I still like them now.”

Yan Qing stared at her for a while longer. Perhaps because they hadn’t seen each other in so long, it felt like he understood his daughter less and less.

He glanced at the time; it was about time. Seeing this, Yan Can hurriedly said, “Go ahead and get busy. I’ll leave after I finish eating.”

Yan Qing nodded. After he walked out of the private room, he made a call. “Compile Xiao Can’s recent schedule and movements and send them to me.”

“Understood.”

Secretary Cen had just hung up when Yan Can’s phone rang. The girl muttered, “Why is it still busy?” Secretary Cen replied respectfully, “Miss, are you going home?”

.

The next day, Su Ci brought the dumplings Wei Li had made the day before to school. Each floor of their teaching building had a lounge, with a microwave for students to heat meals and a refrigerator for cold drinks. Su Ci put the dumplings in the refrigerator and, as agreed with Yan Can, would bring them to her after school in the afternoon.

Yan Can hadn’t arrived at school yet; when she saw the message, she was still in the car, and immediately replied: I’ll come find you after school.

Su Ci: Okay.

Su Ci: I brought your clothes too.

Yan Can sent her an OK emoji and asked: Want to come to my place to do homework?

Su Ci didn’t reply.

She didn’t reply for quite a while.

By the time Yan Can got out of the car and entered the school, there was still no response.

She probably didn’t want to go to her place, Yan Can thought.

Su Ci was just that cold; even though the two of them had slept together last night, this morning as soon as she woke up, that person had gone back to her usual aloofness.

Yan Can didn’t send anything else. She put her phone away, and when she passed the school bulletin board, she saw the latest notice from the school, welcoming new students.

Their aristocratic school attached great importance to education. In order to maintain its college placement rate, it recruited students from society every quarter. As long as applicants met the school’s requirements, the school would exempt their tuition and miscellaneous fees and additionally provide a monthly subsidy of 6,000 yuan.

The generous rewards attracted many students and also poached promising talent from nearby schools, which had once even sparked public outrage.

But the scholarship was not easy to get; very few people passed the exam, and sometimes the school couldn’t recruit any promising students for several quarters in a row.

Yan Can glanced over it and saw that this time, three people had been admitted at once.

Today was just like yesterday, gloomy and overcast. The weather forecast said it would rain in the middle of the night, but Yan Can felt that rain might come earlier than that. She also didn’t know whether Su Ci had brought an umbrella.

By the time Yan Can returned to the classroom, most of the class had already arrived. After all, it was an elite class; everyone was focused on studying, all of them grinding away.

And there was still half an hour before morning self-study.

Yan Can had only just sat down when Zhang Ru came in yawning. After putting down her backpack, she lazily greeted Yan Can.

“Were you out stealing last night?” Yan Can looked at her panda eyes and said, “You look like someone sucked the life out of you.”

Zhang Ru yawned again, then rested her head on the desk and said, “I didn’t go stealing, but you did get one thing right.”

Yan Can blinked. Zhang Ru said, “Someone did suck the life out of me.”

Maybe it was because someone had listened to her complaint; she suddenly perked up, straightened her back, looked around, and then lowered her voice by Yan Can’s ear. “Listen, don’t tell anyone. It’s about my cousin.”

Don’t tell anyone? She really couldn’t guarantee that. Yan Can immediately said, “Then forget it; don’t tell me.”

Zhang Ru looked a little blank. She blinked. “Why aren’t you playing by the rules?”

Yan Can said, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep it to myself.”

No, if she didn’t say it, she’d be too itchy with suspense. Zhang Ru sighed and motioned for her to lean in. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you. It’s nothing much, really.”

Yan Can leaned over and heard Zhang Ru whisper, “My cousin is studying for her master’s abroad, right? Then she met a guy there. How should I put it… my cousin and that guy, they’d done everything couples are supposed to do, and my cousin naturally thought they were already boyfriend and girlfriend…”

Yan Can was losing patience; she had listened for so long and still hadn’t heard the point. “What are you trying to say?”

“Don’t rush me!” Zhang Ru slapped her arm. “My cousin thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend, so one day she brought up meeting the parents and getting married.”

At that, Yan Can couldn’t help guessing, “Did she find out the guy had a huge flaw? So they broke up?”

After an “mm” dragged out for a long time, Zhang Ru said, “Not really a huge flaw. It’s just that guy rejected my cousin.”

Yan Can found it strange. “Why? Was there something unsuitable?”

Zhang Ru said, “I asked my cousin the same thing. She said that guy told her he didn’t like her; he was only with her because the two of them were a good fit in that respect, you know… cough, cough, bed stuff.”

Yan Can’s mouth fell open. “A friends-with-benefits situation?”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Zhang Ru had completely forgotten there was a term for that. Saying this, she lamented her cousin’s stupidity. “The key thing is my cousin fell for him. She liked that guy so much.”

Hearing that, Yan Can silently complained to herself that her cousin was hopelessly love-brained. If it were her, she’d have to scold her too.

Zhang Ru continued, “My cousin was too love-brained. She didn’t believe the guy didn’t like her at all. I don’t know what she was thinking, but she asked him more than once. Later, I guess he got annoyed or something. He told my cousin that he had never liked her, not even a little.

“They were just taking what they needed from each other and satisfying physical needs. Then my cousin stayed angry about it for a long time, because she thought you had to like someone to do that kind of thing; if you don’t like them, how could you possibly kiss or sleep with them, right?”

Yan Can’s brain suddenly went buzzing. Something flashed before her eyes. She wanted to grab it, but that thing was like a wisp of smoke; she could feel it, yet she couldn’t catch it.

It was the kind of sensation where the truth seemed to be right there in the distance. She had clearly gotten close to it, but she still couldn’t quite reach it.

That strange feeling left her dazed for a long time, until someone patted her shoulder and the class monitor told her to go to the office. Only then did Yan Can come back to herself.

Yu Ting had somehow come into the classroom, and Zhang Ru was now repeating to her the same whisper she’d just told Yan Can.

“You can’t tell anyone else. I’m only telling you this because…” Yu Ting nodded as she listened to Zhang Ru continue.

Yan Can smiled and shook her head, then left the teaching building and went to the homeroom teacher’s office.

“Are you really not going to take the guaranteed admission? It’s still not too late to submit the materials now. You know A University is the best university in the country; a lot of people fight tooth and nail just to get in.” Ji Yun knew Yan Can had the ability to get into A University through the entrance exam, but now that there was an existing, more secure path, why not take it?

Yan Can remembered that the original owner had been offered a spot at A University in her second year of high school, but she had refused. The exact reason was unknown; perhaps the original owner simply wanted to prove herself.

“No, I still want to take the college entrance exam with my classmates,” Yan Can said.

There were only three classes in the afternoon. After lab class ended, Yan Can went to the second-year teaching building to look for Su Ci.

Most of Class One in second year had already left, with only a few people left packing up their bags.

Yan Can had a backpack slung over one shoulder; the strap dangled at her side and swayed as she walked to the classroom door. At a glance, she saw Su Ci surrounded by several people.

At first she thought something had happened, and strode over with a cold face; it turned out Su Ci was helping a male classmate with a problem.

Again with the tutoring.

Back in the intensive training class, classmates were always finding her to ask for help with problems too.

Yan Can felt a little irritated.

Su Ci had never tutored her.

Yan Can, wearing an obviously displeased expression, stood at the edge of the circle and watched. The classmates in front sensed someone approaching; when they turned around and saw Yan Can’s cold face, as if she’d been frozen stiff, they exchanged glances and awkwardly left.

Su Ci was very serious while explaining the problem. Only after she finished one question did she catch, from the corner of her eye, the backpack strap hanging half off Yan Can’s shoulder.

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened. She was just about to tell her to wait a moment when Yan Can leaned down, bringing that pleasant scent with her; it brushed past Su Ci’s nose.

The pen in Su Ci’s hand stopped. Yan Can reached out and snatched the pen from her, frowning at the boy in front of her who was clearly about to ask again. “What else don’t you understand? I’ll teach you.”

Honestly, what was there not to understand? They were all top students in Class One; just looking at the sample answer should have been enough to figure it out. How could someone need such detailed explanation? And from the looks of it, he even wanted Su Ci to explain it again.

The boy met Yan Can’s unfriendly face and was so frightened he jerked, stammering, “N-no need. I get it now.”

Yan Can rolled her eyes at him, then looked at Su Ci with a sweet smile. “Let’s go. We’re going home.”

Su Ci gave a hum, took a plastic bag out of her desk drawer, and Yan Can glanced at it; it was her clothes.

The two of them went to the lounge together to get the dumplings, then headed downstairs.

A wind suddenly picked up outside, and before long it started raining.

Su Ci was just about to take out her umbrella from her bag when Yan Can grabbed her wrist and ran toward the school gate, saying as they ran, “Hurry up; it’s going to pour in a bit.”

Su Ci lowered her eyes to the hand clasped around her wrist and gave up on taking out the umbrella.

When Driver Chen saw the two figures running over, he immediately took an umbrella and jogged toward them. Yan Can waved him off and told him to get in the car; the rain was still all right, not heavy enough to need an umbrella.

After the two of them got into the car, Chen Shu asked, “Miss, where to?”

Today there were two people in the car, so he wasn’t sure whether the young lady was taking her classmate home or sending her home.

Su Ci’s lips moved, just about to speak, when Yan Can said, “Home.”

Chen Shu understood. So it was back to the young lady’s home.

The car started moving forward. Yan Can looked at Su Ci cautiously. Seeing that Su Ci didn’t seem angry at her suggestion, and thinking of the scene of her tutoring other people just now, Yan Can leaned close to her ear and said, “I also want you to tutor me.”

Su Ci said, “I’m in second year; you’re in third.”

Was she worried she couldn’t teach her? Yan Can pouted. “Aren’t you a math competition student?”

Su Ci didn’t say anything; she just looked at her.

Probably she thought Yan Can was being unreasonable, Yan Can thought.

“I don’t care, Su Ci.” Yan Can acted shamelessly, linking her arm through hers and swaying it back and forth. “I’m jealous. Su Ci, you’ve never tutored me before.”