Green Plum, Green Plum (7)
“Wait here obediently.”
Seeing Xu Jiao’s eyes still lingering on her with a hint of a smile, as if expecting an answer.
Shen Yelan, almost involuntarily, lightly nodded her head.
In that instant, it felt as though she had returned to the earlier dream. As long as she could gain the closeness of the person before her, she was willing to agree to anything, do anything.
Seeing her reaction, Xu Jiao instantly understood. She shifted her gaze slightly and slowly said,
“You can leave now.”
“But remember, this is the last chance I’m giving you.”
Now she had come to terms with it. Rather than maintaining the continuity of the plot, she preferred not to be woken up in the middle of the night by the system’s frantic notifications. If she could deal with this troublesome supporting character once and for all, ensuring she wouldn’t cause Shen Yelan any more trouble, it would solve the problem for good.
Lu Pei wiped her tears and nodded messily, whether out of true fear or insincere compliance was unclear.
The dean of discipline had already approached, and upon seeing Xu Jiao, instantly recalled the frustration of her previous, unsuccessful attempt to have her expelled. Her voice, sharp as a squeaky toy, rang out harshly,
“Xu Jiao! What are you up to again!”
“What are you all standing around for! Huh?! Get back to class and study! You think you did well on the monthly exams, don’t you!”
Su Xi was thoroughly annoyed by this talkative old witch. She winked at Xu Jiao and slipped away, while the other students who had been craning their necks to watch the drama also quickly shrank back. In no time, only Xu Jiao and Shen Yelan were left.
Lu Pei, afraid to complain in front of Xu Jiao, swallowed her grievance in silence and ran off, still wiping her tears.
Shen Yelan was jolted back to reality by the dean’s shouting, lowering her head guiltily, looking just like a shy, well-behaved student afraid of a strict teacher.
Only Xu Jiao, with her books in hand, exuded an aura of “I’m not to be messed with.” Her backpack was slung loosely over her right shoulder, almost falling off. She turned back to the furious dean and calmly replied,
“Dean, it’s break time. How long I stand in the hallway is my business.”
“And by the way, I did very well on the monthly exams, the best ever. Thanks for your concern.”
Dean: “…”
Her words were stuck in her throat, almost choking her.
Having said her piece, Xu Jiao walked towards the classroom. Under the blackboard by the wall, she saw two unused, stacked desks and chairs. She walked to the window and raised an eyebrow at the boys in the last row,
“Excuse me.”
She said, “Can I borrow your desk to put my books down?”
The boys from Class 7, who had been too afraid to even breathe when she approached: “!”
They responded enthusiastically upon hearing her polite tone and seeing her pretty face up close. One, with glasses, and the other, with acne, both nodded frantically:
“Please, go ahead!”
“Feel free!”
Xu Jiao nodded and thanked them. After placing her books on their desk, she turned to move the desks.
Before she could get there, a tall boy rushed over, a bit awkward but very eager, saying, “L-let me help you.”
Xu Jiao raised an eyebrow but didn’t refuse. She watched as the boy moved the desks and chairs together without complaint, and thanked him once he was done.
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However, when Shen Yelan entered the classroom later and saw her seat was now beside Xu Jiao’s, she hesitated.
By then, Xu Jiao had already settled by the window, flipping through an English vocabulary list, trying to familiarize herself with the words she was starting to forget. Noticing Shen Yelan’s hesitation, she looked over,
“Don’t want to be desk mates with me?”
Xu Jiao herself didn’t mind, but she never liked forcing people, so she started to raise her hand to push Shen Yelan’s desk away, letting her decide for herself.
Before Shen Yelan could speak, she saw Xu Jiao’s movement and instinctively stepped forward to press down on the desk, her voice becoming urgent and her face showing a hint of panic,
“No, no!”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, she just didn’t dare to think it was possible.
Shen Yelan silently added in her heart.
Seeing Shen Yelan’s anxious appearance, Xu Jiao couldn’t tell if she was too scared to refuse or genuinely eager to be friends despite their brief encounters. After observing her closely, Xu Jiao finally retracted her hand.
Shen Yelan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, carefully placing her books into the drawer. Her movements, even pulling out her chair, were much gentler than usual. While she pretended to be calm, her peripheral vision was constantly on Xu Jiao.
She saw Xu Jiao’s slender fingers holding the book, her fair wrist so pale that even the faint blue veins were visible.
Underneath the desk, her school uniform pants loosely covered her ankles.
Only Shen Yelan knew that if she gently pulled up the pant leg, a beautiful tattoo would be revealed underneath.
She swallowed, even her breathing becoming lighter.
……
The entire morning after switching classes, Xu Jiao didn’t initiate any conversation with Shen Yelan. She either worked on practice problems or took notes during lectures. At a glance, no one could associate her with terms like “temperamental” or “school bully.”
Until noon.
Shen Yelan was listening to an audio lesson when she was suddenly tapped lightly on the desk.
She took off her earphones, thinking she was blocking Xu Jiao’s way out, but saw her turn around and ask softly, “What drink do you like?”
Shen Yelan was stunned, “Huh?”
Xu Jiao patiently repeated, “I want to treat the whole class to drinks. What flavor do you like?”
Shen Yelan swallowed hard, a voice inside her telling her to refuse, while another voice told her that if she refused again, she would lose another gift from Xu Jiao.
She had already lost a rose and a dinner.
In the end, she cautiously said, “A-anything is fine.”
Xu Jiao hadn’t expected to wait so long only to receive such a response. She joked casually, “Mineral water would do?”
Shen Yelan nodded seriously.
Xu Jiao, finding this uninteresting, averted her gaze, placed an order for milk tea according to the number of people, put away her phone, and went back to her exercises.
Shen Yelan vaguely realized that she might have said the wrong thing, feeling annoyed with herself. She wanted to change her answer but didn’t know what to say. Frustrated, she scribbled a few lines on her draft paper and only realized—
The entire page was filled with “Xu Jiao.”
Feeling guilty, she tried to haphazardly erase it but then realized that wasn’t right, so she tore off the whole sheet of draft paper.
Xu Jiao noticed the movement and glanced over, assuming Shen Yelan was frustrated with her exercises. She didn’t intervene, continuing her own work until she finished the reading comprehension and then lay on the desk for a nap.
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Class 7 had its share of diligent top students. During the lunch break, one who encountered a difficult problem remembered that a top student from Class 1 had transferred in, so he timidly approached Shen Yelan and tentatively spoke,
“Excuse me, I—”
He pointed to the problem in his hand and gave Shen Yelan a hopeful smile.
Shen Yelan glanced at the person sleeping beside her and gestured with a finger to her lips, signaling for silence.
The boy understood instantly. After all, no one wanted to wake up a potentially irritable “school bully.”
Shen Yelan looked at the problem, swiftly wrote down the solution process on a piece of draft paper, and added a note:
“This is the general idea. If you don’t understand, you can ask me during the break this afternoon.”
The boy gratefully smiled at her, taking the draft paper. Shen Yelan, losing interest in her exercises, put down her pen, faced Xu Jiao, and propped her head on her hand, pretending to doze while actually watching Xu Jiao’s sleeping profile the entire lunch break.
……
When lunch break ended, Xu Jiao received a message from the delivery service. She rubbed her head, sat up, casually mentioned it to the two boys in the front row, and they eagerly volunteered to pick it up.
When the milk tea arrived, Class 7 erupted in cheers.
Free stuff always tastes the best.
This cheerful atmosphere lasted until school ended. More and more students visibly approached Xu Jiao with friendly gestures, even the girls who were initially afraid of her now greeted her with smiles.
Xu Jiao remained calm and composed, neither arrogant nor distant. Although she was polite, she didn’t come across as enthusiastic.
It seemed like she wasn’t close to anyone.
Shen Yelan unconsciously stayed with her for a while longer, then remembered she had to go home. Just as she stood up, she felt a cramping pain in her lower abdomen.
This feeling…
It seemed like her period had come.
She looked around the classroom and noticed a few boys chatting, showing no signs of leaving soon.
Shen Yelan didn’t dare get up. She was wearing summer clothes, a short-sleeved shirt, and shorts. The light blue shorts would easily show any stains, and she didn’t have a jacket to cover up.
She had to wait.
She waited for half an hour.
Finally, the classroom emptied, leaving only her and Xu Jiao.
The person beside her finished her exercises, stretched and yawned, then looked around and noticed only Shen Yelan was still there.
Xu Jiao picked up her backpack, without packing any homework, and was about to leave when she noticed Shen Yelan’s tense posture. Instinctively, she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Shen Yelan’s cheeks turned red. She didn’t know how to explain.
The air was silent for two seconds, then suddenly—
A jacket with a faint smell of laundry detergent was draped over her shoulders.
The jacket still retained the warmth of its owner.
Xu Jiao sighed softly, leaning on the desk with one hand, and looked at her, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Shen Yelan nodded slightly.
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Xu Jiao knew she had a reticent personality and didn’t expect her to ask for help, so she continued, “Do you have any sanitary pads?”
Shen Yelan shook her head.
Xu Jiao, somewhat helpless, brushed her bangs aside and asked, “What brand do you usually use?” After all, everyone had their preferences for these things.
Shen Yelan had never been cared for like this before. First, Xu Jiao asked her about her favorite drink, and now she was asking about…
She whispered, “I-I don’t know. I just buy whatever is available.”
The cheapest one.
Although Xu Jiao had no special feelings for this novel’s protagonist, seeing her in such a predicament stirred her natural inclination to help. After all, writing about it was one thing, seeing it firsthand was another.
Probably because she had spent so long in the previous world—
A hundred years had passed.
Now, suddenly back in a place much like her own time, the statements about the world being fake seemed to waver.
Without waiting for the system to assign a task, she reached out and ruffled the child’s hair. As she walked out, she said gently,
“Wait here obediently.”