The Second Mock Examination

Chapter 89

Li Sinan looked up slightly. Seeing Gu Ran standing in front of her, her somewhat dim eyes brightened a bit, and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"It's Gu Ran. Good morning."

Her voice sounded a bit weak. Lately, she had been mentally and physically exhausted by all sorts of complaint letters.

"Ms. Li... you don't look very happy?"

Gu Ran frowned slightly, unable to help but ask when he saw Li Sinan looking so listless.

"I'm alright."

Hearing this, Li Sinan managed a forced smile. She then looked at Ye Zhenzhen not far away and smiled again, "Good morning to you too, Zhenzhen."

Regardless of what the aloof girl thought in her heart, as a well-behaved student, she naturally wouldn't dare act arrogant when a teacher took the initiative to greet her.

She quickly nodded obediently. After exchanging greetings, Li Sinan didn't say anything more and walked straight toward the teaching building, having lost her usual liveliness.

Staring at her back, Ye Zhenzhen frowned and softly asked the boy beside her, "Did something happen... to Ms. Li?"

Gu Ran nodded gently but didn't speak. Instead, he looked at the young teacher's back, quietly lost in thought.

Perhaps... she was feeling very sorrowful right now.

Full of hope, she had turned down the opportunity to stay and develop in a big city, choosing instead to return to her hometown to teach and educate. Yet, she ended up being attacked over her style of dress. It was truly lamentable.

She was just a twenty-four or twenty-five-year-old girl, at an age where she loved beauty. Even if she dressed beautifully, it shouldn't be considered her fault.

It was a classic case of victim-blaming.

He shook his head, his desire to recruit her to work for him growing even stronger.

She was a graduate of a prestigious university. Although she majored in education, she was at least very familiar with computers, which was quite rare in this small county town.

"What are you looking at? Let's go!"

Seeing that he didn't answer her question and was just staring blankly at the teacher, Ye Zhenzhen gave him an annoyed glare and kicked him in the calf.

"Oh, right."

With things on his mind, Gu Ran nodded blankly and immediately stepped forward to walk.

But after taking a few steps, he noticed the girl was still standing in the same spot. He couldn't help but look back in confusion.

"Pervert!"

Spitting out the word lightly, the aloof girl walked straight toward the teaching building, leaving the bewildered boy standing there.

Gu Ran: "???"

What did he do to be called a pervert?!

Where is his lawyer? Where is his lawyer!!!

...

...

As time passed, the start of the new semester gradually got on track, and the high school seniors resumed their day-and-night studying routine.

The weather gradually warmed up, the snow on the roads slowly melted, and their winter clothes were shed one by one.

After another month of systematic studying, time arrived at the end of April, bringing the days of the college entrance examination another step closer.

However, the atmosphere in the classroom had split into two extremes.

Some people became increasingly nervous, while others relaxed.

The latter were either top students who had already studied almost everything and didn't need to study much more, just needing to maintain their good condition.

Or they were the poor students who had completely given up on any cure and started enjoying life ahead of time.

April 30th, the second mock exam.

The approach of the second mock exam completely heralded the arrival of the college entrance examination, enveloping the entire school in a tense and anxious atmosphere.

According to the First High School's schedule, the most indicative exams were the first and second mock exams. The third mock exam, scheduled around May 20th, would have significantly reduced difficulty, purely meant to boost the students' confidence.

Therefore, this second mock exam was the last chance to test their own results.

Gu Ran had long prepared his mindset. Under the aloof girl's tutoring, he was full of confidence in his abilities.

The morning sun shone on him. Carrying the girl's schoolbag, he leisurely followed behind her.

Because Lao Gu was on duty, there was no private car today, so the two of them had to walk to school.

But with the warm breeze blowing against his face, watching the surrounding branches slowly sprouting, and feeling the vibrant breath of life, Gu Ran actually grew to like this leisureliness.

"Hurry up!"

The girl walking in front turned her head to call him for the umpteenth time. Seeing his lazy appearance, he looked like an old man taking an early morning stroll; the only thing missing was swapping the schoolbag in his hand for a birdcage.

"It's obviously you who's walking too fast..."

The gentle spring breeze blew, scattering the girl's black hair and the bangs on the boy's forehead.

The figures of the two walked slower and slower. Gu Ran's old-man speed successfully dragged down the girl's pace...

...

Arriving at the examination room, Gu Ran's assigned seat this time was much further forward than during the first mock exam.

For example, his surroundings were filled with examinees seizing the time to cram at the last minute, reviewing ancient poetry.

In this upper-middle examination room, everyone's level was about the same—their grades were worse than the best but better than the worst. Every time there was an exam, this group of people was the most anxious.

Stuck in the middle, Gu Ran felt like an out-of-place pig.

Unlike the people reviewing around him, he took the initiative to pick a window seat, sat down, and quietly narrowed his eyes to look out the window, admiring the sprouting willow branches.

Under his observation, he found that only the willow trees by the roadside sprouted the earliest.

Having spent a long time with the aloof girl, he had gradually learned that indifferent expression.

Just sitting there quietly, he attracted the evaluating gazes of little girls.

But before they could look for long, the invigilator for the first subject arrived at the examination room carrying the test papers.

Seeing the person who arrived, Gu Ran's eyes lit up, and a smile unconsciously formed at the corners of his mouth.

Li Sinan had completely put away her mature style of dress, changing into simple jeans and a white jacket. However, with her beauty and good figure, she could outshine anyone else by a mile no matter what she wore.

She didn't see Gu Ran. After walking up to the podium, she meticulously urged everyone to go out, and then had them re-enter to assign seat numbers.

Fully simulating the college entrance examination process, she held a metal detector in her hand and checked them one by one.

When it was Gu Ran's turn, she was visibly startled, and her tense, pretty face broke into an involuntary smile.

Quietly puffing out her small mouth, she whispered, "Good luck~"

Seeing this, Gu Ran also smiled and nodded. Without communicating much more, he went to his seat and sat down.

Taking advantage of the time while the test papers were being distributed, he carefully observed Li Sinan and found that the girl who used to love smiling had, at some unknown point, put away her gentle smile.

The exquisite makeup on her face had also disappeared, replaced by a bare face.

It was evident that in the month or so since the new year, she had truly been through a lot.

Perhaps the school had blocked the news to avoid a negative impact, so no rumors about parents' complaints had spread.

But he knew this was not the end.

Even though Li Sinan had changed her style of dress now, the blame would still be pinned on her, and the time for that would be right after the college entrance examination.

Thinking of this, he felt somewhat sorrowful, but he didn't know how to change it.

So... when the time comes, he should just bring her over to be his secretary. She could wear whatever she wanted!

Balenciaga and Valentino would be arranged first. After all, he was just a vulgar man. What was wrong with looking at a secretary's legs?

He was getting sidetracked, cough cough cough...

He was a true gentleman!!

Once the exam paper was in his hands, he shook his head, cleared his cluttered thoughts, and immersed himself in answering the questions.

The classroom was so quiet that time itself seemed to have stopped. Only the faint sounds of breathing and the rustling of turning pages intertwined in the air.

Li Sinan sat silently at the podium, stubbornly keeping a stern expression on her small face, naively thinking that doing so would prevent any further complaints.

When another invigilator arrived, she stepped down from the podium and began to patrol the aisles from time to time.

However... the number of times she paused behind Gu Ran was noticeably much higher...