Chapter 68

The gloom in Chen Zhou's eyes dissipated. He packed his things, slung his backpack over his shoulder, quickly turned off the light, and excitedly followed after her retreating figure.

"Then I'll assume you're here to pick me up from school." His voice rose in pitch.

With her back to him, Jian Sheng raised her eyes, curved her lips, and gave a soft "hmm."

"Have you had dinner yet?" she asked.

Chen Zhou shook his head in surprise: "No...."

Jian Sheng simply said "Oh," and slowly added, "I don't have any either."

"Come on, let's go eat," he replied.

The two arrived at the old street, which was not far from where she studied painting; it was located on the edge of the center of Yanjiang District.

Chen Zhoujing found a shop with a relaxed and retro atmosphere, as he was quite familiar with Jian Sheng's preferences.

She eats light food and prefers stir-fries and soups.

It is very similar to his eating habits.

He handed her the menu, and Jian waved her hand, signaling him to take over. He then began to select dishes, and if she hadn't stopped him, he would have ordered a whole table of food.

“That’s enough,” she said.

"That's not enough." Chen Zhoujing wanted to check off more items on the menu.

Jian let out a soft "Oh dear!" and fell silent. Only then did he realize what was happening and stop in time.

"Don't be angry, I won't order anymore." He handed the menu to the waiter. "Thank you."

The waiter said "You're welcome" and walked away, suppressing a laugh.

He leaned closer and asked, "Are you angry?"

“No!” Jian said, looking at him.

"Okay, okay, I know you're not angry." Chen Zhou smiled in surprise.

A short while later, the waiter brought over two bottles of drinks: "During the in-store promotion, you're getting a free drink."

He finished speaking briefly and then stepped aside.

Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise and said to her, "No need for taking photos or anything?"

The waiter came over and waved his hand, saying, "No need, it's a gift from the boss."

She pointed to the man behind the counter who was looking down and doing something, thought for a moment, and then said, "It would be even better if you could post photos in the comments."

Chen Zhoujing opened the app and fiddled with the phone according to the waiter's instructions.

As the two were operating the device, Jian Sheng slowly glanced at Liang Shuyuan over there.

I felt a sense of embarrassment swirling around me.

Yanjiang is really small; you run into acquaintances everywhere you go...

"You know them?" After the waiter left, Chen Zhoujing glanced over there again and asked.

Jian Sheng raised his hand and pinched his ear: "Art teacher."

"Oh, he's a teacher..." Chen Zhoujing didn't say anything more and changed the subject to casual conversation.

Liang Shuyuan only stayed in the store for a short while before leaving. Jian Sheng's unease subsided after he left.

After finishing their meal, the two strolled together down the long street.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and Jian Sheng isn't in a hurry to go back.

She glanced at her phone several times, but Jian Qingyao still hadn't replied to the message, so she put her phone back in her pocket.

As I crossed the stone bridge, my phone vibrated a few times in my pocket.

She quickly took it out and opened WeChat.

Chen Zhoujing stopped speaking. Jian Sheng, not hearing him reply, casually asked, "And then?"

He turned his head and said casually, "Why are you looking at your phone the whole time? You seem distracted."

I checked my phone fifteen times while we were eating together, and then again twenty-two times along the way.

Chen Zhou's desire to speak also vanished.

Jian Sheng exclaimed "Ah!" and handed him her phone: "I'm talking to Jian Qingyao about Grandma."

Chen Zhou was stunned when he saw the phone being handed to him.

"No...no need to show me..." He glanced at his phone, his last words being, "What's going on?"

"What...what happened to your grandma?" he asked.

Jian Sheng shook her head, about to speak, when someone called out to her from behind: "Jian Sheng."

The two turned around, and Jian Qingyao strode over with Yang Shaochao.

Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes and lingered on Yang Shao, who was standing next to Jian Qingyao.

Jian Qingyao's friend?

Jian Qingyao glanced at Chen Zhoujing and asked Jian Sheng, "What are you babbling about on WeChat?"

Jian Sheng remained silent: "When I picked her up last night, she almost fainted at the stairwell and talked to me a lot. I was worried, so I told you."

Jian Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief: "She has high blood pressure; she must have forgotten to take her medication today."

“I took her to see a doctor last month, and I’ll take her for another check-up in a couple of days.”

"What are you two doing?" he suddenly asked in a deep voice. "Dating?"

Jian Sheng retorted angrily, "What did you say?!"

"Hey, what's your rush?" Jian Qingyao stepped forward to confront him, but Yang Shao pulled him back, pinched his arm, and said, "Can't you control your temper a little?"

Jian Qingyao's face flushed red, but he didn't say anything.

When his gaze swept over Chen Zhoujing's unfriendly face, his anger flared up again: "What are you looking at!"

Jian Sheng stepped in front of Chen Zhoujing and said, "Go back if you're sick."

Chen Zhou's brow twitched, but he suppressed his displeasure and moved a few steps closer to Jian Sheng.

Jian Qingyao's expression darkened further: "Not only are you siding with outsiders, but you also don't even bother to distinguish right from wrong!"

Yang Shao sighed inwardly, pulled him behind him, glanced at the time on his phone in his left hand, and said to Jian, "It's nine o'clock, it's not late, let's go back?"

"Shall we go back too?" he asked Jian Qingyao, tilting his head.

Jian Qingyao nodded, his emotions much calmer: "Let's go together."

"Otherwise, someone will get anxious again!"

Jian Sheng rolled her eyes at him and stood next to Chen Zhoujing.

"Together? Living together?" Yang Shao asked.

“From the same neighborhood,” Jian Qingyao replied, turning and walking towards the bridge.

The four people did not walk in a row, but were ten meters apart.

Finally, at the entrance of the old street, I hailed two taxis to go back.

Upon returning home, Jian Qingyao immediately inquired about Ye Hua's health. Ye Hua scolded the two of them and paced back and forth in the living room with her hands behind her back.

Pointing at Jian Sheng and Jian Qingyao, who were sitting in the middle of the sofa, he said several things that sounded like he was making a fuss.

Sitting to the side, Yang Shao kept smiling as he looked at the two people whose heads were almost touching their laps.

However, Jian Qingyao was still extremely worried, and during the holiday, he insisted on taking her to the hospital for a check-up. Ye Hua couldn't refuse him, so she gave in to his wish.

It was indeed high blood pressure, and Jian Sheng was relieved after the test results came back.

After the midterms, she studied while painting at the art studio on weekends, and her days became busy and fulfilling.

She ranked eleventh in her class in the midterm exams, an improvement of two or three places from the previous exam, with a total score of around 530, even after the grades were assigned.

She took another monthly exam, and her score remained the same. She seemed to have hit a bottleneck, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't improve.

I got angry again and again.

Chen Zhou was surprised to see that she was somewhat irritable and absent-minded, and she was not completing the test papers she was given as diligently as before.

He revised the entire plan, making slight modifications to suit her study habits, and handed it to her.

She didn't say anything, just pointed to the notebook he had given her, and then went back to her seat.

Jian Sheng picked up the notebook and looked at it; he had written the entire notebook by hand.

She flipped through it, fumbled around for a bit, but only looked at a few pages before putting it aside.

The tedium of studying, and the negative feedback that the effort and reward were disproportionate, exhausted her energy.

The fact that she was ranked second in the next monthly exam was a huge blow to her.

Chen Zhoujing didn't dare to say anything inappropriate in her ear, and most of the time he changed the topic of studying and talked about other things.

On Saturday morning, Jian Sheng finished the last stroke of highlighting and put down his paintbrush.

She stood up as usual, tore the tape off the drawing, and placed it on the table in front of her.

Liang Shuyuan looked up, glanced at her painting, and said something unrelated: "That kid outside the door, is he your boyfriend?"

Jian let out a soft "Ah!" and turned around abruptly.

Chen Zhoujing stood straight at the back door, grinning at her.

She turned her head away and said softly, "No."

"Oh, it's alright. Pay attention to the line where the sky meets the ground, add some warm colors..." Liang Shuyuan handed her the painting, got up, took his phone, and went out.

Then she turned back and said, "Turn off the air conditioner later, save me some money, I already paid for it."

"I understand." Jian Sheng held the painting in her hand and turned around only after he left.

Chen Zhoujing slowly walked to her side: "It's very well drawn."

He only knew a little bit, but he could tell that she drew quite well.

Jian Sheng placed the painting on the easel, clipped it in, and then put it in her cabinet under the window: "It's not very good either."

"What's wrong with it?" Chen Zhoujing walked to her side. "Isn't this good? I think it's excellent."

"Oh." Jian nodded. "How did you get in?"

There are people watching the entrance to this institution, so you can't just come in casually.

Chen Zhoujing smiled sheepishly, "I told them I was here for a consultation, and they let me in and even introduced me to a teacher..."

The receptionist kept following him. He said he was just browsing and walked very fast, shaking her off.

The institution was quite large, with several classrooms inside. Only Jian Sheng's classroom door was open, and he stood at the door watching her from the moment she began to write until she finished.

For two hours, he stood there for the same amount of time she painted.

After a long period of wind and heavy rain, the weather has been sunny and bright these past few days.

Light shone through the small glass window on the classroom ceiling, falling onto her hair.

Her focused expression was enveloped in light, and every time she raised her hand or tilted her head in thought, she exuded a sense of enjoyment.

It was a sight he had never seen before.

At least in the field of painting, it has a unique brilliance.

Jian Sheng laughed out loud: "Then you're quite smart."

"Hmm, are you praising me?" Chen Zhoujing lowered his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I'm complimenting you." She lifted her chin. "Shall we go?"

Chen Zhoujing was in a good mood: "Let's go! I'll treat you to dinner."

"Please, but no!"

"Please come back next time..."

"You always say that, but you never give me a chance!"

"Didn't you treat me to bubble tea last week?"

"Can you even compare them?"

"I don't care... I just want to invite you."

For a long time afterward, Chen Zhoujing would appear on time after she finished painting, have dinner with her, and go back to the neighborhood together.

She said she didn't want to study anymore, and he didn't spout any motivational platitudes like he used to; he just went along with what she was saying.

He said that if he didn't want to learn, he would do other things he wanted to do first, and then learn when he felt like it.

Under his extremely indulgent tone, Jian Sheng actually studied even more enthusiastically.

She also agreed to his plan to attend Huaiyin University, promising him in his ear that she would prepare for the entrance exam.

Chen Zhou stared at her serious face, his heart pounding wildly.

He would stay an hour after school with her to study, and every time the security guard chased them away with a flashlight, he would laugh with her in the empty schoolyard.

On the way to Linglong Residential Area several times.

Jian Sheng's performance did not improve significantly, but he at least caught up with the other two.

Chen Zhoujing, holding the list, exclaimed, "Wow, that's impressive!"

"That's sarcastic." She frowned, feigning unhappiness.

"Where's the irony?" Chen Zhoujing handed her the list. "The ranking has gone up, and the score is only one point away from the previous one. That's a huge improvement."

He simply said "oh".

"Anyway, making such a big improvement in such a short time is really impressive!" he said confidently.

“Okay, then I’m awesome.” Jian Sheng smiled.

During the activity period, many seats in the classroom were empty. In the boys' row, apart from Xu Yanghe and Chen Zhoujing, most of them had left.

A moment later, two people walked down the corridor.

"Chen Zhoujing." A familiar voice rang out.

The two glanced sideways. Yu Chao, standing at the door, nodded to Jian Sheng and then said, "Chen Zhoujing, come out for a moment."

Chen Zhou paused for a few seconds, then walked towards him.

After he left, Yu Chao put his arm around his shoulder and led him away from that floor.

After watching the two leave, Jian Sheng returned to his seat.

A moment later, the sound of a chair being pulled out came from the side.

She turned her head and saw Shen Xuzheng pulling up the chair next to Qi Jing and sitting down beside her. He flipped through the papers on her desk: "So many mistakes?"

As he spoke, he took a handful of candy from his school uniform pocket and placed it in her hand.

"Didn't I tell you about this question last time?"

"This question is also..."

Qi Jing remained silent, listening quietly as Shen Xuzheng finished speaking.

"You haven't broken this habit yet," he said, frowning.

Qi Jing propped her head up with her hand: "Then I won't do it again next time."

Shen Xuzheng put down the exam paper, looked up at her, and after a long while said, "It's nothing."

Qi Jing pouted and said, "Oh."

Shen Xuzheng narrowed his eyes: "Shall we go eat later?"

"Aren't you going to play games with Yu Chao?" she asked instinctively.

"What's more important than going out to eat with you?" He leaned back in his chair, a smile playing on his lips, and said lazily, "Who plays video games all day?"

When Shen Xuzheng raised an eyebrow and smiled at her, Jian Sheng looked away and quietly did her homework, with Qi Jing's gentle voice in her ear.

He would say something, and she would respond; she was basically just going along with what he said.