Chapter 36

Even if the teacher says, "Do you know how many days are left until the college entrance exam?", everyone is all grinning from ear to ear as the National Day holiday approaches.

Even our usually unassuming homeroom teacher wore a pink shirt, and the boys in the class were still making strange noises when he stood on the podium.

"Hey teacher, do you have a date after get off work?"

"Last time, our teacher said that so-and-so in the building across the street was dating so-and-so and it was affecting their studies. How come you started dating first?"

"Our teacher absolutely has to find a handsome guy! And definitely not someone who's love-struck!"

Zeng Li realized that if he didn't respond to them, the girls in his class would be led astray by these boys.

Who exactly spread the rumor that she's love-struck?

"Stop it, stop making a fuss. I won't talk to you unless I get you into university!" She slammed her book down on the lectern, looking particularly imposing.

"Yeah, even dogs don't talk about love!" All the girls in the class echoed in unison, their voices so loud that the two boys in the back row who were catching up on their sleep thought they were welcoming school leaders and instinctively started clapping before even opening their eyes.

This provoked a burst of laughter from the girls, and Bai Nan couldn't help but burst into laughter as well.

She likes the people in Class 1.

The lively but tedious day finally came to an end, and everyone had a smile on their face, more or less.

Grades 10 and 11 get a five-day holiday during the National Day holiday, while Grade 12 suffers the most, getting only a three-day holiday and having to go to school a day early for evening self-study. So, the smiles of Grade 12 students are tinged with a bit of jealousy, especially when they see those unrestrained and arrogant Grade 11 students at the school gate.

Bai Di followed behind Li Ling with his head down, his face expressionless, like a puppet on its deathbed.

The owner of the line was talking to another girl. Bai Di recognized her; she was the class monitor of the neighboring Class 9, but he couldn't remember her name.

Seeing that the two were getting closer and closer, clearly not wanting others to hear, he simply turned his face away and observed the first-year high school students around him.

"Lingling, he... really doesn't remember that?"

Zhao Qian cautiously glanced at Bai Di through the crack, then frowned as she looked away: "No matter what, he shouldn't..."

"Stop talking," Li Ling interrupted her. "He didn't do it on purpose."

Zhao Qian sighed, and said earnestly, "Lingling, he's changed. Haven't you noticed how bad his behavior is now? Last week, Xiao Shu from your dorm posted a picture of him stealing on the school website, and he immediately started arguing with her! The day before yesterday, he—"

"Alright! I'll say it again, he didn't steal anything, he just borrowed it."

"Lingling! Do you know what they call you in private these days? They call you 'Granny Ling'! And that's not all—"

"Zhao Qian, I won't allow you to talk about me like that, and I certainly won't allow you to talk about my friend like that! I'm leaving now, have a happy holiday."

After Li Ling finished speaking, she grabbed Bai Di, who was counting heads, and walked away with big strides, completely ignoring Zhao Qian, who was left behind calling her name.

She was furious, furious at Bai Nan's sudden change, furious at herself for not knowing anything, and furious that in the eyes of outsiders she had become Ling Momo, who was trying to win her favor but was being ignored, yet she still couldn't let go of that affection.

What a laughable face-saving attitude, what a laughable friendship.

Bai Nan watched Li Ling and Bai Di brush past him, opening his mouth several times, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to call out "Li Ling".

During this holiday, Bai Di refused to go home with her, saying he didn't want to take care of his parents. He also said he had agreed with Li Ling to work at her relative's milk tea shop.

She was quite surprised when she first heard it. Bai Di had never washed the dishes at home, and now that he had a three-day holiday, he was working with Li Ling.

However, what he did was indeed in line with her own choice, and she had no reason to refuse. And in order to play Bai Di well, she would have to stay home obediently for the next five days and couldn't go out to earn money.

This was her initial plan: to stay home obediently for five days. But Huang Ying and Bai Hua seemed to have taken the wrong medicine; that very night, they packed her up and sent her to Bai Lu's house.

After dropping her off, the two drove away without giving anyone time to react.

Bai Nan forced a stiff smile at Wang Ma: "Happy National Day, Wang Ma."

Wang Ma stopped rolling her eyes, gave an ambiguous "hmm," and then inquired about "Bai Nan" on the way into the courtyard.

Why didn't your sister come along?

Bai Nan answered honestly, "She went to work at a friend's or relative's house to earn money. She only had three days off during her senior year of high school, so she didn't come."

Wang Ma's lips curled into a sneer after hearing only half of it, and she muttered, "Those foreigners are something else, they'll get their comeuppance sooner or later..."

The foreigners she was referring to were Huang Ying and Bai Hua. Wang Ma had watched the three children grow up together, so she naturally knew everything about Bai Nan's experiences since childhood. But no matter how enthusiastic an outsider is, they can't change what happens in someone else's family. Besides, Bai Nan was very stubborn and only believed in his own principles.

No one can change what she wants to do, sigh.

Bai Nan was naturally unaware of her inner turmoil, and simply walked on with her head down, taking the opportunity to review the new phrases she had learned that day.

Since she and Bai Lu publicly challenged the English teacher last time, the number of times they were called on in English class has skyrocketed, forcing her to spend twice as much time as usual memorizing words and phrases.

However, the improvement in my ranking in this monthly exam was also related to the increase in my English score, so it can be considered a blessing in disguise.

After Wang Ma led her into the main building, she left with the several boxes of gifts that Huang Ying had given her. It was late at night and dark. Even if someone had the sense to send their child over to freeload, they wouldn't be able to do so empty-handed. I've never seen anyone drive all night to deliver gifts like that.

According to the old saying, poor relatives are not to be respected, and even placing them on the stove is considered to disturb the Kitchen God.

"It's a pity there's no pigsty..." Wang Ma muttered before leaving, which was overheard by Bai Lu, who was awakened by the noise downstairs. He stood at the top of the stairs, looking embarrassed.

"Wang Ma wasn't talking about you..." After Wang Ma left, Bai Lu took the luggage bag from Bai Nan's hand and said.

Bai Nan shook her head to indicate that it was nothing. Wang Ma had always treated her well since childhood and knew that she disapproved of Huang Ying and Bai Hua's behavior, not that she was targeting her. Moreover, even if she had said it to her, she would only have wanted to make things difficult for Bai Di.

She hasn't forgotten her current status.

"Xin-ge went to bed early, we didn't know you were coming, but that's even better, the three of us can play cards!" Bai Lu slid his luggage up to the second floor, getting more and more excited as he spoke, after all, it would be really boring if it was just him and Xin-ge during the holidays.

"Do you want to stay in the original room, or..." He pointed to the door of the room Bai Di had stayed in during the summer vacation and a room next door.

Bai Nan understood his concerns, after all, something bad had happened in that room, even though she wasn't the victim.

"Let's just stay where we are. Even if Sister Nan comes, she won't mind. It's all a misunderstanding." She didn't know if Bai Dijie would mind, but Bai Nan certainly wouldn't.

Bai Lu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "That's good. Go ahead and pack. Remember to eat breakfast tomorrow morning. Aunt Wang said she's going to make soup dumplings."

"Okay, sure." Bai Nan replied casually, turned around, went into the room, and closed the door.

Bai Lu watched her figure disappear, and for some reason, a sense of guilt rose in his heart towards Sister Nan. He always felt that being too good to Bai Di was a betrayal of Sister Nan.

But in the past month, Bai Di has indeed been slowly getting better, and even I, who hates him so much, sometimes can't help but want to get close to him...

Wait a minute~ Realizing what he was thinking, Bai Lu quickly shook his head. He just didn't dislike Bai Di anymore, it was definitely not that he wanted to get close to him!

Bai Nan returned to the room, her heart filled with complex emotions. No matter how she tried to recall the intense emotions she felt then, it was as if there was a veil between them, something she couldn't touch or see clearly.

I wonder what I encountered ten years later that made me want to kill Bai Di...

The phone vibrated.

She shook her head to clear her mind of her chaotic and complicated emotions and opened the message.

[Wilder (Bai Lu): By the way, Xin-ge wanted to go fishing tomorrow, wanna come along?]

After thinking for a while, torn between doing the test paper and spending time with Xu Xin, Bai Nan finally replied with an "Mm".

[Wilder (Bai Lu): Received! Then get up early tomorrow!]

【焱: OK】

After returning to Bailu, Bai Nan took a quick shower and went to bed. It was the first day of her holiday, and she really wasn't in the mood to do any tests. She'd do them tomorrow.

She woke up naturally before the alarm went off the next day. The biological clock she developed at school is really scary; she can't even sleep in during holidays.

I glanced at my phone and saw that it was almost time, so I quickly washed up and got ready before going downstairs. I figured Aunt Wang was busy, so I went to help her out.

Upon arriving at the kitchen on the first floor, Wang Ma was indeed extremely busy. Since Grandpa Zong left, the number of people had been reduced significantly; apart from Wang Ma and the gatekeeper, there was no one else in this large courtyard.

When Bai Lu and Xu Xin lived at the school, they would just eat whatever was available. But when the kids came back, they weren't quite used to it anymore.

"Good morning, Auntie." To avoid startling Wang Ma, she greeted her first.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ma glanced at her, wondering why this little darling had come, but her expression remained calm: "Just go to the dining room and wait for dinner to be served."

She had no time to serve her ancestors, and for some reason, the steamer basket for the soup dumplings couldn't be placed flat, which was very annoying.

Seeing that she was fiddling with the steamer, Bai Nan went over to take a look and then reached out to peel off the plastic wrap from the inner rack of the steamer. "It's done."

Wang Ma put the upper layer back on with some skepticism, and found that it was indeed firmly stuck.

Her expression softened a bit, and she was about to speak when she glanced at the time and suddenly realized, "Oh dear! It's already 8 o'clock, we're going to be late!" She immediately became flustered. Just as she finished plating the prepared side dishes, another small pot of porridge that was cooking suddenly started buzzing.

Bai Nan silently washed her hands, put on oven mitts, lifted the lid of the constantly rattling pot, picked up the spoon from the side of the pot and stirred it, then asked Wang Ma, "Auntie, is there anything else I haven't added?"

Wang Ma was too busy to refute her, and without even looking up, she replied with "goji berries," and then hurriedly placed the divided small dishes on the round wooden plate.

Only then did she have time to go and check on the porridge. Seeing Bai Nan stirring it with great care, she couldn't help but snort.

Bai Nan wanted to laugh a little. It was Wang Ma who taught her how to make white fungus and red date porridge. She knew to add goji berries at the end, but she had to consider Wang Ma's feelings. Sometimes the elderly would act like children, so she just had to indulge them.

Just like her maternal grandmother, once when it was raining and she was in a hurry to cover the backyard with plastic film, she put on the wrong shoes. When she came back, she told Bai Nan, who was laughing at her, "Grandma did it on purpose. This way, it won't get your shoes wet. You'll know next time if you try it."

Bai Nan actually tried it and proved that her grandmother was talking nonsense.

"Auntie, I'm not very good at stirring, could you teach me?"

Bai Nan said with a smile.