Chapter 36: This is the coolest motorcycle I've ever seen...

Chapter 36

After Jiang Mingxu made his suggestion that day, Jin Ran tentatively sent a message to Mrs. Lin, inviting her out for coffee.

Unexpectedly, she actually managed to get the person to come out. After agreeing on a time and place to meet, Jin Ran went to teach the students in Class 3 first.

Thanks to the "partner" learning approach, students' enthusiasm for mathematics has increased significantly.

Everyone is exceptionally enthusiastic in Jin Ran's classes. Even if they are unsure of the answer, they will raise their hands high during the Q&A session, afraid of being ignored by Jin Ran.

Sometimes, even Wang Shuya couldn't get a chance and could only stand by anxiously with her notes in hand.

Jin Ran also reviewed the "puzzle" from the evening self-study session with everyone in class.

Then, the students were told that similar questions would be covered in the next "pairing" learning session, and the top three teams would receive small prizes. Immediately, the students who had been daydreaming stopped, their eyes widening as they focused intently on memorizing the answers.

Midway through class, Jin Ran suddenly felt a slight bloating in her lower abdomen.

She had a premonition, but she didn't panic. After class, she lingered at the classroom door for a long time answering students' questions. When she returned, she found that she had indeed started her period.

Actually, this was her first period after transmigrating into the book.

The original owner's body was probably in a sub-healthy state, with insufficient qi and blood. Her hands and feet would be cold every night, so her menstrual cycle was not accurate. Jin Ran casually calculated that the interval between the two periods was at least forty days.

For Jin Ran, whose period was ridiculously accurate in her past life, this was somewhat of a challenge.

What made her even more uncomfortable was that subtle, almost imperceptible feeling of unease.

If she had to describe it, it would be like there was a rope tightly binding her inside her stomach, pulling in different directions from time to time. You know, Jin Ran used to always stubbornly drink cold drinks and only eat spicy hot pot when she had her period. She never thought she would encounter this situation.

A wise person knows when to yield. Jin Ran very obediently put down the iced milk tea she had just bought and poured herself a cup of steaming hot water.

Hmm, it actually tastes pretty good.

My period came suddenly, but thankfully the slight pain didn't affect my daily life.

During the midday break, Jin Ran, as agreed with Mrs. Lin, took a taxi to the meeting place—an upscale coffee shop.

After giving her the information, the other party respectfully led her to a window seat. Looking at the woman with curly hair and red lips in the seat, Jin Ran almost didn't recognize her.

Compared to last time, Mrs. Lin had changed quite a bit. She was wearing a satin cheongsam with a knotted button design around her neck, and her hair was styled to the side. She looked elegant and noble: "Thanks to your encouragement, I recently picked up my paintbrush again and started designing clothes. This is one I designed myself. What do you think? Is it alright?"

Jin Ran snapped out of her daze and exclaimed in surprise, "It's not just presentable, it's absolutely gorgeous!"

If I had such talent, I would have already made a bold move, established my own brand, and would never want to be confined at home by a man in the name of love.

Mrs. Lin laughed at her words: "I knew I hadn't misjudged you! I felt an instant connection with you when we met last time, and I like you even more now." She affectionately took Jin Ran's hand, "If it weren't for the age difference, I would have liked to adopt you as my younger sister right here and now."

Jin Ran blinked: "Sister Lin, don't say you're too old. How could you be older than my husband?"

Mrs. Lin is just over thirty years old this year, which is indeed younger than Jiang Mingxu, who is thirty-five.

"Then I'll shamelessly call you 'little sister'," Mrs. Lin said, her smile becoming even more sincere.

Although Jin Ran came with a purpose, she did not bring up the investment after meeting Mrs. Lin.

The two chatted happily like old friends, discussing everything from jewelry appreciation to new handbags, from makeup tips to gossip in the entertainment industry. They also commented on the latest young male celebrities, noting which had a good figure and which had a sweet tongue. When Jin Ran learned that Mrs. Lin had connections with several celebrities, she could no longer hide her surprise.

"Pfft, what's the big deal? I'll invite them out another day so you can come along too. Just to kill time and have someone to talk to."

Jin Ran was thrilled by what she heard.

There's no ill intent involved; it's more of a matter of curiosity. After all, who wouldn't want to see a handsome guy?

Humans are sensory creatures, and Jin Ran, being an ordinary person, is no exception. Sometimes, when she sees handsome men and beautiful women, she can eat a few more bites of her lunch.

Although Jiang Mingxu and Jiang Xuli are handsome, she sees that kind of handsomeness every day. It's like someone who eats delicacies every day occasionally wanting to try street food. It's understandable that she wants to see something new, right?

Another point is that Jin Ran has heard many people say that there is a gap between celebrities and ordinary people. There have even been cases where actors were called ugly men in TV dramas, but were surprisingly handsome in real life. This made her very curious about how handsome those celebrities who are good-looking on TV must be in real life.

Mrs. Lin hadn't had such a pleasant chat in a long time. Even after finishing her coffee, she was still quite eager to continue. Finally, she enthusiastically announced that she had started preparing for her own studio and that they could design clothes for her free of charge.

"That's settled then. If Mrs. Lin forgets, I won't stand for it," Jin Ran said, feigning a threat.

"Don't worry, I'll never forget you, no matter who else I forget."

Sometimes, the connection between people is just such a coincidence. Among so many people at the banquet, Mrs. Lin happened to hit it off with Jin Ran, who was five years younger than her. After chatting for a while, they started to get to know each other better: "Actually, I heard people talk about you a long time ago, but now it seems like they were just talking nonsense. How could a girl as good as you do such a thing?"

Jin Ran's mind raced.

Most of the "rumors" Mrs. Lin mentioned were about the original owner of the body. Since she didn't have the original owner's memories, she could find out some things, but she couldn't get to the bottom of others.

She maintained her smile, but her tone carried a hint of helplessness: "I don't know where those rumors came from. The most outrageous one was that I forced my husband to marry me with a knife." She shook her head. "You know his personality. How could anyone force him?"

"That's true." Mrs. Lin looked at Jin Ran sympathetically. "Putting everything else aside, the scene at the last banquet where President Jiang traveled a long way to deliver a handkerchief really shocked everyone. It was like something out of an idol drama. What's that saying again? 'An old house on fire, the more it burns, the brighter it gets…'"

At this point, she suddenly remembered that the woman in front of her was the old house's wife, and quickly added a few words to make amends: "Ahem, I didn't mean to say that President Jiang is old. My wife is only two years older than President Jiang, but when they stand together, they look like father and son."

Young girls are easily embarrassed, and when Jin Ran heard the teasing, her face turned as red as a freshly peeled lychee, looking very shy.

But she still tried to remain calm and looked at Mrs. Lin with a curious gaze: "Sister Lin, what other rumors have you heard? They're quite funny. Tell me about them, and I can tell Mingxu about them later."

Mrs. Lin thought about it seriously for a moment: "It's not too many, actually it's just a few things over and over again. The most common thing people say is that you have a bad temper and you scold the servants at the drop of a hat..." She paused, then suddenly burst out laughing, "The most ridiculous thing is that someone said you were having dinner with your boyfriend the day before you and President Jiang got married, what kind of nonsense is that?"

Mrs. Lin could barely understand the other rumors, but this one was just too outrageous. How could someone like Jiang Mingxu marry a woman who already had a boyfriend?

Jin Ran's smile faltered.

Boy friend?

Did the original owner of this body have a boyfriend? How come she had no idea?!

Jin Ran's brows furrowed imperceptibly as she quickly pondered the situation.

One possibility is that the rumors are true, and someone is deliberately trying to smear her and ruin her reputation.

The other possibility is rather bad.

But Jin Ran quickly calmed down.

The original owner of this body, a woman from the Jin family, was not stupid. She would never allow deception to happen. Even if this "boyfriend" really existed, she would prefer that he had already become her ex-boyfriend before the marriage.

Overwhelmed by the overwhelming amount of information, Jin Ran's temples throbbed, and she wearily rubbed them.

Originally, she thought that the original owner of this body was deeply in love with Jiang Mingxu, which was why she stole Jin Jing's marriage opportunity. But now she was told that the other party actually had a boyfriend.

This made her unable to believe that a woman who was having dinner with her boyfriend the day before her wedding could suddenly change her personality and fall in love with another man, becoming devoted to him until death.

So it's highly likely he was faking it.

So here's the question: why did the original owner pretend to like Jiang Mingxu?

/

After saying goodbye to Mrs. Lin, Jin Ran glanced at the time and realized it was still early. She opened her phone's map and saw that the nearest bus stop was only 500 meters away, so she decided to take the bus back to school.

As she turned the corner at the intersection, she saw two familiar faces pushing a motorcycle.

"Jiang Xuli?"

Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Xuli and Chen Xunliang turned around at the same time.

Jin Ran raised an eyebrow: "It really is you guys. What are you doing here?"

Although the coffee shop is upscale, its location is really remote. When students have classes in the afternoon, most Wencheng students will choose the cafeteria or the food street near the school gate, and rarely will they go to such a far place.

As she was wondering, Chen Xunliang, who had a big mouth, said angrily, "Don't even mention it. We came here to buy something, and Brother Li's tires were punctured by some scoundrel. We had to push it to the repair shop first."

Jiang Xuli frowned and kicked him. Chen Xunliang realized what was happening and awkwardly covered his mouth, saying, "Later... Teacher Jin, I didn't mean to swear. I was just too angry."

He pointed at the flashy motorcycle, his heart aching. Although it wasn't his motorcycle, Brother Li had recently allowed him to ride it for a few minutes occasionally, so what difference did it make? "Look, both the front and rear tires are punctured. It must have been done by someone!"

Jiang Xuli was speechless: "It's so noisy, keep it down!"

Chen Xunliang's young heart was deeply hurt. He clutched his chest, made a wounded expression, and turned to Jin Ran to complain, "Teacher Jin, look at him! He's like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a kind heart! You have to stand up for me!"

Jin Ran: "..."

Thank you, but I was really disgusted.

She silently rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Every time she saw this bickering couple, she seriously doubted that the boy's immaturity had anything to do with his age, because there was no difference between fifteen and five years old!

However, she knew in her heart that although he was always sharp-tongued, when something really happened, Chen Xunliang would definitely be the first to rush out and protect Jiang Xuli.

vice versa.

He waved his hand dismissively, trying to break up the fight like shooing away flies: "Give each of you a fair share of the blame, and you can leave now."

Chen Xunliang: "..."

Compared to the high school students' bickering, Jin Ran was clearly more concerned about Icon Sheene's car.

Before this, her imagination of motorcycles always came from popular TV dramas—a damp sea breeze, the afterglow of the setting sun, the female lead sitting on the back seat, her arms tightly wrapped around the male lead's waist, the two of them nestled together like mandarin ducks on the speeding motorcycle, their hair romantically intertwined in the wind.

Because it was so romantic, Jin Ran even considered getting a motorcycle license, but after curiously checking the price of Jiang Mingxu's motorcycle, she decided to stay away from it.

Excuse me, this motorcycle costs millions!

It's stylish, cool, and very appealing, but millions?

Is it possible to kill rich people in this world?

Thinking of this, her heart began to ache. A tire worth millions had been punctured just like that; she wished the nail had been stuck in her own body.

"Can it still be repaired?" Jin Ran asked worriedly.

Although Jiang Xuli also felt sorry for him, she was the calmest of the three and nodded: "It should be possible."

Having ridden motorcycles for two years, Jiang Xuli has gone from a complete novice to a semi-expert. In terms of theoretical knowledge, he is even more solid than some professional mechanics. He was about to say that he could fix motorcycles himself, but he suddenly stopped himself.

He remembered that this woman always hated him riding a motorcycle, and she would always glare at him with the same look she gave a street thug, as if he were some kind of good-for-nothing playboy.

The boy pursed his lips and finally fell silent.

Jin Ran, on the other side, was completely oblivious to Jiang Xuli's unusual behavior. At that moment, all her attention was drawn to the motorcycle in front of her.

Previously, she could only admire it from afar, but now she finally had the opportunity to appreciate it up close. She couldn't help but circle around the gleaming car body again and again, becoming more and more amazed by it. A thought flashed through her mind: How about... finding an opportunity to have Jiang Xuli give her a ride around?

She quickly shook her head again.

Forget it, others may not know, but Jin Ran, who lives in the same villa, knows how much Jiang Xuli cherishes this red Icon Sheene. It's no exaggeration to say that she treats it like royalty. Even her biological father, Jiang Mingxu, has probably never sat in the back seat. As a stepmother, she's dreaming.

So they cut their losses in time, and their amazement remained merely admiration: "It's so beautiful, I declare this to be the coolest motorcycle I've ever seen!"

Jiang Xuli was slightly taken aback.

Is this a compliment?

He looked at Jin Ran with surprise, observed her silently for a while, and then realized that she seemed to be genuinely praising her, rather than being sarcastic. She seemed more distressed than he, the person involved, when she saw the tire burst.

Seeing that the other person seemed to want to pull the nail out with their own hands, he finally came to his senses, twitched his lips, and, whether to comfort himself or to fear that his beloved car would suffer further damage, reached out to stop the person: "It's just a flat tire, it's easy to fix."

That being said, Jin Ran felt that a top-of-the-line motorcycle worth hundreds of thousands of yuan shouldn't be treated with ordinary tire repair methods. It should at least be trimmed with gold!

I handed the car over to the repair shop owner, who said it wouldn't be fixed until tomorrow.

There was no time to ride back. Chen Xunliang scratched the back of his head. It was hard to even get a taxi in this remote place. Seeing Jin Ran standing by the roadside, he casually asked, "How are you getting back, teacher? Why don't we go together?"

He was calculating rapidly, thinking that Jin Ran must have come by car or taxi, and besides, she was Brother Li's stepmother. As long as he asked, even if she was unwilling, she would take them along out of courtesy and reason.

Jin Ran nodded as expected: "Okay, I have a car, just follow me."

Chen Xunliang immediately beamed with joy, ignoring his brother's murderous glare, and happily followed. Ten minutes later, he stood in front of the bus stop, enjoying the warm summer breeze, and posed a fatal question to the "fully loaded" bus.

"Um, this is your car?"

Jin Ran smiled mischievously at the two boys: "Yeah, what's the problem? It's large in size and capacity, environmentally friendly and economical, and most importantly—" She waved the bus card she borrowed from Xu Zhen, "It's completely free."

Chen Xunliang: ...

Who can tell him why the wife of the president of Mingji Technology takes the bus when she goes out?

Is it too late for him to escape now?