Her breath was completely taken away, and the suffocating feeling of drowning permeated her entire body. Shen Yuan felt that she was about to suffocate in the next second, but she suddenly woke up from her dream.
"Yuanyuan, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
The gentle, caring voice in my ear sounded strangely familiar.
Shen Yuan opened her eyes from the chaos and saw the man in front of her; her pupils suddenly contracted.
It's Chu Yuning!
It wasn't entirely Chu Yuning; he was much younger than before, with slightly childish features, and dressed in a long robe, looking like a scholar.
Shen Yuan's gaze lingered on Chu Yuning's robes before finally settling on them. These were the robes from Ziyun Academy!
Chu Yuning is still at Ziyun Academy. Is this... a return to when she was fifteen years old?
At this time, Chu Yuning was only eighteen years old and had not yet passed the imperial examination. He was just a weak scholar at Ziyun Academy!
Without thinking much, Shen Yuan grabbed the medicine-digging shovel beside her leg and slashed at Chu Yuning.
Chu Yuning couldn't dodge in time, and his sleeve was ripped by the shovel. Blood instantly seeped from his tattered robe, staining half of his sleeve red. He clutched his arm and took a step back, looking at Shen Yuan, "Yuan Yuan, what happened to you?"
"Brother Chu, are you alright?"
When the students of Ziyun Academy saw that Chu Yuning was injured, they immediately rushed over and surrounded him.
As Shen Yuan looked at these scholars, her wildly beating heart gradually calmed down.
She committed murder in front of so many people; she will definitely be thrown in jail.
Thinking of this, Shen Yuan immediately dropped the shovel she was using to dig for herbs, and said helplessly, "Are you alright? I didn't mean to! I fell asleep while waiting for you and had a nightmare. I'm a little scared!"
Despite saying this, Shen Yuan's gaze only lingered on Chu Yuning's wound for a moment.
If only there had been a dagger on her!
What a pity!
They didn't chop Chu Yuning's hand, which was only good for holding a pen, in two!
Chu Yuning clutched his arm, the wound on his arm causing him to contort in pain, but he still shook his head: "I'm fine! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"
"It's been too long, otherwise I wouldn't have had nightmares and even injured you!" Shen Yuan shrugged.
As the two were talking, the scholar standing behind Chu Yuning suddenly hooked his arm around his shoulder, "Brother Ning, your little cousin is bringing you money again? We can go to Mingyu Tower for a drink tonight!"
Chu Yuning always claimed to the outside world that Shen Yuan was his distant cousin, and that she came to Ziyun Academy every time to deliver money on behalf of the Zhao family.
In her previous life, Shen Yuan foolishly became Chu Yuning's cousin to save face for Chu Yuning, and handed over all the money she had worked so hard to earn to Chu Yuning in the name of Zhao.
But Shen Yuan won't be foolish again in this life!
He wants her to continue earning money to support his studies and exams? Dream on!
“Yuanyuan, the teacher got so engrossed in his lecture that he talked for an extra quarter of an hour, which is why I’m late. You’re here to deliver this month’s money on behalf of my mother, right? How much money did she ask you to bring?” Chu Yuning looked at Shen Yuan eagerly, her gaze lingering on the purse at her waist.
Shen Yuan lowered her head and took off the purse from her body.
"Yuanyuan, thank you for making this trip." Chu Yuning smiled and extended her hand.
The coarse cloth purse was tossed through the air in a beautiful arc before landing steadily in Shen Yuan's other hand.
"Yuan Niang, what do you mean...?" Chu Yuning looked at Shen Yuan in confusion.
Shen Yuan smiled and said, "This is my money. Every single penny here is money I earned by digging for medicinal herbs in the mountains from dawn till dusk every day. What, you want my money?"
Chu Yuning's face stiffened slightly: "Of course not, I want the money my mother asked you to bring."
“Since you entered the academy, has your mother ever given you any money? In these three years, your tuition fees and writing materials, which one of them wasn't given to you by me? What, Chu Yuning, after being my son for three years, do you really think I'm your father and mother?”
Shen Yuan spat and looked at Chu Yuning with disgust.
Chu Yuning was a little confused. Just moments ago, Shen Yuan had asked the old gatekeeper to tell him that she had brought him her monthly allowance. How come when he came over and woke her up, she revealed all the things about how she had been supported by Shen Yuan all these years?
He reached out to pull Shen Yuan aside, but Shen Yuan pushed him away without hesitation.
"Chu Yuning, pay me back all the money you owe me over the years!" Shen Yuan spread her hands, her voice cold and hard.
"I can't believe Chu Yuning can't even afford tuition and has to make a young girl pay it! It's shameless of him to spend a young girl's money!"
"The teacher praises him every day, saying he's the most outstanding talent in the academy and a role model for us to learn from. What are we supposed to learn? His lies, or his charlatanry?"
"Chu Yuning, with so many people watching, you should hurry up and pay back the money you owe. Making a scene at the academy gate is just making us a laughing stock."
Among these scholars were some who were jealous of Chu Yuning's academic excellence and wanted to take advantage of her misfortune. They went on and on, making Chu Yuning feel utterly ashamed.
He had lived for eighteen years and was always one of the best students in Ziyun Academy, a prodigy in the eyes of his teacher. He was always praised wherever he went, but he had never been so humiliated as he was today!
He's completely lost face!
If it weren't for the fact that Shen Yuan was willing to earn money to support him, he would never deign to associate with a country bumpkin!
Chu Yuning angrily said, "Shen Yuan! You clearly gave me that money willingly! How can you say it was a loan?"
"Chu Yuning, your skin is as thin as your purse! I'm too lazy to waste words with you today. Hurry up and pay me back all the money you've borrowed from me over the years, with interest. Otherwise, not only will I not leave Ziyun Academy today, but I will also spread the word throughout Jian'an City that you owe me money!"
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