Ruan Bei was unaware of Lu Minghai's predicament; if he had known, he would have been secretly pleased.
What's that saying again? Knowing they're not doing well makes him happy.
He was also unaware that his gentle and cheerful childhood friend, after assisting the police in handling Niu Niu's case, made a phone call as soon as she stepped out the door.
Qin Gu remembered what Ruan Bei had told him about the Lu family, and knew that he had no affection for his biological parents and brothers. He resented the harm the Lu family had caused Ruan Bei in his previous life, and wanted to take advantage of any opportunity to trick them.
The Lu family is large and powerful. If he doesn't use metaphysical methods, it's unlikely he can defeat them in one fell swoop. Even if he does, the Special Affairs Bureau might be the first to come after him.
But that didn't stop him from looking for an opportunity to vent his anger. In fact, Qin Gu didn't do anything special. He just made a phone call to a friend with media connections and asked them to pay attention to Tong Hanming's case and try to link Tong Hanming with the Lu family's Haiming Group.
He set the stage, and as more and more people paid attention to Tong Hanming's case, Haiming Group's rival companies naturally stepped in to help him escalate the situation and take the opportunity to crush Haiming Group to its core.
Qin Gu did this incident incidentally. If it succeeds, great; if it doesn't, it won't matter much. At most, it will make Lu Minghai angry and shut down a few of his social media accounts.
With an indifferent attitude towards whether it would work out or not, Qin Gu put the matter out of his mind after making the call and focused on memorizing vocabulary.
This delay led to the college entrance examination, and the results were better than Qin Gu had expected. Lu Minghai, who had not been angry for a long time, flew into a rage and cursed his enemies, unaware that the instigator was sitting in the examination hall taking the college entrance examination.
Ruan Bei had no idea that Kun Kun was standing up for him. He just felt that this exam went exceptionally smoothly, and the paper was written very easily, much easier than the wrong questions, difficult questions, and modified questions that Wang Bufan had given him.
He took the college entrance exam early, unlike other senior high school students who take exams almost every day, so he is not quite sure what level he is at now.
All I know is that I'm improving every day, there are fewer and fewer questions I can't answer, and now I can't even put together a whole paper with all the wrong answers.
He practiced those test papers himself, and occasionally even got full marks in math, but he had seen Wang Bufan do the same test papers and finish them in less than an hour.
So Ruan Bei thought that the exam papers were probably too easy and not challenging enough.
However, this college entrance examination went even more smoothly than the ones he had practiced with which there was little difficulty. He thought that the questions in this subject were easy when he took the first exam, but every subject was the same.
The last subject was English. I finished the paper and had more than half an hour left before it was time to hand it in.
Ruan Bei was completely flustered. He went back and checked everything again, redoing all the questions he could. He also polished his English essay and added a better closing sentence. He dragged it out until the time to hand in his paper before getting up and leaving the examination room with the other candidates.
For two days of exams, the family members held back and didn't dare to ask how the exams went, for fear of adding pressure to the two candidates.
Ruan Bei didn't compare answers with Qin Gu either, fearing it would affect their performance in the upcoming exams, so the two of them studied in silence for two days.
Today, the exams officially ended, and Ruan Xi, who had accompanied her to the exams, finally couldn't help but ask: "How did the exams go?"
Ruan Bei, biting into her ice cream, looked somewhat bewildered: "I feel... okay?"
Ruan Xi was puzzled: "Then why does it look like this?"
Ruan Bei crunched on the chocolate shell, still looking dazed: "It just went too smoothly, it feels a bit unreal."
Ruan Xi and Yin Zhuo, who was driving, exchanged a glance, neither knowing how to respond to Ruan Bei's words.
Just then, Ruan's father called, and he also received a call from Qin Gu, asking Ruan Bei what he wanted to eat for dinner.
Upon hearing about food, Ruan Bei finally perked up. For the past two days, his family had been worried that he might get an upset stomach and affect his grades if he didn't pay attention to his diet, so they had been feeding him low-oil, low-salt, high-protein foods, avoiding spicy and cold foods, and even making him drink warm water.
Ruan Beizhen was really holding back. His sister had just asked a question when he grabbed the phone and shouted, "Dad, I want to eat cold noodles, shredded chicken cold noodles, and I also want to eat ice jelly!"
Mr. Ruan laughed on the other end of the phone: "You and Kunkun have already discussed this? You both want to eat these. Okay, I'll make them for you when we get home."
Ruan Meibei sat up straight, it wasn't something they had planned beforehand, it must be that Kunkun knew he wanted to eat these things too.
With Ruan Bei's mouth full of ice cream, Ruan Xi talked to Yin Zhuo. The two of them had been chatting while waiting for Ruan Bei, and now they continued their conversation from there.
As Ruan Bei listened, she sensed something was off: "Wait, sis, what did you just say you were learning from him?"
"Punch!" Ruan Xi smiled and waved her fists twice. She was a girl with small hands, so her clenched fists were not scary at all. Yin Zhuo looked at her through the rearview mirror and laughed very happily.
Ruan Bei: "..."
Ruan Bei found it a bit hard to accept. It wasn't that she didn't want her sister to learn some self-defense techniques, but rather that in the sweltering summer, learning these things would inevitably involve physical contact.
Summer clothes are so thin...
Ruan Bei cast a reproachful look at Yin Zhuo; this man had ulterior motives!
Seeing her sister's excited expression, Ruan Bei didn't want to dampen her spirits, so she tried to persuade her indirectly: "Sister, it's so painful to fall and bump into something while learning this in the summer. Why not learn it in the winter, when you can wear thicker clothes for protection?"
A faint blush rose to Ruan Xi's fair cheeks: "It's alright, Yin Zhuo won't let me fall."
The other party echoed, "Yes, I won't let her fall."
Ruan Bei: "?"
What do you mean he won't let you fall? Why won't he let you fall? How can he prevent you from falling?
Also, why do you trust him so much?
"Sister, um... um, do you have enough money for your martial arts lessons? If not, I have some here." Ruan Bei blurted out, eager to get her sister to distance herself from Yin Zhuo.
"I don't want tuition fees..." Ever since Yin Zhuo figured out his own thoughts, he could no longer speak confidently in front of Ruan Bei, his future brother-in-law.
"No, you have to give it to me."
“I told you you don’t need to give me anything.” Ruan Xi’s face flushed red, reaching her ears. She didn’t look at Ruan Bei, but stared straight at the back of the chair in front of her.
"Even close brothers should keep clear accounts; we can't take advantage of them!" Ruan Bei said urgently.
Ruan Xi said softly, "Who's getting the better deal? He's my boyfriend. What's wrong with him teaching me a couple of tricks?"
Ruan Bei stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Boy-boyfriend?"
Once the conversation started, Ruan Xi became more open: "Yes, boyfriend, Yin Zhuo and I are dating."
Ruan Bei: "..."
He looked ahead and saw the man driving grinning like a fool. If he hadn't kept his hands steady, he would have worried that the man might drive the car into a ditch.
Beside him, his sister, such a beautiful sister, was looking at the big idiot in front of her with lustful eyes, clearly smitten.
Ruan Bei felt a mix of bitterness and a touch of happiness.
From now on, his sister will no longer be just his sister; there will be a man who will be closer to her. However, his sister has also found her own happiness, which is something to be celebrated.
"You can't favor him anymore, you have to favor me," Ruan Bei muttered softly.
"Silly boy." Ruan Xi couldn't help but laugh: "Fine, you only favor our Xiao Bei."
Ruan Bei felt like a spoiled child, haphazardly stuffing the almost melted ice cream into her mouth and finishing it, then said fiercely to Yin Zhuo, "If you dare to bully my sister, I will definitely not let you get away with it."
In any case, Yin Zhuo is better than his sister's boyfriend in her previous life. If his sister is destined to be in a relationship this year, he would rather it be Yin Zhuo.
"I won't bully her, definitely. I'll let her bully me." Yin Zhuo's high, arched eyebrows almost disappeared with a smile. Despite his handsome and dashing appearance, his face was full of naivety.
Ruan Xi snorted: "Who bullied you?"
"No, no one..." Yin Zhuo was too happy. Now everything Ruan Xi said was right. In fact, he had been pursuing Ruan Xi for more than a month. Their relationship had become increasingly ambiguous. He had confessed his feelings and expressed his own feelings.
But he had never pursued a girl before, and perhaps he hadn't done a good enough job. Ruan Xi ran away, and he never dared to mention it again.
Now that Ruan Xi has finally acknowledged his identity, especially in front of his own younger brother, Yin Zhuo instantly felt fulfilled. He now has a girlfriend!
Ruan Bei turned his head away, unable to bear the sight. Yin Zhuo used to be so handsome and had such a chivalrous air about him, but now he was just unbearable to look at.
"Should we tell Mom and Dad?" Ruan Bei asked.
Yin Zhuo, who was in front, also pricked up his ears. He was very willing to visit as the son-in-law of the Ruan family. He hadn't performed well at Ruan Xi's birthday party last time, so he was determined to do well this time.
Ruan Xi awkwardly touched her face: "Don't say anything yet, let's wait a while."
Last time she confidently told her mother that she and Yin Zhuo had nothing to do with each other, but she immediately contradicted herself. It was too embarrassing. She should at least wait a few months before saying that she and Yin Zhuo had developed feelings for each other.
Yin Zhuo lowered his eyes in disappointment, while Ruan Bei's dark eyes rolled around. It's better not to say anything. It's just a relationship, and who knows what will happen in the future.
"Can I talk to Kunkun?" He wanted Kunkun to keep an eye on Yin Zhuo for him as well.
Ruan Xi glanced at him sideways: "You two have such a good relationship, closer than brothers, you don't hide anything from him."
Ruan Bei proudly puffed out her chest: "That's right, Kun Kun and I are the best of friends, and he doesn't hide it from me."
Ruan Xi was both amused and exasperated. This silly younger brother of hers couldn't tell the difference between good and bad words.
"Okay, go ahead and tell me, just don't let Mom and Dad know."
"Okay!"
Upon hearing this news on the way, Ruan Bei completely forgot about his exam.
Qin Gu's examination venue was closer to home, so Ruan's father came back first and had already cooked the chicken and prepared the sauce.
"Where's Kunkun?" Ruan Bei asked as soon as he returned.
"I'm going upstairs to take a shower. Are you hot? If you are, go take a shower too. The noodles will be ready soon, and you can eat them right after you shower."
Ruan Bei leaned over and asked for a bite of the mixed shredded chicken. The shredded chicken was cooked just right, not too tough or dry, nor too soft. The sauce had been on for a short time, and with one bite, the first thing you tasted was the spicy and refreshing sauce. After chewing it carefully, you could taste the fresh and bouncy chicken.
This bite whetted Ruan Bei's appetite, but since he was still sleepy, he couldn't eat alone, so he quickly took a shower to wash away the summer heat.
When he came out, Qin Gu was already serving noodles. Hearing footsteps, he handed the noodles to him and even added extra shredded chicken.
Ruan Bei stood beside him with a plate in hand, eating as she waited for him. The shredded chicken was tender, the noodles were springy, and the special sauce was spicy and appetizing. Ruan Bei and Qin Gu each ate two large plates.
After finishing our meal, Mr. Ruan handed us two bowls of ice jelly, topped with a thick layer of brown sugar syrup and a layer of fruit pulp.
Ruan Bei and Qin Gu sat on a lounge chair chatting. In front of their parents, they couldn't bring up their sister's matter. Ruan Bei said, "I feel like this test was a little too easy."
Qin Gu nodded: "I think so too, the test is easy."
He didn't find the English test particularly difficult; he guessed and felt he did alright.
"Right? I knew it!" Ruan Bei slapped his thigh. "It's definitely because this year's exam was easier overall, I heard..."
He looked around and mumbled, "I heard from Senior Wang that the college entrance exam is difficult one year and easy the next, and we've run into an easy one."
Qin Gu paused in his scooping of ice jelly: "Is that so?"
But he seemed to have overheard that the teacher had repeatedly emphasized that the exam this year might be more difficult, and if he encountered a question he didn't know, he shouldn't dwell on it, but move on to the next one and come back to it later when he had time.
"Yes, that's what Senior Wang told me," Ruan Bei said with certainty.
Qin Gu thought about it and realized that it was indeed very simple. He had not encountered the completely unsolvable problem that the teacher had mentioned.
The two reached a consensus and stopped worrying about it. After all, the exams were over, and they had both done their best. Their efforts during this period left them with no regrets.
Once you've done your best, it's time to leave the rest to fate.
The exams were over on June 8th, and the second-year students were required to resume classes on June 9th. However, the school gave Ruan Bei and the other second-year students who took the college entrance exam early two days off to rest.
The results of the college entrance examination will not be released until late June, but the exam questions and standard answers will be available the day after the exam.
Ruan Xi went out early in the morning to buy several newspapers with test questions and answers. After Ruan Bei and Qin Gu lazily woke up and had brunch, they sat together to recall their answers and calculate their scores.
For Chinese, which has a lot of subjective questions, it's hard to calculate. Just check the first few multiple-choice questions and see if the essay is off-topic. You can only get a rough idea of the others.
They mainly calculate scores for other subjects.
After spending most of the morning calculating the scores, Ruan Bei fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Qin Gu asked cautiously, "Didn't you do well on the exam?"
Ruan Bei shook his head blankly and showed him the score he had calculated: "No, it seems... this score is a bit too high."
Excluding Chinese, his total score in the other three subjects exceeded 570!
No matter how he tests, he can't possibly score below 100 in Chinese, so his total score will be over 670... With this score, he's guaranteed admission to a top-tier university.
"What about you?" Ruan Bei was completely bewildered. He felt everything went smoothly after the exam, but this result was really too unexpected. He couldn't believe it. When he was checking the answers just now, he had marked all the ones he was unsure about or couldn't remember as wrong.
Qin Gu pushed the draft paper in front of him over, and Ruan Bei looked at it and laughed: "You're just like me."
“It’s different,” Qin Gu said with a smile. “Each subject is different.”
He struggled to get a score of over 120 in English. He spent almost the entire month memorizing vocabulary and grammar, and used the calming talisman to give himself a headache every day. Finally, his English score improved somewhat.
However, he scored higher than Ruan Bei in other subjects, such as math and science, so the scores were even again.
"My God, a perfect score in math?" Ruan Bei was stunned.
Qin Gu spread his hands: "Anyway, all the answers match up, I just don't know if I'll lose points for the steps."
"No, no, definitely not." Ruan Bei muttered to himself, "I asked Senior Wang about your previous test paper, and he said that this solution is acceptable and won't deduct points."
"So what do we do now?" Ruan Bei was both excited and confused. Unless he was so careless as to fill in the answer sheet incorrectly, this score was enough for him to get into his desired school.
He didn't intend to go to TOP2. Jinjiang University is also a key university, one of the top five good schools in the country.
Most importantly, it's close to home. He's a homebody and doesn't want to go to university in another city at all.
From the beginning, Ruan Bei had his sights set on several local universities, with Jincheng University being his ideal choice. If that didn't work out, there were still two or three top-tier universities. If he didn't get into a top-tier university, he planned to continue studying for another year and try again next year.
Although things are not yet settled, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he can basically announce his departure from high school life and become a carefree senior summer student.
From the moment Qin Gu saw the score Ruan Bei calculated, he couldn't stop smiling. Of course, he knew Ruan Bei's goal; this score was enough for him and Xiao Bei to go to university together.
"How about I take you to find a master right now?" Qin Gu suggested. The summer vacation for senior high school students is three months long, which is the envy of all students.
Ruan Bei was very tempted, but after thinking it over carefully, he finally shook his head regretfully and refused: "Forget it, let's wait for the results to come out, otherwise I won't be able to feel at ease even if I go."
He was truly uneasy until the final result was announced.
“Okay, but will you still go to school?” Qin Gu asked.
There are still more than ten days until the college entrance examination results are released, but the second-year high school students are still attending classes every day.
Ruan Bei suddenly slumped onto the table, puffed out her cheeks, and sighed, "I don't want to go anymore."
Since his rebirth, he has been working non-stop, spending all his time studying except for those bizarre ghost events, and hardly relaxing for a moment.
I haven't gone out to play, haven't watched a movie properly, and chatting with Kunkun for a while is considered a rest. I'm really tired.
Now that it's very likely I'll take the test directly, that feeling of relief vanished.
"Then I won't go." Qin Gu was more than happy for him not to go. He had already graduated from high school, and if Ruan Bei went to school again, he would be left all alone.
“No.” Ruan Bei suddenly sat up straight: “I haven’t thanked Senior Wang yet.”
"I've got an idea!" Ruan Bei jumped up: "Let's buy university textbooks and academic books, and burn them for him. We really need to thank him properly this time."
He sounded out Wang Bufan's opinion, and Wang Bufan was taken aback at first, but then seemed quite interested, though he was embarrassed to let him spend money.
However, Wang Bufan had really helped him a lot this time, and he would feel bad if he didn't thank him properly.
Since we're going to burn offerings for Wang Bufan, then...
“Niu Niu! The little girl needs to change into a dress. Let’s go to the paper offering shop and buy her a few dresses. And Uncle Ran, let’s burn some paper money for him, and let him buy whatever he wants.”
Ruan Bei knew these few ghosts, remembered each one, and made arrangements for each of them.
Qin Gu: "..."
What could Qin Gu say? Of course, he just stayed with them.
However, they are on holiday now, so they don't have to rush. They avoid going out when the sun is at its strongest at noon and wait until it's a little cooler.
Ruan Bei now habitually carries his big black umbrella, but the black umbrella is bulky and absorbs light. Qin Gu looked up at it and gave him an idea: "I'll make you a magic umbrella-like artifact to carry with you in the future."
Ruan Bei remembered that one of the Four Heavenly Kings seemed to use an umbrella, and he didn't look very handsome.
He thought this, and he said it to Qin Gu: "Even if we were tied together, we still couldn't beat Erlang Shen."
Qin Gu laughed uncontrollably: "It's not that the umbrella isn't cool, it's that the person using the umbrella isn't cool. Our Xiao Bei is cool enough that he looks good no matter what magical artifact he uses."
Ruan Bei blushed slightly, feeling that Kun Kun's words made some sense.
They bought a lot of offerings to burn, especially books. Afterwards, they went to a paper offering shop. The paper money was simple; all the shops were pretty much the same, so they just bought as much as they could.
It's not so easy to buy little dresses; you have to consider the girl's age, body type, and whether they look good on her.
After much deliberation, Ruan Bei finally selected two sets that she was somewhat satisfied with, and secretly complained to Qin Gu, "They're not as good-looking as the ones I made."
He had previously made paper hair accessories for Niu Niu, folded paper boats, rabbits, and frogs, which, when burned, became toys for Niu Niu to play with.
Qin Gu, a self-proclaimed Northern sycophant, said, "I also think you did a better job, Xiao Bei."
"Right?" Ruan Bei was smug for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "What do you think about me learning paper crafting? Does your master teach this?"
He thought the idea was brilliant. He would inevitably have to deal with ghosts in the future, so learning the paper craft would save him money and prevent him from having to buy paper offerings all the time.
Qin Gu: "...I think Master might not be able to do it."
"I see." Ruan Bei lowered his eyes regretfully. "Then I'll study it myself first."
However, they still had to patronize the paper offering shop this time. After buying the items, they went to the place where they had burned the offerings before and burned all of them.
I visited Niu Niu the next day and also took a picture of Zhou Linlin to open her eyes, so she could see her daughter.
On the 11th, Ruan Bei went to school. The teacher asked him about his estimated score, and Ruan Bei told the truth. The homeroom teacher was both surprised and delighted.
If Ruan Bei had actually achieved the score he calculated, he might have been able to compete for the top score in the province, as Ruan Bei has always been quite good at Chinese.
After hearing what the teacher said, Ruan Bei quickly waved his hand: "You overestimate me. I think the overall difficulty of this test paper is relatively low, and there may be many high scores. Putting aside everything else, Qin Gu from the senior year of high school, his score is about the same as mine, and his Chinese is even better than mine."
This is quite an oddball. The homeroom teacher had heard about it, but since the grades haven't come out yet, even if he had some thoughts about it, he could only put them aside for now.
However, after this incident, it became easier for Ruan Bei to ask for leave. His homeroom teacher no longer required him to come to class every day, and said they would wait until the college entrance examination results came out.
After saying goodbye to his homeroom teacher, Ruan Bei did not return to the classroom. Instead, he secretly went to find Wang Bufan while the students were still in class.
Upon meeting, he first shared the good news: thanks to this kind senior who tutored him, he achieved his current academic results.
Wang Bufan still had the same shy and naive demeanor as when they first met. After listening to Ruan Bei's story, he smiled and congratulated him, wishing him success in getting into his ideal university and a bright future.
"Senior, did you receive the book I burned for you? Is it useful? If you're not interested, I can give you something else."
Wang Bufan quickly replied, "It's very useful and especially interesting. Learning new knowledge is very enjoyable for me."
He spoke with such sincerity that Ruan Bei felt a little embarrassed; he should have burned those books for him sooner.
"Senior, I'll come to see you every holiday. If you want any books, just tell me and I'll burn them for you."
After spending more than a month together, Wang Bufan, though still not good at socializing, felt a bit closer to Ruan Bei. He immediately said, "I'd like to have more books on mathematics and physics. I enjoy studying mathematics and finding it very interesting to interact with numbers."
He used the word "communication," which shows he's a true math enthusiast.
Ruan Bei's long-suppressed curiosity resurfaced: what could possibly drive someone like Wang Bufan to choose suicide by jumping off a building to end his life?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com