Chapter 31
Bai Nan slept for a long time until he felt a sharp pain in his buttocks, followed by a strong dull ache and a cold sensation.
"Hmm..." She opened her eyes blankly, and what she saw was a white tile floor, reflecting a cold white light.
Where am I? Why does my butt hurt?
Xu Xin heard her let out a soft groan and quickly half-squatted down, seeing that her eyes were wide open, filled with confusion.
"Nannan, it's okay, it'll be fine in a bit," he comforted her softly.
At this moment, the doctor suddenly spoke up: "Okay, press her down for at least two minutes, and don't move her during that time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Nan felt another sharp pain in his buttocks, followed by a warm object covering it.
She wanted to look back, but her body was pressed down on the bed, making it difficult even to lift her neck.
"Nannan, it's just an injection, don't worry, it'll be fine in a bit," Xu Xin said at the right time, soothing Bai Nan's emotions.
"Me...where?...The...the hospital...?" Bai Nan was somewhat incoherent, but fortunately Xu Xin understood.
He nodded: "You have a fever. The doctor just gave you a fever-reducing injection. It hurts a little, but bear with it for a while."
Here it comes again, Bai Nan thought, referring to Xu Xin's usual tone of voice when coaxing children.
She didn't want to be treated like a child, but as soon as she moved, a dull pain shot through her right buttock.
Only then did she realize what that warm object on her buttocks was...
She buried her head in the pillow, like an ostrich refusing to face reality.
At this moment, Xu Xin glanced at the clock: "Time's up. Does your butt hurt...? If it doesn't hurt anymore, I'll... let go..."
Upon hearing this, Bai Nan blushed completely, even her buttocks turned pink, and Xu Xin quickly looked away.
When the doctor returned, he saw that both of them had flushed faces and thought the air conditioning was too hot, so he found the remote control and lowered it by two degrees.
"You're students from No. 1 High School, right? Do you need a sick leave certificate? Your fever is quite high, you'll need to stay for observation overnight." The doctor took out a sick leave certificate, quickly wrote it down, and handed it to Xu Xin.
"Thanks."
"It's okay, hey, how about I prescribe one for you too?" the doctor teased.
Xu Xin: "No, no need."
That night, perhaps because of the fever-reducing injection, Bai Nan slept very soundly.
When she woke up again, it was already bright outside the window. She was sore from sleeping, and wanted to get out of bed and walk around.
He raised his hand but encountered resistance, so he looked down.
The weather in early autumn is like a child's face, changing in an instant. After several days of overcast skies, today is a rare good day.
Xu Xin leaned her head against the edge of the bed. The bedside stool was too low, so her long legs could only be curled up on the floor in frustration.
As if sensing Bai Nan's movement, he slowly opened his eyes, and their gazes met, the sunlight from the window falling directly into each other's eyes.
At the same time, two different pairs of eyes both curved at the corners.
Sometimes, Bai Nan couldn't understand herself either. They had been awkward with each other for a long time, but they hadn't even had a single effective conversation.
But seeing the other person's smile, she suddenly felt relieved.
When she returned to school, the first class was already halfway through, and Xu Xin escorted her downstairs.
"Drink more hot water. If you still feel unwell, go back to your dorm and rest. Don't try to tough it out." He rarely talked so much, and Bai Nan nodded obediently.
After the two parted, Bai Nan returned to the classroom alone. The first period was Zeng Li's math class, and she nodded to her so she could go back to her seat.
When Bai Lu took out his math book from under the desk, he unusually showed concern for her, saying, "Are you done?... You can borrow my notes for the first half of the section if you want."
Although his expression and tone were a bit awkward, for Young Master Bai Lu, he had already done his best.
"Okay, thank you."
Bai Nan calmly took the notebook, but Bai Lu was not so calm: "No, you really dare to take it? Me, Bai Lu, is just a bad student, while you, Bai Di, are a top student!"
Bai Lu looked incredulous, but Bai Nan's response was to open her notebook and start copying diligently, while also listening to the key points the teacher was lecturing on. From Bai Lu's perspective, she was writing furiously when she looked down and listening attentively when she looked up.
Is this the innate ability of top students to multitask? It's quite disjointed.
At this moment, the teacher tapped the whiteboard, and he quickly snapped out of his daze and focused on the lesson.
Zeng Li allowed Bai Nan to stay in the classroom during the long break. The others went downstairs to run exercises one after another, leaving her alone in the class.
She hadn't done any of the homework the teachers assigned yesterday, so she had to catch up during the half-hour break between classes.
Science homework is okay; I can write down what I know and leave the rest blank. But humanities homework involves long passages of reading comprehension, and by the end, my wrists are so sore I can barely lift them.
The preparatory bell rang, and Bai Nan looked at the remaining homework, letting out a long sigh.
As the students returned to their classrooms, several boys dribbled past her on basketballs. One of them stopped and glanced at her desk.
Wang Zhuo: "Why don't you copy mine? Next period is Chinese class."
Bai Nan nodded listlessly: "That's the only way." She didn't have time to finish, and the Chinese teacher liked to check homework before class; those who hadn't done it had to stand outside as punishment.
A short while later, Wang Zhuo returned with his homework. Just then, Huang Wang happened to come in through the back door and saw Bai Nan take the homework and start copying it. He immediately frowned.
Upon seeing this, Chen Shu joked, "Bai Di, shouldn't you at least copy Want Want's design? Zhuo Zi's..."
"It's okay, it doesn't matter whose it is." Bai Nan didn't even look up, and continued writing furiously.
Wang Zhuo: "Just fly it to me later."
Bai Nan: "Mhm."
The Chinese class went smoothly. The next class was English. There wasn't much homework, so Bai Nan just guessed a few answers.
She has always been good at English and is not afraid of being called on by the teacher in class.
The English class representative was a quiet girl who didn't talk much, but when she saw Bai Nan's homework, she suddenly spoke up: "Bai Di, you got almost all of this wrong. What's the point of handing it in?"
It is estimated that her last-minute attempt to submit the assignment made the girl very unhappy.
"Excuse me......"
Before Bai Nan could explain, Bai Lu interrupted, "Just pay it, why make such a fuss?"
The girl was caught off guard by his retort and her face flushed with anger. She threw Bai Nan's homework back on the table and said, "Then I won't take it!"
Then, carrying all the class's homework, she stormed out of the classroom.
Bai Nan: "......" Why are they all so hot-tempered?
She quickly picked up her homework and prepared to chase after her, but Bai Lu stopped her: "Don't worry about her. If the teacher asks, just say the class representative doesn't accept it."
"...What happened between you and her?" Bai Nan was puzzled. She had found it strange that the class representative had suddenly targeted her from the beginning, and Bai Lu's reaction was also so impulsive. There could only be a misunderstanding between the two of them.
Bai Lu shook his head: "Anyway, it has nothing to do with you. She's the one who's looking for trouble. I can't be bothered with her."
Chen Shu overheard their conversation and was about to explain the whole story to Bai Nan when the class bell rang, forcing everyone to return to their seats.
Just then, the English teacher came in with a sobbing class representative. She slammed her textbook down on the podium and said, "Bai Di, Bai Lu, stand up!"
The two exchanged a glance, then stood up.
"You two big boys bully a little girl, how can you be so shameless?! Bai Di, you were sick last night and didn't have time to do your homework, and the teacher didn't say anything, but you copied someone else's, and when she reminded you, you not only didn't correct it, but you also threw a tantrum and refused to hand it in?!"
Bai Nan looked up in surprise at the English class representative, not understanding why she would lie.
Bai Lu was speechless upon hearing this: "Teacher, you can't just listen to her side of the story, can you? She clearly started it—"
"Bai Lu! Is this how you talk to your teacher?!" The English teacher frowned, then pointed to the hallway outside: "You two go stand outside! Reflect on your actions, or you won't be allowed back into the classroom!"
Bai Nan opened her mouth, intending to say a few words in defense of the two, but when she saw the anger in the English teacher's eyes and the expression in the class representative's eyes, she chose to remain silent.
"I—" Bai Lu wanted to explain, but she quickly patted herself, picked up her English book, and went out first.
After the two students stood in the hallway, the English teacher began the lesson: "Alright, students, turn to your textbooks..."
Bai Lu leaned against the wall angrily: "Damn it, what bad luck!"
Bai Nan: "Keep your voice down."
She opened her English book; the back door wasn't closed, and she could hear quite clearly what was being said inside.
Bai Lu looked down on him: "Weren't you so arrogant before? What's wrong? Now that you're being bullied to the point of being intimidated, you don't even dare to utter a sound!"
Bai Nan ignored him, and only turned to him when they got to the point of completing the group dialogue: "Bai Lu, what happened in the class after I left last night?"
Seeing her very serious expression, Bai Lu scratched his head awkwardly and said, "N-nothing."
"Okay, then I'll ask Chen Shu after class."
"Hey, don't ask anymore, anyway... it's nothing good..." he quickly tried to dissuade her, but he didn't dare to look at her while he spoke.
Bai Nan hesitated for a moment, then looked up and asked a different question: "Do you know why the English teacher was so angry just now?"
He said dismissively, "What else could it be? It's just that they're protecting their class representative."
"No." She looked out the window and said softly.
"It's because your grades are bad, or to put it more bluntly, because you paid your way into Class 1. She thinks you'll drag the class down. She looks down on this behavior, but there's nothing she can do about it, so she's angry."
"And the reasons she targeted me were similar, but I happened to have a sick debuff, so I couldn't say much."
Bai Lu lowered his head and murmured, "Really? But you were clearly ranked third when you got in..."
"I only ranked 85th in the grade in the entrance exam." She turned to look at Bai Lu and said, "I was 37th in my class."
He looked bewildered: "But...but it was just a mistake...Didn't the teacher say he believes you'll do better next time...?"
"Besides, even if I'm ranked last, that doesn't give her a reason to target me maliciously! She's a teacher!"
Bai Nan: "So what if you're a teacher? Are you always fair? Everyone has their own selfish desires. If you're not good enough, you're bound to suffer some grievances."
She realized this when she was six years old, but at that time, her 'excellence' stemmed solely from things she was powerless to change or work towards.
--gender.
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