Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Because Ning Qing hadn’t been detailed, Qin Hanqiu really wasn’t aware that there was such an inside story.
Furthermore… he was certain that Ning Qing wouldn’t help Qin Ran to beg Qin Yu.
“Xiao Ling, I…” He didn’t dare to look into Qin Ling’s cold and dark eyes.
“There’s no need to apologize.” Qin Ling’s gaze went back to the game, and he lightly said, “It’s not the first time you’ve been blinded, after all. Remember to tell me in advance next time. I don’t wish to cut off all contact with you in the end because of this.”
Qin Hanqiu listened to him and closed the door in shame.
He looked down at Ning Qing’s anxious call.
Back in Yun Cheng, he had blocked her phone number. But after changing her phone number in Beijing, she could reach him again.
Blocking her number again, he returned to his room and stared blankly out the window.
**
At this moment, Qin Ran still had no idea what happened on Weibo.
She was just talking to Chang Ning.
“Giant Crocodile met with trouble again.” Chang Ning was at 129’s headquarters, crossing his legs in an unruly fashion. He had contacted Qin Ran for Giant Crocodile. “Could you…”
After coming upstairs with her phone, Qin Ran narrowed her eyes and suddenly sobered up after hearing this. “No.”
Chang Ning was stunned.
“There’s no reason. Don’t ask me why.” Qin Ran pressed her palm against her forehead, a headache creeping up on her. “Let them fight by themselves.”
Chang Ning hung up the phone and opened the group chat.
Chang Ning: [@Giant Crocodile, you guys can go fight yourselves. (Grimace)]
He gloated over the other’s misfortune.
Giant Crocodile: […??]
Qin Ran went to sit on the sofa after hanging up the phone. When Cheng Juan saw her coming over, he retracted his leg, trying not to reveal his foolish, proud look.
However… she wasn’t even looking at him.
He casually put the computer on the table with clear eyes. “You used to have short hair?”
Qin Ran leaned on the sofa and opened a game page. Without looking up, she just let out a perfunctory “Hm.”
“Why did you grow it out?”
“Oh, just… I forgot to cut it one year, so it grew on its own.” Qin Ran pressed her fingers on the phone without pausing.
Cheng Mu immediately said, “Miss Qin, how could you even forget such a thing…”
But Cheng Juan glared at him before he finished his sentence, making him immediately shut up.
“You know Song Luting? I’m familiar with this name.” Cheng Juan held his teacup and lightly changed the subject.
Raising an eyebrow, Qin Ran replied, “Of course you’re familiar with it. He’s last year’s national top scorer. He’s at Beijing University, in the Physics Department.”
Cheng Juan took a sip of cold water and indifferently murmured, “Oh.”
“Cheng Jin.” He looked up at Cheng Jin, who was just walking down the stairs. “Don’t you have something to tell me about Cheng Tu?”
“Yes.” Cheng Jin immediately followed him to the study room upstairs.
**
The next day, on the last day of freshman registration.
Qin Ran carried a black bag and returned to her dormitory with ease.
The other three beds in the dormitory had already been arranged when she arrived.
Her two roommates were chatting when she came in. They immediately stopped talking and turned to stare at her. Presumably taken aback by Qin Ran’s appearance, they didn’t return to their senses until after a long time.
After a moment of shock, a gentle girl with short hair and glasses stood up and introduced herself with a little accent. “Hello, I’m Yang Yi. I’m majoring in Automation in the Physics Department…”
“My name is Nan Huiyao. I’m also in Automation.” The female who talked was very sweet and rather short. Dark hair draped behind her head, and her eyes shone brightly.
The Physics Department was one of the four signature departments of Beijing University. It only recruited 200 people every year, so those who could enter were the cream of the crop, and girls were also a minority.
There were less than 10 girls every year. This year, all three of them had been assigned to one bedroom.
After Nan Huiyao finished speaking, she pointed to the bed opposite Qin Ran and smiled. “Our other roommate is Leng Peishan. She’s in the Computer Science Department, not the Automation Department. She just went out to eat with people from the Student Union. Oh, and she’s a native of Beijing.”
Qin Ran took off the earphones hanging on one ear and nodded very politely. “My name is Qin Ran, from the Automation Department. I’m from Yun Cheng.”
She always exuded a wild and unbridled spirit, so unfamiliar people wouldn’t dare speak too loudly in front of her.
Nan Huiyao felt like she warmed up to people rather quickly, but in front of Qin Ran, she simply couldn’t find any conversation topic.
Qin Ran took her pajamas and went to take a shower.
When she came out, Leng Peishan had also returned. She brought back dessert for the two.
She was stunned for a moment when Qin Ran came out. Although she had already heard from the two roommates that the last roommate was very good-looking, she didn’t expect her to look like this.
“I brought back dessert.” Leng Peishan had shapely brows, almond eyes, and a standard oval face. She smiled and placed the delicately-packed box on Qin Ran’s table.
Sitting down while wiping her hair with one hand, Qin Ran kicked the chair by the table and sat down. “Thank you.”
She was rather polite to Leng Peishan. Those who weren’t well-acquainted with her would find this big boss’s behavior very ostentatious.
“Are you from the Arts Department?” Leng Peishan didn’t seem to mind and just smiled.
Nan Huiyao ate a piece of dessert and smiled. “No, she’s in the same major as me. We’re both in Automation.”
Automation?
Leng Peishan was taken aback. She was also a student of one of the four major departments?
She thought that with her good looks, she was surely from the Arts Department.
“How many points did you score in the college entrance examination?” Leng Peishan glanced at Qin Ran.
Still wiping her hair calmly, Qin Ran casually replied, “Average.”
“Oh.” Leng Peishan nodded and finally stopped talking.
Those who said they scored average generally all scored among the top.
Nan Huiyao bit her pastry and gossiped with Qin Ran. “Peishan scored 713 points in the college entrance examination without any extra points. Her Pure Cultural subject is third in the Beijing college entrance examination.”
They had all been admitted to the Physics Department, so their scores were naturally not low. However, a genius was determined by a fine line of difference.
The difference was small between 680 and 713 points, but it was also worlds apart.
This year’s national paper was so difficult, and those who scored above 700 points were all Gods.
Qin Ran nodded, looking quite perfunctory.
The phone on her table rang before she finished wiping her hair dry. It was Cheng Juan.
She went to the balcony to answer him.
“Ten days of training,” Cheng Juan said while holding a cigarette. “If you’re not used to living in the dormitory, you can come back. I can handle the school’s side.”
Qin Ran glanced at the bedroom and put her hands on the balcony. “It’s okay. I can bear with it.”
Cheng Juan: “… Okay, then. Rest early.”
Qin Ran returned after ten minutes of talking on the phone.
“Your boyfriend?”
Leng Peishan wasn’t usually one to eavesdrop, but for some reason, she was particularly interested in Qin Ran. She noticed how her cold eyebrows seemed to relax after receiving the call.
Hearing this, Qin Ran paused while holding the towel. She glanced at Leng Peishan coldly without answering.
Nan Huiyao laughed and curiously asked, “Is he from our school?”
“No.” Qin Ran sat back on her chair. She took out her computer from the black backpack and was silent for a while.
The computer was a heavy black one without any logo, like a gadget bought from the second-hand market.
“Then… from University A opposite?” Leng Peishan continued asking.
Beijing was relatively famous for these two schools.
In less than a second, the computer displayed the homepage. Qin Ran pressed her temples and patiently replied, “No, he graduated early.”
“Oh.” Leng Peishan nodded. If he graduated early, how old was he?
She glanced at Qin Ran and lost interest.
Yang Yi was nibbling on the dessert and reading a heavy book. Nan Huiyao and Qin Ran slept on the same row, so she was sitting just next to her.
She leaned over curiously. “Qin Ran, how come your computer booted so quickly?”
“Because it wasn’t shut down.” Qin Ran pressed a few keys and opened her messages. A bunch of notifications surfaced the moment she logged in. “It was just locked,” she replied breezily.
“Oh.” Nan Huiyao finally understood. “No wonder. Why don’t you have anything downloaded on your computer? Do you play games? Have you heard of the Kyushu Tour? Let’s play together! I can teach you!”
As the most active person in the dormitory, she was naturally very sociable. Yang Yi was obviously a school nerd and didn’t play games, while Leng Peishan had been hanging out with the seniors in the past two days.
Nan Huiyao only had Qin Ran to persuade.
Qin Ran received a message from Tian Xiaoxiao. She had sent her a bunch of happy faces.
Qin Ran replied with a question mark.
Hearing Nan Huiyao, she closed the message box, entered the class 3.9 group chat, and shook her head. “I’m not playing it for the time being. We should rest early, we have to get up early tomorrow.”
Throughout the whole summer vacation, other than the violin, she had played Kyushu Tour countless times to help her classmates level up.
In the group chat, those who had already started school posted photos of themselves getting tanned after training.
Nan Huiyao stopped paying attention to the game and instantly remembered two demonic words—
Military! Training!
It would last for ten days. Her mentality immediately collapsed.
Leng Peishan also looked away from Qin Ran’s computer in disinterest.
There was nothing downloaded… She even suspected if Qin Ran was a novice who didn’t know how to download things…
She took her towel and went to take a shower.
**
Although Qin Ran, Nan Huiyao, and Yang Yi all majored in Automation, they weren’t in the same class.
Yang Yi was in the second class, while Qin Ran and Nan Huiyao were in the first class. The three of them didn’t train together.
The sports field had long been divided into departments and classes.
After two days in school, Nan Huiyao already knew the people in Class 1. She quickly found the meeting place and dragged Qin Ran there.
Qin Ran pressed down the sea-blue brim of her hat and followed her lazily, as if still half-asleep.
The boys in Class 1 had already assembled. While the instructor was still away, they were discussing the new students in the class.
“There are only a total of three girls in the Automation Department, and we have two in our class. Chu Heng, we’ve struck gold!” A boy excitedly sat on the ground while holding a hat.
Another boy sat down and nodded. “I’ve seen Nan Huiyao. She’s a cute girl and pretty good-looking. I don’t know about the other girl. How come I haven’t heard of her?”
There were only three in total, and two were in their class. They were both precious!
They were extremely lucky.
The boy named Chu Heng nodded perfunctorily and took out his phone.
While they were still discussing, Nan Huiyao dragged Qin Ran to the large group.
Her face was half-hidden by the brim of her hat, but her delicate chin was still revealed, white as jade.
She stuck two hands in her pocket lazily, looking cold and cool.
She stood out in terms of temperament and everything else.
The boys suddenly paused. “What the f*ck?!”
“She’s in our class in the Physics Department? Not from the Acting Department next door?”
After a few seconds of silence, they finally returned to their senses and started discussing in low voices. They stole glances at her, and those who knew Nan Huiyao had already gone over to interact.
Qin Ran lowered her cap again, expressionless.
Fortunately, within two minutes, the instructors came in orderly.
The youngsters’ voices abruptly stopped. It was a well-known fact that Beijing University’s training was strict. Everyone lined up quickly, conspicuously placing the two girls in the first row.
The instructor was a young man. His face was cold and sharp, with prominent features. His gaze was hostile and cold. The class’s name list was held in his hands.
“I’m Cheng Qingyu, your instructor,” he said concisely in a cold voice.
“Instructor Cheng!” The group of boys shouted in full swing.
“Acknowledge it when I call your name.” Cheng Qingyu nodded and scanned everyone before calling out the names on the list.
“Chu Heng.”
“Here!”
“Xing Kai!”
“Here!”
“…”
Cheng Qingyu paused when he saw the next name. He glanced at the crowd with a pair of sharp, cold eyes, and slowly said, “Qin Ran.”
Qin Ran raised her hand lazily. “Here.”
Lightly glancing at her, Cheng Qingyu continued dropping names.
After finishing the call, he kept the list. “These ten days, I’ll be training you strictly in accordance with our system. During this period, no preferential treatment will be given. No matter your gender and status, since you’re participating in the training, you’ll have to train properly.
“Now, everyone, run two laps around the sports field.”
When he said this, he intentionally looked at Qin Ran.
Last night, after finding out that he was bringing the freshmen from Beijing University, Old Master Cheng had specially asked Principal Zhou to place him in the Automation Department. He asked him to treat a student named Qin Ran preferentially and not let the sun get to her.
