Chapter 80: What Does Zhengran Mean When He Says He Cares?

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: What Does Zhengran Mean When He Says He Cares?

Lin Zhengran grabbed an apple from the side and took a bite. Driven by primal human curiosity, he took a glance as well.

Evaluating without any emotion, he chewed on his apple with a CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. "Yeah, she’s very pretty."

The three girls immediately turned to look at Lin Zhengran, each of them more jealous than the last.

His mother, Lin Xiaoli, grinned, admiring her son’s courage. "Ranran, you’ve got some nerve evaluating her right to their faces."

Lin Zhengran replied to his mother with a casual expression, "I’m just telling the truth. Besides, how come it’s fine when you guys call her pretty, but not when I do?"

Xiao Heqing pouted unhappily. Jiang Xueli turned her head away with an angry hmph. Han Wenwen glared at Lin Zhengran, rolling her eyes and looking like she wanted nothing to do with him.

Since Xiao Heqing had a train to catch that afternoon, the four of them didn’t linger at home for long despite the little incident. After saying goodbye to Grandpa before heading out, Lin Zhengran went with Han Wenwen and Jiang Xueli to the station to see her off.

Right before she left, Xiao Heqing dragged her suitcase and looked at Lin Zhengran, who had come alone to the ticket gate to see her off. "I’ll see you in high school, Lin Zhengran."

Lin Zhengran hummed in acknowledgment as a farewell. "Be careful on the way, and text me when you get home."

Xiao Heqing nodded. However, after walking a few steps with her suitcase, she suddenly stopped, conflicted. She walked back to Lin Zhengran and asked in a low voice that only the two of them could hear, "Do you really think that girl is pretty? I look really pretty when I wear a white dress and a sun hat, too. I’m not ugly. If you like looking at them, I’ll wear that outfit for you to look at to your heart’s content next time."

Lin Zhengran sweatdropped. "You think I have nothing better to do? Besides, that was just a normal evaluation. I know you’re very pretty too. Hurry up and get on the train."

Xiao Heqing let out an "oh." She was still a bit jealous, but her mood improved after hearing him praise her looks. Her almond eyes stared eagerly at Lin Zhengran. "Then I’ll see you in high school. Bye-bye."

She waved at Lin Zhengran, then waved again at Han Wenwen and Jiang Xueli in the distance. "Wenwen! Jiang Xueli! I’m leaving now, see you at the new school."

Everyone said their goodbyes, and Xiao Heqing got on the high-speed train heading home.

Turning back to Jiang Xueli and noticing her slight jealousy, Lin Zhengran walked over and gently flicked her forehead. "It’s getting late. You should go home too."

Jiang Xueli covered her forehead and turned her head away. "Why did you hit me? Fine, I’m leaving." Flicking her twin-tails, she looked back and added, "Don’t forget to come find me and practice singing with me in a few days!"

Lin Zhengran hummed in agreement.

Jiang Xueli went to hail a taxi. Just as the car arrived, she suddenly turned back, clenching her small fists in front of Lin Zhengran. Closing her eyes, she vented her frustration, "You absolute womanizer!"

After saying that, she quickly ran back to the taxi and fled in a flash.

Lin Zhengran was speechless. Finally, only Han Wenwen was left.

Han Wenwen covered her face. Surprisingly, her previous jealousy was gone, but her way of addressing him had changed. "Student Lin Zhengran can’t chase me back, can you? Logically speaking, this week is time for playing games with me."

The Little Fox had embraced her dark side.

Lin Zhengran felt tired. "If you’re going to make that face, I’m just going home. It’s not like I absolutely have to keep you guys company."

Han Wenwen immediately dropped the act. Opening her enchanting fox eyes in jealousy, she turned her head in displeasure. "Who told Zhengran to praise other girls for being pretty? And there’s actually an arranged marriage that even I didn’t know about."

"I didn’t even know, so of course you wouldn’t know. Besides, what era are we in now? Just because I have an arranged marriage doesn’t mean anything will actually happen between us."

Han Wenwen suddenly froze. She walked over to Lin Zhengran’s side and tilted her head. "Zhengran actually explained it to me. Does this count as Zhengran coaxing me because he’s afraid I’ll get jealous?"

Lin Zhengran really wanted to complain; this girl’s thought process was always weirder than anyone else’s.

"Anyway, that’s what I think," Han Wenwen suddenly said very seriously. "But Zhengran underestimates his own Charm. In my opinion, if a girl forms a connection with Zhengran, she might not fall for you in a day or two because of her personality or past experiences. But over a long period of time... if even I couldn’t resist, how could any other girl?"

She poked Lin Zhengran’s chest with a slender finger. "Just in junior high alone, I don’t know how many vixens I fended off."

Lin Zhengran stopped bantering with her and walked out of the station. "I can’t believe you, of all people, have the nerve to call others vixens." He hailed a taxi. "And you’re overthinking it. Even if everything you said is true, do you think I’m so bored that I’d chat up every girl I see? I only interact with the few I care about."

Han Wenwen remained unconvinced. "There’s more than one vixen in the world. At most, I’m just Zhengran’s favorite one..." Halfway through, she suddenly realized his implication, froze in her tracks, and blushed. "Wait? Care about?"

Lin Zhengran really didn’t enjoy talking to this fox. "Pretend I didn’t say anything."

"Zhengran, explain yourself. What do you mean by ’care about’? Could it be that even though Zhengran won’t admit it out loud, he actually still cares about us very much in his heart? Hmm?"

In the bathroom of a villa in Wisteria City, a girl in black pajamas gathered her hair into a single strand. Her cold eyes stared at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair.

Behind her, a pretty but expressionless girl with a side ponytail held a piece of paper. "The school has sent over the high school transcripts. You will still be the female student representative giving a speech this time, and the male representative is someone named Lin Zhengran."

The girl brushing her hair was named Jiang Qian. She gave a soft hum.

"It’s just that..." the girl with the side ponytail hesitated slightly.

"What is it?"

"It’s just that the transcript shows your grades are behind his, though you’re only a few points apart."

Jiang Qian paused her brushing. "Let me see." She reached out and took the transcript. She noticed that this boy named Lin Zhengran had the exact same grades as her—they were both nearly top of the class in every subject. The only difference was that her Chinese language score was slightly lower than his.

The girl behind her continued, "Also, Grandpa just sent you an email saying he forwarded the profile of your arranged fiancé. Do you want to take a look? Grandpa said he’ll be attending the same high school as you, so you can meet him first."

Jiang Qian stared at the name on the transcript. "I’m not interested. What era are we in for Grandpa to still be arranging something like that for me? However, out of politeness, when I meet that boy in the future, I will reject him face-to-face.

"As for this Lin Zhengran, it’s no big deal if his grades are higher than mine. I don’t really care much about these things. He might have just gotten lucky. Anyway, there’s another placement exam after school starts. We’ll see what his grades are like then."

The girl with the side ponytail took back the transcript. She thought to herself that if her young lady truly didn’t care, she wouldn’t have asked if the results were out every single day leading up to this.

"Yes, you will definitely surpass him then."