Chapter 88: A Truly Utterly Exhausting Torment
Jiang Ning: “……”
Damn!
How did a perfectly good male lead end up with such a mouth.
She suspected he was deliberately disgusting her.
Gritting her teeth, she asked irritably: “What does this have to do with Gu Lanli?”
“I don’t know, I just feel like there should be some relationship.”
Jiang Ning was nearly infuriated by this lighthearted reply: “I think you’re just getting revenge on me. Isn’t it just asking you to pick me up for school every day? Do you really have to injure your leg over it?”
Xie Jingyan sat in the back, watching Jiang Ning’s smoke-pink side face flushed from the heat, her high ponytail swaying and tracing beautiful arcs in the air.
He scoffed lightly: “I slipped while showering. In the end, it’s still related to you.”
Jiang Ning: “???”
Sitting at home, disaster falls from heaven.
She couldn’t tolerate it and yelled at him: “What the hell does it have to do with me? Am I supposed to sneak a peek at you showering, startling you into falling? Can’t you come up with a more reliable excuse?”
Blaming it on her out of nowhere.
She hadn’t even blamed Xie Jingyan yet.
They had agreed he’d take her to school, but in the end, he brought the bicycle, and she had to ride him to school.
Jiang Ning was speechless with frustration, truly numb.
Xie Jingyan fell silent.
What happened was that last night Jiang Ning sent him a voice message call, he rejected it, and then she sent those words.
If not for that interlude, he wouldn’t have fallen, right.
Seeing him not speak, Jiang Ning felt she had won the argument, and suddenly had more energy to pedal.
She continued: “If I really sneaked a peek at you showering, I’d record the whole thing.”
Hearing this, Xie Jingyan couldn’t help but laugh. His voice unconsciously carried amusement: “You’re that perverted? You even need to record it to study under the covers?”
Jiang Ning’s porcelain-white face flushed red: “I, I wouldn’t watch you. I’d post it online, and you’d be too ashamed to show your face at Ninth Middle School or anywhere nearby!”
“Hmm, like that, huh.” His voice carried laughter, dissipating in the wind: “Then just wait for my lawyer’s letter. I’d get a big mental damages payout again. You really are a spendthrift.”
Jiang Ning: “……”
He was invincible.
She was so angry she was speechless.
Seeing her silent for a while, Xie Jingyan couldn’t help asking: “Angry?”
Jiang Ning irritably: “No!”
“Then why so fierce.”
Jiang Ning selectively ignored it.
From behind came a sigh: “Fine, if you’re really that thirsty for it, I’ll let you see quietly, but no secret filming.”
Jiang Ning’s face reddened and heated up, her voice rising: “Don’t talk nonsense. I’m not interested in your body.”
“Oh, then you’re interested in Gu Lanli’s?”
Jiang Ning gave up.
Couldn’t go two sentences without mentioning Gu Lanli.
She couldn’t help retorting: “You keep bringing up Gu Lanli, Gu Lanli. Are you secretly in love with him?”
“I’m straight.”
“Stop talking, I’m almost too tired to pedal.”
Xie Jingyan said no more.
Jiang Ning finally focused on pedaling. Half an hour later, they arrived at Ninth Middle School. When she parked, her legs were weak.
Drenched in sweat.
Truly an exhilarating ordeal.
Jiang Ning wiped the sweat from her forehead, her face pale and haggard.
She walked ahead.
Completely ignoring Xie Jingyan behind her.
Xie Jingyan slung his schoolbag over one shoulder, limping after Jiang Ning.
Seeing her walk so fast, he couldn’t help calling: “Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning……”
Jiang Ning pretended not to hear, like a dog barking.
Xie Jingyan glanced sidelong at Gu Lanli approaching Jiang Ning from diagonally behind.
His foot stumbled, and he fell to the ground: “Ouch, hiss, Jiang Ning, I fell.”
Jiang Ning stopped, turned back, and saw Xie Jingyan sitting on the ground, rubbing his ankle, face full of pain.
She: “……”
Why was such a big man so delicate.
He could trip while walking!
Jiang Ning had no choice but to stride back.
Frowning delicately, she complained: “So many people around, and you only call for me. Are you sick?”
Xie Jingyan reached out to her: “But among all these people, only you are Jiang Ning. Help me up. Five minutes left, or my full attendance bonus for the month is gone.”
Jiang Ning: “……”
Still obsessing over that five hundred yuan.
Jiang Ning rubbed her forehead, speechlessly helping him up by the hand.
“I must owe you. Meeting you brings me bad luck.” She muttered.
Seeing him up, she tried to leave.
Xie Jingyan hooked her shoulder, leaning his whole body over: “If you’re helping, help to the end. Take me to the classroom, and I’ll praise you in front of your dad.”
Jiang Ning: “……”
Jiang Ning grabbed his arm: “Just stop causing me trouble. Hurry up.”
“My foot hurts.”
“I didn’t cause it.”
“Half of it’s on you.”
“……”
Xie Jingyan leaned tightly against Jiang Ning.
Tilting his head slightly, he saw Gu Lanli standing stunned in place, staring in their direction.
His face showed stunned surprise, confusion, uncertainty, and panic.
Xie Jingyan’s lip curved up, smiling at him.
Like a victor.
Then he turned back, arm around Jiang Ning, walking far away.
Gu Lanli’s facial expression turned from dark to pale, extremely ugly.
He saw Xie Jingyan’s smile.
It was a provocative smile, full of disdain for him.
Gu Lanli was going mad inside, nearly exploding.
How dare he, how dare he covet his person.
Jiang Ning was his. Everyone knew Jiang Ning liked him. What right did Xie Jingyan have? He just wanted revenge on him, right!
Yes, revenge.
Xie Jingyan was using Jiang Ning to get revenge on him.
Because he had secretly instructed Jiang Ning to harm him for a year, now he was striking back.
Gu Lanli told himself to stay calm, but the image of Jiang Ning drifting further from him made him suffocate with discomfort.
If his life no longer had Jiang Ning.
No one sweetly calling him Lanli Gege.
No one caring for his cold and warmth, preparing exquisite birthday gifts for him.
No one could be better to him than Jiang Ning.
Not even Wanyuan.
His hand hanging at his side was suddenly grabbed.
“A-Li.”
Gu Lanli snapped awake, quickly shaking off Wanyuan’s hand, instinctively stepping a distance away from her.
Hurt flashed in Wanyuan’s eyes, her expression cautious: “Sorry, did I disturb you?”
Gu Lanli looked at her complicatedly.
His mood indescribable.
The Wanyuan he liked should be the snow lotus on the high mountain, admired from afar but unattainable. She had unyielding integrity, resilient and indomitable, facing difficulties head-on, never submitting.
Not this cautious, fawning version before him, afraid he’d leave.
This wasn’t the girl he knew.
“Lanli, I have no money for lodging and got kicked out of the hotel.” Wanyuan bit her lip.
She felt deeply humiliated inside, but she had no choice. The only one she could rely on now was Gu Lanli.
Otherwise, she might not finish this Grade 3.
Wanyuan never knew that once the financial aid was withdrawn, she was truly out of options.
She had tried part-time jobs outside, but the earnings were too little, not enough for even a day’s expenses. It was too tiring, too hard, and delayed her study time.
Gu Lanli then remembered the half month they stayed in the hotel.
His brows cold: “Wanyuan, I’ll repay you for all your expenses during that time. The financial aid is withdrawn and won’t continue. Let’s part on good terms.”
Today it’s green tea Old Xie, hahaha.
