Chapter 53: Don't You Speak Ill of Her

The next morning, sleepiness hit Chen Yuan the moment he stepped into the classroom.

Tuesdays without Ms. Bai felt utterly flat, mundane, and devoid of any flavor.

Chen Yuan figured that if things kept going this way, he would definitely fail his finals. Was he really going to have to resort to praying to the Immortal Huang?

He barely paid attention to the morning lectures, though he did manage to grasp the first ten minutes or so—just barely, that is—before his mind drifted off and wandered away.

"This is for you!"

When he returned for the afternoon classes, Li Yingying placed a cup of Auntea Jenny on Chen Yuan's desk.

"For you."

"Our cultural commissioner is feeling generous today."

Chen Yuan wasn't picky about flavors; as long as someone else was buying, it was all good.

"Is there anything else you want to drink? I can go buy it for you."

Chen Yuan looked at Li Yingying with a guarded expression. "What are you up to? Fruit tea can only buy my physical body, it will never buy my soul."

"I've got good news for you. You've advanced! You can go participate in the Campus Top Ten Singers competition."

"Huh? Even nursery rhymes can advance? Is there something shady going on behind the scenes?!"

"But you really sang quite well, it's just that your song choice was terrible. If you pick a good song this time, you might even have a chance of making the top 30."

Chen Yuan scratched his head, the scene already playing out in his mind: singing a nursery rhyme in front of all the teachers and students of the school...

The situation was taking an increasingly abstract turn.

"There are seventy people in total. How are the subsequent rounds going to be judged?"

"Two colleges are grouped together, and the ten people who advanced from them will compete. They'll pick four to six people to make up a total of thirty, and then move on to the next round."

"What about top 30 to top 15?"

"Same thing. In the end, the remaining fifteen people will sing in the auditorium."

"Just let me know the time and place when it gets to that."

"OK."

During the afternoon classes, Chen Yuan spent the entire time searching through music libraries, but there were simply too many options, leaving him dizzy and overwhelmed.

If it were purely about going fully abstract, Chen Yuan wouldn't be afraid.

Even if he had to sing something like *Pinching Your Big Thigh* or *I Peeed Out Pure Yellow After We Broke Up*, Chen Yuan wouldn't care.

When you're trolling with abstract art, it's all about having a good laugh.

However, nursery rhymes were tricky—you couldn't really call them completely abstract, yet they weren't exactly serious either.

It was like a gorgeous woman wearing a stunning JK uniform paired with a pair of clumsy, unflattering orthopedic shoes—simply impossible to critique.

...

Before he knew it, Wednesday arrived, bringing with it Bai Yueran's class.

Her perfume was a bit pungent today, her stockings had been changed to a nude tone, and her overall makeup and styling fell far short of Monday's.

A bland Wednesday—there was literally nothing to look forward to about going to school today.

Just before the class ended, Chen Yuan received a message from Song Jianian.

Song Jianian: "Let's have lunch together at noon, and go practice driving at the driving school in the afternoon."

Chen Yuan: "OK."

After class, Chen Yuan bolted straight for the cafeteria. Go too late, and not only would there be no hot food left, but even finding a seat would be impossible.

After securing a table, Song Jianian ordered a bowl of wontons, while Chen Yuan got a bowl of braised noodles, and incidentally bought two cups of two-yuan plum juice.

"I'll transfer two yuan to you," Song Jianian said, holding her phone.

"Why are you giving me money?"

"This week I have to spend my own money. I can't use your money to buy things."

"Are you actually taking that seriously?" Chen Yuan said between bites of noodles.

"A promise is a promise. Besides, if other people can do it, I can too."

Song Jianian put away her phone and looked at Chen Yuan.

"Transferred it to you."

Seeing Song Jianian's serious expression, Chen Yuan decided not to fuss over such trivial matters anymore.

After finishing their meal, Song Jianian picked up her handbag, and the two of them walked out of the campus together.

"Should Uncle Zhang drive us over, or should we walk?"

"If Uncle Zhang drives us, that defeats the purpose. We can either walk or take the bus."

Chen Yuan realized that Song Jianian was far more stubborn and resilient than he had imagined.

"It's a bit far to walk. Let's take the bus."

"Your call."

When they reached the bus stop, the bus arrived shortly after.

After riding for two stops and getting off, they still had to walk over 200 meters to reach the driving school.

Sunlight filtered through the camphor tree leaves, casting dappled, golden fragments on the ground. Song Jianian's cotton dress fluttered gently in the breeze as they walked side by side, their shadows quietly overlapping on the pavement.

Before they knew it, the two of them arrived at the driving school together, still half an hour early.

Sitting under a patch of shade, the wind rustling the branches and leaves, they looked out over the empty driving school training ground, neither of them feeling bored at all.

"Wait for me a second, I need to use the restroom."

"Mm."

Song Jianian got up and left. Chen Yuan sat in the shade, suddenly realizing he had forgotten something. Thinking back on the route they had taken, there didn't seem to be any proper small convenience stores nearby.

He took out his phone and ordered two cups of Mixue Bingcheng lemonade.

After accepting the order, the delivery rider sent a message.

*The Luo Clan in Southern Village Mock My Senile Impotence*: "Bro, help me buy three packs of Yuhuashi cigarettes."

*Rider (Wang Xiangqian)*: "Not even if you called me Daddy. No time."

*The Luo Clan in Southern Village Mock My Senile Impotence*: "I'll give you one pack."

*Rider (Wang Xiangqian)*: Got it, Daddy.

*Mixue Bingcheng (Tongjiang Branch)*: ▷︎ı||ııı|1

*The Luo Clan in Southern Village Mock My Senile Impotence*: "Buy four packs. Give one to the merchant."

*Mixue Bingcheng (Tongjiang Branch)*: "I'll add a few extra lemon slices for you."

Soon, Song Jianian returned and took her gear out of her bag.

It was a sun-protective jacket and a matching sun mask. Once she slipped it over her head, only her eyes were visible.

"Look at my new look. Is it terrifying?"

"If we came here at night and you wore this outfit, you could steal the driving school's engine."

Song Jianian held up her phone, opened the front camera, and snapped a picture of her "new skin."

"I'll give you a little flower."

After taking the photo, Song Jianian plucked a small dandelion flower that had grown out of a crack in the stone and handed it to Chen Yuan.

"You can pluck the petals to predict whether we'll pass Subject Two smoothly," Chen Yuan said as he took it.

"But I feel like I made a mistake."

"What mistake?"

"There were three little flowers here, and I picked the smallest one. Papa Flower and Mama Flower have lost their child."

The weather was so nice—how did she manage to get so pessimistic?

Chen Yuan plucked the remaining two flowers and handed them over to Song Jianian.

"There, now their family is happily back together again."

Song Jianian paused for a moment, thinking that actually made a lot of sense.

One by one, other people began arriving to practice driving.

They were all young faces, presumably students from the nearby university town.

After about twenty minutes, the food delivery guy also arrived. It was a transaction of money for cigarettes.

Of the two cups of lemonade, he handed one to Song Jianian, who stubbornly transferred four yuan over to him.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Subject Two practice officially began.

Beneath the shades of the training ground, the instructors in charge of Subject Two gathered one after another, next to a sign bearing their names.

After passing Subject One, both of them had received text messages assigning their instructors in advance, so they just had to look for the names.

Their instructor was a man in his forties with a parted hairstyle and tanned skin, named Zhou Jianye.

Since they had come on a Wednesday, there weren't many people practicing. Chen Yuan's group consisted of four people, the other two being guys.

After gathering, the instructor led the four of them toward a training car.

Chen Yuan deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside Zhou Jianye.

"Coach, Liqun cigarettes are too harsh. Try these instead."

Seeing the pack of Yuhuashi cigarettes Chen Yuan handed over, Zhou Jianye understood immediately and casually accepted them.

"You two stay a bit later later on, I'll let you practice a few extra laps."

"Thanks, Coach."

Chen Yuan pointed at Song Jianian. "She's my classmate. She's a bit introverted, thin-skinned, and not particularly quick-witted. If she doesn't practice well, please don't yell at her."

...

Thanks to book friends [Heavy Rain Tonight], [Trade My Heart for Your Heart], and [Heartless t] for their coin tips.

Brothers, readership retention during the new book period is crucial. I'm begging for your reads, please chase the updates to the latest chapter, otherwise we won't qualify for recommendations. Thank you very much, truly.