After Dreaming That the Top Student in My Grade Was My Wife - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unpredictable

Nanyuan, the largest villa district in the urban area of Shencheng.

Inside the district, the roads lead to the river, surrounded by flowing water. To the west, it leans against Shencheng’s Western-style architectural complexes from the last century, elegant and unique; to the east, it reaches Shencheng’s most prosperous modern commercial district. One ancient, one modern—a quiet sanctuary in the middle of the bustle.

Completely different from the magnificent river view outside the window, Jiang Hanqi’s room was decorated in shades of gray.

At 9:00 PM, the entire villa was shrouded in darkness, with only the computer in the room emitting a faint fluorescence.

Jiang Hanqi did not like turning on the lights. Perhaps it wasn’t a matter of like or dislike, but rather that turning on a light required an extra movement, and she was too lazy.

This computer, usually used to download and receive various profound and abstruse academic files, currently had a new document open.

“Grade 1 Final Exam Predictions.”

In less than half an hour, the document had been edited to twenty-three pages. It was merely a selection of problems that had long become overly simple for Jiang Hanqi; therefore, she didn’t even need to think, simply scrolling through and capturing them at high speed.

On the table of contents of the document’s first page, the priority ranking and recommended time usage for the six science subjects were detailed in depth.

Compared to the top thirty in the school, her foundation was still somewhat weak. Coupled with the midterm exam dragging her down, in order to maximize interests, the liberal arts subjects had to be temporarily abandoned.

Jiang Hanqi reviewed the document from beginning to end once more. After confirming there were no errors, she clicked print.

After a flash of blue light, the computer screen went dark. Only the sound of the printer operating stirred this peaceful night.

The next day, in the classroom, when Tao Shuran saw a set of review materials handed over by Jiang Hanqi, she was extremely grateful in her heart—directly ignoring the fact that in last night’s dream, Jiang Hanqi had tried to get handsy with her, only to be pushed away and scolded using Rui-rui as a shield.

The materials contained prediction points for the final exam, listing only the more important knowledge points along with corresponding example problems and the keys to solving them. Holding this document, Tao Shuran remarked with emotion: “Thank you, Big Boss. You must have put in a lot of effort.”

Although Jiang Hanqi agreed in her heart that twenty minutes was indeed a lot of effort, she remained polite: “It’s no trouble. Do them when you have time; prioritize your own pace.”

And so, the obedient student Tao Shuran stuffed these knowledge points into the bottom of her backpack. While checking for gaps last night, she found two chemistry problems she kept getting wrong and couldn’t keep up her speed. She still hadn’t found the root of the problem, so she truly had no time.

Although Tao Shuran had wrestled with whether to ask Jiang Hanqi, over these past three days, they had shared a tacit understanding: they would never speak to each other if a third person was present. Tao Shuran felt it was safest to keep it that way.

Firstly, although the private Jiang Hanqi was unexpectedly easy to get along with, asking her a question in public would likely result in not only a rejection but a high possibility of being blocked right then and there. Secondly, even if Jiang Hanqi enthusiastically answered, if other students followed suit and lined up to ask, wouldn’t she be throwing Jiang Hanqi under the bus?

Must not, must not.

Tao Shuran’s ponytail swayed slightly as she continued to immerse herself in self-study.

During dinner, at the Tao family’s small dining table, the atmosphere was frozen.

A family of three, eating three dishes and a soup, three people not saying a word.

Tao Shuran could feel that her mother wanted to say something, but Father Tao would pinch Mother Tao’s hand under the table from time to time, and the two would exchange glances and whisper a few words.

She knew what they meant. Tomorrow was the final exam. When splitting into Arts and Sciences in Grade 2, these scores would account for twenty percent. Her mother surely wanted to nag again.

Tao Shuran gulped down the soup in her bowl, pretending not to know. Anyway, it was always the same few sentences; they were practically carved into her DNA. It wasn’t like she wasn’t working hard.

She finished her last sip of soup, picked up a wet wipe to clean her mouth, and intended to go to her room. Mother Tao finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up: “Tomorrow you…”

Halfway through the sentence, she was timely interrupted by Father Tao, who supplemented while winking at Mother Tao: “Nannan, don’t be nervous tomorrow. It’s just a small exam, just take it casually, we’ll be fine.”

Mother Tao felt very uncomfortable with a stomach full of words she couldn’t say. She twisted her eyebrows and didn’t move her chopsticks.

Tao Shuran was expressionless and didn’t look back, only giving an “Oh” before returning to her room.

Closing the door, a sour feeling welled up in her nose.

She actually understood her parents’ thoughts. One was a university professor, the other a deputy director of the education bureau; how did they end up with a daughter who was so mediocre?

She was like other children: tutoring when needed, advanced classes when needed. When she applied for primary school, the two of them revised her self-introduction draft seven or eight times. That period was also an important time for their promotions, yet they insisted on taking a few hours every night to adjust her interview details over and over. When choosing middle and high schools, they also checked countless records and asked many relatives, friends, and colleagues before finalizing the school.

From childhood to adulthood, the Tao parents never shortchanged her on educational resources, nor did they ever place extra demands on her.

Yet she still couldn’t do well.

When taking the exam for No. 5 High School, she barely scraped into the experimental class. In Grade 1, before the split, there were seventy people in the dual-excellence classes combined; she was ranked sixty-eighth. But the homeroom teacher still looked at her with a beaming face, making her the physics class representative, constantly saying: “This is the precious daughter of the great professor at the Shen-Jiao Physics Academy. In middle school, the difficulty was low and didn’t show the gap; in the future, getting into Shen-Jiao will definitely be no problem.”

Then she hung at the tail end of the class for half a year. Classmates whispered behind her back that she relied on connections to squeeze out someone else’s spot; she had even heard it several times.

So embarrassing, so embarrassing.

Patter. A teardrop fell onto the scratch paper. Tao Shuran was drawing a force analysis diagram; the tear happened to blur the upward directional angle, soaking the fuzzy edges of the paper. So ugly.

She wiped her tears away harshly, bit her lip, and started drawing the analysis diagram again.

Just before 10:00 PM, Mother Tao came to knock on the door to urge her to sleep. Tao Shuran obediently brushed her teeth and lay in bed, yet she tossed and turned and couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.

Non-selective tests were always scheduled like a nightmare; tomorrow morning would be English and Math, and the afternoon would be Physics, Chemistry, and Biology—the heavy hitters for science students.

Tao Shuran’s heart was drumming when she suddenly remembered the review materials she had forgotten in the corner. She scrambled out of bed, turned on the light, crept over to the desk, pulled the files from her bag, picked up a pen, and continued studying.

Doing a few more problems before the exam would at least make her feel a bit more comfortable.

The example problems Jiang Hanqi selected were all on the difficult side. Although she provided the problem-solving logic, it was still a bit a struggle to write them out smoothly.

By the time Tao Shuran finished the physics section, it was already past midnight. She flipped through the back, only to realize a serious problem—

No! Answer! Key!

Tao Shuran scratched her head, completely baffled.

“Was Jiang Hanqi messing with me? What does this mean?”

Example problems without answers—she wouldn’t know if she got them right or wrong. How was this any different from doing them for the first time in the exam hall?

Tao Shuran’s phone was usually locked in her parents’ room, so she couldn’t check either.

She slumped on the table dejectedly for a while, thinking about whether to look at something else. While thinking, a wave of sleepiness hit, and she fell asleep.

When she woke up again, the location had changed once more.

Having dreamed of Jiang Hanqi several days in a row, Tao Shuran had developed some immunity.

She slowly opened her eyes. What met her sight was a hall with a red and black color scheme. She and Jiang Hanqi were sitting on the same black leather sofa. On the dining table sat a laptop; Jiang Hanqi was working, and she had obviously just fallen asleep leaning against Jiang Hanqi.

Tao Shuran wasn’t in the mood to study anything else. She instinctively rubbed against Jiang Hanqi’s shoulder and rubbed her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by Jiang Hanqi.

“What, you’re not sleeping anymore?” Jiang Hanqi’s cool voice rang in her ear. The other had clearly noticed her series of small movements after waking. When she turned her face to look at her, her expression had already shifted to tenderness. “In the set menu, I chose the slow-braised oxtail for you, added a wild tea cream crab, and since you said the truffle bread was delicious last time, I ordered three portions.”

Obviously, Tao Shuran currently had no way to be interested in food. She immediately sat up straight and spoke seriously: “Jiang Hanqi, you’ve come at just the right time. There are several problems I want to ask you about.”

“?”

Tao Shuran ignored the slightly raised eyebrow of the bewildered Jiang Hanqi and felt around for the bag beside her.

Total frustration. Where was her backpack? What could a tiny bag like this even hold?

Tao Shuran looked miserable. She leaned over to look at Jiang Hanqi’s computer and turned her head to ask: “It’s connected to the internet, right?”

Seeing Jiang Hanqi nod, she held the dining table with her left hand, extended her waist as far to the right as possible, grabbed the mouse with her right hand, and opened the browser. The indoor temperature was comfortable; her coat was left on the hanger, and the short sweater she was wearing lifted up with her movement, revealing her slender waist.

Jiang Hanqi couldn’t help but smile, moving the laptop closer to her.

After several days of being baptized by these dreams, Tao Shuran had managed to remain calm in the face of changes.

Anyway, they did have some connection in reality. What was wrong with borrowing Jiang Hanqi’s computer?

Besides, seize every opportunity to use the Scholarly Deity; freeloading was no loss.

She just didn’t know why this point in the dream seemed to be over ten years later than reality. It seemed that after experiencing a new educational reform, the Grade 1 curriculum had undergone many changes.

Tao Shuran didn’t stop to think about why there was a concept of time in the dream. She scrolled the mouse wheel up and down, her left finger tapping the desktop with some irritation.

“You want to ask me Grade 1 physics problems?” Jiang Hanqi, who had been resting her head on her shoulder, started to understand. “Why the sudden interest in this?”

“Jiang—Jiang Hanqi,” Tao Shuran hesitated a moment before asking tentatively, “Yesterday—no, do you still remember the physics problems you wrote for me in Grade 1?”

“I wrote too many physics problems for you in Grade 1; which one are you talking about?” Because she was reminiscing about the past, Jiang Hanqi answered with a beaming face.

Tao Shuran secretly grumbled—was just a few pages considered too many? She continued: “The one before the final exam last semester, didn’t you list a set of priorities for me? Explain the ones on that list to me.”

“Mhm, I remember. Which one do you want to hear?” Jiang Hanqi nodded, not pressing for a reason.

Tao Shuran looked shocked: “You remember all of them?”

“All of them.”

Just as Tao Shuran was marveling that this must be the memory of a top student, she saw Jiang Hanqi’s right hand cover her own. Their index fingers interlaced to click the mouse, finding a folder named Wife.

Tao Shuran had a premonition, and her face suddenly turned red again.

Jiang Hanqi clicked on one of the years. Among a row of files, she clicked the one at the very top with the earliest creation time, “Grade 1 Final Exam Predictions.” Catching a glimpse of Tao Shuran’s expression, she chuckled: “Haven’t you seen this before?”

“I—I,” Tao Shuran stammered for a while before finding a point to strike back, “I just didn’t expect there to be a person like you who still keeps these things, even saving a copy on your work computer.”

Jiang Hanqi nodded in cooperation: “To be prepared just in case.”

“What use could this possibly serve?”

“Well, right now.” Jiang Hanqi clicked the table of contents index, jumping to the physics chapter, and intended to pat Tao Shuran’s face to signal her to pay attention.

The way Jiang Hanqi explained problems was actually exceptionally patient. She only looked at a problem once and appeared to have it all figured out. Worried that knowledge points might have been forgotten due to the passage of time, she explained them very thoroughly.

Tao Shuran sat sideways on Jiang Hanqi’s lap, while Jiang Hanqi leaned against the sofa, gazing into her eyes and narrating eloquently, even gesturing at slightly difficult parts.

“No, I still don’t quite understand.” Tao Shuran hit a small snag. She pointed at Jiang Hanqi’s business bag: “I need paper and a pen to draw a diagram.”

Jiang Hanqi nodded and reached out to press the bell at the corner of the table, but was stopped by Tao Shuran’s hands: “You aren’t planning to call for paper and pen in a Western restaurant, are you?”

Jiang Hanqi looked candid: “Why not?”

“No, no, it’s too embarrassing. Just give me what’s in your bag.” Tao Shuran shook her head repeatedly.

“I don’t have any in my bag, and providing paper and pen isn’t some special service.” Jiang Hanqi thought for a moment, lifted her hand to check her watch, and intended to pick up the phone. “Xiao Wu should have picked up Rui-rui. I’ll have her bring Rui-rui’s backpack up in a moment. Today is a post-exam review; if Rui-rui didn’t bring paper and pen, we’ll spank her bottom.”

“No, no, no.” Tao Shuran’s heart skipped a beat. She had an exam tomorrow; being a mom at this time would interfere with her performance in the exam hall. She didn’t want to see her dream exaggerate to the point of having a child already. She could only compromise: “You’re right, this is a legitimate service. Ring the bell.”

Unfortunately, before the paper and pen could be obtained, Tao Shuran felt her body being shaken violently. The Jiang Hanqi before her and her gentle smile vanished together.

“Xiao Ran.” Tao Shuran snapped her head up and saw the weary face of Mother Tao. “I came out to pour some water and noticed your light wasn’t off, so I came in to check.”

Only then did Tao Shuran realize she had unknowingly fallen asleep. She looked at the clock on the wall; it was already past 4:00 AM.

Mother Tao’s face showed some heartache mixed with some dissatisfaction. After herding Tao Shuran into bed, she tucked her in and couldn’t help but speak up: “The most important thing for the exam tomorrow is to get enough rest. Cramming at the last minute is all fake; if you were this diligent normally, there wouldn’t be so much trouble.”

The door closed. A winter night in the early morning; the bed had turned icy cold after being away from body heat for too long.

The warm atmosphere in the dream was an illusion, while she could only gnaw on the bitterness of reality and swallow it in silence.

Tao Shuran hugged her quilt and turned her back, not saying a word.

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