Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 24

After school, Xu Yingran dragged Fu Qiao and Yao Jin to the bookstore closest to the school.

The “Autumn Tiger” (late summer heat) in early October was still quite fierce. The bookstore’s air conditioning was set very low, and Fu Qiao let out a loud sneeze the moment she stepped inside.

Xu Yingran glanced back at her and asked, “Do you want to wear my jacket?”

Fu Qiao rubbed her nose and shook her head. “No, it was probably just the sudden draft of cold air.”

Still feeling uneasy, Xu Yingran tried to avoid the direct vents and found the section for Grade 12 practice exams.

The Grade 12 exercise books spanned an entire row of cabinets. Besides the three of them, many students from other schools in their uniforms were picking and choosing through the stacks.

Xu Yingran located a specific shelf based on her memory and selected several exercise books, handing them to the person behind her. They were all collections of high-difficulty problems.

Yao Jin flipped through the books randomly, puzzled. “These problems look so hard. Is it really necessary to do such difficult ones? Surely the actual Gaokao (University Entrance Exam) won’t have questions this tough?”

Xu Yingran replied, “It’s a bit difficult, but this year’s Gaokao is definitely going to be harder than previous years. It’s never wrong to practice more.”

She remembered that the questions during her original year of the Gaokao were indeed not easy. While they weren’t impossibly hard, it certainly wasn’t easy to score high points. After the exam back then, the school had organized a lecture; the books Xu Yingran picked were very close to the actual exam’s question types. Thinking that she had lived through it once, she figured she should at least use this advantage.

The three of them got into the car clutching stacks of exercise books. Yao Jin told the driver to drop Xu Yingran and Fu Qiao off at their neighborhood first.

On the way, Xu Yingran gave Yao Jin the money for the books, including Fu Qiao’s share. Yao Jin didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted it, but Fu Qiao felt a bit embarrassed.

“Xu Yingran, I’ll give you the money when we get home,” Fu Qiao whispered, sitting next to her and holding the bag. “I didn’t bring enough money today.”

Buying the books was a last-minute decision made at the school gate. Fu Qiao’s pocket money was limited to begin with; she thought a few books wouldn’t cost much, but she hadn’t realized how expensive practice materials were—the total for the three of them was nearly 200 yuan. Even averaged out, it was sixty or seventy yuan per person.

Xu Yingran didn’t care about the amount. Her parents gave her plenty of allowance every month, and she had her own savings from New Year’s money. Her “little treasury” was quite wealthy; she didn’t need Fu Qiao to pay her back.

“Don’t worry about it. Why are you being so formal with me?” Xu Yingran smiled. “Just treat me to a meal later.”

Yao Jin glanced at the two of them in the rearview mirror and chimed in lazily, “I want to eat too.”

Xu Yingran looked at her with feigned disgust. “What are you eating for? Didn’t I give you the money?”

Upon hearing this, Yao Jin fished the money out of her pocket, handed it back, and said, “Now can I eat?”

Xu Yingran looked at her speechlessly, then promptly took the money and stuffed it into Fu Qiao’s hand. “Fine, just take this money and treat both of us to a meal.”

Fu Qiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at their antics. She also didn’t understand how Yao Jin, who had transferred less than a month ago, had become so close to Xu Yingran. It was as if they had known each other for over ten years.

Once home, Fu Qiao and Xu Yingran got out of the car and walked back through the bustling old street to their complex. Fu Qiao didn’t go to help at her family’s stall today because she needed to prepare her speech for next week’s radio broadcast.

Zhao Yu (Xu’s mother), knowing that Fu Qiao had ranked third in the entire grade during the last exam, couldn’t help but feel envious. She lectured Xu Yingran right then and there, telling her to learn from Fu Qiao and strive to improve her grades. Xu Yingran could only agree helplessly.

Over the weekend, Xu Yingran didn’t run off anywhere. Instead, she stayed home and actually did her homework—a rare occurrence. Because her grades had slipped, Yao Jin had been severely criticized by her father and was assigned a private tutor. Her Saturday and Sunday were packed, making it unlikely she could play with them for a while.

Fu Qiao steamed some soft, sweet osmanthus cakes and shared half with Xu Yingran’s family. Smelling the fragrant, sweet scent of osmanthus filling the room, Xu Yingran felt her heart filled with a sense of peace. The snow-white cakes dotted with golden osmanthus honey looked exceptionally beautiful.

The radio speeches were scheduled according to the school rankings: Monday for first place, Tuesday for second, and Fu Qiao was set for Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning during the last period, Fu Qiao was still preparing her speech and the potential questions the host might ask. The process was actually very simple: she would give a one-minute speech, interact with the host by answering a few questions about her study habits, and end with some well-wishes. It would all be over in about fifteen minutes.

The host’s questions had been sent to Fu Qiao the previous week. She only needed to write her answers and read them from her script; there wasn’t much room for error. However, since it was her first time in the broadcasting room, Fu Qiao was still quite nervous.

“What are you afraid of?” Xu Yingran said, sitting on a chair across from her. “Didn’t you look perfectly natural when you spoke under the national flag before? In the broadcasting room, there’s no one but the host. There’s even less reason to be scared.”

Fu Qiao nodded, clutching her speech script helplessly. “That’s true, but I’m still nervous.”

It was lunchtime, and students were trickling out to the cafeteria. Just then, someone knocked on the door and said to Fu Qiao, “Student Fu Qiao, are you ready? It’s time to head to the broadcasting station.”

The moment those words were spoken, Xu Yingran could clearly sense Fu Qiao stiffening with tension.

“Don’t be afraid,” Xu Yingran comforted her. “Just read it as you prepared. Teacher Li said you’d be fine. A-Jin and I will wait for you at the cafeteria.”

Fu Qiao looked at Xu Yingran, nodded, and followed the student from the broadcasting station.

Xu Yingran looked at Yao Jin and said helplessly, “Let’s go. We’ll eat at the cafeteria today and set aside some good food for Fu Qiao.” Yao Jin had no objections and followed Xu Yingran with her hands in her pockets.

Meanwhile, Fu Qiao gripped her script and followed the student to another building. This was the administrative building, housing the offices of the principal and the dean, as well as some hobby clubs and computer labs. The broadcasting station was located at the very end.

The student knocked, and the door opened slightly. It appeared to be a teacher.

“Teacher, Student Fu Qiao is here,” the student said.

“Alright, thank you for your hard work.” The teacher smiled at the student, then opened the door. “You go ahead and eat. Student Fu Qiao, come in. We’ll start in a moment.”

Fu Qiao nodded and entered the station. The school’s broadcasting station wasn’t particularly fancy, but it had everything necessary. The room was divided into two sections: an inner room partitioned with soundproofing and glass where the equipment was kept, and an outer room that looked less professional, filled with cabinets, files, clothes, and backpacks.

“Zhou Wan, come here for a second,” the teacher called out to a girl in a school uniform with a ponytail.

The girl named Zhou Wan walked over and greeted Fu Qiao proactively.

“Hello, I’m Zhou Wan, the broadcaster for Grade 11, Class 1,” Zhou Wan said warmly. “I’ll be broadcasting with you today. Please look after me, Senior.”

Looking at Zhou Wan, who was a full head taller than her, Fu Qiao couldn’t help but wonder if all the Grade 11 juniors were this tall nowadays.

“Hello,” Fu Qiao said. “It’s my first time, so please remind me if there’s anything I don’t understand.”

Zhou Wan’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Sure, Senior.”

While preparing at the broadcast desk, Zhou Wan helped her put on the headphones, explained the precautions, and said, “We’ll start once this light music finishes playing. Don’t be nervous; just read from your script. Follow my lead.”

Fu Qiao nodded and took a deep breath.

When the music ended, Fu Qiao watched as Zhou Wan operated the complex equipment. Zhou Wan spoke into the microphone and naturally transitioned the lead to Fu Qiao, gesturing for her to begin her one-minute speech.

At first, Fu Qiao was a bit tense, and her reading was a little stilted. But seeing that Zhou Wan didn’t show any signs of mockery, her mindset improved significantly. The two interacted on air, and Fu Qiao answered the study-related questions fluently.

Fifteen minutes later, the brief broadcasting experience came to an end. Zhou Wan turned off the microphone, started playing the exit music, and took off her headphones, smiling at Fu Qiao. “Alright, Senior, you can take your headphones off now.”

Fu Qiao let out a long breath and removed the headset. “Can I talk normally now?”

“Of course,” Zhou Wan said with a laugh. “You did great just now, and your voice is very pleasant. Have you studied broadcasting before?”

Fu Qiao shook her head. “No, this is my first time here.”

“Really?” Zhou Wan said. “I thought you were a broadcasting student like me.”

“You’re a broadcasting student?”

“Yeah, I plan to be a host in the future, so I’ve been studying it since Grade 10.” Seeing that it wasn’t the best place to chat, Zhou Wan said, “Let’s head out first.”

With the teacher staying behind to supervise the station, Zhou Wan packed her things and went to the cafeteria with Fu Qiao. As they chatted casually on the way, Fu Qiao learned that although Zhou Wan was only in Grade 11, she had been studying broadcasting for over a year.

“I joined the broadcasting station in Grade 10 because I really liked the work.” Zhou Wan tilted her head to look at Fu Qiao. “Senior, your voice is really nice. I feel like you’d be very suited to be a broadcast host.”

Fu Qiao felt a small stir of excitement at those words. She had actually always admired the hosts who appeared on the evening news. However, no one in her family had ever taken such a path, and she didn’t know if she was truly suited for it.

Seeing her interest, Zhou Wan thought for a moment and said, “Senior, if you’re interested, you can come to the station often. I stay there for half an hour every day after school before going home. You can come find me then.”

Fu Qiao thought about it seriously before saying, “Okay, let me consider it.”