Returning to High School to Save My Wife - Chapter 12

“No, thank you,” Jiang Yuan declined politely. “You drink it; I’m not thirsty.”

Her private little scheme having failed, Liang Qi obediently withdrew her hand. She took a sip of water, feigning composure to keep her motives from becoming too obvious.

While she desperately wanted to improve her relationship with Jiang Yuan, it was clear that she couldn’t rush things.

After spending the last two days together, she realized that Jiang Yuan seemed naturally disinclined toward intimacy. If she became too enthusiastic, it might actually trigger Jiang Yuan’s defenses.

That would be problematic.

However, beyond that, she also realized that Jiang Yuan was far from as cold as she had imagined.

At the very least, Jiang Yuan wasn’t the type to stand by and watch someone suffer. Whenever Liang Qi needed help, Jiang Yuan always extended a hand.

This was a great opportunity for her.

She could certainly make good use of this trait.

After resting for a while, Liang Qi used the table to help herself up. “I feel much better. I should be able to go back now.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Jiang Yuan was still wary of Liang Qi’s frail condition. In her eyes, Liang Qi was fast becoming a permanent invalid. “Don’t force yourself. If you feel unwell, just stay here and rest until class is over.”

“I’m not forcing myself; I’m really fine now,” Liang Qi explained. “I feel much better already. The teacher might have important things to cover, so we should head back to the playground.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan addressed the doctor. “Teacher, we’ll be heading back then.”

The doctor stood up as well. “Alright. If you feel unwell again, come back to the infirmary immediately. Your teacher will understand.”

“Thank you for your help, Teacher.” Jiang Yuan nodded, moved over to support Liang Qi, and led her out of the infirmary.

PE class was not yet over.

Chen Hong was teaching the students radio gymnastics. Seeing the two return, she made a “pause” gesture and asked Jiang Yuan, “How is Student Liang Qi doing?”

“Teacher, I’m much better now,” Liang Qi answered before Jiang Yuan could, fearing she might make her condition sound too severe.

Chen Hong checked her watch and said to Liang Qi, “Class is almost over. Why don’t you sit on the sidelines and watch for the rest of the period?”

After all, Liang Qi’s state after the 800-meter run had been truly poor, making it inevitable for Chen Hong to worry about her health.

Since even Chen Hong had said so, Liang Qi naturally couldn’t object. With Jiang Yuan’s support, she went over to the edge of the playground to sit and rest.

“Rest here. Raise your hand if you feel unwell.”

“Okay, thank you.”

With that, Jiang Yuan returned to the ranks.

With less than twenty minutes left until the end of class, Liang Qi sat bored by the playground, watching Chen Hong lead the students in learning a new set of radio gymnastics.

Jiang Yuan was of medium-tall height and stood at the far left of the second row. From Liang Qi’s angle, she had a perfectly clear view. Because she had practiced ballet, Jiang Yuan learned the movements very quickly. Every motion was perfectly precise; combined with her light posture, she looked as elegant as if she were dancing.

Standing out just as much as Jiang Yuan was Yue Suxin, who was positioned behind her.

Yue Suxin was beautiful and clearly had a background in dance as well. Even doing radio gymnastics, she managed to look charming and graceful, effortlessly catching the eyes of many.

Among the group, there was one other person who stood out, but for different reasons: Hang Jiao. Hang Jiao was heavily built and her limbs were stiff. She was clearly struggling to keep up, looking somewhat comical among the dozens of students.

After finishing the last section, Chen Hong raised her hand. “Everyone, practice on your own. Those who aren’t familiar with the moves can ask their classmates for help.”

Hang Jiao couldn’t help but turn to Yue Suxin for help. “Sister Xin, do you remember the moves for the last two sections? Teach me…”

“You can’t even learn something this simple? You’re making me look bad.”

Though Yue Suxin complained, she still demonstrated the movements for Hang Jiao. Her execution was impressively standard.

“Did you get it?”

“I’m still not quite sure. Sister Xin, teach me one more time.”

Yue Suxin glanced helplessly toward the other side of the playground before quickly looking back. “Fine. I’ll demonstrate it one more time. Watch closely.”

“Thanks, Sister Xin!”

Liang Qi couldn’t help but be surprised. Yue Suxin seemed unexpectedly patient today. Had she curbed her nature because of the lecture He Wei gave her?

Just as she was speculating about the reason, she suddenly heard a burst of cheers from the other side of the playground.

“It’s in!”

“As expected of Brother Cheng! Amazing!”

“Cheng Zhuocheng is so handsome!”

Hearing these voices, Liang Qi looked toward the other side of the field. Students from another class were gathered for basketball. One tall boy had a face so handsome it was almost a crime, and even his physique stood out among the high schoolers, comparable to that of a runway model.

Was he Cheng Zhuocheng?

The “School Grass” of Shengjiang No. 1 High School?

No wonder Yue Suxin was acting out of character today; it turned out her crush was nearby.

On the other side of the field, Cheng Zhuocheng finished his game. Seeing Class 1 on break, he tilted his chin toward Jiang Yuan’s direction with an arrogant, smug expression, immediately prompting his surrounding classmates to start teasing him.

“Brother Cheng, who are you looking at?”

“Is it Yue Suxin? She looked great doing the exercises just now; her figure is really something!”

“Tsk, Brother Cheng already rejected Yue Suxin. He must be looking at Jiang Yuan.”

“I think Jiang Yuan is prettier too.”

“Brother Cheng, that Jiang Yuan has rejected you over and over. She really doesn’t know what’s good for her. Do you want me to go help you…”

“You guys, don’t mess around,” Cheng Zhuocheng frowned, barking at them to stop. Seeing Jiang Yuan practicing her movements in the distance, he said in a low voice, “Stay here. No one goes over there.”

“Zhuocheng,” a refined-looking boy next to him grabbed his arm and advised, “We’re still in class…”

“It’s fine; I’m just going to say hello,” Cheng Zhuocheng raised an eyebrow and patted the boy’s shoulder. “Watch the ball for me. I’ll be right back.”

With that, he tossed the basketball to the boy.

Nearby, the girls of Class 1 saw Cheng Zhuocheng walking toward them and couldn’t help but feel a flutter in their hearts.

“It’s Cheng Zhuocheng!”

“Why is he coming over?”

“Did he take a fancy to someone in our class?”

“He came to our classroom yesterday at noon; it seemed like he spoke to Jiang Yuan.”

“Ah, does he like Jiang Yuan?”

“I heard he pursued her back in tenth grade too.”

As the whispers continued one after another, Yue Suxin’s expression gradually soured, and a flash of resentment crossed her heart.

So what if her grades were a bit better? What right did Jiang Yuan have?

Yue Suxin had been pampered since childhood. Her family background was a hundred times better than Jiang Yuan’s, and her looks and talent weren’t inferior in the slightest. While her grades couldn’t match Jiang Yuan’s, she was still among the top students in school and never lacked pursuers.

Yet, the moment Cheng Zhuocheng walked toward Class 1, everyone’s attention was fixed on him and Jiang Yuan, as if she were just an insignificant supporting character.

By what right?

To make matters worse, Jiang Yuan kept acting so aloof, constantly rejecting Cheng Zhuocheng.

Yue Suxin’s dislike of Jiang Yuan wasn’t a recent development. The thought of Cheng Zhuocheng rejecting her because of Jiang Yuan filled her with loathing and jealousy. She had no idea that at this moment, Jiang Yuan didn’t want to see Cheng Zhuocheng at all.

Cheng Zhuocheng had been pestering her since tenth grade. Even though she had rejected him several times—and even had that little girl relay her message yesterday—he showed no intention of giving up.

Students have simple minds, but the malice that comes with rumors is often very pure. Over the past year, false speculations about their relationship had circulated on forums and in gossip. Malicious comments like “Jiang Yuan seduced Cheng Zhuocheng” or “Jiang Yuan and Cheng Zhuocheng are fooling around” had cropped up repeatedly, only stopping when Jiang Yuan’s former homeroom teacher stepped in.

Therefore, when Jiang Yuan saw Cheng Zhuocheng walking toward her, she instinctively had a bad premonition.

Just as she was thinking of how to handle it, Liang Qi’s weak voice called out for help from nearby.

“Jiang, Jiang Yuan…”

Jiang Yuan was startled. She turned her head and saw that Liang Qi, who had been sitting by the field, had stood up at some point. She was now clutching her stomach and crouching on the ground, her face twisted in a look of agony as if she were suffering from a terminal illness.

Seeing Liang Qi in bad shape, Jiang Yuan jogged over and helped her up. “Are you unwell again?”

How could this girl’s constitution be this poor?

“I, I just tried to stand up, but my legs went numb…” Liang Qi gasped, stumbling against Jiang Yuan. She took the opportunity to hook her arm around Jiang Yuan’s shoulder. “Hiss, it hurts…”

“It’s probably because you sat too long and your circulation was cut off,” Jiang Yuan looked up and scanned their surroundings. “How about this: I’ll support you and we’ll walk a lap around the playground. That should help.”

“I’m sorry, I’m troubling you again,” Liang Qi apologized softly. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the stranded Cheng Zhuocheng, and the corners of her lips curled into a slight arc.

Want to pursue her? It won’t be that easy.

Because Jiang Yuan had rushed to help Liang Qi, Cheng Zhuocheng couldn’t very well go and greet her under those circumstances. Since he wasn’t a student of Class 1, standing alone in someone else’s class was awkward, even for the acknowledged “School Grass.” He had no choice but to give up and turn his gaze toward Yue Suxin.

“Suxin.”

“Why are you here?” No matter how much dissatisfaction Yue Suxin felt toward Cheng Zhuocheng, she wouldn’t show it now. She looked at him with a beaming smile, thinking this was her golden opportunity.

Yue Suxin started the conversation, and Cheng Zhuocheng followed her lead, explaining, “I saw your class was out here for PE, so I came to say hi.”

“Then you also saw us learning the new radio gymnastics?”

“Yeah, you did a great job.”

“At least you have some taste,” Yue Suxin pulled at him playfully. “I heard you came to our class yesterday?”

“I had some business with Jiang Yuan yesterday,” Cheng Zhuocheng replied. Although he didn’t know about the events that had transpired in Class 1 that day, he didn’t want to tell her about the love letter. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Yue Suxin said coquettishly. “Next time you have business, you can come find me too.”

Cheng Zhuocheng smiled but remained noncommittal. He glanced toward his own class and said, “Alright, my class is about to assemble. I’m heading back.”

“Okay then, hurry back.”

Cheng Zhuocheng took one last look in Jiang Yuan’s direction. He was stunned by what he saw.

Not far away, Liang Qi was walking around the playground with Jiang Yuan’s help. Because of her “numb legs,” she was huddled entirely in Jiang Yuan’s arms, looking like an accessory permanently attached to her.

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