Chapter 21: Is this…right?

Inside the classroom, the noisy chatter gradually died down as the school bell rang.

Su Wanqing kept her body ramrod straight.

Even though she was sitting in the aisle, her posture was incredibly elegant.

She gazed intently into Jiang Ran’s eyes, never looking away for even a second.

The sunlight traced a faint glow around her figure, making her look like a holy angel.

Jiang Ran instinctively averted his gaze, thinking, ‘Is this the Heroine’s Halo?’

Jiang Ran pursed his lips, his mind racing through the question she had just asked.

He didn’t quite understand why Su Wanqing was bringing those things up with him.

Thinking that her suggestions were well-intentioned, Jiang Ran eventually nodded.

“Fine. Well, Pres… Su Wanqing, can we start today’s speech? Class has already begun.”

Jiang Ran pointed to the bell above their heads.

“No, wait until you’ve answered my question. Has she done anything strange to you, or dropped any hints…?”

Jiang Ran scratched his cheek, feeling a bit uncomfortable under Su Wanqing’s burning gaze.

He turned his head away and said, “Not really. At most, she’ll talk about money, like where to find part-time jobs, which restaurants are having sales, or where there are free tastings. I thought the last few were too embarrassing, so I never went with her because… every time she goes to eat, she ends up having a very unpleasant confrontation with the restaurant staff.”

“Then you’ve certainly had a hard time.”

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Su Wanqing stopped pressuring Jiang Ran and began handing out the materials for today’s speech.

Only then did Jiang Ran shift his focus to the “protagonist” they had been ignoring for so long — a thick stack of speech materials.

“Why are there so many scripts? We’re just participating in the Freshman Talent Show. We shouldn’t need this much information, right?”

Looking at the mountain of A4 report papers, Jiang Ran recalled the horror of being dominated by the Principal “speaking for a little while” that afternoon.

Su Wanqing reached out and tied her hair back with a rubber band.

“Is it a lot? I think it’s fine. After all, it is a freshman speech, so of course we have to be well-prepared.”

Jiang Ran looked at the confident Su Wanqing with vacant eyes.

If he remembered correctly, no one really listened to these kinds of speeches.

Everyone just wanted to get to the skit segment as fast as possible.

From the beginning to the end of a freshman gala program list, the most boring parts were always the leadership speeches and the student speeches.

However, considering this was a Game World, there would probably be plenty of audience members who would choose to clap and cheer just because the one speaking was the heroine.

Jiang Ran took the documents and tapped them against the table to straighten them.

“So what’s the plan? With this much material, I could sit here all day and still might not finish listening to it all.”

Su Wanqing patted her chest and promised, “Don’t worry about that. I already considered the problem of having too many materials. That’s why, when I get tired of talking, you’ll go up and say a few words.”

“What?”

Jiang Ran stood up from his seat.

“Didn’t we agree yesterday that you would be the one speaking? I… I don’t know how to go on stage. If you make me go up and I… I mess up the performance, absolutely no one will want to join our Service Club ever again.”

“Cough — ”

Su Wanqing clenched her fist and held it to her mouth, letting out a light cough.

“Of course I’m not actually making you give a speech. Actually, the reason there are so many materials is that I prepared a speech draft for you. After all, when you graduate from the Club later, you’ll need me, the President, to write an activity report. I can’t just write that you stood there carrying a camera and taking pictures of me. If I did that and the school leadership did a random inspection, we’d both be finished. Since there are so few people in our group, a random check will either find your report or mine.”

Jiang Ran looked desperate.

How did a Game World have something like a “Performance Review”?

“Maybe nobody will even look at it?”

Su Wanqing sighed.

“We still have to put up a front.”

“In that case, can’t you just make it up? It’s not like they’ll actually send people to watch our activities, right?”

Jiang Ran clenched his fists, refusing to back down.

“Fine. If you don’t want to speak, you can just go up later, pick a random script, and read it. I’ll be responsible for taking photos and recording you.”

“No problem.”

Having agreed on the division of labor, Jiang Ran began helping Su Wanqing organize the materials they would need.

The theme of their speech was related to praising youth, and it touched upon many sensitive student issues.

Most of it suffered from the common flaw found in student papers — a massive amount of fluff at the beginning.

Jiang Ran was responsible for cutting, pasting, and finally combining these scripts into a finished draft.

He had done this kind of work many times before, so he was completely in his element.

“There, I’ve finished organizing the scripts for you. Give me your phone, and I’ll record you.”

Jiang Ran placed three revised drafts next to Su Wanqing’s hand.

“So fast? You could have taken your time. I haven’t even finished cutting the one I have here.”

The two of them were editing each other’s scripts.

The one Jiang Ran had organized was titled Enjoying Youth, and the content consisted of slogans he was all too familiar with.

Organizing it took no effort at all.

“Take your time. I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

Jiang Ran found a corner and intended to make up for the Early Eight sleep he lost thanks to Bai Ranran’s disturbance.

Su Wanqing was editing the speech draft when she heard steady breathing beside her.

She looked up and realized Jiang Ran had actually fallen asleep.

Rubbing the dark circles under her eyes, Su Wanqing took a sip of coffee from her mug.

Then, she tiptoed around from behind to Jiang Ran’s seat and began her new writing task.

Her arm occasionally brushed against Jiang Ran’s back.

Feeling the rhythm of his breathing, she felt an indescribable sense of peace.

After a while, she found it difficult to concentrate on her work.

For some reason, she felt that Jiang Ran looked a bit prettier than he had yesterday.

An inexplicable urge surged in her heart.

Recalling her mother’s teasing from the night before, the smile that had just begun to form on Su Wanqing’s lips was pushed back down.

‘I’m not the kind of person who takes advantage of others. You’re Su Wanqing. Calm down, it’s just a minor situation.’

Just as Su Wanqing finished cheering herself up, Jiang Ran unexpectedly rolled over and turned his head toward her.

The distance between them instantly closed to the point where she could feel his warm breath.

Su Wanqing froze.

She saw Jiang Ran’s thick eyelashes fluttering like leaves on a branch.

His cheeks were flushed with a faint red from deep sleep, and a few stray hairs had fallen, sticking to his slightly sweaty forehead.

His breathing was soft, his lips were slightly parted, and his defenseless sleeping face was right in front of her.

The confidence she had just built up collapsed instantly.

Her fingers felt an uncontrollable urge to touch Jiang Ran’s cheek or his ear.

A near-primitive impulse gathered in her right hand. Just as she was about to succeed, Su Wanqing forcefully used her left hand to pull her right hand back.

‘Just a minor situation. Write the script. Write the script.’

Su Wanqing continued writing furiously. Her writing speed had noticeably increased. Spurred on by Jiang Ran’s presence, she wrote so fast that her handwriting began to look a bit deformed.

Her chest rose and fell heavily, and her breathing became rapid.

Under the influence of hormones, Su Wanqing’s efficiency was unexpectedly high.

In a short while, several speech drafts had been completed.

However, she still couldn’t extinguish the thought in her mind:

‘What if I just touch him once? He might not even notice.’

The rustling sound of writing meant nothing to the person doing it, but to Jiang Ran, who was napping on the desk, it sounded like someone was sawing wood.

He slowly opened his eyes and caught a blurry glimpse of the President… Su Wanqing’s figure.

His interrupted train of thought immediately snapped back into place.

He abruptly sat up straight and stammered, “Su… Su Wanqing, why are you right next to me?”