It felt like she'd dodged a bullet.
Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
She fetched the water and returned to the classroom with it. She sat down, put the cup away, and pulled out her workbook from the drawer. Thinking about the English test that afternoon, she planned to practice some more.
She had just pulled a pen from her pencil case when her workbook was taken away.
"Qing Qing, are you okay?"
Liu Ranran blinked and leaned closer to Su Qing, her whole body brimming with unease, her eyes filled with worry.
Su Qing shook her head, tightening her grip on the pen in her hand. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just worried about the exam this afternoon."
"Ah, Qing Qing, why are you still worried? What's there to worry about? English, that's your forte. Don't think I can't hear you just because you read so softly this morning. Your perfect, pure English is like a walking tape."
Liu Ranran slumped over the table with an exaggerated expression, her face full of envy. Her eyes sparkled, her lips pouting, her voice a bit loud, causing some of the students who were taking a break to look up at them.
This kind of attention must have made Su Qing feel quite uncomfortable.
"Shhh, keep your voice down," the girl, with a fair, soft face, whispered to her deskmate.
Having sat next to Su Qing for a while, she had noticed that she was beautiful, thin, timid, and stubborn, a fact that filled her with a strong desire to protect her.
Naturally, she lowered her voice and whispered in Su Qing's ear, "Qing Qing, will you participate in that English competition the teacher mentioned?"
The English competition was going to Jiangcheng.
Su Qing bit her lip, a moment of hesitation and apprehension in her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered, but she nodded, her expression uneasy.
With her current grades, she could get into a good key university, but to do even better, she'd have to participate in some competitions. She also wanted a full scholarship, and the first place prize was 10,000 yuan. She'd definitely go just for that.
"I heard from Hu Yifan that Jiang Sui will be participating, and Xu Miaoran, too, it seems."
"However, Xu Miaoran isn't taking the English competition; She's going to Jiangcheng for the arts exam. Since Demon Li is leading the team, you should probably go too."
Liu Ranran was quite knowledgeable, blabbering away.
Also, Qing Qing, didn't you meet anyone when you went out to get water? Xu Miaoran came to the classroom to look for you, and she looked very angry."
"But Jiang Sui, our Jiang University's most handsome boy, never participates in competitions!"
"I don't know how he changed."
...
Su Qing paused as she wrote the word. A heavy dot appeared at the end of her handwriting. Her eyes flickered, and the pursed brows of her lips deepened.
"Jiang Sui has good grades, so may be natural for him to participate."
Head bowed, an indescribable emotion on her face, the girl mumbled a vague answer.
"Who? I didn't meet anyone."
But then, she suddenly remembered that night.
"Did you copy the answers? They're all correct."
That sentence made the boy's face darken, and she was also a little curious about the bag he'd thrown away...
She shouldn't have been curious.
Was it just because of the conversation she'd overheard in the hallway today? Su Qing couldn't figure it out, lowering her head.
He wasn't participating in the competition...
Why would he participate?
Was it also for the prize money?
Or may be he knew she was participating and wanted to compete with her for the spot... she couldn't figure it out.
Whatever it was, her mind was in a turmoil for a moment, and she could only numb herself with one English test after another.
Because no matter what it was.
She had to take first place.