Chapter 46

"Hey, that person..."

"Uh, the one from Class 2...what was his name?"

"I think it's Samson Nan."

A few girls passing by the side of the basketball court peered inside through the fence.

"Hey, it's really him."

"I heard he quit the school team and came back?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too."

"Huh? Wasn't he expelled? They said he frequently skipped practice."

"No, I heard it was because of something happening at home, so he took a leave of absence."

"..."

The group of people looked at each other, the story taking on several versions. Which one was true? Nobody knew.

"Watch out!"

Someone shouted, and they saw a basketball flying towards them.

"Ah!!"

The girl closest to the ball didn't react in time and ended up sitting down on the ground. Fortunately, the railing was high enough to block the ball, or it would have hit her head directly.

"Sorry! Are you okay?"

"Are you trying to kill me?! Can't you play basketball properly?"

The girl was furious and suddenly looked up.

"Huh?!"

Standing in front of her was the person they were just discussing, Samson Nan.

"I'm really sorry, it wasn't intentional!"

He crouched down, apologizing awkwardly over the railing.

"It's...it's fine..."

The girl was taken aback, her eyes wandering around.

"Oh, she's blushing!"

"Yeah, she really is!"

The girls next to her laughed at her.

"What are you saying?!"

The girl blushed even more.

"Haha, looks like she's okay now."

He smiled, picked up the ball, and ran back to the court.

"Why are you still staring? He's gone!"

"What are you all making a fuss about? Seriously..."

The girl complained discontentedly.

"Xiao Zhen, listen to me."

"Go ahead."

"We have so many handsome guys in our school. If you like anyone, I fully support you. But...”

She leaned on her chin and changed the topic.

"If it's this person, tsk tsk, I advise you to give up."

"Why?"

"Don't you know? He has a follower who sticks to him all day long!"

The girl said mysteriously.

"I know, her name is Jocelyn York, right?"

"His girlfriend?"

That name was not unfamiliar to her.

"Heh heh, not really."

"She's quite disgusting. I heard that whenever Samson Nan eats, she wants to go together. When Samson Nan goes home, she wants to go together. When Samson Nan is training, she wants to watch. I swear, they're almost going to the bathroom together!"

"Pfft! Haha!"

"Haha, what the heck!"

The girls burst into laughter.

"It's really annoying, I've heard that she gets along well with boys everywhere she goes. Otherwise, she would have been taught a lesson long ago!"

"Exactly!"

"I think Jocelyn York is no different from the boys!"

"Come to think of it, Xiao Zhen still has a chance then. Haha."

...

"Ah-choo!"

Jocelyn York sneezed.

"Who's talking bad about me...?"

"What's wrong?"

Sitting across from her was Raina Nan. According to the agreement, she came to Samson Nan's house right after school to tutor her.

"Oh, it's nothing, let's continue."

She smiled and glanced at the questions Raina Nan had just answered.

"Raina, not bad, almost all of them are correct."

"Oh."

Raina Nan seemed a bit unenergetic, occasionally spinning her pencil and looking out the window.

"Well..."

Jocelyn York carefully looked at her homework again.

"Your brother said you're not good at English and stuff, but...well..."

She double-checked the answers.

"I don't see any problems at all."

"Really?"

She looked up, realizing something, and immediately buried her head again.

"Hehe, you lucked out and chose the right one, huh?"

"Is that so~"

Jocelyn York didn't think much about it and took out her last practice exam paper. She scored only 59 points out of 100 on a question worth 100 points, just one point short of passing...

The clock on the wall ticked, and time passed quickly.

Jocelyn York was not someone who could sit still. It was almost impossible for her to sit and do questions for two hours straight. However, it was a different story if she was just watching others do the questions.

"Um..."

Raina Nan didn't look up, but stopped her hand holding the pen.

"Sister Luojia..."

Perhaps because they were not yet familiar, it felt a bit awkward to call her by her name.

"Yes?"

Jocelyn York thought she was going to ask a question, so she leaned towards her.

"..."

She hesitated about what to say, pondered for a moment, and finally spoke up:

"When will my brother come back from training?"

"I don't know. It's probably not until 8 or 9 o'clock."

Jocelyn York thought for a moment and said so.

"So late..."

She paused for a moment, whispered, and picked up her pen to write on the paper.

"Hehe, missing him?"

Jocelyn York chuckled at her.

"I, I was just asking casually..."

She buried her head even deeper.

"Oh."

"Are Sister Luojia and my brother very close?"

Not long after, she asked again, still a question unrelated to English or math.

"As for me? Hmm..."

Jocelyn York thought for a moment, showing an uncertain expression.

Was this a question that needed so much thinking? Raina Nan unconsciously glanced at her from the corner of her eye.

"I don't know what that guy thinks, but as for me... I treat him as a good friend."

"Just like that?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes."

Jocelyn York didn't know what she wanted to ask, so she just answered truthfully.

"Is that so~ I see~"

Raina Nan muttered to herself, with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

"Is it funny?"

"Huh? No, nothing. Oh, by the way, Sister Luojia, what would you like to drink? I'll go get it for you. Orange juice? Coffee?"

She stood up in a panic.

"Oh, orange juice."

"I'll go downstairs to get it. Wait a moment~"

"Ha..."

Raina Nan said and walked down the stairs in her slippers.

"Did I say something funny just now?"

She didn't understand why Raina Nan was so happy.

"Well, forget it."

The next second, she let it go again. She wouldn't think about things she couldn't figure out. That was her principle.

Actually, before she came, Samson Nan had already warned her that his sister was not easy to get along with and asked her to be more tolerant and not take things too seriously. But at least for now, these worries seemed unnecessary.

Raina Nan seemed to have no major flaws other than... scoring only 59 on the English exam. She was outstanding in appearance, polite to others, and calm and gentle. Jocelyn Nan even doubted whether Samson Nan and the person she saw were the same person.

She couldn't help comparing herself to Raina Nan... No, let's forget it.

While she was thinking about random things, her gaze unintentionally noticed Raina Nan's partially open backpack by the window.

The zipper was halfway open, and she could vaguely see something inside.

She took her backpack and prepared to zip it up for her.

"Hmm?"

There seemed to be a stack of... exam papers inside?

She didn't think too much and randomly pulled out one.

"Huh?!"

The header of this math practice paper clearly had a big red '100' written on it?

She thought she must have read it wrong and reconfirmed it again.

"What the hell..."

From beginning to end, all were checked with red ticks?

She refused to believe it and randomly pulled out another one, this time it was English.

Another 100?!?

She squinted her eyes. Behind the '1' were not one '0', but two..."Huh?!"

Next one, 100, next one, 98, next one, 99, next one, 100, next one, 99...

She was confused. These seemed to be last month's test papers, but the one Raina Nan showed her earlier was the recent mock exam, all 60s and 70s.

Could grades really drop so drastically within a month, like riding a roller coaster?

She double-checked the name: Raina Nan.

"I know! There are two Raina Nans in their class! Hmm, well, coincidences like this can happen occasionally... Oh come on!"

Jocelyn York felt her head was going to explode.

"Luo Jia-ji?"

A voice pulled her out of the chaos.

She turned around, and Raina Nan was already standing behind her.

"Yu Yu, what is this?"

"!"

Raina Nan saw the test paper in her hand and froze.

"Well..."

She wanted to explain something, but the words stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back.

"Sorry."

Finally, after thinking for a while, she only managed to say three words.

"Sorry?"

Jocelyn York looked at her suspiciously. She was apologizing? To whom?

"Yu Yu,"

She looked at Raina Nan, but Raina Nan avoided her gaze. She probably knew.

"Did you deliberately fail?"

"..."

Raina Nan remained silent, no one knew what she was thinking.

"You did it on purpose, right?"

Jocelyn York placed the 59-point test paper in front of her. She didn't like beating around the bush and asked directly.

Silence. Neither of them spoke.

"Well,"

After a while, Raina Nan finally raised her head and stared at Jocelyn York like this.

It seemed like her momentary timidity had disappeared.

"Is that so? You dare to say that~"

Jocelyn York stood up and carefully examined the girl in front of her.

"Why did you do this?"

"This is my business, it has nothing to do with Luo Jia-ji, right?"

She seemed determined and showed no sign of backing down.

"Yes, it has nothing to do with me."

Jocelyn York was momentarily stunned. Raina Nan treated her as an outsider.

"Do you know... "

She turned her head and looked at Raina Nan.

"Your brother almost lost his spot on the school team because of your prank?!"

She raised her voice, but her face showed no expression.

"Huh?"

Raina Nan opened her eyes wide, looking at her.

"I didn't know... So what?"

The next moment, she also raised her voice, at least in terms of momentum, she wasn't going to lose.

"Huh?"

Jocelyn York was puzzled. This girl was completely different from before. Which one was the real her? She didn't know.

"Do you know how selfish you are?!"

Her questioning tone made her wonder why she was getting so angry at a 12-year-old girl.

"Selfish? It seems that Luo Jia-ji is in no position to say that~"

Raina Nan seemed undeterred.

"You!"

She was momentarily speechless. This girl seemed delicate, but her mouth was as sharp as her brother's.

"It's actually Luo Jia-ji who cares about me..."

As Raina Nan spoke, her emotions became somewhat agitated.

"No, she cares about my brother!"

"..."

Jocelyn York wanted to refute, but suddenly found that she couldn't say a word.

"Could it be..."

The voice in her ear gradually became quieter.

"Do you like him?"

"..."

Jocelyn York probably couldn't have expected that she would ask this.

Those ethereal pupils stared at her intently, without blinking.

She wanted to escape, but couldn't.

"I..."...

...

"!!"

Jocelyn York jolted awake, sweat drenching her forehead.

She groggily looked around, barely able to confirm, with the dim light in the room, that it was her own room.

Her head was pounding, and she could still smell the lingering scent of alcohol on herself.

Was she hungover? She only felt that she had just had a... very long dream, dreaming about many past events.

Who was she arguing with in the dream? She couldn't remember, as her head throbbed, she just wanted to find a glass of plain water to drink.

Her lips felt dry... wait, her lips...

She seemed to remember something, and her face suddenly flushed red.