Chapter 11 Striving for Sovereignty

classmate's relative started a stationery store"Su Cen was, of course, making it up. If he talked about the profitability of a stationery store in his own words, parents wouldn't easily believe him an...Chapter Eleven: Striving for Sovereignty

Jiang Guanshan discovered Lin Luoran through the car window of her father's Santana sedan: The scene inside the bus was peculiar. This girl was sitting by the window, chatting and laughing with Su Chen, while various boys around them were either listening intently or blushing as they glanced at Lin Luoran from time to time, and some girls were filled with jealousy.

Chen Lingshan had seen Lin Luoran before. Although she didn't have a complete understanding of the girl's background, Lin Luoran was not nearly as famous as Tang Wu. She maintained a low profile and hadn't been reported for any conflicts with others. She understood the principle of not drawing attention to herself at First High School, her grades were in the upper-middle range, and except for her looks, she didn't have anything particularly remarkable about her. Nonetheless, she wasn't unpleasant, and instead, she could elicit feelings of warmth from others.

But now as she leaned by the window chatting with Su Chen, a slight blush on her face made Chen Lingshan feel rather uncomfortable. This girl appeared to be very elegant and beautiful, with bright eyes that seemed model-like. If someone added a voiceover like "harmonious family, united neighbors, creating a harmonious society together" to this scene, it would make for an excellent public service announcement on the bus!

Just as if it were scripted, the bus stopped behind them and Lin Luoran got off with Su Chen. Then she smiled at him, saying, "I don't know whether all of this is a dream or not, but for me, you are no dream." These words entered Chen Lingshan's ears without missing a beat as she opened the car door to get out.

With a soft slam, the door closed. The pink blazer flapped slightly in the breeze as she waved goodbye to her father inside the car. As the sedan drove away down the slope, Chen Lingshan turned around and smiled at Su Chen and Lin Luoran, "Su Chen." She clearly saw Chen Lingshan approach them with a dark red shoulder bag and standing in the sun, but not looking at Lin Luoran. “Do you think you did well enough to request your test scores”

“I don’t know, I probably didn’t do too badly,”

“Are you still aiming for the top ten of the class Xie Wei and Jia Yi have been talking about making you their goal recently. They’ve even asked when you’re going to treat us to a barbecue!”

Su Chen remembered how Li Lümei had joked that he could get this close to Chen Lingshan thanks to them, and told him to buy them lunch as a thank-you. He hadn’t expected them to actually insist on it. Seeing the situation, Lin Luoran appeared to be unaware of what was going on between them and nodded her head. "Jia Yi’s grades are better than mine; there's no reason for her to use me as a goal, right As for treating you guys to lunch... anytime is fine, so long as you have the time." Then Su Chen turned around and smiled at Lin Luoran, “You should come along too. They're all my classmates.”

Lin Luoran shook her head, "No need, go ahead without me." In truth, seeing how familiar Chen Lingshan was with Su Chen from the moment she arrived and not even looking in her direction made Lin Luoran feel somewhat uncomfortable; it felt like an intimidation tactic.

This feeling was extremely subtle. It seemed that when this girl saw her getting close to Su Chen, she showed no signs of friendliness towards her and subtly left her out of the conversation with Su Chen. If she were in any other situation, Lin Luoran would have said goodbye coldly and walked away; but if she did so now, wouldn’t it show that she was weak in front of Chen Lingshan

Ling Ran's exterior didn't reveal that she was actually quite proud at heart. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so concerned about a game with Wang Weiwei and Lin Zhouluo et al. They were all spoiled since childhood, with big egos. To make her walk away like this wasn't something Ling Ran had seriously considered. But if she didn't speak up now, letting the girl in front of her take the stage would put them at a disadvantage on氣勢上終究也是落了一頭，就在“你們自便”這句話後麵，為了不冷場的昂頭望向蘇燦，“平時一起打球看你挺積極的，年級組的球賽怎麼冇見你參加呢？”

Su Cen couldn't help but苦笑了一下, pointing at his small abdomen, "I was probably getting my stitches removed back then. I had just undergone surgery." "Surgery" Ling Ran was taken aback, she didn’t know about this.

"He got stabbed by Chen Cong of the second year grade," Lin Lisan finally looked over with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "the school was quite agitated at that time, even TV reporters came. How come you didn't know as his friend"

Ling Ran’s heart started to burn from being roused by Lin Lisan. When had someone ever scolded her like this If she were to let out her pride at this moment, she would coldly say "Sorry, I'm not his friend" and leave the two stunned in their place, but now that she looked up and saw Su Cen’s face illuminated by the light from the side, those words couldn't come out of her chest.

So all Ling Ran could hear herself saying was, "It must have hurt a lot. Are you feeling better"

Seeing Lin Ran’s astonished expression upon realizing she didn’t know about Su Cen's injury, Lin Lisan felt inexplicably delighted and took the opportunity to stretch out her hand to pinch Su Cen’s abdomen gently, saying softly, "Don't be so foolish in the future. Take care of yourself."

The students passing by were all taken aback, their hearts thudding! When had a beauty ever spoken to them like this before They would probably feel overwhelmed with joy!

Although she had experienced rebirth, such a gorgeous scene still made Su Cen's heart flutter. Especially when Lin Lisan lightly touched his belly. During break times, they were often playful and joking around; sometimes when something funny came up, Lin Lisan would pat him on the shoulder or pinch his arm, which was just some affectionate gestures between them. However, seeing Lin Lisan’s intimate actions in public now made Su Cen feel an atmosphere that seemed to make even the air shiver. But Ling Ran was stunned.

Lin Lisan's heart was racing too as she thought, "In these six months, he has grown taller and looks more handsome, his abdomen is also very strong. He’s changed a lot, isn’t he Is this still the little boy I used to remember"

Seeing this scene in front of her, Ling Ran suddenly felt heated up, holding back an urge to take action; Su Cen then felt his left arm tighten.

Then, Ling Ran’s slender fingers with their shiny nails began to climb onto his upper arm.

"Let's go," Lin Luoran said, taking Su Can's arm. She shot Chen Lingshan a defiant glance with her clear and beautiful eyes, hiding her anger beneath it. Under the current circumstances, approaching this girl was a way of expressing her retaliation. By using Su Can’s act of looking at her arrogantly as leverage, she wanted to show what happens when national sovereignty cannot be violated.

This time Chen Lingshan was dumbfounded, watching helplessly as Lin Luoran took Su Can away towards the slope leading to the main school gate.

Lin Luoran had indeed thought about the consequences. She always had a bit of a tomboyish attitude; she had taken Wang Weiwei and Lin Zhouwu's arms before, so taking Su Can’s seemed just as natural. At most, she would need to explain it afterwards—she didn't have such great psychological barriers. But after doing so, she found that the situation was not as simple as what she imagined. After her first experience of holding a boy's hand since childhood, she realized with astonishment that she no longer had the same calmness; her heart skipped beats, and even her breathing paused. Moreover, the gazes from those around them made her face flush red. She couldn't release him either, or else it would not only make everyone feel awkward but also make Su Can sense something was off.

Su Can could vaguely understand that this unusual behavior between the two girls stemmed from an inexplicable hostility. However, he had no way of mediating in such situations; these were all invisible daggers being thrown around through their words, actions, and glances.

After entering the school gate, Lin Luoran finally let go of Su Can's hand. Both their faces were red as they walked side by side on a path shaded by trees and dotted with patches of sunlight. After a moment, Lin Luoran found she couldn't bear the current silence any longer. "Aren’t you embarrassed that this is your first time being taken like this by a girl"

Su Can was stunned for a moment. “Why would you say that”

"You’d be red all over if it wasn't the case," Lin Luoran said, adding: "If my brother were in your place, he'd have changed girlfriends countless times already by now. The same goes for Wang Weiwei; he would look down on you." Hearing this, Su Can was puzzled. He thought to himself that Miss, could you also take a look at your own face and see if it's the same condition

"Alright, I admit it was my first time," Su Can nodded, saying truthfully but somewhat evasively—leaving out his experiences in the future. Then he asked, "Then were you embarrassed that this is also your first time taking a boy’s arm"

The flush spread to her ears as Lin Luoran fell silent for a moment before turning back and smiling at Su Can with an experienced reply: “Of course not! Could I really be so embarrassed”

Su Can smiled and shook his head. A familiar figure walked out from the school gate, holding a large bouquet of carnations—short and stout, it was Xiao Rihua.

Su Can scratched his head; why did he have to run into Xiao Rihua In his eyes, Su Can already had an image as a playboy. He secretly dated Tang Wu in class and also had connections with Chen Lingshan. Moreover, Xiao Rihua never thought of him as an obedient student. Now seeing Su Can walking with Lin Luoran, whose face was rosy with shyness, he would easily draw the conclusion that Su Can was targeting another innocent girl.

Bowing to his own performance, Xiao Rihua somewhat viewed himself with adult-like thoughts, which though absurd, in Xiao Rihua's eyes might equate him and the term "absurd" to similar meanings.

Seldom would he give one a good face when confronting them head-on; sure enough, Xiao Rihua walked out from the side with a stern expression, exchanging glances with Su Can. Su Can nodded slightly and smiled, saying, “Teacher Xiao!”

Xiao Rihua merely made an "hn" sound without further comment, walking silently for a while. The three people walking side by side pushed the awkward atmosphere around them.

It was not until they reached the stairwell entrance that Lin Luoran parted ways with Su Can. This left Xiao Rihua and Su Can even more awkward as they ascended the stairs together.

Aft er walking up one step, Xiao Rihua spoke somewhat stiffly, “Your wound from the surgery has healed, right”

“The wound is already closed. There's no major problem.” Su Can replied; both sides probably hoped this awkward period would pass quickly.

"Overall, your results are satisfactory this time, but you still need to take care of yourself."

Xiao Rihua’s deep voice resounded once more.

Su Can was stunned for a moment as his mind failed to react immediately.

After Xiao Rihua finished speaking, he coughed awkwardly twice and stepped into the classroom ahead of Su Can.

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