novelraw Chapter 42 Junior College
Chapter 42 Junior College
Unbelievable.
Jiang Ran was so shocked he couldn’t say a word.
To be fair, he’d already had a vague premonition earlier—that on this new worldline altered by history, he might not have gone to Donghai University.
After all, a major reason he’d applied to Donghai University in the first place was because Cheng Mengxue wanted to come here, so he’d followed her.
If, on this worldline, Cheng Mengxue had died in an accident two years ago, then there was a high chance he’d had no reason to apply to Donghai University at all.
But he never would have imagined—
that he hadn’t even gotten into an undergraduate program, and had instead gone straight to a vocational school.
A junior college.
No matter how you looked at it, on the original worldline his college entrance exam score had been 680…… Even if he’d fallen off hard, there was no way he should’ve fallen all the way to a junior college, right?
For a moment, his mouth went dry.He suddenly recalled Qin Feng’s old remark about Wang Hao:
[…No matter how dumb someone is, can they really score under 500?]
Sorry. Turns out you really can.
But……
Thinking about it that way, it also explained why he was now hanging out with Nan Xiuxiu and her group of rainbow-colored girlfriends.
“…There’s something I want to ask.”
Jiang Ran hesitated, but he had to ask it.
Looking at Nan Xiuxiu’s fair face, he asked softly,
“…We shouldn’t have… we haven’t… done that, right?”
He gestured with a well-known hand sign.
Nan Xiuxiu instantly charged over.
“What are you thinking?!”
“Ow.” His arm hurt.
“We’ve only been dating for 4 days! We haven’t even held hands yet, and you’re already thinking about that kind of thing?!”
Nan Xiuxiu turned aside.
“I’m very traditional about this! Unless you marry me, there’s no way I’d do those things with you! Absolutely not!”
“Alright, alright, I get it, I get it.”
Jiang Ran motioned for her to calm down.
“I was just asking casually.”
“You’re not allowed to ask casually either!”
“Got it, got it. Stop yelling.”
[…Excellent.]
Jiang Ran felt a huge sense of relief inside.
This was probably the only good piece of news among all the bad ones after the worldline change.
He didn’t like Nan Xiuxiu at all, and he absolutely didn’t want to get entangled with this girl.
Nothing reassured him more than being completely clean.
[…I’ve only been dating Nan Xiuxiu for 4 days, nothing intimate has happened, I didn’t take advantage of her at all—I haven’t even held her hand.]
That meant there was no burden on his conscience whatsoever.
Find an opportunity to break up.
He thought to himself.
I don’t have time to play house with you.
Right now—
What junior college.
What magical-girl girlfriend.
He didn’t care. Not even a little.
Once he used time-traveling texts to change the worldline…… all of this would become history that never existed.
He would transition back to the original worldline, save Cheng Mengxue, find Qin Feng, and return to his original life at Donghai University.
As for everything happening now, Jiang Ran felt no attachment at all—no reluctance, no nostalgia.
Because he didn’t belong here to begin with.
His past wasn’t here;
and his future wasn’t here either.
……
On the taxi ride back, listening to Nan Xiuxiu chatter away, Jiang Ran also pieced together what had happened the night before.
Yesterday had been Nan Xiuxiu’s best friend’s birthday party, and the two of them had been invited.
He’d been the only guy at that birthday party.
Nan Xiuxiu was a very traditional girl, so when it came time to sleep, Jiang Ran had his own room. Nan Xiuxiu shared a room with her best friend, while the other girls stayed in guest rooms on the third floor.
In his WeChat chat history with Wang Hao, Wang Hao had sent a barrage of angry messages, repeatedly demanding to know why such a sweet-smelling party hadn’t included him. He’d sounded like a baboon in heat.
But it was Nan Xiuxiu’s friend’s birthday party, not Jiang Ran’s. Whoever got invited was up to the host. Jiang Ran understood the rule that guests don’t bring extra guests.
In the end—
the reason that frightening scene by the window had happened was simple. At the time, Nan Xiuxiu’s best friend was showering in the bathroom, and Nan Xiuxiu suddenly needed to use the toilet. With no other choice, she’d come to borrow the bathroom in Jiang Ran’s bedroom next door.
Seeing Jiang Ran asleep, Nan Xiuxiu had tiptoed around without disturbing him.
She’d planned to quietly push the door open and slip out—but instead, she happened to run straight into Jiang Ran arriving via a Worldline Transition, yelling into his phone at Wang Hao.
That explained everything.
Cause and effect were now clear.
But it still wasn’t enough.
There were still things Jiang Ran wanted to understand.
The taxi pulled up outside the gate of Donghai Overseas Economics and Trade Vocational College. The two got out.
Jiang Ran raised his head, looked at the shabby, rundown school gate, and couldn’t help letting out a cold laugh.
“You might’ve been last place in high school, but here, last place is just the entry requirement. The ‘once-in-ten-thousand’ students teachers talk about? There’s a whole field of them here.”
Nan Xiuxiu turned back.
“What are you muttering about?”
“Nothing.”
Jiang Ran laughed it off.
“You go back first. I’m meeting Wang Hao for a meal.”
On this worldline, he and Wang Hao had applied to the same junior college. After both being accepted, they’d become classmates there.
After saying goodbye to Nan Xiuxiu, he met Wang Hao in the cafeteria.
Wang Hao was eating like a man possessed. Jiang Ran twirled his chopsticks and began fishing for answers.
“Wang Hao, my high school grades shouldn’t have been bad, right?”
“They were great,” Wang Hao said around a mouthful of buns.
“Then why did I end up in junior college?” Jiang Ran stopped twirling his chopsticks.
Wang Hao looked up.
“Did you lose your memory?”
“Maybe a little…”
“You skipped two exams.”
Wang Hao swallowed his bun.
“The day Xiaoxue’s accident happened, the next day was the college entrance exam…… It happened right in front of you. You followed her all the way to the hospital and never went to take the exams.”
Jiang Ran let out a breath.
That explained it.
That was a reason he could accept.
“But it seems like Nan Xiuxiu doesn’t know about this,”
Jiang Ran continued.
“She seems to just assume my level is what it is.”
“Of course she doesn’t know.”
Wang Hao hugged his bowl.
“Why would you tell her this stuff? If you hadn’t gone crazy yesterday, she wouldn’t even know about Xiaoxue.”
“All of that is in the past anyway. It’s your psychological trauma. If you don’t bring it up, neither will I.”
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Jiang Ran pushed his basket of buns over.
“How did I end up dating Nan Xiuxiu? How did she become my girlfriend?”
“Xiuxiu’s great!”
Wang Hao stuffed another dumpling into his mouth.
“After Xiaoxue died in that accident, you were completely wrecked. Your parents were afraid you might do something extreme, so they didn’t dare let you repeat a year. You just came to junior college with me.”
“During that time, you were always depressed. Your parents kept calling me, asking me to keep an eye on you, worried something might happen.”
“Xiuxiu’s been with you since freshman year, always staying by your side, trying to cheer you up. Over these past two years, I’ve watched you slowly get better bit by bit…… to be honest, that’s all thanks to Xiuxiu.”
“So when Xiuxiu confessed to you a few days ago, you agreed. Seeing you two finally get together made me really happy. What—are you dissatisfied with Xiuxiu?”
Jiang Ran didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t just that he was dissatisfied.
Of course…… he wouldn’t interfere with Nan Xiuxiu, nor would he voice any objections.
Because he didn’t like her.
So how she was didn’t matter to him at all.
“Everything in the past is already past. Stop blaming yourself all the time.”
“Xiuxiu’s really great. Sometimes I honestly envy you.”
Wang Hao continued singing her praises.
“Look—she’s not only that pretty, she’s considerate, and her personality is—”
“That’s enough.”
Jiang Ran stood up and cut him off.
“Keep eating. I’m going to Donghai University.”
“Huh?”
Wang Hao froze.
“Why are you going there again? Didn’t you just come back from there this morning?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Jiang Ran took out his phone, deleted the dating app, and warned Wang Hao,
“Don’t tell Nan Xiuxiu where I’m going.”
He repeated it.
“Absolutely do not tell her.”