Summer's Rose

Chapter 3 Quite righteous, huh, little classmate?

It was Wen’s third day at school.

Zhou Nan saw a boy approach the window and knock. The boy cautiously glanced at Zhou Nan before speaking to Wen. “Wen, this is for you to drink.”

Wen wasn’t oblivious. She smiled at the boy. “I don’t drink, thank you.”

The boy tried to say something more, but seeing Zhou Nan's impatient expression, he hurried away. Although Wen was beautiful, he didn’t want to attract trouble from this ‘curse-bringer’ in the class.

Zhou Nan rubbed his temples and laid his head on the desk to rest. He heard a few girls giggling and chatting with Wen.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the three girls.

Alicia, noticing she might have been a little too loud, licked her lips. “Zhou Nan, did we disturb you?”

Zhou Nan raised an eyebrow, with a look that said, "What do you think?"

Alicia quickly tugged the other two girls and ran off, but not before turning back to Wen. “I’ll come find you later.”

Wen nodded and glanced at Zhou Nan, who was once again resting with his head on the desk. She sighed.

Zhou Nan: ?

The class had been going on for more than ten minutes, and Zhou Nan was still asleep. Wen glanced at the teacher on the podium and gently poked Zhou Nan. “Wake up. It’s time for class.”

Yong Ming, overhearing the exchange, was so startled that his heart skipped a beat. Zhou Nan could be temperamental when he woke up. He quickly whispered to Wen, “Don’t call him, Wen. He…”

Before he could finish, Zhou Nan had already woken up. The marks from his nap were still visible on his face, his eyes were red, and he looked a little fierce. He shifted his posture and said, “Wake me up when Miss Loh arrives.”

Wen muttered, “Okay,” and went back to her book.

Yong Ming was stunned. That was it? Is this really the Zhou Nan I know?

It was the day Wen needed to go to the hospital. When the bell for the third period rang, she packed her things and got ready to leave.

Alicia saw her with a backpack and asked, “Wen, where are you going?”

“My mom signed me up for a tutoring class. I’ll leave now.”

Alicia waved cheerfully, “Okay, come back early.”

Wen slowly walked down the stairs, and once again, she felt the familiar discomfort. Her chest tightened, her breathing became labored, and the stomach pain was so intense that she could barely stand.

She sluggishly made her way to the restroom, leaning against the wall as she squatted down and swallowed a few pills.

She stayed in the restroom for half a period, with bruises forming on her pale arms from the pressure she applied. Once the pain in her abdomen eased slightly, she slowly stood up and walked out.

At this rate, she probably wouldn’t be able to stay in school much longer.

Wen chose a secluded route through the school, hoping to avoid her classmates when her condition flared up again.

Passing through a hallway, she saw a group of people fighting.

One of them was still wearing his school uniform, the collar casually unbuttoned, looking a bit rebellious. He kicked another boy in the side and snapped, "Keep your mouth clean."

After the outburst, the boy saw Wen standing there, stunned, and inexplicably walked up to her. Lowering his head, he spoke in his usually calm voice, “Scared?”

Although his voice still sounded harsh.

Wen nodded and weakly replied, "Mm."

Zhou Nan probably didn’t expect her to admit it so frankly, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words. He awkwardly mumbled, "Don’t be scared."

“Okay.”

Usually, Zhou Nan would tell Yong Ming to shut up and get lost, but when he heard someone call Yong Ming an "motherless bastard," he immediately gathered some people and went to confront them.

The first time Yong Ming met Zhou Nan was in middle school. He had become the target of a group of local bullies who would demand money from him every few days. If he didn’t give them money, they’d beat him up.

Yong Ming often returned home injured but dared not tell his family, as the thugs had threatened him with worse beatings if he did. His father would give him two weeks' worth of allowance, all of which went straight to the thugs, but they still wouldn’t leave him alone.

One day, the boss of the gang reached out his hand. “Got today’s money?”

Yong Ming gritted his teeth, suddenly finding courage out of nowhere , and shout, “I don’t have any money for you anymore!”

The gang leader lifted Yong Ming’s chin and kicked him in the stomach. “I told you to ask your family for more money. Can’t you understand?”

Yong Ming repeated, “I don’t have money!”

His stubbornness triggered the leader, and a few of them pinned him to the ground and started beating him.

Just when he thought it was over for him, Zhou Nan appeared.

At that time, Zhou Nan was still young, wearing black clothes with pale skin that seemed almost too fair. He said indifferently, “You guys are asking for money from people at our school? That’s going too far.”

The thug leader looked Zhou Nan over. “Alright, let’s show our Zhou Nan bro some respect. We’ll stop bothering this kid.”

Zhou Nan scoffed, easily knocking the thugs to the ground. He then gave his hand to Yong Ming, who was lying on the ground. “Can stand up right?”

Zhou Nan had saved him that day and helped him up. From that point on, Yong Ming had followed Zhou Nan around like a shadow, hoping to be friends.

Zhou Nan, too annoyed to deal with him at first, eventually agreed.

Although Zhou Nan’s personality was cold, Yong Ming knew deep down that Zhou Nan was a kind person at heart.

Yong Ming suddenly saw a man in leather shoes and gelled hair walking in front of them. He shouted, “Damn it, Mr Grumpy’s here! Run!”

Mr. Ho A.K.A Mr. Grumpy was the school’s headmaster, and students feared him because he could lecture for hours without stopping.

Zhou Nan had been on the receiving end of his long lectures more than once.

But it was too late to run now. Mr Ho had already arrived. He squinted at Zhou Nan and said, “Fighting again? Didn’t I tell you last time? Huh? Do you think my words just fall on deaf ears? What did I tell you? As high school students, we should be united and friendly. Do you know that? Unity and friendship are the fine traditions we should carry on…”

Wen cleared her throat, “Sir, Zhou Nan was just escorting me to the door. I’m his seatmate, and I wasn’t feeling well, so he helped me.”

With her gentle and calm demeanor, Wen spoke without hesitation, making her sound completely credible.

As expected, Mr. Ho glanced at the two of them and nodded, “Feeling unwell, huh? Then go ahead.” Afterward, he looked at Zhou Nan and nodded proudly, "Hmm, not bad. Finally doing something good."

After Mr. Ho left, Zhou Nan teased, “You’re quite hero huh, little classmate?”

Wen almost retorted that she wasn’t little, but decided it wasn’t worth arguing. She grabbed her bag and said to Zhou Nan, “I’ll go now.” Seeing him following her, she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to the gate too?”

“No. You just said I’m escorting you to the gate, so I might as well play the part.”

Wen didn’t argue and kept walking.

At the gate, Zhou Nan looked at her as she took out a leave request form, raising an eyebrow. “What? Not feeling well?”

“No. I’m leaving for tutoring.”

If he remembered correctly, the only thing Yong Ming had gotten wrong in the gossip was the gender. Everything else had been accurate. Despite her good grades, Wen still went to tutoring—truly a good student. He smiled at her. “Thanks for today.”

“You’re welcome. You helped me from the start too.” Wen’s serious tone made Zhou Nan laugh. He suddenly noticed the bruises on her wrist but didn’t ask. “Take care, then.”