Chapter 81: Summer’s Gentle Fade

The holiday before school started passed by quickly. Lin Zheng Ran did spend some time practicing singing with Lily, but he mostly hung out in Han Wenwen’s rental house.

After all, high school isn’t free anymore, so there were more places where money was needed.

Luckily, it’s a public high school, so the costs didn’t get too out of hand.

Lin Zheng Ran lay on Han Wenwen’s bed, reading a book, while the little fox—wearing denim shorts and a short-sleeved top—packed up her daily essentials for high school. Clothes, skirts, and all sorts of odds and ends went into the suitcase.

“Brother Zheng Ran, do you think we’ll be in the same class in high school?”

“Probably not.”

“Ah? Why not?” Han Wenwen asked curiously.

Lin Zheng Ran flipped a page of his book: “Because high school has placement exams. Your talent for studying isn’t the strongest, and you haven’t focused much on it, so it’s normal if we end up in different classes.”

Hearing this, Han Wenwen got up and sat down next to Lin Zheng Ran.

“There’s a placement exam for high school classes?”

“Yeah.”

“Brother Zheng Ran really knows everything.”

Han Wenwen leaned in close beside Lin Zheng Ran, almost pressed against him: “What if you end up in the same class as your fiancée?”

Lin Zheng Ran flipped another page: “It’s been a month already—why are you still bringing that up? And how would I know? I don’t even know how well she studies.”

As he finished, Lin Zheng Ran gave her a slightly exasperated look because the little fox’s restless fingers were tracing circles on his stomach.

“Han Wenwen, I’ll give you three seconds to move your hand off me. Three, two!”

She didn’t stop until he got to one, then pulled her hand back and pouted, biting her lip: “You’re so mean. But wow, Brother Zheng Ran, you have abs on your stomach, and I never even see you working out.”

“There are plenty of things you haven’t seen. Anyway, have you finished packing? Or are you just lying around?”

Han Wenwen closed her eyes and rested her forehead on Lin Zheng Ran’s shoulder: “What’s the rush? School doesn’t start for a few more days. Once it does, I won’t get to lie in bed with you anymore, so I’m making the most of it now.”

Lin Zheng Ran said, “Can’t you lie a bit farther away? There’s plenty of space on the bed. Do you have to be right on top of me?”

The little fox opened her eyes and grinned at him: “What’s Brother Zheng Ran afraid of? No matter how close I get, you never get shy.”

She leaned in and blew a warm breath near his ear: “Right?”

Lin Zheng Ran flicked her forehead with his finger. Han Wenwen yelped in pain and clutched her head: “Ouch!”

Lin Zheng Ran asked a serious question: “With the money you have now, should it last you through your first year of high school? Are you tight on cash?”

Han Wenwen answered with a hint of grievance:

“I’ve bought a bunch of stuff lately, but I still have about ten thousand left. Public high school doesn’t cost much, so it’ll be enough. By the way, does Brother Zheng Ran need some pocket money? I could give you a few thousand—I’m not going to use it all in high school anyway.”

Lin Zheng Ran looked at her. Over the past year or so, Han Wenwen’s gaming skills had gone from amateur in the suburbs to master level.

Her fan count had reached around five hundred thousand, which was pretty good for a video blogger who didn’t show her face and relied on gameplay and voice.

She’d earned tens of thousands steadily along the way.

And because of the System, Lin Zheng Ran naturally got double what she earned.

His account now had nearly a hundred thousand. He’d wondered how the System transferred money, but it just had a million ways to make it seem legit.

“Keep your money for yourself. When I taught you, I said I didn’t need it.”

Han Wenwen picked up on that: “No money, just the person—that’s what you said, and I remember. But Brother Zheng Ran, you never really went for it.”

Lin Zheng Ran went back to his book, thinking that since he’d signed contracts with them, he already had, in a way—because as they improved, he gained plenty of benefits:

“What do you mean by ‘want’ or not? You’ve always been mine, meant to stick with me for life. It’s already set, so why question it?”

Han Wenwen sighed out of habit.

Then, in the next minute, an unexpected silence fell over the room.

Han Wenwen suddenly opened her eyes, her face flushing red: “Wait, what did Brother Zheng Ran just say?”

Lin Zheng Ran added, “Anyway, are you going to finish packing or not?”

The little fox sat up straight, still blushing and shy: “Hold on, packing isn’t important right now! I mean, what did you just say? Did I hear that right?”

Lin Zheng Ran glanced at her and kept reading, oblivious to what was going through her mind:

“What did I say? Just the same old thing from back then. Helping you meant you’d be mine from now on. What’s strange about that? Why else would I have helped you for so long, or said I’d take care of you for life?”

Han Wenwen’s heart raced faster than ever; she slowly covered her mouth with both hands.

Her eyes turned a bit red from shyness as she watched Lin Zheng Ran flip through his book.

So, Xiao Qingqing hadn’t misunderstood—Brother Zheng Ran had confessed way back then…

And she’d already agreed to it.

The little fox’s imaginary tail swayed shyly as she whispered:

“So… in Brother Zheng Ran’s eyes, were those junior high years just full of pointless stuff? All meaningless?”

Even the gifts she’d given him in eighth grade didn’t matter, because she was already his girl!

Lin Zheng Ran flipped another page, tired of chatting about nonsense with these girls:

“How should I know what you were thinking back then? Junior high is for building skills, but you spent two years on things I couldn’t understand.

I was focused on helping you all grow so you could do what you wanted later, but you were on a totally different track.”

Han Wenwen asked, puzzled: “But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t Brother Zheng Ran let me get so close? I mean, if I’m already yours, that should be fine—”

Lin Zheng Ran sat up, repeating for what felt like the hundredth time: “Because you’re this annoying little fox distracting me from my book! Is that so hard to get?”

Han Wenwen pulled the blanket over herself and huddled in the corner, her fox-like eyes peeking at him shyly:

“I’m starting to think Brother Zheng Ran is really scary. Why didn’t you just say something that important earlier?”

Lin Zheng Ran looked at her with disdain, saying word by word: “‘Follow me for life’—anyone who’s not dense would get that, right?”

Han Wenwen suddenly realized: “Wait, so Brother Zheng Ran said that to three girls?”

“So what? I helped them too, and I never hid it from you. Heqing already told you, didn’t she?”

Han Wenwen huffed jealously and turned away, hugging the blanket: “How can you say that so confidently?” She muttered under her breath, “I knew my gut was right… Brother Zheng Ran is such a player.”

She clutched the blanket tighter, fuming—not just a little, but a lot.

A few days later, Lin Zheng Ran, Lily, and Han Wenwen headed off to the city district high school with their luggage.

But after that conversation, Han Wenwen changed her high school plans.

New goal: Make sure Brother Zheng Ran never says that to any other girls. What would happen after graduation if he did?”