Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Once the Exam’s Over, Just Drop It

Early in the morning, the siblings were woken up: ”Luo Shufan, get up with your sister and go check out the exam venue in advance.” Luo Shufan murmured a response, still half-asleep, and then heard Meng Xuedao knocking on another door.

”It’s good that we’re the only ones living on this floor, otherwise wouldn’t this count as disturbing the peace?” Luo Qianqian rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking at her brother through bleary eyes.

Luo Shufan, seeing his sister obviously hadn’t had enough sleep, felt a pang of heartache because she had stayed up too late watching TV the night before: ”You sleep a bit more. I’ll wake you up after I’ve washed up.”

”Mhm, okay.” After saying this, Luo Qianqian collapsed back down, and within ten seconds, the steady breathing of someone asleep could be heard.

Luo Shufan shook his head and went to wash up. The water was ice-cold. Thinking about how his sister was usually pampered, he guessed she would probably complain about the cold water. After finishing up, he thought it over and decided to heat up some water with the electric heater.

He then took out the moisturizer his sister usually used and placed it on the table before calling her to get up.

No sooner had Luo Qianqian gotten up than her brother handed her some warm water and had her toothbrush ready for her. In the sink, he had mixed hot and cold water to the right temperature. Luo Qianqian thought to herself that she ought to find a good sister-in-law for her brother in the future; otherwise, who could match such care?

With the care of Luo Shufan, Luo Qianqian got ready comfortably, without a hint of morning crankiness.

”Shufan, I’ll sit with you!” As soon as Yang Yang saw Luo Shufan, he rushed over. Seeing Luo Qianqian who had put on a thick coat, he also greeted her: ”Qianqian, you’re up early.”

Luo Qianqian gave him a glance that said ’are you an idiot?’ and then stopped talking.

”Speak properly, don’t jump on me.” Luo Shufan pushed away his friend in distaste, and then put a fuzzy little hat on his sister: ”Wear this. It’s cold in the morning, don’t catch a cold, or Mom will have my head.”

Luo Qianqian obediently wore the hat but planned to take it off once her brother wasn’t looking. It was only November; it wasn’t that cold yet.

”Shufan, look at me. Forget about your sister for a minute. Look at these dark circles under my eyes. I didn’t sleep at all last night.” As they were classmates, Yang Yang had no one else to complain to at the moment, so he clung to Luo Shufan to voice his grievances: ”That guy started sleeping at eight, started snoring as soon as he hit the bed, and just when he finally stopped snoring, it was time to get up. I really didn’t sleep a wink last night, and I’m the hope of our class. My hope was shattered by that guy.”

Luo Qianqian saw a chubby boy walk past behind her brother and Yang Yang. The boy’s expression changed as he looked in their direction, which made her secretly think that he must be the snoring culprit they were discussing.

”That guy right there, eats so much, sleeps so much, where does he get the nerve? It’s almost exam time.” As he spoke, Yang Yang turned and, upon seeing the boy, whispered to Luo Shufan while pointing at him.

”It’s not good to talk about people behind their backs.” Luo Qianqian tugged at her brother’s hand, preventing him from joining in.

”You don’t understand the agony of not having slept all night...” Yang Yang covered his head and showed his dark circles to Luo Shufan.

”It’s fine, just dark circles. You’re not a young lady; why care so much?” Luo Shufan took a closer look: ”Actually, they are quite noticeable. I have my sister’s moisturizer in my room, want to apply some?”

Do you even remember it’s your sister’s? You didn’t even ask for her permission? Luo Qianqian pursed her lips but remained silent.

”No need for that. Look at my skin; do I need that stuff?” Yang Yang yawned: ”I’m just sleepy, but I can’t sleep yet, such torture.”

”It’ll be over by noon, just two and a half hours. You can turn in your paper early, but even if you do, the teacher won’t let you come back to sleep; we have to leave together.” Luo Shufan looked at his friend and slowly said: ”Take a nap while we eat breakfast later.”

In the blink of an eye, the sun had come up, and the group was standing at the entrance of the examination venue.

Luo Qianqian hunched her shoulders; she was grateful her brother had made her wear a thick coat and a hat. It was uncommonly cold that day.

Luo Shufan gave Yang Yang, who was clinging to him, an annoyed look: ”What are you doing? Don’t crowd me.”

”I’m only wearing two layers.” Yang Yang’s lips, quivering and turning purple, replied: ”You could either lend me your coat, or let me huddle with you for a bit, you’re warm.”

Teacher Meng couldn’t help but admire Luo’s Mom’s foresight in making sure the kids were dressed warmly. He looked at all the other students shivering in the cold, and then at the two well-bundled ’polar bears’ standing out from the crowd, and tightened his own coat around him.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we entered the examination room, which, even if chilly inside, was much better than the cold outside.

”Shufan, your sister followed in too,” Yang Yang pointed at Luo Qianqian and shouted, ”You can’t just bring irrelevant people in because it’s cold outside.”

”Would my sister, wearing that much, be cold?” Luo Shufan gave his friend a look reserved for idiots and said, ”Would I bring unrelated things to an exam?”

Unrelated, things? Luo Qianqian had just taken her seat when she heard her brother say this.

”Your sister has already sat down, look,” Yang Yang, as if afraid others wouldn’t know Luo Qianqian was brought in by Luo Shufan, pointed at her and called out loudly.

Luo Shufan couldn’t be bothered to deal with him anymore, worrying a lack of sleep might affect the brain. He walked over to his sister, took out a boxed milk from his bag, ”Want some water?”

Luo Qianqian nodded, accepted the milk, took off her hat, and removed her coat, ”Did you bring pencils for me?”

”I did, do you want a set square or a ruler? I only brought one protractor, but I did bring two compasses, though I doubt you’ll need them.” Luo Shufan opened his backpack and laid out the pencils, erasers, and ballpoint pens in front of his sister.

”The set square will do,” Luo Qianqian said while drinking the milk, letting her brother prepare the stationery for the exam.

”This is a middle and high school competition, can’t you stop being so dramatic?” The chubby classmate, who had been complained about all morning by Yang Yang, glared at the ever-chattering Yang Yang and then walked up to Luo Qianqian’s desk to say to Luo Shufan, ”Young man, my name is Wang Yang, could I borrow a ruler?”

Luo Shufan placed the rulers in front of Luo Qianqian to let her choose first. Luo Qianqian immediately picked up a ruler and handed it to Wang Yang with both hands, ”My brother and his friend didn’t mean to offend you this morning. I hope big brother won’t mind.” She said this with a smile, her sparkling eyes fixed unblinkingly on Wang Yang.

”Um... thanks, I won’t hold a grudge against those who talk behind others’ backs,” Wang Yang said as he took the ruler, touching his nose sheepishly, ”Your brother didn’t say anything bad about me, I’m not that petty.” He waved his hand, took the ruler, and returned to his seat.

Luo Shufan glanced at his sister, saw her nonchalantly picking up the set square and continuing to drink her milk, and, seeing that the room was already full, said nothing more and sat down at his own seat.

”Shufan, did you bring any extra pens and rulers?” Yang Yang approached Luo Shufan with a distressed face, ”I forgot to bring my stationery...”

What are you here for? Luo Shufan really wanted to pry open his friend’s head to see what was inside, ”I have pens, no more rulers though. Make do with a protractor,” Luo Shufan shook his head, only able to say to his friend: take care.

Exam time always passes quickly, especially for those who have been selected for their genuine knowledge and abilities. Luo Qianqian, having undergone special training, started with the questions at the end, as they were more difficult. Getting used to them made doing the ones in front go faster.

With five minutes left until the end of the exam, she had just finished, checked her work, and found it generally problem-free. There was just one question that was clearly beyond the syllabus; she wondered if her brother could solve it. Luo Qianqian checked her name and candidate number again thoroughly, traced over every auxiliary line with a water-based pen, and finally, the announcement to stop the exam sounded.

Watching her papers being collected, Luo Qianqian holding her stationery walked over to her brother’s desk, ”Brother, I want to eat jianbing guozi.”

”I’m not sure if they sell that here. How about we talk about it after lunch?” Luo Shufan packed up his sister’s belongings, helped her put on her hat and coat, and only then saw Yang Yang standing to the side.

Yang Yang, with a somber expression, looked at the siblings, ”I wrote one question and then fell asleep. When I woke up, there were only five minutes left...”

”The exam is over, whatever will be, will be set now; stop worrying about it,” Luo Shufan said to his friend with a face like he was constipated, kindly handing him a lollipop, ”This exam was quite tough, I didn’t finish several questions myself when time was up, so you might as well stop thinking about it.”

Luo Qianqian looked a bit surprised at her brother but didn’t say anything. Like he said, it was over, why dwell on it too much? Even if she figured out how to solve the problems, the papers wouldn’t come back.

”Teacher Meng said we could go shopping today, let’s hurry out, okay?” Luo Qianqian casually took the empty milk carton and stuffed it into the side compartment of Luo Shufan’s backpack.

The corridors were filled with a downcast air, with the corners of Luo Qianqian’s mouth twitching slightly. Fortunately, she had long accepted the reality, with only a one percent chance, it wasn’t easy.

The siblings talked about what they wanted to eat and buy, starkly out of place amidst the surrounding oppressive atmosphere.

”Wait for me,” Seeing the relaxed atmosphere between Luo Shufan and his sister, Yang Yang caught up with their pace, right, it’s all in the past now, why bother dwelling on it?