On the day the results were announced, Jiang Lin couldn’t return to school because she was vomiting heavily in the morning, feeling weak, and had a pale yellow complexion.

Cheng Rushan was so worried about her that he wished he could take her place.

He told Jiang Lin to stay home while he went to school to collect her results and inform her friends that she wouldn’t be able to attend the dance.

When Ren Bocheng heard Su Xingyun and others calling Jiang Lin’s name, he feared they might confront him about the contraceptives he had given Jiang Lin.

Terrified, he quickly hid under the table.

His desk mate saw this and asked in surprise, “Ren Bocheng, what are you doing?”

Ren Bocheng stammered, “I, I, I dropped my eraser and am looking for it.”

Desk mate: “But isn’t the eraser in your hand?”

Ren Bocheng looked at the eraser in his hand, then silently stayed under the table, using the eraser to polish his shoes.

The already dirty shoes were now shining brightly.

According to Jiang Lin’s instructions, Cheng Rushan took her textbooks and notebooks left in the classroom back home.

With the new academic year approaching, old materials from the freshman year were just taking up space.

Su Xingyun and Yang Lu helped him pack everything into the woven basket Cheng Rushan brought.

Cheng Rushan looked at Yang Lu and said, “Classmate, could you please help pack Jiang Lin’s things from the dormitory?”

Yang Lu immediately responded, “Okay!”

Feeling a bit nervous, she added, “Or, Captain Cheng, maybe you should go up and pack to avoid missing anything.”

Cheng Rushan replied, “No need, it’s still trouble for you.”

So Yang Lu hurried to the dormitory to pack Jiang Lin’s belongings.

Cheng Rushan packed everything from the classroom into book boxes and took them downstairs.

Some classmates also placed Jiang Lin’s drawings and practice sheets on the boxes.

Cheng Rushan said, “Thank you.”

He drove the jeep to the dormitory and waited downstairs for Yang Lu to bring down her things.

Leaning against the jeep, he flipped through one of Jiang Lin’s hand-drawn sketchbooks.

The sketchbook was handmade with carefully selected drawing paper, bound by herself, and had a simple yet elegant cover she had drawn.

On the first page, it read: “Architecture also has a soul. A building with a soul can make people live comfortably and safely.”

The subsequent pages were filled with her imagined architectural designs, ranging from realistic to fantastical.

There were sketches of forest cabins, country cottages, a beloved room, a dreamy baby room, villas, castles, courtyard houses, stilt houses, sunken courtyards, and tulou (traditional communal residences).

Cheng Rushan was fascinated.

How had she learned so much in just a year? It seemed she had drawn inspiration from books she read in the library.

Especially with stilt houses and tulou, which are hard to imagine without having seen them in person.

At that moment, he heard someone shouting, “Jiang Ling, Jiang Ling!”

The voice sounded similar to calling Jiang Lin, so Cheng Rushan instinctively turned to look.

A female student on a bicycle was wobbling unsteadily towards him.

She was probably learning to ride, and her nervousness made her body stiff, causing the bicycle to head straight for Cheng Rushan.

“Ah—move, move…” she cried out, her face pale with anxiety.

If Cheng Rushan dodged, she would crash into his jeep.

He frowned slightly and glanced at her.

Practicing cycling on a main road was against the rules.

His somewhat intimidating gaze made her even more nervous, and she fell to the ground.

“Ouch—so painful.” Her foot was pinned under the bicycle, and she teared up from the pain.

She glared at Cheng Rushan with resentment.

How could he be so indifferent?

Seeing a female student about to fall, he didn’t even step forward to help, instead, watching her struggle from above as if it were a show. How rude!

A boy and a girl caught up from behind and quickly helped her up, asking, “Did you hurt yourself?”

Jiang Ling got up and said irritably, “I didn’t fall, just got startled.” She glared at Cheng Rushan angrily, “Hey, I’m talking about you! How could you act like that?”

Cheng Rushan was leaning against the Jeep, reading a catalog with his eyes lowered.

To him, it didn’t matter whether Jiang Ling fell or not as long as she didn’t hit his car.

Falling?

Who hasn’t fallen while learning to ride a bike?

The soldiers in the camp were used to crawling and rolling in mud, so they were numb to falls and naturally felt no sympathy.

The two classmates asked Jiang Ling what had happened.

She huffed and said, “He saw I was about to fall and didn’t even help, just watched me so nonchalantly. How can a person be so devoid of sympathy?”

The classmates smiled and said, “Let’s go study over there.”

At that moment, Yang Lu came down with a quilt and cautiously said to Cheng Rushan, “Captain Cheng, you… you should come up with me to get the stuff. Jiang Lin has quite a lot of things.”

Although Cheng Rushan appeared quite approachable, especially when he was with Jiang Lin and was friendly and unpretentious with her friends, the look in his eyes was hard to ignore.

When Jiang Lin wasn’t around, his warm and gentle demeanor seemed to disappear, replaced by a more intimidating presence.

Yang Lu had always found him quite intimidating.

Even though he was good-looking, she never dared to think about him in any other way.

That look in his eyes was like a knife; she wasn’t a masochist, so why would she want to deal with someone throwing sharp knives at her in her mind?

Cheng Rushan placed the quilt in the car and, seeing that Yang Lu was having some difficulty, agreed to go up with her to get the things.

After they left, Jiang Ling asked her classmates, “That man is Jiang Lin’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah, he’s from the military. You see, he’s wearing a uniform.”

“Hey, isn’t it strange? Jiang Lin and that Jiang Ling look quite similar. How could he not notice? He doesn’t seem surprised at all. I think Jiang Ling is younger and more beautiful.”

Jiang Ling was a bit upset. “Can you stop comparing me to that Jiang Lin? It’s not like I can change how I look. It’s really unfortunate to look like someone else when you’re not even related.”

Since Jiang Lin had started school early, was beautiful, and had a good reputation, male classmates had dubbed her the “married campus beauty.”

After Jiang Ling arrived, people started calling her “Little Jiang Lin,” the “unmarried campus beauty,” and constantly compared her to Jiang Lin.

It was so annoying!

Cheng Rushan noticed that Jiang Ling seemed irritable but didn’t react in any unusual way himself.

Jiang Ling found this a bit odd. Was he completely clueless?

She decided to continue practicing cycling, even though she was clearly heading towards the jeep, as if on purpose.

Cheng Rushan went to Jiang Lin’s dorm room, where a few female classmates were packing their belongings.

They greeted him promptly.

He nodded in acknowledgment and began organizing Jiang Lin’s books.

Now, Zhu Caiping was too scared to mess up Jiang Lin’s bed.

She even made a point to dust it off and tidy up.

So, Jiang Lin’s bed was neat and clean. However, since Jiang Lin didn’t stay in the dorm every day, she had more things than other female students.

While others mainly had clothes and personal items, Jiang Lin’s possessions included books and handmade architectural models.

Her bookshelf, nailed to the wall, was filled to the brim, and the cabinets on the floor were also packed with books.

Yang Lu noticed that Cheng Rushan seemed quite peculiar.

He had looked stern downstairs, but now, as he sorted through Jiang Lin’s things, his demeanor was gentle.

Cheng Rushan was well-acquainted with Jiang Lin’s schedule and her interests and study habits.

He packed the books she frequently read, including a few architecture books she liked to go through repeatedly, as well as library books that needed to be returned. Specially borrowed books were also taken to be reviewed.

Yang Lu, observing him secretly, suspected Cheng Rushan might have been a servant before.

It was said that servants were particularly good at handling internal affairs and were even more meticulous than women.

Cheng Rushan noticed her observing him but didn’t mind.

He finished packing, categorized the remaining items, and even covered the bookshelf with a dust cover.

This cover was a crocheted piece that Yan Runzhi had learned to make using leftover yarn from knitting sweaters.

Yang Lu helped Cheng Rushan carry all the things down and load them into the Jeep.

After thanking her and saying goodbye, Cheng Rushan got into the car, ready to head home.

As he looked in the left side mirror, he saw a woman standing behind him, staring at him with an unfriendly expression.

Cheng Rushan knocked on the car door and said, “Classmate, is there something you need?”

Jiang Ling huffed, “I thought you wouldn’t see me.”

Cheng Rushan frowned slightly and asked, “Do we know each other?”

Jiang Ling replied, “Don’t I look familiar to you?”

Cheng Rushan, hearing this, decided to get out of the car and looked at her seriously, “Sorry, you don’t look familiar at all.”

Jiang Ling: …

Cheng Rushan said, “Please move aside. I need to reverse.”

He quickly got back in the car, started the engine, but saw Jiang Ling move closer to the car and lean in.

“May I hitch a ride?”

Cheng Rushan responded, “No, you can’t.” He pressed the accelerator, quickly maneuvered the steering wheel, and sped away with a smooth and graceful turn.

Jiang Ling watched him leave, feeling a strange sense of destiny between her and this tall, handsome man.

It was an inexplicable feeling that stirred restlessly within her.

Back home, Jiang Lin was eating a beef and vermicelli casserole that Fang Chengguang had specially arranged for her.

Since there weren’t any dedicated beef cattle at the moment, getting beef was quite difficult, and Fang Chengguang had gone through some trouble to get it.

Jiang Lin had beads of sweat on her nose from the hot soup.

Seeing Cheng Rushan return, she smiled and said, “Brother Shan, you’re back late. Is there still beef soup for you?”

Cheng Rushan sat down and took a sip of the soup, which was rich and flavorful.

He took out the report card and wiped the sweat off her nose with his finger, “Wife, you tied for first place this time. That’s amazing.”

Jiang Lin said proudly, “Of course, with so many people supporting me, I should do better than them.”

Yan Runzhi and Cheng Yunzhi were packing up their things, preparing to return to Shuihuai Village for the New Year.

Before they left, they planned to visit the Jiang family and drop off Xiao Meng and Xiao Jun at their grandmother’s house.

Jiang Lin and Cheng Rushan were chatting quietly, while Dabao and Xiaobao were also whispering.

Xiao Jun didn’t want to leave Dabao and Xiaobao and wanted to go with them.

Dabao and Xiaobao were happy to take him along.

For a boy, having someone willing to be a little follower was quite cool.

Xiao Meng, understanding the situation, tried to persuade Xiao Jun because their mother had said they couldn’t go to their aunt’s house for the New Year.

Xiaobao said, “Actually, we don’t want to go home either. It’s so much more fun here. Right, Wensheng?”

Wensheng was organizing his costumes and props, which were prepared by the theater troupe for him.

Sometimes he performed with them in the auditorium of the military district.

He smiled and said, “It’s the same everywhere. Just go wherever Mother is.”

This year, Wensheng also received New Year’s gifts.

While others received rice, flour, cooking oil, cloth tickets, meat tickets, etc., he used everything to exchange for the best velvet from the theater troupe—a product from Zhangzhou, made from silk and with crane patterns on it. It was so beautiful it took one’s breath away.

Originally, the troupe planned to use it to make a high-end costume, but there was a leftover piece.

The troupe leader intended to take it back to please his young wife.

However, Wensheng saw it and wanted it for his mother, believing it would look the best on her.

The troupe leader agreed to give it to Wensheng after he praised it, and Wensheng happily traded his other New Year gifts for it, bringing it back to Jiang Lin for her grandmother to make a dress.