章 19: Chapter 16: Chance Encounter
"Zhu Jin's notes? The English class representative who came to collect the test papers yesterday?"
"Yes, she is also the study committee member."
Song Jiawen didn't mention how she was forced to study the notes after lights out last night.
"I'll ask her later if I can make copies of her notes, you can keep one, and then mail the other to Teacher Xue."
The two had just arrived here, and Song Jiawen was already thinking of benefits for Jianghai Middle School all the time.
And the study methods of many top students are even astonishing to teachers.
While Jiang Yan was seriously reviewing the notes, Song Jiawen found Zhu Jin and explained her intentions.
"Okay," Zhu Jin agreed without hesitation and even seemed to think less critically of Song Jiawen's "laziness" last night due to her proactive approach now.
"Thank you."
Song Jiawen politely expressed her gratitude. As she turned to go back to her seat, Zhu Jin called out to her again, "Here we have a quiz every two weeks and a major test every month, which is also called the monthly exam. We just had our exams last week, but another quiz is coming up in two weeks. Although it's not as significant as the monthly exam, the quizzes also involve rankings. You and Jiang Yan should take it seriously, so you don't drag our class down during the tests."
Although the words were somewhat impolite, Song Jiawen knew from last night's interaction that this girl was straightforward and solely focused on studying, with no ill intentions.
After the morning classes, teachers handed out test papers as usual, and this time Song Jiawen didn't pick and choose, completing them from start to finish during the break between classes.
Jiang Yan, using his "gift of gab," went to the office and got another blank set of test papers from the teachers.
"Shall we go to the post office this afternoon to mail them back?"
It felt like enough test papers had been collected for everyone to work on for a while, no need to wait and send them all together.
Song Jiawen said, "I'll go. Tell me which direction the post office is in."
It would delay Jiang Yan's study time for him to go, so it made more sense for her to do it. It was no big deal, just sending some test papers.
"Let's go together, it won't take long."
Actually, Jiang Yan wanted to take this opportunity to check on his family's old house.
After his father was incarcerated, the large house where they lived was reclaimed, and the only property not taken was this old house bought under his mother's name when he was a child.
Later, his mother chose to divorce his father rather than keeping the house, but she didn't give it to his father. Instead, she had it notarized to leave it to Jiang Yan.
When his father had made a fortune and bought a large house, he wanted to sell this old and small one several times, but Jiang Yan never agreed.
Back then, he still harbored fantasies of maternal love, always feeling that if he kept the house, one day his mother would return.
In the end, his mother never came back; instead, it was his father who ended up incarcerated, which he found quite ironic.
In his previous life, he struggled his entire life and, other than this old and rundown house, owned nothing.
Reborn into this life, he had yet to find time to check on his old house. Now that he was back in the city studying, he could spare some time to tidy it up. After all, it was his own place, wasn't it?
The nearest post office was only two stops away from Yunzhou No. 1 Middle School. At the school gate, Jiang Yan first made two copies of Zhu Jin's English notes, keeping one for himself and mailing the other to Teacher Xue.
Then, reviewing the English notes, he waited for the bus with Song Jiawen at the bus stop.
The two stops were not far, and actually, walking there would have been quick, but he didn't want to waste the time on the road, so he opted for the bus. This way, whether waiting or riding, he could make full use of the time.
Now, English and biology were his weakest subjects, and in the other subjects, with Song Jiawen's help, there was limited room for further improvement.
For example, with mathematics, physics, and chemistry, he felt a bit rusty starting on Yunzhou No. 1 Middle School's test papers yesterday, so he made several mistakes.
But when he did them again today, he was much more adept and hardly made any mistakes.
The two waited ten minutes for the bus they needed to take, and after boarding, they got off just six minutes later.
After mailing the test papers and notes to Jianghai, Jiang Yan led Song Jiawen down a narrow alley.
"Is it your house we're going to?"
"Sort of. But I haven't been there in a long time, the house has been left empty, so I guess it's going to be pretty dirty."
"Why didn't you think of renting it out?"
Why not rent it out?
Many people had asked him that question before, and he thought, perhaps it was to preserve the warmth that once existed there.
Jiang Yan really wanted to tell Song Jiawen about the history of that small, dilapidated house. He was just starting to speak when a shout interrupted him--
"Little Yan?"
Jiang Yan paused. He stopped walking and turned his head to look over, with Song Jiawen making the same movement.
At the entrance of the alley, in front of a small shop, stood a well-dressed, attractive middle-aged woman. She had a black leather bag slung over one shoulder and was holding a shopping bag in one hand, looking at Jiang Yan with a surprised and incredulous face.
"Didn't you go to Jianghai Town for school? Why are you back?"
Jiang Yan pursed his lips and looked at the woman in front of him without saying a word.
This was his mother, Shu Wan.
After being reborn, this was the first time he had seen her.
In his previous life, the last time he saw Shu Wan was when he was a sophomore in college and couldn't afford the tuition. He went to ask her for money but was humiliated by her current husband.
Since then, he never sought her out again.
"Shu Wan, hurry up."
A man beside a car not far away was calling her, and a flash of panic and unease crossed Shu Wan's face.
"I'll be right there."
She responded to the man and turned to leave, but after walking a few steps, she turned back and quickly ran over, then took out a hundred yuan from her purse and stuffed it into Jiang Yan's hand, speaking quickly, "I already gave you all the expenses for this semester last time. Technically, I don't owe you anything. Take this... for now."
Without waiting for Jiang Yan to respond, she turned and walked away with swift steps.
Soon after, the sound of the car starting up could be heard, and Shu Wan and that small car vanished completely from sight.
"Heh!"
A mocking smile appeared on Jiang Yan's face. She doesn't owe him?
Right, she doesn't owe him.
He flicked the hundred yuan bill in his left hand and turned to Song Jiawen with a heartless smile, "Let's consider it lucky to find money on the way out. After school this afternoon, we'll call Xiao Qi and Yu Hang, and go have a nice meal. We'll spend this note all up."
Song Jiawen watched him quietly. She knew he wasn't feeling good at the moment, but she couldn't comfort people. She quietly accompanied him as they continued walking inward.
Actually, at this moment, Jiang Yan no longer had the desire to look at the old house, but since he had come all this way, he would feel uneasy if he didn't take a look.
"Here we are, this is the place."
From the small alley they had come from and after passing a small shop and turning a corner, ten minutes later, they arrived at Jiang Yan's old house.
The neighborhood wasn't large, with a total of only seven or eight buildings. One could discern a sense of the times from the walls, but it was surprisingly clean inside, and the plaster on the walls of the buildings wasn't peeling. The spacing between buildings was also quite generous, housing man-made ponds and a plaza inside.
Most importantly, the neighborhood was very quiet.
"Isn't the environment quite nice?"
As Jiang Yan led her further inside, he explained, "This neighborhood is actually housing welfare for the teachers of Yunzhou Normal University, one of the earliest built. Although the price set at the time wasn't expensive, not many could afford to pay upfront. Oh, I forgot to mention, my mom was a teacher at the Normal University."
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