Chapter 10, Gathering (3)

Jiang Hongshao's gaze changed, seemingly devoid of the tranquility and grace she had displayed during the earlier gathering. The corners of her eyes lifted slightly, the angles becoming sharp as a knife, her piercing gaze fixed on Cheng Ran. The two continued their back-and-forth, but to the onlookers, it resembled two swordsmen, each move fraught with lethal intent, blood splattering everywhere

Sun Jichao wished he could smash his own head in frustration, wondering what he was thinking at the time. Why didn't he just start with a word beginning with the letter P, or any other letter for that matter? In short, anything but B! Who on earth came up with such a ridiculous idea to play this kind of game?

Cheng Ran roughly understood the reason for the sudden silence when he arrived earlier. He waved his hand and said, "You all continue your conversation, I just came to see you..."

Brashness, both rude and reckless

Yu Xiao hurriedly called Cheng Ran to testify, "Cheng Ran, tell them, did we go to the internet café yesterday? Yao Beibei insisted that she saw us! You were clearly at home studying!"

As Cheng Ran spoke these words, he glanced around at the crowd. Yang Xia shot him a glare, and when his gaze met Jiang Hongshao's, the latter gave him a slight nod. It must be admitted that even from his current perspective, Cheng Ran acknowledged that Jiang Hongshao would undoubtedly become the type to bring disaster to the country and its people in the future. However, certain details further solidified his judgment; this girl, Old Jiang, was truly mysterious and extraordinary.

"Cheng Ran, you can do it, right? You are being discreet and making a last-minute effort, aren't you? Ah... Is this leaking the questions? Are you two in cahoots?" Yao Beibei had a sour demeanor, scrutinizing Cheng Ran from head to toe. Some others also turned to look at Sun Jichao in response to her words.

Sun Jichao, who was originally quite self-assured in this regard, was left dumbfounded, feeling as if he had suffered a thousand points of damage. Who was it that proposed this project just now... This is simply like having a mountain dropped on him.

But it doesn't matter... These are not important to her

At this moment, Yu Xiao was watching Cheng Ran, who was galloping like a knight, leaving others far behind.

It is fortunate that everything before me appears so real.

Continuing on, some individuals had their forearms covered with notes. Yu Xiao had five notes attached, which was not the highest number; Xie Dong had seven notes. Among the children of government officials, Wang Yuran had one note, Sun Jichao had one note, and Zhou Bin had two notes, which made their expressions somewhat unpleasant. Even Yang Xia had one note attached. Others, to varying degrees, also fell victim, while Jiang Hongshao and Cheng Ran received no tickets at all.

In fact, some words are not complicated; the main issue is that at this stage, they have hardly been exposed to them in either textbooks or extracurricular English reading materials. Moreover, the vocabulary of these two individuals is simply overwhelming.

Cheng Ran responded, "banter, meaning to tease."

It is somewhat akin to the gaze of someone who has spent a month assembling a long-desired model, finally placing it before them to admire. Alternatively, it resembles the expression of a person seated in a theater, watching a classic play unfold. There is always a sense of transcendent realization, yet this discovery is something Wang Yuran has not shared with anyone.

It seems that it is still myself...

Jiang Hongshao can still accept it; she is a transfer student, so it is not surprising that anything could happen with this girl. But what on earth is this sudden and extraordinary transformation of Cheng Ran? Has she been possessed?

Jiang Hongshao looked at Cheng Ran, the corners of her lips slightly raised, "brazen, shameless"

Yu Xiao rushed over, staring at Cheng Ran with an indescribable expression of shock and disbelief, then began to ruffle his hair, saying, "How is it possible for you to be this amazing! When did your English get so good!"

However, Yu Xiao remained steadfast; his English grades had always been good. It was only after he racked his brain to come up with the last word that he looked at Cheng Ran, who immediately answered "barrack," with a resigned yet extremely astonished expression.

Then he really stood by, watching everyone chat... Wang Yuran, who was with Sun Jichao, looked at Cheng Ran, who had a longstanding grudge with his good friend, and felt a bit uneasy, as he realized that Cheng Ran's gaze seemed familiar.

That appearance still carries some regret

"Barbarous, savage, and brutal in meaning." The voice of Jiang Hongshao resounded

The game begins with everyone counting in turn, and whenever a multiple of three is reached, they must clap their hands. The pace increases progressively, and anyone who fails to clap at a multiple of three or hesitates will be penalized by having a white paper strip attached to their arm

After chatting for a while, everyone suggested playing some games that test reactions. Among these, there is also a subtle element of intellectual competition.

At this moment, victory or defeat seems to have lost its significance

Most of the vocabulary learned at the junior high school level has already been spoken by others, and many words are unknown to most people. Those who can articulate them provide some paraphrasing, while those nearby immediately consult a dictionary for comparison, ensuring that no one is fabricating information

"Bungle, I have failed." Cheng Ran raised both hands, "I have exhausted my vocabulary, I cannot answer the next one, I have lost." This girl's competitive spirit is truly strong

Wang Yuran fell before Sun Jichao's "battlement," while Sun Jichao perished in front of Cheng Ran's "beacon"

Just now during the game, Jiang Hongshao was truly impressive. Whether it was counting to three or counting to seven, nothing could stump her; her margin for error was exceedingly high. Although Cheng Ran was not challenged either, he did not encounter as many obstacles as Jiang Hongshao, and thus he was not given any sticky notes. People estimated his ability to be around forty percent, attributing more to luck. However, Yang Xia, Liu Ying, and several other women still cast a few more glances at Cheng Ran.

In Liu Ying's living room, silence reigned. After Cheng Ran provided a paraphrase, Liu Ying finally reacted and continued to consult the dictionary. Then she raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief, "Bashful means 'shy'... that's right."

The many girls present were also quite proficient in English, and they immediately agreed. Sun Jichao looked around at everyone and said they would start with the letter "B". He first said "balloon", and Yang Xia followed with "bake". Going around in a clockwise direction, each person's crisp voice rang out, ... "banana", "ball", "banker". When it was Cheng Ran's turn, he said "beautiful", and Jiang Hongshao said "bankruptcy"

Who cares whether you will forget everything in the future! Some people feel as restless as a cat scratching and a dog scratching, yet you just glanced at a page and remembered it, and can still express it so fluently? If you are this smart, why didn't you apply it to your studies before!

Even Yao Beibei, who originally intended to humiliate Cheng Ran, had no choice but to redirect her aggression towards others

After Jiang Hongshao mentioned "beanstalk (豆茎)", Yang Xia finally withdrew from the competition among the three, leaving only the duel between Cheng Ran and Jiang Hongshao

These changes fell in Sun Jichao's eyes, and he felt somewhat unwilling. He said, "How about we play an English word chain game? For example, starting with the letter 'P', we have to say a word that begins with 'P'. Each person takes turns, and anyone who fails to say a word is eliminated, with the next person taking over, until only one person remains"

Marvellous. The sharp gaze of Jiang Hongshao also vanished, as if it had never appeared. She smiled apologetically and said, "I cannot answer either, so let us consider it a draw."

Seeing the large group of equally puzzled expressions, Cheng Ran realized that he might have touched on the self-esteem of these little friends. After all, no one can accept that someone who usually performs much worse suddenly behaves like this. He understood and casually remarked, "It's a bit of a coincidence... Before coming today, I was thinking about expanding my vocabulary and happened to look at the page starting with 'B' in the dictionary... I still remember it clearly, but I will probably only use it today; in a few days, I will likely forget it completely..."

Upon seeing Cheng Ran, Sun Jichao's expression clearly became uncomfortable

Liu Ying also felt somewhat awkward. After everyone had eaten, they sat in the living room, forming a circle of chairs around the sofa. The atmosphere made Cheng Ran feel nostalgic and warm. In a different scenario, do such circles still exist in the residential communities of the future? A group of children sitting together, sharing ghost stories, unsolved mysteries, and discussing astronomy, geography, and cultural history, rather than being engrossed in games on their iPads and smartphones. The future world is changing rapidly, and everything is transforming beyond recognition.

Yang Xia was unable to respond, feeling a slight sense of loss deep within her heart, for fundamentally, she was unwilling to show weakness in front of Jiang Hongshao. However, before she could settle her chaotic emotions, Cheng Ran quickly filled in her position, swiftly reading out "bashful".

This area is Sun Jichao's strong suit; one can imagine if he ultimately becomes the last one standing, he would indeed be looked upon with great admiration by all.

On weekdays, the children of the courtyard gather at Liu Ying's house, yet there seems to be no decorations at their home. It also appears that the place has been thoroughly cleaned, with the glass spotless, comparable to the annual deep cleaning that an average family might conduct once or twice a year. Liu Ying's mother works at the Education Bureau, and her father is a businessman. Such cooperation aimed at fostering the relationship between their child and Jiang Hongshao suggests that among Jiang Hongshao's relatives, or perhaps even directly within her immediate family, there are high-ranking officials from the city's Education Bureau or leaders from the Industry and Commerce Bureau.

Most people read the words in the English textbooks of this year, which are all within the vocabulary of the textbooks, but Jiang Hongshao's vocabulary clearly exceeds this range

The onlookers were on the verge of overturning the table, wondering what was going on. What kind of silent communication are you two engaging in, as if we do not exist!

Sun Jichao was so furious that he felt like he was about to spurt blood, colluding with Cheng Ran!

Not only was he subjected to humiliation, but everyone in the living room was also left in a state of disarray.

By the time the third round was announced, more than half of the boys in the Huadong Company courtyard had been eliminated. Xie Dong, Zhang Xin, Liu Kehong, Zhou Bin, and Yao Beibei followed suit and were eliminated. When Yang Xia pronounced "baptism," Liu Ying and another girl declared that they could not keep up and were out.

After several rounds, they changed the game to "Count to Seven," where players clap instead of saying multiples of seven or numbers containing seven. If anyone makes a mistake, they must face the penalty of sticking a note.

Yang Xia turned her head to look at Cheng Ran, her eyes unable to conceal her astonishment

"Read a book, perhaps a martial arts novel!" Yao Beibei scoffed. Clearly, no one cares whether Cheng Ran is actually reading a book or not