Anning dragged Wu Lina to sit down.
"Keep your voice down."
"It’s not that."
No matter what, Wu Lina couldn’t keep her voice down: "You’ve changed so much overnight. How did you beco so pretty in just one day?"
Anning had no choice but to explain quietly to Wu Lina: "I used to cover half of my face with bangs, and I wore big black-frad glasses, even though I’m not short-sighted. I just went yesterday to get a haircut and took off my glasses..."
Wu Lina sighed: "As for the difference between a plain Jane and a heavenly beauty, it’s all in the hairstyle and glasses."
She examined Anning closely: "You have the beauty of an immortal; why did you hide it before?"
Anning nervously looked around and then whispered: "I was afraid I’d cause trouble at the Saintly Wisdom Conference. When I was in junior high, my deskmate kept telling stories about bullies and Cinderellas, which scared . I wanted to focus on my studies and not get noticed by the bullies."
Wu Lina couldn’t help but laugh: "Ningning, you’re really funny."
Even the teacher spent a long ti looking at Anning during class, thinking she was a student who had walked into the wrong classroom. When they found out she was Gu Anning, they were particularly surprised.
First Middle School’s Class One truly deserves to be a class of top students, where the students are most focused on learning. After the initial curiosity about Anning’s appearance, no one paid attention anymore, as everyone was busy seizing every minute to study.
Anning felt that such an atmosphere was great and made her feel comfortable.
After school, Anning asked Wu Lina: "What are you doing this Saturday?"
Wu Lina replied while walking out: "What else can I do? Read books, study, otherwise I’ll get left behind by other students."
"Do you have ti? Could you accompany to buy a computer?" Anning asked.
"Yes, of course."
Wu Lina quickly nodded: "What kind of computer do you want to buy? I know this very well. Near my ho, there’s an electronics mall with lots of computers..."
Anning asked for Wu Lina’s address and made plans to go shopping together on Saturday.
Today, Mr. Gu ca to pick up Anning after school, just like the other days. Anning didn’t ask him not to co anymore.
For several days, Anning led a peaceful and comfortable life at First Middle School.
But at Shengzhe Middle School, so people were not so at peace.
Qin Minghao had been very irritable these past few days.
Sotis, even Zhong Boyang couldn’t stand him.
Ren Jiayao tried every day to coax him and make him a little happier.
But for so reason, Qin Minghao always felt very bothered.
He had been inquiring about Anning lately and knew how she had been treated at school recently, how she had been bullied by her classmates.
The more he knew, the more he wanted to hit soone.
He often recalled the mont when Anning bumped into him, her glasses fell off, revealing a pair of bright eyes like the stars, brimming with a watery light.
Those eyes were truly beautiful, like they held the stars, irresistibly srizing.
Even now, he rembered those eyes, and he wanted to find ti to see them again.
But Anning has transferred schools, and now, she must be trying to avoid him at all costs.
After class, Qin Minghao walked out. While descending the stairs, soone not paying attention almost bumped into him. Qin Minghao, with a dark expression, violently pushed the person away.
Zhong Boyang quickly caught up: "Hey, what’s got you in such a bad mood now?"
Qin Minghao sat on the steps, fingers threading through his hair, murmuring in discomfort: "Do you think, if I go apologize to Gu Anning now, would she forgive ?"
Zhong Boyang shook his head: "I doubt it. If I were bullied for so long by soone, I definitely wouldn’t forgive them."
Qin Minghao angrily pounded the ground: "It wasn’t who bullied her, I didn’t let others bully her, damn it, what the hell is going on?"
Zhong Boyang patted Qin Minghao’s shoulder: "Stop thinking about it. She’s transferred schools and we’re not crossing paths again. No point in overthinking."
Around the corner of the stairs, a shadow flashed by.
Neither Qin Minghao nor Zhong Boyang saw it.
Ren Jiayao returned to the classroom, her heart still pounding fiercely as she sat down.
Gripping the pen tightly in her right hand, her eyes were filled with storm.
Gu Anning, Gu Anning...
Her mind was consud by those three words.
Gu Anning was like a curse, making her restless at every mont.
Why was Qin Minghao still thinking about Gu Anning?
He didn’t understand Gu Anning, and moreover, he had only seen her once. How could he be so obsessed?
And yet, Gu Anning had transferred schools.
The thought of Gu Anning no longer attending Shengzhe Middle School but having transferred to First Middle School, which she couldn’t reach, made Ren Jiayao feel out of control.
How could she transfer?
Wasn’t her family out of money?
Where did she get the money from?
Ren Jiayao, thinking about the face hidden behind Gu Anning’s glasses and her true appearance, felt even more uneasy.
On Saturday morning, Mr. Gu transferred so money to Anning to buy a computer.
After breakfast, Anning told Mr. and Mrs. Gu and hurriedly left.
Leaving ho, she didn’t go to Wu Linna’s but wandered to the antique street instead.
There is an antique street in the old district of Qing City, where many people co to see if they can find a bargain, and tourists from out of town like to take a look around. Even if they don’t find a bargain, it’s nice to buy sothing as a souvenir.
Anning didn’t look at the stalls selling antiques. She walked and stopped, finally pausing in front of a small shop that didn’t have a very large facade.
The shop was already open, with several custors inside.
When Anning walked in, no one paid much attention to her because she was just a kid, not even the staff who lazily didn’t co over to greet her.
Anning glanced at the partially or fully speculative stones on display in the shop, then followed so custors into the backyard.
There were even more stones in the backyard.
After looking around for a while, Anning spotted a pile of stones carelessly placed in a corner.
She called over a waiter: "How much for these?"
The waiter smiled at Anning: "Those are scraps, US$ 200 each, pick any you like."
Anning nodded and thanked him. She went over to the pile of scraps and squatted down, picking through them very carefully.
A custor found it interesting to see Anning picking through scraps, squatted down beside her: "Little sister, these are scraps, you won’t find anything valuable. If you want to gamble on stones, pick a sowhat better one..."
Anning looked up and smiled at her: "Thank you, sister. I’m just playing around. Since it’s cheap, and I don’t have much money on , I thought I’d buy one for fun."
That made sense; even if you lost a US$ 200 gamble, it wouldn’t hurt too much.
The custor smiled and got up to look at other stones.
After a long selection, Anning finally picked out a stone about the size of a cantaloupe. She took it to pay, and then asked the waiter: "Can you help cut it?"
"Sure," the waiter led Anning toward the stone cutting machine: "Your stone is a scrap, you’ll need to pay extra if you want it cut."
Anning asked the price and then smiled and requested the stone cutting.
They quickly arrived at the stone cutting machine. A few custors, seeing soone was going to have a stone cut, ca over to join the excitent.
Anning handed the stone to the stone-cutter master, who looked at her: "How should I cut it?"
Anning thought for a mont and gestured with her hands: "Cut one third from this side."
The stone wasn’t particularly big to begin with; cutting off one third could damage it even if there was sothing valuable inside.
The master smiled and still started the cutting as Anning had indicated.
Soon, the stone was cut open. Soone shone a flashlight over it and saw a bright expanse of green.
"It’s green... it’s really green..."
No one expected such a scrap to turn out green, and a commotion arose.
The master splashed water over it and, as the clear water washed the stone clean, a translucent green erged.
"This, this is ice jade..."
The master was also taken aback, looked at Anning and then at the stone: "Young lady, shall we continue cutting?"
He laughed as he explained, fearing that Anning might not understand: "You’ve already found green. You could make so money if you sell it now. If you continue cutting and it turns out not as expected, you might not make any money."
The custor who had spoken to Anning earlier explained again: "You could make a small profit if you sell it now, but if you keep cutting, you could either make a big profit or end up with nothing."
Anning didn’t hesitate: "Keep cutting. It’s only US$ 200 anyway."
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