A Marshmallow: Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Patience
The kids are here.
Keep your mouth clean.
Jiang Yan's tone was cold, at least ten degrees below zero, and the boys who were joking instantly fell silent.
The underage girl, her ears covered by Jiang Yan's hoodie, now stood there quietly, looking dazed, not knowing where to look, like a little rabbit that had accidentally fallen into a hunter's trap.
"Little sister, sorry about that. Pretend you didn't hear anything..."
"Yeah, they have no filter on their mouths. Are you hungry? Eat, eat, eat!"
The hand by her ear was removed, and the lively voices filled the air. Her heart, which had been beating too quickly a moment ago, gradually calmed down.
The young man who had taken the emergency call at the police station was also present today. He pulled out a chair beside him, saying, "Come, sit here!"
Gu An hesitated for a moment, then looked back at the person beside her.
Their eyes met for an instant, and there was an inexplicable and unprecedented feeling in her heart.
Jiang Yan's beautiful eyes remained calm, but in the next moment, he pulled out a chair for her, raised his chin to indicate she should sit down, and then took the seat next to her.
He had long legs, and the space seemed a bit cramped. His cold, pale, slender fingers broke open a disposable chopstick and made sure there were no splinters before placing it on her plate.
To avoid being the center of attention again, Gu An thanked him in a soft voice.
Jiang Yan made a soft "hm" sound, and his icy tone sounded softer due to its lowered pitch. "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"No," Gu An shook her head, her baby face speaking slowly, "I can eat anything!"
There was a momentary pause in the air, and the emergency call receiver who had met her once before asked, "Judging from your accent, you're not from the South, right?"
"I am, but my roommate is from the Northeast," Gu An scratched her head and smiled somewhat sheepishly, "and, well, I accidentally picked up a bit of their accent."
The adorable southern girl with a hint of a northeastern accent somehow charmed the members of the Criminal Investigation Team, causing their hearts to flutter. The brotherly voice continued, "Come on, try these stir-fried king prawns!"
These were large prawns, even larger than the palm of a hand, coated in a glistening sauce.
Gu An was relieved that no one was paying attention to her as she focused on peeling the prawns while keeping her head down.
"The origin of this band-aid hasn't been explained yet. It must have been put on by a little girl, right? What, is there really something wrong?"
Beside her, Gu An's cheeks suddenly blazed as if someone had lit a fire. In a moment of distraction, the sharp end of a shrimp's tail pointed directly at her finger and a few seconds later, a sharp pain radiated from her fingertip.
She quietly grabbed a tissue and wiped her finger, it had broken the skin, but there was no bleeding.
"If your skin is itching, just say so." Jiang Yan lifted an eyebrow, and his icy expression grew even colder. He lowered his gaze and noticed Gu An's finger, his brow slightly furrowing.
The little doll-like face tensed slightly with unease, as seen from his perspective. Her eyelashes hung obediently, nibbling at the food in front of her, like an innocent hamster, trying to minimize her presence.
With a cut on her finger, Gu An gave up the braised prawns.
Thinking in her heart, Gu Zhen, please come quickly; let the dinner end soon.
The person next to me hasn't touched chopsticks all night, but at this moment, he put on disposable gloves.
Then, some shrimp meat without shells appeared on her plate.
With beautiful patterns, just looking at it made you imagine its deliciousness.
Her gaze moved upward, and there were Jiang Yan's hands.
Through that layer of plastic wrap, you could still see his slender fingers with distinct joints, yet not protruding, appearing completely pale under the light.
There were prominent veins on the back of his hand, but he still looked impeccably clean.
She bit into the shrimp meat and secretly watched him.
He took his time to put on disinfectant wipes and wiped his fingers slowly, his eyes lowered to listen to his colleagues talking. Occasionally, he expressed his opinions, just a few words that she couldn't quite understand, about the case information.
Around nine o'clock, the door to the private room was pushed open. The man was tall, with long legs, standing at least six feet or more, with a buzz cut and sharp facial features.
"Gu Zhen, you finally arrived." The people who had been making jokes earlier and saying, "If Gu Zhen doesn't come, we'll eat everything and leave," finally began to enjoy their meal.
"Gu An, you've gained weight." Gu Zhen sat down on her other side and mercilessly pinched her soft cheek.
Gu An swallowed the food in her mouth, her eyes widened.
In front of so many people...
And the people around her...
He actually said she's fat first!
She's Gu An! No need to be so straightforward!
A sense of inexplicable annoyance spread, and Gu An rubbed her sore face, furrowing her small brows. "I just have a round face; I'm not fat!'
-
The next day, Gu Zhen took an hour off to accompany Gu An to Jing City First High School.
The homeroom teacher for Class 2-7 in the 10th grade was Mr. Luo Bei, a friendly middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with a Mediterranean appearance and a pair of framed glasses.
"The top-performing student in our class is Jiang Ning, very outgoing in personality. So, I'll arrange for you to sit next to her. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask her."
When Gu An arrived in the classroom and gave a brief self-introduction, there was a quiet wave of restlessness among the male students. When the seating arrangements were being made, some even volunteered to sit next to her.
"You boys, what are you secretly scheming?" A short-haired girl with round eyes raised her hand. "Teacher, let Gu An sit next to me!"
Gu An sat down and only then did she realize that this new seatmate was the Jiang Ning mentioned by the homeroom teacher.
In the midst of tidying up her books, Jiang Ning helped her take out the math textbook for the first period, then turned her face and asked, "Why did you transfer schools? The difference in exam syllabus and questions must be quite significant, right?"
Gu An smiled and said, "My brother got a job transfer here."
"Where is he working? Is it far from the school?" Jiang Ning looked at the cute girl and felt a protective instinct rising. "It seems like the school dorms are already full, so they can't accommodate any more students."
"Not far, just at the Jing City Public Security Bureau." Gu An packed up her books, took the math textbook and exercise book handed to her by Jiang Ning, and said, "Thank you!"
"My younger uncle also works at the Jing City Public Security Bureau!" Jiang Ning widened her eyes. "But he's a real devil. After the college entrance exam, that summer he tutored me in math, and I cried about ten times a day on average..."
Gu An stayed blank.
"The intelligence of the learning god is so different from us mortals. When he explains a problem, he goes straight from step one to step five," Jiang Ning said, pursing her lips. "If you don't understand him, you feel like throwing the pen, and he even says I've put a ball around my neck, with absolutely no thinking ability..."
Thinking back to the summer vacation dominated by the devil, Jiang Ning couldn't help but shudder.
No wonder he couldn't get married until now. Who would want to marry a jade-faced evil? But, he might be able to deceive some ignorant girls with his excellent looks.
Luckily, there was foresight in the family, and they arranged a marriage contract for him.
Jiang Ning thought of that little aunt who had never met him but had a marriage contract with him. She shook her head, feeling sorry for her. So pitiful.
Gu An poked her desk mate who was daydreaming, laughing with a cute tiger tooth, happily saying, "Maybe my brother knows your little uncle."
"Definitely knows. Let me tell you, my little uncle, even though he's a devil, is incredibly handsome. He's the dream guy of their police bureau."
Gu An inexplicably had a thought from the bottom of her heart.
This thought made her cheeks blush.
—Is this legendary "dream guy" better looking than Jiang Yan?
-
It had already been a month since the school started. Jing City No. 1 High School was a top-tier school in the city, and the teaching pace was noticeably faster than her previous school. Gu An clearly felt the pressure.
Teachers from all subjects were equally curious about this new student, and every time they asked questions, they would subtly point to her.
When the school bell rang, Gu An felt like a deflated ball, visibly sagging.
Her math test paper for the in-class quiz was filled with crosses, and it was disheartening to look at.
Gu An puffed her cheeks and exhaled forcefully, her bangs disheveled.
When Gu An got home, no one was there.
It wasn't until nine o'clock that she had corrected about half of her math mistakes that Gu Zhen and Jiang Yan came back.
She rushed over, "Overtime again?"
"Yes," Gu Zhen hung his black coat on the coat rack in the entryway. "How was your day at school?"
"It was awful!" Gu An caught a glimpse of Jiang Yan's chin, and the Band-Aid she saw earlier was gone, but the wound seemed to be showing signs of inflammation.
"That's good," Gu Zhen poured a glass of water and gulped it down in one go. "I'm going out for a run. I'm starving, and the freezer has some frozen dumplings."
Gu An retrieved the medicine she bought yesterday from the small medicine cabinet and knocked on Jiang Yan's door. Like a primary school student called to the office for scolding, she tightly clutched the paper packaging and felt inexplicably nervous.
The door opened, and the refreshing scent of shower gel wafted in. He was wearing a short-sleeved white T-shirt, black knee-length sports shorts, his hair half-dried, resting on his forehead, his eyes appeared even darker.
"Jiang Yan..." Gu An rubbed her nose, unsure whether to call him an officer or a brother, and finally pursed her lips. "Your wound seems a little inflamed. If you don't want to use a bandage, apply some ointment to heal faster."
"Thank you," Jiang Yan's tone was cold and indifferent, but the young girl seemed to have accomplished a significant mission and breathed a sigh of relief after he took the medicine.
A smile spread from the corner of her lips to her soft cheeks, even her eyes turned into two crescent moons, echoing her playful mood.
She took a step back with her hands behind her and tilted her head, smiling at him, "Well, goodnight!"
"Hmm."
Her cautious and joyful expression, her eyebrows, all resembled someone he had been stern with in the past.
That little figure who had shed tears when he briefly stayed and then turned away.
Gu An rewrote the math problem that had stumped her from start to finish, her frustration mounting. In the end, she sighed and slumped at the dining table, waiting for Gu Zhen to return.
Jiang Yan came out of the room and saw this scene.
The young girl's head rested on her textbook, like a little self-contained mushroom.
The water glass fell on the table, making a crisp sound.
Gu An looked up, a small wisp of hair sticking up on her head, as if it were sprouting.
Jiang Yan lazily lifted his eyelid, "What's wrong?"
Gu An rubbed her face to wake herself up, her small eyebrows wrinkled in a wave, "This problem has completely baffled me."
He bent over to look at the problem in front of her, his left hand on the back of her chair, and his right hand unconsciously propped up on the table.
She was completely surrounded by his cool minty scent, as if she could accidentally get closer to his embrace.
Gu An couldn't help but hold her breath. At the position of his right shoulder, his profile was cold and focused, and his straight and slender nose, as they were so close, she could even see his long and lush eyelashes clearly.
Jiang Yan's long fingers pointed at the textbook, "You made a mistake in differentiation right here."
Gu An nodded earnestly, her round eyes filled with confusion.
If Jiang Ning saw Young Master Jiang being kind enough to explain the most basic math theorem without getting frustrated and throwing a fit, she might suspect her little uncle has been possessed.
Jiang Yan pulled out a chair and sat down, his posture relaxed and carefree, with the overhead light casting a flattering contour on his face.
If you ignored the distant and unapproachable aura he exuded, his eyes were actually incredibly tender and affectionate—deep eye sockets, bright and shiny irises, and when he looked at people in silence, they were tender enough to silently drown them.
"High school student."
"Hmm?"
"Got it?" He lightly tapped the textbook with his pale fingers.
Gu An shook her head.
Jiang Yan tilted slightly, suddenly getting closer.
At this proximity, she could see herself deep in his pupils. His long and gentle eyelashes were even more beautiful than a girl's.
She stared blankly at him, and in her mind, all the math formulas danced hand in hand in a swirling fog, gradually becoming a tangle of incomprehensible threads.
And he lightly poked her forehead with a signing pen, his cold voice tinged with helplessness, "Read your book, don't look at me."
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