Tattoo (Top) No. 34

  A day's time slipped away in the sound of Wang Jian's humming, and when he closed his eyes and opened them again, the sun had already slanted to the west. The classroom was a dull darkness, and an inexplicable stillness appeared in the school's teaching area.

  Suddenly, Wang Jian was taken aback and abruptly discovered that someone was sitting in the corner of the classroom, leaning on the desk and sleeping soundly. Although the light was very dim, Wang Jian could tell at a glance from the person's hair color that the one sleeping was obviously Tian Ran Er.

  "Hey, big sister. Wake up, it's dark outside."

  Wang Jian leaned back in his chair, his legs numb and tired from maintaining this posture all day, so he could only call out to Tian Er, who looked like he was sleeping even more soundly than him.

  What he didn't expect was that Tianran was extremely good at sleeping, and no matter how loud the voice was to wake her up, she would just change direction and continue sleeping. Her posture even squeezed all her facial features together with her arms and elbows, making her look like a giant fox with its face pinched shut.

  "Get up, get up." With great difficulty, Wang Jian finally managed to stand up and walked over to Tian Ran Er's side, shaking her head: "If you don't get up now, you'll catch a chill."

  Even if he was dizzy, Tian Er slowly opened his eyes more than a minute later and looked at Wang Jian with blurred eyes.

  "How can you sleep here?"

  "Huh?" Tian Ran rubbed his eyes and said lazily: "Waiting for you, you're going the same way as me, I'll take you back together."

  Wang Jian smiled and pulled out a wet wipe that had fallen from the student's pocket in class and handed it to Tian Ran Er: "Wipe your face. Why didn't you wake me up?"

  "You didn't wake me up yesterday either."

  She was naturally rubbing her face like a cat on one side, while smiling at Wang Jian on the other. She looked absolutely adorable, especially with that smile still carrying the kind of flattering expression unique to when she's trying to curry favor, this appearance simply can't be described with any words.

  After roughly tidying up their clothes, Wang Jian and Tianran walked out of the gate one after another. Wang Jian stretched his waist: "I estimate that there will be more than 30 people coming to class tomorrow."

  "Oh."

  Tianran seemed unusually serious and didn't show her usual enthusiasm and passion for this kind of boring topic.

  "You don't seem right." Wang Jian said casually while locking the door: "Are you hungry?"

  Tianran shook her head silently, without answering Wang Jian's question. She just let out a soft sigh and stood there with her bag, looking very strange.

  Wang Jian turned his head to look at Tianran Er, then shook his head and thought to himself, "He must be having another episode of his mental illness, can't afford to provoke him!" With this in mind, Wang Jian stopped asking Tianran Er about the reason for his emotional fluctuations, so he changed the subject:

  "You haven't eaten yet either, let me treat you, want some ramen?"

  "I think I want to eat fish..."

  "Eating fish..." Wang Jian took out a worn-out wallet from his pocket: "I still have over a hundred yuan, I don't know if it's enough for eating fish. Let's eat fish after we get our salary, when does the school usually pay salaries?"

  January 12th.

  "On January 12th, at that time..."

  Wang Jian was speaking when suddenly his brain felt like something had snapped, and he let out a sudden hum. He immediately stopped in his tracks, his expression twisted as he turned to look at Tian Er, saying word by word:

  "January 12th?"

  "Yes, including year-end bonuses."

  Wang Jian's face turned green and his tongue became uncoordinated: "A... annual salary?"

  "Is it strange?"

  Tianran Er looked at Wang Jian's embarrassed expression and said with a somewhat awkward tone: "If... if you're out of money, I can lend some to you."

  "Mind your own business. Come on, I'll take you out for ramen."

  Wang Jian was so angry that he gritted his teeth, all because he hadn't asked clearly earlier. Now it's too late, and he ended up with a yearly salary... In other words, Wang Jian's previous plans to save money had all gone up in smoke, and he successfully turned himself into someone who couldn't even afford to eat after just one week. And three months later, he probably wouldn't have the face to continue living in Old Sun's garage either. By then, he would likely become the first teacher in Langfeng Shengyuan School's history to live under an overpass...

  "What's wrong?" Tian Ran tilted his head and looked at Wang Jian: "Is something uncomfortable somewhere."

  Wang Jian pinched the middle of his own eyebrows, and let out a helpless sigh: "I have to start collecting junk tomorrow night, and... does your family have any tables, chairs, boards or stools that need fixing? I'll give you half off."

  Tianran Er was eating a stick of cotton candy, patting Wang Jian's shoulder and softly comforting him: "Don't worry, there will be a way, if all else fails I can lend you money, I have a lot of money. I can take out some money from my dowry to lend to you."

  "Dowry?"

  "Yes... I can only save dowry for myself, it's so pitiful."

  "How much have you saved?"

  "I don't know, it should be an eight-digit number by now. I forgot whether the first digit is 1 or 2. I spend very little money." Tianran Er rubbed his fingers together: "I buy four sets of clothes a year, one set for spring, two sets for summer, wear the spring set in autumn, and buy another set for winter. That's how my clothes are never worn out, my daily food expenses are at most thirty, I don't eat much, and nobody invites me to play, so spending two thousand yuan a month is already a lot, a lot."

  Wang Jian looked at Tian Ran Er with a gaze as if he was looking at a monster, truly unable to believe that such a female existed in this world...

  "Honestly, everything I said is true." Tianran nodded seriously: "My biggest expense is gasoline, over a thousand yuan per month. But there's no other way, if I take the bus, someone always touches me..."

  After listening to Tianran Er's words, Wang Jian silently calculated an account for Tianran Er in his heart: she said she had one or two hundred million yuan in savings, Dawei said he had more than 20 million yuan in patent fees every year, and then she became a teacher, with an annual income of around 1.2-1.3 million yuan, which means that in the five years since she started working, she could save nearly 3 million yuan per year! Moreover, apart from this, she also bought a house of her own!

  How stingy and frugal I am! No wonder Lin Yaxuan said she couldn't afford to raise herself, this is probably also because she knows Tianran Er too well.

  "What's the point of saving so much money?"

  "I'll get married anyway, I have to make some preparations for my future family."

  When Tianran Er talked about this topic, not only was she full of infatuation, but also that smug expression on her face made Wang Jian feel a little amused and annoyed... After all, at this age, someone like Tianran Er with such good looks could easily find a sugar daddy, or even if she didn't want to find one, finding a rich second-generation heir who is a good match for her wouldn't be impossible either.

  And she actually managed to save such a large sum of money for her own dowry.

  "Alright, you win. Come on, rich lady, let's go eat noodles."

  Wang Jian suddenly felt his mood brighten up, thinking about how Tian Ran Er had saved him a dowry in such a ridiculous way. He suddenly felt that his annual salary wasn't so difficult after all; for him, it was just a matter of collecting scraps and mending stools.

  After treating a wealthy woman with assets worth 200 million to a bowl of beef noodles, Tian Er suddenly remembered something and whispered into Wang Jian's ear: "I'll tell you, many colleagues asked me today if I'm dating you."

  "It must be Dawei spreading rumors again..."

  Tianran Er nodded: "What can I do?"

  "How was I supposed to know what you'd do!" Wang Jian looked at Tian Ran's eyes, which seemed to be treating him like a formidable enemy. He suddenly felt an urge to laugh but couldn't, and instead felt a stifling sense of injury: "Why did you have to go explain things to someone else?"

  "It's also... and also." Tian Ran asked again: "I'm asking you, if someone you really dislike is pursuing you, what would you do?"

  "Me?" Wang Jian thought for a moment: "I don't know, I actually belong to the type that doesn't get bothered by women in the first round, all twenty-four lanterns are extinguished, no woman has ever pursued me."

  He let out a disappointed sigh, his eyes filled with despair, and stood up reluctantly: "Let's go, I'm going back to watch TV."

  After driving for a while in the natural second gear, Wang Jian suddenly said: "There is a car behind us that has been following you. It started from the school gate. I thought it was on the way, didn't pay attention, but after eating noodles for half an hour, he followed up again."

  As soon as she heard this, Tianran Er immediately panicked. Originally having a persecution complex, she was now completely intimidated by Wang Jian and could hardly hold onto the steering wheel, constantly checking the rearview mirror, driving like someone who's drunk.

  "Hey......" Wang Jian tapped her forehead: "Are you going to drag me down with you? Drive properly, I'm here, what are you afraid of?"

  His face was flushed with anxiety: "What shall we do now?"

  "Let's go home." Wang Jian leaned back in his chair, slowly closing his eyes: "If he really did something wrong, I'll skin him alive."

  Soon, Tianran Er nervously drove the car home, while Wang Jian got off at the entrance of the community and waited patiently.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, within two minutes, a high-end sports car slowly drove in. When they saw this kind of car appear, the security guards in the neighborhood generally wouldn't stop it and would just salute and let the car pass through.

  Wang Jian smiled and took out his phone to call Tianran Er: "Haoche, it seems that he is not a bad guy, but your white knight."

  Tianran Er fell silent on the other end of the phone for a moment before speaking in a serious tone, "Don't make jokes like that again. Where are you? Come over quickly."

  "No way... Dawei says it every day." Wang Jian was confused: "Alright, I'll go now."

  When Wang Jian arrived at the parking space of Tian Ran Er, the sports car had already stopped in front of Tian Ran Er. A slender man wearing a black silk shirt stood in front of Tian Ran Er, holding a large bunch of blue roses in his hands.

  Wang Jian whistled, taking advantage of Tian Er's inattention, and slipped to a stone bench blocked by the car, quietly lit a cigarette, and perked up his ears to listen.

  "Hello, miss. I'm here to deliver a package."

  The black silk man's voice was extremely magnetic, and Wang Jian knew he was a veteran as soon as he spoke. What's with sending express delivery, just send flowers if you're going to send them, why make it so mysterious without even understanding who the other person is... That's Tianran Er, she doesn't understand.

  "I didn't buy anything, you've sent it to the wrong person."

  Tianran shook her head and backed away, looking around in all directions. When she didn't see Wang Jian anymore, she became flustered, like a poor girl surrounded by criminals, with a heartbreaking helplessness filling her eyes.

  "I'm just a delivery guy." The man, seeing Tian Er's appearance, hastily raised his hands and retreated several steps: "Don't make things difficult for me, sign for it already."

  Wang Jian is currently on the phone with Dawei and puts the receiver against the man, so that Dawei can receive the man's confession throughout.

  "Get out of here!" Tian Ran Er suddenly shouted loudly at this time: "You get out of here!"

  However, this move was clearly ineffective on the man. He spread his hands and smiled helplessly, then knelt down on one knee, holding out the flowers with both hands in front of Tian Ran Er: "No matter what, please give me five minutes."

  "Three days ago, I brushed past you at the entrance of a flower shop, and you gave me a sideways glance. But it was that sideways glance that made me toss and turn, unable to eat or sleep, and I used all my strength to find you, without any ulterior motives. I just...just wanted to make you my goddess. Here is the blue orchid that I wanted to buy but didn't that day, please accept it. I rarely talk to women, so I don't know how to hand over the flowers properly, so please forgive my rashness tonight."

  "I'm done." Dawei thundered over the phone, "What is this son of a bitch doing? Ah Jian, go kill him, he's stealing your wife!"

  Wang Jian smiled after hearing Dawei's words and didn't bother to say more nonsense to this lazy guy, continuing to watch the development between Tianran Er and that strange man.

  Originally, everyone thought Tianran Er would accept the rose after this heartfelt and sincere confession, but in reality, most people on this planet misjudged Tianran Er's heart.

  After the handsome guy's deep and affectionate speech, she not only didn't pick up the flowers, but also burst into tears, shouting in a sobbing voice: "Wang Jian... Wang Jian... where have you gone to die? If you don't come out, I won't care about you anymore."

  "It's come to this point, if you don't leave now, you'll definitely be remembered with hatred." Dawei said over the phone: "I told you, the mascot is a very strange girl."

  Wang Jian sighed and hung up the phone, then stretched out a hand from behind the car: "I've been here all along."

  Upon hearing his lazy voice and seeing that hand, Tian Er's tears immediately stopped, she took a deep breath, looked at the wealthy young man still kneeling on one knee, cleared her throat: "Thank you for the flowers, but I've already bought some, there's no room to put them at home, give the flowers to my colleague instead."

  "That colleague should have been me..." Wang Jian came out from behind the luxury car, looking helplessly at the wealthy young master who was climbing up from the ground: "Actually, I wouldn't accept your flowers either."

  Taking advantage of Wang Jian's momentary distraction, Tian Ran quietly ran to his back and peeked out from behind him with half of her face visible.

  "I didn't mean any harm." The young master didn't seem angry at all, and stretched out his hand to Wang Jian: "Hello, my name is Xu Zikai. Are you her boyfriend?"

  Wang Jian shook his head decisively: "No."

  Xu Zikai nodded and handed the flowers to Wang Jian, whispering: "Then I still have a chance, right?"

  "No." Wang Jian's natural second tone puffed out behind him: "No!"

  Xu Zikai helplessly withdrew his hand, and quietly wiped the hand that had shaken hands with Wang Jian with a handkerchief. He still smiled at Tianran Er: "The express delivery has arrived, although no one signed for it. Next time there is an express delivery, remember to give face and sign for it."

  See off this inexplicable rich young man, Tianran pointed at the 999 blue devils on Wang Jian's hand: "What do you want to do with these?"

  "You asked me?" Wang Jian snorted: "It was you who let him give it to me."

  "You've taken his things, and there will be more trouble later." Tian Ran Er told Wang Jian the pros and cons of the situation: "What to do now?"

  "If you weren't out there flirting with others, I would have gone to bed early. Do you have white sugar? I'll give you pickled rose petals to eat."

  "I didn't even invite him, I don't even know him! And..." Tian Ran looked at the flower in Wang Jian's hand with curiosity: "Can you eat the petals?"

  "It's guaranteed to be delicious." Wang Jian patted his chest: "It was my favorite snack when I was a kid. By the way, how could you refuse so bluntly? That handsome guy isn't bad, is he? Good temper, good character, rich and young."

  "He's disgusting." Tian Ran Er, although looking shocked, replied decisively and clearly: "He wipes his hand after shaking hands with you, which means he not only has mysophobia but also looks down on people. When talking to me, his eyes are staring at my chest, this is obviously aimed at my body. There's a lipstick in the car seat seam, it's clearly not his. The storage box in the back seat wasn't closed properly, with several boxes of Durex inside, I don't believe he uses that as a fresh-keeping bag, am I an idiot?"

  Wang Jian was quite astonished at Tianran Er's observational skills, finding that this guy's observational skills were even more accurate than those of a fortune teller. But how could someone so meticulous end up falling into the fountain while walking?

  "Whatever... weird woman."

  Wang Jian shook off the strange idea in his mind and looked at Tian Ran Er: "Give me white sugar."

  "Oh... I have some in my car." Tian ran pointed to his own car: "I have low blood sugar, so there's always sugar in the car. Last time I bought it wrong, originally I was buying milk candy, but finally found out it was ten kilograms of granulated sugar, and it's been left here all this time..."

  "How blind are you?" Wang Jian climbed onto the car and rummaged through the storage compartment of Tian Ran Er: "Milk sugar and granulated sugar, they're very different, okay."

  "I have no idea what I was thinking at the time..."

  "Found it." Wang Jian smiled and picked up the bag of sugar from the car: "Your storage box is really messy, what's with those big packs of cookies?"

  "Cookie?" Tian Ran glanced at the cookie Wang Jian was talking about and her face instantly turned red: "What's it to you......"

  After she finished speaking, she slammed the car door shut with great force. Accompanying the sound of the door closing, there was also a crisp sound of fabric being torn apart...

  As soon as he heard this voice, Wang Jian's face immediately turned iron blue.

  "Ah...... your back!"