Chapter 289 : Don’t Do Anything Reckless!
“It’s been so long since we walked this route together,” Ling Ning remarked as she took in the familiar scenery along the road.
She was walking to school with Xia You. Today was their graduation ceremony, marking the last time they would go to school as high school students.
Ling Ning felt a bittersweet nostalgia—it had been almost a year since her reincarnation, during which she had experienced high school life all over again.
“Mm~”
Xia You murmured, walking beside her. Although they wouldn’t be taking this route often in the future, they had another path ahead of them—they’d both been accepted to S University. The thought of attending the same school, in the same program, filled Xia You with a happy excitement.
“Oh, right, Ling Ning. The other day, I saw a girl near the apartment entrance wearing your white dress, the one with the ink stain,”
Xia You mentioned, bringing up something she’d been curious about.
“Oh, her? She’s a new friend from Japan. When she came over, she accidentally got her clothes wet, so I lent her that dress.”
“She’s a fantastic cook! I’ll introduce you to her next time.”
“Oh~”
Xia You replied, nodding thoughtfully. She realized she had been spending too much time gaming, and now yet another green tea girl had appeared in Ling Ning’s life. She reached instinctively for the folding knife in her pocket.
When they arrived at school, Ling Ning was immediately summoned to the office by Ye Xuan.
“Here, this is the speech you’ll need for your graduation address. I’ve already written it out for you,” Ye Xuan said, handing her a script.
“Huh?! It’s not one of those old, clichéd speeches, is it?”
“Don’t worry—I revised it myself,” Ye Xuan assured her. The school’s original draft had been so bland that even she couldn’t stand it, so she’d taken it upon herself to rewrite it.
If it weren’t for Ling Ning giving the speech, she wouldn’t have bothered putting in the effort. It had also been a while since she’d had a chance to touch Ling Ning’s long legs.
Just as Ling Ning was reviewing the speech, she felt a hand on her thigh. Startled, she looked down to see Ye Xuan’s hand resting on her leg.
“There are other teachers here. Don’t do anything reckless!” she whispered to Ye Xuan, embarrassed that she would dare be so bold with others around.
“It’s fine; they can’t see us from here,” Ye Xuan replied nonchalantly, relishing the feel of Ling Ning’s smooth legs.
“You…”
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Graduation Day.
All the students were gathered in the school auditorium, neatly lining up and sitting down under the teachers’ guidance. Since the ceremony was for the graduating class, the seniors were seated in the front rows.
Ling Ning looked around, surprised by how many students there were. She hadn’t realized just how large her school was.
“Attention, everyone!”
Announced a middle-aged man with a receding hairline—the head of student affairs.
The speech began with the same old tired phrases that Ling Ning recalled hearing during previous ceremonies. She thought back on her three years of high school, noting that every year’s graduation speech had started in exactly the same way. No wonder it sounded so familiar.
Though most of the students put on an appearance of listening intently, only a few were genuinely paying attention. Most were just pretending to listen, their minds already wandering.
Ling Ning couldn’t understand why they insisted on such long-winded speeches when nobody was really listening. Why not just keep it brief and stick to the main points? After all, wasn’t time equal to money, and money to life?
“Ling Ning, wake up!”
Someone nudged her, and Ling Ning slowly opened her bleary eyes. The school leader’s speech had been so… inspiring that she had dozed off.
As her eyes adjusted, she noticed that everyone around her, including the teachers and the school leaders on stage, were staring at her. For a moment, she panicked, wondering if she had spoken in her sleep or had done something embarrassing to draw all this attention.
“It’s your turn to give the speech.”
Whispered Xu Qing, who was sitting beside her. She noted that Ling Ning seemed just as groggy as she had been at the start of the school year, back when she’d spent most of her time napping.
At Xu Qing’s words, Ling Ning suddenly remembered her scheduled speech. No wonder everyone was staring at her.
Quickly composing herself, she stood up and walked to the stage. As she reached the podium, applause broke out from the audience, even louder than for the principal’s speech. After all, who would prefer listening to an aging, balding man over the school beauty? If she had delivered the previous speeches, at least half the students would have listened intently.
Standing at the podium, Ling Ning reached into her pocket for the speech script Ye Xuan had given her, only to realize she wasn’t wearing a skirt with pockets. The speech must still be in the classroom!
Seeing her distressed expression, Ye Xuan realized immediately what had happened. But with Ling Ning already on stage, there was nothing she could do to help.
Taking a deep breath, Ling Ning decided to wing it.
“The school leaders have already covered a lot, so I won’t bore you with repetition. And I definitely won’t tell you that I forgot my speech in the classroom just now.”
Her remark was met with laughter from the audience, while the school leaders looked on with mixed expressions.
“Since I don’t have my script, let’s just talk casually about studying…”
With that, Ling Ning improvised, drawing from her experiences in both of her lives. She surprised even herself with how much she could ramble on about seemingly nothing.
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Author’s Note:
Four updates are done! I owe you all one more, so tomorrow’s looking like another four-update day. And I’m supposed to hang out with friends on Sunday—looks like I’m in for it!