Qingyun's Love: Tiger Boy Falls in Love with a Pretty Lawyer

Ran Mo recalled an experience of friendship in his previous life.

When she transferred to a city school, there was a boy who treated her very well. He looked very masculine, spoke in a funny way, and was quite prestigious in the class.

He asked her help with math problems and told her jokes, making her feel a different kind of warmth in this class that originally seemed cold.

At the time, there was a popular test game in class where we calculated the difference in the number of strokes in names to infer their relationships. There were good, bad, and other results.

She secretly tested her relationship with him. He also lowered his head to calculate.

After a while, he raised his head and looked at her with a red face and a smile. She asked him calmly: What did you find out?

He smiled and said to her, "Look at the third one." She already knew the answer, but she looked down to confirm it. It was, of course, "sweetheart."

The result of the test between her and him turned out to be this heart-shaking word. It seems that this thing is quite accurate.

She pretended to be dismissive, but he couldn't help himself, sometimes laughing, sometimes looking down to savor the moment, like a hysterical person. He really cared about the outcome of such a hard-to-determine game.

He was Ranmo's greatest achievement in terms of friendship among classmates at this school, and it had even developed into a delicate friendship. In this key middle school where she wasn't particularly happy, having a close friend like him, someone with whom she could communicate sincerely, was a kind of compensation and balance.

Sadly, with the Gaokao approaching, she and he no longer had much time or space to communicate, no matter how close they were. They had never visited each other's homes or eaten out together, their time together limited to brief periods at school.

She had an unspeakable hardship. The difference between her and him was obvious. He was a local, and even if he didn't get into university, he could still stay in the city and easily find a job.

But she, if she failed the exam, would have to return to that remote town in disgrace, to live a boring and terrible life. She would probably die. This was the reality she had to face.

So, sorry, this friendship was a bit inappropriate, and she couldn't afford it. Maybe she was overthinking it, but for her own future, she could only devote herself to studying and preparing for the exam. Everything else had to be put aside.

Unexpectedly, this release would last a lifetime.

Ranmo also had a bad habit: after being with someone for a while, she'd always find a reason to ignore them for a while, even going so far as to not talk to them. Better friends would schedule a timeframe before they could talk or reconcile. She had no idea what was going on. It felt a bit like she was just asking for trouble.

She had decided to change this habit. But now, somehow, like a heavy opium addiction, she wanted to try this trick on Qingsheng again. If he really cared about her, he would still be kind to her even if he ignored her for ten days or half a month, right?

Deep down, she still harbored a certain inferiority complex. She felt that Qingsheng's circumstances, including his family background, were vastly superior to hers. Perhaps he didn't mind, but she still needed to focus on becoming stronger, just like she had when preparing for the Gaokao. Besides, he had a whole family to deal with. Whether she could confidently enter his home with dignity and confidence wasn't entirely up to her current standards.

Her ideas of equality were probably not applicable in this era of strict hierarchy and emphasis on matching of social status. She needed to be fully prepared.

Isn't now the time to exercise some reserve and maintain distance? Ranmo has made up his mind. Even if it's a decision he knows is foolish, he still has to act recklessly. This process will obviously be painful.

Qingsheng, please forgive me for having my own difficulties.

On the evening of the second day, Qingsheng came to look for Ranmo. Ranmo saw him in the courtyard and came out to greet him. He asked him to go for a walk with him.

Qingsheng agreed, looking up at her from time to time, as if still immersed in the sweetness of yesterday.

When they reached the same alleyway as last night, Ranmo stopped. Qingsheng, assuming she was still going there, happily turned around and prepared to go. Ranmo called out to him. He looked at her in confusion.

Ranmo calmed down and said, "Qingsheng, I have something to tell you." Qingsheng heard it and turned to face her, waiting for her to speak. Ranmo almost wanted to stop talking, and after a moment of hesitation, she said, "Don't you think things are moving too fast between us?"

Qingsheng laughed and said, "You call this fast? I thought it was slow. If I had known..." He didn't say anything else. A slight blush appeared on his face.

Ran Mo couldn't bear to disturb his mood too much, so he said, "How about we play a game?" When Qing Sheng heard the word "game", he nodded in agreement and asked what game it was.

Ran Mo said, "Let's not talk to each other for a month." Qing Sheng was stunned when he heard this. Then he laughed and said, "You and I are not dumb. Besides, being a lawyer depends on talking. How can I not talk?"

Ran Mo said seriously: "I'm talking about between us. Let's just pretend that we are not very familiar with each other. Don't say irrelevant things and don't interact with each other often." Qing Sheng looked at her face carefully and wanted to touch her forehead to see if she had a fever.

Ran Mo dodged and said, "Don't take this as a joke. I'm serious." Qing Sheng's expression grew a little stern. He asked, "Why is that?"

"The main consideration is that we all have our own academic tasks to complete. We can't get too caught up in our children and relationships."

Qingsheng remained silent. After a moment, he said with a slightly melancholic tone, "Why don't you tell the truth? It's simply that my reckless behavior yesterday angered you, and you want to punish me for this, right?"

Ran Mo hurriedly said, "That's not the case. I don't blame you. I really just want to let things cool down a bit between us. Once we've finished our respective tasks, can we reconcile as before?"

"Make peace as before? Do you mean that we have conflicts and rifts now? If it wasn't what happened yesterday, then tell me what I did wrong and I will change, right?" Qingsheng asked doubtfully.

Ran Mo couldn't argue with him, so she just made up her mind and said, "There's no point in saying more. It's settled. For the next month, you and I will be strangers and won't speak to each other." After saying that, she turned away. She cursed herself for being such a troublemaker, the kind who would die if she didn't do it.

Qingsheng stood behind her, his eyes slightly red. He couldn't understand why his close friend, whom he had once believed to be able to talk about anything and resolve any conflict, had acted so bizarrely.

He asked dejectedly, "What if I can't help talking? What should I do?" "Then I'll be punished for an extra month," Ran Mo replied.

Qingsheng's mood from last night to today was like falling from heaven to earth. He angrily said, "Then it's up to you," and then turned and strode away.

Ran Mo turned around and looked at his back, wanting to slap herself twice. Tears welled in her eyes as she muttered to herself, "Qingsheng, forgive my impulsiveness and boredom. It all depends on whether you can help me get rid of this inner demon."

Since that day, Ranmo went to school every day and never set up a lawyer's stall again. Qingsheng also didn't come to see her again these days.

Mother was still wondering why Qingsheng had disappeared. Could he have returned to Dayue City? Then she should have said hello.

When asked about Ranmo, Ranmo said, as Qingsheng's father had said, that he had hired a hermit master as his teacher. He was probably busy practicing martial arts these days and had no time to come.

Mother couldn't figure it out either. It was just a little regretful. Qingsheng wasn't the rude kind of kid. Perhaps it was this little Mo'er who had offended him again. She wanted to ask for the reason, but Ranmo remained silent. She could only let it go for now.

After school that day, Ranmo and Azan walked out of the school gate together. When they reached the intersection, they suddenly saw a few people coming over. Ranmo looked and saw that it was Wu Shao and his group, with that gentleman in the middle.

She hurriedly pulled Azan and tried to go the other way. Wu Shao's voice came from the other side. Ran Mo had no choice but to stop and answer.

Wu Shao came over to talk to her, and Ran Mo returned some greetings before preparing to leave with Azan.

Wu Shaohua looked at her and Qingsheng curiously. How could these two people, who were once so inseparable, not say a word to each other? Qingsheng stood there, looking down on everyone with an air of superiority.

Ranmo felt quite embarrassed and pulled Azan away. Wu Shao wanted to speak, but stopped.

Azan was extremely anxious. Didn't they agree to introduce him to Qingsheng? Why was he leaving without even saying a word? Ranmo shook him off and walked forward. He had no choice but to follow.

The people nearby thought they were just having a minor disagreement, like a young couple's quarrel that would soon be reconciled. So, they laughed it off and escorted Qingsheng away.

Azan caught up with Ranmo and asked her if she had argued with Qingsheng. Ranmo replied directly that they had not argued. Suddenly, she remembered what happened that night and felt annoyed when she mentioned it.

Afraid that Azan would ask more questions, he simply said that he and Qingsheng each had things to do and agreed not to talk too much. Whether Azan believed him or not was up to him.

Azan burst out laughing after hearing this. This was the first time he had seen this kind of interaction. Wouldn't he be left out in the cold then?

Azan rolled his eyes, grabbed Ranmo and said, "That's easy. You only said you wouldn't communicate verbally, but you didn't say you wouldn't exchange letters or send messages. From now on, I'll act as your messenger."

Ranmo looked at him and sighed, "You've really thought of me so well." But there was no need to even talk, let alone write a letter. He told Azan not to worry about their affairs and to let everything take its course.

Upon hearing this, Azan seemed to be lost in thought, his eyes flickering.

One day in class, Azan saw Ranmo and said happily, "I got some information for you. That person asked me to give you a message." Ranmo didn't understand what he was talking about.

Azan leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Ranmo's expression changed slightly.

Azan told her that he had passed by the door of Mr. Wu's house yesterday and ran into Qingsheng. Since they had met before, they greeted each other. When he was about to leave, Qingsheng suddenly called him and asked him to give Ranmo a message.

Ran Mo looked at him. Azan continued, "He said he's been studying law lately and wants you to return the law notebook you borrowed from him last time. He'll give it to you after you've finished reading it."

Ran Mo thought, "Okay, so you're asking for things back now, right? Just take them all."

Azan added, "He said he only wanted the one with a few small words on it, you know."

At this moment, the teacher came into the classroom. The two stopped talking and focused on studying.

Ranmo returned home and flipped through the notebook Qingsheng had given her. There were two of them. The contents were similar, except for one embarrassing difference: one had Qingsheng's name on it, the other had Ranmo's.

Ranmo thought about it and prepared to return the notebook with Qingsheng's name on it. He knew that those two small words were written by her. But they were just two small words. Could they be used as dry food?