My Little Girl (55)

By the time Shu Nuan arrived at the Yulin Academy, Su Hai and her other cla.s.smates were gathered outside .

As soon as she walked over, Shu Nuan overheard Su Hai saying to Qi Yue while extending his hand, “Give up the silver . ” 

Qi Yue snorted . He hesitated before pulling out a yinpiao[1] from his robe and throwing it towards Su Hai, then gazed at Shu Nuan who had just shown up .

A few of the students nearby had laughing expressions .

Shu Nuan was in a daze and wore a confused look . ‘What’s going on?’ she seemed to be asking .

Su Hai waved a bunch of Yinpiao and said with a smile, “We bet on whether you would show up or not . But more people bet against you coming . I got a lot of silver because of you!”

Shu Nuan looking at them and commented, “You guys are silly . ” 

“This is interesting”-Su Hai paused to give a joyous laugh-”What do you want to eat? My treat!” 

Having gathered rather early in the day, they planned to visit the famous Nuan Yu Terrace of the capital .

Their destination was in Gaotai Mountain, beyond that mountain there’s a lake beside . The view on the Gaotai mountain was pleasant and a great part of the capital could be seen .

People liked to come here to drink and write poems in their spare time .

As students of the Yulin Academy, it wasn’t surprising for them to appear here .  

Standing on the boat they had hired to reach the terrace, many people displayed amazement at the beautiful scenery around them . However, Su Hai was calm and showed no such reaction . “There’s nothing to shout about . I’ve gotten tired of watching it from since I was a child . ” 

Qi Yue gave him a dull look . “You are a genuine citizen of the capital . Why say such hateful words?”

The other students scolded Su Hai as well .  

On the other hand, Jing Fei had noticed Shu Nuan sitting in front of him, holding her knees and staring at the terrace that was drawing closer . He asked, “Have you been here before, Shu Nuan?”

Shu Nuan turned back and answered, “No . ”

Qi Yue sat down and joked, “I understand Shu Nuan’s temperament . How could such a deep person show a superficial reaction!”

 Their cla.s.smates burst out with laughter .

Shu Nuan gazed at them with amus.e.m.e.nt . She didn’t seem to understand the reason behind their laughter .

 Arriving at the Nuan Yu Terrace, Shu Nuan heard Su Hai shout, “Boys and girls, cherish today’s good times . We will struggle for the examination starting tomorrow!”

One student couldn’t hold back his emotions . “We must always be in the same cla.s.s! Don’t abandon each other!”

 Qi Yue kicked him without pause . “Get out of here . I’m going to be in Cla.s.s 9!”

 “You want to abandon us!”

 Qi Yue faced Shu Nuan with a complacent expression, and asked, “It must be the same for you, right?”

 Shu Nun bit her lips and confessed . “I don’t mind either way . I’m glad to have met you all . ”

Su Hai interjected, “Ah! Shu Nuan is sensible . ”

The party stayed there until almost noon, during which time many students wrote poems . Jing Fei wrote an article as well, convincing many people of his intelligence .

However, Shu Nuan just enjoyed the view of the terrace . The simple and quiet scenery seemed to have improved her mood .

 At noon, they went back to the capital by boat to find a restaurant for lunch and later proposed to go to the w.a.n.gyue forest outside the capital .

Hearing that it was a forest, Shu Nuan frowned a little . “Is it far?”

 Su Hai said, “It’s not far . It’s only a short walk to the west side of the capital . ”

 Hearing this, Shu Nuan remained silent .

Since it wasn’t too far, she thought she’d be able to make it back before dark .

[1] Yinpiao – Silver value notes – paper money in Ancient China