Rebirth: I Am Not the Movie Queen This Time-Chapter 23 Struggle

After school in the afternoon, Wan Chu’er hurried back home.

There was an hour and a half before the evening self-study session, and she needed to go home to finish dinner with Bai Zhixi before returning to school.

Since she had said she would come back for dinner at noon, by the time Wan Chu’er got home, Bai Zhixi had just served the meal.

The pickled cucumbers were all ready, with a full two large basins prepared.

Wan Chu’er was worried about her delivering the pickled cucumbers to Wu Family Noodle House and asked about it.

Bai Zhixi smiled and said, "Don’t worry, the proprietress said she didn’t expect us to remember that joke of theirs, and I insisted on leaving that jar for her. The proprietress saw our sincerity and ordered an extra jin of pickled cucumbers, asking us to deliver four jin to their place three days later. She’s a good person."

Wan Chu’er nodded, thinking it was all because they were giving away that extra jar of pickled cucumbers.

After eating, Wan Chu’er hurried back to school.

During evening self-study, the homeroom teacher occasionally came around for a walk to intimidate those students who were not studying properly, and she paid special attention to Wan Chu’er.

Wan Chu’er’s desk was spread with a math textbook, a math workbook, and a calculation scratch pad. She furrowed her brows and had a serious, thoughtful expression, her pen swiftly scrawling mathematical formulas.

Teacher Zhu nodded inwardly, did not disturb her, and walked away.

The self-study lasted two hours, during which Wan Chu’er kept her head down and studied diligently, as if oblivious to the people around her. Before the bell rang for the end of self-study, she managed to solve her physics homework and two math problems.

As soon as the bell rang, Wan Chu’er immediately packed up her backpack without wasting a second and was the first to leave the classroom.

Liu Li, who had been watching Wan Chu’er in the classroom, breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Wan Chu’er would go to the teacher or the principal, or say something publicly to embarrass her.

Suddenly, Wan Chu’er, who had already left the classroom, reappeared in her field of vision, causing Liu Li’s heart to thump, uncertain of what Wan Chu’er was planning to do.

Wan Chu’er walked straight up to Liu Li and coldly dropped a sentence, "Remember to bring US$ 15 tomorrow morning." After saying that, she left the way she came.

The classmates around looked at Liu Li, whose face burned with embarrassment, feeling as if Wan Chu’er had slapped her in front of everyone.

After grinding her teeth, Liu Li lowered her head to pack up and hurried out of the classroom as well.

After leaving the classroom, worried about bumping into Wan Chu’er, she didn’t rush downstairs but ran from one end of the corridor to the other and took another staircase down.

She feared that Wan Chu’er might hide a stick early like at noon and jump out to hit her with it at any moment; her courage had been beaten out of her by Wan Chu’er at lunch, and she didn’t dare to provoke Wan Chu’er again.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, she had been secretly observing Wan Chu’er, who had indeed changed. Previously always curling up into a ball, wishing to be invisible, now Wan Chu’er’s back was always straight, like a sharp sword standing in the classroom, impossible to ignore.

When she arrived home in the evening, Bai Zhixi was still preparing pickled vegetables. Wan Chu’er told her to rest early before entering her room.

She dug out her middle school math textbook from the storeroom and continued to study hard.

At eleven o’clock, Bai Zhixi finished cleaning up and saw the light in her daughter’s room still on, so she came to knock on the door.

"Chuchu, rest early, you can study again tomorrow."

Wan Chu’er put down her pen and smiled, replying, "Okay, Mom, you go to sleep first, I will go to bed after washing up."

When there was no more noise coming from Bai Zhixi’s room, Wan Chu’er used a piece of cloth to block the gap under her own room’s door before turning on the light again and studying until midnight before resting.

The next day she woke up at five-thirty as usual, memorized an English text, then continued to memorize classical Chinese literature.

After reciting the Chinese and English material, it was almost six o’clock when Wan Chu’er finally left her room to wash up.

After she was done, Bai Zhixi had already prepared breakfast.

After eating, Wan Chu’er greeted her and left for school.

Upon arriving at school, Wan Chu’er didn’t go to the classroom but instead went directly to the playground behind the teaching building. Just like the day before, she ran five laps before returning to the classroom to start a day of classes and study.

That day, Wan Chu’er did not take the initiative to ask Liu Li for the US$ 15, but waited to see when Liu Li would give it to her on her own.

During the break, Liu Li pretended to step out of the classroom, briskly tossing the US$ 15 on Wan Chu’er’s desk before hurrying away.

Wan Chu’er looked at the US$ 15 on her desk, curved the corners of her mouth, and tucked the money away. Liu Li was temporarily scared off, and she waited for when Liu Li wouldn’t have the money and would explode again.

Wan Chu’er still immersed herself in her studies that day and ignored everyone else.

Tomorrow was Saturday, the day to deliver pickled cucumbers to ten restaurants. It was essential for Wan Chu’er to be there for the first delivery. She planned to take Bai Zhixi with her and deliver them one by one.

However, Wutong Middle School had classes on Saturday, too. Before the evening self-study session started, Wan Chu’er entered the teacher’s office without any hesitation and asked her head teacher, Teacher Zhu, for leave.

Teacher Zhu looked surprised, "Wan Chu’er, you want to take a day off on Saturday?"

Wan Chu’er replied, "Teacher Zhu, I have matters to attend to tomorrow, so I can’t come in."

Teacher Zhu seemed somewhat displeased and said with furrowed brows:

"Wan Chu’er, you are already in your second year of high school, and there’s not much time left before the college entrance exam. Every minute and second should be spent studying diligently. Unless it is an emergency, it is best not to ask for leave."

It was unexpected for Teacher Zhu to be so reluctant to grant her leave, and Wan Chu’er was slightly surprised.

"Teacher Zhu, tomorrow’s matters are extremely important to both my mother and me. I must take a leave of absence, please approve it."

Eventually, amidst Teacher Zhu’s displeasure, Wan Chu’er insisted and took the leave. She wasn’t too concerned about Teacher Zhu’s displeasure.

Nowadays, teachers and schools cared most about their students’ grades. As long as the grades were excellent, everything else could be discussed. Wan Chu’er was confident that she would earn high grades at the end of the term, and by then, Teacher Zhu wouldn’t remember any displeasure.

It was only on the following morning that Bai Zhixi found out Wan Chu’er had taken the day off. She wanted to say something but, thinking of her daughter’s decisiveness, she closed her mouth again.

Mother and daughter packed the pickled cucumbers into ten small bags, each bag varying in weight, corresponding to the order requirements of each restaurant.

They each carried ten pounds of pickled cucumbers out the door, planning to come back for more after these deliveries were completed.

Carrying ten pounds, only a few steps into the journey, Wan Chu’er felt very tired already. She thought to herself that she really needed to exercise more.