Yu Jie thoughtfully brought over a small knife, and Jiang Chan swiftly divided the pill into four. “Alright, take it like this. I’ll wash my hands and give you acupuncture in a moment.”
Hearing that Jiang Chan was about to give Yang Liuqing acupuncture, even Wen Jing sat up from where she had been lying with her poultice. “I want to watch!”
“Me too!”
Yu Jie raised her little hand as well. Jiang Chan smiled. “Watch if you like, but don’t disturb me.”
The two nodded vigorously. They had never seen acupuncture. Now that their roommate had revealed this hidden skill, their curiosity was almost unbearable.
Wen Jing and Yu Jie brought stools to Yang Liuqing’s bedside. After washing her hands, Jiang Chan lifted Yang Liuqing’s clothing to expose her abdomen. Her fingers brushed lightly over it. “Far too cold.”
Yang Liuqing smiled bitterly. “I’m terribly sensitive to cold. In winter, I can’t do without hot-water bottles and heat patches.”
Jiang Chan turned to pick up the silver needles. After disinfecting them with alcohol, she flicked one lightly, making it ring faintly. Although Wen Jing and Yu Jie still could not judge the depth of her medical skill, they felt that everything about her proclaimed an expert.
“It’s alright. It’s just like an ant bite. It won’t hurt,” Jiang Chan reassured Yang Liuqing. As she spoke, she had already inserted a silver needle into an acupuncture point on her abdomen.
Her movements were so fast that Wen Jing and Yu Jie saw only a blur before nine gleaming needles stood in Yang Liuqing’s abdomen. Jiang Chan was not finished. Bending her fingers, she flicked repeatedly, her hands passing gracefully over the nine needles.
They immediately began to hum and slowly vibrate beneath Wen Jing’s and Yu Jie’s astonished gazes. Only after nine rounds of flicking did Jiang Chan withdraw her hands.
The technique consumed a great deal of concentration, and fine sweat covered her face. The attentive Yu Jie hurried to wipe it away. Jiang Chan caught her breath. She was still too weak. She would have to exercise more.
A quarter of an hour later, Jiang Chan removed the needles from Yang Liuqing’s abdomen. Yang Liuqing sat up and touched her warm belly. “Xiao Chan, it’s so warm! It feels as though I’m holding a hot-water bottle against my stomach. It’s never been this warm before.”
Jiang Chan disinfected the needles. “You also have a congenital deficiency of kidney qi. After we dispel the dampness and cold in your body, we’ll need to replenish your yang. Ideally, future acupuncture sessions should be at noon, when the earth’s yang energy is strongest. The effect will be best then.”
By the time the room was tidied, it was around ten. They stopped talking. Some read while others slept. Yang Liuqing curled beneath her quilt with a hot-water bottle at her feet, her cheeks rosy in sleep.
Yu Jie leaned over to look at her sleeping face and whispered, “Liuqing is sleeping so soundly. Xiao Chan’s medical skills are wonderful!”
Wen Jing’s lips curved. “I’m sleeping too. Yu Jie, time to turn off the light.”
Everyone in the dormitory enjoyed a peaceful night.
City High marked papers very quickly. By the third lesson that morning, all the results were out, and the top hundred students in the Placement Test had been posted on the honors board.
Clearly, the teachers had worked overtime the previous night. Jiang Chan had even noticed Old Jiang’s dark circles that morning. As homeroom teacher, his workload was probably heavier still.
Who said students did not care about rankings? Amid the tedium of studying, rankings were probably one of the few things that gave them a sense of achievement. During the break, almost everyone flocked to the honors board.
Jiang Chan remained in her seat, reading her mathematics competition book. She had no interest in her ranking because she knew how she had performed.
She had estimated her score immediately after the exams. Science subjects were easy to score well in once one mastered the formulas and theorems. Chinese and English would depend on the examiners.
Two minutes before class, some students finally returned. The first few cast awed looks at Jiang Chan as they entered, their glances full of meaning.
Before they could say anything, their classmates surrounded them. Top students had their pride. However much they cared about their rankings, they would not crowd around the board like everyone else.
At most, they would glance at it while supposedly passing by, looking only until they found their own names.
“Well? Who came first in the year this time? Was it Jiang Ning?”
“Of course it was our Jiang Ning. She’s never dropped out of first place.”
“I’m not so sure. That one might change things.” A girl shook her head and gave Jiang Chan a discreet glance. Jiang Chan remained in her seat, entirely uninterested in their conversation.
“How much could someone who skipped a grade change? How could she compare with our Jiang Ning?” said a girl beside Jiang Ning, her manner haughty and her tone dismissive.
The sports representative, who had gone to check the results, swallowed. “She came first in the year. Full marks in every science subject, and only one mark lost each in Chinese and English. She ranked first in the year in every subject.”
“What?”
The classroom erupted. Everyone whispered among themselves. This was the Placement Test, with its outrageously difficult papers, and someone had still scored full marks? The self-proclaimed top students of Class One could no longer sit still.
Jiang Ning’s smile froze completely. She turned sharply, only to find Jiang Chan still bent over her book, paying no attention to what they were saying.
Jiang Ning bit her lip resentfully. What was this supposed to mean? Did the things they cared about so much mean so little to her? What could possibly deserve her attention?
“I’ve heard about her for ages. She completely outclasses everyone in her year. As long as she’s there, the others can only compete for second. Some even compare how close they can get to her score.”
“That’s going to be difficult. When someone is almost always getting full marks, any comparison would make you feel helpless, wouldn’t it?”
“Everyone, she only spent one term in first year, and she went away for competitions too. Altogether, she spent barely more than two months studying. We’ve studied for almost two years and she still beats us so thoroughly. That’s terrifying!”
“When you put it like that, the more I think about it, the scarier it gets.”
“Exactly. Old Jiang must be grinning his head off. I heard he went to enormous trouble to get her into his class. She’ll probably be his favorite from now on.”
“If your grades were as good as Jiang Chan’s, you’d be my favorite too.”
Old Jiang, who had entered unnoticed, regarded the student who had just spoken with a knowing smile. The student wisely fell silent, drawing good-natured laughter from the others.
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