After school, Jiang Yueming was called to the office.
His homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhou, was a man in his forties who wore glasses and spoke in a slow, deliberate manner.
Mr. Zhou sighed, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.
“Chinese: 67, Math: 141, English: 53… Jiang Yueming, your grades are quite heavily skewed.”
Jiang Yueming kept his head down and said nothing.
Mr. Zhou sighed again. “I know some people just don’t have a knack for Chinese, but your score is dragging you down too much. Look at your math—141, that’s excellent. If your Chinese could reach 100 and you put in some effort with English, you could make it into the top fifty in the grade.”
Jiang Yueming remained silent, staring at the tips of his shoes.
Mr. Zhou paused, then said, “How about this? I’ll have the class representative tutor you.”
Jiang Yueming looked up. The homeroom teacher called out toward the other side of the office.
In the corner, a girl with two braided pigtails was busy grading homework. Upon hearing the call, she put down her pen and walked over.
“Teacher.”
“Could you do me a favor and help Jiang Yueming with his Chinese after school for the next few days?” Mr. Zhou pointed at Jiang Yueming. “It won’t take long, just about an hour each time.”
Wen Xiaoyu didn’t answer immediately. She turned her head and glanced at Jiang Yueming beside her.
Her gaze was still calm and indifferent, like a pool of still water. When Jiang Yueming met her eyes, his heartbeat skipped a beat.
Oh no, he thought.
She had always disliked trouble. She probably wouldn’t agree.
Of course. Why would she sacrifice her after-school time to tutor him? As the Chinese class representative, she already had a lot on her plate with grading homework and other duties. She had no reason to bother with a hopeless case like him.
He felt a wave of disappointment and stared at his shoes again, waiting for the inevitable “I’m sorry, teacher, I don’t have time.”
“…If it’s Jiang classmate…”
A soft voice sounded.
Jiang Yueming was stunned and looked up.
“I can do it,” she said.
Jiang Yueming froze.
Mr. Zhou nodded in satisfaction. “Then it’s settled. You can start today. Are you almost done with the homework?”
“There are three left. I’ll be finished soon.”
“Good.” Mr. Zhou turned to Jiang Yueming. “Go wait for her in the classroom.”
Jiang Yueming stood there watching Wen Xiaoyu return to the corner to continue grading papers.
That sentence she just said—
“If it’s Jiang classmate, then I can do it.”
What did she mean by that?
Jiang Yueming walked out of the office. He still didn’t fully understand what she meant, but his steps were noticeably lighter, and he looked to be in a good mood.
…
The setting sun hung by the window. The office was very quiet, filled only with the sound of writing.
Soon, Wen Xiaoyu finished grading the homework. After saying goodbye to the homeroom teacher, she left the office.
The corridor was quiet at this hour. Most students had already left eagerly, and there weren’t many people left on campus.
She was going to tutor Jiang Yueming, so she would probably get home a bit later tonight.
Thinking back to what she had said earlier, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed—just a tiny bit.
She didn’t know why she had agreed.
Maybe it was because… of the way he secretly looked at her. That cautious, somewhat silly gaze.
Wen Xiaoyu actually knew that Jiang Yueming often stole glances at her. He thought he was hiding it well, but girls were very perceptive creatures.
Every time she collected homework, she could feel his gaze on her. The moment she turned her head, he would hurriedly look away, pretending to focus on something else.
It was silly.
But she didn’t dislike it.
Strangely enough, when other people looked at her that way, she felt disgusted, like she was being peeped on, and wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
But when Jiang Yueming looked at her like that, she actually… felt a little happy?
It was hard to describe the feeling. It was like being noticed, remembered, and kept in someone’s heart. Then, unconsciously, she would want to show more of herself to him, like a child.
She didn’t notice that her footsteps were gradually speeding up.
“Will one hour be too short? His Chinese is really bad…”
Wen Xiaoyu thought to herself, not realizing when she had become such a helpful and enthusiastic person.
She kept her head down, watching her toes step forward one by one, until a pair of unfamiliar shoes suddenly appeared in her field of vision.
Wen Xiaoyu stopped and looked up.
The light of the setting sun shone from behind the person in front of her, making her squint slightly. She could only see a slender, quiet silhouette standing in the middle of the corridor, as if specifically waiting for someone.
“Hello,” Xia He said with a smile. “Wen Xiaoyu, right?”
Wen Xiaoyu nodded. She knew this person—Xia He, the young miss of the Xia family, whose reputation echoed loudly throughout the school.
“Is something the matter?”
“Yes,” Xia He took a step closer, her tone gentle. “Are you going to tutor Jiang Yueming?”
Wen Xiaoyu nodded. Xia He’s smile deepened.
“Here’s the thing—he asked me to tell you that something came up today, so there’s no need for tutoring. Oh, actually, there’s no need for tutoring anymore in the future either.”
Wen Xiaoyu’s slender brows furrowed slightly.
“Huh? But the teacher just said…”
Xia He shook her head, interrupting her. With her hands behind her back, she smiled at Wen Xiaoyu. An inexplicable sense of unyielding authority suddenly appeared around her.
“He doesn’t want to do the tutoring. You know his Chinese has always been poor. He feels embarrassed and didn’t know how to tell you directly, so he asked me to pass on the message.”
Wen Xiaoyu’s frown deepened. The way Xia He spoke made it sound like she and Jiang Yueming were very close.
“But if his grades are bad, that’s exactly why he needs tutoring. It has nothing to do with embarrassment.”
“I already told you—he doesn’t want tutoring,” Xia He said calmly and unhurriedly.
Wen Xiaoyu was silent for a few seconds. For some reason, she suddenly felt a strong dislike for the girl in front of her.
“Why didn’t he come tell me himself?”
“He’s embarrassed.”
Wen Xiaoyu clearly didn’t understand what Jiang Yueming meant. She had no idea that Xia He’s behavior was an open declaration of ownership.
“I’m going to ask him myself.”
Wen Xiaoyu started walking, moving past Xia He toward the classroom to ask Jiang Yueming directly.
As she brushed past Xia He, she heard the young miss let out a soft laugh. The sound was like a snake flicking its tongue.
“Wait.”
Wen Xiaoyu turned her head. What met her eyes was a pair of ice-cold gazes. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, and she suddenly found herself unable to move.
The curve at the corner of the girl’s mouth had not changed. Wen Xiaoyu saw the red string on her wrist begin to glow, growing brighter and brighter until the entire world was engulfed by that light.
…
[Seventh Simulation Starting… World Correction in Progress…]
…
In the classroom.
Jiang Yueming sat by the window, quietly waiting.
How long had he been waiting?
He checked his watch. Twenty minutes had already passed, and the person the teacher arranged still hadn’t shown up.
Bored, he turned his head to look at the sunset outside the window.
The massive ball of fire had already sunk behind the teaching building, showing only half its face and setting the clouds on the horizon ablaze in orange-red.
He thought that since it was Chinese tutoring, the homeroom teacher would most likely arrange for Wen Xiaoyu, the Chinese class representative, to handle it.
It was very possible.
A spark of anticipation suddenly rose in his heart.
Come to think of it, he had never spoken to Wen Xiaoyu alone before. Every time was just when she collected homework—she came, he handed it over, she nodded. That was it.
If he could spend an hour alone with her…
Just as he was thinking, footsteps sounded at the classroom door. Someone was coming.
He sat up straight and looked expectantly toward the door.
The door opened, and his hopes were instantly dashed.
“Xia He?”
Flowing long hair drifted in the air as he met a pair of smiling, flower-like eyes.
“Why are you here?”
Xia He walked over in a few steps and leaned against his desk. A faint, pleasant fragrance immediately spread through the air.
“I’m here to tutor you, of course.”
Xia He gave a playful smile, fully displaying the liveliness of a young girl.
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