Chen Qiao waited until school was over and thoughtfully assigned Lin Na a few math problems.
The more you practice, the better you’ll get, even if you’re a novice.
“See you this afternoon, Chen Qiao,” Lin Na said as she slung her school bag over her shoulder and waved goodbye to him.
“Be careful on the way home with your sister,” he replied.
“Don’t treat me like a kid!”
Lin Na clenched her small fists and pouted in discontent.
She felt that ever since yesterday afternoon, Chen Qiao had been treating her like a younger sister.
She often ruffled her sister’s hair, even though they were almost the same height and age.
In fact, she might even be a bit older than him.
“When were you born, Chen Qiao?”
“Me? The twenty-fifth of the seventh lunar month.”
“Are you an ox?”
“Yeah, what about you? When’s your birthday?”
“June eighth. I’m also an ox.”
She was indeed a month older than Chen Qiao.
That gave her even more reason to pat him on the head.
“Our birthdays are both in the summer vacation. That’s quite a coincidence,” Chen Qiao said with a natural smile, pleased to have learned Lin Na’s birthday.
It was a good opportunity to build a closer relationship.
“Uh-huh, I’d better go. I don’t want to keep my sister waiting for too long,” Lin Na replied, feeling a bit flustered by the word “coincidence.”
It reminded her of the TV dramas she had been watching lately.
She hurried out of the classroom as if she were escaping.
Chen Qiao, however, wasn’t in a hurry to go home.
There was nothing for him to do there.
His mother would get off work and start cooking at eleven, and he didn’t need to wash the rice.
His sister still had twenty minutes before she got out of school.
If he left in half an hour, he would meet her on the way home.
Besides, there were no classes in the classroom at noon.
Wu Xinyu had originally planned to come back in the afternoon to copy the remaining two application problems.
But then she decided to finish copying them all before going home so that she could take a nap and come back later.
She declined the invitation from Lian Shumei, who was also the daughter of a middle school Chinese teacher.
They were the same age and grade, and they usually went to and from school together.
They were also academic rivals.
After copying the problems, Wu Xinyu clapped the chalk dust off her hands, held onto the blackboard with one hand, slowly squatted down, and carefully put on her shoes.
When she picked up her stool, she noticed that Chen Qiao was still in the classroom.
Was he studying hard?
What a hypocrite!
Disgusting!
A schemer!
He seemed to be playing around on the surface but was secretly studying.
She had discovered his secret today!
Lin Na’s grades were already poor.
Wu Xinyu couldn’t imagine how bad they would get if she continued dating Chen Qiao.
Wu Xinyu felt disgusted by the hand that Chen Qiao had touched yesterday.
She would have to wash it thoroughly when she got home.
It was covered in chalk dust now, which made it even dirtier.
Wu Xinyu slammed her chair down in the reading corner, making a loud noise.
Chen Qiao looked up, saw Wu Xinyu’s angry expression, glanced back at the blackboard, and immediately understood.
He was quite responsible.
Chen Qiao turned his head and solved those application problems.
He was tired of writing his novel and decided to study a bit to relax.
Wu Xinyu was even more annoyed watching Chen Qiao’s back.
She felt like she had stayed to finish copying just for him.
She wanted to see when Chen Qiao would leave.
But she had already finished her homework.
She planned to systematically preview the junior high school knowledge during the summer vacation.
She had quite a few good friends who were junior high school teachers on the middle school side.
She could ask them any questions directly.
Responsible.
Bored, Wu Xinyu looked at the books on the reading corner shelf.
They were all uninteresting and unenlightening.
Chen Qiao, as the librarian, had really let her down.
In less than a day, Wu Xinyu’s impression of Chen Qiao had taken a turn for the worse.
He not only didn’t study well himself but also influenced his deskmate.
Wu Xinyu took out “Red Rock.”
At least this book was worth reading.
Chen Qiao glanced at the classroom clock.
It was half past eleven.
It was about time to leave.
He got up with his notebook, surprised to see that Wu Xinyu was still there.
He asked curiously, “Why haven’t you left after such a long time since school’s out?”
“Haven’t you left either?”
“Because there’s no food waiting for me at home.”
He usually waited for his sister to come back and eat together.
“I’m leaving now. You should go home early too, so your parents won’t worry.”
“I’m leaving too. No need for you to worry about me.”
Wu Xinyu didn’t like Chen Qiao’s condescending tone.
As soon as Chen Qiao walked out of the classroom, Wu Xinyu followed closely behind.
Chen Qiao felt a prickling sensation on his back but still didn’t understand what he had done to upset this top student.
After all, he was the one who had been hit by the basketball.
He was the one who should be angry.
As for the illusion that she liked him, that was definitely impossible.
Chen Qiao had only shown off a little in front of the English teacher so far.
He hadn’t even started to exercise.
If it were an older sister with a preference for young boys, she might like him.
Because of his sedentary lifestyle and frequent illnesses, his skin had a sickly pale look, and he had delicate features.
Chen Qiao and Wu Xinyu walked downstairs one after the other.
Wu Xinyu had no intention of walking side by side with Chen Qiao.
By this time, some studious boarders had already eaten lunch and come to the classroom to study.
As they passed by, greeting each other, many were old acquaintances from grade six.
They were used to seeing Chen Qiao and Wu Xinyu together and were just curious why they hadn’t gone home yet.
“Wu Xinyu has copied all the application problems on the blackboard,” someone said.
“Really?”
Upon hearing this, the students became ecstatic and rushed straight to the classroom without even a glance at Chen Qiao and Wu Xinyu.
Such was their dedication to learning.
“It sounds like you’re taking the credit,” Wu Xinyu remarked sharply, her dissatisfaction almost overflowing.
“Sorry, you’ll have to answer on your own later,” Chen Qiao replied.
No one asked any further questions.
As they passed by the cafeteria, the aroma of food wafted through the air, making them hungry.
A group of younger students were playing and splashing water while washing their lunch boxes, only to be scolded by a teacher.
The minimum boarding age at Baiyun Primary School was grade three, and they were the ones who caused the most worry for the teachers.
As they walked downhill, they could see the grocery store across the way, where people were playing a top-spinning duel in a pan-like arena in front of the door.
After watching animated shows like “Battle King” and “Powerful Warrior,” the trend had shifted from yo-yos a few years back, which were popular when “Firepower Young King” was aired.
Before that, it was four-wheel drive cars.
There was even a store that had set up a racetrack, but it went out of business shortly after.
Chen Feifei and her friends were not far away, just at the right moment.
Upon seeing Chen Qiao, Chen Feifei jogged over, thinking her brother was wandering around alone after school.
She had already prepared to put on her big sister act and scold him properly, but her expression softened when she saw Wu Xinyu behind him.
“Big sister,” Chen Qiao greeted.
“Sis Feifei,” Wu Xinyu called out, a bit too intimately, Chen Qiao thought.
Wu Xinyu glared at Chen Qiao, feeling he was embarrassing his sister.
Wu Xinyu had grown up hearing about Chen Feifei’s legendary achievements and regarded her as her idol and role model.
“Why are you guys still not home from school? Were you kept after class?”
Chen Feifei asked.
Both her brother and Wu Xinyu were good students; they must have been helping the teacher or receiving extra tutoring.
“No, I finished my homework at school before heading home,” Chen Qiao replied.
“Oh………………” Chen Feifei drawled. Was her brother suddenly so studious because of his sister?
He had been online just last night.
She wondered if it was just a fleeting enthusiasm.
“I was copying the after-class assignments the teacher wrote on the blackboard,” Wu Xinyu explained.
Chen Feifei could relate; she had done the same thing many times.
Wu Xinyu was hesitating whether to tell Chen Feifei about Chen Qiao’s relationship with his deskmate, but she wasn’t the type to tattle.
“Is Ah Qiao having a date with his little girlfriend?” Ye Qinglan teased, using a local nickname for Chen Qiao.
People who didn’t focus on their studies often had more romantic inclinations.
“Ah!” Wu Xinyu was startled, not expecting to be put on the spot.
Now it was awkward to bring up the topic. Chen Qiao was lucky.
“Stop joking around. They’re both good students. Don’t compare them to you,” Chen Feifei nudged Ye Qinglan’s side with her elbow and gave her a disapproving look.
Her brother couldn’t possibly be in a relationship; he was still a child.
“I wish I could be in a relationship, but no one wants me. Unlike you,” Ye Qinglan muttered.
She had always been the foil to Chen Feifei’s brilliance, perhaps not even deserving to be the supporting character.
“Xiao Yu, Principal Wu is waiting for you at the school gate. You’d better hurry back,” Chen Feifei said.
“Okay, thanks, Sis Feifei,” Wu Xinyu replied, then jogged towards the middle school, her ponytail swaying.
“Is Wu Xinyu’s father the principal?” Chen Qiao asked in surprise.
“Of course, didn’t you know?” Chen Feifei responded. It was common knowledge in the middle school.
“I only knew she was the child of a middle school teacher,” Chen Qiao said. By the time he started middle school, Wu Xinyu had already transferred, and the school had a new principal.
He didn’t know the previous principal had the surname Wu and couldn’t make the connection.
Although the principal of a township middle school was roughly equivalent to a township-level official, it was still a much higher starting point than that of an ordinary teacher.
“And that’s not all. Her mother works at the tobacco station, and she’s not just an ordinary employee. She’s at least the station chief,” Ye Qinglan, who was well-informed about gossip, added.
How annoying.
No wonder she was the pride of the town.
The tobacco industry was under direct central government control.
Even a small township transit station wasn’t a position just anyone could hold.
At the crossroads, Chen Qiao parted ways with Ye Qinglan and the others, continuing to chat with Chen Feifei about Wu Xinyu.
“Her name sounds like Xin Yu’s,” Chen Qiao mentioned.
When he had just been reborn, he had made a funny mistake.
Although the names sounded the same, one seemed more cultured when written, while the other seemed a bit lacking.
“Yeah, there are many people with the same name as me. I wonder why my parents gave me this name,” Chen Feifei said.
“Mom isn’t very good at naming, and Dad is even worse. It’s a relief he didn’t use a number in my sister’s name. But it doesn’t matter. You’re the only sister I have,” Chen Qiao said, patting his chest.
“What about your cousins and aunts?” Chen Feifei asked.
Those who were already married and had children didn’t count, but he did consider his niece as a half-sibling.
Because his parents got married late and had children even later, Chen Qiao and Chen Feifei had a noticeable generation gap with their older relatives.
Their age-proximate younger cousin had unfortunately passed away, leaving only an unmarried sister-in-law.
“By the way, has there been a landslide on the hill behind the middle school?” Chen Qiao inquired indirectly.
“There was a collapse last year. They built a wall and made a stepped retaining slope. There shouldn’t be any problems this year,” Chen Feifei replied.
But there was an issue this year.
With the wall and the retaining slope already in place, it was unrealistic to expect the school to reinforce and guard against it further.
Chen Qiao felt like a troublemaker for bringing it up.
Moreover, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact date of the accident, nor could he predict it in advance.
If it did happen and he had warned about it beforehand, it could cause more trouble for him.
For Chen Qiao, the most important thing was the blackmail his father would encounter at the end of the year.
Chen Qiao only remembered that it had rained heavily on the day of the incident.
His sister had stayed at school for dinner for the first time and hadn’t come home.
He couldn’t tell his sister in advance and make her act differently.
Whether she was kept at school by a classmate for dinner or decided to stay because of the heavy rain, she had to behave the same as in his previous life.
Otherwise, meddling could potentially put his sister in danger, which would be even more counterproductive.
Chen Qiao just wanted to prevent his sister from being heartbroken and crying alone at night.
Incidentally, if he could save one or two big sisters who had a crush on him, that would be a bonus.
“Why are you suddenly asking about this?” Chen Feifei questioned.
“I just saw a news report about a landslide yesterday. It was terrifying. The whole village was flooded. The hill behind the middle school looks quite similar to that environment,” Chen Qiao fabricated.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. Big sister will protect you,” Chen Feifei suddenly embraced Chen Qiao, holding him tightly and patting his back gently.
He wasn’t scared, but his face brushed against his sister’s rather flat chest again.
However, his sister smelled really good, and he could never get enough of it.
The only downside was the midday sun, which was a bit hot.
Chen Qiao hugged his sister’s waist in return and silently thought to himself, I’m the one who should protect you, and also Xin Yu.
On the way home, they didn’t see Xin Yu.
She must have had lunch with their grandmother back in their hometown and would join them for dinner.