[Lin Zhihua: I don’t know how to date.]
A moment later, another message came through—
[And of course, I also don’t know how to have kids.]
Xue Jiao: “…”
After a brief silence, she replied—
[You’re so perfect, yet you don’t know how to date?]
Lin Zhihua responded again—
[Little girl, stop asking about this. Shouldn’t you be going to bed?]
Xue Jiao froze, as if struck by something—she had class tomorrow! It was already ten minutes past her bedtime!!
[Ahhhh! Good night!]
[Lin Zhihua: Good night.jpg]
The same familiar old-fashioned sticker…
Xue Jiao burst into laughter. Thinking about the competition, her studies, and how she wished she could split her time in two, she quickly drifted off to sleep.
All the things that had been troubling her were forgotten after her chat with Lin Zhihua, no longer lingering in her mind.
——
Ever since that day, Li Sitong had started acting strangely, showing an unusual level of enthusiasm toward Xue Jiao.
This left Xue Jiao momentarily bewildered.
Mending their relationship wasn’t simple. Xue Jiao could be polite and courteous with her, but the longing she once had to experience familial warmth from her was now gone.
Besides, she was busy studying, making time to prepare for the upcoming competition.
Another Monday arrived.
“Hey, dummy, I wanna go play basketball for a bit!” Yi Tianyu could have easily jumped over the desk to leave, but for some reason, he felt the need to ask the girl sitting next to him.
Had he really let himself be controlled by someone?
Xue Jiao turned her head and said seriously, “I think you should focus on studying now. You already played for a long time at noon. If you go for intense exercise again, it’ll waste time. Plus, you’ll get sleepy at night, and your self-study session won’t be effective. It’s not worth it.”
Her eyes blinked, her thick lashes fluttering beautifully, as if stirring ripples in his heart. Yi Tianyu didn’t dare look too long and quickly averted his gaze.
“Fine…”
He felt like he wasn’t acting like himself at all. Since when did Yi Tianyu ever listen to anyone?!
But the truth was… he was listening now.
Yi Tianyu slumped back down and continued working on his problems.
Half an hour later, as evening self-study approached.
“Hey, Yu-ge, are you joining the basketball tournament?” Xi Junyang plopped down in front of Xue Jiao and turned to Yi Tianyu, asking excitedly.
Just then, Cheng Mingjiao returned and nudged Xi Junyang. “Move.”
She sat in the inner seat. Without even looking, Xi Junyang stood up to let her pass.
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at the three of them, lifted her chin, walked in, and sat down in her seat. She didn’t take out any books, just sat quietly, ears perked up.
“Basketball tournament? The Provincial High School Basketball Tournament?” Yi Tianyu raised an eyebrow.
Xi Junyang leaned in, lowering his voice. “Yeah, my dad said the announcement is coming soon.”
Xue Jiao’s hand, which had been writing, paused slightly as she lifted her head.
Yi Tianyu frowned. “Doesn’t that mean we’d have to go compete?”
“Yeah! A legit excuse to skip studying! Let’s sign up—preparing for the competition means even the Nun can’t complain!” Xi Junyang grinned like a cat that got the cream.
The old Yi Tianyu would have immediately jumped at the idea and demanded details.
But lately, Xue Jiao had been tutoring Yi Tianyu in her spare time, so he hadn’t been to the school basketball team in a while.
Hearing this, Yi Tianyu instinctively looked at Xue Jiao.
“Yu-ge?” His reaction stunned Xi Junyang, leaving him wide-eyed in shock.Yi Tianyu lowered his head to glance at the problem Xue Jiao had just outlined, scratching his head vigorously.
Although he really wanted to go... would Xue Jiao... be disappointed?
Thinking of the girl's starry bright eyes, he shook his head hard: "Screw going! Study hard!"
Xi Junyang widened his eyes, reached out, and touched Yi Tianyu's forehead: "Hey! Brother Yu, are you running a fever?"
"Fever my ass!"
"Then why are you talking nonsense?" Xi Junyang was utterly confused.
Yi Tianyu shot him a glare and cursed, "Get the hell out of here!"
He was afraid that if Xi Junyang didn't leave soon, his determination to study with the bookworm would waver.
"Tianyu, you can actually go participate," Xue Jiao suddenly spoke up, startling both of them.
The bookworm supports playing basketball?!
Yi Tianyu instinctively thought she was being sarcastic and immediately raised his voice: "Don't worry! My dedication to studying won't waver!"
Xue Jiao shook her head, looking at them seriously. "No, I mean it. Your determination to study can stay firm, but you can still participate in this match."
"Why?" Xi Junyang stared at her.
"I remember you're both on the school basketball team. If you can play as main players in the competition and our team achieves a good ranking in the provincial tournament, you can apply for second-level athlete certification. Later, when applying for universities, you can go through special admissions or as special talents. At the very least, it seems there are bonus points for the college entrance exam. I don’t know all the details, but you can look into it further." Xue Jiao recalled the information she had stumbled upon while researching math competitions over the weekend.
"I think I remember hearing about this. Why didn’t Yin Fang mention it?" Xi Junyang smacked his forehead.
Yi Tianyu rolled his eyes. "How would the Nun care about this stuff? All her students are supposed to focus on the college entrance exam."
"No way, I’ve got to go ask around!" Xi Junyang couldn’t sit still anymore. He jumped up and dashed off.
After a couple of steps, he skidded to a halt, turned back, and leaned toward Xue Jiao. "Jiao Jiao, are you especially concerned about our Brother Yu?"
With that, he bolted away.
Xue Jiao froze, then looked at Yi Tianyu, baffled.
"What did he mean?"
Yi Tianyu’s face flushed red, and he turned his head away, muttering nervously, "Nothing, nothing! Bookworm, just keep studying!"
"Oh." Xue Jiao nodded, genuinely not understanding Xi Junyang’s implication, and went back to her book, solving problems.
Yi Tianyu’s ears grew redder by the minute. After a long pause, he reached down and pinched his thigh hard.
In front of them, Cheng Mingjiao seethed with resentment. She had heard everything, including Xi Junyang’s teasing remark.
Gnashing her teeth, she hissed under her breath: "Vixen! Vixen! Vixen—"
——
The next noon.
Xi Junyang rushed over, drenched in sweat, and plopped down in front of Xue Jiao like a gust of wind, panting heavily: "Huff—huff—I found out everything!"
"What’s the deal?!" Yi Tianyu’s eyes lit up, as if he wanted to grab Xi Junyang by the collar.
Even Xue Jiao set down her pen and looked up at him.
Xi Junyang took a deep breath, excited. "It’s true! It’s really possible. The reason we hadn’t heard about it before is because some seniors specializing in sports were gunning for those second-level athlete spots. The coach didn’t think it concerned us sophomores, so he didn’t bring it up."
"Wang Meng and them?" Yi Tianyu frowned.“Yeah, it’s them. There are quite a few who want to be starters. You’re lucky, Yu Ge, your skills are good enough to compete for a spot. You’ve been a starter on the team before, but I haven’t, so I definitely can’t compete with them. But even as a substitute, as long as I can participate, I’ll definitely give it a shot!” Xi Junyang wasn’t discouraged at all.
“Dummy, what do you think?” Yi Tianyu suddenly turned to Xue Jiao.
Xue Jiao nodded seriously. “I think it’s a good opportunity, but achieving results will be really hard. If you fail, all the hard work you put in over a long period will be wasted. If you’re mentally prepared for that, then go for it!”
“Alright then!”
Xue Jiao tilted her head and continued, “But you can’t neglect your studies. From now on, pay attention in class—no sleeping or zoning out. Practice after school and on weekends. That’s a more reasonable arrangement. After all, Teacher Yin definitely won’t allow you to skip classes for practice.”
“Wow, Jiao Jiao, you really care about us!” Xi Junyang put on an exaggerated expression of gratitude.
Yi Tianyu grinned, showing off a row of bright teeth like a child. “I’ll listen to you!”
“Ooooh, ‘I’ll listen to you~’” Xi Junyang’s expression grew even more exaggerated, full of teasing.
This time, even Xue Jiao picked up on Xi Junyang’s playful tone. She glared at him fiercely, then annoyed, lowered her head to study.
“Move!” Cheng Mingjiao suddenly stood up in front of them, visibly angry.
Out of courtesy, Xi Junyang instinctively stood up to make way, then watched her storm off in confusion. “Is she… crazy or something?”
Yi Tianyu smirked. “Pretty much already crazy. Come on, let’s go practice some basketball first, then say hi to the coach!”
“Let’s go!” Xi Junyang was excited.
Yi Tianyu pushed off the desk and vaulted over it in one smooth motion.
Normally, he never made Xue Jiao stand up to let him pass.
After all, that dummy cherished every single second. Making her get up would probably make her agonize over the wasted ten seconds.
Thinking this, Yi Tianyu’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes brimming with amusement.
——
At noon on Thursday, just before class, the classroom was unusually quiet. The advanced class of the second year already seemed to feel the pressure of the upcoming college entrance exams. Though the early winter temperature in the city wasn’t too low, the dense trees outside had already turned bare.
The bleak early winter and the tense atmosphere of the advanced class, with everyone’s heads bowed, made even a slight glance upward feel oppressive.
“I’m exhausted!” Yi Tianyu ran into the classroom, drenched in sweat, and collapsed into his seat, completely ignoring the stifling mood around him.
“Dummy, what’s next class?”
Xue Jiao pointed at the schedule. “Chemistry. Hurry and review yesterday’s material—Teacher Xie might call on you!”
“What?!” Yi Tianyu frantically flipped through his textbook.
He had already convinced Yin Fang to let him practice basketball, but she had one condition—his studies couldn’t suffer! If any teacher reported him, she wouldn’t allow him to practice anymore.
All of Yin Fang’s demands for Yi Tianyu boiled down to one thing—don’t disrupt others.
As a result, ever since deciding to compete, Yi Tianyu had been much more well-behaved in class.
“Damn, what does this mean?” Yi Tianyu shoved the book toward her, looking panicked.
Xue Jiao tapped the page with her pen. “This is saying…”
Everyone was studying, so Xue Jiao lowered her voice to avoid disturbing them."What did you say?" Yi Tianyu had just finished exercising, his heart pounding so loudly he couldn't hear clearly, leaning closer to Xue Jiao.
In their effort to listen, neither noticed how close their heads had become.
"Yi Tianyu, Gu Xue Jiao, come out here!" Yin Fang's voice suddenly rang out, laced with anger.
Xue Jiao froze, exchanging a confused glance with Yi Tianyu before walking out in bewilderment.
The two followed Yin Fang into the office, standing before her.
Her face was stern and displeased as she tapped a letter on the desk—
"Someone reported that you two are dating."
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