[Lin Zhihua: I don’t know how to date.]

A moment later, another message came through—

[Of course, I also don’t know how to have children.]

Xue Jiao: “…”

She was silent for a moment, then replied—

[You’re so perfect, yet you don’t know how to date?]

Lin Zhihua continued—

[Girl, stop asking about this. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?]

Xue Jiao was startled as if struck by something. She had school tomorrow! It was already ten minutes past her bedtime!!

[Ahhhhh! Good night!]

[Lin Zhihua: GoodNight.jpg]

The same familiar old-fashioned emoji…

Xue Jiao burst into laughter. Thinking about the competition, her studies, and her time that seemed barely enough even if split in two, she quickly fell into dreamland.

All those things that had been troubling her were left behind after chatting with Lin Zhihua, completely forgotten.

——

Since that day, Li Sitong began acting strangely, showing unusual enthusiasm toward Xue Jiao.

This left Xue Jiao somewhat bewildered.

Mending a relationship wasn’t simple. Xue Jiao could be courteous, but the desire she once had to experience maternal affection from her could no longer be found.

Besides, she was busy studying and making time for the upcoming competition.

Another Monday came.

“Hey, dummy, I want to go play basketball for a while!” Yi Tianyu could have simply jumped out from his desk, but for some reason, he felt compelled to ask the girl next to him.

Had he been tamed by someone?

Xue Jiao tilted her head and said seriously: “I think you should study now. You already played for a long time at noon. Going for intense exercise now would be a waste of time. Plus, you’ll be sleepy in the evening, making your evening self-study less effective. Not worth it.”

Her eyes blinked, with thick and pretty eyelashes, like ripples stirring something within. Yi Tianyu dared not look too long and quickly averted his gaze.

“Fine…”

He felt unlike himself now—after all, how could Yi Tianyu possibly be this obedient?!

But in fact… he was exactly that obedient now.

Yi Tianyu slumped back down and continued working on problems.

Half an hour later, approaching evening self-study time.

“Hey, Brother Yu, are you joining the basketball tournament?” Xi Junyang sat down in front of Xue Jiao and excitedly asked Yi Tianyu.

Just then, Cheng Mingjiao returned and nudged Xi Junyang: “Excuse me.”

She sat in the inner seat. Xi Junyang didn’t even look at her as he stood up to make way.

Cheng Mingjiao glanced at the three of them, tilted her chin up, walked to her seat, and sat down without taking out any books, just sitting quietly with her ears perked up.

“Basketball tournament? The provincial high school basketball tournament?” Yi Tianyu raised an eyebrow.

Xi Junyang leaned closer, lowering his voice: “Yeah, my dad said they’re about to announce it soon.”

Xue Jiao, who was writing her homework, paused and slightly raised her head.

Yi Tianyu frowned: “That means going to competitions, right?”

“Exactly, a legitimate reason not to study! Let’s sign up, and prepare for the competition, and even Teacher Yin won’t be able to say anything!” Xi Junyang grinned like a cat who’d stolen cream.

In the past, if Yi Tianyu had heard this, he would definitely have jumped up immediately to ask for details.

But recently, Xue Jiao had been tutoring Yi Tianyu in her spare time, so he hadn’t been to the school basketball team for a long time.

Hearing this, Yi Tianyu instinctively looked at Xue Jiao.

“Brother Yu?” His reaction surprised Xi Junyang, who looked shocked.

Yi Tianyu looked down at the problems Xue Jiao had just marked for him and rubbed his head hard.

Although he wanted to go… would Xue Jiao be… disappointed?

He thought of the girl’s eyes, bright as stars, and shook his head vigorously: “Go play my ass! I need to study properly!”

Xi Junyang’s eyes widened as he reached out to feel Yi Tianyu’s forehead: “Hey! Brother Yu, you don’t have a fever, do you?”

“Fever my ass!”

“Then why are you talking nonsense?” Xi Junyang was completely confused.

Yi Tianyu gave him a side-eye and cursed: “Get the hell out of here!”

He was afraid that if Xi Junyang didn’t leave, his determination to study with the bookworm would waver.

“Yiyu, you can go participate.” Xue Jiao suddenly spoke up, startling both of them.

Does the bookworm support playing basketball?!

Yi Tianyu instinctively thought she was being sarcastic and immediately raised his voice: “Don’t worry! My determination to study won’t waver!”

Xue Jiao shook her head, looking at both of them seriously: “No, I’m being honest. Your heart for studying can remain unwavering, but you can participate in this competition.”

“Why?” Xi Junyang looked at her.

“I remember you’re both on the school basketball team. If you can play as a starter and our team achieves a good ranking in the province, you can apply for Level Two Athlete certification. Then when applying to universities, you can go through special recruitment or as students with special talents. At the very least, I think you might get bonus points on the college entrance exam. I don’t know much about this, so you should ask for more specific information.” Xue Jiao recalled the information she had found while researching the mathematics competition over the weekend.

“I think there’s something like this. Why hasn’t Yin Fang mentioned it?” Xi Junyang slapped his forehead.

Yi Tianyu rolled his eyes: “How could Teacher Yin care about such things? Her students all go through the regular college entrance exam.”

“No, no, I need to go find out!” Xi Junyang couldn’t sit still anymore and stood up to run off.

After a few steps, he stopped, turned back, and approached Xue Jiao: “Jiaojiao, are you especially concerned about our Brother Yu?”

With that, he ran off like the wind.

Xue Jiao was stunned for a moment and looked at Yi Tianyu, completely confused.

“What did he mean?”

Yi Tianyu’s face reddened as he turned his head away, flustered: “Nothing, nothing! Just read your book, dummy!”

“Oh.” Xue Jiao nodded, truly not understanding what Xi Junyang meant, and continued reading and working on problems.

Yi Tianyu’s ears grew increasingly red. After a long while, he reached down and pinched his thigh hard.

In front of them, Cheng Mingjiao silently fumed. She had heard every word, including Xi Junyang’s teasing remark.

Grinding her teeth, she practically hissed: “Vixen! Vixen! Vixen—”

——

The next day at noon.

Xi Junyang, drenched in sweat, rushed over like the wind and sat in front of Xue Jiao, panting heavily: “Huff, huff, huff—I found out everything!”

“What’s the situation?!” Yi Tianyu’s eyes lit up, almost grabbing him by the collar.

Even Xue Jiao stopped writing and looked up at him.

Xi Junyang caught his breath and excitedly said: “It’s true! It’s possible! We didn’t hear about it before because several seniors in their third year are determined to get the Level Two Athlete spots. The coach didn’t think it concerned us second-year students, so he didn’t mention it.”

“Wang Meng and his group?” Yi Tianyu frowned.

“Yes, it’s them. About seven or eight people are fighting for starting positions. Brother Yu, you’re still okay—you’ve got the skills to compete. You’ve played as 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 give it a try!” Xi Junyang wasn’t discouraged.

“Dummy, what do you think?” Yi Tianyu suddenly looked at Xue Jiao.

Xue Jiao nodded and said very seriously: “I think it’s a good opportunity, but it will be difficult to achieve good results. If you fail, a long period of hard practice will have been wasted. If you’re mentally prepared for that, you can give it a try!”

“Great then!”

Xue Jiao tilted her head and continued: “But you definitely can’t neglect your studies. From now on, pay attention in class, and don’t sleep or get distracted. Practice after class and on weekends. That arrangement would be more reasonable since Teacher Yin definitely won’t allow you to skip classes for practice.”

“Wow, Jiaojiao, you care about us!” Xi Junyang made an exaggerated expression of being touched.

Yi Tianyu smiled, showing two rows of bright teeth like a child: “I’ll listen to you!”

“Ooh, ‘I’ll listen to you~'” Xi Junyang’s expression became even more exaggerated, full of teasing.

This time even Xue Jiao could hear the suggestive tone in Xi Junyang’s voice. She glared at him fiercely before lowering her head to study, annoyed.

“Get out of the way!” Cheng Mingjiao suddenly stood up in front, anger evident in her voice.

Out of politeness, Xi Junyang automatically stood up to make way, then watched Cheng Mingjiao’s angry retreating figure with confusion: “Is this person… not crazy?”

Yi Tianyu curled his lip: “She’s pretty much gone crazy already. Come on, let’s go practice basketball first, then talk to the coach!”

“Let’s go!” Xi Junyang looked excited.

Yi Tianyu pushed off with his hand and leaped directly over the desk.

Usually, he wouldn’t make Xue Jiao stand up to let him pass.

After all, that bookworm treasured every minute and second. Making her get up would probably make her feel like she’d wasted ten seconds.

As Yi Tianyu thought this, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, his eyes filled with joy.

——

Thursday noon, just before class was about to start. The classroom was very quiet. The experimental class of second-year students already seemed to feel the pressure of the college entrance exam. The temperature in this city during early winter wasn’t very low yet, but the dense woods outside had already become bare.

The desolate early winter combined with the tense atmosphere of everyone in the experimental class looking down created a suffocating feeling—even lifting your head slightly felt oppressive.

“I’m exhausted!” Yi Tianyu ran into the classroom covered in sweat, and slumped into his seat, ignoring the oppressive atmosphere around him.

“Dummy, what’s the next class?”

Xue Jiao pointed to the schedule: “Chemistry. Quickly review yesterday’s content; Teacher Xie might ask questions!”

“What?!” Yi Tianyu hurriedly fumbled through his books.

He had already convinced Yin Fang that he could practice basketball, but she had also set requirements—his studies couldn’t be affected! If any teacher reported to her, she would prohibit Yi Tianyu from practicing.

All of Yin Fang’s various requirements for Yi Tianyu fundamentally boiled down to one thing—don’t disturb others.

As a result, Yi Tianyu, now determined to play in the competition, had become much more obedient in class than before.

“Damn, what does this mean?” Yi Tianyu handed over his book, looking anxious.

Xue Jiao took her pen and pointed: “This is saying…”

Everyone was studying, and Xue Jiao was afraid of disturbing others, so she lowered her voice.

“What did you say?” Yi Tianyu had just finished exercising and his heart was still pounding loudly. He couldn’t hear clearly and leaned closer to Xue Jiao.

In their attempt to hear each other, they didn’t notice how close their heads had gotten.

“Yi Tianyu, Gu Xuejiao, come out for a moment!” Yin Fang’s voice suddenly rang out, tinged with anger.

Xue Jiao was startled. She exchanged a confused glance with Yi Tianyu as they walked out bewildered.

The two followed Yin Fang to the office and stood in front of her.

Her face was extremely stern as she pointed to a letter on the desk—

“Someone has reported that you two are in a relationship.”