Gan Ting had left school with her boyfriend. After class, Ji Tong went to the cafeteria alone to eat. Her appetite wasn’t good – she only bought a bowl of millet porridge and an egg.

She was peeling the egg when she suddenly remembered how He Feng had made her eat dozens of eggs in her past life, until she felt nauseous at the sight of chickens. Ji Tong smiled to herself, lost in memories, when Meng Yuan appeared across from her, “Wanzhi!”

Ji Tong looked around – this was the school cafeteria with so many people. She covered her mouth with her hand and whispered, “It’s not convenient to talk here.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just watch you.” Meng Yuan propped her face with her hands, watching her, “Does it taste good?”

“Not really.” Ji Tong took a couple bites of egg, washing it down with porridge, then quickly headed toward the small corridor behind the cafeteria’s back door with Meng Yuan.

Everyone was eating at this time, so there was no one around. Ji Tong walked to the depths before speaking, “Why did you come?”

Meng Yuan said seriously, “I came to protect you.”

“School is very safe.”

“Alright then, I’ll just wander around. You do your thing, don’t mind me.”

Ji Tong didn’t know what to say to her. After a long pause, she managed, “Is He Feng still busy?”

“Still at Shiyi Dian, I think. I haven’t seen him for several days either.”

Meng Yuan floated in a circle around her, “Why aren’t you wearing that talisman?”

“I left it in the classroom.”

“You should keep it with you at all times.”

“Okay.”

Two students walked by in the distance. Meng Yuan suddenly called out, “Xiaolongbao!”

Ji Tong was startled. After calming down, she saw Meng Yuan press close to her, “Wanzhi, can I borrow your body?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Eat something.” Meng Yuan floated in front of her, pouting, “Please?”

“What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it and burn it for you.”

“No need for the trouble, I can just possess your body!”

Though it would be uncomfortable, Ji Tong couldn’t bear to refuse her, “Alright then, but you have to come out quickly. I have evening study hall later.”

“Here I come!” Just as Meng Yuan was about to possess her body, she was suddenly pulled away by some force.

Ji Tong stood there stunned, seeing her suddenly disappear. She called out worriedly, “Meng Yuan.”

“Meng Yuan.”

Was she gone? Had some evil ghost captured her?

He Feng dragged Meng Yuan to a distant spot while she wailed all the way, “Let go, let go, let go! Ahh it hurts! I was wrong! I won’t dare again next time! I promise not to touch her! Big brother!”

He Feng released his grip. As soon as Meng Yuan steadied herself, she used all her strength to hit him, not expecting He Feng to stagger back two steps from her blow.

Meng Yuan looked at her hands in disbelief, “I actually moved you?”

He Feng clutched his shoulder, his back slightly curved, the brim of his hat covering his face and hiding his tightly furrowed brow.

Meng Yuan sensed something was wrong with him and moved closer to ask, “Big brother, what’s wrong with you?”

He Feng caught his breath and straightened up, “Don’t touch me.”

Meng Yuan asked with concern, “What’s really wrong with you?”

“I just had a soul-suppressing nail placed in my body.”

“Huh?” Meng Yuan didn’t understand, “Did the previous one break?”

“It didn’t break – I had another one put in.”

Meng Yuan was confused and shrieked, “Why?!”

“Don’t shout.”

Meng Yuan thought it over and had some idea, “Because of Wanzhi? You’re afraid being near her is bad for her? So you used a soul-suppressing nail to reduce your own energy?”

“Not too stupid.”

Meng Yuan wasn’t in the mood for banter. Both angry and heartbroken, she continued shrieking, “Why are you torturing yourself like this! Even if you can’t die, you can’t treat yourself this way! At worst, just stay away from her! That’s not an ordinary nail! One is already enough suffering! Do you not even want to be a ghost anymore! If your soul scatters, I won’t help you watch over her!”

He Feng let her scold him.

As Meng Yuan continued shouting, she became sad, “You’ve already suffered so much.” She pursed her lips, “So worrying. Love however many you want – best if you stick them all over from head to toe! I’m leaving! I don’t want to get involved in your affairs. You go keep her company yourself! Don’t call me again!”

He Feng didn’t forget to remind her, “Don’t run off randomly – if you go too far, I can’t sense you.”

“So annoying!”

…

He Feng couldn’t catch up to her, but he saw Ji Tong wandering around on the ground, looking everywhere. His speed was much slower now as he slowly descended before her.

As soon as Ji Tong saw him, she immediately brightened up, then anxiously said, “Meng Yuan suddenly disappeared just now.”

“I took her away.”

Ji Tong breathed a sigh of relief, “Are you finished with your business?”

“Yes, finished.”

“Your voice sounds a bit weak.” Ji Tong stepped closer, wanting to see his face clearly, “Are you injured?”

He Feng didn’t answer, “Raise your hand.”

Ji Tong didn’t understand but did as told.

He Feng also raised his hand, passing it through her palm. He tilted his face slightly upward and asked, “Do you feel any discomfort?”

Ji Tong was confused for a moment, then shook her head, “What’s wrong?”

He Feng immediately breathed a sigh of relief, the corner of his mouth lifting as he said gently, “Go back to your classroom. I’ll see you when you get out of school.”

Ji Tong smiled and agreed, “Okay.”

“Go on.”

…

In the evening, Zhou Xin drove to pick up Ji Tong, dropped her off at home, then went to her studio.

Grandmother was asleep. Ji Tong tiptoed into her room and was about to summon He Feng when she saw him materialize before her.

Ji Tong happily set down her backpack, “When did you arrive?”

“I’ve been following you.”

“Don’t you have work tonight?”

“No.” He Feng stood with his hands behind his back, suddenly removing his cloak’s hood, “Go wash up. I’ll wait here for you.”

Ji Tong’s thoughts went astray, her ears suddenly burning as she hurriedly fled.

She closed the bathroom door and looked at herself in the mirror – her face and ears were bright red. She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

After showering, Ji Tong calmed herself in the bathroom for a long time before returning to her room to find He Feng leaning against the desk, watching her.

They looked at each other for a long time before Ji Tong spoke, “Are you tired?”

“Hm?”

“Seeing you leaning against the desk, I thought you were tired.”

He Feng smiled helplessly and straightened up, “Not tired.”

“Aren’t ghosts unable to touch objects in the mortal world?”

“Yes.”

“Then why can you?”

“I’m not an ordinary ghost.” He Feng stepped aside, “Alright, enough talk. Come do your homework.”

Being with He Feng, how could Ji Tong focus on studying? “Let’s chat a bit more. I’ll do it later.”

“It’s already late, and you have to go to school early tomorrow.”

“Just ten minutes.”

“Not even ten minutes.” Though He Feng’s tone was gentle, it carried an undeniable commanding quality, “Hurry up and write. I won’t leave – I’ll stay here with you.”

“Five minutes.”

He Feng compromised, “Fine.”

Ji Tong happily sat at the desk, looking up at him, “Why haven’t you gone to be reincarnated?”

“I’m an official in the underworld.”

“Is being an official fun?”

“Not fun.”

“Then why don’t you quit?”

“If I quit, where would my income come from?” He Feng smiled, “No one burns paper money for me.”

“Paper money isn’t expensive – I can burn it for you.”

“You want to support me?”

“Sure.”

“You still need someone to support you.”

“Once I’m in college, I can work part-time. In a few years I’ll be able to work and earn money. Whatever you want, I can buy and burn for you.”

He Feng suddenly shook his head.

Ji Tong asked, “What’s wrong?”

With the second soul-suppressing nail in his body and still not fully recovered, his power was clearly insufficient – he was actually afraid of the talisman the spirit medium had given her.

Afraid she’d worry, he said, “Nothing.”

“What is Shiyi Dian like?”

He Feng immediately became serious, “What did Meng Yuan tell you?”

Ji Tong quickly replied, “She didn’t say anything, just that you went to Shiyi Dian on business.”

“Five minutes are up.”

“Alright.” Ji Tong opened her physics workbook, emphasizing before starting, “You’re not allowed to sneak away.”

“Okay.”

Ji Tong was decent at physics and smoothly completed over ten multiple choice questions, but the last one stumped her.

She filled page after page of scratch paper but still had no clue.

She scratched her hair.

He Feng saw her frustration, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t solve it.”

“Take your time, don’t rush.”

“It’s too difficult.” Ji Tong drooped her head and glanced at him, seeing him staring at her problem. She suddenly asked, “Do you know how to do this?”

He Feng looked away to meet her eyes, “I don’t know.”

Ji Tong sighed, “Forget it, I’ll skip it.”

He Feng said, “You could teach me how to solve it.”

“Hm?”

“There should be examples? I see you’ve been drawing symbols for a long time.”

“These are called formulas – they’re in the book.”

“Open it and let me see.”

Ji Tong did as told.

He Feng stared at the book while Ji Tong stared at him.

“Turn the page.”

Ji Tong paused, then quickly turned to the next page. Like this, they soon reached the last page of the small chapter.

“I understand now.”

“Those in the book are just basics.” Ji Tong seemed to want to prove herself, “I know those too. This problem set is different.”

He Feng ignored her and looked at the problem she couldn’t solve, staying silent for two minutes.

Ji Tong studied him. She knew He Feng was smart, but this was a completely unfamiliar field to him. Having just looked at it briefly, how could he possibly solve it?

Another two minutes passed.

Ji Tong felt this standoff wasn’t getting anywhere. He had been such a proud person before – he definitely wouldn’t show weakness. Ji Tong pretended to cough twice, deliberately giving him an out, “These problems are high difficulty. Even our teacher takes a long time to solve them.”

“A.”

Ji Tong was somewhat incredulous and quickly flipped to the back to check the answer – it really was A.

He Feng looked at her expression and smiled slightly, his voice extraordinarily gentle, “Want me to teach you?”

“Hm?… Ah… sure.”

“Pick up the pen.”

“Oh.” Ji Tong gripped the pen, and it suddenly began writing by itself, beyond her control. Ji Tong’s eyes widened as she stared at the scratch paper filling with line after line of solution steps – logical, clear reasoning that quickly covered half the page, finally stopping at the number 2.

After carefully analyzing it, Ji Tong sighed admiringly, “You’re incredible. I never imagined you were not only good with guns but also a academic genius. If you hadn’t become a bandit back then and had gone abroad to study instead, China might have had another famous figure.”

If this had been when he was seventeen or eighteen, he definitely would have cockily replied: “Your master is all-capable.” But people change, and so do ghosts. Decades of life and death had settled him into someone completely different from the willful young man he once was.

Ji Tong looked up at him in delight, “It would be great if you could take the college entrance exam.” She paused, then had a sudden inspiration, “Right, if you helped me during the exam, wouldn’t it be easy?”

“Cheating is not acceptable.”

“Alright.”

He Feng saw her expression shift from joy to disappointment and added, “But if you want to, it’s possible.”

“Hm? Really?”

“Whatever makes you happy.” He Feng said seriously, “These aren’t difficult. I can learn them and help you during the exam, but you still can’t be lazy.”

“Why not?”

“Learning more knowledge is good for you. No matter what era you’re in, learning is endless. Like you said, if I hadn’t become a bandit back then but pursued scholarship instead, it might have been a different path entirely. When China was bullied before, it wasn’t just a matter of consciousness – knowledge and technology are very important. During wartime, if our weapons had been stronger, we could have saved many more compatriots.”

“Do you regret it?”

His gaze was gentle yet resolute, “I don’t regret what I did for the country. I regret not being capable enough.”

Ji Tong studied him – that little rascal from before had truly grown up, “You let something slip.”

He Feng didn’t catch on.

“You mentioned serving the country. Did you become a soldier later?”

Suddenly the pen on the desk flew up and tapped her on the head. Ji Tong was caught off guard and cried out “Oh,” rubbing the spot where she was hit, “Why did you hit me?”

“Don’t waste time.” He made the pen tap her again, “Focus on studying.”

Ji Tong grabbed the pen to stop it from hitting her.

“If you can’t study, I’ll accompany you, but we’ve chatted for so long already. If you don’t work now, you won’t finish until 2 AM.” He Feng blinked wearily, “You’re just not applying yourself. Look at these problems – it says ‘basic problems’ at the top, meaning they’re not difficult. If my being here is affecting you, I’ll leave first.”

“No, no, you’re not affecting me.”

“Then concentrate.”

“Okay.”

Ji Tong buried her head in the problems, staring at them while her mind wandered: So curious about what happened in the later part of her past life. Would he have been a high-ranking military officer? He was so capable, he must have been. Wonder if she could suddenly recover her memories like before.

“Don’t let your mind wander. Look at the problems properly.”

“…”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“Sometimes I can receive special information emitted by souls.”

“Then I’m completely transparent to you?”

“You’ve always been transparent to me.”

“…”

He Feng suddenly asked, “Don’t you have monthly exams soon?”

“Yes, before National Day holiday. Three days left.”

“What rank can you achieve in your class?”

“I don’t know. I just transferred to this school – maybe seventh or eighth place.”

“Let’s make a bet.”

“What kind of bet?” Ji Tong felt an inexplicable anticipation.

“I bet you can make it into the top five. If you win, I’ll answer any three questions you have.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“If you lose, I won’t come anymore. I’ll wait until you make the top five before coming to find you again.”

Ji Tong stood up happily, “If I make top three, will you answer six questions?”

“Then you’ll have to work hard.”

“I’ll win.”

He Feng smiled, “So confident.”

Ji Tong sat back down smugly, picking up her pen to work on problems, “I beat you at shooting before too.”

He Feng looked down at her silently, green light emanating from his eyepatch again. He immediately turned away, put on his hood, and vanished from the room.

“Even though I’ve missed quite a bit of class, my foundation is still good. If I sleep a little less these few days and put in some effort, it should be fine. You better not cheat when the time comes – no matter what I ask, you have to—” Ji Tong looked up at him, only to discover He Feng was gone, “He Feng.”

“He Feng.”

…