Early relationships were also possible. However, when he immediately gave the definitive conclusion “You, being such a good student, surely haven’t thought about early relationships,” Shen Xingruo couldn’t refute it. Considering his score of less than four hundred, she hesitated…
Shen Xingruo regained her composure. She wasn’t a romantic person, but she was annoyed by Lu Xingyan’s repeated attempts to cover up and his stubborn refusal to admit the truth. So, she came to force him to speak the truth, to avoid being taken advantage of, and to prevent herself from overthinking things.
Now, thoughts of Lu Xingyan’s previous exam scores flashed through her mind. The dizziness and feverishness cleared, and she pushed away Lu Xingyan’s hand. She uttered another “Oh,” leaving three words in a very aloof manner, “Do as you wish.”
…Do as I wish?
Lu Xingyan wanted to clarify, but Shen Xingruo left even faster than when she barged in. Just as he caught up to the door, he heard the heavy sound of Shen Xingruo closing her room door firmly.
He walked over, knocked, and then stood at Shen Xingruo’s door, asking, “Shen Xingruo, does that mean I can pursue you?”
“If so, then I really will.”
No response.
“If you don’t speak, I’ll take it as your consent?”
Three, two, one.
Just as Lu Xingyan was about to conclude, the door suddenly opened from the inside.
Shen Xingruo threw a stack of colorful books at him without any mercy.
“Five or six hundred points? Do you think scores can be inflated like that?”
Lu Xingyan, whose intelligence wasn’t particularly high to begin with, felt like it was halved by Shen Xingruo’s remark. He blinked, catching the stack of books.
Shen Xingruo coldly said, “You’ve rested enough during the summer vacation. We’ll start tutoring tomorrow.”
After saying that, she tried to close the door.
Quick on his feet, Lu Xingyan squeezed forward. “Wait.”
Shen Xingruo glanced at him.
When Lu Xingyan heard her mention tutoring, his mood suddenly brightened. It was a very simple logic—if she was willing to continue helping with tutoring, she must not dislike him, and maybe even have some favorable feelings toward him.
Realizing this, Lu Xingyan nearly turned into a fox spirit right then and there.
“Tutoring is completely fine, but I want to discuss something with you.” Lu Xingyan looked Shen Xingruo up and down, then suddenly flashed a lazy and unserious smile. “Could you wear a bit more when tutoring? Otherwise, I won’t be able to focus on studying.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Xingruo didn’t hesitate for a second. She slammed the door shut!
Lu Xingyan’s face almost became flat. He reached out to touch it, then chuckled inexplicably.
However, soon enough, Lu Xingyan felt what it meant to put his foot in his mouth during tutoring.
Previously, Shen Xingruo had mostly helped him prepare for exams, coupled with his lack of initiative, tutoring sessions were conducted somewhat haphazardly, with Lu Xingyan often slacking off. In other words, Shen Xingruo still didn’t know how bad he was.
This time, Shen Xingruo started with a set of mock exams covering all six subjects as a diagnostic assessment.
His performance was slightly better than expected.
Shen Xingruo set the test aside and said, “You probably can’t memorize the words for the College English Test Level 4, so let’s focus on the words for the college entrance exam. Memorize three thousand five hundred words in three rounds. This plan will continue until a month before the college entrance exam.”
“Three rounds?” Lu Xingyan asked.
Shen Xingruo replied coolly, “Even three rounds would barely suffice. If you can’t even memorize three thousand five hundred words, how can you expect to score five or six hundred and be my boyfriend?”
Got it.
Lu Xingyan hurriedly made an “okay” gesture.
Afterward, Shen Xingruo adjusted the difficulty and intensity of her study plans for each subject, creating a similar plan for Lu Xingyan.
Over more than a month of summer vacation, Lu Xingyan was happily but painfully immersed in tutoring sessions.
During this period, his friends often invited him out, but he declined every time.
When asked why, he replied honestly and somewhat mysteriously with four words—”I need to study.”
His friends couldn’t quite figure out why, but from those four words, they vaguely sensed a hint of pride and superiority.
In early August, the cicadas chirped incessantly in the height of summer. The lush camphor trees shaded the alleyways, and tire marks littered the ground outside Mingli School’s gate, evidence of bicycles coming and going.
Unbeknownst to them, the start of senior year was gradually approaching.
Half a month before school started, Pei Yue arranged for someone to clean up the Star River Bay house and moved in quite a few new pieces of furniture.
The entire duplex was soon transformed.
In addition to this, she also gave a raise to Aunt Zhou and found time to call Wang Youfu, mainly to ask him to take care of the two almost-adults.
Pei Yue’s meticulous arrangements and concerns for Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo’s senior year were not without reason—she and Lu Shan were going to Nan Cheng.
The next year was crucial not only for Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo but also for Lu Shan.
Jinsheng had recently set foot in Nan Cheng, securing several plots of land and reaching strategic cooperation agreements with the Nan Cheng government for regional development projects.
This meant that his focus would shift to Nan Cheng for the next year or two.
Lu Shan had been away for a long time and had poor eating habits, resulting in fatty liver disease.
Amidst the frequent dining gatherings, there was inevitably drinking involved. Lu Xingyan ended up in the hospital once after drinking too much during the summer break. Moreover, Pei Yue had heard from her friends several times that she hadn’t accompanied Lu Shan on business trips much in the past year or two, and Jinsheng, being a bit of a playboy, might not have been so well-behaved. She was worried.
After much thought, she felt that there was nothing to worry about with Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan living near the school, with Aunt Zhou to take care of them. She wasn’t good at anything other than commanding people and shopping, and staying in Xingcheng wouldn’t be of much help. It was Lu Shan’s side that was more worrying.
So, she decided to go to Nan Cheng with Lu Shan for a while. It wasn’t too far, and it would be convenient to come back on weekends.
With Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo’s arrangements in place, there was nothing inappropriate about Star Lake. Except for the white peacock that Lu Xingyan brought back.
The white peacock had been raised by Pei Yue and Aunt Zhou, and it had grown significantly, its feathers becoming more and more vibrant. The Star Lake villa had a lawn and a garden, so keeping a peacock was natural. However, they couldn’t take the peacock to Star River Bay, nor could they take it to Nan Cheng.
After some thought, Pei Yue entrusted the white peacock to her good friend.
Her friend readily agreed, even bringing her grandson along to visit the Lu family and take the young peacock away.
Her friend’s son had married early, even earlier than Lu Xingyan, and had gotten a girl pregnant at just twenty. He insisted on staying together, claiming it was true love and refusing abortion or separation. What else could they do but hastily arrange a wedding?
But to their relief, after getting married, her son settled down and worked steadily in their own company. The little family of three lived harmoniously and peacefully.
Now, her grandson was already over two years old, clever and adorable, bringing joy to everyone.
During dinner, Pei Yue kept praising her friend’s good fortune, saying, “You don’t have to worry about anything now. Look at my Lu Xingyan, with his slow wit, I dare not hope for a grandchild. Who knows what will happen in so many years? Now, I just hope he can get into a decent university and find a good girlfriend.”
Lu Xingyan calmly picked up some food, glanced at Shen Xingruo, and a faint smile played on his lips.
Shen Xingruo, without looking away, noticed Pei Yue’s empty bowl and helped her scoop some soup.
Pei Yue’s friend had taken a liking to Shen Xingruo the moment she saw her, and with Pei Yue often boasting about this young girl in front of her, she couldn’t help teasing, “Why are you worrying so much? Isn’t there one readily available? I’ve seen plenty of girls about Lu Xingyan’s age, but none as pretty as Xingruo.”
“Lu Xingyan with Shen Xingruo?” Pei Yue gestured with her chopsticks. “Forget it. If he can find a girlfriend as good as Xingruo in the future, I’ll thank my lucky stars, even if she’s just one-tenth as good as Xingruo.”
” Lu Xingyan has grown up so well, and you never have a good word to say about him.”
Being teenagers, the two didn’t tease each other too much in front of them and quickly turned to the topic of beauty when it came up.
Once the topic of beauty was on the table, they both got excited and wanted to check out the new beauty center in the afternoon. But Aunt Zhou wasn’t around today.
“If only I hadn’t brought my grandson along.”
However, Pei Yue wasn’t an ordinary person. Once she set her mind to something, she found a way to overcome obstacles. While Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo were still unaware and clearing the table after dinner, she made a promise to both of them. “No worries, leave Hanhan to them. They both like children and besides, your Hanhan is well-behaved. As long as he’s put to sleep, he can sleep for four or five hours. By then, we’ll all be back.”
So, the two middle-aged sisters made this decision happily, without any psychological preparation.
Completely unprepared, they received a little kid who was already asleep. Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo didn’t know where to start.
The kid named Hanhan did seem very well-behaved. He was quiet during dinner, just turning his innocent big eyes around. He didn’t make a sound even when he fell asleep, with his long eyelashes suggesting he’d grow up to have naturally long lashes.
But children can be deceiving. Who knows if he’ll be as obedient the next moment he wakes up as he is now.
Shen Xingruo settled him on Lu Xingyan’s bed and then urged Lu Xingyan to finish today’s test paper.
The afternoon sun filtered through the heat-resistant glass window, warm but not scorching, making people feel lazy and sleepy, perfect for a nap.
As Lu Xingyan was halfway through the test paper, Shen Xingruo was already dozing off beside him. Her skin had a transparent cleanliness under the sunlight, and her lips had a translucent light pink color, resembling jelly.
After a month of tutoring, besides receiving constant reprimands, he hadn’t even received the benefits of holding hands in advance. Plus, he had had a couple of spring dreams recently, so Lu Xingyan was feeling a bit restless.
He put down his pen, leaned on the back of Shen Xingruo’s chair, and slowly leaned in closer, closer…
“Wow!”
Just as their lips were about to touch, there came a clear and loud cry from behind!
“Grandma! Grandma! Wah!”
Shen Xingruo was startled awake, opening her eyes.
Lu Xingyan hadn’t had a chance to pull back yet and was face-to-face with her at close range.
Shen Xingruo was taken aback for a moment. But she didn’t have time to hold Lu Xingyan accountable at the moment. Instead, she pushed his face away and looked back.
Little Hanhan didn’t know when he woke up, sitting on the bed and crying loudly.
Lu Xingyan was annoyed at himself for not acting faster and felt a headache coming on. He glared at Hanhan with an unpleasant expression. Then Hanhan cried even louder.
Damn it… You’re the only one who knows how to cry. Do something useful.
Seeing Shen Xingruo awkwardly trying to comfort Hanhan by the bedside, Lu Xingyan pushed aside his test paper and stood up, lifting Hanhan directly. “Why are you crying? Stop crying and go play by yourself.”
In response, Hanhan’s cries became even more heart-wrenching.
“What are you doing, Lu Xingyan? He’s only two and a half years old.”
Shen Xingruo intercepted Hanhan from him, holding the child in her arms, and then coldly reprimanded Lu Xingyan.
Lu Xingyan chuckled lazily. “Miss, I’m only seventeen and still underage. After a month of tutoring, you’ve numbed me with all your scolding. I’m still just your boyfriend-in-training. Aren’t you being a bit unfair?”
Shen Xingruo wasn’t good at comforting children, and Hanhan’s crying was making her a bit nervous. Her temples were throbbing, and Lu Xingyan was pestering her incessantly.
She suddenly turned Hanhan around so that he was facing away from them, then tiptoed and gently kissed Lu Xingyan’s cheek. “Unfair?”
“… Not unfair anymore. So, can you help me calm him down so I can continue working on my test?”