Shi Niannian didn’t know what was happening on the basketball court. She was currently being pulled by Jiang Ling to the door of the changing room in the arts building.

“I saw Xu Zhilin walking this way!”

Jiang Ling held her hand while peering into the changing room.

Shi Niannian resisted, pulling her outward while carefully looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

This was the men’s changing room after all…

“I’m sure he’s in here. Why else would a math teacher go to the changing room in the middle of the day?” Jiang Ling frowned slightly. “I have to check.”

“Jiang Ling!”

She called out in a low voice, but Jiang Ling had already let go of her hand and run inside.

She only left behind one sentence: “Remember to watch the door for me.”

Shi Niannian had never done something like this before. She was worried that Jiang Ling would be caught by the math teacher, and also afraid that someone else might come and discover them both.

She anxiously peeked inside, wanting to call Jiang Ling back out quickly.

A slight noise came from the corner behind her. She turned around swiftly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Her black eyes widened slightly.

Jiang Wang stood behind her, warm from just having played basketball, his masculine scent enveloping Shi Niannian.

He appeared lazy and relaxed, looking at her with drooping eyelids.

After a moment, he looked up at the “Men’s Changing Room” sign above.

Then he slowly raised one eyebrow.

The corner of his mouth held a hint of a subtle smile.

“Little girl,” his voice was lazy, with a hint of mischievous ambiguity, “what are you looking at?”

Shi Niannian stepped back, her heel hitting the wall.

Before Jiang Wang could say anything, a sudden “Ah!” came from inside. It was Jiang Ling’s voice.

She covered her face with both hands, peeking through the gaps between her fingers like black grapes, looking at the man in front of her.

Xu Zhilin had been playing basketball with other teachers in the gymnasium. He had afternoon classes, so he came to change into clean clothes. He didn’t expect to come out and suddenly see a girl sneaking around outside.

His fingers were still buttoning the second button, his lips pressed lightly: “Student, are you looking for someone?”

“Yes!”

Jiang Ling desperately sought a way out, accidentally using too much force, nodding vigorously.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone else here,” Xu Zhilin’s almond-shaped eyes smiled. “Besides, it’s not appropriate for a girl to enter the men’s changing room. You see, you almost ran into me. How embarrassing would that be?”

So! Gentle!

Jiang Ling felt her heart was about to jump out. She spoke without thinking: “Teacher Xu I came looking for you.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, a bit surprised: “Oh? Looking for me?”

“…I have a math problem I don’t understand, and I wanted to ask if you might know.”

“Ah.” Xu Zhilin nodded with slight amusement. During his studies, he had interned at a tutoring center for a while and encountered many girls like this. “What about your class’s math teacher?”

“He doesn’t know it,” Jiang Ling said decisively.

“Is that so? Well, you can come find me in the office,” Xu Zhilin tilted his head, smiling gently. “Coming to find me in the changing room isn’t appropriate.”

Jiang Ling followed Xu Zhilin out of the changing room and saw Jiang Wang standing in front of Shi Niannian.

He must have said something inappropriate, as the tips of Shi Niannian’s ears were red.

Xu Zhilin saw Jiang Wang and stopped, his gaze sweeping over the girl beside him who only reached his arm’s height.

Shi Niannian obediently said: “Hello, Teacher.”

“Hello.” Xu Zhilin smiled at her, then turned to Jiang Wang: “Why are you here too?”

Jiang Wang raised the clothes in his hand.

“PE class, huh?” Xu Zhilin looked at his watch. “The next class is mine. I’d better go now.”

He patted Jiang Wang’s shoulder, then walked away.

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday again.

In the past few days, Jiang Wang hadn’t come to school much. Sometimes he’d only arrive in the afternoon, sometimes he wouldn’t come at all for a day.

And Cheng Qi, perhaps because of Jiang Wang’s warning last time, hadn’t come to bother her these past few days.

Shi Niannian felt relieved about both matters.

Early Saturday morning, Shi Niannian left her bedroom and smelled the aroma of porridge. Her aunt was carrying two bowls of porridge from the kitchen.

“You’re up. I was about to bring this to your room.” Aunt placed the two bowls on the dining table.

Shi Niannian walked over: “Isn’t my brother… eating?”

“He moved out yesterday. Bought an apartment across from his university. That ungrateful brat.” Aunt lightly cursed, not too pleased. “But it’s good he’s gone far away. I get irritated just looking at him.”

Shi Niannian lowered her head to drink the porridge, her lips curving slightly.

Uncle’s family had a very good relationship. Xu Ningqing had grown up surrounded by love. Although Aunt complained about him daily, she spoiled him immensely.

“By the way, did your mom tell you? They’re coming in a few days.”

Shi Niannian looked up, a confused expression on her face.

Aunt then realized she didn’t know about this, smiled, and said: “You’re at school all day. Your mom wants to tell you but doesn’t know when to call when you’re free.”

Shi Niannian finished her porridge, put the bowl and chopsticks in the sink, and returned to her bedroom.

She sat on the edge of the bed holding her phone, the screen quietly displaying her mother’s phone number.

After hesitating for a long time, she put the phone back in her pocket. Just as she did, the ringtone sounded. It was her mother calling.

“Mom.” She answered, putting it to her ear, her lowered gaze falling on her toes.

“The day after tomorrow, we’re bringing your brother to your place for medical treatment. Do you have enough money? If not, I’ll have your father transfer some to you.”

Shi Niannian’s eyelids drooped: “It’s enough.”

“Hmm, be good, don’t always trouble your uncle and aunt.”

She made an “mm” sound, her voice very soft, which was quickly drowned out by a sudden sound from the other end of the phone.

An urgent crying sound erupted, mixed with sharp screaming.

Her mother didn’t have time to say anything else and hung up directly. The crying and screaming abruptly stopped.

Shi Niannian put away her phone expressionlessly, raising her hand to gently rub her eyes a couple of times.

In the afternoon, Shi Niannian went out with Jiang Ling to visit a bookstore.

Since that strange conversation with Xu Zhilin, she hadn’t dared to go to his office.

She didn’t dare.

Her academic performance was severely unbalanced, with math being Jiang Ling’s worst subject.

Why couldn’t Xu Zhilin teach English instead? Then she could give him a 10-minute self-introduction in fluent English, impressing him.

But it had to be math.

Sigh.

“Niannian, which workbook do you think would better highlight the quality of a math enthusiast?” Jiang Ling asked, standing in front of a row of workbooks.

“Competition… problems?” Shi Niannian tilted her head and asked.

“…”

Jiang Ling imagined a scene where Xu Zhilin spent an hour explaining, and she still couldn’t understand the problem, immediately shaking her head vigorously.

“That would only highlight my quality as a math failure.”

Shi Niannian looked around, picked up a stack of test papers, Tianli 38 Sets, Mathematics.

“How about this?”

“I think maybe I should just stop liking Xu Zhilin,” Jiang Ling said sincerely.

In the end, Jiang Ling still bought that stack of Tianli 38 Sets math test papers, feeling the fear of being dominated by mathematics again, just like during last semester’s final review.

This is love!

Jiang Ling felt her love for Xu Zhilin was simply epic.

She bought Tianli math papers for Xu Zhilin.

So grand.

Next to the bookstore was a milk tea shop.

Jiang Ling queued up and bought two cups of pudding milk tea, handing one to Shi Niannian.

The weather in mid-September was still stuffy and hot, with only occasional cool breezes dispersing some of the heat.

“Where shall we go next?” Jiang Ling asked while walking, kicking small stones on the path.

Shi Niannian said: “Come with me to… to… the accessory store.”

“Sure, what do you want to buy?”

“Not for me.” The girl held her milk tea, speaking hesitantly. “…My brother.”

“Do you have a brother? I’ve never heard you mention him before.”

“He’s not here. The day after tomorrow… he’s coming.”

The two walked forward side by side. In the accessory store, there were many girls around their age, laughing and gathering together, picking out items.

Shi Niannian didn’t know what her brother liked.

Her memory of her brother was blurry, though she had only left home to live with her uncle a little over a year ago.

Her brother had some intellectual issues. His way of expressing emotions was through crying and screaming.

When happy, he seemed curious about everything. When angry, he would throw things as if wanting to destroy everything.

Shi Niannian looked around for a while, then picked up a pink piggy bank. It was only as big as her palm, and very cute.

She remembered that her brother seemed to have had a hobby of collecting coins.

She wasn’t sure if he still had that interest.

“Wow, this is so cute!” Jiang Ling took it from her hand and looked at it. “But it’s pink. Will your brother like it?”

Shi Niannian looked at the other piggy banks in the display case.

There was also a little blue dolphin.

She picked it up and placed it in front of Jiang Ling, asking if this one would be suitable.

“This color is good! Perfect for a little boy!” Jiang Ling said.

Evening had fallen.

The light gradually softened, and the sunset glow was no longer so scorching.

Jiang Ling’s home was near the pedestrian street. After seeing her off, Shi Niannian turned to take the subway.

She carried the bag containing the little dolphin, thinking about seeing her parents and brother soon. She lowered her head and smiled slightly.

As she walked alone, someone patted her shoulder.

She turned around.

She saw Xu Ningqing, and behind him were two other men.

One she didn’t recognize, the other was Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang had a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt that revealed half his collarbone. Above that was his prominent Adam’s apple and the smooth, distinct jawline with sharp angles.

Through the smoke, his cold eyes, narrowed with a hint of mockery, were looking at her.

“Hey, who’s this beautiful girl?” the somewhat chubby boy behind him asked with a smile.

Xu Ningqing glanced at him: “My sister.”

The boy retracted his smile: “Oh, I apologize! So she’s your sister!”

Xu Ningqing clicked his tongue, raising his hand to slap the boy on the head.

“So it is you,” Xu Ningqing said. “What are you doing alone on the pedestrian street?”

Shi Niannian quickly withdrew her gaze, lifting the pink bag in her hand: “Bought something for Xiaozhé.”

Xu Ningqing took about 30 seconds to remember who “Xiaozhé” was. He didn’t have a good impression of Shi Niannian’s family.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth: “Your brother is coming?”

Shi Niannian shook her head lightly, putting the little dolphin back in the bag: “The day after tomorrow.”

“Alright, you should head home. It’s probably almost dinner time,” Xu Ningqing said.

Shi Niannian nodded, not looking at Jiang Wang again, and turned to leave.

Halfway to the subway station, large raindrops suddenly poured down from the sky.

A late summer thunderstorm.

It instantly created black dots on the gray road surface, which quickly turned completely black.

Pedestrians with umbrellas hurriedly opened them, while those without screamed and sought shelter. Shi Niannian hugged the bag to her chest and ran to the front of a small food stall to escape the rain.

After the rain started, the weather suddenly cooled. The wind blew against her bare calves, making her shiver.

She looked back, then entered the food stall to buy a cup of oden to warm herself.

She didn’t know when the rain would stop.

She stood aside holding the old cup, estimating that if it didn’t stop in ten minutes, she would need to call her aunt to let her know.

The wind chime hanging at the entrance of the small shop made a crisp sound. She looked over.

Jiang Wang walked in and also saw her.

He raised his eyebrow carelessly, then noticed her white dress that had been dampened by the rain. The hem clung slightly to her fair thighs, revealing a pair of proportionate, slender legs and a section of light pink short socks at her ankles.

Jiang Wang cursed in his mind.

He bent down to enter through the low doorway, took a few cans of alcohol, paid, and then walked to her.

Half of her body was again covered by his shadow, and Shi Niannian had to turn to look at him.

“No umbrella?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Here.” He handed his umbrella to her.

Shi Niannian was stunned and didn’t reach out to take it.

If she took it, Jiang Wang would have none.

The evening wind was stronger than usual after the rain, blowing her bangs apart to reveal her smooth, full forehead. She squinted slightly from the wind.

She saw Jiang Wang frown, looking a bit impatient.

Jiang Wang stepped forward.

His tall figure, with one more step forward, completely blocked the light from the shop door.

The light on her face brightened then dimmed.

Jiang Wang hung the bag of alcohol on his wrist, opened the umbrella, grabbed her hand, and placed the umbrella handle in her palm.

“No kiss needed this time,” he smirked lazily. “Go home.”

After speaking, he carried the alcohol in one hand, the other hand covering his head.

Amidst the colorful umbrella tops coming and going on the pedestrian street, he walked away in the rain with large strides.