Chapter 28

Zhang Xiaotian came out of the corner carrying a stack of homework books when he saw Lu Bai standing at the door of the class teacher's office kicking stones. He was about to speak when Lu Bai quickly signaled him to be quiet and waved him over.

"Someone just wanted to see Lao Zhang, so he told me to wait outside." Lu Bai waited for him to come closer and explained. "I'm calling my mom right now."

"Auntie?" Zhang Xiaotian realized the moment he asked. It was because of the English test. Lu Bai's grades were pretty good in all subjects, except for English, which was a bit disappointing. He'd studied hard for the previous exams, so his score wasn't great, but it wasn't terribly bad either. However, this test, though a small one within the class, was quite difficult. Furthermore, Lu Bai only had time to cram for one night, so his score was abysmal. Old Zhang was furious after grading the papers, and before the class was over, he summoned Lu Bai to his office.

"Xiaotian, let's go..." Han Chengcheng followed from behind, and just as she spoke, she saw Lu Bai frantically gesturing at her to stop talking.

Han Chengcheng shrank her neck when she saw this, and walked over, lowering her voice and asking Lu Bai, "What's going on now?"

Lu Bai made a phone call gesture and pointed inside. The three of them leaned their heads close to the crack of the office door and were about to listen when the head teacher called out, "Lu Bai, come in!"

Lu Bai pursed his lips, made a tear-wiping gesture, and motioned them to hide. He then opened the door and walked in. As soon as he entered, Zhang Xiaotian and the others behind the door heard Lao Zhang's roar: "Look at your grades!"

Zhang Xiaotian wanted to wait a little longer, but he came out to help Han Chengcheng get the homework books for the whole class. He couldn't just give up after getting the homework books, so he had to accompany Han Chengcheng back to the class. When he came out again, he happened to meet Lu Bai who was returning to the class.

"What are you going to do? Class is about to start." Lu Bai asked him.

What else can I do? Zhang Xiaotian didn't answer him, but only asked: "What do you mean?"

"Let's go back to class. I'll tell you when we get back." Lu Bai put his arm around him and walked back with him.

"What else can I say? It's the same old story." Lu Bai sighed, "If I don't pass again, I'll be suspended from school and sent home to reflect on myself. I told my mom the same thing."

"Suspended classes?" Zhang Xiaotian frowned after hearing this. "Wouldn't that affect my grades even more?" If Lu Bai missed too many classes, his test scores would drop too low over time, and he wouldn't be kicked out of the experimental class.

"Yeah, so he told me to figure it out on my own. If I don't pass the next monthly English exam, he'll let me go to hell."

"What should we do then?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him.

"What else can I do? I'll go home and do some homework, then find a tutor or something." Lu Bai ruffled his hair. "Alas, with my score, it's not that easy to pass. Old Zhang is really something."

The two returned to class with sad faces and told Yin Li and Han Chengcheng about the situation.

"I think Lao Zhang is just trying to scare you," Yin Li thought for a moment and said, "Last time he said he would suspend your classes, but it turned out to be just talk."

"But I called his mother..." Han Chengcheng said.

Lu Bai sighed again after hearing this. Han Chengcheng saw this and said, "I'll give you my tutor's contact information." She pulled a few papers from the table and said, "Here, these are the papers he gave me. He explains it in quite some detail. Go back and contact him to schedule a time for a trial lesson to see if it's right for you."

Lu Bai took the test paper and glanced at it, his expression looking very troubled. Seeing Zhang Xiaotian also leaning over to take a look, he handed it to Zhang Xiaotian and said, "I'm just worried that my English is hopeless and no teacher can teach me."

"How is that possible?" Han Chengcheng said, "Why don't you try it first?"

"That's right, you try it first," Yin Li also said. "Besides, I think Lao Zhang is definitely trying to motivate you to make progress. How could he just suspend classes like that?"

"Oh, you have no idea how scary Lao Zhang was just now!" Lu Bai rubbed his face. "One moment he was saying 'one point can defeat a thousand people', and the next moment he was saying that if we don't find a solution, we'll be doomed. It really made me feel uncomfortable."

"Who told you to lag so far behind in English compared to other subjects?" Han Chengcheng said. "Looking at the transcript, the contrast is quite stark."

"Alas." Lu Bai sighed, "I'll contact your tutor first. What if he doesn't want to take me?"

"I'll ask someone else for you." Yin Li also said.

Zhang Xiaotian listened to them talk while flipping through Han Chengcheng's papers. He didn't want to be completely useless, but he hadn't attended any cram schools, and now, due to the new policy, no one dared to open cram schools openly. He could only wait for people to introduce him to others, and there was no telling how long he would have to wait. He watched the three of them talk for a long time without coming up with a solution, knowing that this wasn't something that could be solved hastily. He examined the papers and suddenly had an idea.

He kept this thought in mind and didn't say it out loud until school was over that evening. Lu Bai packed his schoolbag and saw Zhang Xiaotian standing there in a daze after packing his schoolbag, so he hurried over.

"Let's go?" he asked Zhang Xiaotian.

"Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian came back to his senses and agreed to him.

After the sweltering heat of autumn, the temperature dropped steadily. The fallen leaves had been swept into piles, but there were still plenty on the ground. When they were stepped on, they made a crisp sound. Lu Bai kicked them one by one, and if some were far away, he would do a standing long jump to step on them. Zhang Xiaotian followed him closely behind, not saying a word.

Lu Bai walked around and came back, but he didn't see Zhang Xiaotian arguing with him as usual. He walked over to Zhang Xiaotian and asked him, "What's wrong with you?"

Zhang Xiaotian shook his head.

"You won't tell me?" Lu Bai put his hands behind his head. "Then let me guess. You're not still worried about my English, are you? Don't worry. I've already started looking for tutoring classes. There will always be a way out."

"What about those days when you haven't found it?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him, "Are you just going to just sit there and wait?"

"Then what do you think we should do?" Lu Bai asked him. Just as they were walking to Zhang Xiaotian's house, he added, "Okay, maybe Old Zhang is really trying to scare me into studying harder? I'll find a way. Don't worry about it. Just go up."

Zhang Xiaotian stood downstairs, not saying he was leaving or anything else, just looking at Lu Bai. Lu Bai also looked at him, and suddenly understood what he wanted to say.

"I'll tutor you." Zhang Xiaotian opened his mouth several times before finally saying it. "It's just that I haven't had tutoring from others, so the results might not be great. But it's better than just waiting."

"No..." Lu Bai reacted for a moment, then smiled. "That's great! I actually... wanted to ask if you were willing, but I was afraid to waste your time."

"How could it be..." Zhang Xiaotian didn't expect Lu Bai to say that.

"You've been studying so hard these past two days that you didn't even chat with me in class. I thought you didn't have time." Lu Bai pouted, as if he was unhappy.

"It won't take up much time," Zhang Xiaotian said. "Besides, once you find a suitable teacher, you won't need me anymore."

"How could that be!" Lu Bai rushed forward, looking like he was hugging Zhang Xiaotian, but he was just a little closer. "I still have to do exercises to consolidate my knowledge after class. I always need Teacher Zhang Xiaotian." Lu Bai said.

Zhang Xiaotian felt a little embarrassed by what he said. He took a step back and continued, "Go home and think about a convenient time. Then come to my house. I happen to be the only one there recently."

"At your house?" Lu Bai looked up at Zhang Xiaotian's house. "Then my mother will be relieved. I'll tell her when she scolds me tonight."

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him. Lu Bai was so happy that he was strolling around. "I told her, 'As soon as one of my classmates heard I got scolded, they immediately offered me extra lessons.' She must have been happy to hear that! How's it going?"

"Whatever you say." Zhang Xiaotian smiled and turned to go upstairs. "Then I'll wait for your news."

"Okay!" Lu Bai waved to him, turned around and ran quickly.

After Lu Bai went back and discussed with his family, he decided to go to Zhang Xiaotian's house to study every weekend until he found a cram school. Lu Bai's mother originally wanted to pay some tuition fees, but Zhang Xiaotian refused.

"Go back and tell Auntie that I really don't want it." Zhang Xiaotian led Lu Bai into the house and turned to him and said, "I'm just going to help you with the parts you don't understand and give you some questions."

"Then I have to give you something else. I can't let your hard work be in vain." Lu Bai stood at the door, took the slippers Zhang Xiaotian handed him and put them on. As he spoke, he couldn't help but look inside. Zhang Xiaotian's home looked very neat. The floor was spotless, the sofa was wrinkle-free, the furniture and walls were all light-colored, and there were no decorative ornaments on the table, not even a vase. There were very few things, but each one looked expensive. Lu Bai stood up, looked at Zhang Xiaotian, and then looked behind him. He felt that there was a very strange blankness here.

"Just improve your grades." Zhang Xiaotian waited for him to change his shoes before leading him to his room. Lu Bai's eyes never left his gaze as he walked a few steps. From the living room to Zhang Xiaotian's door, there was nothing special, but once he entered the room, something was slightly different. Lu Bai couldn't help but sigh.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Xiaotian put Lu Bai's things on his desk and turned to ask him when he heard the sound.

"Nothing." Lu Bai shook his head. Zhang Xiaotian had obviously gotten up a little late. He had just gotten up and tidied when Lu Bai arrived, so the quilt was a little messy, the bed wasn't as flat as the sofa, the curtains weren't drawn properly, and there were books on the table that hadn't been put away yesterday. The room was clean, but there were traces of Zhang Xiaotian's presence everywhere.

This is a bit more popular. After Lu Bai looked around the room, he returned his gaze to Zhang Xiaotian. It seemed to confirm his previous thoughts. Zhang Xiaotian didn't look as straight and formal as he did at school. His hair seemed a little messy. Although he wasn't wearing pajamas, he was wearing a soft-looking sweater. Looking closely, his face seemed to be still a little sleepy, with a little white at the corner of his mouth.

Could that be toothpaste foam? Lu Bai tried to hold back his laughter, but failed. Seeing Zhang Xiaotian looking at him with a puzzled look on his face and smiling, he pointed to the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Xiaotian also raised his hand to touch it in a daze. After touching it, he finally understood what he meant and immediately blushed. He rubbed it vigorously, and his tone sounded unhappy: "What's so funny about this?"

"Not funny." Lu Bai coughed a few times. The table wasn't big, so Lu Bai walked over and sat next to Zhang Xiaotian. He felt closer than at school, so close he could smell the cool scent of Zhang Xiaotian. He watched as Zhang Xiaotian pulled a few books from the pile on the table, opened them, and placed them in front of him.

"I bought a few basic exercise books these past two days, and I looked for a few last night." Zhang Xiaotian pointed to a few questions and handed the pen to Lu Bai, "Try to do them."

Lu Bai took the pen and thought about it, feeling a little strange: "We go to school and go home together, when did you buy the exercise book?"

"There are always times when we are not together." Zhang Xiaotian did not explain in detail, and continued, "You do it first. Leave the ones you don't know blank. Show it to me when you've finished them all." After saying that, he put on his headphones and took out his homework to do.

Lu Bai hadn't expected to start studying right after entering the room. He was a little caught off guard, staring at the English workbook on the table with wide eyes. There were papers and pens on the table, and the sound of writing nearby made it feel like he was sitting in a classroom. Lu Bai suddenly felt a little restless, twirling the pen in his hand, unable to resist "disturbing" Zhang Xiaotian's concentration.

As Zhang Xiaotian was writing, he was startled by the message alert sound in his headphones. He quickly switched his phone to silent mode and clicked on the notification. It turned out to be a message from Lu Baifa.

God! Look at me!

Zhang Xiaotian looked over. Lu Bai chuckled and pushed a piece of calculation paper towards him. Zhang Xiaotian took a look and saw a stick figure drawing on it, head bowed and writing, wearing headphones, with a small wisp of hair sticking up. Zhang Xiaotian immediately recognized the drawing of himself and quickly reached out to smooth his hair down. Worried that he hadn't done it in the right place, he stood up and ran to the bathroom to do it in front of the mirror. He had been up too late yesterday looking through his workbooks and had been in a hurry to clean up this morning. It was just a small detail, and he wouldn't have cared much about it. But now that he had been laughed at twice, he simply stood in front of the mirror and checked it again, making sure there was nothing wrong before leaving.

Lu Bai laughed for a while, and had stopped laughing, but when he saw Zhang Xiaotian coming out of the bathroom, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise again. Zhang Xiaotian saw that he was trying hard to hold back his laughter, and finally got a little angry. He leaned against the door frame with his arms folded, and didn't say anything, just looked at Lu Bai. Seeing him staring at him, Lu Bai finally realized that something was wrong, and quickly turned around to get a pen. After waiting for a while, Zhang Xiaotian didn't come back, so he turned around and looked at him carefully.

"Stop messing around." Zhang Xiaotian couldn't say anything seeing him like this. He stood up and walked back, then sat down and reminded Lu Bai again, "Do it well. I want to see it when you're done."

"Oh." Seeing that his expression had eased, Lu Bai also did his homework honestly and stopped making trouble.

Zhang Xiaotian, fearing he'd lose focus again, decided to keep an eye on him until he started writing. He slowly leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the tip of Lu Bai's pen. He'd been staring at it for a while, but his attention had slipped away. Lu Bai had a habit of reading the questions while doing them, but he'd only lip-synced them, not making any sound. Watching his lips move, Zhang Xiaotian recalled their late-night conversation on the train home, the clatter of the train on the tracks ringing in his ears. Back then, too, Zhang Xiaotian's sleepiness had made it difficult to hear Lu Bai's words clearly; he could only hear his lips moving, the occasional soft sound hitting his eardrum.

He remembered the unfinished sentence. Lu Bai had asked him what he wanted to say, but he had no idea what he wanted to say. The words came as suddenly and naturally as sleepiness, as if they were something he hadn't yet realized, and he was startled awake before he could finish. Because he couldn't figure it out, Zhang Xiaotian had tried to keep his distance from Lu Bai since his return, except for this tutoring session.

This was purely an emergency, and he had no other choice. He couldn't really refuse to help. Besides, Lu Bai looked very happy when he said he wanted to help.

Lu Bai hesitated for a long time before finally starting to write. Zhang Xiaotian also came back to his senses. He couldn't figure it out anyway. It wouldn't be fair to ignore anyone for no reason. So, why not just forget it? After Zhang Xiaotian figured it out, he continued with his homework.

After finishing the work and listening to Zhang Xiaotian's lectures, the whole morning passed in the blink of an eye. When Zhang Xiaotian asked Lu Bai to rest, Lu Bai was still sitting on the stool in a daze without moving. He himself didn't realize that he had been studying for so long.

"You didn't write when I asked you to, but now you're really into it." Zhang Xiaotian said as he packed his schoolbag and saw Lu Bai still sitting there, "You're really interesting."

"That proves that our Tian'er speaks well. He has made me obsessed with learning English." Lu Bai stood up and stretched.

"What do you want to eat? I'll order takeout." Zhang Xiaotian picked up his phone, watched him stretch, and said, "You can walk around the house."

"Okay." Lu Bai nodded and walked out of the room. He walked around the living room and found that the furnishings were all brand new, as if they had just been bought. He didn't dare to move or sit, so he went to the kitchen. The kitchen finally didn't look like a model house, but it didn't look like it was often used. The pots and pans were polished to a shine and put away, and the wooden cutting board didn't look like it had been used recently.

"What do you want to eat?" Zhang Xiaotian's voice came from the inner room. Lu Bai looked at the kitchen trash can, and there was no kitchen waste in it.

"Just like you." Lu Bai said.

"Okay then."

Lu Bai walked around, but seeing nothing to see, he returned to Zhang Xiaotian's room. Zhang Xiaotian wasn't in the room. Lu Bai glanced around the doorway before sitting down on Zhang Xiaotian's bed. The bed sagged slightly, but felt supportive. He reached out and patted it, then looked up to see the small bookshelf Zhang Xiaotian had nailed to the wall. Zhang Xiaotian's room was very different from his own. There were no sports posters on the walls, no toys or figurines on the table, and practically nothing to indicate the room's owner's status or preferences, except for the bookshelf.

Lu Bai stood up and walked over to the bookshelf. There weren't many books on the shelf, mostly exercise books and supplementary materials. Completed papers were bound together and labeled by year. There were also some very new magazines, likely only flipped through a few times, as they all looked brand new. Lu Bai didn't touch them, just looked at them. He noticed a collection of fairy tales at the very back of the bottom shelf. It looked very old, with the spine worn off, and it stood out among the other well-preserved books.

It must be a book he really likes. Lu Bai pondered this and suddenly remembered the little fat dog figurine they bought at the temple fair in City B. He couldn't find it anywhere in the house. He wanted to ask Zhang Xiaotian, but just as he opened his mouth to call for help, he heard the door open.

Is someone back? Lu Bai thought it would be impolite to stay in the room without saying anything, so he walked out and found Zhang Xiaotian changing his shoes at the door.

"When did you leave?" Lu Bai asked, "Are you comfortable leaving me home alone?"

"What's there to worry about? Are you afraid of staying alone?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him in surprise.

"No, I'm not afraid of anything." Lu Baile said twice, "What did you do when you went out?"

"I didn't know what to order, so I just went downstairs and bought some of my usual food." Zhang Xiaotian handed the things in his hand to Lu Bai and turned into the kitchen. "Come here and sit down."

Lu Bai placed the food on the table and opened it: two dishes, two boxes of rice, two pairs of disposable chopsticks. Zhang Xiaotian also took a drink from the refrigerator. The two of them, one overworking his brain and the other not having had time for breakfast, ate very quickly.

Lu Bai shoveled the last bite of rice into his mouth, chewing while asking Zhang Xiaotian incoherently: "What are we going to do later?"

Studying, of course. Zhang Xiaotian wanted to say that, but when he saw Lu Bai blinking at him, he felt that there was no need to rush to improve his grades. He chewed his food carefully and swallowed it before speaking: "What are you talking about?"

"What do you do on weekends?" Lu Bai thought about it. He didn't seem to see anything in the house that could help him pass the time, not even a TV.

"Read a book," Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment, "watch some videos or something."

"How boring." Lu Bai smacked his lips after hearing this.

"It's so boring."

Zhang Xiaotian smiled and stood up to clean the table. Lu Bai also stood up to help and took a few tissues to wipe the table. After cleaning up, Zhang Xiaotian went downstairs to throw away the garbage again. Lu Bai followed him this time. After throwing away the garbage, the two did not go upstairs, but wandered around the community aimlessly. This is a new community built a few years ago. Because the housing prices are relatively high, there are still vacant houses that have not been sold. Therefore, compared with the old communities around it, it is much quieter. Zhang Xiaotian wandered back and forth in the small park downstairs without asking why. Lu Bai followed him and walked with him for a long time before he hurried a few steps to catch up with him.

Lu Bai reached out and grabbed Zhang Xiaotian. "That's enough, Tian'er. It's enough to digest the food after the meal." He then looked at a woman with a child next to the slide in the square across the street. When the two of them suddenly stopped, the woman quickly called her child over. The mother and child whispered for a while, then hurriedly left the square and went upstairs.

"Look," Lu Bai whispered in Zhang Xiaotian's ear, "We just walked around the child without saying a word, scaring the parents."

"What does it have to do with me?" Zhang Xiaotian frowned. "I'm just going my own way. Why don't you say that you're too tall and look like a bad guy?"

"I don't look like that. I just waved to that kid and he was laughing." Lu Bai chuckled softly in his ear.

Just talk, why are you so close? It makes me feel uncomfortable. Zhang Xiaotian scratched his ear uncomfortably and shook Lu Bai's arm off his shoulder: "You're weird, right? You don't know me, so why are you saying hello for no reason?"

"Okay, if you say it's weird, then it's weird." Lu Bai smiled and sighed, "Then can we slow down a bit? I'm afraid if we keep going at this pace, I'll have to eat lunch again."

snort.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't know what he was feeling uneasy about. He turned around and walked back, his mind still spinning. His house didn't have much to entertain him. He had wanted to take Lu Bai for a walk around the neighborhood like Lu Bai had done last time, but even he had only recently moved in. He'd almost gotten lost at several intersections, let alone a story. Zhang Xiaotian hadn't been comfortable inviting classmates and friends over before, but this was his first time, and he still hadn't done it right. Thinking about it, he felt even more uneasy.

Just now I kept asking Lu Bai to study. What if Lu Bai gets bored and doesn't come next time?

"Tian'er! Tian'er! Wait a minute!" Lu Bai called him. Zhang Xiaotian then realized that he was busy walking forward and left Lu Bai behind. He thought that the more panicked he was, the more mistakes he was making, so he quickly stopped and waited for him.

"You can't even hear me when I call you. Are you hard of hearing because of your age?" Lu Bai walked towards him with a smile.

Zhang Xiaotian wanted to say something nice, but his words turned into something else: "You walk too slowly, and you say I'm old. Who knows, you might be older than me..."

"What?"

"Nothing." Zhang Xiaotian cleared his throat. "Waiting for you."

"I just saw a small fountain over there," Lu Bai said as he approached. The fountain he was talking about was facing the main entrance of the community. When it wasn't spraying water, it looked like a statue with colorful lights underneath. When it was spraying water, there was music and lights echoing. Zhang Xiaotian was relieved to see that Lu Bai didn't look impatient. He led Lu Bai towards the fountain and said as they walked, "I've only seen it spray once since I moved in, and it was quite beautiful."

This neighborhood is large and well-landscaped. Even in late autumn, there's no sign of desolation. The deep yellow and light green colors each create their own unique charm. Every few steps, you'll find open areas for exercise and relaxation. If you're in a good mood, a stroll here would be a pleasant experience. But Zhang Xiaotian's mind was too confused just now. Now that Lu Bai was interested, Zhang Xiaotian decided to cheer up, not wanting Lu Bai to get too bored.

"It's indeed a high-end residential complex. The facilities are much better than ours."

Nothing good here, no swings, no alley maze. Zhang Xiaotian silently complained, but said, "There are a lot of interactive fitness equipment here, and you can even count when you do squats..."

Bah, bah, bah, what am I talking about? What's the point of doing squat counting on fitness equipment?

"Really?" Lu Bai said in disbelief, "I want to see it!"

"...Over there." Zhang Xiaotian took him over.

Maybe Lu Bai was really interested in fitness equipment that could interact with people through voice. The two of them actually played downstairs for a whole afternoon. After returning home in the afternoon, Lu Bai was very cooperative. They talked and laughed and did a lot of homework. When Lu Bai was about to leave in the evening, Zhang Xiaotian still felt that this day was like a dream.

Lu Bai put on his shoes at the entrance, stood up, and stopped Zhang Xiaotian who was about to change his shoes and go downstairs to see him off. He asked, "How is it, Teacher Zhang? Was I, your student, obedient today?"

"Listen, be obedient..." Zhang Xiaotian was stunned by the question.

"Can I still come to take classes with you next week?" Lu Bai asked again.

"Of course." If you still want to.

"That's a deal!" Lu Bai was obviously very happy to get this answer. He threw his schoolbag back and turned to Zhang Xiaotian with a raised chin: "See you at school!"

"...Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian stared blankly at Lu Bai as he opened the door and left. Remembering they'd meet again at school tomorrow, he couldn't help but smile. He turned back to his room and saw his phone was on. He picked it up and found it was from Lu Bai, who had just left.

All it needed was a pair of sunglasses to be perfect.

Then he posted another emoticon of pushing sunglasses.

Zhang Xiaotian wanted to laugh again when he thought of his expression before he left, so he replied, "Yes."

Damn, now that I think about it, I suddenly feel that I was so pretentious just now, you should forget it quickly!

Zhang Xiaotian saw the frantic expression he sent again, smiled, and didn't reply. He checked the time, planning to review a bit more before taking a break. On his desk were several English exercise books he'd bought for Lu Bai. He walked over and closed them one by one. As he was about to put them away, he saw the stick figure Lu Bai had drawn for him that morning. Looking at them again, he noticed an extra sentence underneath.

The serious teacher Xiao Zhang is the most handsome! There is also a simple loudspeaker following behind him.

Zhang Xiaotian wanted to laugh as he looked at the paper, but he felt that he was insane for laughing like that just because of a painting. He let out a breath, thought for a moment, and then put the painting in the book his father had given him.