Chapter 09 Chapter 9

After the gymnasium activities ended, it was time for dinner. Cheng Yuhang wanted to organize a dinner for everyone, but Wen Shuo declined.

His reason was that he wanted to go home and do his homework. This sounded so fake. As the "pride of No. 4 Middle School", why would he need to do any homework?

"Xiao Li also said she needed to go home to do her homework just now. Did you two agree on that?" Yuan Jiani teased him. Ever since she heard that Wen Shuo was Ren Li's deskmate, she'd been upset that Ren Li hadn't told her the truth. This was Wen Shuo! With a handsome face like the school hunk, Ren Li actually called him average-looking.

Wen Shuo didn't respond. He took his coat, threw it over his shoulder, turned around and walked out of the venue.

The mall was packed, so Wen Shuo took the elevator down to the first floor and waited for a long time on the curb for a taxi. During the evening rush hour, traffic was so congested that even taxis had to queue, so he simply canceled the taxi and headed for the subway instead.

It took more than half an hour to get home. Jiang Lan just sent him a message saying that she had arrived home and asked Wen Shuo what he wanted to eat. She could order takeout in advance.

Jiang Lan is Wen Shuo's mother. Due to the nature of her work, she is often away on business trips, so it's rare for her to stay at home for such a long time. Wen Shuo casually replied that he wanted to eat at the stir-fry restaurant outside the community, and soon, Jiang Lan replied with an "OK" emoticon.

He had just replied to Jiang Lan's message and hadn't put away his phone when Zhao Manyue called.

Wen Shuo hung up, so she called several more times in a row. After being hung up on several times, Zhao Manyue probably feared that Wen Shuo was getting annoyed, so she stopped calling and started sending messages instead.

Messages came one after another on the phone, all of them were her expressing her dissatisfaction.

Cranberry [Brother Wen Shuo, are you no longer on my side?]

Cranberry【I still want that doll [crying]】

Cranberry【You don't help me】

Cranberry【Unhappy】

…

Wen Shuo didn't reply, so Zhao Manyue continued to send messages. Wen Shuo found her annoying and deleted her.

He didn't care how Zhao Manyue felt when she saw the red exclamation mark. The reason he kept her contact information until now was entirely because of Zhou Qi.

Perhaps Zhao Manyue had some feelings for him, but Wen Shuo had clearly expressed his views to Zhou Qi and Zhao Manyue. He had never cared about such groundless rumors, nor had he bothered to clarify them. But today, when Ren Li saw him and Zhao Manyue together, she kept her distance, intentionally or not. Wen Shuo began to think that if someone had already believed these lies, then he felt that he needed to take some measures.

He didn't want anyone to misunderstand.

Wen Shuo's gaze returned to the bag in his hand, which contained a pink plush star. If someone had told him he would carry this on the subway, he would have thought that person was crazy.

But now this thing actually happened.

The subway arrived at the station, Wen Shuo got off and walked back home.

Opening the door, the home was filled with a rare warmth. Jiang Lan was setting the tableware at the dining table when Jian Wenshuo walked in and said casually, "You've come just in time. Go wash your hands and eat."

Wen Shuo subconsciously hid the pink thing in his hand behind his back, changed his shoes, and returned to the bedroom on the second floor.

He closed the door and looked around, but didn't know where to put the thing.

In his hand, a pink plush star was smiling at him. Wen Shuo looked at it for a while, and finally found his backpack from the cabinet and stuffed the thing in it.

Outside, Jiang Lan called him. Wen Shuo casually put the backpack on the desk and got up to go to the living room.

During dinner, Jiang Lan didn't ask too much about Wen Shuo's school life, but just chatted casually about daily life.

She still has confidence in her son's studies.

When Wen Shuo was in elementary school, Jiang Lan went to a parent-teacher conference and her homeroom teacher once left her alone to talk. Jiang Lan still remembered the teacher's name as Zhang. Zhang suggested that Jiang Lan take Wen Shuo to the hospital for an IQ test when she had time, because even at that age, Wen Shuo had already demonstrated an intelligence level that exceeded that of an average person.

Later, Jiang Lan took Wen Shuo to the hospital, and the results were very encouraging. Wen Shuo's IQ was indeed very high. However, she did not accept Teacher Zhang's suggestion to give Wen Shuo special training, such as sending him to a junior class. Because Jiang Lan, who also had a high IQ and a high education, had her own ideas about Wen Shuo's future.

She doesn't want Wen Shuo to have too much pressure. If possible, she would rather Wen Shuo be a happy child.

Even now, Jiang Lan's philosophy remains unchanged. Even though Wen Shuo is already a senior in high school, she still cares for him, provides financial support, and even offers emotional help when necessary. Although she feels that adolescent boys can be difficult to deal with, Wen Shuo has also begun to have secrets that he doesn't want to share with her, but Jiang Lan doesn't care.

Because this is the inevitable path in life, she knows that Wen Shuo can also do well on his own.

Jiang Lan felt that Wen Shuo's attitude towards those around him was a bit cold, which might be a common problem among highly intelligent people. Fortunately, he had enough friends, so Jiang Lan didn't worry too much.

After dinner, Wen Shuo returned to his bedroom. Jiang Lan had a phone call to attend, which required him to use the study, so the two of them each went about their own business, not disturbing each other.

Wen Shuo sat down at his desk, took out his homework, and glanced at it. He first flipped to the last few advanced math questions on the test paper. After a moment's thought, he put pen to paper. After a few strokes and calculations, he had a perfect answer to the question.

It was still early and he felt that he had almost finished his homework, so he put down what he was doing and planned to read a book or play some games.

A message popped up on the phone, it was Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi【Play games together?】

He seemed to be chatting casually as usual, but Wen Shuo knew that Zhou Qi was most likely looking for Zhao Manyue. But Zhou Qi was very tactful. If Wen Shuo didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't ask. That's why the two of them had been together since their freshman year of high school.

Wen Shuo turned on the chat and played two games with Zhou Qi. Before they knew it, it was already eleven o'clock. The two played their last game. In the middle of the game, while Wen Shuo was waiting for his respawn at the fountain, he accidentally glanced at his phone and saw Ren Li's friend request message.

The resurrection countdown ended, and the game began again. Wen Shuo temporarily put his phone aside, but when he pressed his finger on the mouse, the operation began to change.

In the last wave, Wen Shuo was killed by the opponent despite being at full health, and the game ended in failure.

In his headphones, Zhou Qi was still analyzing the situation with great interest: "Boss, this was a great opportunity. You even TPed around, how did we lose?"

Wen Shuo casually replied, "I don't feel like it. I'm going to bed now."

Zhou Qi hurriedly said, "Wait a minute."

Wen Shuo's finger lingered on the hang-up button: "Go ahead."

Zhou Qi hesitated, "Nothing else, it's just my sister. She just came to me and said, 'You deleted her, she doesn't bother you anymore, please add her back.'"

Wen Shuo: “She’s in her second year of high school, right?

Zhou Qi was confused: "Yes, what's wrong?"

Wen Shuo: "Let her study hard and don't come to me anymore."

After he finished speaking, he hung up the voice chat. Ren Li's friend request was still there. Wen Shuo flipped back to the message reminder interface and clicked accept. In the blink of an eye, a dialog box popped up.

[You have added your friend Ren Li and can chat now]

Wen Shuo thought for a while and decided to wait for Ren Li to speak first.

He actually knew clearly why Ren Li added him as a friend today.

Ren Li was a simple-minded person, and many things were easy to guess. Wen Shuo knew that Ren Li came to him to pay for the ticket, so he scanned the code and paid at the entrance of the venue.

He didn't want Ren Li to owe Cheng Yuhang anything. Ren Li could owe anyone, but not Cheng Yuhang.

Wen Shuo held the phone and stared at it for a long time. Five minutes passed, ten minutes passed, and there was still no movement from the other side.

Out of boredom, he clicked on Ren Li's profile picture and turned to her Moments. As expected, a gray line ran across the center of the screen, and the content was only visible for three days.

Wen Shuo's gaze fell back on Ren Li's portrait. Under the clear blue sky, the girl was leaning against the railing of the stadium stands. She turned her face to the side, leaving only her slender back with a bow-tied ponytail.

In the end, he couldn't help it and sent a message to Ren Li.

W【What's up?】

Asking despite knowing the answer.

After sending the message, Ren Li didn't reply for a long time. After waiting for a long time, Wen Shuo was about to put down his phone when the chat dialog box suddenly changed. Ren Li's name changed to "Typing..."

She probably thought about it for a long time, writing and stopping, and finally only sent one sentence.

Ren Li【Are you Wen Shuo】

Wen Shuo: ...

He patiently typed a reply: W [Yeah]

After a while, Ren Li's reply came.

Ren Li [Thank you for paying for my ticket today, I'll transfer the money to you]

He was concise and to the point, as if he didn't want to say anything extra.

The clock on the table ticked away. Wen Shuo glanced at the table. There was a backpack there. Ren Li's pink star was lying inside, smiling at him. Wen Shuo picked it up, and after a while, put it back.

He remembered what Yuan Jiani had said in the afternoon about Ren Li being anxious to go back and do her homework, so he asked:

W【Is this week's homework difficult?】

Meanwhile, Ren Li was holding her phone, waiting for Wen Shuo's reply, when a message suddenly popped up in the chat box. She even wondered if she had missed something, as Wen Shuo had skipped the long message about repaying the debt and went straight to asking about homework.

Is this transition really so smooth?

Putting the ticket issue aside for now, Ren Li typed a reply:

Ren Li [Yeah, a little bit]

Ren Li【But fortunately, I have finished writing it】

Wen Shuo's reply came quickly:

W【Send it to me for review】

Ren Li:?

Her head is full of question marks now. Why does Wen Shuo suddenly want to look at her homework?

As her mind raced, Ren Li's hands were quick, and she had already sent her inner thoughts directly to Wen Shuo.

Ren Li [You mean, even good students like you have to copy homework?]