She suddenly remembered the rumor she heard last week - Chao Youye was the heir to the Chao Group and was admitted to Quanxin High School, so she didn't have to worry about her grades at all.
"Um... I'd better not bother you anymore." She grabbed her homework book and hurried away, her ponytail swinging in a panicked arc behind her.
Mu Xinrong looked at her back and sighed helplessly: "You could have been more gentle."
"There's no need to waste your expression on someone you don't care about." Chao Youye shrugged, lowered her head and continued copying homework, but her voice was a little softer, "Besides...she was too close to you."
Mu Xinrong didn't hear the last sentence clearly: "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Chao Youye closed her homework book and smiled with satisfaction. "Come on, hand in your homework. I'll treat you to a Starbucks drink."
During lunch break, Chao Youye dragged Mu Xinrong towards the playground. The spring sun was warm, and many students had already gathered under the cherry trees.
Chao Youye took out his cell phone and swiped his fingertips across the screen a few times. Two minutes later, the security guard at the school gate received a "special notice" from the Chao Group - allowing Mu Xinrong to leave school temporarily.
"Chao Youye, this is an abuse of privilege." Mu Xinrong looked at the open iron gate at the school entrance, feeling both amused and helpless.
"What's wrong with abusing it occasionally?" Chao Youye raised an eyebrow and put a black baseball cap on Mu Xinrong's head. "Besides, I have to go pick up my custom-made suit. I can't let you eat braised eggplant in the school cafeteria alone - you had diarrhea after eating it last week."
Mu Xinrong shuddered as he thought of the dish of greasy eggplant. Chao Youye was right. With his stomach, the cafeteria's "dark cuisine" was definitely not suitable for him.
When the two got into the Chao family's black car at the school gate, the driver, Lao Chen, immediately handed them warm towels and juice.
Chao Youye lazily leaned back on the leather seat, unbuttoned his school uniform tie, revealing his delicate collarbone: "Let's go to Ginza and have dinner first."
At a Western restaurant in Ginza, Chao Youye expertly cut a steak for Mu Xinrong, but he only ordered a vegetable salad. Mu Xinrong looked at the lettuce on his fork and couldn't help laughing: "The heir to the Chao Group is actually eating a diet meal?"
"My old man called and said I've gained weight recently." Chao Youye rolled her eyes. "During last week's family checkup, the doctor said my body fat percentage is high and asked me to pay attention to my diet."
"Your body fat percentage is high?" Mu Xinrong looked him up and down. "How many boys envy your figure?"
Chao Youye suddenly leaned closer, her purple pupils gleaming under the chandelier: "What about you? Are you envious?"
Mu Xinrong almost choked on his steak and hurriedly picked up the water cup to drink.
———————————————————
In the afternoon math class, Chao Youye fell asleep again, his head resting gently on Mu Xinrong's shoulder, his breathing even and warm.
Mu Xinrong looked at the function graph on the blackboard and suddenly remembered the year he graduated from junior high school.
The young man said it casually.
"Any school will do."
Only then did he understand how deep the fear was hidden in the heart of this seemingly invincible and cold-faced young master of a wealthy family.
"Chao Youye, stand up and answer the question." The math teacher's chalk head hit Chao Youye's head accurately.
The boy woke up with a start, rubbing his eyes and standing up, his purple pupils still a little hazy.
Mu Xinrong quickly wrote down the steps for the solution on a piece of scratch paper and nudged him with his elbow. He glanced at Youye, his lips curled up in confidence. "For this problem, use L'Hôpital's rule. First, take the derivative, then substitute the limit."
Exclamations echoed throughout the classroom. The math teacher nodded with satisfaction: "Sit down, and don't sleep anymore."
When Chao Youye sat down, she leaned close to Mu Xinrong's ear and whispered, "Thanks, classmate."
Mu Xinrong smelled the scent of cedar on him and suddenly thought of the old cedar tree in the Chao family villa.
According to Chao Youye, the tree was planted when he was born, and now it has grown taller than a three-story building.
"Chao Youye," Mu Xinrong said softly, "you are actually very smart. You don't need to rely on me."
Chao Youye turned to look at him with a serious look: "Xinrong, do you know the Twin Trees?"
He pointed to the cherry trees outside the window. "The two trees share a common root system. Neither can exist without the other."
Mu Xinrong was stunned. He had never imagined that in Chao Youye's eyes, their relationship existed like this.
The sunlight shone through the window onto Chao Youye's face. The boy's eyelashes cast tiny shadows under his eyes. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, with a bit of youthful confidence.
Mu Xinrong looked at the cherry blossoms outside and suddenly smiled. "Chao Youye, you copied the math homework today. You used the wrong formula for question eight."
"What?!" He widened his eyes at Youye, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"It's not too late to tell me now." Mu Xinrong took out a notebook from his schoolbag. "I'll teach you after school. I promise you'll learn it."
Chao Youye looked at his serious expression and suddenly laughed out loud.
The sunlight fell on the two of them, stretching their shadows very long, like two trees growing side by side, with their roots tightly intertwined underground and their branches and leaves watching over each other in the sky.
"Xinrong," whispered to Youye, "thank you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
