When she explained problems to him in Chapters 23 and 24, she always said nice things...
After eating, Yu Kui went back to the classroom to do her homework. She now spends most of her breaks doing homework, and after finishing her homework, she does the practice questions she bought, making the most of her time and not letting herself overthink.
On my way home, the trumpet vines by the roadside were in bloom, their red blossoms drooping over the wall like beautiful red clouds.
The poem "To the Oak Tree" by Shu Ting popped into Yu Kui's mind. She felt hopeless and quickly left.
She went to the library on the weekend and saw Qin You in a corner. He was looking down at a book and had arrived earlier than her.
His monthly exam results were not ideal; he had fallen out of the top fifty in his grade, according to what Sun Shuya told her.
Qin You may have thought that it didn't matter if his grades weren't keeping up, as long as he had time, he could catch up eventually. But as it turns out, the knowledge he missed wasn't something he could catch up on just by wanting to.
Yu Kui chose a seat far away from him. When Qin You looked up as if sensing something, he only saw her thin back.
His hand holding the pen froze for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he found it difficult to concentrate on his studies.
Tao Jiang messaged him, inviting him to go to the movies. She said there was a really exciting suspense film out recently, and she wanted to have hot pot after the movie.
Qin You looked at the balance in his phone wallet. In order to go on dates with her, he had spent most of his living expenses on her, and now he was starting to feel the strain.
He had previously discussed increasing his living expenses with Qin's mother. Although Qin's mother gave him several hundred yuan more each month, it was still not enough to support his and Tao Jiang's expenses.
Qin You did not want to add to her mother's burden, so she rejected Tao Jiang's suggestion.
"What's wrong with you lately?" Tao Jiang asked, clearly displeased. "Don't you like me anymore?"
Qin You: "No."
"Why is that?" Tao Jiang asked, confused. "Is it because I haven't accepted your confession yet?"
Qin You lowered her eyes: "No, my grades have dropped recently, and I need to study."
Tao Jiang remained silent for a long time after hearing this, before finally sending a message: "Do you feel like I'm a burden to you?"
Qin You didn't like her overthinking things, so she told her about the homeroom teacher calling her mother. "I'm going to be a senior in high school soon, and I want to spend more time studying."
Tao Jiang: "I understand, whatever you want."
After saying that, she deleted Qin You from her friends list, not believing he wouldn't be anxious.
When Qin You realized that he was no longer Tao Jiang's friend, he was indeed anxious. He didn't even have time to finish the test paper before he packed his bag and hurriedly left the library.
Those who heard the commotion turned around, wondering why he was making such a loud noise. Qin You, however, didn't care about that and was eager to see Tao Jiang.
Yu Kui looked at his back and her first reaction was worry. He was in such a hurry, could it be that something happened at home?
On her way home in the evening, she ran into Qin's mother on the street. She was buying things at a convenience store and seemed unhurried. Yu Kui felt that she had guessed wrong again.
She suppressed her curiosity and dared not let herself develop any further concern for Qin You.
During summer vacation, Yu Kui celebrated her seventeenth birthday. Her parents took her out for a few days and prepared a gift she liked.
When I got home, school was about to start again.
While grocery shopping, Yu's mother ran into Qin's mother. She said helplessly that Qin You's grades were even worse than last year, falling to over 100 places in the grade. The teacher had talked to her several times, suspecting that Qin You was in a relationship too early.
Upon hearing this, Yu's mother didn't know what to say. She simply told her to pay more attention to Qin You, since this was a crucial time for her studies, as it concerned whether her child could get into a good university.
Qin's mother looked bitter, and really wanted Yu Kui to help her find out if Qin You was having an early romance.
Before she could even finish speaking, Yu's mother smiled and said, "She'll be a senior in high school soon, and Yu Kui will become increasingly busy. As parents, we can't really help her with her studies, so we can only try our best not to cause her any trouble."
Looking at Yu's mother's smiling face, Qin felt a pang of resentment and blamed her son even more.
If he hadn't gone too far, why would he and Mother Yu be so estranged now?
Senior year of high school is very busy. Yu Kui is almost always overwhelmed by all kinds of exercises and test papers. Her grades are steadily improving, and she has achieved the top score in her grade several times.
This attracted more and more attention to her. In addition to her own classmates, students from other classes came to ask her questions and borrow her study notes.
Yu Kui never refuses; for her, if she can help others, then it is a good thing.
Over time, she got to know more and more people at school, and people often asked her out to dinner on weekends, but she never accepted.
After school that day, she finished her homework and was about to go home when a tall, slender figure walked in through the door and sat down in front of her. Yu Kui looked up and, when she saw the person's face, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. "Why are you here?"
"Can't I come?" Xie Xingzhi held a workbook in his hand and laid the homework out in front of her. "Good student, please help me out."
Yu Kui: "..."
She looked at the boy's smiling face, never expecting him to ask her a Chinese question.
“Your essay has been all over our class,” Xie Xingzhi said irritably. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that our Chinese teachers are in the same office.”
Yu Kui: "..."
She looked at the classical Chinese text the boy was pointing to, calmed down and explained it to him. She had a solid foundation in Chinese language and literature and had read many books, so she was able to explain the questions with ease.
Xie Xing rested his chin on his hand, looking at her quietly, and sighed, "There's definitely a reason why you're good at studying."
Yu Kui glared at him. "Did you understand?"
"Pretty much." Xie Xing picked up a pen and wrote down two questions for her to see. "Are they right?"
Yu Kui noticed that his handwriting was quite good, and that he had taken in what she had just heard, so she was immediately pleased. "You got everything right."
“Otherwise,” Xie Xingzhi said, “You’ve explained it to me so seriously, how could I possibly make a mistake?”
Upon hearing this, Yu Kui felt that he was actually very smart, but it was a pity that he hadn't focused his energy on studying before.
"Is there anything else you don't know?"
Xie Xingzhi then pointed to a multiple-choice question that required analyzing the classical Chinese meaning of each option. The content was all knowledge that had been learned, but it was somewhat complex.
After Yu Kui finished explaining to him, she took out her Chinese textbook from her schoolbag and handed it to him. "Take this home and copy all the notes. If you don't understand anything, you can come and ask me tomorrow."
Xie Xingzhi was taken aback for a moment, looking at her fair face, and deliberately said, "You're so good to me?"
“Your foundation is too weak,” Yu Kui said seriously. “You’ll be taking the college entrance exam next year, so the sooner you catch up, the better.”
Xie Xingzhi chuckled and took the book from her. "I thought you good students wouldn't bother helping us."
"Nonsense." Yu Kui disagreed with his statement. "You didn't ask us, so how can you make such a conclusion?"
“That’s true,” Xie Xingzhi said. “It varies from person to person.”
“My classmates are all very nice,” Yu Kui said. “Don’t feel embarrassed.”
"Okay, okay." Xie Xingzhi stood up, looking at her neatly packed schoolbag. "Are you home yet?"
“Mm.” Yu Kui also stood up and walked out with him. It was early autumn, and the weather was not cold. The setting sun shone brightly on the campus.
Yu Kui stood in the corridor and looked down, finding the scene surprisingly beautiful. She took out her phone and snapped a picture.
Next year, she will not be able to see the same sunset at the same time and in the same place.
It seems so precious now.
She finally realized that after graduating from high school, she would leave the familiar campus.
Xie Xingzhi stood beside her, and the two quietly enjoyed the tranquility of the moment without saying a word.
Only when she heard footsteps did Yu Kui snap out of her daze and walk downstairs.
Xie Xingzhi parted ways with her at the top of the stairs, saying, "I'll come see you again tomorrow."
"Okay." Yu Kui waved and walked out of the campus in the setting sun.
The next day, Xie Xingzhi returned her Chinese textbook and asked how her English grades were. Yu Kui pursed her lips. English was her worst subject, but if she were to explain problems to him, she should be more than capable.
Come find me after school.
Xie Xingzhi curled the corners of his lips. "Okay."
After school, the students left one by one, but Yu Kui was still sitting in her seat doing her homework. She only put down her pen when Xie Xingzhi came in. "What don't you understand? List them all out, and I'll explain them to you in order."
"My English is a bit better than my Chinese," Xie Xingzhi said with a grin, "except for listening comprehension, I'm not very good at anything else."
Yu Kui: "..."
She compiled the problems Xie Xingzhi had listed and found that his English foundation was not bad, but his grammar had major problems, which was very similar to her own in the past.
After explaining the test paper to him, Yu Kui told him to go back and familiarize himself with the grammar and do more practice questions, as combining the two would deepen his memory.
She can only solve some of his difficulties; he needs to persevere on his own to solve the others, and whether he can do it depends on his own willpower.
As dusk approached, Xie Xingzhi put away the exam papers. "Let's go, I'll take you to the bus stop."
As the two walked through the vast campus, Yu Kui looked at his handsome face and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you used to dislike studying? Why are you like this now..."
Xie Xingzhi exchanged a glance with her and said slowly, "Whether you like it or not depends on the time. In the past, it wasn't a big deal if you didn't like it, but next year is the college entrance examination. Now, even if I don't like it, I have to like it. Otherwise, if I only get a high school diploma, who will I cry to later?"
Yu Kui hadn't expected that he, who seemed unreliable, was so aware of the importance of studying, and couldn't help but want to help him more. "It's good that you think this way."
She smiled and said, "It's always better to work hard now than to cram at the last minute. You're very smart and learn things quickly, so your grades will definitely improve."
She always knows how to say things that people like to hear. Whether she's in front of Qin You and Tao Jiang or Xie Xingzhi, as long as she's willing to treat people as friends, she won't belittle or look down on them.
“You have more faith in me than my parents do,” Xie Xingzhi laughed, his narrow eyes curving slightly. “I’m really impressed.”
Yu Kui didn't say anything more, said goodbye to Xie Xingzhi, and got into the bus.
Xie Xingzhi stood there, looking at her calm profile through the car window, and subconsciously took out his phone and took a picture.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
