Chapter 20: I Like My Brother

Si Tingyan’s name also held considerable fame at Feng Gao.

He wasn’t just an average excellent student; he was known as a genius in academics.

Each science subject he took could qualify him for competitions, and his scores consistently ranked first, significantly ahead of the second-place student.

He was also good at robotics outside of class, a model example of not just being a bookworm.

Practically no one at Fengxun High School didn’t know him. No matter which grade’s teacher, whether they had taught him or not, they always liked to use him as a model in class.

Not to mention, Si Tingyan’s face was even more famous than his grades.

It was hard for anyone not to know him.

Even those who hadn’t heard teachers talk about him would recognize him because of his face.

Wei Xiangdong had also taught Si Tingyan and knew his situation well. He had been Si Tingyan’s homeroom teacher for a year, so he felt no unfamiliarity with him.

Moreover, since the two were siblings, Wei Xiangdong naturally knew they weren’t biological siblings. He had never heard of Si Tingyan having an older sister before, and Cheng Mi had only recently transferred and started living in Fengxun. It wasn’t hard to guess that they were most likely from a reorganized family.

Children from reorganized families generally found it difficult to get along harmoniously, either having a strained relationship or not being familiar with each other.

Wei Xiangdong saw Cheng Mi bringing it up herself, assuming their relationship was quite good—a poor relationship wouldn’t involve such interaction—so he beckoned Si Tingyan over.

Cheng Mi, sitting on a chair next to the desk, watched Si Tingyan walk towards them.

The afternoon sun slanted into the office, light and shadow cutting through the air, half bright yellow and half cool dark.

Dust motes danced in the air, and muffled sounds of reading drifted from the corridor outside.

A faint layer of light fell on Si Tingyan’s school uniform, slanting down from his shoulder, half of him immersed in shadow.

His gaze, which had met hers at the office door, hadn’t moved until he stopped by the desk.

Cheng Mi sat to the right of the desk, while Si Tingyan stood to Wei Xiangdong’s left.

Si Tingyan’s gaze was no longer on Cheng Mi, but Cheng Mi’s eyes remained fixed on him.

Two days ago, the third-year students had just taken an exam, and the results had just come out today. Wei Xiangdong rummaged through the stacks of lesson plans and documents on his desk, pulling out the score sheet and the stack of physics exam papers he had on hand.

His glasses almost slipped off his nose as his index finger quickly moved down and stopped at Cheng Mi’s name.

After roughly reviewing her scores, Wei Xiangdong said: “Overall, it’s pretty good. Your ranking held steady. Your Chinese, English, and Biology are all excellent.”

He sighed regretfully: “It’s just math. It’s dragging everything down. If your math score could improve, moving up dozens of places in the grade wouldn’t be a problem. The math exam papers are with your Teacher Chen. I don’t have them on hand right now. Your math teacher should hand them out and go over them tomorrow. You need to summarize where all your problems are.”

He then said to Si Tingyan: “Help your sister look at which knowledge points she’s having trouble with. Your knowledge is solid, so you should be able to spot them at a glance, which will save time.”

Cheng Mi’s eyes were fixed on Si Tingyan’s face.

Si Tingyan’s eyelashes were lowered, his gaze on the score sheet, not looking at her.

Wei Xiangdong then pulled out her physics exam paper, flipping through it and scanning it, the paper rustling.

“And this physics, no careless mistakes leading to lost points, it should still be a knowledge point issue,” Wei Xiangdong finished, then looked at Cheng Mi, “Cheng Mi, don’t you understand this knowledge point?”

Cheng Mi followed Wei Xiangdong’s index finger, which was pointing at the exam question, and looked at the problem.

It was a knowledge point she could say was almost entirely unfamiliar to her.

Since coming to Fengxun, the current progress hadn’t reached this point in the review, so she had no concept of it at all. She naturally just guessed on the exam.

Wei Xiangdong was puzzled: “Have you never heard of this knowledge point or do you not understand it? Logically, this knowledge point is taught in the second year of high school. As long as you paid attention in class, you should be able to understand a little.”

Yes, it was taught in the second year.

But this was a knowledge point Cheng Mi had never heard of before.

At this moment, Cheng Mi felt Si Tingyan’s gaze seem to fall on her for a second.

She didn’t hesitate long before replying to Wei Xiangdong: “Yes, it was taught, but I didn’t quite understand it.”

“I see,” Wei Xiangdong said, then looked at something else: “Well, when you review it later, you must listen carefully.”

Cheng Mi looked up.

Si Tingyan was looking at her.

Cheng Mi felt at this moment that Si Tingyan’s gaze was a bit strange. Although he didn’t overtly show emotion, something just felt off.

This wasn’t the first time Cheng Mi felt Si Tingyan’s gaze on her was strange.

But her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Wei Xiangdong, who found another weak point in Cheng Mi’s knowledge.

It took roughly three or four minutes in total for Wei Xiangdong to analyze Cheng Mi’s strengths and weaknesses in her studies.

Chinese and English were Cheng Mi’s strong suits. Just these two subjects alone, her scores had already pushed her into the top five in the class. Her science subjects weren’t bad either; Chemistry and Biology were decent, Physics was also alright, but Math was a problem.

Wei Xiangdong finally looked at Cheng Mi and said: “Cheng Mi has been at Feng Gao for less than a month, right?”

It was indeed less than a month. Cheng Mi hummed in affirmation.

Wei Xiangdong’s next words were directed at Si Tingyan: “Not to mention keeping up with the study progress, she might not even have adapted to life here yet. With so many students, it’s inevitable that teachers can’t always give individual attention. So, if you have time, help your sister. You live together, so it’s convenient to ask questions.”

“Mm.”

Wei Xiangdong wouldn’t usually ask others to help students this way. High school studies are demanding, and most people can barely manage themselves.

But Wei Xiangdong knew that helping Cheng Mi sort out knowledge would probably only take Si Tingyan a few minutes.

He was diligent with every student, which is why he was so verbose.

To Cheng Mi’s surprise, Wei Xiangdong didn’t mention Cheng Mi’s part-time job to Si Tingyan, or ask him to talk to his parents about it.

He only reminded Cheng Mi to be careful about it herself before class, before letting them go, perhaps knowing that students didn’t want their parents to know about such things.

As they stepped out of the office, the class bell rang.

This period was for physical education for both of them. Usually, at this time every week, they would meet on the sports field.

Coming out of the office, the sound of reading from a nearby classroom suddenly became much clearer.

They were reading classical Chinese, every word strung together sounding familiar.

Si Tingyan walked ahead, passing by the window of that classroom.

Feng Gao’s teaching building hadn’t been renovated. The windows were still in the style of ten years ago, with mottled rust and thin iron bars embedded in the transparent glass. An iron push bar opened the window outwards into mid-air, its sharp edges neatly aligned.

Cheng Mi didn’t immediately follow, standing at the office door, watching Si Tingyan’s retreating figure.

After a moment, she caught up.

They walked one after the other past a row of classrooms. Each time they passed a class, a few distracted students would look out.

Cheng Mi maintained a consistent distance, her gaze fixed on Si Tingyan ahead.

In his hand, hanging by his side, were two test papers.

One of them was hers.

Only the two of them knew.

They continuously passed by the sounds of various teachers lecturing and the class signs hanging on each classroom door.

Finally, all sounds were left behind as they entered the stairwell.

The stairwell was empty, their footsteps echoing.

Si Tingyan had already gone down the stairs.

Cheng Mi followed behind him, only then calmly calling his name.

“Si Tingyan.”

His name echoed in the stairwell.

Si Tingyan didn’t respond.

Cheng Mi called again: “Classmate Si.”

Si Tingyan still ignored her.

His back was towards her, and he was already at the turn of the stairs.

Cheng Mi wasn’t in a hurry. She slowly walked down two more steps.

Waiting for him to turn down the stairs and face her, she called him.

“Cheng Mi’s family member.”

These three words sounded perfectly normal, but coming from her mouth, every word carried an improper intention.

Si Tingyan, on the lower flight of stairs, finally stopped. His eyes finally landed on her face.

Cheng Mi was still on the upper level.

One up, one down, their gazes met.

The stairwell was silent, devoid of footsteps, suddenly becoming exceptionally quiet, as if even their breathing was clearly audible.

Cheng Mi initially thought Si Tingyan would ignore her provocation, then heard his voice echo in the stairwell: “Brother?”

Although it was a question, his tone was flat, sounding less like an inquiry and more like an accusation.

Cheng Mi actually detected a hint of meaning in it.

Si Tingyan seemed to mind—did he mind her calling him her brother in front of others? Did he mind their relationship?

Cheng Mi’s gaze met his face.

Si Tingyan’s did too.

For a moment, neither spoke in the stairwell. Silence returned, and the familiar sound of reading drifted back into the stairwell.

It was already another classical Chinese text, read to the end, then the sound abruptly stopped.

It was also at this moment that Cheng Mi answered Si Tingyan’s question about being her brother: “Yes.”

Time seemed to freeze.

She looked into his eyes and said each word clearly: “I like my younger brother.”

After saying it, she stared at him intently, and Si Tingyan didn’t look away either.

Cheng Mi leaned on the handrail, resting her forearms on it and propping her chin on the back of her hand.

Their faces were suddenly very close, looking straight at each other.

Cheng Mi said to him: “You’re the same, aren’t you?”

Just like me, you like your older sister.

She leaned in close, her neck fair and slender, a delicate silver chain swaying around her neck, entangling with her long hair over her chest.

A hint of desire was unconcealed in her eyes.

Si Tingyan’s eyes suddenly fell to the side of her neck, his dark eyelashes lowering slightly, obscuring the expression in his eyes, seemingly indifferent yet somehow turbulent.

Cheng Mi followed his gaze, Si Tingyan was looking at her neck.

She looked up, and as she tried to look at Si Tingyan again, a test paper was slapped onto her face.

Through the paper, Cheng Mi could feel his bony, long fingers.

His thumb pad rested perfectly on her lips.

Whether by coincidence or something else, the next second, her lips were rubbed.

Cheng Mi hissed.

The test paper fell from her face, and Si Tingyan was already walking downstairs: “Your lipstick is too red.”

Blatant lie; she wasn’t wearing any lipstick today.

Cheng Mi took the test paper, and said to his retreating back.

“Why are you giving my test paper back? Family members are supposed to explain problems.”