SW - 31

Lu Chi’s mother’s affairs were not something Tang Yin meddled in.

First, her status didn’t allow her to interfere, and secondly, she felt that Lu Chi’s mother didn’t have a good impression of her, possibly because of their earlier encounter.

Moreover, it was their family matter; her interference wouldn’t make much difference anyway.

The next day when she returned to school, Lin Ru asked her a few questions and then let it go. Only then did Tang Yin realize that Teacher Wu had already requested leave on her behalf.

Tang Youwei also came during the evening self-study session to her class.

Tang Yin rolled her eyes, “Dad, you still don’t trust me.”

“As your father, worrying is natural,” Tang Youwei glared at her, “Look at you, how many times has the headmaster talked to me about you?”

“But I really like him,” Tang Yin clung to his arm, “Lu Chi is so cute, I really like him. Dad, you’ll definitely like him too.”

Tang Youwei: “… “

Tang Yin added a few more sentences, “So why do you bother so much? My grades won’t drop, and I won’t affect others.”

Tang Youwei wanted to retort but heard his daughter’s voice, “If I like Lu Chi, I’ll have the motivation to study. Isn’t that better than going out to fight?”

“…”

Tang Youwei thought for a moment, it seemed reasonable. At least he didn’t need to worry about safety issues. Who knew how many strands of hair he lost over his daughter’s fighting incidents.

He wondered how such an honest person like him could have a daughter who loved to fight. It must be all Jiang Qiuhuan’s fault for sending her to learn martial arts or sanda or something. Now look what happened.

Tang Yin patted his belly and whispered, “Dad, I know my limits.”

Tang Youwei patted her head before leaving.

Finally, Tang Yin had managed to get rid of her dad. She smiled, stretched lazily, and returned to the classroom.

…

“Wow, Lu Chi, how did you come from over there?” Lu Ye asked.

Lu Chi remembered the words he accidentally overheard just now; his ears twitched as he evasively replied, “I… took a wrong turn.”

Lu Ye: “… “

The nearest staircase was here, yet he came up from the farthest one. After almost half a semester, he could still take a wrong turn?

School ended after self-study at ten forty, but many students stayed behind for a few more minutes, trying to make every second count.

There were very few people left in Class Fourteen—no more than a dozen.

Tang Yin was bored and didn’t plan to go back.

Besides, Su Kexi had been full of passion lately, fully devoted to studying, almost taking a book to the office every day.

That was why she didn’t interfere with her relationship with Lu Yu now.

Because having someone who could make her progress was better than relaxing by herself.

While she was spacing out, suddenly a set of unfamiliar materials appeared on her desk with large “Physics” printed on it.

Tang Yin quickly turned her head and sure enough saw Lu Chi sitting beside her.

Su Kexi, who originally sat there, had moved to another empty seat, winking at her.

“You’re here… Is there something?” Tang Yin hesitated to ask.

Lu Chi glanced at her, then turned his head to face the blackboard, muttering a few words, “Tu… Tutoring.”

Seeing him maintaining his composure, Tang Yin couldn’t help but smile slightly. She tilted her head to look at him, “What are we tutoring? Bookworm.”

Lu Chi turned back, “Physics.”

His handsome fingers tapped on the material.

Tang Yin took the material, flipped through a few pages—it was stuff she hadn’t done before, quite different from the one Lu Chi helped her choose last time. This one focused more on extensions while the other was more exercise-oriented.

She nodded, straightened her posture, “Alright, tutoring.” She leaned closer and whispered, “You’re my private tutor.”

Lu Chi coughed lightly a few times, didn’t respond to her statement, and instead opened the material, “Do… Do this question.”

Tang Yin withdrew her gaze from his face, responded, “Doing it.”

Time passed quickly; the mock exam time was approaching.

A whole term of intensive review was all for this mock test. Not only the students were nervous, but even the teachers were worried, fearing any mishaps in their classes.

During this period, Tang Yin’s physics scores didn’t disappoint. Both the physics teacher and the head teacher repeatedly reminded her to stay relaxed.

Being in the top ten of the provincial mock exam would bring great honor.

Lin Ru said, “You absolutely can’t fall behind. One point can make a difference of a thousand people, especially for those high-achieving students. One point can throw off several ranks.”

Last year’s provincial top scorer and runner-up only had a one-point difference. One could imagine how everyone felt about it—one school rejoiced while the other lamented.

Having a provincial top scorer was a huge prestige boost.

Previous exams were city-level joint tests; this was the first real province-wide one. Although there were still two more mock exams afterward, the first mock exam was an important checkpoint.

The closest simulation to the college entrance exam, it had to be taken seriously.

Lin Ru smiled, “Your progress in physics has been praised multiple times by the physics teacher and me. Keep it up.”

Every teacher loves top students. Though poor-performing students weren’t necessarily bad, if they could improve, it naturally brought joy.

“Yes, yes,” Tang Yin verbally agreed.

She didn’t care much about grades. If necessary, she could retake the test.

Moreover, she sweetly smiled. During this period, Lu Chi came to Class Fourteen every night and spent more than ten minutes explaining problems to her.

At first, she thought it would only happen once or twice. Unexpectedly, it lasted nearly half a month, surprising even herself.

No matter what she said, Lu Chi wouldn’t listen.

Tang Yin’s scores on the small physics quizzes improved steadily, eventually stabilizing within a certain range, missing full marks by only one or two points. Once, she even achieved a perfect score.

She used to dislike a certain type of problem—if she personally disliked something, she wouldn’t want to touch it.

But Lu Chi forced her to tackle these problems specifically. After doing a set, she no longer harbored any dislike.

And having her crush sit there tutoring her felt pretty good.

On exam day, the school didn’t hold regular self-study sessions. The exam rooms were shuffled, and the proctors were from other schools.

Early in the morning, as soon as Tang Yin got up, she heard Zhang Mei chattering, “… I’m so nervous, I don’t know if cramming will work. If I don’t do well, I won’t have a good New Year…”

The mock exam was already at the end of January, equivalent to the final exam. After the exam, they would return home for winter break, so the students were also concerned about having a bad New Year.

Zhang Mei dressed unhappily and looked enviously at Tang Yin getting dressed, “I wish I could be as calm as you.”

Tang Yin didn’t even lift her eyelids, “You can’t envy that.”

“Sigh.”

Several people went to the cafeteria together. During the exam period, people woke up at different times, and there were fewer people, so they didn’t need to queue. They grabbed soy milk and buns and ate while walking.

Southern winters were cold, chilling to the bone.

A layer of snow fell last night, and no one cleared it. Now stepping on it made a continuous squeaking sound.

“Tang Yin, isn’t that your Lu Chi up ahead?” Zhang Mei suddenly spoke.

Tang Yin squinted to look; that familiar, elegant figure—could it be anyone else?

Lu Chi walked with Lu Ye and Tang Ming. Compared to the playful Lu Ye and Tang Ming, Lu Chi’s walking was quiet and steady.

Tang Yin quickly finished her soy milk and sped up.

Su Kexi and Zhang Mei weren’t surprised anymore and even called out, “Go, go!”

…

Lu Chi suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder; he looked to the left—no one.

Tang Yin squeezed past from the right, “Why are you so silly?”

Suddenly appearing, Lu Ye and Tang Ming jumped aside in shock, “Wow.”

“Lu Chi, I suddenly remember I haven’t eaten enough. I’m going to buy another bun,” Lu Ye said.

Tang Ming followed closely, “Me too! I’m buying soy milk!”

Both rushed to speak. Lu Chi moved his lips but couldn’t say anything for a long time. He finally turned his head helplessly.

Tang Yin sipped her soy milk, “Lu Chi, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I missed you.”

“…” Lu Chi felt something was off. He mechanically responded, “It’s only been… one night.”

They had just studied last night after evening self-study, how could it be considered a long time?

Tang Yin shamelessly said, “Since I fell for you at first sight, of course I couldn’t wait that long.”

Lu Chi was silent; he shouldn’t have asked.

For the mock exam, the exam rooms and seating arrangements were shuffled. She was on the first floor, he was on the third floor, she was on the easternmost corner, and he was on the southernmost corner.

Lu Chi didn’t say anything more and walked straight ahead.

Tang Yin kept talking beside him, bringing up every trivial matter.

Tang Ming and Lu Ye lagged behind, occasionally hearing Tang Yin’s voice.

Both exchanged glances.

After spending most of the semester together, they understood Lu Chi’s personality—he wasn’t one to tolerate nonsense, at least not from them.

Did the sun rise from the west today?

After the exam, it was still early. The school required everyone to return to their classrooms for self-study since there was nearly one class period left until the usual noon dismissal time; it couldn’t be wasted.

Halfway through the self-study session, it suddenly started raining heavily outside. The rain washed away some of the snow, but walking became even more difficult.

Su Kexi looked out the window, “My goodness, thank god I brought an umbrella.”

This rain was torrential, the first heavy rain of winter. Even with the windows closed, the sound of pouring rain could still be heard.

Occasionally, a few students in the class groaned about forgetting their umbrellas.

Tang Yin didn’t say anything, twirling her pen and writing answers. She always had two umbrellas, one in the classroom and one in the dormitory.

“Oh dear, there will probably be many people soaked later,” Su Kexi said.

Everyone was asking who brought an umbrella so they could bunch together and return to the dorms. They all headed to the same place anyway.

As soon as the bell rang, everyone rushed out.

Tang Yin and Su Kexi lingered behind, strolling leisurely.

“That…”

Su Kexi turned her head and saw someone coming over. She couldn’t believe it, rubbed her eyes, and hesitantly tugged Tang Yin’s sleeve.

They had just reached the first-floor turn, looking down from above. The windows were arranged in rows, allowing them to see the situation outside the stairs.

The rain was heavy, blurring the figures in the rain.

Lu Chi stood on the opposite corridor, hesitating to step into the rain curtain. His handsome face showed signs of irritation.

Tang Yin tossed her books to Su Kexi, “Take them back for me.”

With that, she grabbed her umbrella and ran toward him.

Before she reached him, Lu Chi had already stepped out of the corridor. Within seconds, he was drenched, clothes clinging to his body.

Being tall with long strides, he jogged a little, leaving Tang Yin struggling to keep up with the umbrella.

Seeing him about to walk far away, Tang Yin shouted, “Lu Chi.”

In the heavy rain, Lu Chi turned around, vaguely seeing her through the rain curtain.

Tang Yin hurried over. Being shorter, she had to raise her hand high, holding the umbrella over his head, complaining, “Why didn’t you walk with your classmates in such heavy rain?”

Lu Chi clenched his jaw. Raindrops from his hair formed water, dripping down. His entire face was enveloped in mist, glowing with a dull light.

His wet black hair clung in strands to his forehead, making his face appear white and unexpectedly seductive.

Water dripped down his neck into his clothes, his Adam’s apple moving slightly.

Attraction is human nature.

Tang Yin swallowed hard.

He looked like a beauty emerging from a bath. She never expected Lu Chi to look like this after being rained on, yet he still hadn’t removed his glasses.

Lu Chi turned his head, avoiding her gaze.

Just as Tang Yin was about to say something, the umbrella was taken from her hands. A low, raspy voice fell from above, “Let’s go.”

“Go, go,” she snapped back to reality.