WG - 33

Although Xie Ye agreed to teach her physics.

This agreement was one thing, but putting it into practice was another matter.

Chi Zhiyu promised him to listen attentively to Chen Fuqing’s class and to complete the test papers properly. There would be additional teaching sessions on weekends, meaning Xie Ye would teach twice a week.

At first, Xie Ye was still quite conscientious and calm in his work. When he encountered places she didn’t understand even after several explanations, he wouldn’t say much and would patiently explain again.

However, a person can’t pretend for too long; sooner or later, their true nature will be exposed.

This was fully embodied in Xie Ye.

After teaching her three times, he became impatient, and his attitude began to change. Chi Zhiyu, being criticized, couldn’t bear it, and her attitude was equally fierce.

Thus began each lesson ending with mutual bickering.

Finally, they endured until the weekend before the final mock exam.

That night.

Chi Zhiyu sat at the desk, feeling that this wasn’t working. At least she had to review properly. She picked up her pen and looked at the person beside her, “Let’s call a truce now, teach me properly without sarcasm or insults, and no getting angry.”

Xie Ye sneered lightly.

Chi Zhiyu clicked her tongue, “Did you hear me?”

Xie Ye flipped open the book, “I’m not deaf.”

“Then I’ll take it as you agree.” Chi Zhiyu handed him the pen and reminded again, “Don’t get angry, speak nicely.”

Xie Ye furrowed his brows slightly, “Are we going to continue or not?”

“Yes, let’s start.” Chi Zhiyu nodded, spreading out the draft paper but still looked at him suspiciously, “You’re not holding back some tricks to scold me later, are you?”

Xie Ye raised his eyes and glanced at her.

“Do I look like someone who would do that?”

“...”

This was uncertain.

It was an unspoken rule.

However, five minutes later.

The boy, who seemed fine, tapped his fingers on the test question on the desk, raised his eyes to look at her, his voice cold as he asked,

—”Did you eat the parabola arc?”

“...”

“Is that thing around your neck just for show?”

“...”

“Leaving the second question blank for me to fill in?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chi Zhiyu slammed down her pen and looked at him expressionlessly, “Xie Ye, are you determined to battle with me today?”

Xie Ye: “...”

Chi Zhiyu pointed at the parabola she had just drawn, “Do you see this arc?”

“...”

“If you argue with me again later, I’ll throw you out of this arc.” Chi Zhiyu spoke arrogantly, “Understand?”

Upon hearing this, Xie Ye looked at her with amusement, saying nothing.

“...”

Chi Zhiyu coughed, picked up her pen again, and tilted her chin toward him, “Let’s start the lesson.”

Xie Ye indifferently hummed in response, turned the page, and began explaining the questions.

Thrown off by his attitude, Chi Zhiyu paused for a moment.

How could this person be so... obedient?

Wait a minute.

Obedient?!!

The moment this word popped into her mind, Chi Zhiyu dismissed it.

Xie Ye was only arrogant and unrestrained; there was no way he could be associated with obedience.

Chi Zhiyu stared at him.

Xie Ye didn’t even lift his eyes, “Are we studying or not?”

Chi Zhiyu blinked and pointed out, “Why aren’t you responding to me?”

According to common sense, he should have retorted against me.

Xie Ye “oh”-ed and said, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Chi Zhiyu: “Huh?”

He circled the wrong questions on the draft paper and pushed it towards her. Xie Ye glanced at her, half-smiling, half-not, “Since you’re about to throw me out of the parabolic arc, how dare I say anything to you?”

“...”

This was sarcastic irony.

Determined to maintain her remaining dignity, Chi Zhiyu didn’t respond and lowered her head to focus on the questions.

Although Xie Ye’s attitude was problematic, his teaching wasn’t. On the contrary, it was very concise.

Given that Chi Zhiyu’s foundation in physics was weak, he didn’t give her any complicated problems. He selected some typical examples, letting her solve them herself. After remembering the problem-solving patterns and types, she could apply them flexibly.

For the parts she didn’t understand, he directly explained them to her without any extra words, focusing solely on key points and critical steps, applying those few formulas from the questions.

Chi Zhiyu wasn’t stupid. Once she understood the main step, she automatically grasped the next one, following along to solve it herself.

The difficulty lay only in that key step.

The pre-exam review session ended.

Xie Ye sat nearby, resting his chin on his hand while watching her solve the final question alone, glancing at the time.

After finishing her calculations, Chi Zhiyu sighed in relief and pushed it over to him, “This time, I’m sure everything is correct.”

Hearing her confident tone, Xie Ye slowly took it and looked through the formula process.

Chi Zhiyu watched his gaze move slowly, inexplicably feeling a bit nervous. She leaned aside slightly and casually picked up the water in front of her, taking a sip. When she set the cup down, she suddenly noticed the cup was blue.

Chi Zhiyu stiffened and turned her head to the side, seeing another pink cup.

???

!!!

Before she could react, she heard the sound of Xie Ye flipping pages beside her. Chi Zhiyu immediately withdrew her hand and turned her head.

Xie Ye finished reading the last question, casually placed the test paper on the table, “Check it yourself.”

“Many mistakes? No way?” Chi Zhiyu picked it up and looked down.

There were no major issues with the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions; she hadn’t made many mistakes. The most important part was the big questions at the end.

The first two were basic and simple, but the ones after...

Chi Zhiyu just watched as Xie Ye drew a big cross on her answer.

It stood out glaringly.

Chi Zhiyu furrowed her brows, carefully searching for where she went wrong.

“No, this is my calculation error. I only—”

Chi Zhiyu looked up, her voice pausing.

Xie Ye held the cup with one hand, drinking water. Upon hearing her, he looked at her.

Suddenly, their eyes met.

Chi Zhiyu calmly averted her gaze, glancing at the blue cup in his palm, inexplicably feeling a bit dry-mouthed, “When did you take the cup?”

Xie Ye casually said, “Just now.”

Chi Zhiyu glanced at the rim of the cup he drank from, quiet for three seconds: “Alright.”

She lowered her head to look at the test paper, feeling ashamed, tightly closing her eyes.

He!

Touched!

The place she drank from!!!

Ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!!!

Her brain exploded with a series of exclamations and shocks.

When did he take the cup?

No, why did she take the wrong cup!

But why didn’t he say anything before drinking the water!!

So now she and Xie Ye had drunk from the same cup.

And also indirectly!!!

Ah———!!!

As if suddenly realizing, Chi Zhiyu abruptly lowered her head, completely unable to believe such a thing happened. Chi Zhiyu felt somewhat overwhelmed.

This incident was clearly more shocking than her accidentally kissing Xie Ye’s chin earlier.

But she couldn’t make any strong reactions, fearing she’d reveal something first.

“Wanna crawl into the test paper?” Xie Ye, seeing her bowing her head all the time, asked.

Chi Zhiyu snapped back to attention and quickly lifted her head, “No, I’m just resting.”

Xie Ye didn’t pay much attention, refilled the cup, and took another sip.

Chi Zhiyu caught sight of his lips touching the rim of the cup. Not knowing if her mind slipped or what, she suddenly blurted out, “Does the water taste good?”

Xie Ye: “...”

Chi Zhiyu: “...”

A few seconds later.

Xie Ye raised his eyes, “What do you think?”

Chi Zhiyu feigned calmness, “I was just asking casually, seeing you drink so much.”

“How much I drink,” Xie Ye paused, looking at her thoughtfully, “What does it have to do with the water?”

“...”

His question hit the mark, but something was off.

Xie Ye was never an easy person to fool, nor was he someone who suffered losses.

Once he detected a problem, there was no escape.

“No, I really was just casually asking. It has nothing to do with the water. You can drink it with peace of mind.” Afraid he might overthink, Chi Zhiyu quickly explained again.

“I never said there was a problem with the water.” Xie Ye put the cup down, leaned back, and scanned her up and down, “Why are you in such a hurry to explain?”

“...”

“What did you do?”

“What could I have done?” Chi Zhiyu was dumbfounded, “Haven’t I been sitting here with you all along?”

Xie Ye’s tone was neutral, “As long as you want to do something, what can’t you achieve?”

“...” Chi Zhiyu was speechless, “What do you mean, whatever I want to do, I can achieve? Am I some kind of deity?”

“Forget?” Xie Ye raised his eyebrows, his tone slightly elevated, “The sorceress has great powers, can predict fortunes, and probably can do other things too.”

“...”

Chi Zhiyu watched as he picked up the water cup again, her gaze unconsciously drawn to the rim.

Noticing this, Xie Ye slightly raised his eyebrows, “What are you looking at?”

Chi Zhiyu paused, then moved her gaze to look at him, pretending to be clueless, “Ah, what am I looking at? Did you see me looking at anything?”

Xie Ye didn’t speak, just glanced at the rim of his cup, then raised his eyes to look at her.

His gaze was intense.

Unable to bear the pressure.

“Alright, I’ll tell you the truth.” Chi Zhiyu pointed at the kettle, keeping a straight face, “I just wanted to drink water and ask if it was cool enough.”

Blatant lie.

“Is that so?” Xie Ye stared at her intently, as if trying to figure something out, “Going through all this just to drink water?”

Chi Zhiyu maintained a calm demeanor, “Isn’t it because you always think there’s something wrong with me, so I didn’t say anything.”

“Fine.” Xie Ye sat up straight and handed her the water cup with one hand, “Then drink.”

Chi Zhiyu saw him handing over the blue cup in his hand, stiffening slightly, “What are you doing?”

Xie Ye rested his arm on the table, leaning closer to her, “Don’t you want water?”

The distance narrowed.

“Ah?” Chi Zhiyu instinctively glanced at his lips, inexplicably feeling a bit nervous, swallowing, “If you want to drink water, why are you giving me your cup?”

As the words fell.

Xie Ye seemed to realize this too, withdrawing his hand, “Oh, forgot.”

Chi Zhiyu silently sighed in relief, “Alright, the questions are done, and the class is over. I’ll go downstairs to find Aunt Zhi.”

With that, she casually picked up the pink cup nearby and headed downstairs.

Xie Ye sat in his seat, staring at her back. With one hand, he twirled the water cup in his hand, his fingertips brushing the rim.

Water stains appeared.

...

A “click” sounded as the door closed behind her.

Chi Zhiyu stood in place, exhaling a breath of turbid air.

Her heart finally settled.

Being pressed with questions one after another just now, she was afraid she might blurt out something inadvertently.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, she was still quite quick-witted.

Chi Zhiyu patted her chest and stepped downstairs. Just at the stairway, she ran into Jian Yazhi, who was preparing to bring up some fruit.

“Aunt Zhi, what’s wrong? Is there something?” Chi Zhiyu walked down the steps and asked.

Jian Yazhi, holding the fruit, smiled, “Why are you coming down? I bought some oranges and thought of bringing them up to you.”

Chi Zhiyu realized, “Ah, no need. Our class is already over.”

“Then come to the living room to eat fruit.” Jian Yazhi turned and led her back.

“Alright, let me carry it.” Chi Zhiyu casually helped her carry the plate.

Jian Yazhi noticed the cup still hanging on her finger and took it for her, “Are you thirsty? I’ll go to the kitchen and pour you some tea.”

“Alright, thanks, Aunt Zhi.”

Chi Zhiyu placed the fruit platter on the coffee table in the living room, sat back into the sofa, picked up an orange, peeled it, and tasted it.

At this moment, coincidentally, Xie Ye, who had come down at some point, suddenly appeared with her cup in hand and sat beside her.

Chi Zhiyu felt the sofa sink a little, turned her head to see it was him, and was stunned for a moment, “When did you come down?”

Xie Ye pulled out a tissue for her to wipe her hands, “While you were chatting with my mom at the stairway.”

“Oh, alright.”

Chi Zhiyu pushed the fruit platter towards him, “Aunt Zhi bought these oranges, try them.”

Xie Ye indifferently hummed and casually picked one up.

Seeing him eat it, Chi Zhiyu asked, “Is it tasty? Sweet, right?”

Xie Ye commented, “Too sweet.”

“...” Chi Zhiyu: “Then don’t eat it.”

Xie Ye might have found it cloying, casually picking up the water cup beside him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chi Zhiyu saw him lift the cup and suddenly felt something was off. She immediately turned her head to look.

Xie Ye had already put down the cup, and the color of that cup was—

Pink.

Chi Zhiyu: “......”

Chi Zhiyu: “?”

“You took the wrong one.” Chi Zhiyu, for some reason already immune, calmly reminded him, “This is my cup.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Ye seemed to realize something was off too, “Oh, I accidentally took the wrong one.”

Unexpectedly, he remained so calm. Chi Zhiyu blinked, wanting to say something, but he interrupted first.

“But what should we do about it?”

Chi Zhiyu: “Hmm?”

Xie Ye slightly raised his tone, explaining slowly and deliberately, “I just drank from it, lips touching.”

“......”

After saying that, Xie Ye turned the cup, tilted his head, gradually meeting her gaze. He stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, then drawled, “So does this mean... we’ve indirectly kissed?”