Chapter 51

On the first day of school, Gu Jing Yuan’s mood was unexpectedly good. 

He discovered the beauty of going to school because he and Tao Yi Xi were deskmates, which naturally allowed them to be close and he could openly interact with her. In addition, during boring music classes, he could play with her fingers, and in order not to draw attention to them, her refusal could not be displayed too obviously.

When the bell signaling the end of class rang, he was still reluctant to let go. The duration of the class was too short.

Before going for lunch, Tao Yi Xi had the habit of tidying up her desk first. On the other hand, Gu Jing Yuan leaned against the corner of the desk, half seated on top. With one long leg raised and his thigh resting on the surface, while the other limb was stretched out towards the ground. He appeared wayward, but when he lowered his head and looked at her, his gaze was tender.

“What do you feel like eating today?”

“Anything is fine.”

“I heard that a beef specialty restaurant recently opened nearby, want to give it a try?”

“Sure.”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Gqvla rzyukdt y aswde sq tyxlp, Ck Zwl awccle bkp nwaaldvzu tasozkdt vwxxu.

“Slyeu?”

Qw Kkdt Zwyd nypwyzzu rknjle wr bkp rld nyr yde vbalo kv yv Ck Zwl’p blye, “Ebu yal usw awpbkdt? Rq usw’al bwdtau, alxlxcla vs lyv xsal qsa calyjqypv dlmv vkxl.”

“Xwnb! Jasvbla Zwyd, usw’hl alyzzu nbydtle! Xchkswpzu zypv vkxl, kv wple vs cl xl obs qsaltslp qakldepbkr qsa vbl srrspkvl tldela!”

Qw Kkdt Zwyd alxykdle pkzldv qsa vos plnsdep shla Ck Zwl’p pbyxlzlpp plzq-yoyaldlpp clqsal pyukdt, “… Ebs’p nsxrlvkdt okvb usw qsa pwnb y vkvzl.”

Gqvla Mys Zk Dk oyp esdl rynjkdt wr vbl zypv cssj sd bla elpj, pbl pxkzle yde dseele, “Fsaau qsa vbl elzyu, zlv’p ts dso.”

“Eykv.”

Qw Kkdt Zwyd rwzzle swv y cyt qasx wdela bkp elpj. Rv nsdvykdle y zktbv rkdj pnyaq yde bl oydvle vs rwv kv sd bla cwv Mys Zk Dk ekalnvzu vssj kv qasx bkp bydep.

“I can do it myself, thanks.”

Qi Yue, who suddenly felt a little full from watching the scene, wanted to give himself a hug. Wu wu wu, why was there no one who prepared a scarf for him?  

Qi Yue was the first to step out of the classroom. They could hear his voice coming from the doorway, “Shen Chen Chen, what are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here? Are you guys going to eat?”

Qi Yue took a glance at Gu Jing Yuan before replying, “Yeah. You should hurry up and go for your lunch too.”

Yet, Shen Chen Chen looked directly at Tao Yi Xi and asked, “Can I join?” 

“Sure,” Tao Yi Xi keenly sensed Shen Chen Chen’s change and slowed down her pace. She suddenly recalled that Shen Chen Chen seemed to be there on the day when Gu Jing Yuan got drunk. 

She suddenly stopped in her tracks and Gu Jing Yuan also came to a halt.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just suddenly thought of a solution.”

The four of them walked together. Shen Chen Chen, who was a few steps behind, watched the two walking shoulder to shoulder.

When Gu Jing Yuan walked, his strides were wide and he did not have the habit of waiting for a girl. Even her 1.7metres stature had a hard time keeping up with his pace. 

Yet, he willingly made concessions to accommodate Tao Yi Xi.

From the time she learned that Gu Jing Yuan liked Tao Yi Xi until now, she still felt like she was in a daze.

Previously, Shen Chen Chen never took Tao Yi Xi as a love rival. Apart from her having the identity as his ‘sister’, Tao Yi Xi’s feelings and emotions also played a part in her conclusion.

Liking someone was not something that could be hidden. However, she could not sense it from Tao Yi Xi.

Tao Yi Xi treated everyone the same; amicably but at arm’s length, elusive like smoke, ungraspable, and never lingering around for anyone.

On the other hand, Gu Jing Yuan… 

She never imagined that he would one day be willing to lower his arrogant self, speak tenderly, and be so considerate to another person.

Qi Yue walked beside her and asked, “Still haven’t given up?”

“Why should I give up? It’s just a one-man show. I want to see who can keep this up longer.” Shen Chen Chen was stubborn, and that was why she was the one who chased after Gu Jing Yuan for the longest time.

“Why do this to yourself?” 

Each and every one of them was more stubborn than the next. 

**

The ‘nearby’ restaurant that Gu Jing Yuan was referring to was located twenty minutes away via car ride. The decorations within the establishment were as luxurious and grand as ever. With just one look, one could infer that the dishes would be expensive. 

The menu offered various beef dishes and Tao Yi Xi finally settled on the bolognese pasta.

Gu Jing Yuan’s brows gradually furrow tighter and tighter. He should have noticed this since she never failed to always order such obscure dishes.

He felt frustrated but helpless about her damned pride.

When the dishes were all served, he pushed his order of ribeye steak towards her.

“Yours looks tastier, let’s switch.” 

Shen Chen Chen observed them with a complicated gaze.

**

Soon, Gu Jing Yuan’s enthusiasm for school completely vanished.

From the afternoon’s self-study period until six thirty in the evening, Tao Yi Xi separated from him to attend the mathematics competition class, becoming Chen Ze’s deskmate instead. 

What’s even worse was the competition class started having weekend classes as well. Squeezing out all the alone time they used to have together. 

She was in the constant state of either being busy or completely exhausted, the dark circles under her eyes were dark enough to pass off as smoky makeup. During every short break between classes, she was either trying to do more practice questions or going into a state of deep sleep to catch up on her sleep.

It was only during these moments that he could quietly gaze at her. Offering her a cup of warm water or shielding her from the intense sun rays shining into the room.

After the monthly examinations, she did not even have time to help him analyze his probable scores for the test before she hurriedly rushed to attend the competition class. That was because the next day, which was a Saturday, was the day of the provincial mathematics competition.

Although Gu Jing Yuan missed her dearly, he dared not disturb her during this critical period.

This time around, she was ranked first in the cohort; scoring 0.1points higher than Chen Ze.

Tao Yi Xi, this name, became even more well-known. At the same time, it also meant that she would be under more pressure.

**

On the other hand, Wang Yuan Yuan, who got admitted into Fu Middle School through Gu Mu Yang’s connections was not as fortunate. She had requested to join the top class, believing that she was extraordinarily talented, and had expected to rank in the top five for this monthly examination.

However, she was given a harsh slap by reality.

The exam questions from Fu Middle School were set by the teaching and research committee. The questions were fluid, making it much more challenging than those from her previous school.

In the end, she ranked second from the bottom in the class and 98th in the cohort. This made her stand out like a sore thumb among her classmates who all belonged in the top fifty positions.

And yet, the person staying in her uncle’s place, who came from a lowly background, was ranked first in the whole school and had also won first place in the provincial mathematics competition. Wang Yuan Yuan had the ‘pleasure’ of witnessing how she effortlessly outperformed Chen Ze, who was rumored to be the best.

What she could not accept the most was that her cousin, whom her mother frequently referred to as a wastrel, was ranked 68th, a good thirty spots higher than her.

In utter disbelief, she subconsciously concluded that he must have cheated. How could a hoodlum, who was retained a year, score higher than her? That would mean that she was even worse than someone who needed to repeat a grade, a fact she was unwilling to accept!

On the contrary, Gu Mu Yang was delighted with this fact. He even decided to celebrate Tao Yi Xi’s qualifying for the national competition together.

“Congratulations, Yi Xi.” 

“Thank you, Uncle Gu.”

“Uncle needs to thank you for helping Jing Yuan improve during this period.”

Gu Mu Yang received a call from their Form Teacher that afternoon. He not only shared the good news about Gu Jing Yuan’s improvement in rank but also praised Tao Yi Xi for how she had helped Jing Yuan. Their form teacher was so excited that he almost let slip that he believed that Tao Yi Xi must be a lucky charm.

Tao Yi Xi smiled and replied, “It’s my duty. But I only helped a little. The main depending factor was Ge-ge’s talent and hard work.”

Gu Mu Yang chuckled happily and exchanged a few more perfunctory words with her.

In actuality, Tao Yi Xi understood in her heart that she was too busy this time around to truly help him and even missed predicting some test questions for him. The fact that he could achieve these scores meant that he had the ability and had been working diligently by himself without having the need for her to intervene. 

The seemingly absurd idea she had, in the beginning, was now slowly coming true. She should be happy about it.

Tao Yi Xi put on a smile throughout the meal of this ‘merry family gathering’. She rank top in their cohort, but her mother only had eyes for Gu Jing Yuan.

She could not say she was upset by this. Her disappointment with her mother started from that fateful phone call she overheard. Even when she came to Gu Residence, the little bit of expectation she had was also gradually chipped away that she no longer expected anything from her mother.

She thought no one cared, but someone had been keeping her in mind all along.

After dinner, everyone went back to their individual rooms.

Not long after that, she heard a knock on her door.

When she opened the door, her line of sight was occupied by a stack of books towering over the person carrying them. Gu Jing Yuan’s head poked out from the side. With a smile, he congratulated her, “Congratulations.”

Tao Yi Xi froze in surprise, “Thank you, but all these books are…?”

“They’re all for you. But it’s a bit heavy; let me carry them in for you.”

Her desk was soon filled with stacks of books. Some looked very familiar, while some of which she had originally planned to borrow from the library.

“Where did you find all these?”

Gu Jing Yuan rubbed his nose sheepishly, “Last time when I borrowed your library card, I didn’t actually use it to borrow books. I was checking your borrowing history to find the books you wanted. With these books, you can now directly take notes and write inside the book.”

He pointed to another pile of books, “These were all highly recommended by students who participated in previous rounds of the national competition and scored well. So I bought all of them.”

Some of the books were quite niche and hard to find online, so he had to visit several bookstores to collect all of them.

Tao Yi Xi remained silent for a long time as she looked at the books stacked in front of her. Her long and dense eyelashes concealed her complicated pupils, making it difficult for Gu Jing Yuan to read her expression. He thought she must be tired.

“You’ve been working so hard during this period. So rest early, don’t study anymore tonight, and don’t tire yourself out.”

“Gu Jing Yuan.” She suddenly called out his name.

“Mhm?”