Looking at this latest diary entry, Song Yunshen rubbed his chin and pondered carefully. 2032... That was seven years from now. So he wouldn’t start dating until seven years later? Wouldn’t he have graduated from college by then? Song Yunshen had thought he and Xia Jinsu would secretly develop feelings for each other during high school, and then become a couple in college. It turned out that they wouldn’t truly get together until so far into the future. Moreover, based on the content of the diary, they were probably just in an ambiguous stage back then, not officially dating.
The point where he would get divorced in the future was in 2036, which was four years after that. In just four short years, he would experience six stages: dating, breaking up, blind dates, marriage, infidelity, and divorce. What a rollercoaster ride... But to think he still had to remain single for seven years. Song Yunshen scratched his head, truly not expecting this. But it didn’t matter. He didn’t have much interest in dating during high school anyway. Being single was fine. After reading the Future Diary, Song Yunshen took out his own diary, flipped to the latest page, and began to write today’s entry.
Meanwhile, after school, Xia Jinsu packed her backpack with her deskmate and best friend, Zhuang Lujun, and they left the classroom together. She didn’t go look for Xia Yunuo. Her younger sister was used to keeping to herself at school and didn’t really like Xia Jinsu going out of her way to find her. Aside from going to the library together on Saturdays to do homework, the two had almost no interaction at school.
"Shu, do you have any plans for this summer break?" Zhuang Lujun asked curiously.
"No plans," Xia Jinsu shook her head, not wanting to tell her classmate about her idea of getting a part-time job. "Why do you ask?"
"Nothing much," Zhuang Lujun said with anticipation. "I’m going to the beach for summer vacation. Do you want to come along, Shu?"
"I’ll pass," Xia Jinsu politely declined. "I have to study hard during the summer, so I won’t be going on any trips."
"All right," Zhuang Lujun sighed regretfully. "Shu, you’re living like an ascetic monk. It feels like you never have any entertainment in your daily life."
"Studying is also very interesting." Xia Jinsu smiled faintly.
Zhuang Lujun was speechless.
After saying goodbye to Zhuang Lujun at the school gates and watching her get picked up by her parents in a car, Xia Jinsu sighed softly. Her deskmate came from a well-off family. Seeing her casually order whatever she wanted for meals every day, buy snacks and drinks at will, and occasionally sneak bubble tea into the school, it would be a lie to say Xia Jinsu wasn’t envious. But she knew very well that her mother had already given them the best she could provide. So Xia Jinsu didn’t want more snacks or drinks. She only hoped to maintain her current academic performance, get into a good university in the future, find a good job, and then properly repay her mother by helping shoulder the family’s financial burden. So her mother wouldn’t have to be so exhausted anymore.
Thinking about all this, Xia Jinsu slowly walked home. By the time she returned to their bedroom, Xia Yunuo was already holding her pajamas, getting ready to take a shower in the bathroom.
"Nuo, remember to put your dirty laundry aside. I’ll wash it later," Xia Jinsu called out to her sister.
"Mhm," Xia Yunuo nodded in response. "I just mopped the floor."
"Thanks for your hard work."
The freshmen teaching building was closer to the school gates. Since Xia Yunuo walked alone and at a fast pace, she was able to get home earlier and do some chores first. The fifty-square-meter apartment wasn’t large, so by the time Xia Jinsu got home, Xia Yunuo had already finished cleaning. In order to share more of their mother’s burden, the two sisters usually took care of all the household chores. This way, their mother wouldn’t have to keep busy taking care of them after coming home from a long day at work.
Now, taking advantage of the time her sister was showering, Xia Jinsu quickly sat down at the desk and took out that diary. Flipping to the newest page, as expected, a new entry had been updated tonight.
[June 22, 2025, Sunday]
[Daily mention: Xia Yunuo praised me for being handsome again. When I was teaching her a math problem, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was secretly looking at my face.]
Xia Jinsu wondered if Nuo was really starting to like him. Seeing this, she pondered but found it difficult to ask Xia Yunuo directly. After all, she didn’t plan to reveal this diary to her family just yet. Given their level of interaction at school, there was no way she should know so much about Xia Yunuo’s situation in her classroom. She figured Nuo was also at the age where she might want to date, and she just hoped it wouldn’t interfere with her studies. Xia Jinsu knew her sister very well. With her personality, trying to stop her would be useless. So Xia Jinsu changed her train of thought and decided that she should start with Song Yunshen himself. At the very least, she needed to investigate and see what kind of person he was. She couldn’t let her sister get hurt.
With this in mind, Xia Jinsu continued reading.
[I received a reply today. It seems the other party can indeed accept this part-time tutoring job.]
[I just don’t know if she’s willing to be my tutor.]
[Hmm... People from poor families usually have strong pride. I need to think carefully about how to communicate with her moving forward so I don’t upset her.]
[Speaking of which, how much should the salary be?]
[I’ll find some time to look it up. For one-on-one tutoring, the market rate seems to be around one or two hundred yuan an hour.]
[The final exams are next Wednesday, but my old man replaced my allowance with rent money, so I don’t really have any motivation to review.]
[Sigh... I wonder when I’ll be able to save up enough money to buy a new computer.]
After reading this diary entry, Xia Jinsu fell deep in thought. Her heartbeat accelerated slightly, feeling tempted. Who said people from poor families had strong pride? Xia Jinsu lightly bit her lip, then pursed it. If she could make one or two hundred yuan an hour, who needed pride? Helping her mother relieve her stress was the most important thing. If it was one hundred yuan an hour, she could tutor him for ten hours a day, which would be one thousand yuan a day. Wouldn’t that be thirty thousand yuan a month?!
Of course, she knew that definitely wasn’t how the math worked in reality. But Xia Jinsu was still thrilled and felt it was worth a try. She wished she could approach Song Yunshen right now and finalize this arrangement. But since she couldn’t mention the diary, Xia Jinsu suppressed her impulse, silently put away the journal, and locked it in the drawer. She would wait until tomorrow to see Song Yunshen’s reply first. There were still two weeks until the summer break. There was no rush.
Having figured this out, Xia Jinsu gathered her emotions and took out her textbooks to review. When Xia Yunuo finished her shower and entered the room, Xia Jinsu got up to take her turn, taking the dirty laundry to the washing machine along the way.
After her shower, Xia Jinsu went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water. She suddenly noticed a new cup in the house and couldn’t help but reveal a strange expression.
"Nuo," Xia Jinsu asked Xia Yunuo, bringing the new cup into the bedroom. "Where did this cup come from?"
"Ningning probably bought it."
"Why would she buy a new cup?"
"She said the landlord came over to fix the water heater, and since we didn’t have any cups prepared for guests, she went out and bought one."
"Huh? The landlord came over?"
"Yeah, just yesterday afternoon when we were at the library."
"Oh, I see." Xia Jinsu didn’t overthink it and put the cup back.
However, upon returning to the kitchen, Xia Jinsu saw the packaging bag in the trash can. On a whim, she bent down and picked it up. The garbage bag was a plastic grocery bag they had just changed out that afternoon. Apart from the cup’s packaging, there was no other trash in it, so it was very clean.
Xia Jinsu smoothed out the packaging bag and stared at the promotional sticker still attached to it: "Couples’ Cups, Buy One Get One Free." For a moment, she fell deep in thought. What on earth was going on? How could both of her younger sisters secretly start dating behind her back? Nuo was one thing; there were only a few signs for now. But Ningning was only in eighth grade! Which bastard abducted her?!