June 23rd, Monday.
At six in the morning, Song Yunshen woke up early for once, dragging himself out of bed the moment his alarm went off. After yawning his way through his morning routine and changing into his blue-and-white school uniform, he double-checked that the reply letter he had written last night was in his backpack. With his bag slung over his shoulder, he prepared to head downstairs.
As soon as he opened his front door, he saw someone walking out of the apartment across the hall.
"Oh, Yun Shen," the middle-aged man in pink pajamas greeted with a yawn.
"Uncle Zeheng, you’re up early too," Song Yunshen said as he pressed the elevator button.
The apartments in this building were all 160 square meters, with two units per floor sharing two elevators. The family living across the hall was his uncle’s.
Zhao Zeheng, who was thirty-one this year, scratched his messy hair. Chuckling, he walked over and ruffled Song Yunshen’s hair. "How could I be up early? I haven’t even gone to bed yet."
"Aunt Zheng didn’t scold you? Pulling another all-nighter," Song Yunshen said, exasperatedly swatting his uncle’s hand away.
"How could your aunt bear to scold me?" Zhao Zeheng scoffed proudly. "In our house, what I say goes. Does she dare talk back?
"Let me tell you, Yun Shen, when you look for a wife in the future, you have to find one who is obedient and sensible.
"You need to hold the authority and have the final say at home, understand?"
Song Yunshen didn’t reply; he just stared at the spot behind Zhao Zeheng.
Zhao Zeheng had been speaking with gusto, but upon noticing his nephew’s peculiar gaze, he immediately changed his tune. "Of course, a family can’t become a dictatorship. Most of the time, couples need to discuss and communicate with each other. A wife’s opinion is also very important. We can’t just act arbitrarily."
"Good morning, Aunt Zheng," Song Yunshen chuckled, greeting Ruan Zheng who stood behind Zhao Zeheng.
"Morning," Ruan Zheng smiled faintly, her fingers already pinching the small of Zhao Zeheng’s back. "You make a good point. Care to elaborate?"
"Ahem... the elevator is here. The elevator is here!" Zhao Zeheng hastily grabbed his wife’s hand, smiling sheepishly as he pulled her into his arms. "Let’s go. Yun Shen, come with us. Let’s grab breakfast together."
"Are you up early too, Aunt Zheng?" Song Yunshen asked curiously as he followed them into the elevator.
"It’s Monday today. There’s the flag-raising ceremony," Ruan Zheng replied. As a homeroom teacher, she naturally had to get to the classroom early this morning.
"Oh, right." Song Yunshen nodded in understanding. He followed his uncle and aunt to a breakfast joint by the neighborhood entrance, ordered a few of his favorite dishes, and sat down at their table.
At this moment, Song Yunshen suddenly remembered Xia Keneng, whom he had met yesterday. He couldn’t help but look at Ruan Zheng and asked curiously, "Aunt Zheng, is there a girl named Xia Keneng in your class?"
"Hm?" Hearing the word "girl," Zhao Zeheng instantly perked up. However, he quickly put on a stern face and said, "Yun Shen, I don’t actually oppose high school romances, but you can’t go after middle school girls."
Ruan Zheng shot her husband a sideways glance before replying, "Yes, there is such a girl. Why do you ask?"
Song Yunshen rolled his eyes at his unreliable uncle and continued, "She’s our tenant. It seems her family is going through a tough time; they even delayed this month’s rent until next month."
"Which apartment is she renting?" Zhao Zeheng asked, counting on his fingers. "Shuiting People’s House? Or the one next to Xintiandi? Or the CBC apartment? Oh right, there’s also one over in the East District..."
"The one in the East District," Song Yunshen clarified.
"This is the first I’m hearing of this," Ruan Zheng said. "She acts perfectly normal at school. Aside from being a bit competitive, she doesn’t seem like she comes from a poor family."
"Is that so?" Song Yunshen left it at that and didn’t pry any further. He had just brought it up for the sake of making conversation.
Competitive, huh? He mused that her personality was indeed a bit stubborn—she had even insisted on transferring him two and a half yuan just to pay for a cup. It seemed Xia Keneng’s personality was completely different from her adorable appearance.
"I actually like her a lot," Ruan Zheng said with a smile. "It’d be even better if she argued less with the boys."
"She does that?" Song Yunshen raised an eyebrow.
Ruan Zheng went on to share a few amusing anecdotes about Xia Keneng at school, and soon, they finished their breakfast.
Song Yunshen said his goodbyes and prepared to leave. Just as he was walking away, he heard Zhao Zeheng call out, "Come over for dinner on Saturday night, and tell your dad to come too!"
"Got it," Song Yunshen replied before riding his bike to school.
Upon entering the school gates, he didn’t head straight for his classroom. Instead, he made a detour to the English Club’s activity room and placed his reply letter on the bookshelf.
After arriving at the classroom, Song Yunshen walked to his seat, his gaze subconsciously drawn to Xia Yunuo’s side profile. The young girl’s silhouette was bathed in the morning sunlight. A faint teardrop mole rested perfectly at the corner of her eye, complementing the delicate curve of her oval face. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, exposing a slender, beautiful neck that made it hard to look away.
A second later, Song Yunshen heard a voice.
"Where can I find someone looking for a tutor?"
Xia Yunuo’s voice echoed in his mind, making Song Yunshen freeze for a moment.
Did Xia Yunuo want to be a tutor too? This question popped into Song Yunshen’s mind. He immediately pictured Xia Yunuo tutoring him over the summer holidays, but then he quickly shook his head. Although Xia Yunuo’s grades were pretty good, her grade ranking was only around the top one hundred. English was considered her strong suit, but securing a spot in the top fifty for that single subject was still a bit precarious. Sometimes she made the cut, and sometimes she didn’t. She might not meet his old man’s requirements.
Besides, Song Yunshen already had his eyes on Xia Jinsu. After all, she was ranked first in the grade during the midterms. If he was going to hire a tutor, Xia Jinsu was undoubtedly the more cost-effective choice. Moreover, Xia Jinsu would be his girlfriend seven years from now anyway. Even though he had some connection with Xia Yunuo right now, their relationship wasn’t at that level yet.
He just didn’t understand how this mind-reading ability worked. It was completely unpredictable and entirely beyond his control.
"But Xia Yunuo’s side profile is really gorgeous. Especially that teardrop mole—the more I look at it, the more captivating it becomes," he thought. Song Yunshen couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. It wasn’t until Xu Zhuoyue arrived at the classroom and sat down that he finally tore his gaze away.
He thought back to the firsthand information he had gotten from Zhong Long yesterday:
"Xia Yunuo. Birthday: January 10th. Capricorn.
"Loves vegetables, loves steamed egg with minced pork, no recorded snack preferences yet.
"Aloof and antisocial personality, no friends, keeps people at a distance, has rejected multiple confessions.
"Exam rankings consistently maintained between 110 and 130. Strong subjects are Chinese and English."
Speaking of which, he had forgotten to ask Doubao last night about the compatibility between a Capricorn woman and a Libra man. Oh, wait. He had temporarily put Doubao on ice. He could find time today to ask Xiaojingyu instead.
While Song Yunshen’s thoughts were running wild, Xia Yunuo, who was sitting in the third row in the middle of the classroom pondering her tutoring plans, suddenly turned her head to look at him.
"But Xia Yunuo’s side profile is really gorgeous. Especially that teardrop mole—the more I look at it, the more captivating it becomes."
"Has this guy actually fallen for me?" she wondered. "It looks like I can’t keep asking him math questions. It’ll be troublesome if he gets the wrong idea."
Xia Yunuo turned back around. She kept a straight face, though she felt a bit troubled inside. Previously, it was boys from other classes confessing to her. If she rejected them, that was that. But if a boy from her own class confessed, rejecting him and then having to stay in the same classroom would be awkward. Even if he was quite handsome, she couldn’t possibly agree. During high school, Xia Yunuo had zero interest in dating.
"I should just focus on finding a part-time tutoring job like my sister did," she told herself. "At least I can help subsidize the family’s expenses."
As she thought this, the background music for the Monday morning flag-raising ceremony began to play. Everyone stood up and headed out to the corridor to line up.
Once they were neatly lined up on the sports field, the host gave a brief opening speech before inviting today’s student speaker up to the stage. Song Yunshen was currently undergoing Xu Zhuoyue’s "try not to laugh" challenge in the middle of the formation. But when he heard the host announce, "Xia Jinsu from Class Four, Grade Eleven," his gaze instinctively snapped toward the flag-raising podium.
"It’s my sister again. It would be nice if I could go up there someday."
Xia Yunuo’s voice echoed in his mind once again.
Song Yunshen’s eyes widened, as if he had just witnessed something completely unbelievable.