Bus stop on Zhongxing Road.
When Zhang Chen arrived, a girl with a low ponytail, wearing a No. 7 Middle School uniform, was already waiting out front.
“Why are you a little late today?” Nan Xingwan asked when she saw Zhang Chen running over.
“Someone in class was being bullied, so I played the hero for a bit.” Zhang Chen panted. He had practically jogged all the way from No. 1 Middle School.
Then he handed Nan Xingwan a box of sliced watermelon he had bought.
“You played the hero?” Nan Xingwan raised an eyebrow in surprise. She took the watermelon from Zhang Chen, picked up a toothpick as usual, speared a piece, and put it in her mouth.
“What’s wrong with me playing the hero?”
“Shouldn’t it be you bullying other people, and then other people playing the hero against you?” Nan Xingwan ate the crisp, sweet watermelon, then speared another piece and fed it to Zhang Chen.
“What kind of talk is that? I’ve always been open and aboveboard in my actions, okay?” Zhang Chen bit the watermelon off the toothpick in one bite.
Hearing that, Nan Xingwan curled her lip. “Shameless.”
“I’m just stating facts. Oh right, my homework was praised by the teacher today too.”
Nan Xingwan kept eating the watermelon while not forgetting to feed Zhang Chen. “Oh? What did they praise you for?”
“It was well written, and everything was correct! I’ll show you when we get home.”
“Heh heh, well, that depends on who taught you.” Nan Xingwan lifted the corners of her lips proudly, swept her hair back with her right hand, and a faint fragrance drifted out.
Seeing that, Zhang Chen clicked his tongue and turned her own tactic against her. “Shameless. Clearly, I got it as soon as you explained it.”
“???” Nan Xingwan’s eyes widened. She turned toward Zhang Chen in a huff. “Who are you calling shameless?”
“Hm? I didn’t say anything.” Zhang Chen covered his mouth.
“Zhang Chen!”
The two of them kept trading remarks like that, chatting about everyday things and occasionally roughhousing, as if they had gone back to childhood…
Back at the rental apartment.
Nan Xingwan immediately switched into teaching mode. She no longer joked around with Zhang Chen; not only did she tie up her hair, but her eyes were also full of a teacher’s strictness.
In front of her, Zhang Chen instantly turned into a little kid who knew nothing, his eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge, wearing an earnest expression.
Then came another nearly two hours of thoroughly satisfying… studying…
Zhang Chen organized today’s study notes, while Nan Xingwan tidied up the desk for him.
“By the way, tomorrow is Friday. Are you going home?” Nan Xingwan suddenly looked at Zhang Chen and asked.
It wasn’t junior year yet, so they still had two-day weekends.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen suddenly froze.
He had never really thought about going home.
In this world, he had parents.
In the original novel, Zhang Chen’s family background was fairly decent. His parents and Nan Xingwan’s parents were old friends, which was why he had the right to become Nan Xingwan’s childhood sweetheart.
And although those parents in the story always showed disappointment in Zhang Chen, deep down they still loved him very much.
This was mainly reflected in the fact that after Zhang Chen was expelled, they would say they didn’t care whether he lived or died outside, but whenever he got into trouble, they would still worry endlessly and clean up his messes…
One of those matters involved something extremely important: Bai Xiruo’s grandmother.
By then, it was already junior year. Because Zhang Chen had bullied Bai Xiruo, his parents went to see Bai Xiruo to settle it privately, and just happened to delay Bai Xiruo’s grandmother’s trip to the hospital that day.
Because of this clean-up effort for Zhang Chen, Bai Xiruo’s grandmother died, and Bai Xiruo didn’t even get to see her grandmother one last time.
The male lead then launched a full-scale revenge campaign against Zhang Chen’s family!
In the end… a tragic ending befitting a small villain…
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen suddenly realized: he had parents?
Zhang Chen looked at Nan Xingwan and asked first, “Are you going back?”
“I… I’ll go by your decision.” Nan Xingwan hesitated a little.
After glancing at Zhang Chen, she continued to explain:
“I need to tutor you, after all. If you’re not going back, then I won’t either. I’ll come over on Saturday and Sunday to keep tutoring you, and try to go through every knowledge point before next Thursday’s citywide joint exam.”
Hearing that, Zhang Chen said nothing, looking at her with gentle eyes.
Seeing Zhang Chen staring at her without speaking, Nan Xingwan blinked twice quickly and looked away:
“You should be able to improve a bit this time, right? Don’t actually get expelled.”
Zhang Chen chuckled softly and asked, “How many points do you hope… I can score?”
“Of course I hope you pass everything.” Nan Xingwan blurted it out. After she said it, she froze for a moment and turned her head away so Zhang Chen couldn’t see her.
“Just pass everything?”
“Mm, passing everything is fine. If you can’t pass, that’s okay too. Worst case, I’ll put in a little more effort and go ask your homeroom teacher to put in a good word for you.” Nan Xingwan said with her back to Zhang Chen.
“Then… I probably won’t let you go to my school to plead for me again.” Zhang Chen finished organizing the notes, put them in his school bag, and said.
“Why?”
“I’m a grown man. How could I let a girl plead on my behalf?”
“And besides, under the guidance of Heroine Nan, I feel like I’ve already opened up the Ren and Du meridians!” Zhang Chen suddenly said in a joking tone.
“Pfft…” Nan Xingwan was caught off guard and burst out laughing.
“This time, I think I can not only pass, but also perform beyond expectations and come back with full marks!” Zhang Chen was getting more and more outrageous.
“Heh…” Seeing him get more and more exaggerated, Nan Xingwan laughed disdainfully. “You’d be doing well just to pass.”
“If you can score full marks, then I’ll…”
Halfway through her sentence, Nan Xingwan suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Zhang Chen.
“Hm? Then you’ll what?” Zhang Chen widened his eyes, looking curious.
Nan Xingwan shrugged. “Then I won’t have to come tutor you every night…”
“And you won’t have to worry about me anymore…”
After saying that, Nan Xingwan picked up her school bag, turned around, and headed for the doorway.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen froze in place, lost in thought…
Nan Xingwan: “Alright, I’m leaving.”
“I thought you were going to give me some kind of reward.” Zhang Chen hurried to catch up. “Wait for me, I’ll walk you out.”
“I already said it’s not necessary…”
Zhang Chen took her school bag and slung it onto his own back…
“…”
“Tomorrow afternoon after school, I’ll come wait for you at No. 7 Middle School, and we’ll go home together.”
“Mm, sure. Your after school ends earlier. I still need to go home and get something after school anyway.” Nan Xingwan thought for a moment and said, “If you come over, that’s perfect.”
“Okay.”