After the trial lesson ended, Lin Wutong left the villa area and headed toward the subway entrance.
She had only walked a few steps.
When she heard the low hum of a car engine, slowly approaching from behind.
It stopped right beside her.
Lin Wutong instinctively turned to look.
The window rolled down, revealing a face more familiar than familiar.
The hair that had been slightly tousled this morning had now been carefully styled, looking refined and sharp.
The corner of his eye carried a lazy smile. "Classmate Lin, let me give you a ride back to school."
It was the weekend, so he probably didn't have classes today.
Lin Wutong thought for a moment but still didn't get in. "No need, senior. I'll just take the subway back."
Ji Ciye hadn't expected to be rejected so bluntly.
He also recalled the last time she rode in Zhou Xuyan's car—it was the same.
The moment he got in, she moved as far away as possible.
A light, lazy chuckle broke the silence. "I get the feeling you're deliberately keeping your distance from me?"
Lin Wutong: "…"
"It's not that." She explained softly. "I just didn't want to waste your time."
Ji Ciye let out a light scoff, calling her out without hesitation. "I never said it was a waste of time, so why do you assume it is?"
His tone was ambiguous.
"Besides, I still have some questions about the tutoring I'd like to ask you."
With that said, Lin Wutong didn't refuse again and got in the car.
As soon as she was seated, he reminded her, "Buckle up."
The car started moving.
The vehicle had long, sharp lines—a sports car that clearly cost a fortune—yet Ji Ciye wasn't driving fast.
Instead, he drove as if leisurely cruising.
He'd said he had tutoring questions to ask, but after getting in the car, he didn't actually say much.
Since he didn't speak, Lin Wutong stayed quiet as well.
After who knows how long, when they passed a red light.
Ji Ciye turned his head to look at her, studying her. "So, how was it? Did your first day of teaching go smoothly?"
Lin Wutong's gaze rested on the road ahead, and she gave a slight nod. "Mm, it went smoothly."
Her voice was soft and obedient, with a gentle, tender quality to her enunciation.
It sounded soft and pleasant to the ear.
Ji Ciye smiled.
Lin Wutong felt uneasy being smiled at like that, and couldn't help turning her head to look at him, a hint of shyness in her expression. "What are you smiling at?"
Ji Ciye: "At the fact that you can't lie."
Lin Wutong: "…"
The two faced off in silence.
The red light ahead turned green, and the cars behind them, impatient, honked to urge them on.
A sharp "beep—" sounded.
Lin Wutong was the first to look away, reminding him, "The light's green."
"Mm."
With that response, the car started moving again.
The interior fell silent once more, yet the atmosphere was completely different from just moments ago.
After a while, it was Ji Ciye who broke this indescribable mood.
"She's been spoiled a bit willful by her family. You might need to put in some extra effort when teaching her."
Lin Wutong thought that his earlier comment about her not being able to lie must have been referring to this.
Lin Wutong: "It's actually not that bad."
She could sense that the young girl wasn't averse to learning.
On the contrary, precisely because she was very smart, she simply rejected conventional, by-the-book methods of study.
Since she'd accepted this job, she would also work hard to adapt.
"Mm." Ji Ciye was quite cooperative this time. "If there's anything she does poorly, just let me know."
"Okay."
The moment the words left her mouth, the sports car came to a perfect stop at the entrance of Jing University.
The engine shut off.
Ji Ciye didn't unlock the doors.
"So—"
He dragged out his tone, his posture somewhat flirtatious. "Junior, shouldn't we add each other's contact info?"
Lin Wutong: "…"
She glanced at the phone screen he had lit up.
It was currently on the scanning interface.
Should she add his contact info?
Because of his sister's academic issues.
Their only connection should be limited to that, right?
Lin Wutong reminded herself not to be greedy.
She swallowed, and in her hesitation came up with an answer. "Let's forget it."
Lin Wutong: "Regarding your sister's academic issues, I'll get in touch with Aunt Xu."
It was Aunt Xu who had found her in the first place.
Besides, after Aunt Xu learned she was staying, she had deliberately sent her a message saying that if anything came up later, she could just text directly.
She shouldn't overstep her bounds.
Lin Wutong watched him turn off his phone screen.
Then heard him say, "Alright."
Alright.
In the dorm room.
Lin Wutong replayed that word in her mind.
He probably thought she was being difficult too.
"Tongtong, you're back?" Du Weiwei pushed open the dorm door and walked in, interrupting her tangled thoughts. "Did tutoring go smoothly today?"
"Yeah." Lin Wutong pulled herself together and smiled faintly. "It went smoothly."
She didn't tell Du Weiwei that her tutoring student was Ji Ciye's sister.
To her, it made no difference either way.
Her job was to tutor properly.
"That's good." Du Weiwei walked over and sat down, casually pulling out her phone to scroll idly.
She hadn't been scrolling long when a message suddenly popped up on the Jingda forum.
She clicked in.
What greeted her eyes was a post whose popularity was steadily skyrocketing.
The bold headline read—
【Ji Ciye Suspected to Have a New Girlfriend!!】
Posts like this weren't uncommon in the past.
But most were baseless speculation without solid evidence.
Just a few candid photos, and people would inexplicably jump to conclusions.
For example, a girl handing him water after he finished playing ball—whether he took it or not was unknown, but the act of handing it over was captured.
Or in the hallway, a girl standing face-to-face with him, no one knowing what they were saying.
And similar ones, all posted to the forum.
In the photos, the guy always had a lazy posture, looking completely indifferent.
So people often said Ji Ciye was just playing around, not serious.
But today's post was different.
Someone directly claimed they had personally seen a girl get out of Ji Ciye's car.
He hadn't known it was Ji Ciye's car at first, but because of the car's expensive value, he couldn't help but look twice.
After walking a few steps, when he turned back, the car window rolled down to reveal that arrogant face.
When he tried to look again at the girl who had just gotten out, she was already far away.
Someone immediately followed up in the comments. "Are you sure you didn't see clearly? I'm dying of curiosity."
"Which sister is this impressive, getting the campus heartthrob to personally drive her? Truly a role model for our generation."
"Definitely didn't see clearly. Was too far away, only saw a side profile."
"Wearing a mint green short-sleeve and a white short skirt, looked obedient and pure."
"Obedient and pure?"
"Ji Ciye changed his taste?"
The girls exposed in the past were all delicate and glamorous.
The comments kept growing. Du Weiwei's brain stalled, then suddenly seized on the key points.
Mint green short-sleeve?
White short skirt?
Obedient and pure?
Her gaze unconsciously fell on the girl beside her, who seemed to have something on her mind.
Lin Wutong naturally noticed this as well.
She looked over with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong?"
Du Weiwei opened her wide, astonished eyes and asked, "Tongtong, are you dating Ji Ciye?"