The teacher’s gaze once again fell on the last row of the classroom. After lingering on Pei Yu for a few seconds, she suddenly sighed with a complicated expression.
Even before the start of the school year, the school board had specifically called her in to emphasize that she must take extra care of this student named Pei Yu.
However, the specifics of Pei Yu’s identity were not something a small homeroom teacher like her could know.
When she first learned this news, the homeroom teacher had felt somewhat uneasy. But after a few days of actual classes, she relaxed.
Because aside from sleeping during class, Pei Yu didn’t engage in any outrageous behavior—he didn’t cause trouble or stir up any incidents.
Soon, Shen Lishu also noticed Pei Yu’s situation.
After another class ended, Shen Lishu walked over to Pei Yu’s desk and gently nudged him. “Pei Yu.”
Pei Yu woke up with a look of impatience, but when he opened his eyes and saw it was Shen Lishu, his expression immediately softened. “Are you thirsty?”
“You were sleeping again,” Shen Lishu said sternly.
Pei Yu lazily propped his head up and muttered, “It’s just that what they’re saying is too boring.”
Shen Lishu frowned and began to ponder.
Soon, Shen Lishu thought of a solution.
The biggest difference between first grade and kindergarten after school was the presence of homework.
Every afternoon after returning home from school, the first thing Shen Lishu did was her homework.
As soon as she opened her homework notebook, Shen Lishu looked at Pei Yu with a dejected expression. “Pei Yu, what should I do if I don’t know how to write it?”
Pei Yu immediately leaned over, but since he spent all his time sleeping in class, how could he possibly know? His brow furrowed tightly.
“Sweetie, wait for me a moment.”
After leaving these words, Pei Yu picked up his book and hurriedly ran outside.
Not long after, Pei Yu rushed back. Without even catching his breath, he began explaining the problem to Shen Lishu.
Only after he finished did Shen Lishu show a look of sudden understanding, then smiled brightly and praised, “Pei Yu is so amazing! I admire Pei Yu the most!”
Her voice was soft and gentle, making Pei Yu feel as if he were floating on clouds, light and giddy, his smile stretching from ear to ear.
When it came to the next problem, Shen Lishu repeated the same trick.
This time, she didn’t even need to ask for help. All she had to do was give Pei Yu a dejected look, and he would immediately grab his book and run off.
After more than a dozen trips back and forth, Pei Yu finally “taught” Shen Lishu how to finish her homework.
The next day.
The first class happened to be the homeroom teacher’s.
She noticed that Pei Yu had completely changed his usual habit of sleeping during class. Instead, he was now listening attentively, full of energy.
It was truly astonishing.
The homeroom teacher glanced outside the window. The sun wasn’t rising from the west today, after all.
Attending classes seriously at school and then teaching Shen Lishu in the afternoon to reinforce the lessons—it was almost impossible for his grades not to improve.
After the first midterm exams, Father Pei beamed with joy as he looked at the two bright red test papers, each marked with a perfect score.
Taking advantage of Pei Yu’s absence, Father Pei patted Shen Lishu’s head. “Thank you, Lili.”
Shen Lishu shook her head. “Pei Yu was already very smart.”
After the midterm exams, Wangjing suddenly experienced a sharp drop in temperature. Despite Pei Yu’s usual careful protection, Shen Lishu developed a fever halfway through class.
Upon receiving the teacher’s call, Father Pei immediately canceled his company affairs and came to take her home.
Having experienced abandonment, Shen Lishu, who was deeply insecure, became exceptionally clingy whenever she fell ill.
Once placed on the bed, she would begin to whimper and cry.
Her crying wasn’t loud or sobbing; instead, it was soft and faint, her face flushed red, making anyone who saw it feel heartbroken.
Most importantly, she wouldn’t let anyone else hold her—it had to be Father Pei.
With no other choice, Father Pei had to take Shen Lishu to the office, followed by a little shadow who was always bustling about.
By the end of the day, Father Pei’s shoulders were damp, all because Shen Lishu cried silently even in her sleep.
Sitting in the car on the way home, Pei Yu gazed at Shen Lishu’s swollen eyelids, his heart swelling with resentment.
For nearly half a month, neither Shen Lishu nor Pei Yu attended school.
During this time, several children voluntarily organized visits to the Pei household to see the sick Shen Lishu.
Xie Changyan was also among them, and he even brought Shen Lishu a small rabbit plushie with lily-of-the-valley flowers embroidered on its ears.
Shen Lishu adored it. After the maid washed it clean, she carefully placed it by her bedside.
But whenever Shen Lishu wasn’t around, Pei Yu would point at its black nose with a sour expression and call it ugly.
After much anticipation, Shen Lishu was finally able to return to school.
Since she hadn’t fully recovered, Pei Yu would rush to Shen Lishu’s side after every class, first feeding her warm water and then checking on her with a serious expression.
Shortly after returning to school, it was Shen Lishu’s turn for classroom duty, and many classmates were willing to do it for her.
Surrounded by the children, Shen Lishu looked somewhat flustered, her snow-white face showing a hint of helplessness.
Pei Yu, who had been pushed to the outskirts and couldn’t squeeze his way in, finally couldn’t take it anymore. With a dark expression, he shooed everyone away.
He hadn’t even said anything yet—when did it become someone else’s turn to help Shen Lishu with her tasks!
While Pei Yu could drive the others away, he couldn’t get rid of the shameless Xie Changyan.
Seeing that Xie Changyan had already grabbed the only broom in the corner of the classroom, Pei Yu, who had just finished wiping the blackboard, quickly snatched the mop.
Both were afraid the other would do more work than themselves.
Shen Lishu sniffled and walked up to Xie Changyan, saying softly, “Xie Changyan, I can do it myself.”
Xie Changyan simply pretended not to hear and continued sweeping in silence.
Shen Lishu turned to take the mop from Pei Yu.
Pei Yu looked serious. “As the person on duty, there’s something even more important to do.”
His earnest expression actually managed to fool Shen Lishu. “What’s more important?”
The next moment, Pei Yu put down the mop and led Shen Lishu by the hand toward the teacher’s desk.
Seeing Shen Lishu still confused, Pei Yu explained, “We need to sort these chalk pieces back into their proper categories.”
Shen Lishu fell silent.
Just as Pei Yu was about to say something else, he seemed to catch sight of something out of the corner of his eye and immediately exploded.
“Xie Changyan, you shameless scoundrel!”
After sweeping the floor, he had secretly taken the mop while Pei Yu wasn’t looking.
Cursing under his breath, Pei Yu hurried after him.
Shen Lishu fell even more silent.
Oh well, when it was Pei Yu and Xie Changyan’s turn for duty, she would just help them out.
There were two chalk boxes on the teacher’s desk—one for white chalk and the other for colored chalk.
Shen Lishu carefully sorted the two types of chalk, then meticulously arranged the colored chalk piece by piece according to their hues.
After mopping the classroom floor, Pei Yu and Xie Changyan both set their sights on the trash can in the corner of the room.
After a brief tussle, the two of them each lifted one side of the trash can, grumbling and cursing as they walked out of the classroom.
Shen Lishu sat on the stool for a while but still didn’t see them return. She lowered her gaze to the chalk dust on her fingertips, thought for a moment, then hopped off the stool and walked out of the classroom.
Two minutes later.
Shen Lishu stood in front of the sink, carefully scrubbing the chalk dust from her fingertips.
Suddenly, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from outside.
Then came the voice of a little boy: “Why are you running? Did I say you could run?”
The voice was domineering and aggressive, even carrying a hint of familiarity. Shen Lishu recognized this voice—it was Xie Siran!
“Boss, are you sure we won’t get caught?” the new follower asked nervously.
Xie Siran replied arrogantly, “What’s there to be afraid of? If she tells on us, I’ll beat her up every single time!”
As soon as he turned the corner, Xie Siran saw Shen Lishu standing by the sink.
It was the restroom entrance again.
And it was Shen Lishu again.
Xie Siran gritted his teeth in hatred: “Why is it always you!”
Talk about a small world.
If it weren’t for that Pei Yu by her side, Xie Siran would have taught her a lesson long ago.