4: Hands
After accepting Si Xiuyuan’s jacket, the young lady confronted Wu Jiao and gave her a thorough scolding.
Wu Jiao wanted to tell her the truth, but no matter what she tried, she failed.
Xiao E: 「Host, this world is designed for your rehabilitation as the vicious supporting character. Forcibly telling other supporting characters violates the world’s operating rules and will be corrected. Stop tormenting yourself.」
But she couldn’t defy the young lady, otherwise, her family’s business would fall through, and her entire family would end up sleeping on the streets.
With no other choice, Wu Jiao had to grit her teeth and play the double agent, outwardly obeying the young lady while secretly undergoing her rehabilitation.
Her senior year had essentially become Mission: Impossible.
How to raise her score by 100 points on the next monthly exam, that was the real problem.
Before transferring to No. 1 High School, she had spent two years at an arts-focused high school, barely studying at all. Now that No. 1 High had entered the first round of review, she was completely lost.
After a solid week of cramming, she even had her parents hire her a college tutor. She studied at school, then studied at home — she had practically evolved past the need for sleep. Yet she still found that there was too much to learn and simply not enough time.
The day she voluntarily asked for a tutor, her parents hugged each other and wept. “Thank goodness, child, you’re saved! From now on, you must study hard and be a good person!”
Wu Jiao: “…”
Every morning, from the moment she opened her eyes, she used her time brushing her teeth and sitting on the toilet to memorize vocabulary.
When Uncle Zhao, the driver, took her to school, she used the ride to review formulas.
Once at school, she used the morning study session to recite English texts or required Chinese passages.
During class, she followed the teacher’s pace. Between classes, she worked on the materials her tutor had assigned. Every day was packed with studying, and she fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.
Wu Zihui felt sorry for her and tried to talk her down: “Baby, don’t study too hard. Even if you do get into college, I’d be scared. I wouldn’t dare share parenting advice with anyone, I’d get roasted.”
“…”
Wu Zihui’s upside-down parenting philosophy was truly ahead of its time.
“Baby, Mom doesn’t feel well. Can you make Mom some soup?”
“Baby, knit Mom a scarf, okay? Don’t buy one, handmade ones look so much better.”
…And so on.
The fact that Wu Jiao knew how to take care of others was largely learned from watching Ji Feng take care of Wu Zihui as a child.
That man, Ji Feng, wasn’t worth mentioning — he was completely whipped.
When he was chasing after Wu Zihui, he often forgot about her existence. Wu Jiao didn’t want to talk about him.
Though she was exhausted every day, Wu Jiao never dozed off in class.
A few times, she simply couldn’t take it anymore and put her head down on her desk during break, only to jolt awake from a nightmare.
In the dream, Si Xiuyuan locked her in a dark room, giving her a desk, a chair, and a pen.
One moment, he forced her to solve math problems. The next, he interrogated her in English she couldn’t understand. Then he made her analyze the forces acting on her as she tried to escape with chains tie on her wrists.
Today, she had been jolted awake by that same nightmare again.
A page of her book was stuck to one side of her face. She wiped the drool from her mouth and instinctively looked for Si Xiuyuan.
One advantage of sitting in the back corner of the classroom, rather than the front rows, was that she could openly observe her classmates, a panoramic view of the class.
Si Xiuyuan was easy to find. Even wearing the same uniform and sitting in a crowd, he was the most eye-catching one.
In front of him sat Mo Li. She had turned around and was asking him a question.
Both had their heads tilted, huddled together as they worked out the problem on the desk. From Wu Jiao’s angle, they looked extremely close.
If someone gave their heads a little push, they’d probably end up kissing.
Wu Jiao thought to herself: My hands are kind of itching.
Mo Li listened intently to Si Xiuyuan’s explanation, watching as he patiently wrote out each step.
His hands were long and slender, his handwriting neat and clear. His way of holding the pen wasn’t quite standard, but it was just so pleasing to look at — it was hard not to focus on his hands.
“Did I make this step clear?”
Si Xiuyuan asked in a gentle voice.
What am I doing?!
Mo Li realized belatedly that she had been staring at Si Xiuyuan’s hands for far too long.
She quickly averted her gaze. “…Mm-hmm, I get it!”
“Good. Now, we need to switch gears…”
Si Xiuyuan continued working through the problem.
Not far away, someone else also couldn’t tear her eyes away from his hands.
Since Si Xiuyuan didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, Wu Jiao felt free to “touch” him with her gaze.
Ever since her awakening, she had been studying like crazy every day and had nearly forgotten that this world was, in fact, a massive NC-17 novel.
These two young lovebirds were truly a delight to behold.
If she were just a reader, she’d probably root for this couple.
The pitiful, insecure little white flower and the damp, contradictory, gentle school heartthrob, a very classic and compelling pairing.
[Look! Their hands accidentally touched!]
[Mo Li’s face turned red! How innocent!]
[Si Xiuyuan probably cares too, but he looks like nothing happened.]
[Tsk tsk. I remember perfectly well how you couldn’t let go of her hand later in bed, you know~]
[No matter how pure the atmosphere seems now, it’ll be just that much more contrast later. And it won’t just be her hands he’ll be holding onto then, hehe.]
One of Wu Jiao’s usual stress-relieving hobbies was secretly reading NC-17 novels.
She had read countless of them, but compared to all the others, the man with the biggest contrast between his before and after was none other than Si Xiuyuan.
[He really is a contradictory psycho. How did the original plot put it? His hands were long and powerful. In places where no one knew, the hands that were skilled at solving problems were also skilled at undoing buttons…]
Si Xiuyuan suddenly stopped explaining. The tip of his pen drew an abrupt, stray line across the paper.
Wu Jiao’s mind continued to wander.
[I really want to touch them… but I can’t. His hands belong to Mo Li. That other thing belongs to Mo Li too. Everything is Mo Li’s exclusive property. Ah, why do I feel a little embarrassed thinking about it?]
[If only I could make a specimen. Or at least a cast. Preferably made of silicone — more realistic. Oh, I mean his hands, not that thing.]
[I’d put the cast by my bedside. Before exams, I’d touch it to absorb some of the top student’s luck. Normally, I could hang my rings and bracelets on it. That way, I could look at it, touch it, and use it. Perfect.]
“Ahem.”
Seeing Si Xiuyuan suddenly cough and reach for a tissue, Mo Li asked with concern, “What’s wrong, class monitor? Do you have a cold?”
“It’s nothing. My hands are sweating. They feel a bit dirty. Let’s continue.”
Si Xiuyuan wiped his hands with the tissue. Once wasn’t enough and wiped them again.
Mo Li stared at his clean, pale hands. Where was there any sweat?
Was he… disgusted that he had accidentally touched her just now?
Mo Li’s face turned pale.
Si Xiuyuan who was usually so perceptive and meticulous, failed to notice Mo Li’s change immediately — because that inner voice was far too conspicuous.
Today, her inner thoughts were coming at him like cannonballs, exploding in his head one after another.
What was a girl her age thinking about every day?
[I’m so tired… It’s been so long since I’ve read anything. Should I sneak a look tonight? Find something with a Si Xiuyuan type to savor?]
Si Xiuyuan’s handwriting veered off course.
[But… I still have several lessons’ worth of knowledge points to catch up on in this unit. I don’t have time.]
His handwriting straightened back out.
[But — I’ve been studying so hard lately. I don’t have a tutoring session tonight. If I finish catching up on these lessons, there’s no problem rewarding myself, right?!]
Wu Jiao patted her own cheeks and threw herself back into studying with renewed vigor.
With the reward as motivation, she seized every spare moment to work on problems. By using her time between classes, she managed to finish her self-assigned study plan before the evening study session began.
After evening study session ended, she would go home, finish the day’s homework, and then she could finally relax — blushing and with a racing heart, phone in hand, in a place where no one could see her.
But as they say, life was ten or nine times out of ten unsatisfactory.
Tonight was math evening study session, and they had taken another test.
Mo Li and Si Xiuyuan had both scored perfect marks again.
They tied for the first place, while she scored 74.
But she had improved by 31 points compared to last time and this made Wu Jiao overjoyed.
Even though she was still last in terms of score, Wu Jiao secretly cheered herself on — her potential for improvement was far greater than the first-place student’s.
“Classmates, you’ve all seen your scores. Some of you have made significant progress, while others have clearly regressed. You all know who you are, so I won’t name names. High school math isn’t something that requires a very high IQ to learn. Some of you may be careless, some may not have fully grasped the concepts, and some might be just one step away from a breakthrough. It mainly depends on the individual.”
Math teacher Qin Rou was a very straightforward woman.
She said calmly from the podium, “Today, the math department held a meeting. The administration proposed implementing study groups starting with our subject. Personally, I think it’s useless, but the other teachers all support it. There’s still one class period left in evening study session. Use this period to find a partner. Pair up in twos. Once both parties agree, you’ve successfully formed a team and need to register with me. After teaming up, members can freely discuss their studies and share materials with each other. Of course, you can also compete on scores — winners and losers, rewards and penalties. You set the rules yourselves.”
As soon as Qin Rou finished speaking, the classroom erupted in lively chatter.
Everyone was excited about this. Some students had already found the right match and rushed to the podium in pairs to grab registration forms.
Others were still hesitating.
They already had an ideal partner in mind but were too shy to make the first move, lingering on the sidelines instead.
Everyone knew in their hearts that this kind of single-subject pairing wasn’t entirely fair. In the end, it would always require the better student to sacrifice some time to help the one who was struggling.
On the surface, both sides had the choice. But in reality, the choice lay with the better student.
After all, the weaker student couldn’t very well shamelessly bother someone.
Wu Jiao was also lingering hesitantly.
She could hear many inner thoughts.
[What if he rejects me? What if he already has someone else in mind?]
[I’m too embarrassed to go ask Si Xiuyuan, but I don’t want to ask anyone else. What should I do?]
[All those people over there are staring at the class monitor. Should I make a move first?]
…
Over this period, she had discovered that as long as she was in the same space, not too far away, she could hear the inner thoughts of these non-main characters.
At first, she was afraid that hearing so many people’s thoughts would affect her studying. But when she dove headfirst into the ocean of knowledge and swam with full immersion, those voices simply didn’t exist at all.
She actually had an ideal candidate in mind, but she was afraid of rejection and hadn’t dared to make a move.
The classmate sitting in front of Wu Jiao had once mocked her math score, but he certainly had the right to do so.
His name was Cao Haotian. He wore glasses and came across as a sunny, energetic guy — active and playful, yet his grades were quite good.
He loved playing video games and often didn’t do his homework, but his grades never fell out of the top ten in the class. His math scores were consistently in the top five.
Wu Jiao figured he must have some kind of secret study method. She wanted to learn it.
She focused all her attention on the classmate in front of her.
He didn’t seem to be looking for a partner.
She heard his inner thought: [So boring. I don’t want to find a partner. I just want to go home and play OW.]
Should she thicken her skin and take the initiative to invite him?
Mo Li was also waiting for someone to invite her.
Even though her math score was excellent, tied for first place with Si Xiuyuan — she knew very well that she had achieved a perfect score through relentless drilling, while Si Xiuyuan had achieved a perfect score because the test was only worth 150 points.
Si Xiuyuan’s thinking always stayed ahead of hers. He was someone she could aspire to but never reach.
In his eyes, problems that she found difficult and obscure were as simple as elementary arithmetic. He just needed to follow the steps.
She wanted to be able to do that too.
Everyone was moving around the classroom and chatting freely. A line had formed in front of the podium.
Among the top ten math students, four or five had already successfully formed teams. Strangely enough, two of the first-place students were still unclaimed.
Wu Jiao mustered her courage and gently tapped the back of the chair in front of her.
“Um —”
Cao Haotian’s back stiffened almost instantly. He slowly turned around.
“What’s up, Classmate Wu?”
[Oh god, please don’t pick me!]
Wu Jiao: “…”
She tried to fight for it. “Classmate Cao, I scored 31 points higher than last time. Isn’t that great progress?”
[So what? You still failed, didn’t you? Miss, even if you subtract 31 points from my score, I’d still have more than 30 points above your total score.]
…Unbelievable!
She really couldn’t argue with that!
Wu Jiao gave up struggling.
Even though that’s what Cao Haotian was thinking, what he actually said was, “Wow, that’s amazing! Such fast progress! If you teamed up with Si Xiuyuan, you’d definitely surpass him and become first!”
That’s what he said, but Si Xiuyuan was a hot commodity. So many people wanted to be in a group with him.
Wu Jiao remembered very clearly.
Even though Mo Li’s grades were excellent, in the original plot, no one wanted to team up with her. Si Xiuyuan refused others for the first time and took the initiative to invite her instead.
Cao Haotian: [I need to find an excuse to bail, fast.]
Wu Jiao didn’t try to stop him. After all, she really couldn’t pull her own weight. Whoever she ended up with would just be held back by her.
She looked at the line in front of the podium and felt a little sad for a moment.
But it was only for a moment. She quickly cheered herself up again.
[It’s okay. I can do it on my own. As long as I keep up with my current pace, passing is not far off! I’ll reward myself tonight, then keep fighting tomorrow! Jiayou!]
Si Xiuyuan, who had been sitting in the center of everyone’s attention without making any move, suddenly stood up.
All those staring eyes held their breath.
So, tense — who will Si Xiuyuan choose?
Mo Li, sitting in the seat in front of him, gripped her pen nervously.
But Si Xiuyuan walked in the opposite direction from her, farther and farther away.
He stopped in front of a corner in the back of the classroom.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
A cacophony of inner thoughts rushed toward Wu Jiao.
[Why her?! Nooo!]
[Why would the class monitor choose her?! What has she done to deserve this?!]
[Think twice, Si Xiuyuan! This girl is last in class!]
Wait a minute — it sounded like they were talking about her?
Wu Jiao looked up and met a pair of smiling eyes.
**