5: Forming a team
The plot seemed to have deviated from its original track.
The boy universally recognized as the “gentle school heartthrob” was now taking the initiative to invite her, he wanted to form a math study group with her.
Not Mo Li, but her.
Si Xiuyuan’s features were exquisitely delicate, yet when he smiled, there was no aggressiveness at all. On the contrary, it was very soft, like a beautiful, fluffy big-tailed cat.
“Classmate Wu, team up with me. I have a lot of study materials, and my notes are very comprehensive too.”
Who’s he tempting…
Seeing Wu Jiao frozen in place, Si Xiuyuan pulled over the empty chair beside her, sat down, and leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.
“I’m actually pretty good at predicting test questions too, and I have some experience explaining things. If you want to improve quickly, Classmate Wu, teaming up with me is the perfect choice.”
The way he leaned in and spoke with that smiling face was just like a cat casually swishing its tail as it walked, accidentally brushing against a human’s heart.
— Wu Jiao instantly lost all reason. She was done for.
After signing her name next to “Si Xiuyuan” on the registration form, Wu Jiao actually had second thoughts.
Why did Si Xiuyuan seek her out?
Could it be that he had already sensed something?
His docile, harmless appearance always made people forget that he was unbelievably smart.
In the original plot, just by watching the female lead glance at her phone and reply to a message during a meal with him, he deduced that another male lead was showing off in front of her.
For some reason, a chilling possibility suddenly occurred to Wu Jiao, sending a shiver down her spine.
She asked Xiao E, “Could Si Xiuyuan have awakened too?”
Xiao E: 「Probably not! If he had also awakened, with his damp, dark personality, host, you would have been out of the game that very day!」
True. She was definitely worrying too much.
She kept comforting herself in her mind.
[For the sake of studying, I’ll go all in! Stop overthinking. What could possibly happen? At least for now, Si Xiuyuan and I are still normal classmates. Maybe he just genuinely wants to help the last-place student improve, right?]
[Right, right. After all, he’s very friendly and helpful toward his classmates. It’s only around the female lead that he gets psycho. I’m sure I’ll be fine!]
In less than half a class period, the thirty students of Class 7 had all formed their groups.
But one person in the class of thirty-one was left out. No one was willing to take him in.
Gao Tianchi often asked for leave and skipped class. The teachers were all aware of it and had grown accustomed to it.
Gao Tianchi often got into fights and caused trouble. The students were all aware of it and thought nothing of it.
They’d even heard that he extorted underclassmen, collecting protection money from them. No one wanted to have anything to do with him.
Qin Rou glanced at the registration form and asked Si Xiuyuan, “Gao Tianchi doesn’t come to class very often. Let’s temporarily put him in your group. Any objections?”
Si Xiuyuan, however, turned to Wu Jiao for her opinion. “Classmate Wu, is that okay?”
Wu Jiao hadn’t expected Si Xiuyuan to ask for her input. She immediately nodded.
“No problem.”
“Then I have no problem either, Teacher Qin.”
Qin Rou gave Wu Jiao a long, meaningful look and wrote Gao Tianchi’s name after Wu Jiao’s.
Wu Jiao heard her sigh softly and say, “What a shame.”
Although their group now had an extra person, the only ones actually present were the two of them. It would probably remain that way.
Qin Rou gave the instruction: “There’s half a class period left. Feel free to change seats and help each other study according to your groups.”
The classroom quickly became as lively as a vegetable market.
Most people were discussing their studies, but quite a few were whispering to each other, their eyes occasionally drifting toward Wu Jiao.
[If I had known that being last place would get you this kind of treatment, I would have scored worse too.]
Wu Jiao heard the inner thought of the fifth-ranked student.
[What a waste! Like a fresh flower stuck in cow dung! How does Wu Jiao get to eat so well? I guess fools have all the luck.]
Wu Jiao heard the inner thought of the tenth-ranked student.
She felt a bit dazed and at a loss.
Even though her grades were bad now, she was going to work hard.
The boy sitting beside her took in her expression.
The little groundhog’s mind is wandering again.
Si Xiuyuan looked up, and those burning stares immediately darted away. One person accidentally made eye contact with him.
Si Xiuyuan blinked at her. The latter immediately turned red with embarrassment and looked away.
Now will they quietly focus on their work?
He quickly scanned the mistakes on her test paper, analyzed the knowledge points she was weak in, and immediately began organizing a list of common pitfalls for her. Finally, he even personally created a few big problems for her to solve.
He put down his pen, only to notice that Wu Jiao was still in a low mood. He curved his lips slightly.
“Classmate Wu, if you keep your attention on anything other than me and the test paper, both of us will be very sad.”
His words snapped Wu Jiao back to attention.
Si Xiuyuan smiled at her. “Don’t be discouraged, Classmate Wu. You’ve made great progress. It’s remarkable that you’ve raised your score by so much in such a short time. As long as you keep up this pace, there will soon be one more person tied for first in the class.”
“Th-thank you, class monitor. I’ll work hard!”
“Mm. I believe you.”
No wonder he was the gentle school heartthrob type of male lead.
[The Greek god in charge of gentleness — since when does he personally come down to coax someone into studying?]
Even though Wu Jiao knew how contradictory he really was, she still couldn’t help but feel her heart race at his words for a moment.
Si Xiuyuan seemed to have some kind of magic about him. He instantly calmed her mind, and she began to immerse herself in studying.
Those few burning stares gradually faded from her awareness, and the inner thoughts of others became inaudible as well.
When she finished the last problem, double-checked her calculations for errors, and looked up again, there were only a few students left in the classroom, cleaning up.
She hadn’t even heard the dismissal bell.
The boy beside her was sitting upright, holding an exquisitely bound English book, reading intently.
His slender, well-defined fingers turned a page, then after a while, another. He was almost finished with the book.
English was what Wu Jiao dreaded the most.
At first glance, she would find three or four unfamiliar words in a single sentence, but Si Xiuyuan could read ten lines at a glance, extremely fast.
[If only I were as good as him, watching videos would be so easy. I really love watching those foreign action movies, but the dialogue is too fast. Even just reading the Chinese subtitles is a struggle.]
The hand that was just turning a page came to an abrupt halt.
“You’re done? Let me see.”
As if sensing Wu Jiao’s gaze, Si Xiuyuan closed his book.
Twelve practice problems, only one wrong — it was beyond his expectations.
He explained it to her.
“When solving this type of problem in the future, just use the method I showed you. It’s both simple and fast.”
“Got it.”
Si Xiuyuan drew a little red flower on the paper for her.
“Classmate Wu, you’re really very smart.”
“It’s because you’re a good teacher, class monitor.”
Wu Jiao was also excited about her own progress.
“Really? Hearing your praise makes me so happy. You should praise me more often from now on.”
Wu Jiao failed to grasp the deeper meaning in those words — the premise of praising him more often was that he would be giving her plenty of attention in return.
The students doing the cleaning had already packed up. They would be the last ones to leave the classroom.
Wu Jiao glanced at her watch. It was almost ten o’clock.
He had sat here with her for a long time.
Wu Jiao was extremely grateful to Si Xiuyuan for helping her study, but she was indeed afraid of being alone with him.
When facing him, she always subconsciously obeyed him and followed his lead.
For example, agreeing to form a team with him.
For example, solving problems using his preferred methods.
He seemed to be deliberately guiding her.
Step by step, bit by bit.
Wu Jiao hoped she was overthinking things.
“Don’t rush, Classmate Wu,” Si Xiuyuan said, producing several handwritten test papers like a magician and handing them to her with a smile. “Strike while the iron is hot. Finish these tonight, and you’ll never make those mistakes again.”
“There are three sheets in total. Oh, right. I happened to have some free time, so I also organized the mistakes from this book and circled some common tricky points for you. It’s not too much. I’m sure you can finish it all tonight, Classmate Wu.”
“It is getting quite late. I’ll be going now. See you tomorrow.”
Si Xiuyuan glanced at his watch, nimbly slung his backpack over his shoulder, and flashed her a brilliant smile as he walked away. “Good luck, Classmate Wu.”
“…See you tomorrow. I’ll do my best.”
Wu Jiao felt that ever since her awakening, she had also developed paranoid delusions.
[What bad intentions could Si Xiuyuan possibly have? He’s just a young guy who likes helping others. That’s all. I’m overthinking it.]
Maybe he had some kind of hobby, a fondness for helping people improve their studies that she simply didn’t know about.
But this was so much work! How was she supposed to finish it all?! Her reward for tonight was going down the drain. Arghhh!
On the main road near the school gate.
“Brother Xiuyuan? Is that really you? You’re out this late?”
Si Xiuyuan was walking down the road, pushing his bicycle, when he ran into an acquaintance.
The other guy slung his arm lazily over Si Xiuyuan’s shoulder and leaned in with a mischievous grin. “You seem pretty happy. What were you up to? Did some girl corner you to confess again?”
“No.” Si Xiuyuan pushed him away unceremoniously. “Don’t say things like that.”
“Hey, enough with the act. You don’t have to pretend in front of me.”
Si Xiuyuan couldn’t be bothered with him. He held his bike with one hand and made a move to put on his earbuds.
Pei Jiamu plopped down onto the bicycle seat, sounding like a bandit demanding tribute. “I know you too well. Come on, if we’re brothers, just fess up!”
Knowing that if he chose to ignore him, this guy would stick to him like taffy.
Si Xiuyuan said flatly, “I was playing with a mouse.”
“What mouse?!”
Pei Jiamu sprang off the bike seat in an instant.
He hated the six pests more than anything in this life. He despised them all equally, with no ranking.
Just hearing the name made him physically want to vomit.
“No wonder there are so many stray cats at our school. I finally figured out why!”
“Hey, wait, don’t go! Let’s hang out tonight!”
While Pei Jiamu was processing that, Si Xiuyuan put on his earbuds and helmet and had already ridden off into the distance.
All that was left was Pei Jiamu, who realized a beat too late, “Hey, why are you playing with a mouse? You’re messing with me again!”
**